Ironman St. George 70.3 Race Report

I owe myself a quick race report on Ironman St. George 70.3. It is important to capture the days events so I can learn from my mistakes or repeat what went well.

Wake up: Woke up at 0400 to get everything out of the hotel room and into the car. Woke up the wife and kids and headed down to the lobby for breakfast that consisted of bananas and bagels. Threw in a cup of coffee to get the body going.

At the City Center: Wife and kids dropped me off at the Ironman Village at the city center; I wish it was a little better marked for the crew, but after meeting up with other confused athletes we eventually made it to the right place. I dropped off my running gear and headed to the bus.


Bus Ride: Get there early and don't sit near the wheel well; I didn't think they were going to pack us in like sardines with the amount of buses there, but that is what they did. Not a comfortable ride there but made it non the less.


Transition Set up: First race I've been to where they wouldn't allow you to "set up" your transition area. Everything had to stay in the bag, your helmet, your shoes...everything. The only ones that could set up their transition area was the Pros...

So if you race here there really isn't a reason to get to transition early unless you want to view the sun rise over the mountains, which is beautiful, or freeze your but off while waiting for your swim to start.

Swim: I love half ironman swim starts because they are usually in waves. I had a great swim and the best sighting I've ever experienced. Probably my best open water swim ever.


Transition: Could have been faster, but didn't expect much since nothing was set up the way I like it. Had to rip everything out of the bag, and the put all my swim crap in the bag before I could take off.


Bike: The course was well marked with excellent support. To say the course was tough would be an understatement. I am sure that even the best prepared struggled at some point on that course. My "come to Jesus" moment was up a 5 mile hill that never seemed to end. That hill was the first time I've see participants get off their bike and start walking. As I slowly pedaled past them I was think that "hey, that's not a bad idea" but fought back the urge to join them and kept powering up the hill. I think it took me 30 minutes to get up that beast and 8 minutes to get back down. All in all the course was beautiful, allowed me to take in the sights during the tough times to try and take my mind off the burning in my legs.


Transition: Not bad, a little long due to a bathroom break stop.


Run: The run, for me, was terrible. It was too hot for a guy that had to train in 20 - 50 degree weather. My body was not ready for the heat, nor was I ready for the massive hills that seem to never stop. At one point on the run I had to sit down at one of the stations and just pour ice down my shirt and drink water. I wanted to make sure I finished and that 5 minute break was critical to ensure that happened. I toughed it out the rest of the way and crossed the finish line. Always a great moment knowing that you completed something 99% of people you know couldn't...or wouldn't try.



Finish: Once you finished there was no directions on where the food tent was...so just like the start of my day I ended up



Over all thoughts: Great race, with excellent vollunteers. I wish they would mark the morning drop off and after race food better but other than that it was a great experince.

Colorado Spring?

I love Colorado spring! We are sitting on 1-70 in the snow waiting for it to open back up. My bike is frozen on top of the car (picture will be posted later) and I am getting a steady diet of Disney and Elmo movies.

Road trip to St. George 70.3

Today starts the family road trip to St. George 70.3...10 hours of family fun in a Toyota RAV4. This will be the first road trip with both kids. I'll have to entertain a 19 month old and a three year old while battling the famous Colorado wind.

Last night the wife and I asked my oldest daughter what movies she wanted for the trip because Daddy had installed a TV in the car. She paused for a minute, turned around and pointed at our 55" TV and emphatically stated that it was impossible for me to fit that in the car...almost challenging me to do so. After showing her the new screens in the car she was satisfied with the new arrangement even though the screens are smaller than the "real" TV.

It looks like I'll be listening to Disney movies for the 20 hour round trip...fun for me!

St. George 70.3

Ironman St. George 70.3 is coming up in about 10 days; while I haven't trained to the level that I had wanted to the goal remains the same, to finish. Between traveling to Africa and Europe...and the two kids time is at a premium. Not to mention the weather in Colorado Springs has been schizophrenic at best. I plan on taking some pictures to document the trip with the family to Utah, the race, and the trek back to Colorado. Should be a fun time and will be the first big road trip that we have been on since moving out to Colorado...and a good drill for the upcoming move to Kansas.

Remembered I had a Blog...

I pulled up my account the other day and realized that I had started a blog in 2010 about my journey to Ironman Arizona. I'm re-starting this blog to document my further journey into the sport. While I did not sign up for Ironman Arizona I did just complete Ironman Coeur d'Alene last week. I'll post the race report for that in the next couple days; but if you are looking to complete an Ironman sign up for Ironman CDA. It was an amazing experience with amazing volunteers and the full support of the community.

Why an Ironman?

While watching the Ironman World Championships last week I got a wild hair up, well you know. My experience in triathlon is limited at best; I have completed two sprint distance and two half Ironman races in my short career, my times are nothing to brag about, but I love to see what my body can handle. I have not seriously trained for any of the races, which is not a big deal for the sprint distance, but the half Ironman's were a struggle to finish.

So back to the story; after watching the Ironman World Championships I told my wife that I wanted to do a Full Ironman before I turned 40. While I have quite a few years before hitting that mark I figure I might as well get it out of the way now, when I am young and have the time to train.This led me on a hunt for a "flat" Ironman course to race next year. After researching and reading many posts from people who have raced I settled on Ironman Arizona 2011.

This idea of this blog is to hold me accountable to train and ultimately finish my first Ironman. It all starts the day after IMAZ 2010 when they open up the registration for the 2011 race. That gives me a year to get into Ironman shape and prepare myself for the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 mile run.