Monday, March 30, 2015

Oceanside 70.3


First off I have changed my twitter handle to @swift_T_Reid.

Having just completed my third 70.3 race the training is coming together nicely. 
I spent a few days in Poway before the race getting ready for a big effort. On race morning I was very nervous and had a hard time getting down my breakfast, but I kept telling myself that it was just another race and lets see what I can do. I drove down to the race in my rental car. Somehow, I managed to get a Dodge Charger. 
Not sure how, but let's just say that I got to the race a little early… vroom vroom.  
I had a good warm up in my Nineteen wetsuit and was able to get in the water about 10 min before the race. I lined up in the water to the left side because it was the shortest line and I had Trevor Wurtele just to my right. But the bulk of the field went to the left. I had a clean start to the swim and got into a good position. I was moving around finding the right feet. At about half way through the swim a small gap opened up and I could not close it. For the rest of the swim I slowly saw the lead group pull away and just at the end the next group caught me. This was a great swim for me. A PB at 24:44.
It was a long run to our bikes and once I settled in on my Cevelo P3 I was able to get onto a good rhythm, making sure I did not go to hard at the start. I was able to catch a few people on the bike and only had two people pass me -Jessy Thomas and Lionel Sanders (the Green Flash). As Lionel went by we had a quick chat and cheered each other on. A huge thank you to Lionel for giving me a new helmet the day before the race. My old pink one could not rival the Canadian Louis Garneau. I brought up my effort a little as he went past and got a little motivated. I had talked to Trevor before about the bike course and he said that I should save a little for the last 30km when it flattens out. I just kept waiting for the last 30km thinking I have to save it for the last bit and thank goodness I did. The hills were a lot of fun. It was nice to be able to get out of the arrow position. I had to make sure I did not go over 315w on the hills though which was hard to do. I came into Transition very relaxed and ready to run. I held about 277w for the 90km. Not my best, but very close.
Out on the run Barrie and Paulo were giving me feed back as to where I was in the race. I started the run in 10th place with 3 guys about 45 seconds up the road. I knew I had to catch them slowly, one at a time. There were a few very steep short climbs that I had to be careful on. I had to make sure I did not push the up or down the hills too much.    
It was still a long run. In the first 6km I had moved up into 8th place and all I could think was "I am in the money now lets see how much I can make". At about 8km I passed 7th place, but my foot started to go to sleep. I had no idea what was going on. I thought I had injured myself, and wondered what do I do; do I pull out? But then I said "to hell with it, just keep running it is not getting worse". I put it in the back of my mind and ran faster. On the second lap I was able to overtake 6th place. At the final turn around I saw that Trevor was dangerously close. I just put my head down and said "legs you have to go faster". I went to a very dark place in the last 4km. It was worth it, to finish 6th place, with the 4th fastest run and a huge running PB of 1:14:01 in my Saucony Type A5 
 Full results at Ironman Oceanside 70.3. 
To top the week off I singed on to be a Compressport Ambassador. Looking forward to recovering like a pro.

Next race is the Pro North American 70.3 Championships on May 2nd in St. George Utah. Stay tuned.
Welcome to the resistance.
#TaylorTime



2 comments:

  1. Defs renting a convertible next time I do that race. You're living the dream bro!

    ReplyDelete