Triathlon Race Recap: Ironman 70.3 Texas

This post became lost in an older heap, thought I'd give it a late publish anyways!

Review for an early April start to the triathlon season started in Galveston, Texas at Ironman 70.3.  The race was organized and efficiently run, sadly I can't claim my body copied those attributes!

We took the race weekend as a vacation visiting Austin during our trip to Texas.  I decided due to the time off and proximity that driving would be the best way to transport myself and my bike without worrying about any mechanical needs upon arrival.  From Colorado Springs we headed south where we found an extinct cinder cone volcano, Capulin, existed 3 hours south in New Mexico.  The national monument allows you to drive up the volcano to the rim where you can hike in the basin and along the edges of the once lava built mountain.

Continuing south we headed to our next main stop in Austin.  We had heard good things about Austin: great music, barbecue, trails, and climate.  We stopped at Congress Cafe for breakfast, where the lines are long but the food is excellent.  The wait was 30 minutes on a Thursday morning.  Afterwards we treated ourselves to Stubb's BBQ along the main strip in downtown Austin.  The all you can eat platter of classic Texas BBQ will put you to sleep quickly and happily.

Galveston Beach Before the Race

The next day, we got up early to continue our drive down to Galveston.  It was a hike getting through congested Houston on our way but we were glad to get to the beach during the Colorado Springs winter. Our Galveston hotel, The Inn at the Waterpark, was a cheap motel next to Moody Gardens which was the main hotel for the race.  Sadly, I did not get the sponsor hotel and we dealt with some mediocrity in our stay.  The saving grace was the ability to walk to the start line from our room.  Overall, the location was beautiful at Moody Gardens and we enjoyed the sponsor hotel's grounds.  Our staging area (above right) was the outdoor parking lot for Moody Gardens which ran up against the tarmac for the local airport in Galveston.  This was the first Ironman (TM) Event and my first 70.3 so I appreciated the ease of finding my way around the day before and after the race.

Getting Ready to Hop in the Water

The morning of the race was very comfortable with the expected high of 72 degrees.  After spending multiple mornings running in the dark in the sub-zero windchill temperatures of the Colorado Springs winter, I was a bit concerned what the heat would mean to my race.

Out of the Water in 33 minutes

Most of my race anxiety was instantly removed when I jumped into the salt water and buoyed up to the top easily in my new BlueSeventy Helix wetsuit.  The swim was comfortable except for a few foot grabs and elbows that seem all too common in my age group of late-20's males.  I came out of the water comfortably and was ready for the 56 miles on the bike.

Heading Out on the Bike

The bike course was a slightly rolling out and back that was made difficult due to the exhausting cross-winds.  I covered the half-way point in an 1:10 feeling confident and strong despite some difficulty with my bike saddle.  However, I made a crucial mistake, the same one I made in my first marathon in 2007.  I didn't take my time and eat often.  At mile 40 I hit the biggest wall I can remember, luckly most distance athletes have a short memory about just how terrible that last bonk was.  I began consuming food and gatorade at the heaviest rate I could but would not find my legs again still mile 53 and cost myself 10-15 minutes.  We came cruising into the 2nd transition from the airport and I put on the Saucony A5's for the 3-loop 13.1 mile run course through Moody Gardens.  The support was excellent on the course due to the loop concept and it was easy to track who was ahead of you and thus set your sights on tracking down runners.  Usually the run is my strength in triathlons as it is my original sport.  I ripped through the first 4 mile loop at 6:30 pace feeling very confident I could continue turning up the pace.  But then, it happened again, my muscles said no and my brain couldn't override the misery I was in.  A second bonk, and from this experience, I am sure I'd much rather bonk on the bike than on the run.  For the next 4 miles I demonstrated the "survivor shuffle" while dropping my pace significantly.  During that time, I was consuming anything and everything that people were handing me.  Luckily, I found my savior heading into the last lap.  A delicious Coke.  The sugary sweet drink just felt right and catapulted my pace back to the respectable range for my first half-ironman finish.  I'm glad that's over!

On the 3-Loop Run Course