Frank's Steelhead 70.3 Report

[Neuggs]

Leading up to the Steelhead, my first (and most likely last) 70.3, I found great inspiration from the other event reports within this forum (thank you). I wasn't feeling particularly confident because I had a 2 week trip to China leading up to the race and couldn't bike. Still, I felt swim and bike ready, and figured I'd just try to plow through the run. Whether by self-fulfilling prophecy or just a bad decision (you'll find out what that means shortly), it worked out that way.

On Friday, I was very disappointed to find a poorly organized registration event and a lame expo. Compared to, for example, the Chicago Triathlon (which has almost four times as many participants), it was pretty bad. A 45 minute line greeted me at registration - caused by a single person checking USAT cards. There was a big Ironman store display, and a few other very small vendors. I bought a wet suit for the swim and hat for the run (I wasn't worried with the new suit because I'd used wet suits and have no real fear in the water).

My wife Jill and I drove the entire bike course. The first 11 miles was so simple I thought it was be crazy fast. Then the "off" roads hit. It struck me in the car as a hard course with some very poor roads. I was really worried that I wasn't ready for the bike. (Really worried.)

Saturday started out quiet enough as I rode from the Silverbeach Hotel to the transition area. I got there early because in my other triathlons, the bike racking was first come, first serve. As I looked for a place to rack my bike I noticed stickers on the rack, and I thought people came in on Friday to put a sticker on the race to reserve their spot. I wasn't really receptive to this, but then I noticed there were an incredible number of stickers, that were sequential. Then it hit me; everyone's spot was already reserved. (I thought, that's two hours I can't get back.) It's a very cool system and an incredibly simple transition area.

As light approach so too did the rain. For about 2 hours, the rain came down - wish I'd done more to keep things dry, but at the time, I wasn't really thinking about much but the swim.

The swim course is phenomenal with a virtually unlimited warm up area. I got in the water with my new wet suit and it was like heaven. No energy required. Wow! So I was stoked for the swim. By that time, the rain had stopped and the sky was clearing. It was cool, which was great, with very warm water (76 degrees). As my start time approached, I was thinking about technique and not rushing the first 20 seconds. The swim was everything I wanted it to be. I finished in 30:55, 220th overall, 42nd in my age group.

T1 was pretty uneventful at first. It took a bit to get my wet suite off, but I didn't care. I was so pumped from my swim it didn't matter. Then I realized all my gear was completely soaked, all the way through a "waterproof" jacket and my backpack. Ugh. Still, my bike was ready and I was ready to get through the leg, so off I went. I got out of T1 reasonably quickly and I was off. Oh wait, crap, forgot my number! I had to go back and get my number (cost me about 5 minutes). I think it really helped me though, it sort of stopped the rush.

The bike was really great because it was interesting. My concerns about the hills and roads were unfounded. Whether because of adrenaline or just lots of preparation, my heart rate never exceeded 165 BPM and I felt great the entire way. I really loved the "feed zones" (or coast zones as they called them) and I was able to exceed my nutrition plan, especially with potassium. Loved that bike ride. My time of 2:37:34 includes that 5:00 waste to get my number. 21.3 MPH is good, but I really averaged 22 MPH, which I'm really happy with given the distance.

The run was always the part I dreaded. I got out of T2 so happy that the bike was over I almost couldn't contain myself. Here's where my big mistake came into play. I chose not to wear socks. I training in my bike shoes without socks, but not my run shoes. Dumb, dumb. At the end of the first mile, I felt great, but painful blisters were forming on both my insteps (the rain and wet shoes really didn't help). By mile five, with two bathroom breaks and several walks behind me, I was ready to withdraw, my feet hurt so badly. Then I heard a woman ask for medical help at a hydration station and DUH! it dawned on me to do the same. A wonderful woman who is my personal savior wrapped the bloody blister and while it still hurt, I was ready to plow ahead. The blisters still hurt, but that pain was almost erased by the pain of the wrap on my feet. Still, it was all (apparently) tolerable. I did walk through aid stations. As I hit the second loop I really began to feel inspired - I knew I could do this at that point. It wasn't pretty - in fact it was rather pathetic, but as I hit the 11 and 12 mile markers, I was ready to finish.

As I hit the final mile, I wasn't tired, and I wasn't sore from my feet upwards. I had accomplished my main goal; to feel strong. I was also really happy knowing I did well on 2/3rds of the tri. As I approached the finish I was so happy (and relieved). I did it! My run time of 2:35 won't break any records, but my total time of 5:40 was only 10 minutes slower than my goal time (the foot wrap along took over 10 minutes).

I crossed the finish line, in quite a bit of foot pain and more genius planning; to get your shirt and finishers medal, you needed to wait in a 20 minute line. That's brilliant planning because all I really wanted to do after almost six hours of exercise was stand around for 20 minutes. (Not.) At any rate, I got my medal and got back to the hotel. It was a great day overall and the course and volunteers were AWESOME. (The administration and planning in some areas, not so much.) While the unpleasantness of the run has ruled out any more long distance tri's (simply not worth it and I love to swim and bike too much), I'm glad I went the distance.

What worked: my bike, tri shoes, hat (kept the sun off my head and prevented any squinting), wet suit, bike feed zones, swim lessons (despite 10 years of competitive swimming) at Lifetime Fitness in Troy, driving the bike course - I knew what to expect even if it was easier than I thought it would be.

What didn't work: no socks (this REALLY didn't work), no plastic bag to keep things dry, my bike feed back with the open top (my electrolyte pills disintegrated and my Chomps were nasty).

Thanks again to everyone who posted their reports - I was inspired and informed.

[Damon]

Great job Frank! I'm glad you were able to keep things moving despite the problems on the run. Main point: the run was hard because you made it that way! Never go sans socks unless you know that it's a good idea. I bike without shoes as well and I will do a 10k without socks (Olympic tri) but I will NOT do a 70.3 or 140.6 without socks. It's crazy. I give you credit for pushing through it. I agree that Steelhead could have been better as far as expo/registration for sure (it was better in 2008 as I remember). The race itself is very good though. I vote for you to give 70.3 on more shot and make sure to follow your plan to a "T" next time. You'll have a better experience and you'll break that time mark you set for yourself. You should be proud of what you did accomplish. And I agree, the bike course is pretty cool. I have heard people complain about how "rough" it is. I'm not sure where they train but it must be incredible for them to say that. I think the bike course is wonderful... even the places that people say are bumpy. I train in SE Michigan and we know what bad roads look like. West Michigan roads are incredible by comparison. Anyway, I hope to see you at the races in the future! Congrats.

Damon