Ironman California 70.3 Race Report - Saturday 03/29/08

*Scott comes to the PBN Racing Team making the jump up to 1/2 Ironman and Ironman distance racing this year. He comes into the sport with an impressive running resume:

5K:  14:23  (4:38 /mile pace)
10K:  29:12 (4:42 /mile pace)
1/2 Marathon:  1:05:44 (5:01 /mile pace)
Marathon:  2:24:28 (5:30 /mile pace)
 
Race Totals:
4:41:55  
Swim: 28:44
Bike: 2:39:46 (21 mph)
Run: 1:28:48 (6:47 per mile)  
12th place 25-29 age group
  
Even though I failed in meeting the goal of winning my age group and qualifying for the Hawaii Ironman in October, I still managed to take a huge step in my personal development by hanging in there and finishing when I knew my day was over after the first mile of the half-marathon.  

Race morning I woke up promptly at 4:15 a.m. and was out the door for a quick mile shake out with no problem.  I am not a morning person at all but I sprung out of bed with more excitement than I have ever had before a race.  After a jog and a quick shower, I had my usual pre-workout meal of a bagel and Muscle Milk protein shake. On the drive to race I sipped on 200 calories of Cytomax.

Upon arrival in Oceanside, I quickly got my things together and rode the mile down to the transition area. After 4.5 years out of the sport, it felt great to be setting up transition and feeding off the early morning excitement that comes with race morning. Once everything was set up in transition I headed out for a 10:00 jog.  My legs felt incredible, I had so much pop in them I had to hold back so I wasn’t running race pace in my warm up.  I had chills all over my body as I passed all the athletes coming into the transition area.  I am sure you could see the excitement and confidence all over my face.  

Once back in transition, I quickly got my wetsuit on and headed to the start. I was in the 2nd of 2 waves for the 25-29 age group, which was a bit disappointing because I was hoping to key off a few guys in the first wave.  

Swim (28:44): Once in the water I was relieved at how warm the water was. The gun went off and I got a bit separated from the leaders in my wave. The incoming swells made it difficult spot where I was. I was surprised with how quickly I began to catch some of the athletes in the waves in front of me. The way in from the turn around buoy was a bit easier as we started to swim with the current a bit. I came out of the water and wasn’t too disoriented, on the way out I heard my coach Brian Shea yell out that I was 1:00 behind one of the guys I was keying off. I was unsure of my time but I figured it wasn’t too bad.  

I was fairly pleased with the swim, I don’t think I was aggressive enough at the start which prevented me from catching any draft. I will be working on my open water swimming skills as the summer goes on.

Bike (2:39:46): Once on the bike I tried to get my Heart Rate down as best as possible but I was excited and felt so good I started pushing to my low Zone 3. I completely got away from the plan of keeping things fairly easy for the first hour or so. Unfortunately the sponge in my aero bottle popped out in the first 5 miles of the bike which caused most of the fluid & calories to splash out. I am not one for thinking on the fly and that is exactly what I did, I didn’t think. I just thought, “Well, I guess I will only have one bottle of fluids on the bike.” The plan was to consume the first bottle and then add some water at the aid stations while adding calories from the 2nd bottle. I took 2 water bottles on the course but only took sips before quickly throwing them in the drop zone. I guess I am so used to racing shorter races where every second counts  that I didn’t think to take my time and drink most of the water I was taking.  

Anyway, I was absolutely flying the first hour and a half. I felt incredible and holding my Heart Rate 5-10 beats higher than planned didn’t seem too difficult so I carried on. At about 30 miles, the race starts because that is where the hills are, the hills that I completely underestimated. Once we reached the biggest climb of the day I thought, “O.K. here is where it starts”. I was steady on the climb passing several athletes on the way up. Once we reached the top I collected myself and began pushing the downhill. As we got towards the bottom and began the final stretch back to the beach, we ran into a fairly stiff headwind. I don’t recall exactly what point in the race I started to crack but I think it was around 40 miles into the bike. At that point I was still with one of the guys we had figured would be a contender for the age group win. I was really confident I was having a great day and just needed to hang in there the last 15 miles. Somewhere around 40 miles I started having trouble concentrating I remember thinking if I could just hang in there I was still going to ride around 2:30. The last 10 miles were pretty difficult, I backed off my effort quite a bit because I knew I was starting to crack but I thought if I could just get to the run I would be fine.  

In all we figure I consumed ~60% of the calories I was planning on taking in, which was a mix of CarboPro and Cytomax. I also took 2 GU's on the bike; one immediately and one with a half hour to go (Total Calories ~500). Brian believes it was dehydration more than lack of calories that got me because I should have taken in at least twice as much water than I did (Total Fluid Intake ~45oz).

Anyway, the last 5 miles felt longer than the first 51 miles.  I was struggling to keep pace with one of the pro women that I had caught and passed several miles earlier, she obviously passed me back.  I knew I was in trouble but I still thought I was going to be able to crank out the run like I had been doing in training.

Run (1:28:48): As I got off my bike and ran down to transition, my legs felt awful, a far cry from how I felt in the morning.   I quickly got my running shoes on, grabbed 2 GU and headed out on the run.  From the moment I started to run, I knew it was going t be a struggle.  My lower back was very tight and sore but I was hoping it would loosen up after a few miles.  I passed by Brian and the crew just before the first mile and he told me I was 3:00 down on B.J. Christiansen, who we considered the favorite to win the age group. I thought, “Well if I can even manage 5:40-5:45’s rather than goal pace of 5:25, I still might have a shot”.  I passed thru the mile in 5:50 but my back was killing me and my legs felt like they had sand bags tied to them.  I carried on and was running around 6:00 per mile but the negativity began taking over my brain, thought of dropping out was very present.

I took a GU at 10k and got a short lived boost of energy. My pace began to slow to 6:30’s and damage control began to seep into my brain. I knew that 6:30’s would still give me one of the faster run splits, which would be fine if I had ridden 2:20 but when you are a runner and you are now running 7:00 pace, a minute and a half slower than your goal, it feels like a death march. I started to walk/jog the last 5 miles taking fluids at the aid stations and trying to embrace the awesome crowd that filled the streets of Oceanside. With 2 miles to go, a pro woman that I passed on the big climb way out on Camp Pendleton, came roaring past me and shouted out me not to quit now because I had worked so hard all day. I think she remembered me because we had a funny exchange of words as we approached the climb.  I put my head down and started running again. I crossed the finish line headed and straight for the food tent. Pizza and cookies, YUM!!!

All in all I am quite disappointed but it’s early in the season and this was my first 1/2 IM & 1st triathlon in 4 and a half years. I will take what I have learned from this one and look forward to Eagleman, which is on June 8th. Despite there being a # of solid athletes in my age group in Oceanside, the competition at Eagleman will be ever tougher and I will have no room for error if I hope to win my age group and qualify for Kona. I will spend the next 9 weeks building on my current fitness and hopefully I will be able to put it all together come June.  

Happy Spring,
Scott DeFilippis

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HEY MOIRA, ITS ME ESTHER FROM KONA, HOW ARE YOU? WHAT ARE YOU UP TO THIS SEASON? IS BRIAN COACHING YOU????