Ironman 70.3 Racine - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Racine, Wisconsin United States HFP Racing 82F / 28C Overcast

Total Time = 7h 02m 17s Overall Rank = 1461/1678 Age Group = M35-39 Age Group Rank = 188/

I’m not sure how to feel about this event, mixed emotions is probably the closest thing.
After finishing packing all my transition gear I went to bed around 10:30. At 11:30 my oldest son came in to ask if it was race time yet. Shortly thereafter my youngest , Owen, started his own sleepless night, I after a few trips to his crib I finally got a good sleep from 3:30-5:00 at which it was time to go.
Weather check said rain, my first trip to truck brought a few sprinkles and so I headed out to the transition to get set up before the rain really started, it never rained again until the return leg of the bike.
Found a decent parking spot and made my way down. Upon arriving at my spot I heard a rendition of The Band’s ,The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. It instantly brought tears to my eyes. This is one of Cole’s favorite songs and me and him have “rocked out to it” hundreds of times, I think I even have a facebook video of him doing it. It was foreshadowing as the music during the day was a soundtrack to my family and me. After drying my eyes I finished my business and ran into Trixie, Miami with numbers, KimK and Birkierunner. Everyone was calm and cool. Made plans to drive back home with Trixie and Belizebreeze since we all had late wave starts and transition closed at 6:30.
Stopped at the donk tent and then made our way home. Cole greeted me in the driveway and was so excited. We sat around as if we had nothing to do, Owen awoke prior to my leaving and my wife was calm as could be which was great for me, she made it may day and I had no worries.
The other Pete (talltridad) parked out front and we walked to the swim start, saw some pros and top age groupers buzz by and then walked another block to the top of the swim start hill. It was cool hearing the announcer from my house, yet he was far enough away to not get me nervous, I tried to stay away from the crazy pre race nervous energy that tends to float around with everyone pacing about. Hit up a port-a-john that was the mile 1 marker on the run course.
Said my final gooodbye’s to Pete and went down to the swim start to test the water. Ran into two wives from the group we went to dinner with and Kim (countrymom) got a photo of me. The water was perfect. Walked in, swim a few strokes, back floated and relaxed. Peed in my wetsuit (first time ever) and then my wave was up next. My wave seemed small (100?) and position myself in the back center. There was a guy next to me who looked like he would be a good pacer and he was.
Horn sounded and we were off, walked have way to the first yellow buoy and as the guy I picked out went in so did I . It was very calm,a bit cloudy and then cleared up , my pacer was perfect, a bit slower than I would have gone out , but that is exactly what I needed. Made it to the turn my pacer still intact and I went with him for 2-3 more buoys before losing him. My right arm was beginning to feel strained way too early, but my pace and sighting were great. Tried to find other pacers, but no such luck, wasn’t passing and wasn’t getting passed either. Had a calf cramp half way in due to a “stop short “ or knock out the lady ahead of me, I don’t fault her but it got me thinking the calf cramp could be with me the rest of the day so I needed to be careful. 30-35 minutes into I felt great and knew to keep it on cruise and I would be fine. Came out of the water and walked the entire sand portion (assuming my T1 time was part of this, ran the pave portion and then got to the bike in good shape. Turned on the garmin, put my socks, helmet , glasses, etc. on and left for the mount line. Nailed the clip in on the right shoe and took two for the left and made it up and out safely. First mile was going to take it slow, it was my home course and I knew it very well. Averaged 16.3 and was spinning easy, then 19.1 and yelled and waved to the boys and Paula who had made it to the end of our block. Next miles were 19.1,19.2,19.3 and they felt so easy . The turn at Main and 4 mile had me inches from getting taken out by a Honda Pilot. The guy behind me said “so much for traffic controller”, I agreed and went on with business. More easy pace stuff (18.5,17.5,19.1,16.4,17.2). My hydration was Perform every even , water every odd, gels every 30-45 minutes.
Today’s Garmin display was unlike any other training or race , it only had heart rate, I told myself stay under 160 and that’s it, a few times I could have gained time , but my pre race goal was finish and this method would get me to the finish. Got a hello from Miami with numbers around mile 11 and she was going great, I was passing people every few miles and it was a bit lonely out there, I couldn’t drafted even if wanted to. My fluids were empty by the first aid station and got my first exposure to the stupid Perform screw caps.
It was starting to heat up and when on HWY 20 the temp sign on a store said 89. There was a portion between cornfields that was crazy hot. Around mile 20 I was confident I was going at a goal pace or faster and my legs were fresh, was worried about running out of fluids before the next station and so held back a bit. Mile 24 I hit my peak speed for the day 26mph and fastest avg lap 20.3. I knew crap roads, boredom, and lack of focus loomed and so I tried my best to keep up a normal training day pace. Knowing the route was a great advantage in my mind. When I hit the 35 mile aid station I was bone dry and took the time to clip out, fill up everything and get ready for a good stretch against the wind, I could see storm clouds coming and welcomed them as I was hot and thought I could use the wind they were bringing, the against the wind stretch from 36-39 was tough, but not terrible(averaged 15.6-17.0) . Then the clouds opened up as I turned onto highway 20, lighting in the distance, cars flying by bringing plenty of water splashing at you as well as the stuff from the sky, once off of highway 20 the roads were dry and warm. The sign I saw on the way out was now showing 12 degrees cooler and the time indicated to me all I need to do was average 16 mph over the final hour to meet my projected bike time (3:18:00)
Then mile 42-43…could have been trouble , I went wider than planned at the corner and ended up a foot into the loose gravel shoulder, I was certain I was going down and was carrying a 18-20 mph, the front end shook and I had no control whatsoever. I have no idea why I didn’t go down and without any interference from myself my bike ended up back on the road by a good 8-12”. All I can say is my Mom must have been with me (she was not at the race, but had my bib number on a necklace). After that a heard a click, click, click and thought that my off road adventure must have done something, my mind raced as thought what could be wrong, the tire felt true, but the clicking sounded like a broke spoke, I slowed down to check things out and did not see anything, I rode cautiously the remainder of the way back and stopped once more to check things out. Turns out my wheel sensor got knocked and was hitting the Garmin arm on each revolution. The final stretch I was slow and I knew it, but was getting mentally ready for the run. Saw the kids and Paula again same spot as on the way out and it was great to see them. By their reaction I could tell I was right on my goal time. Talked to a guy and we both said almost there, slowed way down to give my brakes a chance on the downhill finish. Was glad to get off the bike and onto the road with the crowd. The rain storm filled my road shoes and my feet were raisins. I forgot a second pair of socks and this would haunt me. Downed another gel before leaving.
Between wet feet, wet socks and bits of beach grit I had a recipe of disaster cooking in my shoes. Took my sweet time as I knew what lay ahead of me. Again I know the course better than anyone and I also knew my longest run in the last two years had been 10 miles. I was hot, sore, sandpaper on my feet and had potential land mines of cramps in all of my major muscle groups.
With very few brick sessions I was really in uncharted water, My plan was to run out of transition, walk the hills and aid areas.
Ran by the donk tent and it felt great to hear the support. Soon after I slowed to walk up the first hill and then back to running, the run felt better than expected as my shoes felt squishy and soft as compared to my bike shoes. This feeling didn’t last past mile two and then the sand grit and wet feet started to feel like a blister. Prior to mile 3 I stopped, took off my shoe and sock and tried to find the irritation to no avail. At the turn around I saw one of my OWS friends and was glad to have his support. Saw many friends out there and it was great, high fived most of them and then had a great stretch were me and an older lady from Geneva, Ill, made small talk, it made the run good by fast and was at a fine pace until she stopped to walk the rest area. Around mile 5 I saw my other OWS friend and again it was great to have this support as I know she came home early from a wedding to see me finish, she also put my Ironman bracelet on during check in which was cool. Was excited to get back to the first loop turnaround and see everyone, I yelled “I ‘ll do one more” as mild reference to Frank the Tank doing a beer bong in old school, seemed to get a few laughs. Had no focus on the second loop as I knew I would finish somehow , some way. It was here I wish I knew my overall time as I would have really gone for sub 7:00.
I spoke to a pair of run/walkers who turned out to be BT members (didn’t know this until post race) and then I saw Miami with numbers and I yell something like “I going to go to the end, turn around and come back with you”, meaning I was ½ mile from the mid point turnaround and wanted to finish up with her if I could catch her. When I did she seemed tired and I was worried, we walked for a bit and parted ways at the 10 mile mark, She is as tough as nails and had a incredible finish based on what I saw her go through. Saw my OWS friends one last time and the one on bike said she would meet at the finish. Chatted once more during the zoo portion and then off to the finish, I had plenty (too much) left in the tank and had a great kick to finish the last ½ mile with my top speed and fastest pace of the entire day. Then the music as a finished was again one of Cole’s favorite songs, the day ended just like it started. The donk tent was rockin’ ,saw paula, her mom and the boys near the finish chute and raised both arms as I crossed the line, was given the hat , shirt and a broken medal (which they said they would fix).
Went to the med tent to see if my foot pain was a blister and it wasn’t, just painful wrinkled feet. Went to the donk tent , saw a few more finishers, looked for Miami at the med tent and transition , but nowhere to be found.
Cleaned up transition and went back to being me… a father , a husband and just another sweaty bald guy with love handles, a beer gut and tight clothes.
My swim was 50 seconds slower than I projected.
My bike was 5 minutes faster than I projected
My run was 24 minutes slower than I projected
T1 was 3 minutes slower
T2 was 2 minutes slower

Disappointed in 7:02 yes, but I keep reminding myself 48 hours later my stated goal was to finish. Next time will be for a PR.

Big thank yous to the guy during the swim, Miami with numbers, Kim, Bob, Pete, Aidana, Trixie, Lawrence, Kathy, John, Ben, Bill