About half way through the bike course at the K-Swiss Branson Ironman 70.3 I thought, "I'm not doing this again." Then when I finished and saw my time of seven hours I thought, "I totally have to redeem myself."
I acknowledge that my time was horrible, and I totally blame my bike.
But let's start at the beginning.
We got to Branson on Saturday the 17th, and it was raining. We checked the weather on our wireless devices, and the apps predicted more rain for the 18th. Not good. I got all checked in and attended the mandatory pre-race meeting. I also enjoyed a reasonably priced latte at the Chateau, the host hotel. We left the Chateau and checked in my bike, in the pouring rain. I also got my body marked. Lucky number 335, 40 years old (at the end of the year), thank you.
We ran over to Wal-Mart to pick up some last minute items, ate at Golden Corral, and then headed back to the hotel for the night. We didn't stay at the host hotel, so I would have to take a shuttle from T2 over to the swim start. Yes, a two transition race. The swim start was at Moonshine Beach, Table Rock Lake. T2 was at Branson Landing.
I left the hotel at 5:30 AM. I wanted to catch the last shuttle at 6:15, and I still had to drop off my run bag at T2. I stood in line for the shuttle, which left a little late, and it was a twenty minute drive over to T1. The drive took us right down Highway 76, which I hadn't been on in years. BTW, in Branson I saw this place where you can ride a Segway on a go-cart track. The sign read, "Segway, Feel the Excitement!" I am totally doing that the next time I'm down there. Anyways, here is a pic of our shuttles:
The shuttle left so late that they were trying to close T1 by the time I got there. So I rushed around getting ready and got out of T1. Then I realized I forgot my goggles, so the volunteers graciously let me back in to retrieve them. I proceeded to put on my wetsuit, and since my wife hadn't arrived yet, I asked some fellow to zip me up. At this point I'm as ready as I'm going to be, but my wave didn't leave until 7:25 AM. Let's do this!
After the Star Spangled Banner and the pro start, I stood around until they called my age group. No warm up swim, no stretching, no nothing but being nervous. I did count the buoys with the idea that I'd count them as I went by, but that didn't work out very well. The horn sounds, and we're off. A bunch of middle age dudes splashing around. I hung towards the back of the pack and once I was waist deep or so I started swimming.
Swim 1.2 Miles
This was the first real swim I had in my rental wetsuit. I did swim a few laps at the pool the Friday before, but not enough to really get used to it, evidently. I took off swimming at an easy pace, at least that's what I was trying to do. I always feel like I'm going too hard at the beginning of a swim. I counted three buoys, but then lost count somewhere. I'm ashamed to admit, but somewhere before the first turn the thought went through my mind, "I can't do this." I said, "I know, but I'll do it anyways. Now keep swimming!"
I made it to the half way point and tuned back to the beach. Somewhere on this last section I finally found a rhythm and was able to make some better time. I did see a couple of other orange caps (guys in my group), but I'm sure most were finishing already. I got to the beach in 48:04. Honestly, that's only eight minutes over what I hoped to do. I'll take it.
T1
I ran up to T1 and saw my wife and my father-in-law. They were encouraging but I'm sure they thought I'd already drowned.
Like I said, this was a two transition race, and we were instructed to have everything in our bag that we wanted transported back to T2. So we not only had to transition, including removing the wetsuit, we had to pack up.
Before the beginning of the race I wanted to air up my tires, but they were hustling us out of transition. So I'd be riding on tires lower than I wished. Oh well. Time in T1: 7:06.
Bike 56 Miles
This is already too long, so let's finish this up tomorrow. Come back to read the exciting conclusion, including how I finished this 70.3...in a thunderstorm!
But first, a bonus pic of me in my wetsuit!
I acknowledge that my time was horrible, and I totally blame my bike.
But let's start at the beginning.
We got to Branson on Saturday the 17th, and it was raining. We checked the weather on our wireless devices, and the apps predicted more rain for the 18th. Not good. I got all checked in and attended the mandatory pre-race meeting. I also enjoyed a reasonably priced latte at the Chateau, the host hotel. We left the Chateau and checked in my bike, in the pouring rain. I also got my body marked. Lucky number 335, 40 years old (at the end of the year), thank you.
We ran over to Wal-Mart to pick up some last minute items, ate at Golden Corral, and then headed back to the hotel for the night. We didn't stay at the host hotel, so I would have to take a shuttle from T2 over to the swim start. Yes, a two transition race. The swim start was at Moonshine Beach, Table Rock Lake. T2 was at Branson Landing.
I left the hotel at 5:30 AM. I wanted to catch the last shuttle at 6:15, and I still had to drop off my run bag at T2. I stood in line for the shuttle, which left a little late, and it was a twenty minute drive over to T1. The drive took us right down Highway 76, which I hadn't been on in years. BTW, in Branson I saw this place where you can ride a Segway on a go-cart track. The sign read, "Segway, Feel the Excitement!" I am totally doing that the next time I'm down there. Anyways, here is a pic of our shuttles:
The shuttle left so late that they were trying to close T1 by the time I got there. So I rushed around getting ready and got out of T1. Then I realized I forgot my goggles, so the volunteers graciously let me back in to retrieve them. I proceeded to put on my wetsuit, and since my wife hadn't arrived yet, I asked some fellow to zip me up. At this point I'm as ready as I'm going to be, but my wave didn't leave until 7:25 AM. Let's do this!
After the Star Spangled Banner and the pro start, I stood around until they called my age group. No warm up swim, no stretching, no nothing but being nervous. I did count the buoys with the idea that I'd count them as I went by, but that didn't work out very well. The horn sounds, and we're off. A bunch of middle age dudes splashing around. I hung towards the back of the pack and once I was waist deep or so I started swimming.
Swim 1.2 Miles
This was the first real swim I had in my rental wetsuit. I did swim a few laps at the pool the Friday before, but not enough to really get used to it, evidently. I took off swimming at an easy pace, at least that's what I was trying to do. I always feel like I'm going too hard at the beginning of a swim. I counted three buoys, but then lost count somewhere. I'm ashamed to admit, but somewhere before the first turn the thought went through my mind, "I can't do this." I said, "I know, but I'll do it anyways. Now keep swimming!"
I made it to the half way point and tuned back to the beach. Somewhere on this last section I finally found a rhythm and was able to make some better time. I did see a couple of other orange caps (guys in my group), but I'm sure most were finishing already. I got to the beach in 48:04. Honestly, that's only eight minutes over what I hoped to do. I'll take it.
 |
| That's me, the one with exposed nipps. |
T1
I ran up to T1 and saw my wife and my father-in-law. They were encouraging but I'm sure they thought I'd already drowned.
Like I said, this was a two transition race, and we were instructed to have everything in our bag that we wanted transported back to T2. So we not only had to transition, including removing the wetsuit, we had to pack up.
Before the beginning of the race I wanted to air up my tires, but they were hustling us out of transition. So I'd be riding on tires lower than I wished. Oh well. Time in T1: 7:06.
Bike 56 Miles
This is already too long, so let's finish this up tomorrow. Come back to read the exciting conclusion, including how I finished this 70.3...in a thunderstorm!
But first, a bonus pic of me in my wetsuit!
Is that a whey latte in your coffee cup??
ReplyDeleteLOL, that's a good idea! I'm trying that next time.
ReplyDelete