Well it’s been a few weeks since
Ironman Texas 70.3 and apologize for the delay. I started a race review when I got back from Galveston… well, it didn’t
make the cut. I noticed it was a long and drawn out account of my race, which
seem overly wordy. Not to mention I want
out of town for a couple weeks, immediately after returning from the race. So I regret that
the review kind of got pushed aside.
Here are is the Cliff Notes of the
race:
What: Ironman Texas 70.3
Where: Galveston, TXWhen: April 6, 2014
Who: Me and my brother
Why: Crazy?
How: Standard 70.3 race (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run)
Finish Time: 6:15:16
Weather: Overcast, air temp 70’s, water temp 69 degrees
Details: Overall not a bad race, considering it was my
first half Ironman. I finished at just
over six hours. The swim did not start
off very well. My age group was wave 13 of 20 and we started at 8am. I broke my wetsuit 15
minutes prior to entering the water and I decided to go without the suit. The water was cold (69 deg F), but I’ve been
in colder and didn’t think it was too bad.
That is mostly because I was concerned about the insane amount of chop
that I was swimming headfirst into for the first 550 meters. I made it out of the water unscathed, but a
lot slower than I would have liked.
Going in (one of the last)
Age Group Mass Start
The bike went well. The route was very flat and we had a tail
wind on the way out and back (not sure how that happened, but it was
nice). I found an impromptu team mate
and followed her for about 38 miles before I had to hit the port-o-john. All said and done, I averaged 19.5mph for the
ride and I don’t think I could have asked for anything better.
A rough dismount
And I'm good!
To the run… it was very slow. I pretty much committed myself to running
everything, but to walk the water stations.
They were about a mile apart; so, it was a good mental goal as I tried
to finish up the race. It was three loops with multiple U-turns... I wasn't a big fan. However, the good thing about the three laps was you had lots of folks cheering you on the whole run. Very cool.
One more lap!!
With John (He finished 5:29:40)
All in all, not too many hiccups for
the day. The wetsuit was obviously a big one. One minor mishap did occur prior
to the start on race day. Somehow we
missed that the transition area was closing at 6:30am. I didn’t start unit 8am and John
not until 8:15am; so, we were in not hurry as we arrived at 6:22am. That’s when we heard the announcer say that
all athletes had to be out of the transition area in eight minutes. Needless to say, we had to run into the
transition area, drop our stuff, get our swimming gear and get out, with barely a
minute to spare. So, neither of our
transition areas were ready prior to the race.
That led to a very slow T1 time (7 minutes), but I wasn’t overly
worried. I was just trying to catch my
breath and not forget my helmet as I got my bike gear together. I also broke my bike computer sensor off at
about 1/8 of a mile out of the transition area… not a good way to start the
ride. However, it turned out well, so no biggie.
Race breakdown
Only 19 days until the big race. Am I ready... yes and no. Yes, I'm ready to get that sucker knocked out. But... no, I didn't get all of my training in and I'm going to pay for it. However, because I know that, I'm that much more mentally prepared for the suck. I can hardly believe I paid to do this!
So with three weeks until the race, I'm pretty much trying to get in the rest of my workouts and mentally prepare. I don't have anymore work trips and my schedule is clear, thank goodness! Here's to good weather. Cheers!
