IM New Orleans 70.3 - Race Report

I have had 7 hours in the car with 3 kids to think about this so here goes...

The venue itself was great. It was exciting to be in New Orleans and the course covered interesting parts of the city. You could definitely see the effects of Katrina throughout the city. Abandoned homes, boats in trees, jacked up streets but at the same time you saw progress. I talked to several native New Orleanians and the tri community in that area was very excited to have a 70.3 race in their backyard. In fact this was the first race that was held on UNO side of the lake since Katrina. The locals indicated that people were coming out of the woodwork for this race which explains why this was one of the largest 70.3's ever. So I'm glad I was part of the inaugural race and I made a nice financial contribution to the city over the past weekend :)

As far as my race goes, I would sum it up as plenty of effort but poor execution of loose race plan.

The swim was interesting. I was anxious before the start of the swim because quite frankly I haven't swam a lot in the past 3 months and the swim was in Lake Pontchartrain which is not exactly the cleanest lake to swim in. (I should probably be on antibiotics right now) The swim was okay but I was a bit tired towards the end and I swallowed a lot of the water and all I could think of the whole time is I'm going to get sick, I'm going to get sick... but I didn't and I came out of the water around 34 minutes.

When I started the bike my HR was sky high... I should have backed off and let it get back to normal but I just kept going and it took a good 30-35 minutes before my HR got to where I wanted it to be. The bike was pancake flat except a few overpasses but it was windy. Not unbearable windy but around the 15-17 mph mark so it was a factor. The route went around the lake and then it crossed over into some marshland. I made 2 significant mistakes on the bike. First I never really followed my nutrition/hydration plan and I made a tactical error around mile 35. I knew there would be a strong head wind from mile 35-45 but I thought there would be a nice tailwind from 45 on so I decided that I would push from 35-45 and then rest from 45 on so I would be nice and refreshed for the run. Well mile 45-47 did have a tailwind but 47-56 had a nice headwind and I continued to push because I wanted a decent bike split. This 47-56 section of the bike sealed my fate on the run. I ended up with a 2:41 bike split.

The run sucked from the very beginning. I was hurting from the start and I never really got my running legs. I was on about a 9:00 pace up until mile 10 and then I really started to hurt and had to slow down significantly. Despite the fact that I was in pain, the run course was my favorite part. It went through some great parts of New Orleans and it was very scenic and quite shady except for the first 6 miles on the lake. The actual running part sucked and I ended with a 2:04 run split.

Before the race I predicted a 5:20-5:30 time and I ended up with a 5:27. I think I could have hit 5:15-5:17 if I had executed correctly. Could of, should of, would of...

This was my first significant race in a year and it was a good measuring stick to determine my current fitness levels and it was a painful reminder of why nutrition and pacing are so important but I had a great time and this is really a great race. I'll definitely be back for 2010 race.

Let me take this opportunity to thank my in-laws (Ron & Martha) and sister-in-law (Julie) for coming out to the race and helping Jennifer with the kids and cheering me on. It was great having you there and I appreciate your hospitality and patience over the past 3 days... Looking forward to Gulf Shores :)