IM70.3 New York Recap
Pre-Race
This was THE A-race for the season. I had the few others that I cared about and focused on, but this was the one I really wanted to make count. I knew I had an amazing result in me after seeing what I could do at Morro Bay and Patriot. All I had to do was execute.
The forecast leading up to race day was looking pretty bad with high winds and rain from a tropical storm headed up the coast. As the day got closer, I accepted it wasn’t going to change and looked harder at the forecast details to see how I needed to adjust my strategy. I realized the tough conditions might actually be a benefit to me. The swim was going to be straight into the wind on the way out and with it on the way back. That would make that first half very, very tough before an easy ride home. If I paced it right, I could stretch the gap to the other competitive guys who aren’t quite as strong in the water. There was a chance that at least some of them would go too hard too soon and gas themselves before the tough part was over. The bike was going to be a headwind briefly until I was on the parkway and then it would be a crosswind for the rest of the course. I can handle crosswinds pretty well and I have power to work with so I figured I could put more of a gap into some of the lighter run-focused guys who would be chasing me. I wasn’t going to try and sugarcoat the run. It was going to be a slog running into the wind. Avoiding doing anything dumb would be key.
I made sure to get to the venue early enough Friday to make sure to leverage my AWA status for a low bib number. It’s such a benefit to run less with the bike. I checked out swim course and went to the race briefing just to see if I could catch any potential changes for the weather. This swim would have been incredible which a little less wind and chop.
There wasn’t much new announced. They made sure to emphasize than anyone can drop out at any time. They even said people could stop after a lap of the bike, run a single lap of the run course, and still cross the line for a medal. They would still show as DNF though. This was going to be a memorable race regardless of the final result.
Swim
Ironman shortened the course to 750m about twenty minutes before the start which was a bummer but the right call. The chop was pretty crazy even in the bay. I probably would have been fine, but I thought there was strong chance someone would get hurt. I made the best of it and lined up toward the front. I looked toward the swim exit to see if there was anything good to sight off of. There was a bathhouse and an ambulance flashing its lights. I hoped that the ambulance would still be there on the return but didn’t want to count on it. They had us step up to the chutes before I could pick out anything else to look for.
I forgot that I needed to be aggressive in those last few steps into the chute. Two guys shoved themselves in front of me but I figured it would be alright. The first 50m were about knee deep, so too deep to really run and too shallow to dolphin dive (even if I knew how). Literally everyone went out harder than they should have. I wound up in the middle of the melee which hasn’t happened to me in a few years. I did what I could to defend my space and it was strung out like normal by the third buoy.
The size of the waves was getting pretty big at that point but the next buoy was the turn so it was fine. Ironman definitely made the right call shortening even though I would have had some fun with it. I was by myself at the turn as far as I could tell. The effort to that point actually felt more like IM pace so I was a bit surprised to have broken away from the pack.
The return was wild. It was basically body surfing to shore for a couple hundred meters. I got pushed a little off course but I don’t think it made more than 10-15 seconds of difference. Sighting with the waves was really hard. Thankfully the ambulance was still there and I got a good look at it with about 250 to go. That let me give up trying to spot the buoys.
I swam straight enough to the swim exit. The water shallowed out a faster than the start which let me pop up quick and run up the beach with a good gap.
The run to transition was nice and short from there with a surprising number of spectators. The cheers were a welcomed sound heading into what I expected to be a tough ride.
T1
I was the second row from the bike out thanks to my bib number so I didn’t have to run far with my bike at all. Transition itself was still a long run barefoot either way. I opted to go shoes clipped into the bike ahead of time. I changed my mounting method recently and had a bit of a brain fart when I went to get on the bike. I hadn’t practiced the mount with swim brain, so lesson learned there. Once I remembered to step on the pedal with the opposite foot I’m used to, it went smoothly. Regardless of how I felt it went, I made a pass in there and was 2nd onto the road having closed 20 of the 50 seconds gap to the leader.
Bike
The wind at the start made pacing tough. I was pretty sure that I was over target, but was fighting so hard to keep the bike under control that I couldn’t actually check. I knew I was going pretty fast regardless of the actual power. Running a disc was absolutely the right choice. I swear I felt the bike accelerate in a couple of the crosswind gusts. The road was a flash flat nearly the whole way north which I tried to keep in mind anytime I felt like speed slowed more than expected. I passed the leader at some point early and had a police cruiser leading me from there. I tried my best to remember the hazards and sketchy spots for when all the bodies would be in the way on the second loop. I was very sure the clover to put everyone on the same side of the highway was going to be bad. I stayed on the gas through the first loop to try and buy some time before having to fight the crowd. I was flying on the way south going back down the false flat.
The turnaround to start the second loop was chaotic with the wind in all directions. I handled it well enough and even got to test my bunny hopping skills gapping a bump across the road. There was a volunteer pointing it out which was very helpful. I might have hit it if not for him. I went around the last corner and buckled in for the fight. I maintained power really well passing everyone on the way back north. The problem though was remembering to drink my mix with the focus on controlling the bike. With that realization, I made absolutely sure to take the caf gel and Vespa on time. I got passed about half of the way up by a guy moving quick. He put in a 20ish meter gap before letting up a bit. I tried to maintain that gap but it was tough with the passing.
I was right about the clover being really bad. It was five people wide in the single lane and I almost ran out of room at the left edge. Some guy told me to chill out when I was yelling to get out of the way but I decided staying on the gas to leave him behind was a better choice than responding. The turnaround was only about a mile from that point. Not long into the return leg, I found myself having trouble getting my legs to hold anything close to what I had up to that point. It seemed like a sign that I was getting bit by either the lack of sugar or being overambitious on power for that first loop. The average speed still seemed very fast thanks to the conditions, so I decided not to force it and held RPE to the end of the bike to save for the run.
Looking back, I was 15-20 watts over target through the first three quarters of the ride and only drank two thirds of the mix that I meant. It was probably a bit of both making me ease off. The power still averaged right on target for the ride and I had a bike split PR, so I can’t be too mad about it.
That was a rough bike with a lot of carnage. It felt like there were a lot of people who shouldn’t have been out there in these conditions. I saw two crashes from people colliding, a crash with four people getting up from a pile of bikes, one guy on the ground getting helped with what looked like a broke collar bone, and one person getting loaded into an ambulance. I can’t even imagine what I didn’t see.
T2
I dismounted barefoot cleanly. Unfortunately the wind took the bike after the first few steps as I was switching hand positions. I tripped over it and hit the deck pretty hard like 5 feet after the dismount line. The photographers were nice enough to tell me they didn’t catch it on camera. The rack spot benefit was super helpful again. Running with the bike in the wind was very hard. I had all of my gear in a plastic bag to stay dry which I had to fumble around with once I racked my bike. I was a bit faster to get my shoes on than usual but I think everything averaged out thanks to the stupid bag. It didn’t even keep anything dry.
Run
I went out about on pace and was quickly told I was leading by the bike escort. I guess the guy who got away on the bike was a relay. The leg out was downwind which was helpful. It turned out a lot of the run was on a wood boardwalk which was pretty slippery. Even the concrete sections were fairly slippery.
The rain wasn’t too bad at that point so keeping footing wasn’t too bad. The course had a couple of small jogs out from the main path and back to tack on bits of distance.
The corners were annoying but were actually pretty helpful in making sure not to overpace that first leg. They gave me early opportunities to feel what running back into the wind would be like.
I got passed a bit before the turnaround and let him go without much of a fight. I didn’t want to do anything dumb before feeling the added effort fighting the wind on the return. We weren’t even four miles in yet. There was a lot of race left. I got to the turn and knew letting him go was absolutely the right call.
The headwind was tough the bike escort for the leader couldn’t even keep up with him. The second place bike escort who was with me dropped back to check on him. I got passed again about half way to the turnaround and again decided to stay within myself in case the weather got worse on the second loop. I figured I could twist the throttle a bit on the final leg if I had it in me when the time came. I maintained RPE all of the way to the turnaround at transition.
Having the third place bike escort going into the second loop was supremely helpful. He yelled that I was coming up on everyone which meant I could save my breath for running. Nearly everyone jumped out of the way immediately which was fun to watch. It felt like I held pace and form really well all of the way to the final turnaround.
When I went into that last return leg I knew I had made the right calls in my pacing. The wind and rain had definitely picked up so I was as prepared as I could be for the slog home. It was only four miles.
I got passed the final time around mile 11. I gave it a little gas to try and keep him in sight, but there wasn’t much left in the tank to spare. I fought my way through some dark places in those final miles and nearly cracked at least twice. Seeing Norman in the NEMS kit and a couple of BTTers were timed perfectly to snap my attention back to the task at hand. I got to the finishing stretch with just barely enough left in me to get over the line.
It was a long day gritting it out and I’m beyond proud of my performance. It was also great seeing my parents running over to the corral to congratulate me as I was collecting myself leaning on the fence. Another 70.3 run PR was one more huge plus, especially given the conditions. I’m beyond stoked to end my race season on such a high note.
Swim split: 10:57 (1st AG – 4th Overall)
Bike split: 2:08:45 (1st AG – 2nd Overall)
Run split: 1:25:46 (8th AG – 21st Overall
Total: 3:49:38 (2nd AG – 4th Overall)
Matt Nussbaum - Age Grouper 
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