[Itc] Rhode Island half report

[Kira Diane Novakofski]

Since Nick asked...

Race report!
Amica Ironman 70.3, July 12, Rhode Island
Qualifier for both Ironman 70.3 World Championships and Ironman World
Championships in Kona! ie, some fast people!!

The Ithaca contingent consisted of Andy, Karen, Antonio, and yours truly.
Everyone did great! The race was pretty cool! I had a lot of fun. It was
an interesting weekend for logistics (point to point bike, so figuring out
the start/finish and T1/T2 took some coordinating), everything else was
great. The aid stations were fantastic, the crowd support was awesome, and
the weather was nice.

The swim:
Waves!! They delayed the start 25min and then made the swim optional!
(They made a separate duathlon division for those who opted-out of the
swim.)
The swim did not go so great. I was aiming for 33-34min but putzed around
the first 10min -- my goggles were leaking (lost a contact lens! this made
the rest of the race more fun!), I treaded water for a long time trying to
fix them, lost the pack, swam by myself the whole time, had a hard time
sighting with the waves so I zig zagged on the way out and went waaaay
wide on the way back (had to be redirected by a kayaker), and overall low
effort (my HR for T1 was higher than for my swim!).
37:04

The bike:
We didn't preview the course but expected it to be flat because it was in
Rhode Island -- only to discover there were actually hills! I drank a ton
(4.5 bottles!), a lot of electrolytes, about 750 calories of gels and
Powerbars. The last 6mi going through Providence was kind of sketchy
(sharp corners with sand at the bottom of hills and plenty of potholes;
others commented that we were in a crit at that point, too bad I don't do
criteriums!), so I slowed down a bit that last chunk. But I was still
happy with my ride.
2:48:10

The run:
I felt great! We got to run "Angel Hill" twice at the beginning of each
loop, a pretty good hill. My goal was to not walk it, which I didn't, but
can't say I would describe what I did as running! And I couldn't help but
wonder why hills are named Angel or Mt Pleasant because these are far from
the words I would use to describe them! I saw Karen twice on the run,
flying along.
2:00:34

Overall: 5:32:05
I missed my goal time by 2min (well, 2:06), but I know where I can make
improvements for next time (the swim and transitions!).   :)   And now for
IMLP in just over a week!!!!

   -Kira