Ironman 70.3 Augusta - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Swim start was great. We were corraled and marched to the start in typical wave fashion. I watched the pros start and the waves before mine and wondered why they couldnt stay behind the start buoys before the horn to go-until I got in and realized the burrent pushed you past the start buoy, fast.No complaints.

Nothing

Loooooooong run to T1 spot. Out of the water, up the boat ramp, "down the street" into chute, past the strippers, under the arch, past 3 isles, up 9 racks to bike. Suit off waist legs fast, shoes on, helmet on, glasses in hand-run with bike 3 rows and out. COULD NOT get fleft oot clipped in 2 times-boo.

clip in with right foot maybe. Maybe go back to shoes already clipped in, but the transition was already getting covered in mud so not so sure.

Never really came out of the saddle, except after some of the hairpin turns to get back up to speed.
Rain sucked-only because of the rider spray, and the one time it came down hard-and hurt at 30+ downhill. VERY disappointed that aid stations were about 20-25 miles apart not what the packet said.Was able to pee on the bike-first timer!-has to be downhill though, cant do it pedaling. great support of volunteer except the one sleeping on the road, and police.
great course for 56.

Not drink so much in anticipation of 1st aid station. Practice aid station bottle grabs-one got one on 1st station, really could of used 2.

Transition for HIM I decided to treat ALOT slower and more careful.I stopped at the dismount line, unclipped and ran into T2, almost lost the bike while running one handed, racked bike fine, shoes off and on fine-did wear socks for run. Had shoes bagged so were dry for start of run. Then on way to run stopped at porta johns-thanks to the volunteer who let me cut.

One more time on the bike to save T2 time.

So I finished the swim feeling GREAT, finished the bike feeling GREAT, went for the run and was trying to set EASY pace for the first lap. Apparently i missed the mile 1 and 2 markers so i have no idea my pace, mile 3 said 7:35-TOO FAST. so I backed off. I was walking every aid station and getting gatorade/water and sponges. Mile 4 7:45 better but still too fast, mile 5 8:00 ok now were good. Mile 6 let the twitching begin in the quads-nothing new really. checked pace with nearby runner with garmin-7:40-that explains the twitching. Mile 7-let the over the cliff feeling begin. Hamstring twitching-NEW. mile 7.5 my hamstring spoke to me and it said "stop or Ill drop you" so for the next 5 minutes me and the nearest tree became friends. I stretched and peed here. Many runners asked if I was ok and a friend who i was with passed me and asked if i was ok too-thank you all. So I got it back together after 5 mins and proceeded to GINGERLY run-at a 9:30 pace for about 4 miles, then it spoke to me again-"you can walk or stretch me" I refused to walk this race (unless there was an aid station) so I stopped and stretched. The last mile .1 were kindof a blur-I caught my fiend who was going to finish with me, I had plenty of people (trey)encouraging me to finish and the cramping was unbearably in and out. one last cramp threw me into a 5 step hobble when my friend had to go on or he would of cramped up and I crossed the finish line running 7 seconds behind him. It wasn't about time, or competiting against the friend - it was about me and what I could do.

Tough call here. I tried bananas during the twitching, I tried oranges during the cramping, I tried ice, more gatorade, more water, pace change-alot. My hydration and fuel during the bike were good. over 600 cals of gel/gu. Ideas-I do 4 endurolytes for OLY and Sprints-maybe more than 4 is what my body needs. Maybe too much water on the bike and not enough gatorade/salt. not really sure here. Im choosing below average for the run based on the difference b/w my 1st and 2nd lap and feelings.

S T R E T C H
bathroom
walk
sit
walk
food


C R A M P I N G.


I'm rating this race worst because its a 70.3 IRONMAN by ESI and soooo many other sponsors, yet garbage for alot of reasons. Ive seen local sprint tris put on a better race (local 5K's for that matter as well). The local town of AUGUSTA is "SHADY", dirty, and not appealing. The registration process was 2 people @ a relay table and 2 people at athlete table. Loooong line the whole day-over an hour standing in line. Once in you got a waiver and medical card to fill out on buffet tables with 3 pens, then funneled to packet pickup where you got your packet. Then for the next hour+ you got to explore the (crowd FILLED) expo, where due to the long line were maybe able to find something to commemorate the next days achievement.(since they ran out of medals this year!) Many things were already sold out by the time I got in @ 2-it opened at 11!!, and went until 8. Swag was a gatorade bottle, ironman sling bag, and local fliers and coupons-weak. IF inside the "expo"you found something you then stood in line for 30 minutes because there were only 2 lines of registers. Then you turn the corner to exit and theres another? expo. tables of sponsors? and more ironman gear. Timex was a sponsor-I saw about 10 watches in the expo, Fuel cereal was a sponsor, never saw them, gatorade provided couse hydration only apparently-i didnt see any anywhere else, powerbar had a tiny display-guess they provided on course as well. As for the other sponsors I never saw them.This was all spaced into maybe 2 ballrooms (TINY CRAMMED). The athlete breifings were standing room only.The walk to OUR hotel was a mile. The walk to transition was over a mile the walk back the same. Driving was a nightmare had we tried that. Transition was forever long, numbering was done by 3 yr old as far as im concerned. As for hydration and nutrition on the course-SPOT ON-with plenty of volunteers. GREAT support crowds down broad street! Post race-papajohns pizza/cookies/fruit from the course/water/coke/sprite/michelob ultra/massages/ironman store. Also 2 sponsor tents/medical tent/VIP tent. Bike removal was a joke-no traffic allowed within a mile, i could have taken ANY bike out i wanted, traffic after racking bike was a nightmare, even the cop directing traffic was saying how dumb it was what we were forced to do. Call me negative or superficial but after all the hype and expectation of a 70.3 I just expected some things to be more prestigious. Swag for such a large event should be large, organization for a large event should be taken care of, sponsors should be there-WTF is ESI anyway-numbering is a big deal-its YOUR IDENTIFICATION-its probably the most photographed moment by friends and family, its your way to photos by the professionals, its your "mark" for days after the event, running out of medals-UNACCEPTABLE!I saw the LAST finisher on the course with 7 miles to go, in the pouring rain, next to the bike cop, with the cone removal crew behind him, and my heart sank when i found out they ran out of medals. Post race food was pretty limited. I heard this race was better last year. Shame I won't find out if its better next year.
Congrats to everyone who finished, I'm happy to have met so many people, thanks to those cheered, and those that volunteered-and best of luck to everyone!