The Road to the Ironman #2 – Rookie mistakes – The Augusta 70.3 recap

Let’s see I have doing this Triathlon thing for 5 years now, but you would think I would have this down by now. Well, I always seem to find something to do wrong at everyone of these events. Just as all the other races the race result depends on how you adapt and overcome. I chose Augusta, GA because it was 6 weeks out from Ironman Florida and it would give a good gauge on how well my Ironman training. If you want the quick recap here it is B-. If you want to read on about all the drama in this Ironman’s life continue.

Really? You want to read on about the rants about my journey again? Man, you like punishment. OK I will keep this brief (if you believe that this must be our first read).

The one problem that Augusta had it about a million miles away from Chicago and since I was doing this trip solo it made for a really boring and long car ride. I mean all the radio stations play the same type of music in the south. Country, Southern Fried Rock and/or hip hop country (yes there is really something called hip hop country.)

I made it into Augusta on Friday like I planned for a long Saturday, even though the race is on Sunday. The pre race day can be just as long if not longer than the actual race day.

1. Swim Start – I was a bit early for check in so I decided to find the swim start. This swim was going to be different since it took place in a river, not a lake.
2. Check in – I found out this was going to be one of the larger Ironman 70.3 races in the world with 3,300 people signed up to do the race. I actually got there right as the doors opened to wait an hour and half in line just to sign in. This is were you pick up your race numbers, swim cap and get the instruction for the race.
3. Ironman store – Yes this is the highlight of the day, because an Ironman can never have too much Ironman stuff. Problem that line was also an hour long, I did purchase a t-shirt, water bottle, a cow bell and a magnet.
4. Lunch – There was a Quizno’s in the hotel so I would grab a quick bite to eat, 1/2 hour in line.
5. Bike course – I wanted to drive the 56 mile bike course to see what I was in store for and I am glad I did.
6. Transition – These type of races you must rack the bike the day before, so after driving the course I found myself near the transition area and checked in my bike.
7. 1/2 Marathon course – I did drive the course.
8. 7 pm – dinner time
9. Groceries – not for the race but for the ride home
10. 9 pm back to the hotel to stage everything. Staging is just making sure you have everything in the morning.

Rookie mistakes –

1. Setting the alarm on your phone and forgetting you are now in the Eastern time zone… whoops! Needless I woke up late. Still not much of a problem since I was close to the race area and quickly made up that time.
2. Sunglasses – Since the swim start, transition area and finishing area were in three different spots I had to decided where to park and take shuttle buses. On the first trip I thought I had everything, but low and behold I forgot my sunglasses in the car. Which meant a few more bus rides back and forth, but I still had plenty of time.

Swim – The race started at 7:30 with the pro’s launching themselves into the river, but all I had was time with my wave going off at 8:23. It was already getting warm with temps. close to 80 and high humidity. There was no way I was going to put my wetsuit on until I had too. I had time to look over my wetsuit and it was a good ting. The history of this wetsuit and I is not too good. See this wetsuit has a history of popping open by itself. Just by the look of it I knew what was going to happen if I put it on. Now that situation was avoided I slow started the process of putting on the rubber suit of death. If you have any concerns of being in a tight closed area, wetsuits are not for you. As the time for my wave drew closer I continued to slowly roll the sucker up, stopping at my waist, no need to fully roll it up until the last moment. As the 45-49 year olds (Yes I am getting old) slowly made their way to the starting line I proceeded to finish putting it on. As soon as the suit was on you really start to feel the body temperature rise. We made it onto the dock and slowly into the water, there was a 4 minute wait. I could really feel the current, it was fast and strong. Then the horn sounded and we were off. Three strokes into the swim, you guessed it my wetsuit popped open. GRRRRRRRRRR! My mind quickly raced trying to figure out a solution to the problem, but my options were limited. Option 1 – call it a day or Option 2 – deal with it and swim. I chose #2 and swam. The problem was the sleeves would fill up with water making my upper arms look like Popeye. I never quite got into a rhythm and never had the chance to enjoy the current, but I forged on. I was told you would feel the current more in the middle of the river and to stay away from the shore. Well I found out the real reason why to avoid the shore… that is where all the sticks, sea weed and other junk floats too. There where a few times where I swam through piles of this stuff. The first few times didn’t bother me too much, but wave after wave I would say I started to freak out. Well a good thing the swim was quick, finishing just over 30 minutes. A normal 1.2 miles swim usually is 40 to 42 minutes for me. I exited the swim, ran up the boat ramp and found the wetsuit strippers. I came up to a rather testosterone looking teenager screaming for me to sit on my butt. So I did and proceeded to rip my wetsuit off. One problem, he also tore my wetsuit and now it has a brand new 8 inch rip starting from the zipper all the way around my waist. Side note: I have to purchase a new wetsuit. Side note #2 – Run to the girls versus the angry male teenager.

T1 – About 6 minutes, not bad considering the wetsuit issue, a rather long run to my bike and a rather long run to the bike exit.

Bike – I would say going into the bike I was unsure how I was going to do, but looking back it was by far the best part of the race. Quick highlight of the course – first half flat, second half hillier (not Wisconsin hilly).

Most of the bike happens in South Carolina and I got to see many interesting things during the ride. Do you know why stereo types exist? Because they are usually true, sad I know. The countryside is everything you think of when thinking of the deep south. I found my rhythm pretty quickly and started to wonder when the first female would pass me. Their waves started after all the guys where done. It only took about 10 miles before the first female passed me. The guy riding next to me said WOW, were we even moving? I have to say in the first half of the ride people were passing me more than I was passing them. I was averaging a little over 17 mph, well off my goal of 18.5 (18.5 gets you back in 3 hours). As soon as the hillier portion started that all changed, for some reason my speed really picked up generally staying above 20 mph. The hills were no match for Wisconsin, but what they did have that Wisconsin does not have is they were long, some 3 to 4 miles long. What I found out is the longer the hill momentum builds and you actually can increase your speed even when going up. The second part of the course also had more turns and curves keeping one on his toes. It was very enjoyable. I rolled into T2 with a 3 hour bike!!!!

T2 – Long run back to rack my bike, a quick porta potty stop and I was off. I believe I was around 4 minutes.

Run - If history was on my side I knew this was going to be the longest part of the day. Just running by itself I am average, add in a swim and a bike ride the run becomes worse, add in a longer swim and bike well it just gets ugly. On to the run, as soon as I started to run the clouds parted and quickly the temp went up. Mile 1 I wasn’t doing too bad in fact I had to tell myself to slow down. The body temp quickly rose to dizzying levels as I came up to the first water station, I was already in survival mode. Everything cold and wet I grabbed, ice, sponges and cold water. I tried to hold a 10 to a 11 minute mile pace but I could tell by mile 3 I was losing the battle. This is a two lap run, first lap 7 miles and the second loop 6.1 miles finishing downtown. This was a great run for spectators easily seeing their loved ones at least 6 times throughout the run, this was really the first time I felt alone. First lap done I focused on the second loop. Two highlights were being passed by a 71 year old and the mega storm rolling in. I stuck with 71 year old throughout the second loop and yes I passed him a block away from the finish. The storm on the other hand beat me and I had to run the last 3 miles in the storm. You would think the rain would have helped, right? Nope think steam room. Later I found out I was running in a severe thunderstorm warning and a little later they closed the race, meaning some people were not allowed to finish.

Lessons learned –

1. You can plan for every situation, but things happen. The wetsuit issue was major, but I take it as a victory I was able to over come.

2. My biking has actually improved and I think I should finish well below my 7 hour 10 minute IMWI ride. By how much? Stayed tune…

3. The run at these distances will start as a run, but quickly goes down from there. As far as Florida I think I have a pretty good idea how it will go and let’s just say when I finish it will be dark, it will be cool, but I will finish.

4. I am guessing when I finish that little 140.6 miles I will look back at all the things I went through and smile knowing that this time around has been a rougher ride!

Until next time… Your Fitness Buddy.