IM 70.3 Staffordshire is a race that many #TeamTCUK athletes have taken part in over the last few years. Long-standing #TeamTCUK athlete and Staffs local, Micah Garland, battled the soaring temperatures at this year's race and shares his experience and tips. He was very happy not to drown on the swim despite bumping into one of the 8ft x 8ft buoys and really doesn't recommend adjusting your bike seat the day before a race! Over to Micah...

Pre-race

How were your preparations leading up to the race?

Staffs 70.3 followed four weeks after Outlaw Half and it was good to race Outlaw and iron out the nerves and race issues prior to Staffs after not racing since July 2019.

I’d planned Friday and Saturday well so the week went much better than the bag of spanners that I was pre Outlaw Half!

I had a very sore right glute on Monday which by Friday had calmed down especially after Friday’s physio. In the cold light of day this was never an issue however early in the week my race was ruined, I’m an idiot.

I had a great swim on Thursday and an equally good swim on Saturday, mainly due to the sunshine and it was good to briefly see TCUK’s Tim and Hannah as I left the swim area.

The only real (minor) issue I had was the saddle bolt was a little loose on my bike on Saturday morning. Tightening this adjusted the tilt on my saddle by 0.00001mm which on Saturday morning was the end of the world added to which my trisuit was still rubbing me and my plan of wearing a second pair of shorts over my trisuit in Sunday’s race was a non-starter due to the tropical heat forecast for Sunday.

Did you feel that your training had prepared you sufficiently?

Training had gone really well despite the world imploding. Considering swimming had not been an option for many months I had managed to get my swim back to its usually low level in no time at all.

Post Outlaw’s focus was on recovery and keeping, not building on the form I had. Without Matt’s guidance and him pulling back on the reins, I’d have trained harder and  longer between the two events and gone into Staffs unrecovered and tired.

Swim

Time: 35 minutes

How did it go?

Sunday morning the race was a lot quieter than usual. I got there with 60 minutes to go and had an unhurried time getting my bike ready, getting the wetsuit on etc.

I seeded myself towards the back of the 30 minutes swim group and headed for the pontoon. I was revved up for this and eager to get in the water which was great if not a bit unusual for me! The swim went without a hitch apart from swimming straight into one of the massive turn buoys. In my defence they are only 8 foot round and 8 foot tall!

What were the positives/negatives?

Didn’t drown.

T1

Time: 5 minutes

How did it go?

For 2021 T1 had the usual tent that you ran through to collect your bag and then an open air area with benches for you to change at before passing your blue bag to one of the fantastic volunteers.

What were the positives/negatives?

I do faff about a bit in transition, but I did find my bag first time of looking.

Bike

Time: 2:31:00

How did it go?

I absolutely tore up the first miles through the lane, possibly pushing too hard which resulted in me cramping up later on. Once the road opened up, I throttled back a little but was still pushing some good numbers. When I was going fast enough on the longer descents, I freewheeled a little to get the legs back and on the climbs I spun the gears near threshold and then pushed on over the top which enabled me to output less watts than 2019 but my time was the same. Like everyone I struggled over the Chase with the two longer climbs, I didn’t feel great here.

My right hamstring started to cramp with 6 miles to go, so I eased off and managed this into T2. My mindset was that it would be interesting to see how the run went with the heat and cramp and at no point did the world stop turning, which was a result  

What were the positives/negatives?

Moving forward if Wales was happening this year, I would need to work on my hill power and climbing technique as this is a small chink in the armour.

Fuelling-wise I had a litre of PH electrolytes with breakfast/before starting the race, a gel before the swim, gel in T1, 1.2L of SIS Beta Rocket Fuel on the bike plus 2 no. salt tablets and a caffeine gel to focus me at 60 and 120 minutes into the ride. Despite this I still cramped but the fuel I took on probably saved my race.

T2

Time: 5 minutes

How did it go?

Apart from my very pro dismount, T2 wasn’t pretty as I struggled to shuffle my way to my bag due to the cramp in my hamstring but I did manage to keep moving forward. I remember Matt telling me to keep my form and it should come back, fingers crossed.

What were the positives/negatives?

Cramping legs aren’t good, but there weren’t many bikes in T2.

Run

Time: 1:40

How did it go?

I shuffled out of T2 and got into my stride, passing someone in the first few 100ms who looked really pro, fit and quick. This was unexpected considering how my legs felt. Within the first half mile, two athletes came past me like I was standing still. There’s no issue with been passed by a better athlete but they were moving and looked impressive. Less than a mile later the first athlete to pass me was walking and not that much further up the road the second was sitting at the side of the road. They were both OK and finished. Watching this and having cramp now in both quads I realised that the quickest route from Start to Finish in the heat was to not chase a superfast time and focus on being able run the entire 13.1 mile, to not walk and to not blow up.

I didn’t use the drink flask in my pocket as I did at Outlaw and focused on a drink at every feed station and water down the back of my neck added to which I took two gels in the first hour. I was in and out of the feeds quickly making up time as I did. I had a few instances of bad cramp but the old counting from 1-20 in your head trick over and over and over again or staring at the next runner who was up the road really helped and then finally when all else failed gritting my teeth and swearing under my breath got me through it.

I powered into the bottom of the castle, walked the mid-section and then ran the top third, saying hello to the Knights of the Castle at the top and then running back down the hill which was a really quick option even if the downhill destroyed my quads.

What were the positives/negatives?

Supporters and volunteers were great all day especially considering the heat!

At times I was moving really well on the run and I did once or twice forget that I was doing this for fun. I managed the cramp well considering how it could have all gone horribly wrong and I was only 6 minutes slower on the run in the heat this year compared to 2019 – chuffed!

Post-race

How have you recovered from the race? Now that it’s done, what are your future race plans?

It’s now Wednesday and I am still broken. Friday before the race it was announced that IM Wales is once again cancelled this year so that leaves me without a race for the end of the year. I will get this week out of the way and then have a week’s holiday in Tenby recce’ing the IM Wales course, which is great timing following Friday’s announcement. I will then decide what race to do in September; Outlaw X looks favourite at the moment.

Race review

If you wish to, please write your race review telling us a bit about the venue, location, your tips for others who might be thinking about doing the same race – would you recommend it, would you race it again? And any other information you’d like your fellow #TeamTCUK athletes to know.

Staffs 70.3 is a local event for me as I only live 5 miles from the swim start and regularly splash about at the swim venue every Thursday and Saturday.

Split transition can be a pain but with T2 next to registration you can hang up your red bag when you register from 1300hrs on Friday which does reduce the number of journeys you need to make. This year you had to preselect your registration and bike racking times to ensure that numbers at the venue were kept to a safe level. This was, however, not enforced on the day

Official parking at the swim venue is a good walk from T1 so parking around the back of the Chasewater close to where the buses drop you off makes life a lot easier, local hack!

The bike course is rolling with a couple of good hills towards the back end of the route. The first 5 miles are through twisty narrow lanes with some of the road surfaces being more suited to mountain bikes than race-bred TT bikes!

The run is two laps of a town centre course which, even in these times we currently find ourselves in, is very well supported. Highest point of the course is a small loop around Stafford Castle which has a 1:5 climb up to which stings a little but it’s then downhill all the way to the finish line in the middle of the town centre.