Ironman 70.3 Racine - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Great start. Got in a pretty good grove drafting. Probably should have pushed a little harder once I hit halfway. But felt strong nonetheless. Ended up pushing around the girl I had been drafting pretty easily. Swam until my hands touched the bottom. Not breathing hard.

Remember to get sunscreen!

My intention was to keep my HR in zone 2. Strange for me, but what I felt I needed to do given the extreme heat.
I realized that I forgot to put HEED in one of my rear water bottles, so I had to adjust my liquid gameplan. I focused on finishing the HEED in my aero bottle first so it would be completely empty to refill with Perform. Then I worked on drinking out of one of the rear water bottles.
Managed to remember to eat Perpetuem Solid and 2 Salt tabs right out of transition. Tab was REALLY hard to get down, since I hadn't had much to drink for the last hour during prerace and swimming.
Decided to take another salt tab at about 45 minutes, felt my quads tightening.
Grabbed a Perform bottle at the first water stop and gel. (about 18 miles) got about half the gel down (it was banana flavor and warm). BLAH
Another Perpetuem tab and 2 salt sticks at 1 hour.
Snuck in one more salt tab at 1.5 hrs. Legs feeling good, but I was sweating at a fairly good rate and was afraid of cramping.
About mile 30 I reached back for more water and realized that my rear bottle holder was loose. Reached with my other hand to figure out what was going on and the whole things came off into my hand. Well, I tossed it with the intention of going back to pick it up ($70 worth of gear, it wasn't there when we went back). Grrr!
So now I was down to just my aero bottle (only holding 20oz at a time.)
mile 34 water stop, grabbed a perform. Filled up the aero bottle. Grabbed a water bottle chugged as much as I could and sprayed some over my head. Then had to toss before the end of the aid station.
Last water stop was before the 50 mile mark. I was able to grab another perform and gel.
Somehow I downed 4 perpetuem tabs and about 10 salt tabs throughout the ride. I don't rememeber at what point I ate what. I just knew that my quads were feeling tight and I didn't want to go into a cramp.
The final decend to transition I stood up to stretch and my left quad completely locked.
I feel like I could have pushed harder on the bike, but was afraid of the horrer stories of last year about people not finishing the run. I was pretty comfortable up to mile 20 when Kristan passed me and I tried to keep up with her. Eventually made the pass back around her and felt strong the rest of the way home.

Have a better hydration system and remember to load my water bottles with HEED
Be confident to ride in zone 3. Next time avg 20+mph.

Had to stop to massage my left quad, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to shake it.

Immediately took 2 salt tabs and downed some water. Filled all 3 of my fuel belt bottles at the first aid station, but quickly realized they were getting warm before I could drink all of them. I stuck with refilling only one with ice water and then drinking Perform out of the cups at each aid station. Cramp dissipated pretty quickly.
The Cliff Shot blocks were a challenge to get down. They were sticky and certainly not refreshing. Eventually I ate another gel around mile 8 for a change in texture/flavor. I only had 8 salt tabs with me and tried to spread them out, but also knew that I needed to take one as soon as I felt tightening in my legs. Took the last salt tab around mile 8. Grabbed some potato chips at mile 9. At that point I wrapped my mind around only 3 miles to go and just focused on one foot in front of the other.
I don't think I could have possibly drank any more, but around mile six I realized that I wasn't sweating any more. I was running through sprinklers and dumping ice water over my head and into my shirt. It was downright HOT!! My shoulders were coated in a layer of salt.
I had so much fun looking for and cheering on my teammates from Ytri on the two loop course. The spectatheletes were awesome as usual.

walk less, faster pace, carry more salt tabs

short roll out of my quads and recoverite drink, cookout with the team


Experience, overall I had a great race. It was challenging and fun. I had great support from my family and Ytri team. I was tired but not very sore the next day which leads me to believe that I could pushed harder.

It was a fantastic experience. And to think just last year I was in complete awe of my teammates that completed this race. Now contempating what's next.....