Ironman 70.3 New Orleans - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

Waited about an hour in the wetsuit for the first 8 waves to go. The pro's were already 20 miles into the bike before our wave was ready to go.

Waved at Kim and jumped in. They announced the water at 64, but it never bothered me at all. It was a little cool, but not a detriment at all. As always, my goggles filled with water as soon as I jump in, so I had to adjust a couple of times. Was more "worried" about water getting in my hear, under the swim cap, because I get "water on the ear" and it causes dizziness. I did not wear my ear-plugs (was one of the only things I forgot to get in transition). Otherwise just hard sighting the yellow bouy's in the small harbor. Swam pretty effortlessly, and alone most of the time. I accidently knocked someone in the eye, and said "sorry" and near the end, the 20-24 year old males came by and had some slight contact with them, but over-all not incidents. A little slower than I expected, but I felt real good the whole swim, was never out of breath.

Maybe a little bit better navigation. It was still a little choppy (not compared to the actual Lake Pontchartrain, and the wave runners would stir up the water some.

Maybe a little harder effort like my pool swims, but was satisfied for the first time at this distance.

A little wobbly legs getting up the steps out of the water. There were 10 wet suit strippers waiting, not doing anything so I let them do their thing. They had it off so fast, my goggles and cap almost came through the sleeves (I leave them in the sleeve).

Waved at Kim and blew her a kiss, and had a pretty smooth jog to the bike. Threw on shades and helmet and jogged to the mount line. Had a little trouble getting into the show, did not do running mount, but think I saved a few seconds having the shoes on the bike, instead of running with the shoes on.

Not much, maybe practice this more. IMFL will not be this way, they won't let you mount your shoes on the bike. Heard someone say "doing great, just take your time". That seemed to help me relax and just get them on.

Did not hammer it at all out of the gates. Just relaxed and tried to get past all the expanders in the road for the first 6 miles and then over the interstate bridges. Pretty significant headwind all the way to mile 25. Kept in aero for 97% of the time (most of the time). Kept telling myself that the wind would be gone on the way back, so just get through it.

The dang Garmin 500 cut out again around mile 9 (it did this earlier the week before, for the first time) so I was running without computer feedback for most of the rest of the race. (It actually logged 30 miles of data, so I know a little of how it went). I probably averaged around 18mph out to mile 25. I passed quite a few people on the way out, and was passed 4-5 times

At mile 25, I ate a little bit of Clf Bar and allowed myself to stretch out of aero. As soon as we turned around... WOW !!! I was able to drop the hammer and go. No computer, but was just cruising (it felt like anyway). Long stretches where I was passing folks like they were standing still. Got passed by 4-5 more on the return leg (2 very serious bikers, on ROAD BIKES blew by me, one had to be hammering 26+ MPH, because I was going fast at the time, awesome...)

Last 10 miles my neck and shoulders were starting to get tired and sore, and I didn't want to stay in aero, but forced myself to do it, and it paid off. I was happy with my split, I could have gone much harder, but I didn't want to "light too many matches" on the bike, which I kept telling myself.

I LOL'd when the guy on the Motobecane passed me, because he had a $300 bike and me on the P3, and he just left me sitting there.

Not much. I fueled pretty good. I didn't take anything from the course, and never felt hungry or tired. I know I could have hammered harder, but this being my first 70.3 wanted something left for the run.

No real problems here. I took 3 advil out of the plastic bag and drank water off the bike, and then noticed that I had lost a bottle (I wonder what they do with the 1000's of discarded bottles they find?)

Got the shoes on, but decided not to put socks on (BAD decision). Fumbled a little with the 2 gel's I wanted to take, and opted not to take any salt tabs. Momentarily dropped one of the gu's

Put on socks...........

Ran upto Kim and kissed her and she said "GO". I said "I love You, see you in a little bit". Tired legs, as expected off the bike. Just wanted to get on a decent pace. I had no time goals. 2 bridge overpasses in the first 2 miles, and I was like, what? I thought this was supposed to be flat. It was pancake flat except for these 2-3 over-passes. :)

Within the first mile, I felt it. I poured water over my head at the first water stop and my heels were already rubbing my Kirvana's. I knew it was going to be a long day with them rubbing, so I must put the thought out of my head as best I could. They turned into a bloody mess around mile 3 and then a blister under my right foot too. Long day ahead.

I just concentrated on running between all the water stops, and walk every one of them. This seemed to work really good. I popped the first gel at mile 4 and the second at mile 9. I grabbed a Gu Chomp at mile 10 and used it before mile 11. Mostly used water, and 2 or 3 cokes (cokes were every other water stop.) Run, run, run then walk the water. Every time.

A few cramps started creeping in on my right calf (my old friend....) and must have a salt management routine for the next one and IMFL.

Passed a lot of folks in the last 4 miles who were walking.

Really?? Put on socks. Felt a little bloated at the end, but not bad. I thought I managed the run pretty good. My only thought at mile 12 was "HOLY MOLY, at IMFL I'll just be half way". Got some more training to do....

Kim yelled as I was finishing and found her very quickly, and hugged her tight and thankful to her for her support. Went to medical, and pulled off my bloody shoes and got band-aids. Hobbled over and got a banana and some cheese pizza.


Just not knowing what to expect about this distance. I could have gone harder on the bike, and still ran the same split, I feel like. This is about where my fitness level is right now, which isn't too bad. Going to get a little faster in the next couple of months before switching modes for longer endurance. The Ironman will be a whole different ball game, I feel.


First WTC race I actually raced at (volunteered at IMFL last year). They know what they are doing, and it shows. They could not help that the wave runners were late, and they let us know what was going on. It's expensive but hard to beat. First time in 2 years the swim part was not cancelled. It was not the best swim venue, but nothing that I would say was negative. The entire experience was awesome, the support of the city and the volunteers were AWESOME !!!

Glad to have this first one under my belt. Going to recover and then the REAL training starts in June - IMFL 2013