Ironman 70.3 Steelhead - Triathlon

This was my first beach start to a race, so I was anticipating a "machine gun run" type approach to the start, which it was. I resisted from diving in as long as I could. I waited till the water was about to my waist to make the plunge. I saw some guys dive prematurely and would be quickly passed.

It was white water and doggy paddle for about the first 100 meters until a little bit past the first buoy where we cut north. As always I tried to get myself to the outside to try to get away from chaos as quickly as possible. I got a foot to my right temple, but glad it didn't clock me in the nose. I choose to breath on my left side as a result of having bad left shoulder problems from playing football and hockey in high school. This allows me to take peaks if anyone is coming up on my left who could potentially whack my left arm and possibly separate my shoulder. Heading north and breathing left also had me looking away from the beach, the buoys and the other swimmers. I was just constantly looking across Lake Michigan what was probably (but not visible) Chicago.

I stayed along the outside close to where volunteers in kayaks and boats marked the outside boundary of the course. Water was opening up and I developed a good rhythm and stuck with it for about 10 minutes until I quickly checked my Garmin to see my progress. 1/3 of a mile in just over 9 minutes. Standard. Kept on swimming.

When I reached about half way through the course I started to swim back towards the inner side close to the buoys. It was around 8am. I started to notice waves were starting to pick up. They weren't awful, but swells were getting up to around 2 feet. Not gigantic, but I was getting a mouthful of water on occasion when I would look up to breath.

It's tough to say where I was in comparison to the rest of my wave. A lot of the faster guys got ahead of me in the beginning, but very few people passed me after that. I started passing struggling/novice swimmers in the last half mile from previous waves.

I got to the last buoy, cut back into the shore and swam the last 50 meters to the swim exit. I was surprised by the number of spectators that were lining the path back to transition. My watch indicated the course spanned 1.3 miles instead of 1.2.

When it comes to swimming, biking and running I would say swimming comes as the easiest to me. After all it was the highest I ranked across the three disciplines that day.

The problem with my swimming is that I know exactly how I'm going to do every time I get into the water. 38 minutes was right around where I was expecting. Unless I hire a swim coach or research a solid swim specific training plan, there really isn't a way around improving my swimming. Swim isn't too critical to overall time, so it really isn't a big issue

Since the jog back to transition was on a beach I had a good amount of sand cling to my feet and legs when I got back to my bike. I was recommended to pack a bottle of water specific to splash off the sand, which I found to be a very good idea.

I haven't bothered to learn running mounts yet so I jogged to the start line in my bike shoes.

Content with my T1 time. Transition isn't too critical in iron distance races in comparison to shorter courses.

Maybe take some time to learn running mounts. I guess that'll be for the next race.

2 things I wanted to make sure when I was on the bike:

1) Eat. I never feel hungry during a race, but it's vital for later on during the day. My nutrition plan was 2 bonk breakers (1 at mile 5 and the other at mile 30). I also brought 4 gels that I spaced at miles 10, 20, 35 and 50. I ate a half banana at the second aid station. I also started taking salt pills after an hour on the bike and continued taking every 45 minutes until the end of the race. I only brought 1 water bottle that contained some electrolyte mix. I refilled the bottled at the 3rd aid station.

2) Don't push myself too hard. In an effort to try to save myself for the run, I aimed to keep my heart rate under 140 bpm. This is easier said than done. Being competitive with myself, I would continually be tempted to improve my 5 mile split time which contradicts my pacing goal. My watch indicated my average heart rate for the whole bike course came out to be 142 bpm which I'm ok with.

Winds were coming out of the north, so the first half of the course we were experiencing a headwind and the second half of the course got a tailwind. Glad it was this way instead of the other way around. Much more enjoyable getting faster speeds to close the bike portion of the race. Winds weren't too strong but I would say I averaged 18-19 mph going into the wind and about 20mph with a tailwind. My garmin indicated 19.4mph for the whole ride.

One thing I realized was how the hills really rolled throughout the course. There weren't any serious big hills to climb, but it was constant up and down throughout the ride. I guess this is noticeable for me since I do a majority of my training on the lake shore path in Chicago which has absolutely zero elevation. I just wasn't anticipating the amount of gear shifting I was going to be doing.

I'm happy with my bike time. I was expecting a time slightly longer than 3 hours, but I still think there's a lot of room for improvement. Might be time for a bike upgrade for me. I'm still on Canndondale roadie I got 3 years ago. Hell, I still don't even have aero bars yet. As I start to get more into the sport and hopefully bump up to a full 140.6 race sometime, throwing a few bills at a tri bike might be a worthwhile investment.

I did not hydrate properly when I was on the bike. The effects of this would spill over into my run. I drank a bottle and a half which is was about 36 ounces of fluid over the course of 3 hours. Not enough. I think I should of taken in at least twice that amount.

I was very surprised how my legs felt getting off the bike. Girl next to me fell over immediately after dismounting from what appeared to be the jelly legs.

Ran with my bike shoes on from bike exit to my transition area. Changed my socks (good idea), put on my running shoes, race belt and visor. Stopped by a porta potty and headed to the run start. I noticed my watch said I was 3:28 into the race, meaning I had 2 hours and 22 minutes to run a 1/2 marathon to beat my 6 hour goal time. This got me excited.

I started off the run feeling fine. Legs were a little numb, but I started the first mile doing a nice 7:45/mile pace. I've heard some bad stories of the first hill, but when I arrived at it I felt good enough to jog up it. I got to the top and pushed forward. I noticed most of the other guys on the course were walking.

About the time I got the first aid station it hit me like a ton of bricks. The "bonk" as they call it. Time seemed to slow down. The 1/2 marathon I was running quickly turned into a death march. My attitude changed for the worse and I quickly realized the next 12 miles were going to be brutal.

I walked through the first aid station and drank some water. I took a salt pill and started running again. It was around noon with the sun directly overhead. It was hot and it was humid. Throughout the morning there was some decent cloud cover, but the sky really started to open up in the afternoon. I assumed the course would have decent shade. I assumed wrong. Anytime I saw shade on the road/path I would get over to it. Other people had the same idea. Shade was a hot commodity.

What was aggravating to me was my actual ability to run. A typical run pace for me is 8:00/mile. I couldn't get myself to go faster than 9:00/mile even if I was trying to sprint. My legs just weren't having it. My heart rate was also sky rocketing to 175 bpm. This was getting me concerned about potentially overheating. When I would slow down to get my heart rate under control it would immediately shoot back up if I were to start running again. I couldn't go even a 1/4 mile without looking down at my watch to see how far I've gone since the last time I checked it.

I found out at a porta potty break that my hydration level was very bad. I walked through every aid station and drank 1 or 2 cups of water every time. I brought 3 gels with me on the run and I spaced them every 30 minutes. They provided temporary 10 minute energy boosts, but at the time felt more like relief. I forced myself to take them, but the sugary goo tasted unpleasant after baking in the sun on my race belt.

My attitude started to improve on the second lap of the whirlpool campus around mile 8 knowing I was relatively close to the end. I was chronically checking my watch but saw I had about an hour to run 5 miles if I wanted to finish the race in under 6 hours. That's easy to accomplish on any other day, but 5 hours into an Ironman it's a different story. When I walked up the last hill with 2 miles left I said to myself that I was only going to walk aid stations and will run the remainder of the way. I really didn't have a good sense of distance on the last mile. Every turn I made I was somehow expecting the final straight away to the finish line, nope. I was really struggling and the road seemed like it was never ending.

I finally turned into the final straight away and saw the finish line. There were tons of people lining the barriers, and I tried to look for my family. I picked up my pace and attempted to finish in a sprint. I didn't want to get passed by someone in the final 100 yards of the race.

Hydration. Though I drank properly on the run course and avoided the sloshy stomach, I should of pre hydrated on the bike.

I brought only 2 salt tablets on the run course. In hind sight I would've been better with 3.

I probably should of picked a conservative pace to stay at. I was running quick out of the start and really slowed down as I got into the run. I probably should of decided before to try to stay at like an 8:45/mile the whole time. Would've improved my time.

Ehh not a bad 13.1 mile run considering what I did before it. I guess I have high expectations and would've of liked to see that run time closer to my sole 1/2 marathon time.

Saw my family right passed the finish line. They immediately wanted to play 20 questions that I had no bid to partake in. I wanted to just sit down and do nothing for 10 minutes. I went to the food tent pounded a chocolate milk, ate a banana and then a cookie. I sat in a folding chair for a few minutes until I felt decently functional.

I couldn't help but notice other athletes that seemed in decent condition. I guess this wasn't their first rodeo. They were walking around talking to the people that came to watch them like they were just out walking the dog or something. I felt dilapidated. Sitting in that chair staring at my feet was all I could do for a few minutes. Nothing left in the tank.


As I mentioned hydration was probably what hurt me the most.

I approached the run a little too aggressively and probably should of been more conservative in pacing myself.


I graded myself as follows: Swim: B, T1: B, Bike: A-, T2: B-, Run: C.

I beat my goal time of 6 hours, so I'm definitely happy about that.

Very well organized event. Ironman branded events have a reputation of being very well put together and this being my first lived up to my expectation.