Ironman 70.3 Branson - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Branson, Missouri
United States
90F / 32C
Sunny
Total Time = 5h 42m 35s
Overall Rank = 173/1357
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 38/259
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 4:00 on my own and decided to stay up. Took a shower, packed up, and then met up with my training buddy to have our pre race bowl of cereal.
Event warmup:

Walked down the hill from the Chateau to Moonshine Beach. That was warmup enough.
Swim
  • 27m 16s
  • 2100 yards
  • 01m 18s / 100 yards
Comments:

I really was impartial if it was a wet suit swim or not, but have enjoyed the last 2 races with it on, so I was leaning towards wanting to use it. I did start to get warm a bit late in the swim, but a quick tug on the neck would allow a rush of cool water fill the suit.

I shot right off the front at the start and had clean water for about 3 minutes before running up the earlier waves. There was a light fog and I had trouble sighting the next bouy so I swam a bit with goggles on my forhead. Got in a comfortable groove and just followed the group.
What would you do differently?:

Work on dealing the elements. I start to lose focus when I dont know where I am going.
Transition 1
  • 04m 33s
Comments:

This one took a while. There was no pool to clean the sand off so I brought 2 bottles of water and dumped them on my feet to clean them off. I sat down and took my wet suit off, got some socks on, then my shoes. Had to bag everything I wanted to have transported to T2 and lost some time stuffing my suit. I used my road shoes today, since that is what I will be wearing for my full in Arizona.
What would you do differently?:

Not a whole lot since I used this T1 as a dry run for Arizona.
Bike
  • 2h 54m 14s
  • 56 miles
  • 19.28 mile/hr
Comments:

It paid off to be able to ride this course for the past 5 months. I really didnt see too much suffering on the bike course (we will talk about this later) and only saw a handful walking up the hills. I missed my gearing a couple of times on the lower grades between hills, but did a great job maintaining a steady cadence up the hills and using the down hills. The trip down to the landing was great except for a couple of tight spots with cars. I did miss my nutrition once, but was smart on making up for it.
What would you do differently?:

Pay better attention and dont miss the nutrition.
Transition 2
  • 01m 58s
Comments:

Felt like a regular T2 for me. Only thing I missed was putting on some sun screen for the run.
What would you do differently?:

Put the sun screen on.
Run
  • 2h 14m 24s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 16s  min/mile
Comments:

Now came the suffering. I spoke with a lot of people who felt great on the bike during all those hills only to suffer greatly on the run. The afternnon temp rose up to 90 and the sun beat down. I did a great job with my run/walk (run .9 miles, walk .1) routine that I will be using for Arizona. I really worked over the aid stations and did a fair job keeping hydrated. About mile 6 I started feeling the heat and was looking for sun block at every station. I hit the bathroom at mile 9 and realized I was dehydrated and took corrective action. I started working the aid stations over twice as good this time, taking every cup of ice/water/gatorade I could hold, drink, drop, repeat. I also realized that I had not taken any jel in for over an hour and got that back in the routine. I like to take jel every 30 minutes. On the 3rd loop of the course I started realizing that almost everyone was walking, most of the time. They just looked like zombies marching on to the finish.
What would you do differently?:

Got to remember to hydrate/get my nutrition down better her. I was lucky that I survived this part of the race.
Post race
Warm down:

Jumped in the 55 degree fountains, kept downing fluids, got some Old Chicago, and stayed around to cheer in everyone I knew.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The hard part was holding back as it was a training event for Arizona. I still ended up putting near max effort and the heat was certainly a factor.

Event comments:

I am not going to blame the hills or the heat for the quaility of this event. The organizers really put on a great event at a great venue. September in this part of Missouri could have easially have been 50 and raining as well. The only issues I had were the lack of a rinse off station for the beach exit and there was some poor traffic planning on the very fast (30+ avg) return trip into town where a was forced around and between cars to stay on course in a tight 2 lane spot where traffic was backed up and in the racing lane. Other than that I had a great time and look forward to it next year.




Last updated: 2009-09-05 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:27:16 | 2100 yards | 01m 18s / 100yards
Age Group: 1/259
Overall: 20/1357
Performance: Good
Suit: Blue Seventy Reaction Long Sleeve
Course:
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 76F / 24C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Good Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 04:33
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
02:54:14 | 56 miles | 19.28 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/259
Overall: 0/1357
Performance: Good
Wind: None
Course:
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 85
Turns: Good Cornering: Average
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 01:58
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:14:24 | 13.1 miles | 10m 16s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/259
Overall: 0/1357
Performance: Average
Course:
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %0
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5