Ironman 70.3 Augusta - Triathlon1/2 Ironman

The 45 - 49 Age group was next to the last wave, so we had about an hour and a half to wait from the pro start. Chilled out with a guy that I met on Saturday. Basically the swim started off an extended pier into the river with waves every 5 minutes. I took up a left side position 2 or 3 people back. The game plan was to just stay on course and hang the left side. I started getting tangled in alot of weeds so I thought about veering towad center, and started going wide left. A kayaker motioned me to get back toward center which I did. I don't feel like I was way off, but it did cost me some time. The cool thing during the swim, was that I noticed that I was swimming with alot of blue caps which started the wave before, and toward the end I was mixing in with some reds from the group in front of them. I knew at that point the swim was going pretty good.

I think I could have swam a little harder and it not affect anything else in the race.

No hurries here...just tried to make sure everything was good to go.

I thought I had a really good bike. My goal was to conserve my legs for the run...you'll see how that turns out. I felt like I did a good job in that my HR stayed around 140 average. I thought being in next to the last wave, that there would be very few people passing me, but there must have been some really slow swimmers out there. Lots of fast bikes cruised by early on but after about the half way point I felt like I was really gaining some ground while at the same time not pushing myslef at all. I heard several comments regarding the amt. of hills on the course being difficult, but I thought it was pretty tame. Never got out of the big ring but once. Big headwind coming in. At one point I was grinding away on a flat 4 lane at 14 mph. Nutrition worked out well, as I had 2 gel flasks with perpetuum (800 cals) plus 2 gels at the end.

Nothing really...no problems on the bike, and was able to stay comfortable in aero most of the ride.

Took some time to change from biking socks to running socks which I felt would be more comfortable. Stood in line for the potty and stretched some.

This run was like a hangover the day after having a great night out on the town! Everything had been GREAT up to this point I came out of transition and caugt a cramp in my left ham right out of the gate. I was able to work it out and managed to run 2 or 3 miles before I cramped up again and it was downhill from there. I felt like I had plenty of energy, and felt great running about 200 yards at a time and then my legs would get so tight that I could feel them starting to knot up...if I didn't walk it out, they would cramp to the point of stopping me. So, I developed a strategy to run about a block and a half and walk a half block. This worked pretty good for a couple miles then it got worse. About mile 6 or so, I said F-it and just decided to makes some friends in the back of the running pack:) Met an older guy, and he was running 2 min and walking 1, and we kept in touch for a while that way. I finally settled into a pace of running 40 or 50 yards and walking 10 or so. I think this strategy broke the tension, and at least I felt like I was running more. Met another guy who was having cramps also, and we took it into the finish together. Our plan was to rest long enough to run into the chute. I cramped up and had to stop right before the chute, and people were encouraging me to go, but I wanted to RUN the chute. I mean you got to look good for the camera right? I turned the corner with a slow run and totally LOCKED up half way down the chute. I dragged my leg and limped for a few yards, and somehow miraculously it relieved itself, and I think I was able to make it thru with a smile on my face.



RUN

I thought this race was exceptionally run and the venue and atmosphere were great. I think next year it should be even better. The bike course was not hard but compared to the swim and the run, it was the most dificult terrain of the 3. I mean it is hard to beat a swim with a 1 knot current and a totally flat run!