Finished Ironman Augusta 70.3 with a PR of 5:49. The swim made it faster but I was relaxed on the ride (which was fun). The run went great. Felt like a million bucks for the first 6 miles. Then I started have GI issues. Stomach cramps and I could not drink or eat anything. I deserved it. I broke the cardinal rule of racing "DO NOT DO ANYTHING DIFFERENT ON RACE DAY". Well I ate some oatmeal in the morning and I think it prevented my system for working naturally and gave me cramps. I have never had this happen before in practice or other races.
The race went as expected. The weather was great. Overcast most of the day and no rain, at least while we were racing. The rain eventually came down but not until later. The swim was slower than expected but I spent more time on form than speed. The CL was keeping an eye on my run pace. I did good. The run was 2:22 the fastest I have ever done in a half Ironman and this race, as the CL pointed out, was not my A race. Also for the record my best half marathon time is 2:04.
The knee was fine. It did not bother me at all and was fine after the race.
Monday I was very tired. Much better today.
Two hilarious things happened at the race. First, after the race I had a bag of ice for my knee. I had it on there then took it off. I was walking down the sidewalk and went to put the bag on my knee inside a compression sleeve I had on and the bag popped. Water came gushing out. A guy walking towards me stopped and took a step back. I know what he was thinking. He thought I pissed my pants. I assured him it was ice water.
Then I saw a woman with the best shirt slogan on it. It said, "If I collapse, please pause my Garmin." :)
Today I ran 4 miles per the CL. The first 2 were hell, then I settled in and started to feel better.
46 days to go. A lot of training left to do.
Train Hard, Train Smart,
XXX
