Ironman 70.3 Augusta - Triathlon

The swim was more eventful than it should have been. I started out at the end of the dock but got knocked around in a crowd and drifted towards the shore right into a heavy patch of river grass. I ended up rolling over on my back and backstroking to get through it, and rolled back over once I was past the bridge. Then in between sighting strokes a kayak veered into my path to help a swimmer and I hit it head on. Once past the kayak the swim was relatively uneventful. I did catch a cramp in the last 50 yards or so but it subsided as soon as I was on the boat ramp.

Avoid the river grass/kayak/other obstacles. Try to catch a draft off a faster swimmer.

I ran up the boat ramp and to the wetsuit strippers, then jogged to my bike. I got caught in a crowd leaving T1, so I took my time until I mounted my bike.

I was surprised how long the run was to the bike racks.

Nothing really.. maybe run a bit faster.

Bike went according to plan.. comfortably hard for the first 15, rode the hills hard and coasted downhill, then WFO on the last 8 miles. I had to stop to pee at the first aid station, and dodge a wreck at the second. Felt really strong the last 8 miles. Relied on a 4oz shot of Infinit every 20 minutes for nutrition and never felt thirsty or weak.

Attack the downhills more maybe, and learn to pee on the bike. Those two things could have saved me 5-6 minutes easy.

I overshot where the dismount line was so I had to stop to get off the bike. Ran into T2, missed my rack, changed shoes, skipped the compression sleeves, and ran the wrong way to get out of transition. Once I got pointed in the right direction I was fine.

Go the right way, and know where the dismount line is.

Run felt great. I came out of Transition strong and held a sub-8:00 pace for the first 3 miles. I settled in around 8:25 after that except for an aid station at the halfway point where I took a Gu and got some sponges and water. By mile 11 I was feeling fatigued, but I was too close to the finish to care.

Nothing.

Walked to the finish area, drank a beer, talked to my teammates a bit. Headed to medical to get my knees iced. Went to Mellow Mushroom and ate a pizza.


Nothing really... Felt like I left it all on the course.


Great race, great venue, great volunteers, great town. I can now see why WTC can charge a premium for their events. They put on a great race. I couldn't be happier with how it turned out for my first 70.3.