NOLA 70.3 RR

Sorry for the delayed posting, but I am back in Lexington and back in full swing with training and work. This past weekend I traveled down to New Orleans with a big crew from Lexington to compete in the 70.3 race there. We left Lexington on Thursday morning in a 15 passenger van which had 4 passengers and 6 bikes along with lots of race bags and suit cases. We made it work and had a pretty good trip down. Once we got there I went for a little shake out jog through downtown New Orleans and then we went on a journey to find some good creole. We were successful but it was expensive.


Friday and Saturday were much of the same as we were getting in a few short workouts, fighting the wind in the process, and then looking for places to eat that wouldn't break the bank. I did get a great breakfast Saturday morning at the host hotel. I had a crawfish omelette, oatmeal, fruit, yogurt, coffee, and some french toast which was amazing. I did get in the lake that we would be swimming in Saturday afternoon and it was very choppy. It was some of the worst water conditions that I've swam in so it made me wonder about the race the next day.


Sunday morning rolled around and it was still kind of windy. We made it down to transition and started to get everything set up when Tom Z. came by to let me know they decided to cancel the swim. Then a few minutes later, they announced it over the loudspeaker that the swim was cancelled. I understood the decision, but was a little frustrated considering my current swim fitness. They decided to start the Pro's in a TT format with :30 between each person. This was the best decision as they considered to make us run a 1/2 mile run before the bike which would have done nothing to break up the Pros.


Anyways, I was number 33 so I was probably 7th or 8th from last of the men's pro field to start with all of the "top" guys seeded 1 - 10. So I would be starting at least 5 - 10 minutes behind some of the faster guys that I could pace off of. The start was built up and then much of a let down as only 1 guy started at a time and it really wasn't that exciting, haha. About 15 minutes after the first guy took off, I started. The first 3 miles were with the whipping wind, I averaged over 29 mph for this section AND THEN I turned into the wind. Mile 3 - 16 were directly into the wind. I caught 1 guy up the road but had 2 - 3 guys catch me during this section. We got a break for about 2 - 3 miles after a right hand turn but then turned back into a head wind before the 20 mile mark and stayed in this direction until the 28th mile. That U turn was my favorite of the whole race, haha. We turned around and immediately my current speed went from 21ish to 29ish mph. I stayed about where I was for the remainder of the bike as I did catch a few guys but also had 1 or 2 more guys catch me. I came into transition feeling like I was close to last place as I had roughly 4 - 5 guys pass me and I was one of the last pro's to start.


I ran through T2 (BTW, I wore socks since we didn't have to swim) and got to my rack position. I slipped my first shoe on and felt something in my shoe. I looked at my other sock and realized I had roughly 80 burs (those little tiny spikey things that stick to your clothes) on the bottom of my foot and it would have taken forever to remove them so I just put my shoes on and took off on the run.


All I could think about for that first mile or so was all of those little burs on my feet, but I started to fatigue a little after that so I stopped focusing on my feet. I passed 3 - 4 guys in the first 2 - 3 miles of the run and was trying to catch a few others. Even if I was running faster than some of the guys in front of me, I wouldn't know it because they started so far in front of me. I was holding a decent pace and I kept pushing. I knew there were valuable WC 70.3 points on the line and I need to get all that I can. I managed not to fall off too bad towards the end of the race and I caught one last guy before I made it to the finish line. I had no idea what my finishing place was or what my time was but I didn't care at the moment.


I immediately pulled my shoes off and got rid of my socks as they were still covered with all of the burs. I was smart about my "swim bag" as I put my jacket in it and also my phone, so I was able to get my bag from the bag check and look up the results on ironman live. I found out that I had finished 15th, which I was hoping for a better finish, but I knew that there were some really fast guys that I was racing, and also some guys that were really strong cyclists/runners that can't swim. I am confident that my placing would have been better if the swim would not have been cancelled.

After the race I waited around for my fellow racers from Lexington while I talked amongst the Pros about their races. I grabbed a little food and we took the shuttle back to the transition area to get our bikes.

That evening I was able to walk down Bourbon St. and find some good Creole food. I tried some boiled Crawfish, raw Oysters, and then a few PoBoys to catch up on my caloric deficit from earlier in the day. And of course I had to try the beignets from Cafe du Monde. They were very good but I think I prefer regular donuts from Krispie Kreme or Dunkin' Donuts.

Next up: St. Anthony's Tri on May 1st.

Tony