The race is held at Jean Klock Park in Benton Harbor, which is a perfect venue for it. The park is right on Lake Michigan and has a nice loooooong parking lot that easily fits an athlete village (expo) and transitions area. Below is an aerial shot of the park.
The transition area is very narrow compared to other triathlons I’ve participated in. My rack was right near the entrance of T1 so I had a long run (with my bike) to exit T1. It was very congested with people either sitting down taking off wetsuits or just blocking the path. I don’t remember it being this narrow last year. Another thing I really like about the Ironman branded event is transition area security. ONLY athletes allowed in transition. No families, no spouses, no dogs, etc. One would think this is common sense, but no other triathlon in West Michigan has this type of security. The Grand Rapids Triathlon comes close, but just not enough volunteers to prevent families from entering. Family members ignore the announcements and the signs that say no family, so not much the RD can do about that.
As always, the walk to swim start is long (about 35 minutes). Not a bad walk, just make sure to bring nutrition because you could be standing around for an hour. There is a clothing bag for athletes that don’t want to put on their wetsuit during the walk. The athlete can pick up their clothes after the race. I just gave mine to Heather and she carried back to her beach chairs.
Now let’s get to the race:
Swim: 1.2 Miles
Time: 41:37 Category Rank: 55th (2012 Time: 39:41 Category Rank: 69)
Swim times this year were slower due to choppy conditions. Last year the lake was like glass, however this year, the waves were 2-3 feet and we swam against the current. I’ve done a lot of swimming in Lake Michigan so the choppy conditions were not really a factor to me. It did take me 2 minutes longer to swim, however my swim rank dropped quite a bit. During the swim I did catch up to the previous waves before me. This created some traffic, but nothing major. Other than that, the swim was uneventful. I do need to work on picking up the pace in the last few hundred yards. If I can reduce my swim by 90 seconds, that will put me in the top 20.
T1: Swim to Bike
Time: 3:58 (2012 Time: 4:39)
T1 was rather uneventful, although I had a hell of a time getting my wetsuit off over my wrist. Usually that’s the easiest part, but for some reason, I had to really yank on that thing to get it off. I was also messing around with my Garmin during the run to T1 (locking and unlocking the keys). I had my shoes clipped into my bike (confirmed this was okay with RD) so I did a modified flying leap with no problems (make sure clear bottles on back of bike). The WTC rules state that only pro’s can have shoes clipped into their bike, however implementation of that rule is up to each RD. I confirmed this was okay during the athlete meeting the day before.
Bike: 56 Miles
Time: 2:37:23 at 21.35 MPH/Avg Rank: 36th (2012 Time: 2:44:11 at 20.46 MPH/Avg Rank: 60th)
The bike course seemed smoother this year than last year. The RD did mention that some of the roads were paved, however there were some portions that were really rough. The city tried to get those roads paved before the race, however they didn’t have time. The RD mentioned that the paving started the Monday after the race. Thus 2014 should be a very smooth bike course.
Bike safety and traffic control seemed good. I did have to pass one car on the bike course, which I felt bad about doing. I did hear about one bike who was almost hit by a car because the driver ignored the police officers directions and drove the intersection. I’m sure that driver was presented with a nice ticket and I’m also sure the driver blames the cyclists or the police because it’s never the drivers fault. There were two aid stations on the bike, however I carry my own nutrition so I didn’t need them.My bike split was rather uneventful other than there being a lot of bike traffic. Despite the numerous warnings and threat of penalties, many bikers still clogged up the left lane. I’m guessing these are the same car drivers that drive in the left lane despite driving slower than everybody else. I did see the course marshal a number of times as well as a few cyclists at the penalty tents, so hopefully they learned their lesson.
I did have one biker almost take me out. The guy was on a Cervelo and as I approached, I noticed he was changing his water bottles. This was causing him to zig-zag all over the road (much like a texting driver). I watched him carefully and he started to stay to the far right, so I started my pass on the left. Out of no where, he veered to the left almost ramming me. I stopped him with my hand on his shoulder and pushed him away. I believe I pushed him hard enough to go all the way across the lane and into dirt on the shoulder (thankfully he didn’t fall). I also gave him some choice words. If you can’t change a water bottle while holding a line, then stop your bike and change it. Way too dangerous to ride like that. The course marshal was right behind me and they did slow next to the biker. The marshal pulled up to me and told me that she talked to him but no mention of a penalty.
I should mention that this was my first triathlon using an aero helmet. These helmets look very funny, however they are very effective. I used a Rudy Wingspan which doesn’t have a very big ‘tail’ on it, thus doesn’t look as funny as the others. These helmets are slightly heavier than my road helmet so my neck did get a little sore. Once I get some miles with it on, my neck will get use to it.
T2: Bike to Run
Time: 3:49 (2012 Time: 4:41)
No issues in T2 other than congested lanes. My rack was right by ‘Bike In’ so I didn’t have far to go.
Run: 13.1 Miles
Time: 2:39:34 Pace: 12:10 Rank: 123 (2012 Time: 2:20:55 Pace: 10:45 Rank: 89)
I felt good leaving T2, however by the time I hit mile 1, the wheels had fallen off. First came the leg cramps and then around mile 4 came the nausea. I wanted to take nutrition to deal with the cramps, but every time I tried, I almost puked. I was reduced to running 200 yards, then walking. Repeat this for 13.1 miles. It was awful. My goal pace was 9 minutes. Then that changed to matching 2012 time. Then it changed to just finishing. Then it changed to just surviving. I’ve never felt so bad during a race. I was actually sick for most of Sunday. I could barely eat anything the rest of the day without feeling like I was going to puke.In hindsight, the problem seems to stem from my nutritional intake. I’m not going to go into details here since I need to analyze it further, but upon first glance, I consumed way too much sodium. This forced my body to take water from my muscles to absorb this sodium. This left my muscles dehydrated, which of course leads to cramps. My nutritional plan was based on training, well my training is usually done mid-day in hot weather. The race was morning and the temps were 15 degrees cooler. I never changed my nutritional requirements, thus I didn’t need the sodium. Stupid mistake on my part that just ruined my race.
So this race I learned a very valuable lesson about nutrition. Other than that mishap, the day was a lot of fun. My dad and Heather came out once again and spent the day at the beach while I was out torturing myself. The weather was perfect the race was organized to perfection as always. I wasn’t planning on doing this race again next year, however given my crappy performance, I will be back. I can’t let it end like that. No way.
Flickr Photo Set Is Here
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