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[Race Report] Antwerp 70.3
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02-08-2012 10:19am#1The Morning
Up at 8am, race kicked off at 11am. Had breakfast and emptied my bowels, all my bags and bike were packed up from the previous night so I just had to ride down to the start. Its a 10min ride including a trip through the tunnel under the river, bit sureal with the number of bikes cycling over in it. I took it nice and safe, didn't want any mistakes now.
Arrived at T1 and had my bike checked etc.. Bumped into BMC on my way in and chatted for a minute or two, wished each other luck etc.. I racked my bike, set up Garmins (310xt on the basebar and 910xt on my wrist for the whole race). Went to calibrate my PM and it took an age, I panicked a little.. had it picked up somebody elses powertap etc..
I tried to bring my bike out but once you are in you are in, I found an empty spot and searched and calibrated the PM.. It all worked luckily. Back, racked, clipped my shoes in and get everything in order. I had an hour before the off so I walked around looking for some nice bikes o calm my nerves and kill time.
Made my way down to the swim start, took a gel 15mins out and got my wetsuit on. It was warm and I was dripping as I waited on the steps to get into the water. I was quite and calm, somewhat worried about the swim ahead but told myself to get through it and enjoy the bike and run.
Made our way into the water and the gun went..
Swim
Simple route, its a big triangle and is anti clockwise. Two big markers with smaller ones every 100m maybe. I ignored the small ones and picked out an apartment block at the first marker, I swam towards that. Others followed the shorter markers and ended up swimming an arch and not a straight line. I was moving well and passing people, this was a surprise as I almost expected to be back of pack. One guy "Oneil" I called him based on his wetsuit kept zig zagging...he would bump into me on the right, then the left..then the right again.. started to annoy me. I got around him 500m in and that was the last I saw of him. Got to the first marker knowing that was the back of the swim broken... 1000m I reckoned.
The swim to the second was good, I got to draft two people for the first half maybe. One then went very far right and I left him to it, he was going well off course. the other started veering left towards the smaller markers and I let her go too knowing I was swimming a straight line to marker number two. I merged back into a group about 50m before it. I had swam this last stretch the previous day I knew it was only 300m from here to the end.
Yellow hats passed 100m later, I start to think about my time. I tell myself.. be happy with 45mins, don't be devastated with 50mins as your swimming has been crap this year and if I see 40mins take it and run. I swam all the way until my hand touched the steps, stood up and glanced at my watch... it has 35.xxmins on it. I was delighted, the perfect setup for the day.
1:50/100m - More than I deserved as anyone from the Monday night sessions would know.
T1
Long one, 600m in total but all carpeted which was nice. Took off my goggles and hat (had to drop your hat in a bin) and then I took off the 910xt so my wetsuit came off easy.stripped to my waist and jogged to my bike. Sat down, wetsuit off, socks on.. helmet and sunglasses on and stuffed my gels into my pockets. Jogged to the mount line and mounted safely.
Bike
Got going straight away, the first 1-2km is a nice straight stretch which I knew well now from my last few days. Glanced at HR which was mid 170s, this is way too high I think but probably from the rush of T1. I decide to take the first 5km steady and build into it, the first 5km involves the tunnel which somebody crashed and died in last year... taking no chances I sat up going through it. A guy in a wetsuit passed me just before going in, I look at the other guy near me and we laughed.. It was 21degrees(?).
Coming out of the tunnel I hit a bumped and 3 gels go flying, f*ck. I better go back...carefully I turn and go back, pick them up. Stuff two back into my pocket and the other down the from of my tri suit. Drinking loads of water, my motto was don't think just drink. HR was still high but I felt fine so I didn't worry too much.
I get to the first aid station and look for a water bottle, they are handing out disposable bottles and not bike bottles.. crap. I keep going knowing this is a minor aid station, the next will have proper bottles I'm sure. Get to the looped section of the track just as the pro train head on their second lap. I biked the first lap mainly on my own, heading out the 5km laps on my garmin were ticking off around 8mins.. some quick math and I know this is over 35kph. Headwind on the return but they are still ticking off closer to 9mins each. I am sticking to my target or 205watts for the first lap and feel fine, HR is still very high.
Second lap and its a bit more crowded, I rode legally on the back of some lines but I found most lines were slower than I wanted. So on the way out I mainly passed them and rode by myself. I hit a bump again and lost two more gels, this time I kept going. I picked up water bottles at each aid station and had to refill mine with the. Simple plan... move my empty one to the seat tube, leave the cap open, dump the bottle in.. it worked well. I also picked up powerbars now I was low on gels, bit of work eating them but they were fine.
Pretty uneventful from here on. Rode on my own on the way out, stuck on the back of a legal line on the way back into the wind. Average pace was 36kph ish, I let my power drop off by 5-10 watts to bring down my HR.. it did slightly but was still much higher than I wanted. The bike felt comfortable through out and I didn't notice the distance fly by. After the third lap it was 15km back into town, I was on my own for all of this.
The last 2-3km of the route was on a cobbled road, I was taking it easy.. my front wheel caught a groove in them and for a second or two I was gone, I have no idea how I didn't hit the ground.. all I remember is having to drag my handlebars around and somehow I stayed upright. After this I took it very very easy for the last 1.5km or so, I could have saved a minute if I went harder.. I could have averaged over 35kph.. or I could have hit the deck.
34.9kph overall, could have saved 2-3mins if it wasn't for all the faffing with gels... bento box the next time.
T2
Simple enough here, in and racked. Sat down and changed socks, put on my runners and hat and slapped on some more p20.
Run
Feeling good heading out and I look at my watch, 3.16 in total... could I go under 5hrs? Run felt a bit like a plod but I was running under 4.55/km and felt I was taking it easy, didn't get caught up in the people around me and stuck to my pace. HR was about 170ish which I felt was okay, RPE was correct. Passed Claire 2km, the route passed the apartment we were staying in which was handy. The first 5-6km flew by, aid stations every 2km and for the first lap I slowed a little to drink water but wasn't getting much in.
I generally took 2-3 cups and tried to drink them and poured one over my head. The second half of the lap was more shaded through the back of the town. After the first lap I was thirsty and knew I wasn't getting enough water in, I decided to walk the stations and drink as much as I could. It was better, I could drink 2-3full cups every 2km. The first 10km was good, I had slowed a little but was still averaging 5min/km overall.. 5.05 was still on.
After 10km it started to hurt, legs were getting tighter.. my arms hurt for some reason and my shoulders too.. I tried to loosen up and not run as uptight. 14km in and it really started to hurt, my legs were heavy and tight and my pace was dropping right off.. I was now down to 5.30/kms but I knew I could grind it out. The run was silent, everyone was hurting.. we plodded around together.
With 4km or so to go the wheels started to come off a little, I wanted to walk but wouldn't give in... I needed to break 5.15 at least.
More maths in my head, even if I drop right off to 6min/km I can still do that. Garmin ticked over to 21km.. but the finish was still a bit away.. I still had 3mins to spare. As I entered the square my watch was on 5.14, I gave it everything I had and 'sprinted' around the chute.. clipping a cobble stone and tumbling over the line. I lay there for a moment, I could have lay there all evening. I wanted to puke, crap my pants and sleep. After I got a hand up and my calves tried their best to seize up I got some water, stood under the fountain and got out of the finisher area.
5:25/km overall on the run, 1:55 and 5.14.59 total time... not a second to spare.
Aftermath
I was happy, huge contrast to St. Polten. I'd like to have knocked 10mins off the run but I gave it everything I had, kept my head up and didn't give in to the temptation like the previous year of stopping and walking (apart from planned aid stations).
Went back to the apartment, had a shower and a snooze. Picked my bike up a few hours later and packed it. In bed for midnight, up at 3am to get to the airport. Arrived at 5am... flight delayed. We were told 11am to begin and then at 10am we were told 2pm, finally flew at 2.30.... it was a long day.
I reckon about 70% of the run was on cobbles and my ankles were knackered for days after, apart from that my body recovered within a day or so. We arrived home on Monday and flew to Malta for 6 days on Thursday... the heat may have helped recovery
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