HOW I RACED IRONMAN 70.3 VENICE 2023

Gordon Richmond a Peak XV athlete and NHS Knight in shining armour tells his story of racing Ironman Venice 70.3 2023

Ironman 70.3 Venice Goals

I signed up to Ironman 70.3 Venice-Jesolo – a flat fast course with the goal of beating my 70.3 PB (4hrs 57mins @ sundowner triathlon 2019 – also flat and fast).

To help me achieve my goals I did some Googling and found Peak XV Tri Coaching. I wanted some help and needed a coach that I could work with. Thats how I met coaches Garrie Prosser and Quin Beech. And so my journey continued.

Location Lido di Jesolo Venice

Its a lovely location at Lido di Jesolo just outside Venice.

Registration is on the beach under the lighthouse which is also where the swim start and the finish line are located. The single transition is roughly 0.75 miles away from registration. Its a slightly strange transition so taking a bit of time familiarising myself with the entries/exits when I racked my bike was definitely a good move!

Race day breakfast

Race day, up at 5:30, usual breakfast, wander to transition, pumped up tyres, nutrition onto bike, etc and then to the swim start.

Absolutely beautiful morning, race conditions perfect, sun shining, a very light breeze and the Adriatic Sea looked lovely and calm, water temperature 16.5 degrees.

I always have pizza the night before then morning of the race granola and yoghurt with an espresso.

Fuelling on the bike is a gel every 30mins washed down with some water. On the run I stick to the same gels but roughly every 25mins, again washed down with water and treat myself to the odd cola at some of the aid stations!

Ironman 70.3 Venice sea swim

Usual self seeding that Ironman do, I selected the 35-40min group as I was aiming for 37-38mins. Race kicked off spot on 7:30, although 6 athletes entering the water every 10secs meant I didn’t start until about 8:20!

The swim is a single loop with 4 turn buoys. Out to the 1st buoy turn left, long straight, 2 left turns in quick succession before a right turn takes you back to shore. I started well, out to the 1st turn I felt good, however when I took the turn I suddenly felt cold on my chest and struggled with my breathing, I eased off a little and after a few minutes managed to compose myself and settled back into it, gradually I started to feel good again so started to push a bit more, before I knew it I was at the 2nd turn buoy, then the 3rd and 4th and heading back to shore.

Out the water official time 36:12, fantastic, a PB, it’s a 300m run to transition so I stripped the wetsuit off down to my waist on the run and then up and over the bridge into transition. Navigated transition no problems then out under the bridge and onto the bike.

70.3 Venice bike route

The 70.3 Venice bike route is completely flat other than 4/5 bridges, there are a few tight u turns and the surface isn’t the best at times but overall a very fast course. I stuck to my pacing and nutrition plans and utilised the aid stations to stay hydrated. My only gripe with the race is the water is handed out in soft plastic bottles rather than bike specific water bottles, I was ok but these were bouncing out of people’s bottle cages all over the place. Target on the bike was 2:30:00 and I finished it in 2:29:44 so was spot on. Navigated T2 no problems, change was quick but had to nip to the loo so took longer than I’d have hoped.

Then back over the bridge and onto the run course.

3 x 7km loops of the 70.3 Venice run course

The run is 3 x 7km loops with plenty of aid stations. The 1st half of each loop is along a shaded street but the 2nd half is along the promenade which is exposed and offered no shelter from the sunshine whatsoever! Again I stuck to my nutrition plan and made sure I stayed hydrated. Aim for the run was sub 1:30:00, pacing plan was 1:30:00 pace the 1st 2 laps then empty the tank on the last if I had anything left, I did just that and finished with an official run time of 1:27:05!

Goals achieved absolutely delighted 

My goals achieved. Overall 4:44:05, absolutely delighted, a PB by almost 13minutes!

I’d recommend this race, lovely place and the locals really seemed to embrace it. Scenery is nice on the bike and the atmosphere was great on the run. There’s plenty of bars and restaurants and prices are reasonable.

Finally a shout out to Peak XV tri coaching,. Quin is very supportive. He messaged me congrats after the race and asked if I wanted to do this ‘short’ report. Above all thanks to Garrie Prosser. I contacted him because my performance had well and truly plateaued. Now through working with him and his support I’ve knocked 13mins off my 70.3 PB!

My 2023 Ironman season

70.3 was the first race of my 2023 Ironman season.  Next target is Ironman 70.3 Nice at the end of June. Later, in September I have Ironman Wales. I was meant to do this event last year. Unfortunately I tested positive for COVID day before the race so they let me defer!

Peak XV Tri Coaching  Ironman Wales September 2023

Hi this is Coach Quin. Wow Gordon, huge congrats on a fabulous race. Your quite the athlete and all your hard work following Coach Garry’s training has paid huge dividends. Its great to have you as part of our Peak XV Tri Coaching team racing Ironman Wales in September 2023.

There are 4 Peak XV athletes racing Ironman Wales 2023. You are racing, coached by Garry Prosser and also Peak XV athletes Jonny Walsh and Matt Reith coached by me. The last ‘Peaker’ racing is yours truly, the old goat, that is me.

Does anyone else want to join our amazing dream team and wear the ‘Peakers’ kit ? I hope so ! We would very much like to help you with your triathlon ambitions. For Ironman Wales 2023 we are all following customised training plans. We adapt as needed as we move forward towards our personal goals. We use Training Peaks to communicate and monitor the data but there is so much more to training for an Ironman.

Ironman Wales 2023 recce weekend

We are also holding an Ironman Wales 2023 recce weekend. This will be an opportunity to sea swim at Tenby, and ride the Ironman Wales 2023 bike route. You can see for yourself the hills at Wiseman’s Bridge and Heartbreak Hill. We will also run 1 lap of the Ironman Wales 2023 run course and follow its course around the medieval town of Tenby up and down.

 

If you would like to find out more about how our Coaches can support you in achieving your triathlon goals please get in touch using  the contact form which can be found on our home page here