Ironman 70.3 Augusta

Alright. I gotta write this down here because every year, I say…well 6 miles away from race start is not that bad, for a room at half price. Well, it is not bad. But I do not get to sleep in a little more or have breakfast after setting up transition. So note to self: get a closer hotel, so get more sleep.

Transition opens at 5 am. I woke up at 4 am, got breakfast, drove to swim start and parked my car there, since it is close to the finish as well. Took the bus to transition, set up everything and head back to swim start with my wetsuit. Water temp? Freezing cold, 67F.

I sat and waited. My race start at 9 am. Swim start was a little bit different this year. We started in the water. I jumped in right away thinking it was time… but it was not, spent extra 2 minutes and 30 seconds, moving, waiting, spending energy in that cold water.

SWIM. Stroke, breathe, stroke, stroke, stroke, breathe and weed. I got into a rhythm. And weeds. It kind of got to me. Weeds. I got done and I felt I was the Monster of the lake. (weeds all over my head). Did I say I made in 30:00? Yes. Spot on.

Let me check my time pic#1

T1. 4:14. Nice. Still on track of my goal.

BIKE. I got to pee. I will wait. Pedaling and I see no one from my age group. Were there too many bikes on transition? Dang, I do not remember. Am I the last one? Crap. I gotta pee. Am I really the last one? I see someone. Pink high socks on my age group. I pass her and she is a drafter. I get upset. I gotta pee. Pink socks is still drafting. I show my unhappiness about this situation and she drops a little. So I cannot wait any longer, stop for bathroom. About 4 min stop. ARGH! Pedaling, pink socks is ahead. I easily pass her. She is a drafter. I get really annoyed and decide to get some distance. I move up my average a bit and I feel good about this. The 1st 1/2 my average was about 17 mph (I blame bathroom break and myself not peeing on the bike), the 2nd half was better – 18 mph. Final bike average 17.57 mph. Finished wishing it was closer to 18 mph, but oh well.

Checking my time pic#2

T2. 4:34. Slower than T1. ARGH! How do I do that? Moving on.

RUN. Crowd was awesome as usual. 2 loops. Flat. Ran the whole time. Felt uncomfortable for most of the time. I kept reminding myself when it felt comfy. Did I mention flat? Yeah. Loop number 2 was fast but the last 2 miles killed me. Missed my 2:10 goal by 6 minutes and 53 seconds.

Done? Yeah… celebrate!

I missed my goal but it was a fantastic race. Augusta is always great fun. Great race. Great people. Met some wonderful people From the tri club that I recently joined, North Georgia Tri Club and my team mates from Soas. Awesome time. I cannot wait for next year. Or shall I sign up for IMCHOO???

I am done checking my time cuz I am done…. Yeap, PR.