Ironman 70.3 Ecuador Race Report

The Ironman 70.3 Ecuador took place in Manta on July 7, 2019. I travelled with my parents, who flew down from the US, to Manta, Ecuador for the race. After getting pretty sick a month before last year’s race, which threw off my race preparations, I was ready to go full speed this year.

At the Race Expo

I woke up race morning and actually slept pretty well, better than most races it seemed. After eating breakfast (2 muffins, 2 bananas and a cup of coffee), I headed down to transition early to get my stuff ready. I was pretty early, which was fine, and had everything set up at my bike without a need to rush. My bike rack position was next to the same Colombian guy from the previous year so we joked around a little bit in transition. As I was leaving transition, I did notice that one of the spaces for a Chilean guy did not have a bike. Things were looking up as I knew he was a good racer in my age group but he wasn't there. I stopped back at our AirBnb condo for a final pit stop before walking up to the Swim start.

SWIM: My age group swim wave started at 6:56 AM. It actually worked out really well as there were less waves ahead of me, only the women's groups and the older men. Off I went into the water and got a pretty clean start, no bumping or kicking with other swimmers. I noticed a group of five or so guys headed out quickly and as I looked behind, the rest of my wave was behind me and the gaps were getting bigger. Kind of in a no man's land but I was fine with not having other swimmers around me. I felt like I had a pretty good swim and passed many swimmers from the earlier waves. The swim did seem to take longer than I had anticipated although I thought that I had a current pushing me along. When I finally reached the Swim Exit,  I saw my time was 40:10 and I thought something was off as my goal was to swim under 35 minutes, which I had done the previous year. Fortunately, there must have been something with the tide that morning as most other athlete swim times were slower and I was the fifth fastest swimmer in my age group.

Exiting the Swim in the Pacific Ocean

T1: I got through the transition quickly (3:10) as my bike was in the last row so it was easy to find and near the Bike Exit. Definitely a nice perk of being an Ironman All-World Athlete is having a better bike rack position.

BIKE: I wanted to get off to a good start on the bike as I remembered there was a fast downhill at Mile 18. As I started riding, I saw my friend Monsalve from Cuenca. He's a great swimmer and started in a later swim wave than I did and must have passed at some point in the ocean. I know he's a pretty good biker too so we stuck together for almost the entire ride, which I thought was good for me to pace off him. I was able to reach the downhill portion in well below an hour and was speeding down towards the turnaround in Crucita. My first hour, I rode 21.4 mph. I did pass one guy in my age group on the road into Crucita so that was a good feeling. As we headed back, I was concerned about going back up the hill again. I did feel like I got over it pretty good this time and took on some rolling hills. I was still riding over 20 mph after two hours so I was near where I wanted to be and I knew the course would flatten out heading into Manta. Unfortunately, around Mile 50, a guy in my age group blew by me like I was standing still. I didn't try to chase him, I just stuck to my race plan. He ended up being the fastest biker in our age group by a wide margin. Another guy in my age group passed me around Mile 54, but looking at his bigger body type, I didn't feel he was a threat in the run. I was able to complete the bike portion in 2:43:09, ahead of my goal of 2:45:00 and was the sixth fastest in my age group. As I was finishing my bike ride, the sun broke through the clouds and the temperature and humidity began to rise quickly.

Do you see the size of the fish that jumped out of the water behind me?

My buddy Monsalve from Cuenca and I near the turnaround in Crucita.

All serious on the bike as the sun started to come out.

Heading into T2

T2: I dismounted my bike perfectly and got through T2 very quickly (1:40). I was hoping to be under 5 minutes for both transitions and I was able to achieve that goal.

RUN: As I started out on my run, my legs were pretty tight from the long bike ride and my thighs began to cramp from the heat in the second mile. I had already passed the guy who passed me late in the bike ride but he passed me again. After stopping to massage out the cramp, I was able to push through and the cramps eased a little bit for the next few miles. I passed that guy again right after the first turnaround. I was actually in third place at that moment and the other guy who passed me on the bike wasn't too far ahead of me either. However, with the cramping, heat, and humidity, I adapted my strategy to walk through the aid stations, drink lots of Gatorade, put water over my head and then put ice in my cap on my head. The cramping would continue at various points on the course but I only had to stop again once when my hamstring cramped at Mile 11. As I made the final turnaround, I would be passed by another athlete in my age group. He was running really well and I didn't want to chance any bad cramps so I continued to stick to my race plan and listen to my body. Unfortunately, I was not able to catch the two guys who passed me and the guy who won the age group was always in front of me, which I kind of figured. I completed the half-marathon in 1:48:53 and headed straight to the massage tent after the race.

 

Starting out the run in a good mood. (Not for long)

Trying to chase down my friend Eli Bravo (not really). Ecuador's female triathlete participant in the Rio Olympics and probably in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo. I was starting my first lap, she was on her second lap. 

Hoping to finish the run soon. 

Done at last. Not as fun as last year but a pretty good race overall. 

My total time of 5:16:59 was good enough for a fourth place finish within the 50-54 year old age group and in the top 10% of all finishers of the race so I was pleased with my result. I went to the awards ceremony and received a trophy for fourth place. I'm not really a fan of five podium slots but since I was fourth, it now seems like a good deal for me. I nervously waited for the World Championship slot allocation. My age group got two slots so maybe there was a chance from the roll down that I could get a slot to the World Championship. Unfortunately, my dream of going to the 2020 Ironman World Championship in New Zealand was not meant to be as the top two finishers claimed the slots. The second place guy beat me by 1:50 so that's how short I came up. I will give it another try at the Ironman 70.3 Cartagena in early December against probably a tougher field of athletes. I guess with Ironman, "Anything is Possible"

 

Posing at the Finish.

50-54 year old Age Group award ceremony. 

My wooden trophy for my fourth place finish in my Age Group.