Ironman 70.3 Racine - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Great start to my day. Somehow found myself in the space between the real fast swimmers and the folks trying to stay outta the way. No traffic at all until the first buoy. Found some feet and hung with the entire swim. I am sure that guy was not real happy with me, but that was not my concern. I just concentrated on staying in my box and being long and smooth. Never pushed, just kept telling myself that this was just the start to a really long day.

My only swim complaint is the wave in front of us wore orange caps and the buoys were also orange. Once we caught the earlier wave, it made sighting really hard to ensure you were seeing a buoy and not somebody's cap.

Very happy, with my background, to be close to the top 10% of all the swimmers for the day in both my AG and overall.

Nothing ..... I finally put a swim together in 2011!

Once again, John (Fatty) was my motivation here. Pretty long run up the beach to get to transition, took it slow to keep the HR in line. Hit the strippers, helmet on, glasses on, race belt on, grabbed nutrition and bike and off I went.

Hill coming outta T1, so I waited to insert the feet into the shoes for a while on the bike.

Nothing. John has perfected these for me! :)

Went into his ride knowing it was going to make or break my race. Just love to hammer on the bike, so I just kept telling myself to stay in the box and follow the plan. I was a slave to my Power-meter for 56 miles. Wanted to be at 85% of FT due to the heat and finished at 87.1% so RPE and actual data was right on. Felt like a pretty easy ride, was able to take in some sights and cheer on fellow competitors, etc.

It was hot and stomach was not really happy with the heat so I had to slow down the nutrition intake and take a couple of miles real easy at about mile 30. Went through 4 full bottles of nutrition and water. 124 Ozs of fluid. Felt really comfortable on the bike, no issues.

AP = 187
NP = 198
TSS = 206.8
IF = 0.871


Nothing .... ride went exactly as I had planned. Also very happy with my on-course decision making changes due to the heat. Backed the power down a little and increased the water intake.

Now it's really hot and you can feel it on your back coming into T2. Off the bike to the rack. Feet were filthy. Wiped down, socks on, shoes on, visor, glasses, gels, and I am out.



Get John and Ryan outta my head yelling "Glacial Pace!"

OMG, I think I might melt. By this time of the day, its hot and humid and Sunny. After the race I found out the heat index was 103+. I had been doing some re-calculating since the stomach issues on the bike and changed my pace outta T2 to 9:30's. Also decided to walk the 2 hills and every Aid station. Best decision making of the day! Tried to pick up the pace a little around mile 5 and hold it. But, I don't really know if I did or not because I stopped looking at the watch. Just wanted to keep running, no matter how slow I was moving. Started the "I will run until the next _______ (street, streetlight, sprinkler, aid station, etc.)" negotiations with myself at about mile 9 and was able to run the rest of the way in except the last aid station.

Lots of carnage on the road, especially on my 2nd lap, folks throwing up, cramping, laying down in the shade. Medical staff was running around checking on folks everywhere. WTC had their act together today, plenty of support on course. Well done!

Every Aid station went like this. Full glass of water at the first station for the mouth and one for the head. Full glass of water at the 3rd station for the mouth. 2 glasses of ice at the last station for the jersey and shorts. Even walking the Aid stations, I was pushing to get all the fluids down. But I never cramped, or felt like I was close, so the plan worked. Never felt water-logged. Skipped my planned gel at mile 3 to calm the stomach and never had any other stomach issues during the run.

Shoes were so wet by about mile 6 that I ended up with a blister between 2 of my toes on my left foot. Gross!

Really wanted to run a sub 2:00 hour 1/2 today, but Mother nature was not cooperating. Made some great on the fly decisions and made the best of a really hot and humid day.

I still cannot believe that I was around the top 25% of my AG and 20% Overall on my run with a 2:13 - 1/2. I guess it was a hot rough day for everybody!

Went straight to the Med tent when done for some bags of Ice. One on the head and one on the back of the neck for 15 minutes and started to feel pretty good. Med tent was a busy a place. Couldn't stand the hustle and moved on to spend about 15 minutes standing in Lake MI as natures Ice bath. Standing in 60 degree water with 2 bags of ice on your body for 15 minutes will cool you down quickly!!


Just the weather .....


Good race, well run. Great mental challenge race, really brings to the fore-front the mental and nutritional side of this sport as you go longer distances. If you didn't change your approach due to the weather today, you didn't finish.