Ironman 70.3 Racine - Triathlon


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Racine, Wisconsin
United States
World Triathlon Corporation
80F / 27C
Overcast
Total Time = 6h 25m 1s
Overall Rank = 985/1461
Age Group = 30-34
Age Group Rank = 175/240
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 4:15 (1:15 Alaska time) and ate almonds and dried cherries and blueberries, soaked chia seeds, and drank some coffee and sipped water. Drove to Racine and set up transition. Waited in line for the porta-johns. Walked to the swim start and watched my sister start her race. Started getting anxious. Watched 19 waves go before me, so lots of waiting around.
Event warmup:

Swam in and out of the waves to get used to it. Really rough water.
Swim
  • 34m 26s
  • 2112 yards
  • 01m 38s / 100 yards
Comments:

Started in front line of my wave, and fell, running into the waves. I was able to stay in front for the most part though. Getting through the first set of waves was tough. Not something I've trained for. Lots of elbows and kicks going on (I dished some out too, on accident, of course). After the first turn, I started feeling better and got a good rhythm going. However, the waves made sighting more difficult because sometimes you'd look for the buoy, and all you see is a swell. Before you know it, you're aiming in the wrong direction. So, breath-timing became an issue. Lots of other racers had the same problem, and were crossing in front of me in the wrong direction, which led to more collisions and stops. My last turn was way too wide, and I ended up swimming back a ways. Happy with my time and ranking anyway.
What would you do differently?:

Train for rough waters. Practice sighting. Considering the crazy conditions, I think I did good.
Transition 1
  • 05m 12s
Comments:

Transition was ok. Long run to get there. There were kiddie pools to rinse off the sand, which was nice. There were also wetsuit strippers, and sunblock appliers, but I passed them up and did my own. I totally missed my shoulder blades, which ended up getting pretty scorched. It was really tight in transition and had to stop to move out of the way of other racers a few times. Got my stuff and got on the road fairly well though.
What would you do differently?:

Sunblock my shoulder blades.
Bike
  • 3h 10m 44s
  • 56 miles
  • 17.67 mile/hr
Comments:

In a good portion of the bike course, there were breaks in the pavement every two or three seconds, and the *THUMP THUMP* eventually started breaking me down (back/neck). Hamstrings were a little crampy right off the bat, which led to a slow beginning to the bike, but worked out after a while. Water stations were great, I think there were three. Never done this before, so I didn't have the routine down until the last one. Volunteers at the stations (and everywhere else) were awesome. Totally cool people. I ate three luna bars that I had packed on my bike, each broken in half -- one half every 30 minutes. That seemed to settle well. Drank water, then proform, and HEED was in my reserve bottle. Didn't need much HEED because I kept refilling my proform at the water stations. One time, forgot to open my aerodrink lid. Spilled the preform all over myself and the bars. Got real sticky. Also found an exploded Gu in my pack, which got even more sticky. Tried to lick it off, but had no saliva left. Mile 40 was my breaking point. I totally lost steam, and slowed down and took some deep breaths and stretched out my back, which was killing me from the rough roads and aero position. Felt a little better, and took it easy for the last few miles.
What would you do differently?:

Train for this distance. Haven't gone over 26 miles this year at all. Ain't nobody got time for that!
Transition 2
  • 04m 25s
Comments:

Didn't have enough warning to really get my feet out of my shoes while on the bike. I should have done it earlier. I got one foot out, and had to disconnect the other one, get off the bike, then take it off my foot so I could run with the bike. A little sloppy on my part. I had a good transition, then ran through the two thousand bikes to the Run Out arch, and a guy let me know I forgot my race bib. So, I ran all the way to the other end of transition to get my bib, and ran back to start my run. Overall, bad job on T2.
What would you do differently?:

Keep my bib where I can see it easily, and not be able to forget it. It was covered up by my wetsuit.
Run
  • 2h 30m 15s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 29s  min/mile
Comments:

I was pretty overheated. Had goosebumps since the last few miles on the bike, and was sweating like crazy while on the run. That's when the heat started getting to me (80 is hot for this Alaskan). Walked up the hills, and through water stations. Had to use the porta-john again on the run. Poor girl there had an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction, where her cheek was hanging out of her shorts. Not sure if you can get a penalty for that, but she seemed worried. I could have fashioned a patch out of a disassembled paper cup, but I was not in MacGuyver mode at that moment. At the end of the first loop, my inner quad muscles were cramped up, and kept getting worse. I ran through the turnaround merely for the crowd, and cramped up bigtime around the corner. Took a couple salt tabs and a guy gave me some water (after he saw me scavenge water from a random bottle on the ground). Thanks buddy! From then on, my only goal was to run to the next water station, where I'd take my sweet time getting water, ice, preform, pretzels, oranges, bananas, and a bonk breaker, whatever sounded good at the time. Mostly ice and water, which I tucked into my shirt and hat, and chomped on. I made it a point to run to the finish for the last 100 yards or so. Felt good to finish. That's all I wanted to do at that point.
What would you do differently?:

It all comes down to training, really. I need more miles under my belt.
Post race
Warm down:

Hobble to the medical tent for ice on my knees. Hobble to the sidelines to see my wife and in-laws who were there to cheer me on. Watched my sister finish, which was the best part of the whole dang thing.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Myself. My choices and priorities during training.

Event comments:

This was my first big-scale event outside of Alaska, so I don't have much to compare to. However, I think it was great. IM Village was cool, everything was very well organized, well-marked (I tend to get lost), well supported, and everything was on time to the second. Tons of volunteers, even some who weren't official volunteers, just helping out in their yard as we went by, spraying us with water and cheering. I had a great time.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2013-07-09 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:34:26 | 2112 yards | 01m 38s / 100yards
Age Group: 29/240
Overall: 212/1461
Performance: Good
Suit: Xterra Vortex sleeveless
Course: Swim into the waves, across/parallel to beach, and back into the beach. Long run in sand/trail toward transition.
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 70F / 21C Current: High
200M Perf. Below average Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Average
Waves: Average Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Below average
T1
Time: 05:12
Performance: Good
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
03:10:44 | 56 miles | 17.67 mile/hr
Age Group: 150/240
Overall: 1080/1461
Performance: Average
Wind: Some with gusts
Course: Lots of rough country roads. There was a good stretch in the middle where it was really smooth, but I mostly remember rough roads. Mile markers every 5 miles were nice, but didn't come fast enough...
Road: Rough Dry Cadence: 80
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Average
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 04:25
Overall: Bad
Riding w/ feet on shoes Below average
Jumping off bike Average
Running with bike Below average
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
02:30:15 | 13.1 miles | 11m 29s  min/mile
Age Group: 176/240
Overall: 1323/1461
Performance: Below average
Course: Two-loop course with water stations almost every mile, I think. All on pavement, only a few small hills, nice course through neighborhoods and apparently the zoo, although I didn't see anything zooish. Nice place though.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5