Challenge Daytona 70.3 Race Report, Daytona Beach FL USA, 15 Dec 2019

Preparation

After the Lake Logan 70.3 race in August I kinda took off season, with still some training going on but nothing structured. Signed up relatively late to Challenge Daytona so in the end I had about 9 weeks of preparation. During the entire preparation however I was nurturing a left hip injury, which sometimes kept me from running for a full week, even making me doubt if participating and driving all the way down to Daytona would be worth it. Last run workout I was able to complete was 1,5 weeks before race day with a very nasty reaction in my hip the next morning and days. So even on race day I wasn't sure how my hip would hold up. Idea was to push it on the swim, push it on the bike and see if I could do anything on the run. Even with my hip in doubt I was hoping for a PR because of the flat bike/run course (aiming for 4:40).
As this was only the 2nd year this race was organized I didn't find much race reports to get an idea of how the race would/could play out.

Location

Picked this race because of the timing in the season, needed some time to get back in shape, and because I could drive down there. As well the venue and the fact that you can see the pro athletes race the day before sounded pretty cool!

Swim, T1/T2 and finish line are all located in the Daytona Speedway. So from a logistics point of view this race is very easy. The swim is in Lake Lloyd, which is basically a small artificial lake inside the mid field of the race track, so no current whatsoever. Bike course was 2,5 loops on the race track before exiting the track and basically doing a big out and back on the 92, pancake flat besides 2 bridges one early and one late in the course. Run course were 2 loops, including the race track, some mid field track and surrounding streets. 

Stay

Drove down to Florida on Friday and checked in at our hotel La Quinta Inn which was literally down the road of the Daytona Speedway so just a few minutes away. On Saturday went through the motions of registration/packet pickup in the morning, race briefing, eating some pasta for lunch, dropping the bike of in the afternoon, business as usual. Difference here is that the pro athletes had their race on Saturday evening, so it was the first time I could actually see the pros racing and not just see them fly on the other side of the road during the bike or run part of my own race. We stayed a bit to see Lucy Charles-Barclay show of her swim skills and Lionel Sanders/Andrew Starykowicz put down some impressive speed on the bike under the lights, was pretty cool to be able to see them fly by. We didn't stay till the end but watched the run through the live stream at the hotel, as their races only started at 4:30 pm and I wanted to get some rest.

Swim 0:28:22 AG-2/29

• Did a short jog before the swim as I felt that helped during the first part of the swim last time. Got into a good rhythm pretty much right away. Returned back to my old goggles as I can strap those tighter easily and had no leaking or fogging issues whatsoever. Another clockwise swim course, so with me always breathing on the left I again had to adjust quite a few times and sight regularly. Most of the time I had clear water and even at the turn buoys I didn't feel like it was to crowded, so no bumping/hitting or kicking at all. On the way back I started to feel a bit fatigued in my arms but ignored it, kept my pace and it faded away. The last stretch to the swim exit I started kicking a bit harder to get more blood into my legs to be ready for transition, my hamstrings started to feel a bit tight, guess they are not used to kick hard in a wetsuit. Was happy with how I felt during the swim and was pleasantly surprised when I saw 29 something when running to my bike, as I wanted to swim < 32.  
• AG 7% is my best swim result so far, so really pleased with that.

T1 0:02:37 

• Opted for the wetsuit strippers as it guarantees getting rid of your wetsuit really fast. Run into T1 was pretty short and had no issues finding my bike. T1 is always relatively slow for me as I put socks, compression calves and cycling shoes on. 

Bike 2:19:19 AG-4/29

• Now the fun part, 2,5 laps on the Daytona Speedway, it was actually really cool! Only darn hard to control yourself and not fly out to hard. Even got up the banks a bit to pass a few slower riders, to bad it was just 2,5 laps. Once out of the speedway I tried to get my heart rate down and into a steady effort. No power meter so focusing on heart rate, trying to stay in the 130-140 area. Got kinda stuck with 2 guys for lets say the first 30 minutes, I would pass them, they would draft of me, pass me again but then slow down so had to pass them again etc. After a while I wanted to ride my own steady pace so surged until I had a clear gap on them and settled back into a steady pace. The first 45 minutes or so my hamstrings were not happy, feeling stiff and a bit painful, glad that faded away after a while. The way out on 92 we had the wind in our favor and I was able to keep my heart rate under control and average between 38 and 39 km/h. On the way back however it was on some stretches hard to even get to 36 km/h because of the head wind. Every time some cars passed by I tried to surge a bit to take optimal use of their draft. Near the end I was able to pick up a few more athletes and felt pretty strong heading into T2.  
• Have to say I was impressed with how they kept our lanes traffic free, never on the entire course did I feel unsafe, big shout out to all the police out there.
• AG 14% is not my best placing, but improved my PR from 2:22 to 2:19 so overall happy with my time and how I felt on the bike. 

T2 0:01:33

• Always scared to jump of my bike in T2 to see how the legs will react, it actually wasn't so bad this time! Smooth transition overall, still debating to go back to those elastic shoe laces you can strap on quicker, but didn't train with them so didn't want to risk it this time.

Run 1:34:03 AG-4/29

• Normally I feel like cramping up in my quads running out of T2 for like the first 1 km or so, not this time, felt pretty good actually. Tried to start relaxed and not pay attention to pace for the first 2 km. Only checked pace after completing each km and was surprised to see my pace was actually pretty good from the get go. I was aiming for 1:35 so a 4:30/km pace and I was constantly doing between 4:20 and 4:30 so kept that pace and never felt like dying out there. That went well for the first lap and was pleased that I didn't feel my hip injury popping up. On the second lap when exiting the speedway my right calf was starting to hurt, getting worse with each step. Didn't really feel like cramps, as you feel those coming little by little nor did it feel like I pulled something, as that feels like a whip, I assume it was due to the running on the speedway, which banks up a bit. After a while every step did hurt like crazy, if I would have been running an average race up to that point I think I would have started walking or even pull out of the race. But I knew I was on track for a PR so just tried to ignore the pain and push through it. Even on 1,5 legs and grimacing every step I was running faster than athletes that were on their 1st lap, and even pulled an athlete in that passed me on lap 1. On my left food my big toe started to hurt as well, during my last race I had the same issue, so every step left or right was hurting at that point. In the last mile or so I felt a new pain in the same right calf, more on the inside this time, probably a result of running/hobbling for the past 2 miles, but it didn't hurt so much as the rest of my calf so just took the hit and pushed to the finish line. 
• AG 14% is not my best placing, but I hit my target of 1:35 so very pleased with my run time. First time I actually get injured during a race so not really happy with that.

Overall 4:25:56 AG-3/29

• Very very happy with my overall race, was able to hit my target on all 3 disciplines, swim < 32, bike < 2:22 and run < 1:35. Was hoping for an overall of < 4:40 so very very pleased with the 4:26 finish time. Getting 3rd place in my AG was a nice surprise as well and on top of that qualifying for their Challenge Championship. So basically all positives besides the injuries on the run :). 
• Aftermath: 
• When picking up my bike up from transition after the race I noticed I had a flat! So looks like I got really lucky to not be impacted by that. 
• Guess the next 4 to 6 weeks I will be paying the price of running through that calf injury ☺

Some lessons learned

• Nutrition plan works! (Again, so stick with it!)
• Going for a short jog before the swim start worked, felt like I could get into a good rhythm right away on the swim, where I normally need to start slow and build up. 
• Trust your legs on the run, 4:30 worked, so try pushing for 4:20 next time and see if legs hold on till the end.
• This was my first race of the Challenge Family series, have to say I was pleasantly surprised, certainly worth to look into their races.
• Would love to do this race again! Loved the venue, riding on that track is pretty cool and seeing the pros on Saturday was :o hopefully I get a chance to go back and try to beat my own time.

Result

• Swim   0:28:22     AG-2/29
• T1       0:02:37
• Bike    2:19:19     AG-4/29
• T2       0:01:33
• Run     1:34:03     AG-4/29
• Total   4:25:56     AG-3/29

Tags: Challenge Daytona race report, race report Challenge Daytona, Challenge Daytona 70.3 race report