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Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga - Triathlon1/2 Ironman


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Chattanooga, Tennessee
United States
World Triathlon Corporation
88F / 31C
Sunny
Total Time = 6h 02m 41s
Overall Rank = 1446/3644
Age Group = F50-54
Age Group Rank = 40/156
Pre-race routine:

Traveled on Friday. Left home at about 7:30. Arrived in Chattanooga at about 4:15. Made it to the briefing at 5 and then checked in to the race. Expected water temp 73-74. The current was high (46,000 cfs at the dam) and they were hedging about if the upstream section would be swimable.

Saturday: Short ride to confirm that all the gears still worked on the bike. Smart lunch at Tzakis. Dropped off bike at 2 on Saturday. Kevin picked up pizza from Mellow Mushroom and brought it back to the hotel. Early dinner, early bed, early wake up time...

Sunday pre-race: Up at 4:15. Pre-race food -- bagel with peanut butter, banana, Nuun, cold brew.

In transition at 5 to check bike and set up transition. Place nutrition on bike. Grabbed wetsuit and goggles and swim cap (and water and a Gu) and head to bus to swim start. On bus to swim start at about 5:30. At swim start by 5:45.

Long long wait for swim start. Finally go into the water at 8:28. This was enough time for two potty breaks!

The pros took off right on time at 6:50 and 6:55. The age groupers were supposed to start at 7:05. But wait, was is that we see, buoys on a boat! They reset the swim course and the age groupers started 10 minutes late at 7:15.
Event warmup:

No warm up. Just standing in line and then finally, you are in the water!
Swim
  • 23m 1s
  • 1300 yards
  • 01m 46s / 100 yards
Comments:

Once I finally got into the water, it was an uneventful wetsuit swim. I question the whole seeding thing but to a large extent, that is not something that I can control. Longish run to transition with a quick stop at the wetsuit peelers.
What would you do differently?:


I would think about seeding myself differently for the swim. This is tough because I felt like I seeded myself honestly.
Transition 1
  • 07m 21s
Bike
  • 3h 08m 31s
  • 56 miles
  • 17.82 mile/hr
Comments:

The bike for the 144.6 and the half iron distance events are very similar the main difference is the half turns on Andrews at about the halfway point so basically, when you see your left turn, be on your gears because it's a hard left and uphill at the same time. I only saw one bike marshal on this crowed course but when I passed the penalty tent, it was full. There seemed to be a lot of inexperienced riders on the course. At each of the three aid stations on the bike course, people stopped (full stop, unclipping, etc.) without pulling off the road resulting in those around them having to make full use of their bike handling skills.. At one point just before Chickamauga, a rider went down behind me. He must have hit some debris on the road. There was no one close to him. We had just passed two volunteers at a minor intersection so I did not stop, thinking that the volunteers were literally right there to check on him. Ouch! I also had a problem with vehicular traffic on the course. Once it was not too bad, The driver was just a jerk. He pulled around a stopped car and a volunteer asking him not to go and then clogged up the course for a few miles but fortunatelly pulled off before I got all the way up to him. The second two cars were on the twisty climby part after Chickamauga -- draft the car or cross the double yellow and pass? That's not a good situation to be in. After the car problems were done, I completed hte long grinder out of Chickamauga followed by longm super fun downhill. I passed so many people at the end of the ride. Normalized power for the ride was within 2 watts of my race plan so I am pretty happy with that.

On bike nutrition - 2x Infinit plus shot blocks on bike. 3x bottles of water. Peed twice on the bike and again in T2.

Shout out to the Epic Ride Weather app. I found it to be useful for this event. If you are not a Best Bike Split subscriber, check it out.
Transition 2
  • 06m
Run
  • 2h 17m 48s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 31s  min/mile
Comments:

Managed heat by managing heart rate. Gatorade at aid stations. Gu at 4,7, and 10. I had a good guess at what my average bike heart rate would be and I confirmed that on my watch in the last few miles of the bike. I tried to run that heart rate for the first three miles. It seemed really really slow. Then I tried to keep my heart rate in the correct zone for the next 10 miles, slowing down when it got too high. It was hot and this seemed like the best way to manage the heat. I was pleased to pass a lot of people on the run (yes, this may well be commentary on my swimming but I'll take it!)

I finished with a smile on my face which is always my number one goal.
Post race
Event comments:

This was a fun event and I'd definitely do it again. The community is welcoming and the race logistics are easy.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2018-10-30 12:00 AM
Swimming
00:23:01 | 1300 yards | 01m 46s / 100yards
Age Group: 72/156
Overall: 2013/3644
Performance: Average
Suit:
Course: Point-to-point from temporary dock near the soccer field at Girls Preparatory School (far side of Veteran's Bridge from the aquarium) diagonally across the Tennessee River to Ross's Landing
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Time Trial
Water temp: 72F / 22C Current:
200M Perf. Remainder:
Breathing: Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 07:21
Performance:
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
03:08:31 | 56 miles | 17.82 mile/hr
Age Group: 57/156
Overall: 1808/3644
Performance: Good
Wind: Some with gusts
Course:
Road:   Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 06:00
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
02:17:48 | 13.1 miles | 10m 31s  min/mile
Age Group: 40/156
Overall: 420/3644
Performance: Average
Course:
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

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2019-05-22 9:43 AM

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Master
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Raleigh, NC area
Subject: Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga


2019-05-22 12:37 PM
in reply to: #5259060

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Master
2429
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Falls Church, Virginia
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga
Way to go, Janyne! Nice job managing the heat.
2019-05-22 1:54 PM
in reply to: Atlantia

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Master
4117
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Toronto
Bronze member
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga

Way to go Janyne! You are awesome! 

2019-05-23 11:58 AM
in reply to: #5259060

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Alpharetta, Georgia
Bronze member
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga

Whoop! Great racing! I also got caught behind a few cars and forgot about it until I read your report. 

The swim seeding was indeed weird. I put myself in the 40-43 minute group and was one of the last ~200 people to get in the water. Hmmmm!

2019-05-23 12:47 PM
in reply to: #5259060

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Pennsylvania
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga

Great job as always, Janyne!  The wait for the swim sounds awful, but changing the upstream requirement for the non-pros sounds like a smart move.  Cars on the bike course are always frustrating, scary, and dangerous.  Nice job managing HR on the run in the heat - race smart!  Congrats!

2019-05-23 2:49 PM
in reply to: #5259060

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Master
8247
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Eugene, Oregon
Bronze member
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga
Sounds like a great race for you! That sounds like a REALLY long wait for the swim.On the plus side, I guess there was plenty of porta-potty time! It looks like you also did a good job managing heat and effort on the bike and run. Too bad we couldn't have skipped the upstream swim at Worlds. I swear that was one of the hardest swims I've ever done; definitely my slowest HIM split!


2019-05-23 2:57 PM
in reply to: Hot Runner

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Pro
5123
5000100
Canandaigua NY
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga

Nice job!  Congratulations!

2019-05-23 8:10 PM
in reply to: kenj

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Royal(PITA)
14270
50005000200020001001002525
West Chester, Ohio
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga

Way to go Jayne!  Swim seeding is a total pain in the butt, people never seem to get it right. That course congestion at aid stations sounds like a possible safety hazard, good thing no one was seriously injured.

2019-05-24 4:45 AM
in reply to: QueenZipp

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Expert
1694
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Illinois
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga
Way to go, great race! The cars on the course sounds like they made things sketchy
2019-05-25 5:42 AM
in reply to: abake

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Member
2098
2000252525
Simsbury, Connecticut
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga
Great job managing the heat! Keeping your head and following your plan is key!

I really loved that bike course for the full! Sounds like if they can figure out the swim it really is the perfect venue
2019-05-27 9:45 AM
in reply to: #5259060

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Master
7712
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Orlando
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga

I think you are a machine Congratulations on another great race! FYI, i saw a post on ST by the RD who said he was looking at changing the swim to an all downstream stream. Here's most of what he wrote: The fine folks at TVA did more than I asked for up at the dam, but we can't do anything about the creeks that dumped into the river once we lowered the water level. Mother nature wins. Im going to revisit a different start location for next year. If you think my math sucks for the IMChoo bike course, this might be another shining example of that..



2019-05-27 8:29 PM
in reply to: #5259060

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Master
6834
5000100050010010010025
Englewood, Florida
Subject: RE: Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga

Congratulations on a well executed race. It looks like you had a race that you can really be proud of. 

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