Ironman 70.3 Augusta - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

So if you think getting a wetsuit on when it's dry is difficult, try in the rain! The busses dropped off all the athletes at the swim start and we got our timing chips, any last minute body markings, port-a-potties etc. It was amusing to me to see the people trying to stay dry under the bridge when they had been getting rained on in transition set up and were about to put on wetsuits to go swimming in the rain. But to each his own.

My friend Katie and I were discussing if we wanted to put our suits on all the way and I was saying I'd wait until 8 or we'd be too hot. Thank you very much to the lady in my age group who pointed out my mathematical error. They moved the swim starts up to try and beat the storms. Instead of 4 minutes between waves it was now 3. But dummy me thought, "okay, my wave starts one minute earlier." NO!!! Being wave 13 meant I started 13 minutes earlier. So I thanked her very much and decided it was time to put the rest of the suit on and head down to my corral start.

Big groups, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised, there were over 3000 people racing! We walked down the dock and jumped in and the current just carried you right past the starting buoys. It was great! There were scuba divers at the pillars of the bridges but I don’t know what they would have seen. It was very dark water. Saw the grasses at the start but then just felt the broken pieces every now and then.

It was very nice that the course didn't have any turns so no congestions there, however it did get crowded when we went under the bridges. Got kicked in the face only once. I don't mind the kicking and bumping when you are all in a pack, and I tried to stay in the mix as much as possible to practice my drafting, but where the hell are some people going? I had 2 women swim over the top of me practically making a right turn. The course is a straight shot down the river people!!!!

It was a bit tricky for me to balance staying as close to the buoys as possible to maximize the current, and staying with the pack. The course didn't go exactly straight either but kind of bowed into the shore at times. But overall I am very pleased with my swim. Followed feet as much as possible and the photos Doug took show me coming out of the water surrounded by yellow swim caps! I didn't get dropped.

Katie started in the wave ahead of me so I had 3 minutes to catch her. At the end of the swim I passed a blue cap and took a long look underwater to see if it was her, but it wasn't. As I left the water Doug said she was less than 1 minute ahead of me. Very nice.


I'd love to be able to swim like that without the current!

The wetsuit strippers were great. I'd heard last year that area was extremely muddy so people were skipping it. I considered that but the ground looked good. I had my suit just below my hips and they yanked that puppy right off. Love it.

I wasn't breaking any speed records but that wasn't my goal. Katie and I marked the path yesterday and I was behind the Japanese flag, second row. I wiped all the mud and grass off my feet before putting the bike shoes on. I was so glad I hung my helmet upside down. I watched several people flip their helmets on and it was like dumping a bucket of water on them. Very muddy grass trying to leave transition but everything went smoothly. And she's off!!


Not too much. Took a while but it was a long way to go. big transition area, and wet condition so I'm good.

This is where I had to exert the most discipline. I knew I had to monitor my effort to save it for the run. It rained the whole time, just varied how much and how fast the wind was. On the whole I enjoyed the weather. It was a warm rain so it kept the air in the 70s. Wore Doug’s aero helmet and LOVED IT!! It worked so nice in the rain. It kept the rain from ever hitting my head and the visor protected my eyes. Very nice! Occasionally it sounded like rocks hitting my head but….. The Eurythmics song, Here Comes the Rain Again keep popping in my head. Weird.

This course was easy and fast!! I was planning on an average pace between 16.5 mph and 17mph. I knew that was going to be difficult to stay that low but PACING WAS THE GOAL. However, I found myself averaging in the high 17’s the whole time without exerting any extra efforts. That’s because the climbs at home are a lot tougher than these. Overall I’d say there were 6 climbs and the rest of the course was flat or down hill. The descents were great because they were long and straight. I really took advantage here. In my opinion descents are free miles so milk them for all they’re worth. I would use the big ring and pedal as long as I could. I frequently was in the upper 30’s going down the hills. When I would climb I purposely took it very easy. I was doing so well on time that I just sat up and spun my way.

The rain was a very nice tool on the course. With all the people out there it was nearly impossible to stay out of the 4 bike distance. However if you stayed out of the rooster tails it was a pretty good judge. I never was alone on the course and most of the time passing was 2 and 3 deep. People were very good about slowing down for the turns and for the most part everyone was trying to keep each other safe. I only saw one idiot riding too aggressive. It was at the first bottle hand off. I was moving to the far left as we approach b/c I didn’t need anything and a girl in front of me was moving to the right. She yelled for a Gatoraide when some idiot passed my on the left and cut right in front of both of us and grabbed her Gatoraide. She had to slam on her breaks (not so easy in the pouring rain) and called him a very nasty word – with which I completely agreed. Other than that they did a great job marking the pot holes and warning you about the tight turns. I think the rain loosened people’s ties on their tire repair kits. There were brand new clinchers and tubulars all over the course. We should have gone back and picked them all up. There must have been $700 worth of gear on the road.

The last 9 miles were ridiculously fast. It was so much fun. I was right at 17.9mph avg and the road was smooth, fast and a gradual downhill. I was feeling great at this point so it was time to let the ego take over. I REALLY wanted to break 18mph so a few of us just let it rip. It was so much fun racing it in the rain! Easily averaged 24mph on that last stretch back into town.

Highlights of the ride were without a doubt my gear. The helmet was awesome and it still amazes me how much of an advantage the time trial bike gives. I would be riding along with a group on road bikes while I was up on the hoods, (nutrition, recovery, whatever) and then would drop back down in aero, change a few gears, and I was off. Never did I exert any more effort, it was just that more efficient. LOVED IT!!

Also learned how to pee on the bike. I figured it was already raining cats and dogs so what would it hurt. Got the answer to that question real quick. Apparently the saddle sore I’d be nursing had popped in the slipping and sliding of the rain. Wow, got a few nasty stingers when I sat in the wrong position.

Nutrition plan worked very well. By mistake I packed a 4 oz gel bottle vs the 5oz I needed, but the mini Cliff bar worked great. Went through all 4oz of gel, 1 mini Cliff bar, and 3 bottles of Nun.


Nothing. Very happy.

WTH?!?! I think I was so excited about my bike ride my brain shut down. I've never been so lost in transition. First I went down the wrong row. Then I ran past my spot but had no idea how to get back. I found myself standing at a rack in the 1120's and infront of the Korean flag and was just dumb founded. I kept thinking, "these are my numbers. Where's Japan?" But I couldn't figure out what to do. Finally Doug shouted at me to turn around and I found my way back. Thankfully I left all my running gear in the bag so it was dry. Once I was ready to run I just looked at Doug and he pointed to the exit. I had a 4 minute brain fart!

Seriously?

As I started out on the run Doug told me I was about a minute 30 behind Katie and only 10 minutes behind John. Ha, I was closing on him!!!! And Katie must have had a great bike ride. Good for her.

I decided last minute not to wear my fuel belt. It was still raining and I had my gel with me. I didn’t feel like messing with salt tablets in the rain and I would just get my water off the course. Looking back that wasn’t the best decision. The aide stations were not every mile and they weren’t evenly spaced. You would go 2 miles with out one and then there were 2 within 1.5 miles. That made pacing my gel intake challenging at first. I took water and fruit at every station and soon learned to take a gel at every water station as well. I had been training with a gel every 3 miles but on race day it was closer to needing one every mile. I’ll need to explore that further for IMCA. Is that really what I need or should I take in more calories on the bike? Plus I saw one port-a-potty one the course!!!

Loved having all the racers around. There was really great crowd support given the weather conditions. This was my first Ironman brand race so I’m not use to my name on my bib number and it caught my attention every time someone called my name. I really liked hearing it though. Very supportive. Doug was great. He was popping up all over the course taking pictures and giving Katie and I updates on each other and John. He's the best.

Running is always my most difficult event but I’m proud I met my goals here. Took longer than I expected (training endurance pace is 11 min/miles) but I ran the whole thing!!!! That is a huge accomplishment for me. Katie and I would gain and slack the whole time and our overall times were 10 seconds apart!! John beat me by 12 minutes. REMATCH!!!!! As I turned down the finish shoot I glanced over my shoulder and saw some dude. Well, he was NOT going to ruin my finishers photo so I sprinted the finish – yhea me!!!


Just keep working the run. I'd love my endurance pace to e 10:30 so I'll keep plugging away!

Tried to stretch a little and took off the soggy socks and shoes.


I just need to get stronger on the run. But at least now I am running!!!


Very well organized. Best spectator friendly course I've ever been on. They need to improve the run aide stations spacing and add electrolytes, or at least pretzels, to the line up.