HIM Augusta 70.3 Race Recap
The alarm woke me up at 4am. I ate some breakfast and rechecked the items I was bringing to transition. By 445am I was headed to the lobby where I was shuttled over to the transition area by one of Stacy’s Sonic Endurance teammate’s husband (where we went off-roading in his truck to skip the official way in!!). As I was emptying my bag and getting my items laid out, the announcement came over the loudspeaker that for the first time in the history of the race it would not be wetsuit legal!! The morning temp of the water was 77 degrees, 1 degree over the legal temp. There was immediately lots of discussion and disbelief among the ladies around me. Those who still wanted to wear a wetsuit could, but would have to wait until the newly made wave at 920am to start. Knowing that the temps were slated to be in the 90s, there was no way I wanted to start that late. No wetsuit it would have to be!
Stacy, fencerwife and I headed over to swim start around 730am. The pro women started at 730am. My wave (wave 10) was set to go at 812am. I ate one last banana and finished my Skratch hyper hydration drink before getting in my wave. I stood in line with the other first batch of 45-49 women and chatted some with Jennifer, another Sonic Endurance athlete. Soon we were headed down the ramp to the bridge pontoon and getting in the water. It was a little bit chilly but nothing that bothered me. The horn sounded and finally we were off!! I tried to keep a straight line following the buoys. I was kicked and punched and jostled almost all the way down the river and there seemed to be a lot of weeds and sticks hitting my face. It wasn’t a fast swim based on what I had done in practice with my wetsuit on but I had made it past the first leg! Swim time: 40:38, 5 minutes slower than I had hoped for.
I jogged up the ramp and around to transition for T1. I drank some leftover bike mix and tried to be as quick as I could. It was quite a distance from my rack to bike out and running in cleats on grass is no fun at all. T1 time: 6:23
The bike mount area was crowded so I got over to the far right and got going. I had to keep my wits about me as there were a couple of people who hadn’t clipped in correctly. The first few miles were extremely crowded. The rules stated to keep 6 bike lengths behind the cyclist in front but that was near impossible to achieve. I was happier when the cyclists began to thin out and focused on keeping my speed steady. The bike course had changed from previous years due to bridge construction and had 2 new hills but since I had done the route already I knew what to expect. The first climb was a little hairy with many people trying to pass. The second climb was immediately after a very long steep descent and there was a lot of double passing going on. When I made it to the summit of that second hill I felt relieved I had done them both with no issues. I had to keep reminding myself to drink my bike mix, eat some of the solid food I had and take my base salts. The first 28 miles seemed to go by very quickly. Bike split: 1:42:37 – average of 16.37mph.
The second 28 miles was a little tougher. The temperature had risen and I knew I had to save something for the run because it was going to be 90 degrees plus. I kept my focus and never had a moment where I thought I couldn’t do it. With about 10 miles to go I ran out of liquid. I knew there was one more aid station and decided I would have one try at grabbing a water bottle – something I had not practiced pre-race. There was one more short steep hill before that aid station and as I approached it I made sure to get into the little cog and start spinning. I chanted “don’t stop” all the way up and somehow it worked. A cyclist next to me wasn’t so fortunate but he managed to unclip and prevent a fall. The aid station was right ahead. Aid stations are a little intimidating – bottles on the ground, cyclists slowing down, volunteers on the side of the road. I tried to grab a water bottle but alas, no go. That’s something I need to work on for sure. The last 5 miles was an easy ride back to transition – only a couple of rollers and mostly downhill. I did try to eat some cashews but my mouth was so dry I couldn’t get enough saliva and I ended up spitting them out. Before long I was on the approach to bike dismount. My legs were a little wobbly but I managed to dismount without any issues. Second bike split: 1:39:16 – average of 16.92mph. Bike total: 3:21:53 – average of 16.64 mph. I had a goal time of 3:45:00, with a “maybe I can do this if I push hard” goal of 3:30:00, so the bike was a big win for me.
I slow jogged into transition for T2 and made it back around to my area. I had left a frozen bottle of water there and it was still cold – I chugged that down and some of the run mix as I was getting my shoes on. I had decided to use my flip belt and bottles for the run, figuring that the extra run nutrition would be necessary with the heat. T2: 5:03
Two legs down and one to go!! I headed out of transition onto the run course – two loops around downtown Augusta. Thirteen point one miles left. I started out too fast – adrenaline from the bike and an attempt to get my legs moving I think. It felt good to get that first mile done though. I decided to run as much as I could but to stop and walk if the heat got too much. I can’t even describe with enough justice how tough the run was. The heat was unrelenting and there was very little shade on the course. I held it together for most of the first half – and I saw fencerwife and the children at around mile 5, that was so awesome!!! I might have shed a few tears when I ran by. As I approached the second loop, I started getting the chills which I knew from experience was a sign of heat exhaustion. At that point I made the call to change to walk/run and grab multiple cups of water and ice from every aid station – yes, I was stuffing ice into my bra and down my back. I truly believe that is how I was able to keep going. The volunteers at the aid stations were Godsends. They had multiple cups ready at all times which meant I didn’t have to stop completely. I saw some familiar faces on the run as well – Stacy, Angie, Janel, Mary, and had a few other people jog along and talk to me for a few seconds here and there. The support on Broad Street was incredible – that was my favourite part of the run – but there were long desolate stretches with no shade that were very, very hard. Every muscle in my body was screaming at me to stop. When I hit mile 10, I finally believed I was going to finish and I teared up again. At mile 11, I saw fencerwife and the kids and stopped to hug them and take off my flip belt as all the bottles were empty. In what seemed like an instant I had turned the last corner and could see the finish line. I was crying again as I got closer and then I was in the chute and finishing and from somewhere within I let out a primal scream because I am a warrior and I did not let that run defeat me!! I was a little dazed after I finished and wandered into the athlete area where I found my friends and family.
Run time: 2:39:44 – 12:11 min/mile pace and about 10 minutes off my goal time.
Overall time: 6:53:41 – I beat my overall goal time by 6:19!!
I am so proud of myself and all my friends who raced and finished despite the curve balls of extra hills, a non-wetsuit legal swim and insanely high temperatures. I saw a lot of true grit yesterday! Will I be back? I would really like to tackle Augusta again with cooler temps and a wetsuit…watch this space!!
Swim Bike Run - Tri Mum 