Ironman 70.3 Eagleman - Triathlon

Swim went as well as expected, maybe a bit better. I've only swam once since IM Choo last fall, so I wasn't expecting much. The river was unusually clam so I'm sure that helped. I'm a weak swimmer and most of my HIM swims are in the 40-45 minute range, so I'm fairly pleased with the time I put up.

Train

Pretty easy transition. I didn't have too far to go with the bike due to the AWA status for the season... that was a nice benefit I was racked right behind the pro racks so while it was a ways from the swim exit, the bike out/in was literally steps away from my rack.

Not much, this was really a "training race" for me so I didn't force things if not necessary. My time was slower than it could/should be, but I was simply getting into the groove for the season so I wasn't worried about an extra minute or two in the transitions.

Again, not a bad ride all things considered. I've only ridden the bike about 550 miles since January so I wasn't expecting too much. I didn't push too hard during the bike because I wanted to save myself for the run that I knew was going to be brutal. I kept my HR in the mid 140s most of the time and didn't push much further.

I got noticeably slower as the ride wore on and since the course is pretty much the same for 56 miles and there was really no wind to speak of, I can only surmise that the slow down was due to the heat and my fitness level. I averaged 21 MPH for the first 90 minutes, but then averaged only 19.6 for the next 75 minutes.

Coming into T2 my Garmin Edge had the temp at 87.9 degrees. Wait, what...I've gotta go run a half mary now? In this weather? Who thought this was a good idea?

Get some more training in before race day.

This was a bit slower than expected. Even though I wasn't focusing on going "fast" in transition, I still didn't expect to take 4 minutes to go into the run. A few things of note that contributed to my time. 1) I was hot as heck and so I doused my head with water, 2) I put socks on for the run since I knew my feet would be wet all day, 3) I had to pee so I hit the port-o-let.

Not too much, without the pee break and if it wasn't a thousand degrees out, I'm sure I would've been 90 seconds or so quicker.

As I mentioned, it was nearly 90 degrees out and it wasn't even 11:00 AM yet. I know this course and know that you get some shade by the one house near the 1 mile mark,they have a nice oak tree with a pretty big canopy. Other than that its you,the asphalt, the blazing sun, and your hallucinations. This was going to be fun.

At this point in the day I knew that I had performed just about what I expected given the factors so all I had to do now was to run about 8:30s and I'd be OK for going sub-5:30 for the race. On any normal day I wouldn't even have to think about running that, today; however,was a different story.

I started out pretty good, running in the low 8s,while running but I needed to stop at every aid station to ward off the effects of the heat. I took ice at every stop, I doused my head with water, drank some Gatorade, and then pressed on. With the aid stations, I was doing about 8:20ish for the first 3 or 4 miles. From there I slowly crept up in time and averaged in the high 8s for the middle miles, most usually around 8:50 or so. By the end, the final few miles were all hovering around 9:00. Don't ask me how, but I was able to muster a kick for the final mile and ran a 7:40. Not sure what the .1 was done in because I forgot to stop my watch, but nonetheless I don't know how I was able to do that.

Run in my own personal air conditioned bubble?

Stood under the hose set up finish line for about 60 seconds, then found some shade, then got some food, then got stretched out in the massage tent.


Lack of training and the heat. Surprisingly, I did fairly well all things considered. I told myself that I'd be happy if I went 5:30 based solely on the training level, throw in the conditions and I'm actually a bit shocked that I went 5:30.


A great race, and one that I fully enjoy. This is my 3rd year doing this race and I will do it again next year. The town of Cambridge and the residents are great and are gracious hosts. Kudos to all the volunteers as well... they had a hard day.