This was the first race of the season. My proper training started in the last week of January. Here's my TrainingPeaks chart that shows the Chronic Training Load (CTL) since 1/21.
Going into the race, my CTL was 86.1, compared to 86.6 in 2015 just before Oceanside. Roughly similar fitness levels, with higher swim and run fitness this year but lower bike fitness. The comparison has no implications for race performance because the courses are so different and so many other things might have changed over the past 2 years, but it helps me to look at the two numbers to get a sense of how the rest of the year may turn out.
A few days before HITS, I was monitoring the weather forecast as I do for all races. It was not looking good this time but I was not too worried since the forecasts are so flaky that far out. But when the forecast called for rain + thunderstorms even the day before the race, I had reason to worry. I made a run to Sports Basement to buy a space blanket with the idea of wearing a layer of it inside the LG M2 trisuit. I was still praying for good weather, but trying to be prepared for the worst. Turns out I was not prepared well enough.
I was staying at Chablis Inn in Napa, CA, about 50 mins drive from race site. After packet pickup at Putah Canyon Campground on Friday afternoon, we returned to Napa and chilled at the hotel for the rest of the evening, nervously checking the weather every 10 minutes. By 8PM it was pretty clear that we will be seeing some rain and low temperatures the next day.
I couldn't sleep particularly well, but it was better than most races. This was a pretty low key race for me and I was not as stressed out, except about the weather. I woke up at 4AM, made coffee, ate breakfast, took a dump - the usual morning routine - and headed out of the hotel by 5AM. Reached the race site at Putah Canyon at 6AM and headed straight to transition. To everyone's amazement, the sky was clear and just before the start, the sun was even peeking out! Maybe it will be a nice day, we thought, only to be proved so so wrong later. I downed an e-Gel 20 mins before the swim start and headed to the water.
Swim: 30:58
Quite an uneventful swim, which is always a good thing. I managed to draft about 30% of the time, which is better than no drafting at all. Found out at the swim exit that I was swimming next to Li for most of the swim.
T1: 5:17
Super slow T1, attributing it to frozen hands having trouble peeling off the wetsuit. Happy that I partially put on the arm warmers and didn't drop the gloves while running out of transition.
Bike: 3:06:53
This was the most miserable part of the race. The first half went well. I was cold, but wasn't too uncomfortable, thanks to the space blanket inside the trisuit, the arm warmers and the gloves. But at ~ mile 26, it started drizzling and then full on raining, which is when things started going south. It is interesting to look more closely at the 4 quarters of the bike leg to see what effect rain and cold had:
1st quarter - NP: 180W
2nd quarter - NP: 178W
3rd quarter - NP: 179W
4th quarter - NP: 163W
Lack of endurance is definitely NOT the reason for the drastic power drop in the last quarter. The 2 main causes would be:
1. Low on fuel: It was really hard to eat the gels with frozen hands, especially squeezing out all of it.
2. The rain was so piercing cold, that my muscles had started to seize up toward the end. This is not from "hitting the wall", but from sheer cold which was causing my whole body to shiver uncontrollably on the bike!
T2: ~1 HR (!!!)
Longest transition EVER!
- Put on running shoes with frozen hands (5 min)
- Zip up trisuit top which I had unzipped for some reason I can't recall. A kind lady helped me with it eventually (5 min)
- Got coffee to try to warm up, couldn't hold cup with trembling hands, spilt piping hot coffee on arm. The irony of it; got a burn on the arm on a freezing cold day! head out of transition, only to seize up from jaw to toe and be carried to the RV with a space heater (5 min)
- In the RV trying to warm up, teeth chattering the whole time (20 min)
- Stepped out of the RV for attempt #2 at the run, still couldn't stop shivering
- Kind lady lets a bunch of us shivering athletes sit in her car with heater on max and a few thick blankets (15 min)
- Back in transition trying to find something dry to wear, and contemplating whether to go on the run. Wore a cotton T-Shirt I had packed for post-race and headed out on the run! (10 mins)
Run: 1:45:xx
