Diamondman 70.3 Race Report

This past Sunday I competed in Diamondman 70.3. In the weeks leading up to the race, I seriously contemplated not doing it. I didn't put in the time I should have to prepare for this and I was really nervous all the race would do was disappoint me about my current fitness level. But since I'm signed up for IMLP, and base building starts, well...now, I thought this was the kick in the butt I needed to get serious.

I headed to DE the day before with my friend who was doing the Half Du and after an early dinner with a glass of wine, which I NEVER have before a race, we curled up in the hotel room and watched tv all night. I didn't sleep well at all but felt ready to go when the alarm went off at 4:30am.

Went through all the motions in the morning and felt completely calm. I had no pressure going into this race and only had one thing I wanted to accomplish: a sub 3hr on the bike. I need to keep building my confidence on the bike and wanted to push it even if it meant my run suffered.

I entered the water as they counted down and hurried to the front as most of the women were staying towards the back.  I was up in the front the entire swim, had plenty of space and kept it nice and easy. I made sure I didn't push too hard and just focused on my form. The swim was uneventful and when I stood up to exit the water, I was at 34 minutes.

I quickly stripped off my wet suit and headed out on the bike. The course consisted 2 loops that we rode twice. The one loop had some rolling hills which on the way out weren't an issue. But on the way back we were hit with a head wind that killed my pace! I went from 25mph at points on the way out at this section to 11mph at those same points on the way back. Thankfully the whole course wasn't like this so I knew I could make up the time on the other half of the course. My crotch was killing me towards the end and my back was getting tight but my legs felt great. Overall, I was really happy with my performance on the bike because I was confident. I averaged 19.3 and finished the bike in 2:53:45. Looking back, I could have pushed a little harder in that head wind, but it's ok, I got my sub 3 which is what I set out to do.

After a quick shoe change it felt great to be out on the run. The run started off great and I actually had to slow myself down. The course was a mix of trail, gravel and pavement. It was a really lonely course, running a few miles without seeing anyone, and extremely boring in my opinion. I also didn't like the trail section that had some big roots and unstable footing.  I felt really good up until mile 7 when all of a sudden the heat just got to be too much. I broke down and took my first walk break and then that just set the tone for the remainder of the run. I usually love the heat and sun but for some reason, it just killed me on Sunday. And I wasn't the only one...there was a lot of people hurting out there. The trail portion wasn't fun on the way back to the finish when my toes were shot from sliding around in wet shoes and I was tired and not in the mood to concentrate on my footing. And to make it worse, the run was long. Not only by my watch but by almost everyone I talked to. After covering 70.3 miles, 0.6 extra miles are annoying when you're not expecting them. I finished the run in 2:11:04.

Nutrition was spot on and I had no stomach issues the entire day.
Breakfast - ensure
Setting up bike - banana
Before swim - Hammer banana gel
On bike - 3x bottle of perpetuem which I sipped every 15 min and water in my aero bottle with 2 grape Fizz tablets
Run - Hammer apple cinnamon gel at start, Hammer chocolate gel around mile 7. Water bottle with Fizz.

 

Official results:

5:43:13

Swim - 35:09

T1 - 1:56

Bike - 2:53:45

T2 - 1:17

Run - 2:11:04

1st in AG 35-39

7th Female/54

Overall 46/166