Ironman 70.3 Racine - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Holy waves! It was really hard to get out as the waves came crashing in. Spectators said that for each group that started, a bunch of people would give up and swim back in. We had 10 in our group that did that. Once you were out it was definitely wavy, but I was mostly in a groove where I could time the waves to breathe and sight. Had a few times where my sighting was worthless but wasn't horrible overall. I guess I overcompensated and ended up way out away from the buoys. It was nice cuz there was no one else out there, but as usual I end up swimming too far. I passed a lot of people from the 2 waves in front of me and ended up in the middle of my age group.

Well, there's always the fact that I don't do any swimming when I train, although I did swim a mile this week after helping Nicole with her stroke. But I don't do drills or speed work, or distance. So other than actually getting some time in, I think I handled the waves pretty well.

T1 involves a long run from the beach in 4-inch deep sand. Although I don;t know exactly where the swim ends and T1 starts, but guessing from where I did my watch splits the sandy part is included in T1. I did jog through the sand this year which was tiring. I used the wetsuit strippers as usual. The swim in goes all the way to the run out corner, so I had to run to the complete diagonal corner to get to my bike. I did take time to wash, dry, and body glide my feet. After last week I didn't want to get blisters. Couldn't find my sunscreen so skipped that.

Not much, this will always be a slow transition for me.

Took the first half easy and felt good, clocked mile 28.2 at 1:37 which, assuming I could negative split, would be a PR bike for me. Wind was coming from the East so that helped on the ride West. Took only tiny sips of water and gatorade for the first 15 miles, had an ounce of Gu at miles 15, 30, and 42. Went through 2 tanks of water (well, half a tank each time since there's a crack in the tank halfway up so can't fill it) and 2/3 of a Gatorade. Felt pretty cool, not sweating which was a nice change from during the week. Legs started to get really tired on the second half, and last 10 miles got really rough. My butt wanted off the seat, my feet were burning, and legs were so done! Normally this is where I pick up and actually pass people, but it was all I could do to just get the darn bike back to T2. I did all those hills on Wednesday and probably wasn't recovered from that. I had done the loop in Madison on the Wed before last year's race and had issues from that--should have read that race report sooner. Back was killing me, legs were done...wasn't sure if I'd even be able to do the run...365 people passed me on the bike. The consolation was I had the men in my age group and the young pups in the waves behind me, so not surprised.

Well, I still haven't had the time to get a long ride in. Normally by now I've been to Madison a couple of times, but with my screwy schedule I've only done Mary Hill repeats. Did 12 on Wednesday, which, after the Oly on Sunday, was probably too much. Legs just fried out. This is making me have serious doubts about Madison in Sept, wondering if I should pull out. Unless I can some double loops in, I don't think it will happen

Wow, couldn't even stand up straight when I got off the bike, not sure why my back was so tight. Legs were trashed. Sat down to switch out my shoes then went to the porta potty. Peed a fair amount so felt hydration was on. Stopped for a sec by the run out to have them rub on sunscreen.

Not much. Still won't pee off the bike, although I met a girl who told me the best way to do it...

Jogging didn't seem too bad--those muscles were ok for now. Ran past the medical tent where my coworkers were working and they got me pumped up. Walked up the 2 hills on mile 1 and stopped at the first aid station to get Coke, water, and ice. Sun was very hot. Missed the first mile marker, but my time for the first 2 miles together was 20:39 so was around a 10-min pace. Figured I should not go faster than that, maybe even slow a bit. Had the goal of just getting to the next water station. At each one I took coke, ice, and 2 waters--1 to drink and 1 to dump over my head. Got sponges which I tucked under my shoulder straps at the 2nd stop. Put ice down my top and down the back of my shorts. Dumped water over my head. Broke my visor last week and couldn't find my IM WI finisher's hat, so was wearing last year's Racine hat. Did ok for the first loop, although I could feel the fatigue setting in on my legs. Was wishing I had salt. Asked a few people but no one had any. After getting the the hills, ran to the water station, walked through that, but then when I started to run again realized there was going to me more walking in my future if I hoped to finish this thing. Had to walk for a bit and a guy running by dropped a baggie. I picked it up and yelled to him but he didn't hear. Inside was a single Endurolyte. I figured he'd need it so I tried to jog to get it back to him but he was going to fast. I figured I'd see him on the turn around so I tucked the bag in my belt. The water station at mile 9 was out of ice, so I tucked a sponge in the front of my shirt, also ate a banana as well as Coke and water. Kept doing the jog/walk thing. I quickly realized there was no way I was going to recognize the guy who dropped his Endurolyte, so I took it. Legs were just spent. Even walking was tough. Met a few different people who were walking and learned the secret of peeing off the bike...still don't think I'll go there...Jogged a bit more the last mile and of course into the final stretch.

Gotta do more running. Haven't done any long runs at all. This was very sad--normally the run is where I make up for what I lose on the bike, but instead I had 62 people pass me. Last year I passed 342 people on the run in that sweltering heat. My left foot was bothering me a lot. The pinky toe was rubbing and it was burning a lot where my bunion had been--knew I couldn't be getting a blister since there's no bump anymore but it really hurt. Not sure if my feet can handle the full...

Went into medical to say hi to everyone. Jackie was nice enough to pop in an IV for me--since I didn't have to pee at all, figured that would hydrate me up. Did some stretching while that was going in. Legs were so incredibly sore and stiff. The IV saved my from the post-race nausea I usually get, so that was nice too. Grabbed a sandwich and went to transition to get my gear.


Lack of training. Doing all of the house and yard work myself doesn't leave me any time to train. Haven't done any long rides yet this year and haven't gone out to madison yet. Have to look at the next 6 weeks and if I can't get those in will have to pull out of MOO


This is a great race, easy course. The chop on the swim and the wind on the bike did me no favors this year, but I've always loved this race, even when it was Spirit of Racine.