Ironman Chattanooga 70.3

RACE REPORT by Jim Peplow

Being retired has afforded us the opportunity to turn my races into "Racecations". Since moving to Texas two years ago every race outside of the state of Texas has turned into an extended vacation. This one was no exception as we travelled through eight states over two weeks with the majority of the time (11 nights) being spent in Tennessee.

This race road trip started out a bit different than most of them as I had Sprint Tri scheduled in The Woodlands the weekend before my main race in Chattanooga. It would be a good chance test out my new Quintana Roo PRsix2 Tri Bike in a race before hitting the IM. This race had the same swim start as the Texas Ironman which I had done the previous two years. It's not my favorite place to swim as the water in Lake Woodland can be pretty nasty. Apparently it was extra bad this weekend as water quality tests revealed higher than allowable bacteria levels, suddenly turning the race into a run-bike-run duathlon. T1 was really quick as a transition from run to bike is obviously much faster than from swim to bike. The new QR Bike worked great with a average speed of 22.2 mph. I finished with a good run and ended up 2nd in my age group.

Then we were off to Chattanooga. In keeping up with the vacation part of the racecation we spent time in Knoxville and Pigeon Forge (Dollywood) before reaching Chattanooga. We also made a side trip to Mills River, North Carolina on the way to check out the new Sierra Nevada Brewery. Very impressive place and unlike the Chico Brewery, this one was very dog friendly!

When I checked in before the race my status as an IM AWA (All World Athlete) proved its worth in a couple of ways. First, the line to check in was LONG (I imagine it took about an hour from the back of the line). Fortunately I was able to go right to the front of the priority line. Secondly, AWA earns me a low bid number, which translates to a better bike rack position. In this case that was big. Turns out with over 3500 athletes this is one of the largest single day IM events in the world. The transition area was huge, measuring 220 yards from one end to the other.

This is an overview of the Transition area. The Red Star is the Bike In/Out. The purple check mark is my rack position. The Blue X is the Swim In/Run Out. Definitely nice being able to rack next to the pros.

Despite the large number of athletes I must say the transportation to the swim start was great. They had enough buses circulating that it was only a few minute wait to catch a ride. Because of the easily accessible dock to start the swim, and a good place to exit the water, this swim leg is actually a bit long at 1.4 miles. However, the downstream current of the Tennessee River helps to make up that distance and makes for a quick swim. With swimming being my weakest leg I was happy with the time of 37:25. I was also pleased with the line I held as my Garmin measured my distance at 1.383, one of the few times I've been under the listed swim distance.

Despite the large number of athletes I must say the transportation to the swim start was great. They had enough buses circulating that it was only a few minute wait to catch a ride. Because of the easily accessible dock to start the swim, and a good place to exit the water, this swim leg is actually a bit long at 1.4 miles. However, the downstream current of the Tennessee River helps to make up that distance and makes for a quick swim. With swimming being my weakest leg I was happy with the time of 37:25. I was also pleased with the line I held as my Garmin measured my distance at 1.383, one of the few times I've been under the listed swim distance.

The bike leg was pretty non-eventful, at least for me, which was a good thing. It was a beautiful ride mostly through the Georgia countryside around Lookout Mountain. With an elevation gain of a bit over 2,220 feet I was happy with my average speed of 19.8 mph. Would have liked to finish at 20 mph, but no complains here.

Glad to park the bike and finally get to the run. Tough little start to the run leg, as the first mile had a pretty good incline and it was a warm afternoon with good ole' southern humidity. Training in Texas I've become fairly acclimated to hot and humid conditions, but the second half of this race definitely pushed me. Going into an IM 70.3 my goal is normally to break 40 minutes on the swim, three hours on the bike and two hours on the run, with a total time of sub six hours. After hitting my swim and bike goals I was a bit short on the run with 2:09, but was happy with my overall time of 5:50:49. Normally a time like that would earn a podium finish. However, with this large field, I ended up 11th out of 33 in my AG.

After the race, it was time to get back to just relaxing and enjoying our vacation. The morning after the race we drove up to the top of Lookout Mountain and took in the incredible view from Rock City, where you can see seven states (Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina & Alabama) . It was then off to Nashville to explore Music City before heading home. With several shorter running races planned over the next couple of months, my next triathlon will be Ironman Michigan 70.3 in September. But it won't be just a race, it will be another adventurous 'racecation'.