Ironman 70.3 Timberman - Triathlon

Solid swim. I swam easy out to the start line and was the first one there. Guy behind me said, I know whose feet I want to follow. Anyway, gun went off and I got a good start. Had clean water. One guy to my right was hanging along. Next thing I know he is off to my left, then back to my right. Got on his feet for a minute but was sighting the buoys as I didn't trust him. Sure enough, he veered way way left and that was the last I saw of him. Caught up to the end of the previous wave about halfway to the first turn buoy. And then from there on I just had to try to pick my way through. I found that right along or right inside the buoy line was pretty ideal. Swam right into shore, popped up, saw 27:xx on the watch and knew I had pretty well nailed the swim. Thought I was first in the wave out of the water.

Nothing.

Had my wetsuit down to my waist on the run along the seawall. Bypassed the strippers. Saw Jane and gave her a shoutout as I was turning down my row, well, the wrong row, but I realized it as I was doing it and made the correction. Suit was off in a snap, sunglasses and helmet on and was out of there with the bike.

11/235 in AG.
93 OA.



Nothing to change here that I can think of.

The first few miles of this ride were pretty weird. I came upon a really nasty looking crash that sort of rattled me. Then my quads felt very tired/unawake. Anyway moved on past that stuff and tried to settle in and get my legs working. I think Marsh hill was just what I needed because from then on I felt great. Out onto 106 and I just put my head down and went. I kept keying off the riders ahead and was steadily progressing through the field. I grabbed my only water bottle at the far end of the course. Otherwise I had 2 bottles of infinit and 2 gels which worked well at about 700 calories. On the way back down 106 I linked up with a guy in my age group and we were able to legally pace off each other for 15 miles or so of good hammering. I would pass on the hills and he would bomb the descents. Cruised on into t2 knowing that I was in range to have the race that I wanted and that I just had to lay down the kind of run that I knew I was capable of and had trained for.

Not much. I rode a few sections conservatively but that was mostly because of sketchy riders and after seeing a few crash victims I figured I would do my best to avoid that.

Smooth as butter. In and out.

14/235 in age group.


Nada.

This was a workman like effort. Got out of transition and settled in pretty quickly. Got the legs turning over quickly and tried to focus on standing tall. Found 2 guys that were moving at the pace I wanted and stuck with them for most of the first loop before eventually moving on by myself. I was taking some perform or water at most aid stations. On the way back from the first loop I saw Jane and was happy to get some encouraging words from her. Back out for the second loop things got quite a bit more crowded. About halfway out my hammies started to twinge a bit. Altered my stride some to try to get it to loosen up. It stayed a bit tight the rest of the way but never locked up thankfully. Got to the turnaround and knew aside from a couple of hills that I could gut out the last 3 miles on my terms. I was running with a guy in a younger age group and we were motoring along a-ok. Up the last big hill and I knew it was generally flat to down the rest of the way. That's when I decided to empty the tank and go. Finished and was totally spent.

Nothin'.

Walked around a bit and got my act together. Got changed at the car. Had some food. Hopped into the lake. And had a couple beers. Then I was fortunate enough to snag a slot to 70.3 worlds next year in Mont Tremblant.


Nothing today. PR for the distance and I exorcised some demons from 2 flat tires the last time I raced this course in 2008 at my first half ironman.


I like timberman quite a bit. Will be back again at some point!