Ironman 70.3 Eagleman Triathlon - Triathlon

After the biblical rains the Friday before, I thought the current would be higher. But I guess this part of Maryland has more wetlands to absorb rain, better than where I live. Great Marsh Park (Transition area) absorbed it's part, that's for sure.

Winds were calm, and the current seemed low. Virtually no waves, at one point it felt like swimming in a pool. Sighting has gotten better since last year, and I thought my navigation overall was better, but it didn't show up in the times.

Not much

Mudfest 2013! The ground was still pretty wet from the rains, and 2000 athletes tromping around on defined paths made it worse. Oh well. I was laughing as I approached the mud run, just picked up the bike for a little CX action, was preclipped and in bare feet, and charged on. Some people didn't see the humor in it. While getting out of my wetsuit, I noticed someone running by in socks. Ick.

Not much.

OK, this was my first time incurring a penalty. I was a little shaken at first, but won't argue the call. I was too close. It wasn't intentional, as we were hitting a lot of traffic, and I just wasn't paying attention to how far back I was from the guy in front of me. There had been a large pack (10-15) in front of me that had been broken up a little earlier, and that was the first time I had seen anyone incur a penalty.

Not much, except try to be more attentive towards spacing. Those touring motorcycles are quiet!

Well now, this was a different T2 experience. Since I had gotten the drafting penalty, I knew I would have some time to recover. I didn't know for sure that the tent was at the end of the course, but with roughly 5 miles to go, it seemed like the logical place for it. So I hammered in as much as I could, to make up some of the penalty time. Once in the tent, I put the shoes back on the pedals, finished my water/gatorade, and generally got mentally ready for the run. Once the volunteer cleared me from the tent, I made a dash through the mud, not worrying about the bike, letting it roll (carried it through the mud run on the way out) and looked for my rack. I saw my new Zoot shoes, barely two weeks old, and highlighter yellow, and thought I might as well wait until I got to pavement before putting them on. The feet were already muddy, and there might be a puddle or something I could rinse my feet off before putting on the shoes. I was more concerned with mud inside the shoe, that would grind away the flesh.

Last year's Eagleman was my first HIM in true summer heat, and I wasn't quite ready for it psychologically. I had some ideas, like bringing a small towel to wrap ice in, and try to get it on my head. But that didn't seem to help much.

This year I thought I'd try eating the ice, rather than wear it. While it was a few degrees cooler, it did seem like eating ice helped. This is something to continue trying, as I had no side effects (such as cramping) from the cold.

I didn't think about it until after the race, but the four minute penalty, under the shade of the tent, made the beginning of the run not feel so bad. Once I left the park, I started to feel pretty bad, but got adjusted and moved on. Certainly the legs felt fine, with all that time to recover.

After the first couple miles, I got into a routing of hitting pretty much every aid station for ice, and some gatorade. Eating large chunks of ice took a little practice. The half-way point seemed to come faster, and I was feeling pretty good by then. There is a section where the forest is really dense on both sides of the road, and a breeze came through that was almost refreshing.

This was my first race in a new pair of shoes, Zoot Ultra Race 4.0, with the BOA lace system. The BOA is nice, but not really a game changer. One thing I noticed is they still need tuning after running a bit in them, as the steel cord tension balances out throughout the loops. They are less cushioned than most shoes I've worn, but after running 10-miles in them leading up to the race, I've adjusted.

Not much.

Was not as bad as other races, though I was glad it was over. Stood under the fire hose, took a quick dip in the Choptank.


Traffic on the bike course. If people wouldn't block, things would go smoother, however drafting would probably be worse.




On the mudfest that was Transition: With the incredible amount of rain the area received 36 hours prior, and being on the water, and named "Great Marsh Park", it's understandable that there would be some mud/wet grass. The transition area was set up differently from last year, that I think resulted in longer runs on grass with the bike, compared to last year. The organizers probably had a reason to change transition set up, but may not have considered the rain situation. They did the best they could given the situation.

By some accounts, this year was worse for drafting, but others said it was a typical year. It sounds like any flat course has the potential, since they spread the waves out, with faster groups starting towards the back, it is naturally set up to bunch up.