The 2022 Ironman 70.3 Augusta was a long time coming! Speaking of long, this might be my longest blog post to date! So, buckle up. Or should I say clip in?

How I Wound Up in Augusta

After the 2020 Ohio 70.3 was cancelled, I was deferred to the 2021 Ohio 70.3. Then I deferred the 2021 Ohio 70.3. That was so long ago, I don’t remember my exact reasoning for deferring. Like a lot of things, I think all of 2020 just put a damper on my motivation to train.

I still went to the 2021 OH race and cheered on my friends. I was so happy to be on the sideline cheering and not out on the course racing. After failing miserably at the swim at the Louisville Triathlon, I knew I couldn’t do a 1.2-mile swim. Then, they announced that in 2022 they were moving it from Delaware, OH to Sandusky, OH.

Because of the location change they gave the option for a few other races, including Augusta. I jumped at the opportunity (I had zero excitement about going to Sandusky), plus I needed a half in Georgia. I don’t recall how that coincided with our move either, but I’m sure that was a factor in my decision.

Luckily, the organizers over at Augusta were way more accommodating and helpful than the OH organizers. It was easy to change over to a relay team. It did cost extra, but I didn’t care!

2022 Ironman 70.3 Augusta Review

Ironman August Relay Finisher

The 2022 Ironman 70.3 Augusta was on Sunday, September 25th. For relays the race cut-off is 8 and 1/2 hours after the final wave starts. I figured that gave me just under 8 hours to finish the bike and run. We stayed at an airbnb close to downtown and I ate a massive piece of lasagna the night before.

Swim

When I changed to the relay, my friend Adrienne jumped at the chance to do the swim for me, as long as her boyfriend didn’t get into the Berlin Marathon. Well, he got in. So instead, her dad, Mark, joined my team for the swim. This was actually an upgrade as he is a speedy swimmer! He was aiming for 35 minutes.

Savannah River 6th street bridge

Waiting at the transition, I chatted with a few other of the relay teams. Two teams next to me were a group of friends who signed up together – how fun! They were all moms and talking about their kids- one even pumped while waiting in the transition! We all got to cheer on the pros as they exited the water and got on their bikes.

team will race for wine

I didn’t have my phone, but one of the other relay people did and looked up my team. So I knew as soon as Mark entered the water. It’s said to be a fast swim, but the current wasn’t especially strong. Even so, he crushed his swim, finishing in 31:29 minutes! I was so excited to see him come around the corner.

We quickly got the timing band on my leg and I was off. The relay bike rack was right by the swim in/run out, so I had a long way to run/walk with my bike. In bike shoes. I was so excited to get started though! Our T1 time was 3:37.

Bike

My goal for the bike was to do it in under 4 hours (~14 mph). The cut-off for the bike is 5.5 hours after the final wave starts. The course was rolling hills with a few large climbs. There were also stretches of flatness.

I was one of there first people to check-in my bike on Saturday. By the time I got into transition on Sunday morning, these racks were filled with thousands of bikes. If you squint you can see the black tent at the far left of the photo above, which is where the bike out was.

I finished the bike in 3:34 with an average pace of 15.6mph. I was thrilled with this, but my feet were not. The outside of both feet felt bruised because I was pushing so hard. I was going 30+mph downhill (and getting passed) and 7-9mph on the climbs. I loved every minute of it. I felt strong and in control.

Per my friend Adrienne’s suggestion, I bought this bike bag a few weeks prior to hold my nutrition. I drank 1 1/2 bottles of water and 1/2 bottle of gatorade. I ate 2 1/2 chocolate GUs, a few gummies and took salt at least twice. I kept the salt in my back pocket since I knew I wanted that on the run as well.

As much fun as the bike was, my feet were killing me and I was excited to get my running shoes on. The problem was, the pain didn’t go away. My T2 time was 6:55, this included a potty break too. I knew I had plenty of time to finish and I was happy to know I was hydrated.

Run

My goal for the run was to do it in under 3 hours, which was a little aggressive considering my last half was 2:30:59 in Eau Claire, and that wasn’t after biking 56 miles.

My *unofficial* run time was 3:21, way over my target of under 3 hours, which was a bummer. But our total time was 7:37:57, so well under the DNF timeline. My feet hurt for the first 2 or so miles. I tried to run on the inside of my feet (you can imagine what my gait looked like?)

I tried to do a 5:1 (5 minutes running, 1 minute walking). That turned into a 4:1, turned into a 3:1, turned into a 3:2, turned into run in the sun, walk in the shade and make friends. A lot of people commented on my Minnesota top and I even talked to guy whose wife is from Edina, MN.

It sounds miserable, but I was actually having fun. Talking to people, getting energy from the crowd. Because it goes along the same road, I was able to see Nolan several times. He even lied and said the Vikings were winning, which gave me a little boost.

I say *unofficial* because we got stopped by a train for maybe 5 minutes. This was around mile 5 I believe. Some people were very upset, rightfully so. I left my watch going as a race official recorded all of our bib numbers. I’m not sure if they’ll adjust them somehow or what. The train even stopped for a moment and people were jumping through between the cars. Not smart!

At almost every aid station I put ice down the front and back of my top and refilled my water bottle. They also had cold towels that I put around my neck. I think that saved me from overheating. I drank a tiny bit of gatorade (avoided the Coke and Red Bull), took salt three times and ate a few more gummies. Only once did I think I couldn’t finish and had to snap myself out of it.

The finish line was the best! I targeted two tall guys on the final stretch and finished before them. I cleverly named them black shorts guy and gray shorts guy. Even though I was a turtle, I was still a competitive turtle.

Above you can see gray shorts guy and black shorts guy are both behind me. 😉 They called out our team name, Will Race for Wine, which was fun to hear. And then I was all smiles. 🙂 🙂 🙂

Overall, I’m very happy with my performance! It was a hard race, but I can’t say that I wouldn’t do it again. Nolan provided excellent support throughout the entire training and race weekend. He drove all around, ate when and what I wanted to eat, took photos, yelled encouraging things at me and walked the 1/2 mile to retrieve my bike after the race. (Chaffing is real.)

Food + Swag

August 70.3 food

Now to the good stuff. 🙂 I’ve never had an orange taste so good. I ate two while in line for the rest of the food. They had pizza, chips, bananas, oranges, coke, water and beer. I devoured the pizza, as you can see. They also had free massages and tons of volunteers helping with whatever we needed.

ironman swag

The included swag was a waterproof bag, medal, t-shirt and a black finisher hat. I purchased an additional hat and water bottle. (I love my water bottle from the Vegas Half and I think they are the same style.)

Full or Half Marathon in Every State

Georgia was state #16. Only 34 left. I have one more next month in Florida and one in South Carolina in January, but I need to get to planning more for 2023!

2 thoughts on “2022 Ironman 70.3 Augusta Relay”

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