Ironman 70.3 Augusta - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Augusta, Georgia
United States
World Triathlon Corporation
Overcast
Total Time = 5h 27m 39s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = W25-29
Age Group Rank = 25/148
Pre-race routine:

Woke up race morning at 3:30 a.m.,roughly a little over 3 hours of sleep. I do a lot of lollygagging on race morning, I admit it, so I give myself plenty of lollygag time. Headed out around 5:30 a.m. Loraine dropped me off close to transition, and went to go park downtown, which was over a mile away, so she was going to walk back. Got body marked and went in to set up transition. After Loraine got back, we decided to walk to the swim start. The swim was a point-to-point swim, so the walk from transition to the swim start was, as you can imagine, about 1.2 miles. They had shuttle buses to the swim start, but since I was in the second to last wave and had about 2 hours to kill, we decided to walk. Was a good choice, we walked slow and killed a good 20 minutes or so.
Event warmup:

Walking to swim start
Swim
  • 31m 37s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 30s / 100 yards
Comments:

Horn goes off and for the first time in my triathlon, um....."career" I guess, I experienced the "washing machine" effect of many people starting a swim at the same time. Had a lot of contact with other swimmers, but eventually found some space and got into a rhythm. This is a fast swim, its a wetsuit swim with the current. There were some overgrown seaweed in the beginning of the swim and that freaked me out of course, but I got through it and kept moving forward. I was just gliding and swimming then I ran into my first problem, I could not see. I had to tread water for a few seconds, let some water into my goggles to clear them, and kept going. A little past the halfway point I got a cramp in my left foot, I did not want to stop moving forward, so I floated and kept my same stroke, similar to the way I swim with a pool buoy. This happened 3 more times, each time only in my left foot. Finally the boat ramp came into view and the swim was over
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, was a great swim for me
Transition 1
  • 04m 18s
Comments:

I decided to go to the wetsuit strippers since I knew I had not put on enough body glide to get it off quickly myself. Put my bike nutrition in my tri top pocket, put on cycling shoes, race belt, helmet, grabbed bike and left transition
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, good t1 for me for a longer race
Bike
  • 2h 55m 23s
  • 56 miles
  • 19.16 mile/hr
Comments:

Bike was interesting for me. I did a lot of trainer rides to build up my legs, but with no hills to train on it was all I had. The bike course was hillier than I thought it would be, much hillier. I ate a Honey Stinger waffle every 15 miles and that was great, I really like solids on the bike. Climbing the hills wasn't as brutal as it was last year at ironman Louisville, I was able to stay in the big ring on the hills, but I was still a flat lander going up hills. I was still nervous on the screaming downhills, but I didn't ride the brakes this time. Toward the end of the bike my glutes were really starting to ache from going up the hills. The second half of the bike I held back a little so I would be able to do a great run after it. The last 5 miles back into transition we had a great tailwind so I was just able to meet my goal of a sub 3 hour bike split on this course.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, goof bike for me considering the hills
Transition 2
  • 05m 4s
Comments:

I wanted to get my run stuff on as quickly as possible, I had to pee so bad it hurt, and I can't pee on my bike. I racked my bike, exchanged cycling shoes for running shoes, skipping the socks, exchanged helmet for running hat, turned my race belt around, and stuffed my pocket with run nutrition. I ran to the porta potty in transition after that. Unloaded about a gallon of fluid and headed out on the run.
What would you do differently?:

Nothing , good t2 for me for a longer race
Run
  • 1h 51m 17s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 29s  min/mile
Comments:

felt great starting the run, I held back just enough on the bike to have a good run, and I knew it right from the start. Right before mile 2 I saw Loraine for the first time and gave her a smile and thumbs up to let her know I was feeling good and having a great race. Around mile 3 the course went into the Augusta Commons and it was the best part of the race, got a lot of crowd love, saw a bunch of buddies at various part of their run because of the 2 loop course, had spectators who knew me cheering me on, it was great! Saw Loraine a little after mile 3 and she told me I was 4 hours into the race, this was great news! This meant I had a shot at sub 5:30.
Starting the second loop I was starting the feel the fatigue of the day, but I had to stay strong. My feet never dried from the swim since it was overcast all day so I was starting to get blisters. I started thinking about all the well wishes I had received the day before and the day of the race, and all the people who were tracking me, and their words carried me through. I went through the Commons again and got some more much needed crowd love. One of my supporters ran alongside me for a few seconds to see how I was feeling, I was at mile 9.5 and told her only 3 and a half more miles to go. At mile 11 I hit the wall. I walked 10 steps through mile 11 aid station so I could get some ironman perform drink in my system instead of all over me. I had been taking a Honey Stinger gel every 3 miles. I ran to the next aid station at mile 12, and did the same 10 step walk and take in perform. I was hurting, 1 mile to go, my legs and feet were screaming. Once again I though about all the people supporting me and my well wishes, this is what got me to that finish line
What would you do differently?:

Nothing, was really happy with this run
Post race
What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of hill training on the bike

Event comments:

I had an awesome time at this race!




Last updated: 2012-02-02 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:31:37 | 2112 yards | 01m 30s / 100yards
Age Group: 90/148
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Suit: Xterra Vortex
Course: Point to point down river
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Waves
Water temp: 76F / 24C Current:
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Good
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding:
T1
Time: 04:18
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
02:55:23 | 56 miles | 19.16 mile/hr
Age Group: 36/148
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Wind:
Course: 1 big loop
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 05:04
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
01:51:17 | 13.1 miles | 08m 29s  min/mile
Age Group: 25/148
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Course:
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 5