This past weekend was the Ironman Muncie 70.3, and I had a far better day than expected. I went into this one unconcerned about time. My race-day plan was not to really race, but to view it as a good, long training day, do what I felt like doing, let the day come to me, and see how that played out. No pressure. I fiddle-faddled through the transitions, stopped twice on the bike to stand up, and took plenty of walk breaks on the run. Yet I was completely surprised to see the clock when I finished, handily beating my projected 7:10-7:15 time.
For the first time in several years, the weather was perfect. It seems like the last few years have either brought crazy-wild thunderstorms (my attempt #1 at the distance), torrential downpours (my first successful attempt at the distance), or record heat that resulted in shortening the course. This year was a gift from the weather gods, and everyone was quite excited. The water temp was 76, just barely wetsuit legal, but legal all the same, so most of us decided to go ahead and wear the thing for its buoyancy benefits.
The swim was my usual pathetic pace, but felt better than any this season. Though slow, it was much more a swim than a flounder, so even though the time was a bit disappointing, my day got off to a good start. It was wonderful to get out of the water and hear my name being called by a friend who was there spectating with her boyfriend. (Why aren't you racing, Jen? You're waaaaay more than ready.) Nice to see their smiling faces!
Swim: 52:46
T1 was a long walk from the beach to the transition area, and I took my time. Stopped in a porta-potty to take care of business and wipe sand off myself. After exiting the water, I had flopped to let the wetsuit strippers do their work, and came up covered with sand/dirt. That would drive me crazy all day if I didn't wipe it off. So I took some extra time to clean up before getting ready to bike for 3+ hours. Thought about getting a massage while I was there, but decided that could wait.
T1: 7:27
The bike was on a (mostly) nice course with good roads. However, there had been a course change to alleviate some permitting issues, and it resulted in some oddness. Around mile 20 was a section of road that was a no-passing zone, about 3/4-mile long. In addition to a not-so-great surface, it was narrow, so race officials made it a no-passing zone, but relaxed the drafting rules a bit. I was lucky enough not to get behind anyone going painfully slow, so I didn't mind the break, but apparently some people were not so lucky and got frustrated. It was only 3/4 of a mile, so most took advantage of the time to drink something and relax for a few minutes. The bad part was coming up.
We took a left and headed for the turnaround point at mile 28. Unfortunately, this stretch of road was exceedingly crappy, full of very sloppy chip-seal and some good rollers. The hills were very manageable, but it's amazing how exhausting it is to constantly be bumpity-bumping over lousy road on a bike for 16 or so miles. Ugh. This stretch was also narrow, so even though passing was legal, if someone was passing from each direction at the same time, it got a bit tight. The bumping was also hard on the crotch, and got old quite quickly. I stopped once to stand up and give the nether regions a break.
Finally, around mile 36, we made a right turn back into the no-passing zone. Hurrah! The torture is almost over! There was a collective sigh of relief as riders got back on to nice, smooth road, and everyone sped up again. I decided I wanted to take another break when I got to the final aid station at mile 44, and pulled over. Got the left foot unclipped, and just then my right calf decided it was going to have The Mother Of All Charlie Horses. You can't coordinate the foot well enough to unclip when the calf is one seized-up spasming knot, so over I went. Damn. Didn't hurt myself, but had to lay there under the bike a minute with the right foot still clipped in, waiting for the calf to stop seizing. Finally it loosened up just enough to give me back control of my foot and ankle. I unclipped, climbed out from under the bike, stood up and stretched a minute, then got on my way. The rest of the ride was uneventful, and I was happy to pull back into transition after three hours and 17 minutes, with an average of 17.05 mph. Faster than it felt like, so a successful ride.
Bike: 3:17:03
First 28 miles: 1:38:56
Second 28 miles: 1:38:07. Negative split!
T2 was slightly more efficient than T1. I walked it, chatted with my rackmate while we both got changed for the run, sucked down another gel, stopped at the table by the exit to cover my arms/neck with sunscreen, and headed out. Felt good, just wasn't feeling the need to kill myself rushing.
T2: 4:20
The run was entirely uneventful. I did my usual walk/trudge/run thing, and was pleased at the prospect of hitting the turnaround pretty close to an hour and ten minutes. The volunteers at the aid stations were terrific, full of energy and quite helpful. There was cold water and electrolyte drink at every stop, and most had cups of ice as well. The first station was armed with garden hoses and water guns, and sprayed us down. Boy did that feel good at the beginning and end of the run! It really wasn't that hot, low 80's and not grossly humid, but the cold liquids made a big difference. The enthusiasm of the volunteers made it easy to keep moving, and the 13.1 miles passed rather painlessly.
With maybe 1/4-mile to go, I again heard my name being yelled, this time by some fellow tri-nuts that were there spectating. It was great to see them and they helped motivate me to finally put the hammer down and run it in. I was able to all-out sprint the last 1/10-mile down the finish chute, catching and passing a couple of guys who were ahead of me, and was pleasantly stunned to see the clock at the finish. It was under seven hours! Anything under seven hours is a gift, and the time on the clock didn't account for the fact that my swim wave started a few minutes later than the official race start time. Wow!
Run: 2:24:40
First half: 1:13:05
Second half: 1:11:35. Another negative split! AND my best time ever for the run in a 70.3 race! How did that happen?
Total time: 6:46:16
I have some thoughts about my unexpected success, but I'll save those for another blog post. This one is already long enough!
