The Strippers and such of Augusta 70.3

It's been 5 days since race day and I can say my legs feel good and tomorrow they will feel excellent.  I don't have an option as I am racing the Giant Acorn International tomorrow - I just couldn't let the season end, it went by way to fast.  Recovery week has involved some easy swims, a longer swim, and some short elliptical and core strengthening sessions along with ice, Advil, and chocolate milk.

DAY 1 - Friday

In my mind Augusta 70.3 started on Friday.  I had to catch a 6am flight to Atlanta and once there head out on the drive over to Augusta.  In wasn't a bad trip and I was able to catch some zzzz's on the plane.  Once in Augusta we discovered our hotel was not in an ideal location to the race site, but nothing we could do about it at that point.  We headed out to the host hotel on the river for packet pick up and a course briefing.  As we got to the downtown Augusta area there were triathletes everywhere!  It was pretty awesome.  We found some free parking and headed on in.  By now, as expected, it seems Ironman has this down to a science.  Stop at this table get this, go to the next table sign that, on and on until you had your race numbers, timing chip , and shirt and voila you emptied out right into the offical Ironman merchandise store.  How ideal.  I had never gotten my chip previous to race day so that was something new and interesting.  Apparently they are 1 time use chips - though mine appeared a bit dirty.  Once they gave it to you one of the stops you had to make was to get it activated which took about 1 second.  Ryan and I scooped up some merchandise at the store, including visors for the run portion of the race before heading outside to walk along the river before the course briefing.  The river looked nice and we could look down and see the swim start and some fellow athletes jumping in for a practice swim.  We stopped for some pictures and a break near a fountain and we were soon interrupted by a reporter from a local Augusta newspaper.  She asked us all sorts of questions and I was quoted the next morning in her article on the front page.  

We made it back just in time for the course briefing to start - and to our surprise it was the same guy that does the course briefing at Nation's and probably 90% of the larger races in the US...what a life.  At least we knew it wouldn't be dull.  I am definitely glad we went to the briefing as we learned about wetsuit 'strippers', water bottle handoffs, drop zones, and the penalty tent.  We weren't too concerned with the penalty tent but the moving water bottle handoffs on the bike and the drop zones spiked my blood pressure just a bit.  A moving water bottle handoff is not something you really practice, or at least I never have.  It is exactly as it sounds.  You ride to the right side of the road and there are a bunch of volunteers holding our water, Ironman Perform, Gel, bananas, etc. and you take what you need as you ride by.  The drop zone was right before and after the aid stations to drop trash, water bottles, etc.  I was most concerned about getting the water, dumping it into my aerobottle, and dropping it before the drop zone ended or else risking a penalty.  Once explained a few times my nerves were calmed and I was confident I could handle as such things.  The 'strippers' on the other were quite the pleasant surprise.  As we ran from the water toward T1 there was an area of carpeting right before the transition area where you could lie down and the 'strippers' would pull your wetsuit off in about 5 seconds.  Awesomesauce!

DAY 2 - Saturday

We had an easy going day on Saturday and headed to mall in the AM to do a little shopping and keep our legs moving.  I was even able to find a dress from Express to wear to my BFF's wedding next weekend.  I got a hold of our friend Wyatt while we were out and about to see if we could catch up, and catch up we did.   He is in school in Augusta and lives in a nice house not far from the race site so he invited us over for a football shindig in the afternoon.  After malling it up it was time to get back to race business for a little bit.  We went to a local bike shop to get Ryan some new tri shorts as his ripped during Nation's and were sent back in hopes of a new pair.  The bike shop was bouncing with triathletes, mostly whom had last minute bike issues.  After finding some shorts we headed down to the transition area to rack our bikes.  I was blessed with an awesome bike rack spot again!  2 spots in on the rack next to the main aisle.  Nice. I figured out the logistics of the transition area and practice running in and out to and fro the bike a couple times.  We took a little walk down the river back towards the car and assessed the current.  It didn't look too strong but strong enough to be helpful come Sunday morning.

After taking care of the race business we headed over to Wyatt's house. We had a nice visit complete with plenty of veggies, dip, and all the cookies Wyatt could ever want.  We even convinced him to come out to the finish line the following day!  I had previously scoped out our dinner options and knew there was an Olive Garden in town.  I know it may not be real "Italian" but it's good, it works with my stomach on race day, and I love the salad.  We had to wait about 40 minutes for a table as apparently Olive Garden was a popular choice among the endurance athletes in town and the locals celebrating birthdays.  We carb loaded to our heart's content on pasta, bread sticks and salad before heading across town back to the hotel for the night.  We were able to get the car packed, be race ready, and get to bed by about 9:30 since we would be up at 4:30 on race morning.

SUNDAY - RACE DAY

Wake up came early but we were ready!  I was quickly out of bed and changing into race gear.  I had been wavering all day Saturday as to what in the world I was going to wear.  It was time to decide so the DC tri top with the long tri shorts it was.  I had my usual breakfast of champions...Special K Red Berries with banana and almond milk before heading out the door.  We were warned repeatedly at the course breifing to have a parking plan.  So we did and executed perfectly.  We parked near the host hotel and took the shuttle down to the transition area.  There were plenty of shuttles coming and going so we didn't have to wait on a shuttle just waited a few minutes to get everyone boarded and we even met some nice guys with an inside scoop on the course.

PRE-RACE

We got to the transition area with plenty of time to setup and inflate our bike tires.  There were plenty of port-o-john's near my transition spot making my morning bathroom stop super easy and early enough before a line formed or toilet paper ran out.  Lesson learned by watching others - play it safe and bring your own TP to large races to avoid not having any.  Once Ryan and I were both done setting up we got body marked, I donned my black armband, and headed out of transition with our morning clothes bag.  We were given a plastic bag with our race # on it to carry around anything we may need in morning and at the finish line.  This was ideal for me as I had to wait more than an hour after Ryan started for my wave to start.  I took my body glide, power bar, and and clothes for post race including recovery socks in my bag.  We boarded another shuttle up the road 1.2 miles to the swim start.  Once dropped off we scoped out a restroom for Ryan.  Lines were forming at these, but they had enough to keep the wait down.  We then sat for a little but, got my wetsuit on and dropped off our morning bags before heading to the start corrals.  Ryan went out into the sea of athletes to catch up with his start wave and I stayed along the river to watch the pros and cheer on Ryan.  As a stood along the river watching wave after wave start I started to get a little nervous but mostly excited.  

THE SWIM - 1.2 Miles - 29:31

My swim wave was towards the end, but not the last one which was a nice change of pace.  We were shuffled along in line until finally we were in the corral watching the wave ahead of us start.  As they started they opened the gate and let us begin the walk down the dock.  We got to the starting point and mostly everyone jumped in the water.  The water was a bit chilly and I warmed myself up a bit, if ya know what I mean.  The current made staying behind the starting buoy's a bit of a challenge.  Alas, the horn sounded and we were off.  The course was a straight 1.2 miles down the river.  With such a course it seemed there was much less swimming over each other and hitting each other which was quite nice.  I put my head down and swam.  I felt like I was flying with the current helping me out!  There was a few spots of seaweed that got tangled on my arms but I just kept swimming and they fell off eventually.  Before I knew it I was at the exit ramp.  I saw many people walking so I thought I too would stand up and begin walking out of the water...but not so fast apparently these people were taller than me because I couldn't touch.  I kept swimming which was probably to my benefit as I was passing the walkers.

T1 - 3:47

Wetsuit 'strippers' were a huge success.  I layed down, put my feet up and a 'stripper' grabbed each leg and off with the westuit.  Had to be less than 5 seconds.  No time wasted in transition by wearing the wetsuit.  The rest of transition was pretty uneventful  Ran in, put on helmet and sunglasses, socks and shoes and oh yeah the race number belt - with number in back.  Unlike smaller races Ironman requires you wear a number on your back during the bike.  A race number belt makes this easy by allowing you to put it on for the bike and only twist it around for the run.  I ran out of transition and a few steps past the mount line before getting on the bike.  

THE BIKE - 56 miles - 2:47:53

An awesome ride.  I felt great the entire way.  I did not execute my nutrition plan exactly as I had planned.  I planned on a Gel around mile 10-12, a Bar around mile 30-35, and another gel around mile 50.  I got down 2 gels and about 1/2 (not even) of the bar.  I was too preoccupied with how much fun the course was.  I was able to drink 2 aerobottles full of water and almost an entire bottle of Heed - but should probably drink more.  The course was fast with some rolling hills.  If you are used to riding on very flat roads you may think that there were a couple of 'climbs' but nothing compared to Skyline Drive or even the Luray bike course.  The course was not completely closed to traffic but the lanes we were in were completely blocked off and volunteers and police at every intersection.  Not too a long ago a local man was in a fatal cycling collision with a motor vehicle while training on the course.  We road past a large white cross with flowers and I could only assume it was for him.  I shed some tears for him and my dad - may they ride on in the heavens together!  Most of the bike course actually took place in South Carolina and was quite pretty with only a stretch of not so smooth road.  Locals sat at the end of their long drive ways and cheered us on as we road by.  One local even had nothing better to do than to stand at the end of his drive way yelling some incoherent trash while holding a sign that said 'Get off the Road, Go Home'.  He wasn't too keen on the influx of athletes to his homeland, I can only hope no athlete gave him the time of day to render a reaction.  The moving water bottle hand-offs went as smooth as I could have possibly hoped for with plenty of time to fill my aerobottle before the drop zone.  I chose not to take any nutrition from the aid stations as I thought my plan was A-OK, I think next time I'll take 1/2 a banana or something.  I cruised along and was soon headed back in to Georgia and on my way back to transition.  My legs were starting to feel a bit tired but I had made it - no accidents, no flats, no issues and soon enough I'd be running.

T2 - 1:34

A rather uneventful T2.  I noticed no other bikes back at my rack or the racks around mine.  Nice, I thought just run your race and just run fast enough so no one catches you.  Well that was the plan at least.  I had previously figured myself capable of running a 1:50-1:55 13.1 - completely doable on a running day.  I changed my shoes, headed out of transition and onto the run course.

THE RUN - 13.1 Miles - 2:17:35

I started out with my legs feeling heavy but figured it would pass as they always feel a bit heavy at the beginning of the run.  The first mile seemed to take forever - I just wanted to pass an aid station have get some water.  I kept on trucking and at mile 2.5 took my first gel.  I was told there would be aid stations every mile - didn't seem to be quite every mile and I was disappointed.  Some spectators were familiar with DC Tri and gave me a good hollar as a passed by - that was a good lift me up for a bit.  I took another gel around mile 5.  My stomach started to turn, I started getting chills and thought I can't take anymore gels so I thought it would be a good idea to not take anymore gels and just take water, ice, and Ironman Perform at the aid stations.  Warning: Don't make nutritional decisions during the race - stick to the plan.  I saw a couple girl pass me during the first loop that were in my age group.  They were running great, let them go and concentrate on your race.  The 2nd loop didn't seem as bad but the decision the abort the gel intake cost me. I was much slower and got caught by another age grouper.  Ryan's parents and sister were along the run course to cheer us on which was very nice.  By the time I was on the course running the weather was hot and the sun had been out.  The run course was slightly shaded and during my 2nd loop some cloud cover offered some welcome relief.  Alas the finish chute was upon me.  I picked up the pace as much as I could and crossed the line with my arms up and celebratory fashion.  The young volunteers at the finish line seemed overwhelmed.  I stumpled a couple steps as my quads wanted nothing to do with support any amount of weight.  I got my finisher's medal and hat and headed on to find Ryan.  

POST-FINISH

We met up with his parents and said goodbye before picking up our morning bags and getting in line for pizza and other food.  No chocolate milk!?! You have got to be kidding me.  I would have really enjoyed a large bottle of chocolate milk at that point.  I slowly got down a slice of cheese pizza and 1/2 an orange as Ryan and I waited under the shelter of the food tent for Wyatt.  The skies had open up and a large storm was looming.  We heard word they might close the course for safety - what a bummer if you were almost done running and they closed the course - but they didn't!  We checked the results and got on our way to get out of the rain.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

Loved the experience of racing an official M-dot event.  Well run and the weather was almost perfect.  I realize now that I didn't train for the race I had hoped for.  My longest ride was 50 miles and not near the intensity I rode during the race.  This is what cost me on the run.  I need to get my cycling legs used to longer distances at race pace - or slow race pace down, but is that really an option.  I'm glad I now have my first 70.3 under my belt and learned some valuable lessons before tackling 140.6, because who know that might be in the works ;)  I finished 6th in my age group - 3 seconds behind 5th - the last podium place.  Very frustrating but I need to be smarter about my training on the bike and how hard I push my race pace as well as sticking to the nutrition plan.  Had I got down a couple more Gels during the run it could have been a different result.  I can't let that undermine the success I did have - a great swim, a great bike, smooth transitions and overall a good rookie 70.3!

Holli Finneren

BIB	AGE	STATE/COUNTRY	PROFESSION
2705	24	Lake Orion MI USA	Student

SWIM	BIKE	RUN	OVERALL	RANK	DIV.POS.
29:31	2:47:53	2:17:35	5:40:20	909	6

LEG	DISTANCE	PACE	RANK	DIV.POS.
TOTAL SWIM	1.2 mi. (29:31)	1:33/100m	1397	14
TOTAL BIKE	56 mi. (2:47:53)	20.01 mph	921	3
RUN SPLIT 1: 6.55 mi	6.55 mi (1:01:06)	9:19/mi
RUN SPLIT 2: 13.1 mi	6.55 mi (1:16:29)	11:40/mi
TOTAL RUN	13.1 mi (2:17:35)	10:30/mi	909	6
TRANSITION				TIME
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE				3:47
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN				1:34

Luray Sprint Triathlon Recap

PRE-RACE SATURDAY EVENING
Luray, VA got pummeled with rain on Saturday evening.  Rory and I had luckily just finished securing the rain fly, throwing ours bags in the car and covering the bikes before the rain hit.  We headed down to the town of Luray for packet pickup before dinner.  The rain started pouring down just after we left the campsite.  When we got to packet pickup we got drenched just running from the car to the store.  We then had to wait in line in the store to go back outside to actually get out packets.  Luckily they had a couple tents set up for packet pickup so you just had to take a couple leaps through the rain and dodge the puddles.

With packet pickup behind us we set out for dinner.  We chose Uncle Buck's for convenience and style, it was right next door to packet pickup and it was definitely and locally owned and operated establishment.  We were not disappointed at all.  It was a hoppin' place but we were able to be seated right away and the service was good.  We were enjoyed our dinner and got out to see a line out the door to wait to be seated!  We walked up and down the main drag of Luray exploring the quaint town's uniqueness.  We found an underground bowling alley, extravagant murals, small boutiques and local bakeries and eateries.  After our post-dinner walk we jumped back in the car and drove up the road to check out the Luray Caverns parking lot and bell tower.  We didn't actually want to go in the caverns and they were closed.

We headed back to camp and found we had a few new neighbors at our campsite area.  We took some reading material and H2O under the pavilion with us since it was still early in the evening.  We had a relaxing evening and prepared for the next morning before hitting the sack. Luckily everything in the tent had stayed completely dry!  We attempted to go to bed quite early – but some of our entertaining neighbors were the stereotypical couple on a camping trip!  Bickering, bossing around, the whole 9 yards.  Eventually we were able to get some great shut eye.

PRE-RACE SUNDAY AM

We awoke a bit earlier than planned on Sunday morning due to the events company setting up for everyone and others around us who had gotten up.  I ate the breakfast of champions (Special K Red Berried, Milk, Banana) in my car.  The rain had let up and we were able to easily prepare everything for the race.  We got our bikes ready, which had managed to stay completely dry, got body marked, and set up transition.  We were quite pleased that we indeed had one of the best transition spots in the entire area - transition was set up alphabetically so Rory and I were of course right next to each other.  Before heading our of transition we both donned or black "DAD" armband.  We then set out to check out the swim course and get a warm-up swim in.  The water temperature had dropped just enough to make the race wetsuit legal, but we both decided to forego the wetsuit option.

THE SWIM – 750m – 16:18

Not my best swim, not my worst.  The swim start was more brutal than the day before among all women <34.  I was repeatedly kicked, slapped, swam over, etc.  I was able to keep my cool and try to swim “my race” the best I could.  Before the start of the race I ran into some DC Tri folk which was nice and calmed the nerves a bit.  The water right before the swim exit seemed much darker than the day before.  It was black, you could not see a thing!

T1 – 1:59

A few lessons learned from the day before and a prime transition spot help me cut a solid 12 seconds off this time.

THE BIKE -  16.5miles – 58:18

Not quite as good as the day before.  My legs started to really feel it toward the end of the bike.  The massive hill at the end of the course was lined with spectators with cow bells, fog horns, and the like which was probably the only thing that got me up said hill.  Would like to have seen some faster splits but with the tough course and 2 days in a row I wasn’t disappointed with the performance.

T2 – 1:03

Another 12 seconds faster than the previous days transition.  I’m convinced it was the prime transition location.

THE RUN – 5k – 24:24

I knew the course well and was determined to push it up and down the hills.  A bit faster of a split time than the previous day so I was happy with my effort.  The legs were feeling the previous days effort during the run but I was able to block out any discomfort and push to the finish line.  I didn’t have an age group competitor near me to directly compete with but there was a younger athlete that I used to push myself for my final kick to the finish line.  I love passing people during the last 800m.

RESULT – 3^rd Place 20-24 Female – 1:41:58

Not much of a close race.  The 1^st and 2^nd place finisher had more than a few minutes on me, though they didn’t compete in the international race the day before.  A good result considering I had done the double.

Once again we enjoyed ice baths and peanut butter and jelly post race – with our own chocolate milk of course.  After refueling and taking some pictures we cheered on some of the final finishers before the awards ceremony.  Rory checked his finish time – he improved by 14:00 over his last sprint distance tri!  The awards ceremony last forever but I complete my wine set – another stemless wine glass for 3^rd place and a goblet for completing the double!

An awesome weekend with my brother out in the woods.  It was good for the soul and mind.  I am so glad we camped, it was free convenient and awesome.  I didn’t feel sleep deprived either night and transition was literally across the street from us.  

The 2010 Nation's Triathlon: Part 2

Day 4

Race Day Finally! Morning came early at about 5:00!  I ate my usual obnoxious amount of Special K Red Berries and added my rain jacket to the needed equipment for the day.  It was pouring rain!  Ryan and I set out per our plan to walk to the transition area.  We got maybe ¼ the mile into our walk and decided it would just be better to hail a cab.  2 young women in a minivan cab were nice enough to have the cab pullover and let us join them.  By the time we got to the transition area it was already pretty crazy.  I set up my area – realizing I forgot a trash bag to keep my bike shoes and running shoes and socks dry.  Oh well, I guess I’d be soaking wet anyways.  I got my ties topped off with air, made sure both water bottles were full and was out of transition by 7.  We all stood for the National Anthem before the elites started off the race, only another 2.5 hours or so until my swim wave time!  24 and younger females – the very last wave to start the race.  I cheered on my brother through T1 before heading over to start corralling ourselves toward the water.  The excitement and vibe come from everyone was great.  The sun was coming out it was looking to be a nice day and the final swim wave was getting ready to go!

THE SWIM

The swim was the longest and most crowded swim I had ever been a part of.  I knew I wouldn’t be one of the fasted swimmers so I started in the 2^nd row of people, I don’t think I’ll do that ever again.  When everyone in front of us turned horizontal to start they kicked us like wow!  My swim was going very well until about 1100m in when I started following feet in front of me a little off course.  Luckily I caught this and didn’t get to far wide of the course!  1500m didn’t seem to hard and I was able to run out of the of water and into T1 – passing some people on my way.  I finished in the middle of the swim pack with a time of 33:52.

T1

Transition went well.  I dumped my baby powder on my feet and pulled on my socks and shoes before securing my helmet and loading my pockets with PowerGel.  I ran through transition in my bike shoes until the mount line.  I am not yet cool enough to have the bike shoes already attached to the bike – seems disastrous to me, I’d rather not fall over during the first mile of the ride trying to put my feet in my shoes.  I was in and out of T1 in 4:20.      

THE BIKE

The bike was great.  I loved every second of it!  I felt strong, I was passing people and gaining energy as it went on.  I had a plan to take a PowerGel at the beginning of the bike and about 17 miles into the bike.  Well that plan became more of a guessing game since there were no mile markers on the course and at the time I didn’t have a computer on my bike.  I took the 2^nd gel a little early but it didn’t hurt and I could always get more during T2 or at aide stations on the run.  The Nation’s Tri has already said they will have some kind of mile marker signs up for this years race!  I was on and off the bike in 1:19:13.    

   

T2

Transition once again went well.  I re-racked my bike, re-stocked my PowerGel supply and changed out my shoes before getting on the course.  T2 was pretty bare by the time I had gotten there, being in the last wave has it's pro's and con's such as not a whole lot of people around you and in your way in the transition area but there were also people lining up and coming into the transition area to get there equipment as they had finished the race and were trying to pack up.  I didn't have an issue with these people - only mentally knowing they were completely done and I was just starting 10k!  I was in and out of T2 in 2:29.

THE RUN

I started the running course out with a big grin on my face – I still felt strong and I knew I was going to be able to do this!  The course was a nice run past the Washington Monument and then around Hains Point.  Aide stations were at every mile with water and Powerade which was great.  I took one water to dump over myself and then either water or Powerade to drink.  I had one more gel 3 miles into the run.  I think I would have benefitted from the gel more had I taken it at mile 1 or 2.  I was very familiar with the course which helped me.  As I was coming around Jefferson Monument more and more supporters were gathered cheering on the finishers.  I started to see and hear my classmates cheering for me and got a nice kick of energy to sprint into the finish line!  It was great being greeted by classmates and given my medal by them at the finish!  I was out and back on the run in  53:18.     

FINISH

The finish line festival was pretty fun.  Music, massages, food, awards, instant results.  We hung out for a long while before gathering out things and walking back home.   My finals results were as follows:

TOTAL TIME: 2:53:10

Division Place: 28th ( F 24-)

My Brother and I after The Nation's Tri 2010

I can’t wait until Sept. 11, 2011 for The Nation’s Triathlon again!  Last year was my first Olympic Distance Race but I’ll get a few more under my belt before this year’s race for preparation.  The atmosphere was awesome and the race was spectacularly organized.  This is definitely a must do triathlon at least once in your life!