Race Report - 2013 Ironman Augusta 70.3

I registered for 2013 Ironman August 70.3 only to see how I was doing with my Ironman Florida training. My intention for this race was to treat it only as a training day. When I arrived in Augusta Thursday evening and the weather was just amazing! A cool/cold front had just gone through the area so the temperature was just incredible! I went out for a quick 3 mile run Friday morning! About 5 minutes into my run, I zoned out thinking about the race and nearly ran into another triathlete running. We started running together and I jokingly asked her if she was going to win the race on Sunday. In a cute British accent, she replied,"I don't know but I won the race 2 years ago and came in 2nd place last year". It was pro triathlete Emma-Kate "EK" Lidbury. We ran roughly 3 miles together and I believe some of her mojo must of rub off on me based on the "training day" I had.

At this race, you swim downstream in a river with a nice, strong current. Since I am a very slow swimmer, I love that fact! In the weeks leading up to the race, I saw a YouTube video where someone placed a bag of potato chips at the swim start and kayaked along side of it. The bag of chips made it to the swim out within the swim cutoff time! So, my goal was to swim faster than a bag of potato chips! Saturday morning, I met a group of friends from New Orleans near the swim out. We did a quick dip in the river to get a feel of the current and water temperature. The water was chilly but not bad, even with a sleeveless wetsuit! At bike check-in later that day, it was amazing to see how they tightly squeezed in 3,500 bikes! I did not at the time that this was the largest 70.3 race out there!

The race start, transition area, and finish line are at three different locations. We walked the 1.2 miles up river to the start from the transition area. I was not nervous about the race distance since I had done a 70.3 back in May. However, I was a little nervous about the swim - my weakest sport by far! Watching a few of the waves start before my wave helped calm me down a little. I swam near the center of the river to get the most benefit from the fast current. I'm a very slow swimmer and yet I still got a 1:38/100yd pace! I shaved nearly 20 minutes from my 70.3 swim in May! Obviously this was a swim PR but it was really all thanks to the strong river current! I hope some of it was from my improvement; but we'll never know! When I compared my swim times to others that swim significantly better than me, my time was still relatively slow.

I didn't rush too much in transitions since it was a "training day." Off on the bike I go. The temperature was amazing. The bike course was a hilly route but more like rolling hills - nothing bad even for someone like me from the flat lands of New Orleans. The worst part of the bike course was that several times you were flying down a hill and you had to slow down quickly to take a hard 90-degree turn only to find an uphill staring you in the face. There was also a tight U-turn that a cone nearly took me out since several cyclists were trying to pass me in the turn. I couldn't get my heart rate under control due to the hills but I managed it as best as I could. Well, I PR'd my 70.3 bike leg by 6 minutes even with the hills as compared to the flat course of 70.3 I did in Panama City Beach back in May. Coming into T2, I wanted off the bike badly since my legs were feeling tired. I was guessing it was because of the hills since there aren't hills in New Orleans! I went harder on the bike that I had plan so I was probably closer to a 70.3 race pace than my planned Full Ironman pace. I took it easy in T2 since today was a training day for Ironman Florida. During T2, I was wondering if my run would be impacted since my legs were tired.

Off on the run I go. I'm feeling incredibly strong. On the fist mile, I went out way too fast and my heart rate went through the roof. I slowed down but it still took me 4 more miles to get my HR back inline. Then I felt so freaking slow that I started picking it up slowly trying to keep below the upper end of my Ironman heart rate range.I had the tendency throughout the race to be a hair above my planned heart rate range. The run is two-loop course. There are large crowds cheering for everyone along a large portion of the course. It was amazing! I was feeling good at the end so I picked it up a lot for the last couple of miles. I crossed the finish and felt as if I could turn around and do the race again! I PR'd the run leg by 14 minutes and still had plenty in the tank without having to walk as I did during my 70.3 in May! 

That morning, I had predicted a 5:40 finish time. I was happily surprised at my 5:19:04 finish time since I really was not paying attention to my overall time during the race. 

My Ironman Florida training is definitely working!!! Now that I've done two half ironmans this year, I'm loving the 70.3 race distance! I also loved Augusta's course so I definitely want to come back again! Now back to Ironman Florida training...