login
Ironman 70.3 Virginia
-
No new posts
Ironman 70.3 Virginia - Triathlon
View Member's Race Log View other race reports
 Swim
Comments: We self-seeded for the swim. I stood with Elizabeth at the beginning of the 30-33 min line. After chatting awhile, I decided to look for Tammy and Christine. They were much further up. I ended up starting with them. We were in the 27-30 min section. Once the race started, we let a bunch of people go in front of us. Chris was afraid we were up too close (which we were). The swim had such a pleasant start. It was single file jumping off of the dock. I have to admit that a lot of people passed me but I don't feel I was in anyone's way. All I worried about was how was I going to get out. They had said that we had to pull ourselves up onto the dock at the finish. When I was approaching the dock, it didn't seem overly crowded. I swam far left and then two women yanked me right out. It was so easy and I was very appreciative. I used Foggle on my goggles and that worked terrific! No fog. There was a long run into transition. I didn't stop at the wetsuit strippers. I've had too many bad experiences. I decided that it is easier to run long distance wearing my wetsuit than it is to carry it. I was pleased with my decision. What would you do differently?: Draft!!! I really didn't draft off of anyone. I have no excuse. I had chances.  Transition 1
Comments: Long run into transition. Found my spot. Put on shoes (no socks), helmet, glasses (big mistake), and left the bib off. What would you do differently?: Next time there is 100% of rain, DO NOT WEAR GLASSES. They ended up being such a pain. I was afraid they'd fall off the end of my nose as I peered over them. I ended up putting them down the back of my shorts. But then I was worried I'd forget and drop them in the porta pottie. Elizabeth Weaver had told me she wasn't wearing hers. That was smart! I ended up seeing at least four really nice pairs of glasses on the bike course and one helmet visor. So people were losing them.  Bike
Comments: It started raining pretty soon into the bike ride. I didn't feel cold, which was good. I just wanted a clean bike ride with no crashes or flat tires. Christine passed me at about mile 9.4. I had been thinking that I missed her or that she had beaten me out of the water. The course was technical. We had driven it the day before and I was worried about the scary railroad tracks. They had said that we could walk over the tracks if need be. There was a chance of trains coming so they had said that our time over the tracks would not count. As it turned out, we had to stay single file over them and no one was allowed to pass. Everyone just rode over them. I was careful. Afterwards, I commented to the two guys behind me that I was sorry they got stuck there. The one guy was so nice. He told me I did fine and not to worry about it. I was surprised because most of the time, guys are not overly nice in races when they feel you are in their way. The hills were about mile markers 42-48. They looked worse in the car than they actually were. There were a lot of potholes on Jolly Pond Road and some places where you had to stay single file. Once we made it to Brick Bat Road, I knew we were in the clear. Some guy passed me at one point and said, "You're 65? You're killing it!" That always makes me feel good. Other people rode by and said, "Nice work!" Consumed on the bike: one pack Clif Bloks, one chocolate power bar, one GU. I picked up 1 bottle of water at the first aid station. Never stopped at the others. I drank most of my two Gatorades. I did not throw any bottles away. What would you do differently?: Not wear glasses. Transition 2
Comments: I had to pee from about mile 28 to the end of the ride (torture as usual). I was going to wait for a port pottie but then realized that that was at the far end of transition. So I took care of that at my transition spot. I put lots of Vaseline on my feet, socks, running shoes (which I had to tie, UGH), visor, and wrist band. I put mustard and 1 GU in my pockets. I forgot my second GU. Ended up not needing it anyway.  Run
Comments: The run started out over the grass (ugh) and then up over the bridge. A male spectator actually said, "You look like you are struggling." Seriously? What a jackass. After the bridge, the course was rolling. We had to go over that bridge four times. That was the worst part. Or maybe the turnaround over the very large section of grass/mud was worse. That really sucked. I kept passing the same woman with a 61 on her leg. Then we'd get to the aid station and I'd take the water, Gatorade and pretzels. I'd start up again and see her ahead and have to catch up. That happened at least six times. I finally said to her, "you are really good at the aid stations." What I was thinking was "are you even taking anything at the aid stations?" She wasn't very friendly. I finally decided that I had to stop that pattern and never saw her after about the sixth or seventh time. I skipped the very last aid station. I started cramping about mile 9.5ish. I took my second mustard there. I couldn't get it open and found a scissors on the table. Nice! I'm not really sure if I ate my GU or not. I might have. I saw Tammy twice on the run but never saw Chris. What would you do differently?: Train more for the run. I skipped most of the long runs this Spring. I only ran one 11, one 12, and one 14 miler. I was sick for about 3 weeks. I think that was the main reason. Post race
Warm down: I was happy enough with my time. I think I actually did better than I expected. I went straight to transition to get my stuff. Tammy had been done for almost an hour and Chris likes to get her stuff out fast. It started raining again. It had stopped for most of the run. I changed into what I wore in the morning in a porta pottie. I was anxious to get out of my soaking wet clothes. I didn't have spare socks or dry sneakers. I then went looking for the ladies but couldn't find them. The food line was long and I had all of my stuff so I went to the car. I realized that they hadn't been there so I dropped my crate there. If anyone wanted to steal my old wetsuit, they could have it. I lugged my bike and tri bag back to the food area. Couldn't find anyone so I just went back to the parking lot and sat on a fence. So many people asked me if I was okay. I must've looked great, huh! After about 15-20 minutes, they showed up. After changing and loading the car, I was able to go back and get some food. We had to wait until 3:00 to pick up our awards. I got second (missed first by 16 seconds), Chris got third, and Tammy was six with a blazing time of 5:05. We then headed out. We got in line to head out of the park at 3:15. Thirty minutes later, we still hadn't moved at all. It was so frustrating. After 40 minutes, Tammy decided that she was going to drive over the field, and over the ropes lining the rows for parking (some were about touching the ground). We were nervous but it worked. We skipped a very large section of line and then were out after five minutes. Event comments: Excellent swim, technical bike, okay run. There are places they can improve. This was the first year for IM at this place. This was the old Rev3 course. Last updated: 2019-04-30 12:00 AM
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
{postbutton}
 2019-05-07 12:39 PM |
Member  43 |  Subject: Ironman 70.3 Virginia |
| 2019-05-07 1:00 PM in reply to: #5258508 |
Veteran 945   South Windsor, CT | Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Virginia Great race Linda! Glad to see you clearly have made it all the way back. Did I not tell you this ~3 years ago. Congratulations on a great race! |
| General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
{postbutton}
|
|
|
| |||
| |||
| |||
| |||
|
View profile
Add to friends
Go to training log
Go to race log
Send a message
View album
CONNECT WITH FACEBOOK
United States
67F / 19C
Precipitation
Overall Rank = 801/2124
Age Group = F65-69
Age Group Rank = 2/6
Tammy, Christine and I drove up on Friday. It took us 6 hours to get there with one bathroom break. They were both a wiz with the directions. We went directly to the race site, registered and then stayed for the athlete's briefing. We had dinner at the Second Street American Grill. It was excellent.
We stayed at the Comfort Inn Suites in Williamsburg.
On Saturday, Tammy and Chris went for a shake-out bike and run. I stayed back. Then we drove the course and dropped off our bikes. We had dinner at Anna's Pizza and Pasta at about 4:50-5:00. It was crowded when we left. Great place!
If I had a dollar for every time we checked the weather, radar maps or mentioned thunderstorms, I'd be rich. LOL!
I set the alarm for 3:00 a.m. and we were out by 4:15. (I had my usual oatmeal breakfast.) It took about 16 minutes to get to Chickahominy Riverfront Park. There was a little line entering and it was moving very slowly. We parked on a field, which had already started to get muddy.
I had always wanted to meet Elizabeth Weaver and she was racked right next to me. I spent a lot of time talking to her and we became fast friends. She was so nice. She forgot her lace locks, too! I couldn't believe I made that rookie mistake.
I ate a peanut butter power bar before the start.
Elizabeth and I walked the half mile to the swim start together. We stopped at a bathroom on the way. I brought a plastic bag marked with my name and bib no. to put my sneakers in after the walk. They had bags by the swim start with groups of numbers on them. I ended up forgetting to get my sneakers afterwards. I think a reminder from the announcer would have been nice.
Big negative: all of the porta potties (at least 20) in transition were locked. They had about 10 a little ways outside of transition. They also needed more lights. Luckily, I had brought my headlamp.
Gender rank: 196/759