Ironman 70.3 Austin - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The swim went alright. I was really hoping to be out of the water right at 30 minutes, this is close enough I guess. I had some disorientation/dizziness around 300-1000 yards in, not sure what it was all about but it went away. Also got a bad calf cramp about halfway in one leg, then again about 40 ft from the finish. Never had that happen before and it certainly is not from a lack of training, I swam 40000+ yards in both August and September and was feeling strong. Sighting went well, I was never more than 10 ft off the bouys. It was more of a challenge to go around slower swimmers in front of me. The highlight of my swim was that I decided to start right up front. Front row, about 5 people from the left. I chose to chance a rough fight rather than lose a minute or two and have to swim around a ton more people. It worked out, plenty of contact but nothing that really bothered me.

Stretch my calves more prior to entering the water?

I simply suck at transitions. I'm just so out of breath exiting the water that I choose to take it easy in the transition and let my heart rate come down, when I should do that on the bike instead. First time for me having everything in a bag, then having to bag my wetsuit, swim cap and goggles.

Get sponsored, so I don't care if I bag my wetsuit, swim cap and goggles. Just leave 'em behind and get new ones after the race!

Seems like I could almost cut and paste most other RR's about the bike. The first half I felt great, then around mile 30 the wind developed and kicked my rear. I was averaging 19ish on the front half of the bike course, then fell apart on the back half. I just couldn't pedal any harder into that wind, then my shoulders/back started aching and I couldn't get back down into the aero position. The race course itself probably wouldn't be so bad if the roads were in better condition. The aid stations seemed to be at good intervals and the people working them did a good job.

I chose to rent a bike for this race so the fit wasn't perfect. But I'm not sure it was poor bike fit that was my doom. Buy a tri bike and get strong on it, then either do races closer to home or fork over the money to bring it along.

I was so demoralized that I just didn't care anymore. I was ready to get off the bike and just lay down and not move for a while.

I don't think I would have called this a death march, because I at least managed to run the downhills. But bottom line is that it was brutal. And it was all on me. And the heat. Take away my lack of preparedness and the heat and this would have been a good run course. I'm still undecided on whether or not I like the 3 loops. While it was nice after the first loop to know what was coming, it was quite demoralizing to know I had to do it all two more times. I also felt bad on my third lap when I passed the "mile 2" marker and heard the Garmin beep of the runner next to me, signaling that for them it really only was mile 2. I'm sure someone else thought the same thing when it was happening to me.

Run more. Alot more. And bike more. Honestly I did complete a HM as well as a 10 Mile race within the past few months, so I know I can do that distance with acceptable times (~9:30-10/mile on the half, 1:32 finishing time on the 10 Mile). So I think it goes back to the bike, and getting stronger on the bike so I can finish with more in the tank.

Wandered around the finish line in a daze for a while. Looked at all that great food and just couldn't imagine eating any of it. I considered checking myself into the medical tent for a quick exam, but some of the folks in there looked real bad so I just walked back out. My family did not accompany me to this race, I really didn't know anyone there, it would have been nice to have someone familiar at the finish line to help me make some more rational decisions about rehydrating and getting some calories in. And cooling down.


Insufficient training, heat and wind.


I hate traffic and standing in lines. And I feel like that's all I did the entire weekend. Whether it was going downtown to have dinner or trying to get through packet pickup. The line at the Ironman store was almost as long as the line to pick up my packet, so I didn't spend a few hundred bucks there. Maybe that's not a bad thing! I probably won't be back to do this race again, but that is more a factor of there being a ton of other 70.3's I want to try, not because it was a bad race. I feel the race officials and staff did a great job with getting things on the course as decent as it was. Sounds like it could have been alot worse, especially on the bike course. And of course the wind and heat are completely out of their control.