2009 Ironman 70.3 Augusta Race Report

Have I mentioned before how much I love triathlons?

Yeah, I probably have. But, since you read my blog, guess what? You get to hear it again :)

On Sunday September 27, 2009, I completed the Inaugural Ironman 70.3 Augusta race. According to the Ironman people, this was the largest half-Ironman event ever. There were 3400 registrations and about 3000 athletes competed. I was number 1455 with a finish time of 5:57:11. It was a blast!!!

After arriving in Augusta and spending some time enjoying the city on Friday and Saturday, Steph and I buckled down late Saturday night and planned for my race on Sunday.

We got up around 4:45am on Sunday and began the trek to the transition area, which was about a mile away. We decided to drive to the transition area early, then drive to a parking lot near the finish, and then take a shuttle bus to the swim start. I'm glad we did. The logistics of getting to the swim start were a nightmare for those folks who didn't take a shuttle bus.

After arriving at the transition area, I paused a bit and took in the sight. There were 3000 bikes. I quickly figured the math that if we average each bike at around $3000, that is $9 million dollars in the transition area in bike hardware. Whoah!!! Anyway, I got things set up and we headed to the start.

At the start, I saw something I've never seen. I've been to races before where there were disabled athletes, but I've never seen so many at one race. It was awe-inspiring. I saw multiple athletes missing legs and more than a few blind athletes. It was a humbling experience.

After getting my wetsuit on and kissing my wife, I entered my heat and waited for my turn to hit the water. There were about 150 men in my heat (35-39). There were three heats in my age group, which means there were a lot of 35-39 year olds in this race.

The start was in-water, so I jumped in and grabbed ahold of the dock to await the start horn. About 30 seconds later, it blew. We were off. The swim was wonderful, except for the debris in the water. There was tons of algae and flora. We had a huge thunderstorm the evening before and I think it stirred up the water pretty well. Anyway, 1.2 miles later, I emerged from the water with a swim time of 29:34.

I quickly ran up the boat entry to the transition area. Just prior to entering transition, there were wetsuit strippers waiting to help us out of our wetsuits. I dropped to the ground and in less than 3-4 seconds they had removed my suit and I was up running to my bike.

5:38 minutes later, I was on my bike. My T1 time is slow. I need to work on that. Anyway, I was out on the course and loving it. The weather up to this point was cool and overcast. It was perfect. The bike course had a few rolling hills but nothing compared to WV. The wind was a bit of a bear, but overall I really liked the bike portion. My bike itself did wonderfully. The old girl held her own against some of those fancy, shmancy TT bikes. My nutrition on the bike was perfect. After my experience with the Morgantown half-IM, I backed off a bit and eliminated one Hammer Gel from my intake. It worked great. I pulled into transition in 3:11:32.

T2 was 2:59. Again a bit slow.

Then, the run. The weather had become sunny and clear by this time, but the temp stayed pretty reasonable. I think the high was 82 or 83. Anyway, nothing really eventful happened on the run other than the fact that the course is ideal for spectators. I must have seen Steph like 5-6 times. It was wonderful!!

I was a bit slow on the run, but felt very happy with my time: 2:07:29. I crossed the line, saw Steph, got my medal and headed to the finish festival. I finished 1455 out of 2532 (500 or so people did not finish). 251 out of 370 in my age group and 1136 out of 1815 in my gender. Total finish time was 5:57:11.

Overall, I had a wonderful time and would do this race again. With the exception of the initial logistical problems before the race, this race was managed well. I was impressed. The volunteers were great too and the citizens of Augusta were wonderful. Thy treated us well and cheered us on the entire way.

Of course, Steph was there every step of the way. I cannot overemphasize what it means to have her there with me. It means more than I can describe. She wrote a few messages on my bike to keep me motivated and diligently helped me plan, pack, set up, and document this race. She is wonderful and I fall more in love with her every day.

Random thoughts:

• The water conditions were fine with the exception of the flora in the water. Yuck. I mean really yuck. I came out of the water with plant life all over me.
• Sponges are wonderful!! The race volunteers had bunches and bunches of water-soaked sponges we could grab along the run route. They helped tremendously.
• My comments on drafting: In most triathlons, drafting is illegal. I tend to agree with this. Did that stop anyone from drafting? No. I saw more than a few pelotons which frustrated the hell out of me. I would be cycling along by myself then suddenly be passed by like 10-15 people drafting. It sucked. Look, I follow the rules. You should too.
• My nutrition was perfect. I had no GI problems and no bloated feelings. I was hungry at the end but that was expected.
• The finish festival was great...we had free pizza, cookies, bagels, fruit out the ying-yang, just about anything you could want, EXCEPT for Coke. I need Coke people!!!!
• Again, $9 million dollars in bikes. Wow!!

My next event is the Richmond Half-Marathon on November 14th.

Woot!