Ironman 70.3 Augusta - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

I suck at swimming, I know this. I can't swim in a straight line, I can't swim fast, my form is terrible and my speed is worse. The swim is something I have (for now) decided to accept as going to be slow. My goals with the swim are to stay relaxed, not put too much energy into and to finish not dizzy and staggering around. I accomplished this. I was all over the place because I don't practice sighting. At one point I almost ran into the bridge. A kayaker was yelling at me and when I looked up the bridge was like ten feet in front of me. At another point I almost swam into one of the boats on the shore. I finished not dizzy and exhausted though, and that was what I wanted to do.

Learn how to swim. I've decided to join a masters class and start over. I hope to get the right technique and form down.

Got out of the water and shuffled to the wetsuit strippers. Next time I'll pick more able-bodied-looking strippers. The group I chose consisted of two smaller looking people and they had trouble getting the wetsuit off my ankles. I really didn't mind the extra 10 second delay though. Made it over to my bike and took my time (obviously) with getting ready. Made it to the mount line and off I went.

Nothing....well maybe be more selective with the wetsuit strippers. I shouldn;t complain though, they helped me and that's all that should really matter. I'm not to the point where shaving two to three minutes off my transition time is important.

The bike course was awesome. The first 15 or so miles was flat, then the rollers start. However, none of the hills would be considered grinders. A few packs flew by me, but to tell the truth there were times where you could not avoid drafting for a few minutes. I don't really care what other people do, and I am definitely not one to make a stink about it. I did hear a few comments from others around me as the packs flew by. Things like, "Hey, I didn't know this was a group ride." Either way, to each his own. I'm sure there are others here that get upset about it, and rightfully so. If I were trying to qualify for Kona or something like that I'd be pissed about it....really pissed actually. I really enjoyed the bike course and was pleasantly surprised when I finsihed in under 3 hours. Nutrition was right on seeing as how I only had a quarter inch floating in the bottom after the bike.

I don't think I would do anything differently. One thing I won't do differently is switch to salt sticks or tabs. I saw so many of them laying in the road I began to feel sorry for those who lost them. I hope it didn't have much effect on their race. I mix my salt in with my nutrition bottle so i think I may keep that up.

T2 was pretty straight forward. I'm not a fancy flying squirrell dismounter because I'd probably faceplant. Stopped, unclipped, walked the bike to my transition area.

I would put my shoes and a pair of socks in a plastic bag to keep them dry. It would have been nice to have dry feet even for a minutes. Since I have not run with soaking feet, I put petroleum jelly on my toes. I think it helped.

The run course was awesome, a simple two loop course through downtown Augusta. Even with the rain, there were a bunch of spectators. My goal was an 11 minute mile, but I was only able to do do 12 minute miles. Definitely plenty of room for improvement.

I was doing fine until I saw the 12 mile marker. For some reason, it upset me that I still had 1.2 miles left. You would think it would motivate me, but it literally sucked the wind out of my sails. I guess mentally I was in a dark place. I stopped running, and even started to sit down for a bit. Then out of nowhere, I see my wife beside me and she starts offering words of encouragement. If I were upset about 1.2 miles left, I was REALLY upset about my wife seeing me just about ready to sit down for a minutes. Seeing her hit my reset button and I got back up. I shuffled/walk the rest of the way to the finish and finally crossed the finish line. I had all these dreams about holding my arms up and looking cool for the finish photo, but that photo was the last thing on my mind as I crossed.

When I entered this race, I had doubts I would even finish. The last time I did a tri was like five years ago. During the training I lost 30+ lbs and started feeling a lot better about myself. While I was slow to finish, I do plan on increasing my overall speed in all three events. However, for this race and the prep leading up to it, I would do nothing differently.

Beer curls and pizza lifts.


My own personal goals.


Although I don't see myself doing Augusta 70.3 again, it is an awesome course. I think the only problem is the amount of competitors. Field could be reduced a few hundred I would think.

Oh yeah, that drill instructor deputy was the bomb!! "There's no walking on this block!!!"