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Hey there, Newsletter Readers,
I’m back again in your inbox to keep you up to date on the latest and greatest (sports) tech talk. As you probably remember from the last newsletter, I was heading to Rockford, Illinois, for a final attempt to grab a ticket to the 2025 Ironman 70.3 World Championship. As promised, the full race weekend recap is below in the second half of the newsletter! No spoilers up here!
So here is a quick review of the three most interesting (to me) posts, from Ray in the last few weeks.
The S Rower: Last week, Ray was off to Frankfurt for his annual Eurobike appearance. So color me surprised when he was posting about erg rowing machines? Pretty neat concept to make use of any direct drive trainer. But I’m really hoping he doesn’t get any great ideas about it, as I’m not made to be a rower. And I don’t really want to have to crank out workouts on one of those, too! However, if rowing is your schtick, then this post is for you!
Amazfit Helio Band: Personally I’m not into Whoop bands or other devices in that realm. If I’m wearing it on my body, I’d really like it to have a watch face of some sort. So when the Amazfit Helio found it’s way onto Ray’s body, I honestly just assumed it was another version of a Whoop band. So I did find it interesting to read how Amazfit found itself its own little nook of the wearables market. Not really a Whoop, not really a Fitbit, but still a decent HR monitor. If any of that was interesting to you, then check out what The Boy had to say about it. (see what I did there!)
Elite Rivo Smart Trainer: Lastly, because I know you’re all chomping at the bit to get to the race report, we have Elite’s new budget smart trainer, coming in at 499€. This is designed to replace their previous Suito smart trainer that was born about the same time as our oldest daughter, and rounds out their “Good, Better, Best” line up of Suito/Avanti/Justo2 trainers. Expect Ray to have it later this summer for testing. |
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In-Depth Thoughts of The Girl
Hi All! No, your eyes do not deceive you, I am indeed back in your inbox (as promised), post-race for a Rockford 70.3 race report. As you might already know, we did the damn thang, and got the qualifying slot to the Ironman 70.3 World Championships in Marbella for this November! Woot woot! But, it was no easy feat in extreme conditions, and it wasn’t a “dream performance”. But I stuck to the (new) race plan, and here we are! So if you’re interested in how it all came together, buckle in for the full report!
First and foremost, I have to tell you, the Rockford event staff, organization, volunteers, community support…you name it…was awesome. Period. Not even just under the guise of “for an inaugural event”. Simply put, this race was super well organized and well supported. If I didn’t have to fly over 4,500 miles to get there, I would 100% do this race again in the coming years.
Kicking off race weekend, my best friend from college picked me up Thursday afternoon from my airport hotel in Chicago, and we made the short drive to our cozy Rockford AirBNB rental. I’ve learned from past race travel, access to my own kitchen, is always best for race weekend.
We promptly dropped all our stuff at the rental, and hit up a new friend’s house (Hi Patrick!) to pick up a resistance trainer. Patrick is a newsletter reader and kindly reached out a few weeks ago with “I live in Rockford, and if you need anything…” message. So…when I sheepishly asked if he had an extra trainer hanging around (hey, if you’re reading this newsletter, you’re probably interested in the bike tech, and we tend to have a lot of stuff! Haha), he very generously obliged! Being too hot to be out on the roads, and not knowing the roads/traffic etc well enough, having a trainer in an air-conditioned apartment was the best option for me pre-race.
When Friday rolled around, we did nothing but Netflix and paint our nails for the first half of the day. Trying to stay cool-ish, hydrated, and off our feet was the plan. Oftentimes I find myself walking around too much prior to a race trying to check out a new town or the athlete village. With our AirCo struggling massively to keep the apartment below 80*F/26*C, we tried to minimize stress on the body by laying low.
Friday afternoon we made a quick dash to the athlete village to collect my packet, and pickup CO2 cartridge (airlines don’t love when you put those in the bike bag, just not worth having TSA rip your bag apart). Here, there was an abundance of volunteer tables, and zero wait for picking up my athlete packet and swag. Super-fast, super-efficient process! As it was insanely hot out, the race director posted the athlete briefing to their Facebook page, so we skipped out early and watched the briefing from the comfort of our semi-cool apartment and couch!
I did have a slight hiccup prior to the race, a heart-attack-inducing hiccup. Due to meteorology-esq events tied into the heat wave, there had also been some crazy rains up river for a few days. While we were all burning up on the land, the river had actually cooled a little. For the past two months I had 100% assumed this race was NOT going to be wetsuit legal… which meant, I didn’t even consider packing my wetsuit. Not for one moment did I even think “meh, toss it in as extra padding for the bike…” NOPE. So, when my coach sent an off-handed message to the point of “fingers crossed for a wetsuit swim for you!” I nearly died awaiting race morning for the official temperature reading.
Official water temps on Friday were measuring 75.5*F, and I NEEDED them to get to 76.1*F by 4:45am Sunday morning, else I’d be racing at a major disadvantage. This is 100% a rookie mistake on my part. Zero reason why I didn’t have my wetsuit with me, lesson learned, always toss in wetsuit! Now I just had to wait and see. (To our not-so-triathlon fluent readers, a wetsuit vs non-wetsuit over a half Ironman distance, especially for leg-heavy swimmer like me, could help take around 3-5 minutes off my swim time.)
Skipping ahead to Saturday. The temps continued to climb to impressive heights. Pushing 95*F/35*C and all signs pointed to Sunday being even hotter. It was so hot now in our apartment rental that the fire alarms kept going off in the building. I am not kidding.
As we were tired of listening to the alarms and were pretty sweaty in our apartment, we skipped out to Walmart where there was air conditioning and Subway! We hung out there for probably 2 hours, soaking up the cool air, and I picked up a plastic bin for my transition zone. As I had mentioned in the last newsletter, I had questioned whether or not the transition zone was going to be a “clean” transition or not, and after packet pick-up the day prior, it was confirmed that we were not receiving T1 and T2 bags for gear organization. So, this was just a last-minute addition to my race day setup.
After our 2-hour playdate at Wally-World, we went straight to the athlete village for bike drop-off. The cut-off for bike drop was 4:30pm, so I promptly got there for 4:10. The wonderful Ironman staffer/"Bike Check-In Legend” (just see his badge!) Chris, cheerfully but a little stressed, escorted me in! hahaha I was like “But I still have 20 minutes?”. Surprisingly, I was one of the very last athletes to wheel my bike in that day.
Did I mention this was a sold-out race of 2,700 athletes? The transition zone was insane to take in and appreciate how many athletes were going to be toeing the line the next morning.
With the bike drop-off done, we headed home to get organized for the next day. This is where I stressed out a little bit, as I was feeling out of sorts. In Europe and Oman, the races I have done recently gave gear bags that also need to be dropped off the night before with the bike drop. I’m not really complaining about the lack of T1 &T2 bags, it is simply what I’ve gotten used to since coming back to triathlon in 2023. It creates a very clear plan for me, what is needed in each transition zone, and by the time I go to sleep on race night everything is already in place at the race site.
But nonetheless, I got myself set up. It’s pretty simple once you break it down into each sport. I make three piles: “morning of” pile, bike pile, and run pile. Then just nicely organized it into my shiny new bin!
Skipping ahead to race morning! Up early, 4:30am or so. Breakfast consisted of a small coffee and a banana. I really struggle to eat in the mornings, and tend to rely on my pre-swim gel! I was also eagerly awaiting the official water temp reading! And holy crap when it came in I was so happy. But also, holy crap look how hot the water is!! 79.2*F/26.2*C… shows you how hot the past 48 hours were!
Getting to the race, my friend Erin was basically able to drive me within a block of the transition zone/athlete village. Making morning logistics super simple! Hurray!
(I’m circled in the yellow)
Transition set up was a little tight, but my bin was my best idea yet, as it kept everything clean and organized. I had my helmet set up with sunglasses ready to go, and nutrition organized in the helmet as well. And, yes, you see correctly, my shoes are not already clipped in the pedals. I can flying-mount and dismount like a flying squirrel, but I just don’t feel the need to have my shoes added to that equation. I can haul ass in my cycling shoes, and it eliminates possible shoe droppage while running (what can sometimes very long transition areas). For me personally, I prefer running in shoes than barefoot.
Once transition set-up was done and dusted, I found my way to the buses to get us to the start of the swim. Super long lines that magically took no more than 5-8 minutes standing and waiting. The race organizers had so many buses running, it was fantastic to not be standing in line for an hour in the already blazing morning sun.
SWIM It was a self-seated, one-way swim, questionably downriver. I say “questionably downriver” because everyone was a little confused looking at the river in the days leading up to the race; “Did Ironman get it wrong?” See, not only were we suffering from the heatwave, but somehow, we had crazy winds too. Crazy hot winds, that were blowing so hard up-river, that the surface water was actually moving opposite to the current.
Someone did the math and announced that with 2,700 athletes, 3 entering the water at a time every 5 seconds, it amounted to over an hour and fifteen minutes of swim starts.
While I haven’t been swimming a lot lately, I have been swimming better. Plus, I’ve been working on “Swimming in the bubbles” of faster swimmers in front of me. AND I just had a feeling it was going to click for me this race. Laugh all you want, but I had been visualizing the swim for over a month, knowing it was straight, no turns, and I was gonna hammer. I seated myself in the back of the 30-33 minute swim wave, and nailed it! I even put down a faster swim time than the top Overall Female winner!
Water exit: 32:30 total of 2135yrds / 1952 meters! ** Fueling strategy: 500ml of 1500 Precision Fuel and Hydration electrolyte mix 60 min prior & 1x 30g Carb + 100mg caffeine gel 15 min prior to start
BIKE
Super happy to be out of the water in good time, I jogged my way up to transition. Lucky for me, I was out of the water before anyone else on my bike rack, making the whole “tight transition area” issue a non-issue. I was super happy with my transition efficiency, total time of 3:43, and in comparison, with the top 5 overall female winners, I was within seconds of them or faster. This is a moment in triathlon that we can get “free time” off your race if you are organized and efficient, and I think I have that dialed in!
As I have alluded to many times now, we were under an extreme heat warning on race day, plus high winds. My race plan which was prepared weeks prior, was no longer appropriate. In talking with my coach both Friday and Saturday, she could not stress enough to me “WE ARE NOT CHASING WATTS”. She even suggested just clearing my bike computer to show only heart rate, cadence, and distance as to not get down on myself when the watts are lower than original plan. Goals on the bike were as follows: - Heart rates are NOT to exceed 170bpm (this is Z3 for me, don’t stress). - Hydrate, fuel, and extra electrolytes - Aid stations grab waters and pour all over body for extra cooling - Stay as low into aero position as possible for the long stretches of major headwinds - Do not blow up on the bike.
So I nailed the heart rate. I’d say it’s open to interpretation if staying at 170 is exceeding it or not. Probably would help my case if average showed 169pbm, but I’m going with goal achieved.
Normalized power on the bike was about 20 watts below my output in Oman back in February (158NP / 3.1W/Kg) The bike course was a single loop (which I love!), but by the time we hit the turn around to come back, the winds had majorly picked up. We turned that last corner for the long home stretch and it was like everyone on the bike course just stopped. It was a major mental battle to keep pushing. The heart rate was easily climbing if I pushed too hard, and the headwinds felt like we were moving backwards. The camaraderie on this part of the course was actually pretty positive, I mean, everyone I passed was swearing like a sailor, but still giving “good job-esq” vibes.
Battling it out for “craziest weather phenomenon”, the heat that radiated up off the pavement was otherworldly. It was like cycling into the mouth of a hairdryer. I am not embarrassed to tell you that I had a full-on beard of salt happening. My entire face was dry and salt-crusted. My tri suit was completely dry as sweat evaporated instantaneously.
Lastly, I will let you in on a secret. During the last 15 drag ‘em out miles, I asked 5 different men to look at my back tire. I was hearing a “whoosing” sound that I hadn’t heard before, and my bike really really felt like I had a flat tire. All 5 of them said, “nah you’re good, it’s just the headwind that’s messing with you”. Now, I only asked for a back tire check because I thought I had a pretty good view of my front tire. I take full responsibility here, I did in fact ask then to look at the BACK tire, but anytime anyone asks me on a ride to look at their tire, I automatically look at both of their tires. As I’m no stranger to strong winds in Mallorca and Amsterdam, something felt very off, alas with race day mentality and you just keep pushing on.
I know you already know what I’m going to say. By the time I ran my bike into T2, I noticed my front tire was completely flat. To the rim. Flat. Well shit. Honestly, it’s probably for the best I didn’t know. My NASCAR tire changing skillz need work, and surely I would have lost more time on the side of the road than riding a flat. Ray might have some interesting comments on that, but we will deal with the state of the wheel’s rim at a later date!
Official bike time: 2:56:07 (15-18 min off goal time), NP 135, Avg Speed 19.3mph/31kmph, (Temps 95-99*F/35-37*C) Fueling strategy: 1.75 Liters Precision Fuel & Hydration 60g Carb/1000mg Sodium drink mix (750ml goes in my aero bottle, & 1lt comes with me on the frame cage). 90-110g carb per/hr, this is split between top tube flask of Precision Flow Gel, carb in the drink mix, and 1-2 caffeine gels depending on how I’m feeling in life. I had hoped to be off the bike in high 2:30’s but packed enough for 3 hours just because it felt like Sunday was going to be a host of unknowns.
RUN
As I said before, the race plan went out the window by Friday night. We knew going into this race my running base wasn’t where I would have liked it to be; that’s just the consequences of this spring’s busy life/kids/work balance, and that was fine. I was also struggling with a calf injury, and the leg had been untested for 10 days prior to race day. I wanted to be on the podium on Sunday, but the bigger goal was top 5-7 and hope that was enough for a WC slot. Sunday would be at an effort that allowed for a fast-ish race without ending up over heating and pulling a DNF.
Knowing the run was going to be a slog, I had originally hoped for 8 min/miles (~4:58min/km), slow and steady. But by mile 4 I just knew I had to back off. Heart rates were hitting in the 190’s, and I knew my core temps were climbing. Going forward I stopped looking at my watch, and just listened to my body. Temperature control was now the only goal going forward.
One thing I had talked through with Ray in the weeks leading up to the race was not allowing for walking in aid stations; it’s an easy time sink. Instead, I jogged through them holding out my hat and (kindly) yelled to volunteers to fill up the hat with ice. Knowing that the last table was water, I’d grab the last cup, drink that and keep it moving. As I would exit aid stations, I’d start unpacking the ice from my hat into the back pockets of my tri suit, into my sports bra, and any ice left over stayed in the hat that went on top of my head, letting the ice water trickle down. I’ve never used ice like that before, but it was so instrumental in staving off the heat-bonk.
Anyways, not a lot to say about the run. It was indeed a slog. It was the slowest half-marathon time I have ever posted. I’m obviously not thrilled with the run time, but I would be lying to you if I said there was something I should have done better. I feel like I had a controlled swim, a controlled bike, and by the time the run came, that’s what I had on that day within the confines of extreme weather conditions and a big question mark on my calf.
In the end, it was “enough” to achieve the goal that I set out for… a ticket to Worlds! This experience has left me hungrier than ever to *finally* string together a race time that I know I am deserving of. As always, I’m just grateful to get to toe the line of another race and that my body allows me to keep battling it out for another race build. So onwards to November 8th!
If I haven’t said it enough yet, huge congrats to the organizers of Rockford 70.3, it was an awesome event. It also goes without saying, the event wouldn’t have been possible without the some 1500 volunteers and support of the Rockford community!
Thanks to all of you for your support, kind words, Instagram followers that left comments, and simply just making it this far into the newsletter. Hope you’re interested in the next few months of gearing up for the big dance!
As always, thanks for being a DC Rainmaker Newsletter Subscriber. Bobbie
(All photos used for race recap are either my own, purchased race photos, or with permission from photographer Victor Hilitski ) |
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