Had one of my best Ironman 70.3 races today ! Placed 13th in my age group (out of 265), executing the race fully per plan. I only once did better with a 9th place in Ironman 70.3 Texas. It was pretty chilly the entire race (Texans would even say it was freezing, especially during the swim and early bike)... and my body responds tremendously well to those conditions. It’s becoming more and more clear that no matter what I do, I’m simply more suited for cold races than hot ones.

Swim 🏊‍♂️ - 13th place - 31m47s

I was tremendously pleased to see that I had a good swim. After last week’s disappointing open water swim race (2.5km), where I finished middle of the pack, I was somewhat nervous about how things would turn out today. The water was really chilly - which I love - plus the wetsuit made it all pretty comfortable. The time is still not where I want it to be, especially for a downstream river swim with wetsuit (I’m shooting for sub 30 minutes), but apparently it wasn’t too bad of a swim given the 13th spot, which is really good for me. TMI comment: due to abundant hydration in the morning I had to very badly pee during the swim ... but simply couldn’t ... It’s psychological, I think. For those disgusted ... believe me ... there’s a lot of peeing happening ; I ban that thought during races and ensure I keep my mouth shut under water at all time. 🙂 🤮

Transition 1 - 4 min (slow)

The only highlight here is that it was pretty slow as I had to spend some time in the porta-potty (see above TMI comment)

Bike 🚴🏻 - 14th place - 2h36m (21.5 mph / 34.7 kph)

Last year I made a bad mistake in this race pushing it way too hard on the bike (22.8 mph / 36.8 kph - and more relevant: a power profile that was way off my capability at that point). I therefore held back and really controlled my power (kept the average at 210 Watts, which is mid zone 3 for me) ; anytime I was pushed to do more (eg passing people or a strong hill) I recalibrated later on. To see that I placed 14th on the bike with a restrained ride makes me very very happy ! I truly thought I was going to be mid pack with such a ride. Another TMI comment: due to abundant hydration during the ride I had to - again - very badly pee. What most triathletes do is simply pee while riding. That’s a monumental task for me (again psychological) ; only in rare occasions am I capable of doing that ... not today.

Transition 2 - 3 min (slow)

You guessed it ... hurricane force peeing in the porta potty. (last TMI comment, I promise)

Run 🏃🏻- 29th place - 1h49m (8m23s/mile)

Aaaaah. It’s so nice to not worry about cramping and rather focus on keeping a consistent effort (heart rate zone 3.5 for most of the race, except for the last few miles where I pushed to z3.9), proper hydration and fueling and tackling the nasty super steep hills. I love this weather. By far not my fastest half marathon in a triathlon race, but one of my best executed ones. Something I need to work on for next season ... upping my game again on running ... I’m very happy with the Purple Patch Fitness coaching, allowing me to do these races with considerably less training time and better balance in life ... but I may have to slightly calibrate the running to get back to my old running form. I finished the race with wife and the crazy chicks (3 daughters) cheering on, which probably chafed off a few seconds of my time and ensured finish line pictures with a huge grin !

Total time: 5h05m. Overall extremely happy with my race today. A great end of my triathlon season !!