IRONMAN 70.3 Indian Wells
Race Report - December 3rd, 2023
Wow - what a race! It’s safe to say this may have been one of my favorite triathlons I’ve ever raced.
Starting out with the basics, this race took place in Indian Wells/La Quinta. I really enjoyed the athlete village location & set up; it made me feel very ~rich.~ We actually had quite an adventure finding the parking lot; we were told “dirt lot on the corner of Miles & Washington.” However, there wasn’t one on the corner. We eventually found it after a few loops around on the side street across from the tennis garden. We wished they would’ve given us a map or GPS coordinates.
We then proceeded to walk about 2 miles as staff kept telling us different directions. Finally, we were told to walk back to the lot and use the underground tunnel to access the athlete village. Phew.
Once we were (finally) in, packet pickup was seamless. We had a great time sampling Athletic Brewing and checking out merch while waiting for the 3 PM athlete briefing. This was my first time with a split transition race, so I made sure to take ample notes.
After the athlete briefing (which took a full 45 minutes!) we headed back to begin packing up our transition bags.
We were given a blue T1 bag and a red T2 bag. Needless to say, our bike gear took up much more space than the run gear! I actually had fun packing these and really enjoyed it. In a way, it took out some of the stress of having the “perfect” transition set up. All we’d have to do is dump our crap and go!
Pre-Race Day
Due to the split transition, we spent the day getting ourselves set up for success. We headed out to Lake Cahuilla. This was a lengthy process. We had to check in our bike, hang our T1 bag, and then take our wetsuit to be decontaminated (to protect the lake). After decontamination we hung up our wetsuits. I’m glad we did this early to give them the best chance to dry possible.
After finishing that fun process, we went over to the Tennis Garden to drop off our T2 bag. We tied it to the post but weren’t completely sure if that was the move.
On our way out, I spotted a tent for free braids! I happily took advantage and finished just in time to meet Lionel Sanders, one of my favorite pro triathletes. He was a nice dude who took the time to speak with everyone.
Afterwards, it was off to Olive Garden to carb load, and then for an early bedtime of 6 PM!
Race Day
We woke up at 3 AM to prepare for our tiring day. We got to the parking lot around 3:40 AM and waited in the car for a bit before jumping on the 4:00 AM bus. I’m not sure that we needed to get there this early, although as it was a first time at this race, it couldn’t hurt.
As we were well into our transit, I had the nightmarish realization that I had left my bike bottles in the fridge in the hotel. Cue panic attack - I leave my Infinit nutrition in them! Luckily my friend Chris loaned me a bottle, and I had an extra sample of Infinit in my bike bag I could use. (I modified my nutrition slightly due to this - I ended up grabbing Gatorade + a Maurten gel from each aid station. I didn’t have any issues with this strategy, although I do prefer the Maurten.)
It was really cold when we got to the lake. We did have access to our bikes and T1 bags (previously we had been told we couldn’t access our T1 bags).
We ended up hanging out in the heated changing tents for a while and hearing everyone’s claims of “this is my last 70.3 ever.” We’ll see you next year!
The Swim
We had been prepping for a cold swim in Lake Mead and Willow Beach. We also stood in the water a bit for the morning, but nothing could really prepare us for entering that 56F water.
I kept my head up for the first minute before doing a bit of breast stroke - then I sucked it up, put my damn head in the water, and “got used to it” after about 5 minutes. I saw many athletes give up due to the cold. Yep, it sucked, but it was temporary. It absolutely did take your breath away until you warmed up. A wetsuit & neoprene booties are a must for this race.
I seeded myself in the 47-50 minute area, but next time I will go up. I got stuck behind a lot of people who were faster than me, but their sighting was poor, and it affected my time. I kept getting pushed off course by people who weren’t watching where they were going, which ended up costing me some extra time/distance in the water. I kept a 1:49 pace, which for me I’m really happy about, but I wish it had been closer to a full 1.2 mile (~2,100 yd).
The boomerang course structure wasn’t my favorite, and the “gate” they made us swim through was a bit of a pain.
T1
I was so happy to be out of the water! From here it was simple. They had people ready to unzip wetsuits at the water’s exit, but I handled that myself. After exiting the water, I grabbed my T1 bag and sat down on one of the convenient chairs. A wetsuit stripper (er….peeler) magically appeared and whisked mine off me in seconds. I made a game time decision to put on my wind vest for the bike and forego any other type of warmers, a good choice on my part.
Bike
This was overall a good course. The roads were pretty flat with decent paving jobs. IM did a great job with traffic control; I only saw 3(?) cars on the road with us.
As mentioned, I ended up stopping at each aid station to get Gatorade and a gel.
My goal was to average 15MPH on the bike, and finish in under 4 hours. Happily, I was able to do that! I did have a slow down at a port-a-potty line, but it was worth it.
I actually passed some people on the bike this time which was exciting. I eventually settled into a group where we took turns passing each other.
At mile 40 my triceps were feeling the burn, and I couldn’t wait to be off! Cue mile 53ish when we started to have a climb. Did they really have to put the one & only hill at the end of the course?! It was certainly not what I expected and I was so tired at this point.
I still have a lot of work to do on the bike in the off-season, but I’m feeling more confident than I was before.
T2
I was so glad to be off my bike and ready to run! I headed over to drop my bike and change my shoes. I almost took off running with my wind vest on, but luckily remembered and turned around. Definitely wouldn’t have been worth it to keep running with that!
Run
The run was a 2-loop course. One of these days, I hope for a run that’s 1-loop! I didn’t expect it to be so hot & hilly.
I am still healing from a knee injury, so didn’t want to strain myself too far. I had about 3 1/2 hours left before I’d hit 8 1/2 hours, so goaled myself for a 15 min/mile half marathon. Happily, I met this goal. I utilized interval running for the most part and took advantage of the downhills and any limited shade that was offered.
I ended up rolling down my tri suit and just running with my sports bra. I poured a lot of ice and water! It wasn’t as hot as Tempe (thankfully) but enough to slow me down. I felt pretty good with the modifications I had to make.
I ended up finishing in just under 3:10 which I was happy with - and then it was to the finish line!
I ended up finishing with an 8:11 time which I was absolutely enthused about! Not only was it my 70.3 PR, but I finished in under the 8:30 “official” time limit. And I hadn’t even biked since AZ or ran for a month due to my knee injuries.
All in all, super stoked about this race and I am absolutely going to race again next year. I’m going to keep working on my bike and hopefully can crush this in under 8 hours when I’m fully trained & healed up next year!
Until next time,
Paige