Ironman 70.3 Racine - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Swim was very good. However, I started out and my goggles immediately fogged up. I adjusted quick and then the seal did not fit right so I had to clear each side. Started swimming again and got into a groove. I decided to take a wide route farther out than the bouys to not have to worry about other people getting in the way. Got into a clear area and just went. I was having no problems except for the guy that was drafting my toes the whole way. He kept hitting my toes every so often. I wanted to stop and ask him if he wanted to pass but just kept swimming. I was in wave 5 but by the time I was rounding the bouy to head for shore I was in the middle of a pack from wave 3. Looking around I did not see any other yellow caps but right after I made the corner, the one guy that was drafting on me passed me. He beat me out of the water, but I passed him running on the beach before passing the mat.

Nothing really. I really did not like the guy drafting on me the whole way, but what else was I going to do?

I had a better split than last year on the swim by 3:18. I was right on pace for my goal after the swim.

One problem here. I forgot that there are no pools of water to dip your feet in to get the sand off. They had that when it was Spirit of Racine. I should have brought water to rinse my feet. Note to self to bring that next time. I tried to wipe off the sand but it was still there. Didn't want to have sand in my socks for the whole race so I decided to do the bike without socks. Got everything together and I was off.

Remember the water.

My T1 split was 1:17 faster than last year. Nice improvement.

The week before the race I did a long ride and did not have enough to drink with my two bottles. I decided to get two more bottle cages put on behind the seat. I also decided to use one cage to put a tire change kit on. Therefore I had two gatorade bottles behind the seat and one on the frame with the other cage on the frame for the tire change kit. Big Mistake.

I headed out of transition with my shoes already clipped on the bike. I started with my feet on the shoes and got into the shoes once I was out on main street. I had been practicing this so it went great. I was going to a good pace about 3 miles in when I had what I thought at the time would be disasterous. One of the bottles flew out of the cage behind the seat. I felt the other one and made sure it was secure. It was. However, about 15 seconds later the other one flew out. I was left with about 53 miles to go with only one bottle. I did not want to stop so I just rode on. (Actually I yelled a few choice words then rode on.) Those were two of my best water bottles. One was a Tri Wisconsin bottle and one from Emery's. Both with the soft mouthpiece to open with your teeth. I hate the hard plastic. Those were great bottles I lost!

I noticed on the way out that wind was coming from the west. I was keeping a good pace and knew that I would get help on the way back with the wind to my back.

I got a water bottle at the first water station that was giving things out. Drank as much as I could before tossing the bottle at the "last chance trash" sign. Took one gel at the 1 hour point. Got another bottle from the aid station right before going back under I-94. I drank some and put the rest in one of the cages behind the seat. Didn't know how long it would stay there but was going to try. Turns out that it stayed the rest of the ride so maybe the original bottles may have been to heavy.

Took another gel at the 2 hour point of the bike. By that time I knew I was still over 20 mph average and closer to 21. I started feeling my toes rubbing the inside of the shoe. It was not bad, but discovered later that I rubbed the top of two toes on the left foot and one on the right raw. It didn't bother me too much until the race was over though.

I finished strong. Very happy with the bike today. There were the fast people that passed me, but I also passed a number of people as well. I have come a long way with my biking.

The one thing I noticed is that I am still hesitant around corners since wiping out in May. Since I hit gravel going around a corner I have been slowing down a lot going around corners. I still don't remember the accident due to a concussion but I still have that mental block.

Get a seperate place to put tire change kit and use all bottle cages for drinks. Figure out how to get bottles to stay in the cages. Wear socks on the ride.

This split was 11:31 better than the race last year. At this point I was slightly ahead of my pace to hit the goal.

This went well. The only thing wrong was I forgot that I was going to get out of my shoes before the dismount so I could leave the shoes on the bike and run barefoot back to my area. I forgot all about it until I was heading down the big hill to the transition. Thought that getting out of the shoes on the downhill was not a good idea so I kept the shoes on and ran in them back to my area.

Grabbed a gel and got the rest of my stuff and was off.

Remember to get out of the shoes. I had practiced that so I knew I could do it, but was not ready.

My split in T2 was 1:00 better than the race last year.

Started running and immediately took a gel. I felt fatigued. I knew the hills were coming and decided to just try to keep it at a good pace and not walk if possible up the hills. Honestly didn't know if that was possible because I was feeling not so great. By the time I got to the top of the hill I was feeling OK. I was carrying my own gatorade in a bottle so I did not stop at the aid station there. By the next aid station, I got a water and poured it over my head. By the time I got to the first turn around I was feeling good.

I saw my friend Ted Shue right after the turn coming the other way and knew he would be passing me soon since he is a very strong runner. When he did I was feeling good so I decided to try to stay with him. Setteled in about 10-20 yards behind him and just hung there.

Every aid station from there on I dumped a glass of water on my head to cool off. I finished my bottle by the half way point and gave it to my family who was cheering me on. From that point I got a cup of Perform at each aid station in addition to the water.

At the half way point I was still following Ted. At the aid station he slowed down to get something and I kept running and passed him. I ended up staying in front of him the rest of the race until the zoo at the second lap when he passed me for good and ended up finishing about 20-30 seconds in front of me.

I stuck to my plan of taking a gel at mile 5 and mile 10. As soon as I exited the zoo the second time I gave it all I had and finished with all I had left.

The drinking I did and the water over the head seemed to be enough because the heat was not bothering me at all.

Nothing. I felt strong.

My split today was 14:20 better than last year's race. That was an incredible drop especially given the heat.

Walked to the food tent. I might have looked bad because a number of the volunteers asked me if I was OK or if I needed help. I just felt tired so I don't know what outward signs I was giving.

I got something to drink and just sat in the food tent for a while. Once I could move again, I got something to eat and went to find the family and cheer in the other people I knew.

I eventually found my way to the lake and just stood in it. The cold water felt great!!


I really don't know if the heat did anything to me or not. I didn't notice it on the bike and then on the run I knew it was hot, but it didn't slow me down. I really did not taper for this race either. I did not do a workout on Saturday, but moved that to days earlier in the week so I got my full time plan done for the week. That included over a 2 hour bike ride on Friday.


I could not be more pleased with this race. I dropped 31:26 from my best time last year. I even beat the goal I had set for myself. Training for the full Ironman really gave me an edge this year. Wonder what I could have done if this was my "A" race that I was tapered for? :)