Matt Bevil
Boulder 70.3 Race Report (Aug. 4, 2018)
OVERALL PLACE: 1st Overall Amateur, 18th including Pro Men/Women
PLACE IN AGE GROUP/NUMBER OF RACERS IN YOUR AGE GROUP: 1/157
SPLITS: Swim 00:27:17
Bike 02:15:27
Run 01:27:06
Overall 4:14:38
Given that it was my second shot at a 70.3 event, I went into the race trying to respect the distance and stay patient. I started the swim towards the front, lost contact with the top group early on, but swam my own pace and stayed with 2 others for the majority of the swim. I began to feel better as the swim went on, being passed by only a few athletes during the second half of the swim. Overall, I felt like I was in a good place and wasn’t too worried about giving up a couple minutes to others at this point.
“Find YOUR rhythm”
Two things happened at the start of the bike that were not ideal: 1) I unknowingly lost a bottle of calories while running out of transition, and 2) my bike power meter failed to connect. Ever since Eric started coaching me last summer, he’s always told me to “find my own rhythm” and as soon as I saw that no power was coming through, I reminded myself of his words and just focused on how I was feeling. I can recall what he told me prior to my first 70.3 race at St. George earlier this year: “There will be parts of the bike where you’re going to think that you’re going too easy and there will be parts where it’s going to be hard, and you may think that there’s no way you can hold this.” I kept that in mind as well and tried to find an effort that fit that description. For the most part I felt great on the bike. Legs were just turning over the pedals easily and the course was fast, so looking at the speed every now and again just gave me more confidence. Within the first 10 miles on the bike, I passed a number of competitors and still felt relaxed and in control. Once I progressed into the main part of the bike course, not too many people were coming back to me and I was only passed by one athlete midway through the course. I’ve historically not been as strong on the bike compared to my competition, but during this race I was at least holding my own. The rest of ride I mostly just managed my body and made sure to grab a water bottle at each aid station to pour on myself to stay cool, especially towards the end of the ride.
Getting off the bike, I felt okay. Not great, but not horrible. However, I quickly realized that I needed to dial back my goal watts for the run (shout out to my employer and makers of the first running power meter, STRYD, for their continued support of my racing). I knew going into the race that I could hold 300-310 watts for the run if I hit my target output on the bike, but because I didn’t have power on the bike and likely went above my bike power target, I ultimately had to dial back my run target.
First lap of the run was tough (not to mention hot!) but I settled into a good rhythm and even caught the handful of guys in front of me by the end of first lap. Friends and teammates were all along the course, letting me know I just needed to “hold it together” during the second lap. Passing by EK after the start of the second lap, he told me that everyone else was slowing down too, which made feel slightly more relaxed. I made sure to load up at each aid station with as much ice and water as I could. I hit a rough patch during miles 10 -12 and needed to walk the last aid station (in addition to the previous couple). Around this point, I heard that second place was closing in on me and that I really needed to keep it moving. With a mile left, I was able to get back into a rhythm but when I tried to lift the effort a little more, both my hamstrings cramped up and forced me stop and stretch. Twice. Each time I stopped, I was just waiting for the second place guy to sprint by me. Happily though, I made it down the finish shoot without any more cramps and without any sign of second place. I am extremely grateful for the support along the course from friends and family and for the support of Boulder Racing and our awesome sponsors. Just another challenging but fun day of racing in our backyard.
