2018 Rev3 Quassy
What: Quassy 70.3 - Beast of the East
Where: Quassy Amusement Park - Middlebury Conn.
Distance: 1.25m Swim - 54m Bike - 13.1m Run
Website: http://rev3tri.com/quassy/
Quick Background Note:
I have raced five other 70.3 events. Everytime, my run suffered because I cramped up at the end. I also have had some lung damage over the last few years that has made breathing an issue. This years training has been focused on more volume and more breathing techniques with the hope of keeping the heart rate down all day.
MY Goals (2 months before the race):
Swim time of 34-38 mins depending on current/waves and the amount of people
Bike time of 2:30-3:00 depending on the roads and weather
Run time of 2:00-2:15 depending on cramps and how the bike went
MY Goals (week leading up to the race):
After a great course review with Coach Dave Sek and driving the bike course, I had to sit down and re-evaluate my goals. My first and most important goal was to finally finish a run portion with a good time and no cramps. So the day before the race, I sat down and made these goals.
Swim: 32-34mins
Bike: 2:45-3hrs
Run: 2-2:15
PRE-RACE
The day before the race we drove to Quassy Amusement Park to register, collect our goodie bags and check our bikes in. The park itself is much smaller than I anticipated. A couple of waterslides, 6-8 amusement rides and your typical carnival type games. After checking in, we went to the beach area to check out the very clean and warm water. If I was nervous about the swim, I probably would’ve been one of the hundred or so getting a pre-race swim practice in…
The transition area was in the parking lot and was relatively clean and clear, considering it was an amusement park lot. Instead of the typical post and bars, Quassy Transition Area is made up of boxes in which you put your back tire into. They are a little tight, but do a great job of making sure no one person takes up too much space. After setting up our bikes and walking the Transition Area, we headed out to drive the bike course.
RACE MORNING
We arrived at the Quassy Amusement Park at 4:15am. We were told that anytime after 4:30 and the main lot would be closed which meant we would have to park at one of the satellite lots that were over mile and a half away. All the message board were correct, by the time we parked and got out of the truck, the line of traffic was backed up and the parking lot was full.
After setting up my transition area and walking the paths in and out of transition, I headed to the beach to watch the Olympic race start. With all of the excitement and anticipation of the race, the 45mins between Olympic start time and Half start time went by in the blink of an eye. Before I knew it we were lining up by 100yrd swim times and getting ready to enter the water.
The swim course is rectangular-ish with the beach making the fourth side. The first length out is about 700 yards, then the width was about 500yrd going away from the beach. After your final turn you had to swim 900+yds back towards the other side of the beach.
My swim started out great, I wasn’t pushing too hard and felt like I was at my pace. But eventually I looked down at my watch and realized I was a little slower than my goal pace. It could have been the people in front of me that I was trying to draft off or me just not pushing as hard as I could have. Either way it wasn’t a big deal after we hit our first turn buoy. Most swimmers turned hard at the buoy, as if it were a true square. I turned at an bigger angle and found room to open up my stroke. By the time I reached the second turn buoy, I was in a groove and was even worried about taking it wider than the pack of people fighting for the inside. I cruised to the beach and made every stroke until my hand was digging sand. As I popped my head up out of the water, I hit my watch for a time of 33:03.
Running into T1 was easy with carpets and people cheering you on. After gathering my stuff and following the line out the shoot, I was at the mount line and ready to go.
The bike course is 54 miles with over 3,800 feet of elevation. After driving the course, I knew it would be the “make or break” portion of my race. It’s a lollipop ride, with about a 10mile out, big loop and then 10mile back in. In the middle of the big loop, there is a short 2 mile out & back. That out & back is about the only flat portion of the course.
My bike started with me eating as much as I could in the first 4 miles because I knew it was downhill and not very complicated. After that, most of my nutrition was in liquid form, because I knew I wouldn’t have my hands free. The course seemed to be a constant climb. Hills ranging from 100ft climbs to 2-3mile climbs . One or two were easy and gradual, but most were steep. The downhills were very short with almost ending with a sharp turn or a really steep climb right after. I made it a point to drop in to my small front ring at the start of each climb. I just kept saying to myself,”don’t burn out your quads too early.” Around the 25 mile mark, I realized I was only averaging 15mph and my left knee was beginning to ache. I made the decision to stop for a few to stretch and walk. After sitting in a squat position for a minute or two, I decided everything was fine and I went back to work.
By mile 39, my knee pain started to fade, the sun was shining and I had just finished the short(flat) out & back. I started feeling good. The out & back had boosted me up to 18mph and I was able to get some chews in me. Before I knew it, I was back on the 10mile track that took me out. The descents in the last 15miles were easier to take advantage of and had me feeling good. If the roads were any better, I might have been able to really make up some ground, but potholes and crumbly edges had me on my breaks instead of in aero. I rolled into in T2 with a 3:04:13 (17.6mph) that included a 2+min health stop.
The Run Course is a 2 loop course that includes 2 very steep climbs and 2 long slow climbs. There were some other hills, but like the bike course very little flat spots.
My run started with a long gradual downhill, which allowed me to drink my new favorite run supplement called Pickle Juice. I can’t tell you how good it tastes and feels after a couple hours of working out. When I reached the first steep hill, I thought about walking it, but decided to just take it very slow with shorter strides. By the time I reached the top, I had passed 6-8 people and felt like I had my legs under me. During my first loop, I just kept thinking about the advice from Coach Dave. “First lap easy and then see what you can do.” As I took the long gradual climb to the turn around I started to see fellow racer that I knew. It made miles 6-8 very easy.
Eventually I made my way back to both of the steep climbs. By this point everyone was walking and I was feeling great. I took both climbs with the same short steps as first time around, but I did try for a little quicker pace. On both of those downhills, I didn’t hold back and let my momentum carry me. As I hit the 11mile mark, I felt like pushing the pace and tried to run under 8:30s for the last two… I finished the run in 1:57:21 (8:57 pace) which was faster than anticipated.
CONCLUSION
My first reaction to this race was very negative. I felt like the whole day was spent climbing. My quads were tight and my knees were swollen. But as I watched people come through the finish line and I waited for friends, I began to think about the day as a whole…
I swam exactly how I wanted to, straight and on my pace. I didn’t start the bike the way I wanted to, but eventually found my sweet spot. When it came to the run, I finally made a full run without cramps or walking. And in the end my time wasn’t as slow as I thought. Now looking back at the whole day, I had fun, I pushed myself hard and felt pretty good the next day...
Website Results
Elapsed Time: 5:40:12.72
Swim: 33:02.35
Swim Pace: 1:42/100M
T 1: 2:27.99
Bike: 3:05:23.63
Bike Pace: 18.12 mph
T 2: 2:00.55
Run: 1:57:18.20
Run Pace: 8:57/mile
Cat Rank: 150th out of 703
Gen Rank: 126th out of 470
AG Rank: 32nd out of 100
