Augusta Half Ironman

Augusta 70.3 - Half Ironman Triathlon

Date of Race: 09/25/2011

Total Race Time = 5h 42m 48s

Overall Place = 967/3180

Age Group = Male 40-44

Age Group Place = 167/504

It took me a bit longer to write this up than expected. Actually, I wrote it up about a week ago and posted it on our club forum, but I also wanted to include some photos from the weekend. I finally got around to downloading them off my phone. It's a long race report and I'm trying to keep it to the most important details, but you may still need to grab a beverage as you read through. I'm hoping the photos help break up the page and provide some visuals from the weekend.

This race sold out a couple weeks before the event. It's the first time it sold out (only one other 70.3 has sold out) and we were informed that with almost 3200 athletes, it was the largest Half Ironman!

View from down the swim course at swim exit.

Pre-race:  

I arrived on Friday, met my parents that came up from Orlando and had lunch. I would have thought that downtown Augusta would have a lot more restaurants. We ended up eating at a bar and that was fine, but I was expecting some variety. The only other option was Mellow Mushroom across the street and I didn’t want pizza. We got to the race hotel and I went through race registration. There was no line or wait. After you’re done with registration they conveniently exit you to the Ironman store and expo. Picked up a shirt & visor. The benefit of getting there on Friday is going through the discount racks. I also picked up an Augusta 70.3 fleece hoodie for $20. Score! Sizes were limited and I got the only size small. Did a little walking tour along the river with my parents to check out the swim start. The river walk area is really nice. I expected it to be a waterfront with restaurants, bars or stores. Instead, it’s a quiet park like area. We then drove down to the transition area to check out bike drop off and to familiarize myself with roads. Parents & I checked into our hotel and had a late pasta dinner. It was an hour wait at Carraba’s at 8pm. I overheard one of the restaurant managers say they were expecting to be even busier on Saturday with all the athletes coming in. We stayed at a hotel right off of I-20 & I-520. It was within a 15-20 drive of the race hotel and site.

River Walk - park along river. Those are some nice big homes on the South Carolina side.

Swim start. You can see trash/debris collect on the left side of the dock.

Bike check-in

Saturday morning I met one of my teammates for an easy 3 mile run and ran into other teammates as they were going to do a practice swim. I went back to the hotel got my bike ready for drop off.  My plan was to make one of the race meetings, then drop off the bike, and get a practice swim in. I missed the first meeting and then ran into other ATCers as they were arriving at race registration. It was good to see everyone and I was getting excited about racing. I stuck around for the next meeting. Although it was not a mandatory meeting, I was glad I went. The most interesting topic was the no drafting zone explanation. They had a rope laid out to visually demonstrate the distance. The draft zone is a lot longer than you’d expect. I wasn’t worried about a drafting penalty, but it’s easy to get if you’re not paying attention. Next I went to drop off the bike. I’ve got to say that was a mess. There were cars driving in & out, while athletes rode or walked their bikes. They should’ve closed the entrance off to all cars. I saw a lot of athletes riding their bikes without a helmet. If I was an official, I would’ve DQ a ton of athletes the day before the race. I got to the marina to check out the swim start. Overheard a swimmer say that while swimming back they were barely moving. I decided not to swim, as my plan was to swim ¼ mile and then swim back. I didn’t need to wear myself out the day before the race. I met my parents back at the race hotel and we had dinner there instead of trying to find a place in town. We beat the dinner rush, but I went with the pasta bar, which consisted of selecting your own ingredients, sauce, & pasta and a chef prepared the dish for you. The line wasn’t long, but took a good 20-30 minutes to get. By the time I sat down, my parents were already done with their meal. We headed back to the hotel so I could prep for the next day. I got all my nutrition ready and transition bag ready. I checked and triple checked everything and finally got to bed at 10pm.

Panoramic view of the transition area at bike check-in.

Bike is ready to go!

Row 33 - Needed to remember this when rushing into transition.

Gear and race numbers all laid out on the bed as I prep everything for race morning.

Sunday: 4:30am alarm. Breakfast was oatmeal & a cup of coffee. Drove and parked at the parking deck across from the race hotel & 1 block from the finish, caught the bus to transition. I grabbed my bike and took it to the mechanics tent to have air put in my tires. I was a little worried about not bringing a pump, but there wasn’t a line and they had enough guys where each one pumped up a tire and I was done in less than a minute. They had is setup like a NASCAR pit crew, very efficient. Set up my transition area and was going to use the porta potty. Ran into more ATCers and after looking at the line, decided to get to the swim start and use the facilities there. Once again, long line to get on the bus. I decided to walk. I got to take care of business and then started to put on my wetsuit. All morning I’d been sipping on Cytomax. I had about 24 oz total before the swim start. I saw my parents up at the top of the hill and waved to them as I lined up with my group.

Warm-up: No warm-up. There really isn’t a chance to swim and warm up. Even if you did, you’d be standing around while you waited for the start. Only thing I could do was to stretch my arms and move them around. I’ve noticed that except for my first two triathlons, I don’t get nervous. I’m actually excited and ready to start.

Swim: I climbed into the water. It wasn’t cold, just cool. I put my head in the water and blew bubbles. This is kind of a ritual I do whenever I get a chance. It helps me relax. I let some water into the wetsuit and warmed it up right before the start. The start came quicker than I expected. Because of the current I was in the middle of the pack. I wanted to start a bit further back. I had no choice and had to start my swim. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I got kicked once and could feel others on my feet. The group thinned out quickly. It probably took me 200 yards to get into my rhythm. I slowed down and did the breaststroke and then got back into it. I reminded myself that it wasn’t a sprint and that I had a current to work with, all I needed to do was find my rhythm and focus on my technique. Let’s do this! I’m better at sighting and breathing on my right, so I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the buoys on the left except when I breathed to that side. My sighting consisted of seeing the group ahead of me. I picked a guy in a blue wetsuit and made him my target. Sure enough, that worked. I was slowly closing the gap. Just before catching up to him, I got a bunch of weeds across my goggles and neck. I did a couple strokes hoping that they would come off and they didn’t. I stopped grabbed the weeds and started up again. I had made such progress on this one guy, I was determined to pass him. A little longer and I made the pass. I could see the boathouse at the finish a little bit ahead and started making my way to the right side for the exit. I picked up the pace and made sure I had a strong kick. At least twice I over compensated and had to correct. The closer I got the more swimmers I passed. I got to the exit, started running up the ramp and unzipping the wetsuit.

Swim exit - already had my wetsuit halfway off running to transition.

The week before at our open water swim practice, I asked April, our head swim coach, what I could expect to do in the swim based on my Gulf Coast time of 37:36, she said 30 minutes. She nailed it!

Swim Time: 30m:36s

T1: Ran the whole way out of the water to the wetsuit strippers. Took off to my transition area. I stumbled a bit here. I didn’t wear my tri top on the swim and I had to put it on in T1 along with my HR strap. When you’re wet, the top never goes on easily. My helmet fell of the bike along with my sunglasses. Oh well. I got my shoes on and ran out. It felt a lot faster than what the time recorded.

T1 Time: 5m:58s

Bike: Bike went well. I started out trying to bring my heart rate down and started taking in nutrition 15 minutes into the bike. I must have been really thirsty or spilled a lot of water because my aero bottle was empty by mile 5. I had 2 bottles of Cytomax behind the seat. I’d drink a bottle of Cytomax and then switch to water, while drinking Perpetuem every 15 minutes. I think I had a Salt Stick each hour. I felt strong on the bike. There were plenty of people on the course. I was passed and I did some passing of my own, but always running my race and not getting caught up in what everyone else was doing. At mile 22 I caught up to one of the paratriathletes and it was Marshall who I met during the Getting2Tri camp earlier in the year. I told him he was doing great and cheered him on, by yelling out “Go Bumblebee”. You have to know the story behind it. He has a tattoo on his back of Bumblebee from the Transformers on his back. It’s a reminder to him of the movie when Bumblebee loses the use of his legs and is hanging from a tow truck, but still wants in on the fight and doesn’t give up. It was a good reminder for me as well and gave me a little extra burst of energy. I grabbed a bottle of water at each station along the ride. I felt strong and alert the whole time. The Cytomax has caffeine and I think that helped. I felt much better than when I did Gulf Coast. I rode using my HR and cadence. I never looked at my average speed. I knew that I was on target or very close to it. Around mile 40 I stopped drinking Perpetuem. I knew I had brought extra calories just in case. I even carried a gel flask, but never touched it on the bike. I decided to stop the Perpetuem because I was starting to belch and feel like I might not be able to keep it down. I remembered having a similar experience at Gulf Coast, but kept taking in nutrition and that set me up for a bad run. Not going to happen this time. I only had water and Cytomax for the last 16 miles and that worked well. About 850 calories consumed or 280 calories per hour. I typically have between 230-250 calories per hour on training rides. Glad I listened to what my body was trying to tell me. Lesson learned.

I kept my average HR 5 beats below LT. My goal was to be as close to 3 hours as possible and average 18-19 mph. My secondary goal was to come under 3 hours. Nailed it!

Bike Time: 2h:58m:57s - 18.78 mph

T2: This should have been quicker, although I did make a pit stop at the bathroom. I still haven’t mastered going on the bike. I went without socks and only put on a visor. I had quick laces.

T2 Time: 4m:09s

First lap and still feeling pretty good.

Run: Felt great on the run as I started out. I looked at my Garmin and I was just under an 8 min pace. I was worried I was going out too fast and slowed down just a bit. I skipped the water at transition. From that point on I drank at every aid station. I think I had only water during the first loop. I had my Hammer Gel flask but lost it around mile 2. I took in some gel and I must have not put it into the pocket and it bounced out. I saw an ATCer up ahead and caught up, said hello and asked him if it was his second loop, He was. Kept going but started to feel the heat. I stopped at the aid station, had some water and poured a cup over my head. I can’t drink and run, so I walked the aid stations. I think that’s when I started to slow down. On the second lap I took a Powergel from the aid station. Second lap is when I started to really feel the heat. I took sponges and ice. I took the ice and dumped it into my shorts. I remember this tip from Macon. I did this twice. It did not feel as uncomfortable as I thought it would. I also started drinking Perform and water at each aid station. I was taking more time at the aid stations. I only walked at the aid stations, until mile 9. If there was a nice big patch of shade, I’d walk it. Hit the sun, run. My feet felt like they were on fire. Found out later that I had a blister under my big toe on the right foot and another on the top of my left foot, despite the talcum powder used. I’ve run without socks before. I did it at Gulf Coast and a couple short training runs with no issues, same model/brand shoe. I think between the melting ice in the shorts, pouring water over my head, & running through sprinklers, all that contributed to the blisters. I think I’ll run with socks from now on for these long races. I think it was the blisters that made me want to stop and walk. I kept pushing, knowing that my pace had slowed down. I kept focusing on my form making sure to pick up my feet and push off. I could feel my quads and glutes tighten up. I told myself, “Shut up legs” and “Harden the F Up!”.  As soon as I saw the backside of the finish line, I started pushing harder until I crossed the finish line. According to my Garmin I averaged 5 beats below LT. It’s interesting that once I entered the finishing chute, I don’t recall feeling any pain. I was happy to cross the finish line.

My goal was to do a 1:45 – 1:50 run. I was on track on the first half of the run and missed the goal on the last half.

Run Time: 2h:03m:08s

Post Race: I got in line for food and ran into my parents. I wasn’t feeling hungry, but got food anyway. I knew I would need to eat. Grabbed a couple slices of pizza, water, coke, cookies and beer. Found a place to sit with my parents, kicked off my shoes and started to eat. I hung out with my parents until the rain started and they went back to the hotel. I couldn’t go anywhere since I still needed to pick up the bike and the car was in the parking deck and I don’t think I would’ve been able to leave since it was right on the run course. Met with some teammates under the awards stage to stay out of the rain. This gave me an opportunity to stretch my legs. Walked around some more and hung out with some more ATCers. Eventually, a couple of us went back to transition on the bus to pick up our bikes. Police wouldn’t allow the buses near transition, so we had to walk ¼ mile to the bikes, yet there were cars past the barricade. It had started raining again, so everything was wet. Packed everything up and rode back to the car and then back to the hotel. My parents and I stayed Sunday night.

What would you do differently: Based on my training and ability, I executed this race perfectly until the run. I could have worn socks. I could have also worn a Fuel Belt. This would have kept me running through the aid stations and improved my time. It’s difficult to tell by how much. My plan next year is to work on speed and maintain my endurance.

Overall, I’m very happy with my performance. I’ve made improvements in all three disciplines since Gulf Coast. I PR’d by just over 42 minutes!

Rate your overall experience with this race: I’ll give this race a 4. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. It’s a great swim and bike course. Although I like the crowds on the run, I can’t say I’m a fan of 2 loops, especially when you run by the finish and realize you’ve got another lap to do, however it was nice to run into teammates on the run. Had it been 1 lap, I wouldn’t have seen them or others in the opposite direction. My parents got to see me run at least 3 times along the course. Okay, maybe a 4.5 rating, I still prefer an out and back run. I think they can do better at bike check in & pickup. The whole area past the levee should’ve been closed off to vehicles, except buses picking up and dropping off athletes.

Having fellow teammates out along the course cheering was very helpful.

I’m not sure I’ll do Augusta next year. I’ll probably do Rev3 70.3 next year instead (just to try something different), but I’ll come out to cheer those competing in Augusta.

Below are some of the shots from the event photographer.