With my
wife being born and raised in Buenos Aires, I had eyed the 70.3 Ironman there
for a while, thinking it would be a cool thing to compete there. Now in 2018,
several things combined to make me sign up for the raise. First of all, the the
early triathlon season had been a disappointment as I came out from the Boston
Marathon really burned out, and had difficulties finding motivation as well as
form for triathlon. The 70.3 in Jönköping was a disappointment in the bike
segment, and although the WC 70.3 in South Africa showed a very good progress
on the swim and run, my biking was still not satisfactory – I still wanted
another go at an IM event to see if I could perform better. This year, the date
had also changed from the normal March date to early November, as the Bariloche
70.3 is now held in February they moved around the agenda in Argentina. The
BsAs 70.3 was also designated the South American Championship, which meant that
they had a lot more slots to the WC 2019 event and qualifying should be easier
in BsAs compared to many other places. Lastly, the new date coincided with the
autumn vacation of the kids, and even tough in the end they didn’t join us on
the trip it made logistics a little easier for us. So, I signed up for the
event and planned on how to extend the season with another two months after the
WC in South Africa.
Training in August had been good, especially I
felt that running was coming back again. In retrospective, I burned myself out
when training for the Boston Marathon in April, and it took me a long time to
come back and find both endurance and speed on the run. The running leg in
South Africa felt great and I did a solid 1:35 run without too much effort, and
after that I managed to continue with a regular weekly long session around
18-19km as well as getting in some good interval sessions at good speeds.
Swimming
also felt great, maintaining some three sessions per week. I also started
feeling more and more comfortable in the 50m pool, and got a real boost of self
confidence when doing some speed tests to check my form. I squeezed in an hour
with my swim coach where we worked with arm positioning and catch, and it seems
to have given some good results tweaking that. In South Africa I did my best IM
70.3 swim so far coming in at 30:30 with a fairly long beach run included, and
another two months of training after that improved the swimming further.
The biking
then, still not feeling great. I have been biking slower than last year, but
training volume in August-October was really good. I managed to do regular
sessions, and even though they didn’t go as fast as last year and I couldn’t
compared watts due to different calibration values on my cranks, I decided to
feel positive on my bike form.
To maximize
my chances on a good time, I did quiet a few improvements on the equipment side
compared to Jönköping and South Africa. New cassette and chain including correcting
and adjusting my rear derailleur that seems to have been off since Jönköping
(where it went into the disc wheel once…), upgraded pulley wheels and a
borrowed Giro tempo helmet was going to improve the bike split. Running wise, I
had invested in a pair of Nike Vaporfly 4%, and during my short test runs they
felt really fast. On top of that, the race course in Buenos Aires is dead flat,
so even if there are quiet a few of turns on the bike (7 U-turns), the course
should be really fast – no hills on the run either! The goal was set at a sub
4:40 time, with 4:35 being considered a great achievement (35 + 2:25 + 1:35
including transitions). More importantly, I wanted to come top-10 in my age
group (45-49), which would be a great achievement in itself and also secure a
place to 70.3 WC in Nice in 2019.
Having the
competition on the other side of the world meant some travel preparations as
well. In the end it was just me and my wife that was going to travel, and we
would stay with my mother-in-law who lives in central Buenos Aires. We found
good tickets with Lufthansa, and even managed to avoid paying extra fee for
bringing the bike with me (€250 per direction!) by together just bringing two
suite cases (where the bike was one…) and stuffing all race gear in the hand
luggage and minimizing clothing to a minimum. I was quiet nervous bringing the
bike with me as the bike case was packed fairly tight, and I was afraid that
the disc wheel would get cracked/punctured if there was any kind of mishandling
of the bike case. In the end, everything arrived complete and whole, and we
were very pleasantly surprised how easy the arrival process went in Buenos
Aires – luggage came out very fast, it was easy to get a taxi (a remis) from
the airport with room for the bike, and we were out of the airport one hour
after touchdown. The trip into central Buenos Aires also went smooth despite
being a Monday morning, and two hours after landing we were home.
Arriving to Buenos Aires
Disc wheel arrived intact...relief!!!
The competition
is held in Nordelta, which is a posh suburb in the North, some 45 minutes from
downtown that is also a gated community (hence no access…), so to train where
the racing venue is was not an option. Bike wise I had identified a short bike
track close to our place, the KDT bike course, and I had seen quiet a few
Instagram posts from people that had trained here. Not very exciting, just a
1km round track, but good enough for a session during the week before the race
to check out the bike and bike form/wattage on a flat course. Running would not
be a problem, there are some nice parks to run in Palermo where we lived. A
pool for swimming was trickier – there are plenty of sport clubs with a pool,
but almost all of them require memberships and medical exams in order to get
access, so that was not an option. First I found a 20m pool not far from home
that would let me in a few times. The place was honestly a dump, but I just put
on a smile and spent an hour to keep up the technique and swim form in the week
prior to the race. Luckily I also got a tipå of a different place – Natatorio Pedro
Gioitia – that had a 25m pool with 6 lanes. They let me come by and swim, and wven
were kind to indicate a good time during the day when there was less people, so
I had a lane for my own during an hour. Both pools were really hot – 30C in the
water – so the sessions were kind of tough from that perspective.
Not so nice place...
Nice place - Natatorio Pedro Goitia!
I also did a
final bike and swim at the race venue at the day of the gear check-in, to get a
feeling of the race track. Overall, I managed to train regularly the last week,
doing a proper tapering with a little lower volume and less intensity. Going
into the race weekend I felt really confident. Apart from some tapering
sessions, the rest of the week was spent relaxing and resting, some selected
tourist trips, eating good food and having some nice wines as well as catching
up with some old friends. Not having to take care of neither children not house
made us feel we had a lot of time on our hands to just take it easy.
Running in Palermo
Biking on the KDT ahead of the race
Streets of Buenos Aires
Organizationally
regarding the race, I tried to be prepared to not expect too much as this was
Argentina after all. There was no information sent earlier than one week from
competition from the local IM organization, and the web page had not been
updated with correct information since last year’s competition. The bike course
was set just a week before race day, and this year included quiet a few more
turns compared to previous years. Quiet a few complaints of this on social
media, but in the end it ended up OK with not too crowded sections except for
some of the roundabouts where it was tight with space. Unfortunately, the run
course was a again a one loop course, so the supporter crew had very few
opportunities to see you compete and cheer. I also noticed that they changed
venues for the race briefing and BIB pick-up just ahead of the race, so instead
of having it at a hotel in the race area, it was move to Tigre, which is
located some 5km from the racing area. For me it didn’t matter as much as I
anyway lived far away, but I guess it was a let-down for people coming from
abroad staying at the hotel, and it also took away a little of the “Ironman
atmosphere” where everywhere you look you see athletes and IM related things.
Registration and Expo
The one and only M-Dot!
Race briefing
As the race was 45 minutes from where I lived, we had to set-up logistics
carefully. I picked up my race kit and did the race briefing on Friday and then
bike check-in was on Saturday at 5pm, so here we managed to get a car ride with
a friend earlier in the day with the bike, and then I took the opportunity to
swim in the lake to check out the water as well as do a final test ride of the
bike before checking in the bike and race bags. The swim arena was only open
for 1.5 hours on Saturday, so it was tight to match the schedule and make it on
time – I managed to squeeze in 400m swimming before they threw us out of the
water. Check-in went really smooth although they were still constructing parts
of the arena and visitor’s area, giving a little chaotic feeling. As always I
looked around the transition area to understand clearly the flow of movement
that was to be expected on race day. Transition distances were OK, 100 m for T1
up to the racks and then approximately a 300 m run with the bike until you get
started on the bike. All set for race day!
Final test of the bike. Got a new tri-suite at the expo, good for training!
Racking up the bike
On race
day, the transition area closed at 6:45am, and first start for age groups was
at 7:20am, so the plan was to be on site at 6am. This means as always an early
morning… Arriving to the venue there was a lot of cars and some chaos for
parking, so I got dropped off at the transition area while my wife drove off to
find parking and take the shuttle bus back. Put on my shoes and energy on the
bike and then I decided to take care of toilet business immediately. Good move,
there were very few portaloo’s, and by the time I made it, they were already
overfilled and flowing over. Not so nice… Dropped off running shoes and gels,
and by now it was already 6:45 and time to put on the wet suite. I was late to
the start line, but found a way to cut the line and get into the right section
of swimmers. Although I normally swim right around 30 minutes, I decided to put
myself in the <25 minutes section. Mainly because looking at the people
around me, I understood that most of them were overestimating their abilities,
or just as me wanted to start up front. I took a place in the middle, so
started around position 75 (rolling start, 5 persons every 5 seconds), and this
was just perfect pace wise.
Last check of my stuff, 6am.
Transition area early in the morning...
The swim course awaits - nice flat waters!
Suiting up, almost forgot to put on sun block...
Time to get
going! As always I started too fast, but managed to slow down and catch my
breath after about 200m and get into a good rhythm. Sun was shining, water was
flat but muddy, found some feet to follow and didn’t panic when I banged in to
people or got a foot in my face - at time the swim felt quiet crowded, and I think part of the reason was the lack of visibility, you couldn't see anything beyond your own hand. Plenty of bouys to follow so sighting was easy, and when I started
to get tired in my arms after about 1000m I knew I was doing a good pace. Got
out of the water after 30:30 minutes, great for being a sweet water swim with
some extra distance (measured 1.985 meters) – happy with that!
On my way, somewhere there in the middle!!!
In T1 I
decided this time to push the pace a little, so I ran faster than normal and it felt good. I
skipped the wet suite stripping as it was too soon after the swim exit and I
had barely got out my arms by then, and it didn’t look so nice laying down
where they had placed their mats. The T1 run started on grass into the transition
area, and then asphalt through the whole section (about 400m in total). Quick
transition as I only needed to grab the helmet and two gels from my bag.
Getting out of T1
The biking
was a two course loop, with 1/3 within the gated community of Nordelta and the remaining
part on the streets and highways in the neighbourhood. About half the section had great asphalt, and
the rest acceptable. I noticed quiet a few potholes that weren't marked and quiet an amount of gravel on the asphalt on some sections, but I managed to avoid punctures and accidents. I read comments afterwards that there had been quiet a few and that for the people further back in the field the bike part was very crowded... No hills except one bridge to cross, but there were quiet
a few roundabouts that were tight, plus in total 7 U-turns and a few sections
of tight corners slowing down the pace. Apart from that, you could ride in aero
position all of the time with a good
pace. Winds were light, but sun was starting to bake, it was going to be way warmer
than the promised 22-23C…
The first loop was great with very few people out and I could ride my own race without having to worry about drafting. However 2nd lap was different. Not only did it mean passing the slow starters who were on their first lap, but by now groups were also forming, and it was sad to see that many people really did active drafting. Not the unintentional one being a little too close or going on the limit, but sucking wheel constantly. I tried to do my best to keep a respectable distance, more than anything to finish the race knowing I didn’t cheat.
The fairly crowded 2nd lap also meant that the aid stations filled up, so it was difficult to catch bottles unless you were willing to slow down considerably. I had my energy on my bike, but I wanted some water to cool down the body and rinse my mouth. In the end I got water the few times I could as I prioritized to keep the pace even, and that was good enough for me - it also meant I could shake off a few drafters in each aid station. Finsihed the bike in 2:24 hrs, a few minutes more than planned. Again I didn’t feel I got out all I could on the bike, still missing that great bike feeling…
Additionally, I noticed when looking through the results after the race that there was something funny with the bike splits on some of the competitors. Apparently there was a large group (17 people) who exited the swim together (around 27:30-28:30 swim time) that cut the first bike lap with 5km in a roundabout, most likely unintentionally (I noticed one person actually made up for the missed section on the 2nd lap), so they got bike splits of around 8 minutes too short (and the total race time as well). Seven of the athletes seem to have understood their misstake when going out on the 2nd lap and made up the distance by riding the missed part one more time, but ten of them did not. I have advised the IM organization of this, it remains to be seen if they will correct the results accordingly, i.e. disqualify them. I hope none of the ones who knew they biked short (only 85km) accepted places to Nice, and I wonder if the third placer in his AG that didn't compensate the distance went up on the podium...
Getting out on the bike!
The first loop was great with very few people out and I could ride my own race without having to worry about drafting. However 2nd lap was different. Not only did it mean passing the slow starters who were on their first lap, but by now groups were also forming, and it was sad to see that many people really did active drafting. Not the unintentional one being a little too close or going on the limit, but sucking wheel constantly. I tried to do my best to keep a respectable distance, more than anything to finish the race knowing I didn’t cheat.
Cruising along in average 38 km/hr, 202W...
The fairly crowded 2nd lap also meant that the aid stations filled up, so it was difficult to catch bottles unless you were willing to slow down considerably. I had my energy on my bike, but I wanted some water to cool down the body and rinse my mouth. In the end I got water the few times I could as I prioritized to keep the pace even, and that was good enough for me - it also meant I could shake off a few drafters in each aid station. Finsihed the bike in 2:24 hrs, a few minutes more than planned. Again I didn’t feel I got out all I could on the bike, still missing that great bike feeling…
Additionally, I noticed when looking through the results after the race that there was something funny with the bike splits on some of the competitors. Apparently there was a large group (17 people) who exited the swim together (around 27:30-28:30 swim time) that cut the first bike lap with 5km in a roundabout, most likely unintentionally (I noticed one person actually made up for the missed section on the 2nd lap), so they got bike splits of around 8 minutes too short (and the total race time as well). Seven of the athletes seem to have understood their misstake when going out on the 2nd lap and made up the distance by riding the missed part one more time, but ten of them did not. I have advised the IM organization of this, it remains to be seen if they will correct the results accordingly, i.e. disqualify them. I hope none of the ones who knew they biked short (only 85km) accepted places to Nice, and I wonder if the third placer in his AG that didn't compensate the distance went up on the podium...
Example of one person who apparently only biked 85km and where you can see the cut corner in the roundabout on the first lap. He came third in his AG in the preliminar results.
T2 went
fast, downed a little more of Maurten liquid, and as I hadn’t finished it all
off I made sure to take an extra gel. By now I felt that it was really warm…
Always great to arrive to T2 to an almost empty bike rack...
Starting the run with hands full of Maurten gels...
Out on the
run it was fairly empty, a feeling I have not had before, and I took it as a
sign that I was fairly high up in the field. Right from start I started passing
people, and although it felt like I was half-walking, I kept an easy 4:25 pace
the first 5-10km. It was really warm (27-29C…), so in every aid station I
grabbed as much water as I could and poured over my head and body to cool down,
plus a mouthful to drink as well. After every aid station I kind of picked up
the pace a little again as I felt refreshed, but that feeling didn’t stay for
long. I heard afterwards that they had actually later on run out of water, so the late runners were left without water in the aid stations. Hard to fathom how that would feel...
Winding around the houses, yacht ports and the streets of Nordelta,
kilometer by kilometer passed in a steady pace – the course here was also dead
flat with just one small bridge to pass over. However at km 13 it felt like the
heat caught up with me, pace was dropping to around 4:45ish and I just couldn’t
run faster. The last turn around was at km 15, and then by km 17 the final
stretch back started. As I wasn’t too tired in my legs, I managed here to pick
up the pace slightly, but a 4km “sprint” was too long, and the pace dropped
again the last 1.5km. By now – as always – it is just the thought of finishing that
keeps you going, and it was a relief to arrive at the end. Picked up our
Swedish flag that we had brought with us and ran happily through the end
portal. The first Swede to cross the finish line (and only one…).
Out on the run course
Crossing the finish line!
A final 1:34
run was again a few minutes slower than planned, but it gave me an end time of
4:36:36 and a new PB mainly thanks to the shorter transitions compared to
Ruegen in 2017. 6th place in my AG (5th if one person who
cut the bike course is taken out) – securing a slot to IM 70.3 WC 2019 in Nice
and AWA Gold status for 2019 – and an overall 108th place (98th if the bike cutters are removed…). More than happy with that! Also great to after the race chat with a few fellow triathletes, asking about their race and experience. Extra fun to run into Ariel Bender who I met in South Africa at the WC, and who also qualified for Nice - so we'll meet again in the same age group there!
Always great to be a finisher!
My Argentinian support team
Ready for Nice 2019!
Now time
for some rest and easy training the remainder of November, and then we’ll see
how we start up the training and planning for 2019!
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