half ironman – an amazing run

IRONMAN 70.3 ROCKFORD TRAINING – WEEK 4 WRAP-UP – MARCH 30, 2025

I was a little concerned about the weather for the weekend, so I thought I might have to shuffle things around again to make sure that I got the important weekend workouts done and not skip them. Sunday looked to be the worst of the weather, so I moved that long run to Friday and did two hours of easy run/walk through 10 miles. Friday was a good day to do it; a little windy, but otherwise, very comfortable.

That left Saturday for the bike as usual. My plan indicated that I was supposed to do two hours and fifteen minutes of riding. A day or two earlier, Jim, a local friend who admins our local bike “club,” posted on Facebook that he was planning a 3-hour gravel ride on Saturday. Three hours was a little more than the 2:15 ride I was supposed to do, but I figured it wouldn’t kill me. I replied that I’d be there and crossed my fingers for good weather.

I normally would have ridden to the normal meet-up location, but since the ride was going to be three hours, I didn’t want the extra 40 minutes of riding. I loaded my stuff into my truck and drove to meet Jim. As I backed out of the driveway, I could see sprinkles of rain on the windshield. It was raining consistently when I met up with Jim and another rider, Dave. I invited Jim into my truck, as he had ridden the half-mile to the school from his house, and we checked the radar. The rain let up enough to begin the ride, but since Jim’s house was on the way, we stopped for him to get some extra riding gear to handle the weather. I was starting to think that this ride was going to be a character builder – one that you don’t want to do, but if forced to do it, you would get it done.

As we began again, the rain had stopped, but what was on the road was spraying our legs, feet, and butts. But it wouldn’t be long before we would dry out from riding and enjoying a nice gravel ride through the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie. We had no overall plan other than to get to Midewin and then wander through the park, exploring different abandoned roads and trails that none of us had explored before. Jim had realized that his front tire was going flat, and I just so happened to have brought along my new electronic pocket pump, which filled his tire quickly, and thanks to his tubeless tire setup, I think the tire probably had enough sealant in it to stop the leak.

Upon riding through Midewin for a while, we arrived at a newly re-opened trail that had been closed for the past couple of seasons. Jim suggested that we ride over Route 53 and then loop back. I looked at my watch, and it showed 1 hour and 50 minutes of riding. The Gilligan’s Island theme song popped into my head – “A three hour tour, a three hour tour.” If we kept riding further out, this was going to turn into a much longer than a three-hour ride. It was a good thing that I had a stash of extra gels in my bike top tube bag.

Of course, the first bridge we got to said “CLOSED DANGER” or something like that. We crossed it anyway. Building character. The next little bridge we came to was also apparently closed, as it had mounds of crushed limestone piled in front of it. The ground next to it looked wet but possibly passable, so we dismounted and walked through the wet stuff, just barely sensing some water seeping into our shoes. More character building. We rode a little further and came to another bridge that was impassable due to a creek, and we just weren’t ready for that type of character building, so we decided to turn back. Upon getting to the swampy bridge that we had previously just passed, I said screw it and rode my bike through it. It might not have been the most sound idea I have had, but I must have picked the correct gearing to get through it without sinking. We gathered again, and up ahead of us was a single rider stopped, looking at the ground. She was looking at a snake she had narrowly missed and then said hello. After a brief introduction, Kristen said that she was from South Carolina and had recently relocated to the Chicago area and was exploring the preserve. She was headed for the direction we had just turned back from, and she decided to join us as we found an alternate route. Kristen wasn’t any new rider; she shot ahead with us three older guys trying to keep up. She wanted to see the bison, so we headed that way, and we weren’t disappointed. The bison were out grazing in the prairie, and Kristen found them to be worth the trip to the area.

Kristen decided to visit the park’s visitor center, and we parted ways, deciding to head back to our cars. We got a little turned around, riding a little bit out or our way again (more character building), then finally into the town of Manhattan. We decided to pick up some fuel, but the little eatery that Jim wanted to stop at was now closed. A trip a little bit down the road found us parking our bikes in front of a Dunkin’ Donuts and heading in for a brief refueling. Then it started to sprinkle.

The sprinkling led to consistent rain, and it wasn’t looking good. We opted to ride a busier road as it was a more direct route, but other than the driving rain, we had no further issues.

I had mentioned this character-building ride several times to Jim as we kept making dumb decisions, and each time he said he didn’t need any character building, as he was already a “character.” Aren’t we all?

But the ride did provide a couple of insights for me. If I need to ride in weather conditions that I would normally avoid, I can do it. And, after logging nearly 56 miles, I don’t have to worry about covering that distance in my upcoming race. Twelve more weeks of character-building to go.

Week 4 Totals: Swims 0 – Bikes 3 rides/84.5 miles – Runs 4/23 miles

Note from me: I originally posted this on a blog site called iamtri.com. Unfortunately, that website is no longer valid, but through some magic performed by my computer knowledgeable college son, he was able to recover my posts. I am sharing them here so that I may preserve my memories from my first Ironman 70.3. Chris

2014 Ironman Muncie 70.3 Race Report

July 12, 2014

My First IM 70.3!

For my third triathlon of 2014 and designated “A” race this year, I decided to pick a 70.3 distance, and since I live near Chicago I had three really popular choices to choose from: Racine, Steelhead and Muncie. After hearing about a horrible swim in Racine in 2013, and seeing Steelhead is in the same Lake Michigan body of water, I opted for a reservoir/lake located in the middle of Indiana – Muncie! The only negatives that people had about this location was that the run course was hilly, and that it was hot. Aren’t they all? Signed up in February and goaded my buddies to join me.

Location

The race is held just south of Muncie in the Prairie Creek Reservoir. It is very rural and peaceful. The lake is pretty large, with a great swim area and a new facilities building for washrooms and showers. After hesitating on booking a hotel in Muncie, we opted to stay at the Hampton Inn in Anderson, which was a popular choice with many of the other racers. It was about a half hour away from the race site, but the town had plenty of dining and other options.

I watched this helicopter fly in and land on Thursday night. I wish I knew there was helicopter parking, I would have flown in myself! (Just kidding – triathletes can’t afford a helicopter.)

Friday/Race Day Eve

I got to Anderson late on Thursday and checked in. My friends and I met up on Friday morning and started planning our day. We opted for a short 20 minute run to settle our nerves and knock the cobwebs off of a rest day on Thursday.

We hopped into our cars and headed to the race expo. We decided to take advantage of the optional bike racking on Friday to avoid one less issue on Saturday/Race day morning. After picking up our packets, we stuck the stickers on our bikes and wheeled them into the transition area.

The KX5 all racked and ready to go.

After checking out the expo, buying the expensive Ironman event merchandise and grabbing something to eat, we sat and listened to the race talk. There were hints that the water temperature may be just cool enough for an unusual for Muncie, wetsuit legal swim.

Race Morning

Wetsuit legal! Just barely, but many of us were relieved. The wetsuit for me has become a security blanket of sorts, although I have done races without one. Anytime I spend time looking at a big body of water, I get nervous. Wetsuits take that anxiety away for me.

We got up at 4am and hit the road at about 5am. I slept well, thanks to taking 1/2 of an Ambien that my physician buddy gave me. But I did wake up twice due to stomach issues. Spent a lot of time in the port-a-potty line, and was able to get things taken care of.

I set up my transition, pumped up my tires to 120 psi, and took some time to visualize the trip from the Swim Out to Bike Out.

It has taken me some time, but I’m starting to see the benefit of not bringing all my junk to transition.

The race started at 7am, but my wave didn’t start until 7:55, so I had plenty of time to watch others and my other racing buddies start the race.

Bride and bridesmaid. I had my buddy Dave help me zip up an obviously too tight for me wetsuit.

Can you tell which triathlete needs prescription goggles to see? That would be me. Dave and I picking our swim line.

1.2 MILE SWIM

The water was a perfect temperature. Usually I don’t do well in cold water, but this water was perfect. I chose to swim the inside of the buoys until the turns and had no issues at all with other swimmers. Zig-zagging was minimal. I did start to get a calf cramp in my legs about 2/3’s of the way into the swim. I just slowed down, kicked a little less and was fine. I started to notice that I was catching the white and pink capped swimmers that had started in waves 5 and 10 minutes ahead of me, respectively. That was a positive sign for me that I was having a good swim. Toward the last four or five buoys to go, I decided to pick up the pace. I could see some athletes were standing, but I swam until my fingers hit bottom.

Out of the water declaring “Piece of Cake!” It really was the most uneventful swim.

After getting out of the water I sat down and the volunteer wetsuit strippers (or peelers, as they prefer) yanked off my suit and it was a slogfest up to T1. It was uphill on a rocky path, which was covered with thin carpet. But everyone seemed to be walking. I was like, “Hey, get out of the way! This IS a race, right?”

SWIM TIME: 42:17

After getting by the field of swim zombies heading to T1, I got to my bike and quickly dried my feet and head off and changed into the cycling gear. Heading to the exit, I spied the toilets and went in. I had to go while I was in the water, but just couldn’t do it while I was swimming.

T1 TIME: 5:48

56 MILE BIKE

Everything I heard about the bike course at Muncie was that it was flat and fast. Nope. I will give you fast, but it wasn’t flat. I guess that I’m just too used to the flat rails-to-trails trail that I constantly ride at home. That is flat. The portion of the course that leads to and from the looped highway is 16 miles of hills, turns and potholes. The race announcer said at the course talk that when prepping the bike course, they normally go through about 3 bags of cold patch asphalt. This course required more than 30! Admittedly, it was a little rough, but easily rideable.

My heart rate monitor started chirping at me right away. I was trying to stay in Z3, but was well into Z4 for the first 45 minutes or so. Finally got it settled down and locked in. The two loops were done on a closed highway, which was new for the course. Two twenty mile loops. The two aid stations rocked, helping me reload my bottles while I used the bathroom again. Peeing was a good sign for me, as I was sweating quite a lot. Since I was in a later start wave, I had a lot of fast riders zipping by me on my first loop as they finished their second loops. It was a lot less crowded on my second loop.

Heading out of T1 for 56 miles of “flat” riding. Yeah, right. My son and daughter are behind me in the green and pink shirts.

Around 40 miles I had an issue. A little before I had taken a drink of Gatorade and got back into an aero position and had a little acid reflux. Nothing too bad, but gave me some discomfort. But the real issue I had was I tried to eat a GU and I swallowed it a little rough, causing some coughing and throat irritation. I dealt with that for at least ten miles. I couldn’t get my throat cleared, and it was to the point I was gagging. Finally got over it, but it was not fun.

The last of the second loop on Highway 35.

The sun had finally made an appearance on an otherwise cloudy day. I knew with the run coming up, having the sun out would not be good. Fortunately, the skies cloudy over again.

My kids watching the action on the bike course. Well, Ashley was watching with her eyes closed.

Coming in to T2 I had that feeling that 56 miles was hard. Even though I had done a full Ironman less than a year before, I couldn’t fathom having to do another 56! Glad I was coming in for the run.

BIKE TIME: 3:01:31

The second transition was quick. I grabbed the water bottle that I had in transition for rinsing my feet off, and used it on my head. A good sweat rinse felt great. I downed another GU, put on the visor, bib belt, and running shoes and I was off to get some sunscreen and run a half marathon.

T2 TIME: 3:16

13.1 MILE RUN

I was concerned I had pushed too hard on the bike and would suffer a little on the run, but in reality I felt great. I got to the first aid station in 7:45 according to my watch. I told my self to back it off. I hit the first of several really great aid stations and hit the water, ice, cola, and pretzels to get me going down the road. The aid stations are about a mile apart, and were well stocked and manned. The volunteers were once again, pretty awesome.

At every aid station I would take ice and shove it into my trisuit to get my temperature down. Seemed to work pretty good. Take some ice water, drink the water and then shove the ice in my clothes. I took a banana a couple of times, but mainly stuck with my eating a GU every half hour, plenty of fluids, and a salt capsule every hour or so.

Around the 5.5 mile area, I spotted my buddy Dave ahead and started to catch up. Just before seeing him go by, his brother John was passing by heading back to the finish. Big boost to seeing him. John started in the wave before us with a 5 minute head start. I knew I had work to do to try to catch him, so I gently started picking up the pace. I passed Dave right around the turn around, and started in on the hills back to the finish.

The hills were brutal. A lot of athletes were walking up them. I just kept my turnover going and powered through. At mile 9, I decided to start pushing. I passed a lot of people those last 4 miles. In all, I can only remember getting passed by one guy on the course, who was younger than me, and he had a good pace going. The only other runner that passed me was a younger girl who outkicked me in the chute after I had already passed her a 1/2 mile earlier.

I had driven to the event site several times on that run course, so I knew I was getting close. The few sprinkles that had started were more of a relief than a bother. I was already soaked. My feet squished when I took a step. I got to the final climb and really pushed through that last hill, feeling relieved to see the tents and finishing chute. I could see my family and hit my watch to see that I had easily broken 6 hours in my first 70.3 attempt.

RUN TIME: 1:53:18

FINISH TIME: 5:46:10 (PR)

RECOVERY AND POST RACE

I knew I was spent and just wanted to walk a little. I met up with my family and sat down in a chair. After a few minutes I decided to head to the medical tent to see if I could get some Perform to drink, and after talking with the staff, I decided to enter and sit down. They got me a wet towel and I put it around my neck, and started drinking the cold Perform. Thank goodness it was Lemon-Lime flavor. Before I knew it they had a blood pressure cuff on me and advised me that I was 100/70. A little low, but not dead. I told them that I had hydrated well, and had taken a salt capsule every hour. The doctor offered an IV, but I turned it down as I was starting to come around.

Once out of the medical tent, I met my buddies who now had all finished. We swapped stories and race recaps and ate a little from the athlete food tent. After laying around for a while, we claimed our bikes from transition and headed back to the hotel in Anderson.

THANKS

Thanks go once again to my great family, who spent their weekend watching me do my thing. It is truly a blessing to have such support. The photos my wife and kids took were awesome.

Thanks also to Carla for setting up our hotel for the weekend and being such a great planner and photographer.

And finally, I know I wouldn’t have as much fun doing these tri’s without my lifelong friends, Dave and John, and also Dave’s son Alex. I love the fun we have, and certainly the friendly competition. Alex, being only 19 and on the U of Iowa Tri-Hawks team, will always come in first. But with the finish order this year – John, me and Dave – we now have each had a race in which we have won. That is pretty cool.

Another awesome triathlon experience, shared with my best buddies and family. I am blessed.

Tag: half ironman

Character Building

2014 Ironman Muncie 70.3 Race Report