Saturday 7/13/13 - Ironman Muncie 70.3

Finisher's medal

Excellent race conditions, strong execution and adherence to my race plan, personal record by 21 minutes!!

6:31:56 

Post-race picture

1.2 mile Swim: 41:01 minutes

Swim wasn't too bad. I did well with my sighting although I felt like the first 1/3 I had my head out of the water frequently. Swimming back in was directly into the sun but I stayed pretty centered. The last 1/3 was a free-for-all. Lots of different colored caps (waves) and a bit more bumpy with dudes going all out all around me. I stayed calm and just kept swimming. The best part was they had sleet suit strippers!!! So I've now experienced it before Madison!!!

56 mile Bike:  3:14:07 
(I wanted to hit 3 hours but rode a bit cautiously the first half)

The first 15-ish miles of road were a dream!!  4 lanes of smooth, clean closed highway. Unfortunately, after that there was a VERY narrow section "no passing zone" on a horrible country road. Bumpy with a lot of lost/fallen water bottles, gu, gear, etc dropped from people's bikes. Of course there were gonzos (Dudes!  Who else?!) who were passing and not even shouting "on your left"- it was like they were sneaking up on you. I just tried to stay calm and not get too upset. After that section there were some nice rollers (Who am I?!  Enjoying hills...) that broke up the monotony before the turn around just over 1/2 way. I saw everyone I knew racing but Courtney on the bike.  I negative split the ride and my average mph was just under 18mph. That's fine for a flat course but does present some stress about Madison's hills.

13.1 mile run:  2:30:06 
(Again, I really wanted to hit 2:20 but the course was hillier than I expected. This was the best I could do. I did the whole thing run/walk so I was booking it when I was running!). 

My run plan was to run until my body said "break!!" And then take a walk break. Since all the aid stations seemed to be near mile markers I knew I'd be walking through at each mile at the very least. I avoid the nice people staying runners down with hoses until mile 10. It was really hard to do that mentally, but I knew I'd have happier feet that way!  I wanted to negative split the run but I was off by 3 minutes- can't complain. When I was jogging the last 5 miles, I was booking it!  I can't wait to upload the Garmin data later today. A few times that I glanced down, the watch said 9:45 and even under 9 once!  Yes, these were brief bursts but I was glad I had the energy!!  I tried cola on the run and loved it and watched my water intake- I didn't want a slushy stomach. I used a lot of water to pour on my arms and head- again trying to avoid my feet- and put ice down my top. I chatted with the people around me and had a "good time" with what I was doing. The final .25 miles were a b*tch straight up a hill, but I had been doing the math and was shooting for at least a 20 minute PR and barely managed to do it!!

With my 27# bike!