Augusta, GA Ironman 70.3 Race Report...

Hey Everyone,

     I hope everyone is well! I have eaten a lot, took a good nap, and am now packing and getting ready to embark on the 975 mile drive to get back home in the morning. I have had a chance to recall the days events and thought I would knock out the RR before I go home, so here it is...
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     So I was scheduled to be off Thursday and was going to leave mid-afternoon to arrive in Augusta, GA in the morning. Well, I ended up working all day and did not get under way on until 9:30pm Thursday and arrived in Augusta at 6pm on Friday. THAT DRIVE WAS BRUTAL! 975 miles of joy, but ey, at least the scenery was gorgeous. I stayed with my wife's aunt and uncle who live 10 minutes away from the race site, and that was awesome! I got settled in and woke up at 8am Saturday to do a quick 10 minute run, 20 minute spin on the bike, and jumped in the Savanah River for a 15 minute swim. Boy was that current moving! I swam downstream 1st then worked my way back upstream and that was kind of cool, just a little more work. I headed over to the host hotel, do pre race briefing, packet pickup, bought a sweet Transition bag at the expo, checked my bike in, and I was ready to roll.My nutrition leading up to the race was solid, and my body water percentage was 67% so I was VERY hydrated (Thank goodness, more on this later). We went out for dinner, I had some BBQ shrimp skewers with rice pilaf and a baked potatoe and I was ready to go.

     Of course I just tossed and turned all night and got about 2 hours sleep, which isn't a big deal because I slept like a log the night before when it mattered! 2:30am rise and shine, and the pre-race rituals begin. I was feeling so good and so ready for this race! I head to transition and was there right when they opebed at 5am. I got everything situated. Bike dialed in? Check! Helmet? check! Glasses? Check! Bib? Check! Camelbak? Check! Tires Inflated? Check! Wetsuit, goggles and cap? Check! I AM READY! So I catch the shuttle that heads down to the swim start and got there early and took my place in line. Soon enough the pros were making their way down to the start, national anthem, prerace thanks from announcer, etc... And the race is under way! I was in the 5th wave which was nice for a change. I usually am at the back of the race passing people, it was actually kind of cool to see all the elite athletes pass me, they are amazing folks! The weather was low 70's a bit humid and the water was a balmy 69 degrees, def wetsuit legal. When our wave is called, we make our way down the dock, and it was a start where everyone begins holding on to a rope so the current doesn't float you down the river. The horn blows and I was off. My stroke was feeling grea****er felt great, all was going well... UNTIL some random dude decides it's not very important to site and was swimming at about a 90 degree angle OPPOSITE to where he should be going. So, yeah, I was the lucky guy who had the pleasure of watching this guy swim to Cuba, and in the process take a HARD elbow to my face! It did not feel good and kind of rattled my cage, I readjusted my goggles, calmed down, and got back under way. Overall, the swim was great, especially given the fact that we swam downstream, and I PR'd with a swim time of just over 26 minutes for 1.2 miles (2000 Meters).

     There was a 300 yard run from swim exit to transition, so not too sure if that time was tacked on to my swim time or transition time, but either way was not a big deal. I get wetsuit stripped and get to my bike. I see my Camelbak on top of my helmet, I see my glasses, bib and so I set the Camelbak to the side as I get everything else on. I have 1 bottle cage on my bike, as I usually ALWAYS use the Camelbak, and my bottle was half-full as I drank some Gatorade from it before the race. I am coming off a GREAT swim and am so amped up to go attack the bike course so I run out of transition, mount my bike, start spinning, then buckle the shoes and I am off. I usually wait 10-20 minutes to start taking in nutrition and fluids on the bike, so I just focused on a nice high cadence spin to get things going. 54 of the 56 mile ride was in South Carolina and the first stretch is through the Friggin Hood.. Very interesting. My pace is good, and I am starting to get thirsty, so I reach for my Camelback mouthpiece only to then realize 3 miles into the ride, that I NEVER PUT IT ON!!! I am royaly screwed! Not only does it have all my hydration for the ride, but it also has ALL of my tire repair, replacement stuff in it. So, needless to say I was living on a prayer! I realized 2 things at that point... 1) I am going to be VERY dehydrated by the end of the bike because I only have 1 bottle cage, and my salt tabs were in my Camelbak so electrolytes were going to be out of whack as well. 2) If I flat on the course, I am for sure a DNF. I said a quick prayer and hoped for the best for the ride. It was a GREAT ride... Lot's of rolling hills and some pretty scenery. up until mile 38 I was averaging well over 22MPH until I hit the headwind the last 14 miles ALL THE WAY back to transtion...UGH, so I ended up averaging 20.21MPH on the bike and my goal was 20-21MPH, things could not be going better.

     After arriving back into transition, I come to discover that a mound of ants had decided to keep my running shoes and socks warm for me, as well as my hat, and then look down to see my sunglasses laying on the ground CRUSHED! Man, something on every leg of the race! Oh well, so I run without glasses. I start off at a nice easy pace and run steady. When I hit mile 4, I start to feel "Light-headed" and my vision starts going blurry. I was wobbling and probably looked like a drunken sailor to an extent. I knew this was the electrolyte imbalance / dehydration catching up with me. At that point, right next to me, was an ambulance, and as I started to walk towards it to ask for an IV to be put in, I glance quickly down the road and could see an aid station about 1/4 of a mile down the road. Ok, let me get there and see if I can make myself better. I stop at the station, stuff 5 sponges in my hat and shirt, drink 5-6 glasses of water, which tasted like hell, took in some Gatorade, a power bar, a gel, and 2 salt tabs. I started to feel better, and I felt the nutrition really hit my system about 20-30 minutes down the road. So for water, they were using tap water from hoses off houses, which was absolutely disgusting, and a lot of stations did not have ice... Talk about a beat down! I heard of several people DNF'ing because they got sick from the nasty / warm water, which sux. I was feeling a little better as time went on and was at least able to have a negative split on the half marathon... Still VERY slow, but a finish none-the-less! I think my 1/2 mary time was 2:38:00 or there-abouts. I was really hoping for a 5:15:00 finish, but given the cir****tances, I am VERY pleased with my results. I killed the swim and of course was a PR, the bike was a PR for a 70.3 distance race for me, and overall was a PR for total time by 18 minutes at this distance!

     Given all the adversity / mistakes in this race, I am still very pleased! It was a challenging race and as the sun came out on the bike and humidity became present, it made for a pretty good challenge. I am glad I did this race, I have not decided if I would like to do it again, but it is always great to finish an MDOT event because there is just an incredible spirit about them. So this is Ironman event number 4 for 2009 in the books for me, with 1 more 70.3 to go next month in Austin (Longhorn 70.3) and volunteering at IM Arizona in November. So, that's it, a great race, a good result considering, and now the brutal drive to get back to my family.... I miss them a ton. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and happy trails to all...

Great Report and great race. Be careful heading home and way to Dare Greatly!!!

Full contact swimming.  You got to love it.

Way to go overcome all that adversity and achieve another goal!!

Looking forward to meeting you at the Whiterock Marathon!!

Darrell

bummer about your camelback... but great race nonetheless!  you really kicked some ass out there, congrats.

OT:  what type of camelback do you use??

Yo Bill,

     I use the Camelbak Rocket. Works well for me. Thanks for the words brother, as always!

 Good job!  I'm glad those tires held out.

Duane

Good job Dan!

Congrats on your success.

Scott

 These races are so much more than just doing the distances.  Great job on overcoming the obstacles you had thrown at you!

You were riding tubulars, right? Don't those hold up a little better than the average tire? When I raced in AZ I had a can of bike fix a flat, a new tube and some glue. I ran over a cactus needle and flatted. Lucky it was a slow flat b/c I didn't realize how I flatted until I got home.

Yup on the tubulars. Yup on the fix a flat, the only problem was that it was in transition with my Camelbak... Ugh... Yeah had Gator Skins on the Tubulars which are thicker than a Graden Hose, so thank goodness for that!