Challenge Daytona 70.3 IM – Race Report, December 5, 2020
BY JOHN HANSEN
I´ve always been a solid runner. Finished seven Marathons (PR 3:23:51 in Dublin) and more than fifteen half Marathons. (PR 1:29:26 in Vejle) So, when I back in October 2017 decided to go for a Full IM (KMD IM, August 2018) it was not the running part I had my concerns about. I could not swim – at all! I made an agreement with a Tri coach, a PRO Athlete himself – that by-weekly uploaded workouts. Besides that, I started swim classes and throughout the ten months of preparing for the race, I learned the basics of swimming. I finished KMD IM in 12:27:57 after almost not completing the Marathon part – due to incorrect energy plan. Something my PRO Athlete coach not talked much about. When someone after the Race then recommended me to Uperform Coaching by Nichlas - I decided to change. What a different. It was like Night & Day. We also meet during a workout. Nichlas is a what I would call a coach. I really appreciate his support.
Since then a lot had happened. I moved to Miami, FL for a new job back in March 2019 only four months after starting up with Nichlas. Because of a massive workload in the beginning of my stay in Miami, he had to change my workouts a lot in the beginning. No worries; was his only comments. I participated in some local races here in Florida as well as in Georgia in 2019.
Like everybody else, my Race Schedule for 2020 changed totally back in March – when this pandemic hit. Even our beaches here in Miami closed at some point. However, one of the last races in US that was not cancelled; IRONMAN 70.3 in Haines City, FL. This has been set in stone since late August. Then that Race also got cancelled – just two weeks before start. With support from Nichlas, I signed up for CHALLENGE Daytona Middle-distance (70.3) – scheduled one week prior to Haines City race. He again had to change my workouts again again. No worries he said – just enjoy the race😊
THE RACE
CHALLENGE races are like IRONMAN races – done all over the word. You can do Full, Half and Sprint races. One of the legendary races in US is at the Iconic Daytona Speedway. A very impressive place. The Racetrack is 2,6 km long with 31° embankments in the curves. Placed inside the Racetrack is Lake Lloyd, which covers an area of more than seven soccer fields in size. All man made back in 1959. It has been used to many things throughout the years. All from fishing competitions, Wakeboard contests and a Guinness Record of Jet skiing thin; in 24 hours, circling the lake for 900 laps or in total 1705 km. When there is NASCAR races or Daytona 500, there can be up to 100.000 spectators on the tribunes.
PRE-RACE
Since September my weekly workout has been 14 hours. Swimming has been in our Community pool (18 m) approx. 6 km every week. I did have the option of swimming in our local Lake inside the Gated Community – but my concerns of Crocodiles stopped that. Crocs are seen on Golf Courses in the area. In the southern part of Florida, a rule of thumb is, never swim in a canal and beware of lakes that are close to canals. My Nabors tells me that they never have seen any Crocs in the lake – nevertheless I had my concerns. But with an hour commute to the nearest beach I had to go the lake at some point. The first time I jumped into the lake was a week prior to the race. I should have done that way before. I could not find any rhythm in my swimming and was totally exhausted just after 100 m. Used to 18 m lanes in a pool, meaning lots of start and stop and clear water – then Open “dark” Water was quite something else. I managed to go there four times before the Race. All week I followed Nichlas uploaded workouts in TrainingPeaks very disciplined. Also, the diet part, with a lot of pasta, chicken/turkey and fish for lunch and dinner. For breakfast I got my Greenie as normal – but I did pimp it with beetroot (beets) to compensate for Nichlas recommendation of daily beet shots.
PRE-RACE DAY
From Miami to Daytona Beach there is a four-hour drive with normal traffic. I left Miami around 8.00am after loading bike and all accessories into my vehicle. This included a cooler. Living in Miami for two years, you learn to have a cooler in your car. In my cooler I packed some nice “butter bread” sandwiches, coconut water, normal water and my dinner to eat at the hotel. (leftovers from dinner Thursday night, 2 x chicken leg Qtrs. with back and chicken tortellini pasta). Not knowing if there were any restaurants open due to the pandemic and what they could serve – then better safe than sorry. Also, in the cooler my Greenie for Race morning. My “Greenie” it´s a 900 ml shake of Fresh Spinach, coconut water, fresh ginger, bananas, blueberry, broccoli, Matcha powder, 100 % whey protein powder and Almond Milk – all blended in a mixer.
Arriving at Daytona Speedway at noon, there was plenty of time to get registered and get familiar with the area. Also following Nichlas recommendations, I wanted to test drive my bike for 30-45 minutes. When entering the Speedway area there was a lot of COVID-19 check of temperature and questionnaire to be filled in, before you got a yellow writs band telling you are good to go inside on Friday.
After parking I went straight to Athletes registration, which started at 12:00pm. I came a 1:00pm and the line was already an hour long. Plenty of time to chat with other Triathletes in line. After I received the Athletes package, next on the agenda was test of bike before checking the bike in. I got all the number stickers installed on my bike, helmet and went around inside the Speedway area for 30 minutes time. The bike had some issues with the rear brake, so I consulted one of the four bike service tents (no line there) and the mechanic fixed it pretty fast. I ride Felt ia10, from 2018 with Zipp 808/404 wheels on.
I located the transition area. And again, what a setup. Very long area on a paved area with red carpet in the centre area – very nice running barefooted on that carpet. And not many bikes on each rack.
After that I had to check out the swim area. How to enter the water and where to get up again. Due to the length of the transition area – the run from swim exit to my bike was long. After having visualized the swim exit and bike start, I went to my hotel. It was located across the stadium, so the morning drive will only be 5 minutes. After checking in, arranging my clothes and gear for the race it was dinner time. All set and ready to sleep at 8:00pm with the alarm set to 4:00am.
RACE DAY - Morning
Starting the morning with some Yoga stretching, a good hot shower and my Greenie. Drinking a lot of water, the day before to be hydrated from early morning – had the consequence of frequently visit of the restroom during the night. And with butterflies jumping around in my stomach as well, it was not 8 hours I managed to put in the sleeping bank, that night. Nevertheless, I felt ready. Outside it was raining. Not much – but enough to have potential slippery roads during biking. Arriving at the COVID-19 check point before entering the Speedway area – my temperature all the suddenly was above 37.7 °C at the first check. The following two times it was good. I guess my hot bath etc. boosted my body temperature. Got a blue writs band telling you are good to go inside Saturday.
Arrived at my bike 5:30am and with swim start at 7:00am there was plenty of time to get everything unpacked, check the bike and join the swim warm-up at 6:15am to 6:45am. After organizing everything for the bike ride and the run I “installed” my ROKA Maverick X2 wetsuit (recently purchased and tried several times in open water) I went for swim warm-up. The water felt very cold during the 200 mm swim – water temperature was 18° C and air temperature the same.
RACE-DAY – Swimming
I found my section/swim group to be in – aiming for “above” 45 minutes. I was the only one waiting there. Most swimmers gathered in the 30 minutes group. In each section there was red cones with 6 feet distance, to comply with COVID-19 rules of social distancing. We all had to wear facemasks as well. It was still dark outside and cloudy but a scenic view over lake Lloyd with all the huge lights/lamps enlightened it all. Five minutes before seven the United States National anthem played in all speakers placed around the lake followed up with an amazing firework show. At seven the first four swimmers entered the water from two ramps. I still struggled with my swim goggles – inside the swim cap or outside? As the crowd of athletes jumping into the water shorten the line, I moved closer and got mixed up with other athletes. Just 5 minutes before I jumped into the water, I eat my GU Roctane Ultra Endurance Energy gel (32g/100 cal). Throughout the first 20 minutes of the swim I managed to pass several other athletes which really surprised me, not being a fish in the water AT ALL. When exiting the water, I experienced dizziness for the first time in all the races I´ve participated in. Had to grab the handrail to support my exit. I finished in 1:08:34 (my PR is 0:41:30). Not satisfied or pleased – but I finished.
RACE-DAY – Biking
The wind had picked up during our swim, so in transition I decided to ride with a very thin wind breaker jacket from Santini Ironman above my Fusion Triathlete SLI suit. On my bike I had three water bottles (3 x 0,8 L) to avoid water aid stations on the track or any COVID-19 contact. Again, I had 3 x GU Roctane Energy gel (32g/100 cal) to fuel my body every 45 minutes. The first part of the track was on the actual Speedway track. In the Athletes briefing papers it said 3 laps before we had to go outside the Speedway area. On a poster in transition area, it was corrected to 2½ laps. In all my excitement of riding on the track, I mis-calculated and left the stadium after 1½ lap. After only 1 km, something hit my mind – this is wrong and I turned around, completed another lap and left the stadium again. My legs felt good. I had visualized a page of 32 km/h (or 200 watt) to be the number to hit in the first half and if there was more energy left, I would increase it. The headwind was strong most of the track, but very good marked route and traffic regulated by police everywhere. I did pas a lot of other athletes during the track. I finished in 2:30:05 with 36 km/h in average speed. (NEW PR…😊)
RACE-DAY – Running
Entering transition area, park the bike, helmet and shoes off and put 2 x GU Roctane Energy gel in the side pocket, drinking some water with Hydro tabs, from Bodylap and install my newly bought HOKA One One, Ironman Shoes and off we go – to the rest room again. Guess, I drank too much water during the bike ride. The track was two loops around the Speedway area with one lap around the Speedway track. Again, I was really impressed of the setup. On top of that, we now had a clear sky and nice temperature of 24° C and the wind not so strong anymore. I had planned my energy so I´ll start out with 5:00 min/km and then after 10 KM see if there was more energy left to increase speed. During the first 5 KM I had to focus on slowing down to avoid getting punished in the end – my legs just wanted more speed. At 10 KM I had a spilt time of 48:26 (4:51 min/km) so I kept that speed until approx. 17 km where I tried to increase but had to stay in the speed. I got water at each water aid station and used both my GU Energy gel. It was a very good run. I finished in 1:42:35 (PR 1:35:42)
POST – RACE
The past week have been with slow recovery workouts. My shoulders are irritated after the swim, so Nichlas changed the workouts to minimize the swim this week. Furthermore, my pulse is higher during the short runs. Looking back on the race, it was a very good experience. Awesome setup. Not my last Challenge race. I managed to finish I an overall okay time. The official time was 5:29:25 (PR 5:21:13) which was a 20 minutes improvement of my last 70.3 in Augusta, GA. However, I have to be more focused on my swimming up to a race. I need more open water training/practice. At least 4 weeks before. Another thing that again surprised me. A lot of Athletes are walking the Run part of the race. Some from the very beginning of the ½ Marathon.
So, what now. What is the short term plan and Race Plan for 2021. I know Nichlas will ask for it at some point – and right now I really do not know. I need to have my work situation in place as the first thing. My current work VISA for US expires end of March 2021 and the project I was hired in to do, is done. This also means that I may have to go back to Denmark beginning 2021 and with all the COVID-19 restrictions in place it can be even more challenging to practise a steady training. One thing is for sure; Uperform, Nichlas was a right decision of mine.
“Only if you are well prepared – you are free to improvise”