Race Report: Chattanooga Waterfront Olympic Tri + IMChoo Preview

The Day Before: A Preview Ride of the Ironman Chattanooga Course

On the Ironman Chattanooga 140.6 Facebook page, there were a number of threads within which various members of the group were sharing a variety of options for doing a ride on the Ironman course while many of us were in town for the Chattanooga Waterfront Olympic Triathlon. One of the threads included consideration for a ride covering most of the course and a single loop of the portion that will be completed twice on the Ironman race day. So, I started an event and shared what information I could pull from the threads that were already in place and offered a central location for continued consideration of the same.

We had a great  turn out:

And, we had fun:

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all of those that participated, but especially those that I rode most of the ride with. We had time to talk and get to know one another. It was a very positive group! I did not put much formality into welcoming all who showed up and did not give any kind of a introductory announcements, but one of the other riders that had ridden the course before did. And, she did a good job. If I ever host another event on Facebook, I think I should also accept that I should complete an agenda before the ride starts along the following lines:

• Welcome all participants and if the group is small enough have each introduce themselves
• Review the course about to be ridden to include participation from those that have ridden it before
• Remind all to be safe and courteous
• Thank all, but especially any that have take extraordinary steps to support the ride (like Brad Noble, SAG wagon operator for this ride)

Several of us thought the course was similar in difficulty to the course for Ironman's Augusta 70.3. It rightly deserves the description "rolling". The climbs are relatively short and generally not that steep. I used Osmo for electrolytes (thanks, Coach John Hanna). I had no cramping, fatigue, or GI issues. Given last week's aborted ride, this is encouraging. More on Osmo when I get to the race report below.

I did have several issues during the day though. First, I couldn't load the course on to my Garmin 910XT to help with turn-by-turn directions. Garmin forced me to update the Communications plug-in, and it just wouldn't find my device. Second, and related, I got lost right off the bat at this intersection:

Worse, I was leading. One person followed, I think his name was Keith (forgive me if you see this and I'm wrong. I have nominal aphasia). Sophia Lal, a friend from Birmingham, said they yelled at me, but I was apparently oblivious.

That was not the first time I got lost. But, I don't think I can take the blame for the next one. I was leading the pack I was riding with again. I pulled over at the correct intersection and noted that I was not sure which way to go. The pack said "this way". I'm not maliciously blaming them, but they were wrong. This is the intersection and one should bear left:

To make it worse, this led us into more of Chickamauga, the community that reportedly is awash with cyclist haters. The traffic on the diversion we took was busy and they couldn't pass even though we rode single file and as far to the right as we could. I regret that we took this wrong turn and likely annoyed a few more drivers. Although, the drivers along this diversion showed no signs of annoyance. But, we did encounter one driver that was apparently having trouble with a bird (one made with his own hand). It was flying feverishly in the cab of his car and he was honking furiously. We waved nicely.

I got in 70 miles for a planned 60 mile ride, met some nice folks, and had a good time.

After the ride, I had lunch at the Blue Plate with my family while we watched the World Cup. Then, off to Rock City:

Dinner at the Easy Bistro & Bar and off to rest for the night. Yes, these are our 2 favorite and oft revisited places to eat in Chattanooga.

The Race

Up at 4:30, out the door at 5:15. I rode from the Chattanoogan, where we boarded, to transition. Let me say, this hotel is awesome. My original reservation for the Ironman Chattanooga was here. I have moved to the Courtyard Marriott that is right next to transition. The location will be better, but I like the Chattanoogan better as a hotel. Back to the race report. I simply placed the bike on the rack and set my bag down. My first goal was to get some breakfast. I had already drank 20ozs of Osmo's Preload hydration, but nothing solid yet.

Over to the Starbucks at the Courtyard Marriott. The first thing they said was "we don't open until 6:00". I was hoping to be prepping my transition area and getting on the bus around 6:00. But, I had to eat and assumed if they didn't open to 6:00 a line would form. So, I went around to the lobby entrance with the intent of just waiting. Upon arriving there, the attendant inside said, "come on in, we will take care of you." I was extremely grateful and said so. A banana, cup of coffee, and a yogurt. All good and ready.

I returned to transition, set it up unceremoniously.  I included a 12 oz bottle of Osmo Hydration to drink between the bike and run. My bike's Aquacell's 15 oz secondary chamber was loaded with Osmo too. The 35 oz chamber was just water. Since this was only an olympic distance, I didn't bother with solid fuel for during the event. I got on the bus and went off to the swim start.

I saw Sophia and a number of other Vulcan Triathletes from Birmingham and some of my new friends from the ride the day before. I relaxed, I even squeezed in a brief nap, and waited for the start. The start was smooth and Therese Bynum, the race starter, called me out by name with a nice greeting as she said "Go!". I was too flabbergasted by the moment to properly return the greeting. But, I did have the wherewithal to start the watch's recording and start swimming. I had a little trouble getting my breathing started, but I quickly got in the rhythm and just swam. It is amazing how sometimes I just sort of have to kickstart my respiratory system into breathing out in the water. The swim went well. And, Vulcan Tri caught me exiting the swim:

I really need to lose weight. To me I look a little too much like a barrel with arms and legs. But, I'm feeling good and running up the stairs strong.

I had a smooth transition and headed out on the bike. I no issues on the bike except for the time I went to take a sip of Osmo. I sucked, but nothing came up the straw. I pulled the straw up a bit and here came some liquid with what felt like sand into my mouth. The Osmo was not dissolved and was settled on the bottom. Nice! But, it all goes down the same whole. I tolerated it  and just rode on feeling good the entire ride. The second transition was also smooth and I took off on the run. I felt like I was running smooth and steady. Again, no issues. I had a good race. In fact, I improved 10 minutes over my previous best time here (ignoring last year's duathlon).

Results

All results

June 29, 2013: Chattanooga Waterfront Triathlon Olympic Time: 3:09:36
a	Swim	Distance: 1.5K, .93 miles Time: 34:21
	Transition	Time: 3:02
	Cycle	Distance: 25 Miles Time: 1:25:15 Rate: 17.7
	Transition	Time: 2:48
	Run	Distance: 6.2 Miles Time: 1:03:19 Pace: 10:10
	Weather	Mostly Cloudy Temperature: 73.81° Humidity: 90-89%

History

Year	Time	Swim	T1	Bike	T2	Run
2011	3:24:36	33:27	4:18	1:26:57	2:46	1:17:09
2012	3:19:35	32:47	4:03	1:29:36	3:40	1:09:31
2013	2:51:17	18:08*	2:48*	1:24:59	2:12	1:03:12
2014	3:09:36	34:21	3:02	1:25:15	2:48	1:03:19

Fastest component in red.
* Can't compare to previous years as the swim was cancelled and replaced with a 2 mile run.

Finished