The following is a cut/paste report from the Endurance Nation Race Report forum. Incidentally, the RR forum is open to the public, feel free to browse all the crazy race stories you want!
On a personal level, this was a big race for me. I don’t race often and hadn’t done a 70.3 in a couple of years…and this year I have been training hard and short…and now for a fall marathon…but nothing consistent or even vaguely resembling a triathlon plan. My family is amazingly supportive, with M forcing me to sign up and then making sure I got from Megan’s B-Day on the Cape to Laconia on Saturday night. So minimal expectations, but all the pressure in the world on myself. You know. So after landing in town, I downed one pint of Cherry Garcia and was asleep and ready to rock on Sunday.
Pre-Race
Was great to see EN folks and to just chill. Being there at 4:30 was actually a good thing as it allowed me to get done and sit in the car for an hour to relax. I was almost too relaxed, as Dave Halligan had to remind me my wave was about to start. Dashed down there, watched wave 4 go, crossed the mat, took 8 strokes in about 2.5 feet of water and then waited for the gun…
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The Swim: 32:04
Just swam easy. Held a pretty good line and had some feet for a change. One of my easiest tri swims ever.
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The Bike: 2:24+ (data below)
I was on a mission to crush the bike. Just to ride hard. I knew my swim would be slow (figgered 35-ish) so the bike was there to set me up to run close to a final time of 4:30. Being in wave 5 (of like a gajillion) meant I had plenty of people to chase but they thinned out by the turnaround @ mile 28. I was all over the place with my effort, but basically rode hard to get started, settled, then tried to ride hard all the way back. With the exception of the very end, I was successful.
The VI of 1.06 shows I rode “hard”…it’s not easy to go fast and I need to get better at being steady at the higher numbers. The full numbers are below. I will say that it’s really hard to ride a bike this fast. Not like, oh, my FTP is higher so I just go faster. There’s no letting up, just push push push. All those ABP rides certainly helped a lot.
I could tell it was hot by like 30′ in, and started adding S caps to my routine. In addition to my infinIT, I took 5 S-Caps, 2 advil and 1 caffeine pill on the bike.
Bike Data:
Note that I lost a little over 5 miles on the way out when the magnet on my rear wheel slipped a bit.
Entire workout (248 watts):
Duration: 2:25:10
Work: 2156 kJ
TSS: 157.6 (intensity factor 0.807)
Norm Power: 262
VI: 1.06
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 50.384 mi
Elevation Gain: 2169 ft
Elevation Loss: 2169 ft
Part 1:
Duration: 1:11:48
Work: 1052 kJ
TSS: 75.4 (intensity factor 0.794)
Norm Power: 258
VI: 1.06
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 22.38 mi
Elevation Gain: 1138 ft
Elevation Loss: 1138 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-3 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 457 244 watts
Cadence: 34 114 83 rpm
Speed: 0 44.4 18.7 mph
Pace 1:21 0:00 3:12 min/mi
Altitude: 0 407 81 ft
Crank Torque: 0 579 253 lb-in
Temperature: 69.8 84.2 76.6 Fahrenheit
Part 2:
Duration: 1:13:34
Work: 1108 kJ
TSS: 82.3 (intensity factor 0.819)
Norm Power: 266
VI: 1.06
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 28.068 mi
Elevation Gain: 1030 ft
Elevation Loss: 1030 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-3 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 459 251 watts
Cadence: 50 113 83 rpm
Speed: 3.4 53.2 22.9 mph
Pace 1:08 17:53 2:37 min/mi
Altitude: 0 394 79 ft
Crank Torque: 0 597 259 lb-in
Temperature: 80.6 84.2 82.2 Fahrenheit
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The Run: 1:33+ (data below)
Had no idea what to expect as this was my third brick since Kona. I was really focused on keeping my stride short and my turnover quick. I matched a 38yo doode from mile 2 to 6 or so and he was running like 6:40s…but I couldn’t hold on. I really hit a tough spot from mile 7-10, and was trying anything to keep going. The doode at the turnaround with the salad bowl full of salt pills was the man…I think I took 5 there. 
So while I held my form in, I knew it wasn’t pretty at the end. Just getting it done. I was reminded seeing other fast doodes in later waves that the HIM doesn’t quit….you gotta push to the end. And I ran well over the last few miles. I was very happy to see the finish line for sure!
Run Data
Lap 1:
Duration: 45:13
Work: n/a
rTSS: 83.1 (1.002)
NGP: 6:14 (258.1 m/min)
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 6.439 mi
Elevation Gain: 2401 ft
Elevation Loss: 2426 ft
Grade: 0.0 % (6 ft)
Min Max Avg
Speed: 0 23.1 8.6 mph
Pace 2:36 0:00 6:58 min/mi
Altitude: 398 721 565 ft
Lap 2:
Duration: 47:14
Work: n/a
rTSS: 71.5 (0.908)
NGP: 6:53 (233.8 m/min)
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 6.599 mi
Elevation Gain: 1537 ft
Elevation Loss: 1536 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-3 ft)
Min Max Avg
Speed: 2.5 12.4 8.4 mph
Pace 4:51 23:33 7:09 min/mi
Altitude: 486 668 575 ft
Entire workout (8.5 mph):
Duration: 1:32:27
Work: n/a
rTSS: 156.9 (0.954)
NGP: 6:33 (245.6 m/min)
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 13.039 mi
Elevation Gain: 3969 ft
Elevation Loss: 3967 ft
Grade: 0.0 % (3 ft)
Min Max Avg
Speed: 0 23.1 8.5 mph
Pace 2:36 0:00 7:04 min/mi
Altitude: 398 721 570 ft
Note: Speed in blue, elevation in Yellow/Orange
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Points for Improvement
Since I PR’ed on minimal focus work, it’s hard to complain. I will say the following could be done:
1. Get Lighter — I raced at 189, my usual race weight is 185, but I could be 180 if I tried. There is no hiding in that run photo. Gotta wonder how fast I’d be if I were 9 lbs lighter. Then again, I take immense satisfaction (pun intended) in beating all the skinny tiny doodes. And that pint of ben and jerry’s the night before shows how much I like to eat. Dowh.
2. Aid Station Improvement — I took about a minute at 10 aid stations…instead of 30″. That’s 10′ at 20′ per mile pace, or half a mile spent walking. If I could have cut the stations to 30″ and been running the other 30 at my avg pace of 7:04s, I would have run another 1/2 mile off my time, or 3:30…that would have put in right into 1:30+ territory and probably 3rd place.
Congrats again to everyone who raced…you rocked!!!
Hi, I'm Patrick McCrann. 
