IRONMAN 70.3 Philippines Race Report by Chris S

On August 2nd, Team NEO athlete Chris S. raced the IRONMAN 70.3 Philippines in Cebu. He had been on track to race the Calgary 70.3, but a work trip he couldn’t pass up (to be at the finish of the Tour de France…next time he’s taking coach!) got in the way so he found this for an alternate race. Chris lives in the pacific northwest, so we knew the climate of the Philippines and Calgary wasn’t going to be the same. We talked that heat was going to be a factor and his nutrition strategy was likely going to need to be modified, but when we don’t have time to test to see how our body responds in different conditions, we just do the best we can in the situation. Read Chris’ race report…

To put it mildly … holy fucking shit. While I pause on that understatement, let me confirm what I believe to be a global truism: Weathermen are always wrong. I think by “cloudy day” he meant one little puffy cloud over another island. Christ. It was a bluebird, scorching hot day. It started out really mild but that changed fast. It was about 101 with the heat index.

It was by far and away my worst performance by a good 60 minutes but I’m proud of myself and I had fun, believe it or not.

I set up my transition and went down to the water to warm up. I swam for about 25min, it was really nice. It was relaxing to watch the sun rise as I’m floating in an 80+ degree ocean. That didn’t suck.

The swim was very well-organized. It was a rolling start where people were released in waves according to what time you felt you’d finish the swim. I swam with the 31-35min crew.

I ran in when the gun went off and started out smooth and strong. The current wasn’t favorable on the day, the 850 meter length was against us as was the 350 way out. On the way out to the first turn (course was a big ropped off rectangle, kinda like a lap pool in the ocean. I just followed the flowing lines. Super easy, no sighting required. On the way out you swam over divers with cameras on the ocean floor  taking pictures of you. How cool is that? My swim was strong. I wasn’t passed once and I passed a lot of people. There were these tiny little iridescent flecks in the water that sparkled electric blue when the sun hit them just right – like little blue jewels. Kind of mesmerizing until you swim into someone’s feet. For having no wetsuit, I was really happy. I got out out of the water, ran through the showers and to my bike.

T1 transition was quick, in and out to hit the ride.

The course had us head out to the main 4 lane highway running N/S. The entire road was closed to traffic. There was thousands of people standing in the sun which blew my mind. Thousands. For 69.1 miles. Unreal.

Once I reached the highway I was moving at a good clip, I was going well without much RPE exertion – but here my first problem happened. My HR monitor wasn’t giving a reading and never did the rest of the day. This leg of the bike was 2 out and backs on the highway: ride out, come back on the next lane over. Same on the other side. 4th back you head back to the resort. The way outs there was a head wind and it was really starting to heat up. At each end were aid stations. I was really having trouble eating the picky bars I usually use. My stomach just wasn’t having it and my mouth was getting drier. . I was really starting to sweat so I just drank regularly, 21ozs every 30 minutes. I had 3 bottles of Gatorade and 2 bottles of C5 with carbo pro and by the time I got back to town, I knew it wasn’t enough. I could tell on the way back to the resort my run was going to be slow, if not outright, well, not fun. Now, it wasn’t that I was dehydrated. I just didn’t absorb what I took in AND it wasn’t enough. I’m  also not used to this kind of heat so my stomach was working a lot slower than usual.

I got to T2 and pulled off my helmet and shoes. When I pulled off my shoes I noticed that my heel was bleeding. I was sweating so much that my shoes were soaked, hence, blister. No es bueno. Fortunately I had a good pair of running socks and they didn’t bother it the whole rest of the way.

I started out on the run moving a lot better than I thought. I wasn’t hitting my Victoria seabiscuit pace but I was surprised that I was faster than I thought I’d be – almost into a tempo pace, a hair short. I was making sure to get 2 little shots of Gatorade at every aid station which was about every mile. I went on for about 3 miles and at that point the shady street disappeared giving way to unfettered sunshine. The frying pan was on. High. I struggled on putting up a good fight but my body wasn’t drawing the fluid in fast enough and by now I was bloated like an NASCAR fan. I had to walk. I managed to run/walk for about another mile, maybe 2. At this point 2 baby goats came sprinting past me. I took that as a comedic omen. Running doom? Looming large. I stopped at one of those stations to have water doused on my head only but the guy dumped my whole body. Now my shoes were wet and that’s never worked out well for me before. Innocent mistake – but Grrrrr.

At this point I was walking. I just blew up and there was nothing I could do but soldier on or quit. I didn’t fly all this way to tap out so I walked. I made the best of it. I met a few interesting souls along the way, most notably a guy from Jersey. I called him Jersey as we talked a the next mile. In any of these races I always make a point to high five any kid who sticks out there hand. Adults? Nah. Kids, I’ll swerve to make it happen. I high fived dozens and dozens of kids and they all loved it. Made my run, excuse me, walk, bearable. By my second loop the bottom of my wet feet were starting to hurt like they were getting blistered. I walked about 9 miles in the frying pan promising myself that when I saw the sign that said one mile left I would run and I wouldn’t stop until I finished, no matter how bad I felt.

Now, along the way that bloating became a problem. I drank so much that the cup renneth over. Over those 9 miles I yacked 3 times by the side of the road. Each one bigger than the next. Shockingly it actually made me feel better and I started to absorb fluids. The last time was a really big heave of pure Gatorade. And while I was doing this a Japanese woman walks up behind me (my number had my name) “chris, are you ok, would like a sip of my water” extending her water bottle. I was stunned that she did that. I slovenly responded “no thank you”.

I hit that last sign and I took off. My feet hurt, my legs ached, but wasn’t as bloated and was feeling pretty normal – all things considered, of course. I was hitting my seabiscuit pace and it was all I needed to block everything else out. All of the lows of the past 2.5 hours washed away and I was really hitting it for the last mile. It was kind of emotional moment. It was the first time that the wheels fell off for me at a race. I didn’t quit. I didn’t get negative. I didn’t go dark. I made the best of it and enjoyed the once in a lifetime experience. So finish I did and I did it with a smile. I’m proud of myself for the way I responded.

The finisher medal is so unique. They commissioned a prominent local artist to design it.

Overall, I learned that for hot races I need to use gels for my calories in addition to the calories from my drinks with carbopro. Also, I think that my breakfast was a HUGE problem. I ate french toast with mangoes about 2 hours + before the race. My stomach was working very slowly the whole time there. I should have had something much more digestible – the same approach as using gels when it’s hot.

Aside from hindsight, it’s pretty disappointing. There sin’t anything I could have done differently. It was what it was. I just wish I did well. Don’t get me wrong I’m glad I did it, I regret nothing, just wish the outcome was different. That said, what I learned was invaluable.