SOMA 70.3 10/19/2014 RACE REPORT - Jenni Marshall

Pre-Race - Training, Nutrition, etc.  

I went into this race nervous about my training.  I didn’t think that I had trained hard enough or long enough to have a good race.   Training was more social than focused and I only added intensity to my swim, bike and run “when the spirit moved me.”   This isn’t the way I typically train for a race.  I usually have a training plan and then execute that plan as close to perfectly as I can.  I get pretty Type A about it but if I do the training plan perfectly, I am cautiously optimistic about the race.  This time around, I didn’t know how my social training would translate into race results.

My biggest concern was the bike (as usual).  I was not cycling very fast during training rides and I was concerned about all the turns on the Soma course.   Also, during a race I tend to get overly excited during the bike portion because I feel good and I ride too hard which results in killing my run.  Knowing this about myself, I thought I should come up with a race strategy to try to stay calm on the bike and not kill the run.  My strategy was to go out hard on the swim, cruise on the bike and then run hard.  

Race Morning

Breakfast - I decided to load up more than usual on calories.  I get depleted a lot during races so I thought a big breakfast would help start me of right.  Two eggs, oatmeal, First Endurance sports drink, coffee.  

Warm-Up - I ran out to where the swim buoys end and back.  Had more sports drink, Skittles and a Honey Stinger gel 20 minutes before the start of my wave.    

RACE

Swim - 1.2 miles 

Goals: Time Goal: 33:00 / 1:43 pace 

Non time Goal: I had a video analysis done by Frank Sole (Sole Swim Solutions) a month before the race.  He showed me how I could make my swim more efficient and pick up some speed.  I did drills he gave me for the past few weeks and I felt I could apply the key movements during the race.  These keys were to snap my hips (instead of them moving passively), bring my shoulder to my chin and don’t push down on the water.  

Results: Official time: 32:51 /  1:42 pace

The start of the swim was a little chaotic but not too bad.  A woman was in front of me and at first, I wanted to get around her but found that she was swimming faster than I could get around so I thought I’d draft behind her and see how it felt.  I often feel too impatient to do this or scared that I might be slacking and swimming slower than I’d like but every time I thought about getting around her, I found that I’d be expending way too much energy to do so so I stayed on her heels and enjoyed the ride.  It was great, she navigated through the traffic of the waves ahead of us and didn’t slow down until we made the turn.  At that point, I started ramming into her too much and thought I better get off before I took a hard kick to the face.  I swam hard the last third of the swim and felt good.  I tried to stay to the inside and get into a good, fast groove, keeping in mind Frank’s swim keys. 

I have done the swim portion of Soma 4 times before this race as part of a relay.  This was my fastest swim time in this race and it included having to get my wetsuit taken off.  For the relay, you don’t have to worry about getting it stripped off before entering transition.  Good start to the race.  

Bike - 56 miles

Goals:  Time Goal: 3:00, 18.67mph 

Non-time Goal: HR: 144-154; Relax.  Stay under control.  Watch cadence and HR.  If I start to feel tight or hurt, back off.  Don’t do anything to screw up the run.  

Nutrition: Water in aerobottle.  Flask of EFS Vanilla flavor (400 calories), to be taken every 20 minutes, washed down with water.  2 scoops of First Endurance in bottle cage under legs.  Skittles (if I need a pick me up).   Nutrition worked well.  I didn’t have very many Skittles because I didn’t want to screw up what I felt was working with the First Endurance products.  

Results:  Official Time: 2:50 /19.7mph, Avg. HR 156

This went a lot better than expected.  I calmed myself down in the beginning and at the start of each turn by making myself grab and drink from the bottle under my legs.  For the remainder of the bike portion,  I don’t feel like I overexerted myself.  I kept in under control, relaxed and had fun.  I watched my average speed after each lap and I stayed consistent the whole race.  I thought about pulling up with my legs as opposed to pushing down thanks to the hill repeats Jozsef Major had us do during the One group rides on Tuesdays.  

Run-

Goals:  Time Goal: 1:44 / 8:00 pace 

Non-Time Goal: HR 155-165

Nutrition: Flask of EFS (Kona Mocha flavor), water on the course, coke on the course.  I walked to drink at the water stations so I could get enough down.  I had some coke but it immediately gave me side cramps.  The EFS would give me a little pick me up.  

Results:  Official Time: 1:49 / 8:23 pace; Avg. HR: 165

Hot day out there!

My run was not what I had hoped for but I don’t think I could have done much more than I did.  I do not feel like I killed my run with the bike.  It was just hot out.  I had run 10 miles of the course on Monday during the same time of day that I’d be running race day and I had an 8:05 pace in Zone 2.  I was hoping that because I’d be in Zone 3 on race day, I’d be able to get the 8:00 pace but the heat squelched it.   I felt strong and from what many people told me, I looked strong on the course.  I tried to focus on maintaining form and using the strength I’ve gained through Crossfit Endurance at Power in Motion.   

Overall Race Time Goal: 5:20 

3rd place finish Age Group

Overall Race Non-Time Goal: Swim hard, relax on the bike, run fast. 

Overall Race Time Results:  5:16

Conclusion:  

My training may have not been my typical Type A formula but it still worked. I had fun being social, riding and running with my friends at One Multisport.  We did intervals on the bike and were being coached and encouraged by a professional triathlete, Jozsef Major.  When I would ride or run with the group, the intensity was up, not because of some set pace I wanted to do but because it was fun to test oneself within the group and just try to keep up.  

A big portion of my success was also the fitness and strength gained from doing the Crossfit Endurance program at Power in Motion.  Whatever intensity I was concerned was lacking in my swim, bike and run training, I made up for in the intensity to do the WODS during class.