Augusta 70.3 2018, A Race Report

I love this race. I love so much about the Ironman Augusta 70.3. It was my first 70.3.  I know a TON of people who race or spectate. It's my kind of course: down river swim, not much elevation on the bike, and a flat spectator friendly run.

I've done it twice: 2014 and 2016. Both races were remarkable in their own way.

This year, after deciding to not do Ironman Chattanooga 70.3, I thought I would do Augusta. I chatted with coach and explained that I just wanted to get through it. Not race per se. Just do. He thought it was a poor idea. He advocated (hard) for me to step away from training for the sport and to try something new. I'm so glad I listened to him one more time before we parted ways as Coach-Athlete. He's was so right I would have been utterly miserable today.

Instead....B and I went down to Augusta (because why not? We still have 13 more days until our wedding...) and supported friends and strangers and hung out with my favorite sister-wife.

I hemmed and hawed about going. It's a decent drive. We really do have things we could/should be doing. But the energy and feels from hanging out with friends and being around a race like this is almost indescribable.

Saturday night we met up with friends for dinner and decided to swing by St. Paul's pasta dinner just to see who was there. And to no one's surprise, I got to see more than a handful of familiar faces and answer a few questions like, "What rock have you been hiding under?" "Are you racing?" Ummm... no. I ran 3 miles for the first time in months last week. I don't think a 70.3 is in my immediate future.

Unfortunately, I think I missed pictures with Susan and Amy, but it was great to see everyone!

Back to hang out with our hosts for the weekend and we laughed and told stories for a few hours before finally going to bed.

We got up nice and early Sunday morning to be around transition and swim start. The nerves, the energy, the enthusiasm. It's race day! We were able to help a bit with newbie questions as well as get morning clothes bags dropped off.

After the pros took off we went and watched a lot of friends head out on the bike and then honestly had some chuckles watching the bike mount line.

For those who don't know, you can not get on your bike until the "mount line". It's a safety thing. I have always gone past the line, TO THE SIDE and then got on my bike. For some reason today, a bunch of people ran right to the line and STOPPED in the middle! This caused a lot of confusion, bumping, and awkwardness. A lot of shoes were left on the bike, but these folks seemed to have difficulty getting their bikes moving to then get their feet in...lots of wobbling. I've never done it this way because, well, I don't have the skill set. I'm sure it was high stress for the participants, but from the sideline it was chuckle worthy.

From there we walked most of Augusta looking for a place to get food. Surely there are food trucks in Augusta that would be willing to operate on a Sunday morning. I'm sure they'd do very well!

B and I spent a few hours on the course around mile 3 (on the first loop) spotting our friends, ringing cowbells, shouting into a megaphone, and generally just out there making noise for each athlete that passed by. Some athletes looked strong and some looked like they were having a tough go of it. (Biking too hard, being off on nutrition, reacting to the heat, or just not prepared enough for what the day was giving them). It's always funny how long it takes some one to realize you know their name because it's printed on their race bib or on their kits.

It wasn't a complete waste of time as far as the wedding is concerned. On the way home we worked on a list of All.The.Things we still need to do. Spending the weekend with my tri family refreshed my sense of being. And, well, I ordered a new pair of running shoes. Fall has to come around eventually, right?