Ironman 70.3 Racine - Triathlon

Holy surf Batman! Our punishment for living in the Midwest is we usually do not get surf on our inland lakes. Lake Michigan was angry today. There is a sand bar right after you get in the water so everyone runs out a good 100 feet before swimming. The waves were really breaking so I timed my dive between them and immediately got a mouthful of water. It was tough going out to the turn buoy but I figured it would be better for the mile down the shore.
Um, not so much. Made the turn and was now getting tossed around by the waves. The current seemed to be pushing us along but it was hard to get a stroke going. You would reach up with your arm and find air/water/who knows. Sighting was damn near impossible unless you timed it right between waves. Traffic was OK I guess; we were all getting tossed into one another. Just could not get a good rhythm going. The first 8 buoys are yellow; the next 8 orange so I knew I was getting to the last turn. Thought the surf would carry us in. Still tough. As we were getting up in the shallows, I saw several people get wiped out near the shore by crashing waves. Made it to the timing mat and saw I was at 42 minutes plus. Disappointed but that was the toughest individual swim I have ever done.

I could try to get over to Lake Michigan on a choppy day to practice, but I bet they would not otherwise let you swim out on the course on a day like this. Saw lots of people getting pulled, resting on the kayaks or flat out giving up.

Long run up though deep sand. Tried to hold back a bit while I got my suit down to my waist. Reached the path , ran through the pools to get the sand off my feet and found the strippers. Sat on the gorund and 2 people ripped the suit right off with no issues. Thanked them and entered transition. I was racked in the middle of 9 rows almost by bike out, so I had to loop all the way throw, dodging others. Got to my spot, threw my suit over the rack, helment on, shoes on, nutrition and water set. Grabbed bike, checked gearing to make sure it was set for the hill and waddled towards bike out. Stopped right before because my sunglasses were hung up in my helment strap. Fixed it and crossed the timing mat.

Hustle a little more? At a HIM, I want to make sure I am set for 56 miles on the bike and I would rather spend the time here than out on the course.

Got to the mount line and clipped in almost immediately and pushed up the hill. Usual cluster fudge of people having issues, but it was not too crowded when I started. Got out on Main Street and settled into aero position. This is the rough road that starts and ends the race. Didn't seem as bad as last year. Pretty soon we were out in the country. I felt good and was psuhing a good pace, but kept reminding myself to slow down, you have a long day ahead. My Garmin was running but I tried not staring at it, but at certain points, I would check to see my pace. Was surprise I was up to 19-21 mph. Too fast knowing I had to run yet but I still felt great. Drank water as needed, ate 1/2 a Clif bar, drank my Infinite, sipped out of my gel flask. Everything going according to plan.
Very pleasant day, sunny with a little east wind. At times, it felt more like a south wind but it was not really hurting. I was not even doing my typical sweating due to the low humidity. Reached Mile 30 and knew I was doing well. Still tried to be cautious about my pace. At around Mile 35, my shorts started bunching/pinching and the chamois was rubbing in places that did not need rubbing. I sat up and tried to adjust them. Up ahead, I saw the race photographer and thought it would not look good with me sitting up on the bike with my hand down my shorts (more later) so I quickly got into aero for my picture.
Soon we were heading back towards the lakefront and I now was doing the math. I thought I could break three hours on the bike. I felt good and said "eff it, I am going for it, the hell with the run". Pushed it the last few miles then cruised since I knew I had broken three hours. Came down the hill, unclipped and ran to transition.

Not a lot. Averaging almost 19 mph for 56 miles is more than I could have hoped for, plus I felt I had a lot in the tank for the run.

Much shorter run to my spot since I was right by bike in. Threw the bike up on the rack by the brake hoods, got helmen and shoes off. Took some time to wipe my face, got my socks and shoes on quickly. Grabbed some chamois cream and started toward run out with my hand down my shorts again, rubbing the cream to prevent any more chafing. Ah, relief. We triathletes are a weird bunch.

This was a good time for me. I just tale my time at longer races to make sure I am set.

Started out and had my running legs from the start. Felt so good I actually ran the first hill. Decided to walk the second to save some and slow my heart rate a bit. My pace was pretty good considering. Reached the turnaround and was right at 9:30 pace. Visions of a sub-6 hour HIM danced in my head. Still felt good at mile 5 and then started slowing.
While there was a nice little breeze off the lake, it was getting hot. I was drinking a lot of water and my gut started getting full. Tried some Coke at one of the aid stations and that made me feel a bit better, but I was slowing down. Reached the end of lap one, checked my time and know I had to throw down a pretty good pace if I wanted to break 6 hours. And then it fell apart.
I walked up both hills on the second loop and found myself walking a bit more. Per my Garmin, miles 7-8 took 13 plus minutes. I finally decided I would walk for 3-4 minutes then run 5 or more. This seemed to work for me and the last lap went by pretty fast. I felt great and chatted with other runners, thanked the volunteers and even stopped to dance with the guys who had a tent set up by an aid station. They were in full-on flame mode with their hot pants and sleeveless/backless dress shrits. They were out there the whole race, cheering us on. Walked a bit through the zoo, then ran the last 1/2 mile to the finish. Felt great but was ready to stop!

Try to even my pace out a bit. I averaged 11 minute miles which is right where I thought I would be. I think I can hold 10:30 by not starting out so "fast".

After crossing the line, got my medal, finisher's hat and grabbed 2 bottle of ice cold water. Went to the med tent to get a bag of ice and sit for a bit and cool off. Left after about 5 minutes. Decided to skip the food and went to transition so I could text my wife. Had several messages as she was tracking me online and she knew I "killed" it. My goal was around 6:40 this year. I tried not to set an unrealistic goal like last year then have it go right out the window due to some unforseen race conditions.


Given the near-perfect conditoons, I would say just more training and more brick work. I still do not have my nutrition totally worked out on the bike as the run suffered again this year because I just ran out of energy. But last year, I did this race in 7:13:08, so I'll take the almost one hour improvement.


Great race with great local support. Plenty of volunteers everywhere. Did not check out the post race food, but looked like bagels and subs. Might be a regulation, but a beer tent would be nice.