(half) Ironman Steelhead (70.3) Race Report

I'm a little behind on my blog.... been busy racing this month (a race every weekend in the month of August)!  Ross and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary by competing in Ironman Steelhead 70.3 (half-Ironman distance) on August 4th.  It was the perfect race day --- clear skies and not too warm but I was SOOOOO nervous.  A good nervous, but really nervous. 

The swim was a little... ok A LOT... wavy.  I was trying to breathe every 4 strokes but quickly found out that with the rhythm of the waves, breathing every stroke was much better.  It was 1.2 miles of swimming along the shore of Lake Michigan.  There were 4 sets of yellow triangles and 4 sets of orange triangles to pass in the 1.2 miles.  My mantra became "just keep swimming, just keep swimming!" 

I took my time transitioning to the bike and my goal was to maintain around 18 mph for the 56 miles on the bike.  I ended up much faster on my bike than my original goal - overall pace 19.7mph.  After going a bit faster than I expected on the bike, I wasn't sure what to expect for my run.... 13.1 miles.  Again, I took my time in transition before heading out for the half-marathon.  I actually surprised myself and felt pretty good on the run, averaging 8:12/mile overall. 

Overall, I placed 7th in my age group and 341st women.  Enjoyed the race and wasn't too sore the next day :)  We spent the week in the Coloma area and enjoyed some time at the beach with the kids.


Sara Randolph

Rank: 7

Overall Rank: 341

BIB:	529
Division:	F35-39
State:	Sturgis MI
Country:	USA
Profession:	Homemaker

Swim:	38:57
Bike:	2:50:35
Run:	1:47:33
Overall:	5:27:27

Congratulations, Sara, on your finish!

Swim Details Division Rank: 6

Split Name	Distance	Split Time	Race Time	Pace	Div. Rank	Overall Rank	Gender Rank
Total	1.2 mi	--:--	38:57	--/100m	6	237	46

Bike Details Division Rank: 10

Split Name	Distance	Split Time	Race Time	Pace	Div. Rank	Overall Rank	Gender Rank
36.6 mi	36.6 mi	1:53:49	2:38:19	19.29 mi/h
56 mi	19.4 mi	56:46	3:35:05	20.50 mi/h
Total	56.0 mi	2:50:35	3:35:05	19.70 mi/h	10	450	60

Run Details Division Rank: 7

Split Name	Distance	Split Time	Race Time	Pace	Div. Rank	Overall Rank	Gender Rank
1.6 mi	1.6 mi	12:41	3:52:35	7:55/mi
4.6 mi	3 mi	23:54	4:16:29	7:58/mi
6.6 mi	2 mi	15:52	4:32:21	7:56/mi
9.6 mi	3 mi	24:34	4:56:55	8:11/mi
13.1 mi	3.5 mi	30:32	5:27:27	8:43/mi
Total	13.1 mi	1:47:33	5:27:27	8:12/mi	7	341	45

Transition

T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE	5:33
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN	4:49

sorry for the sideways pictures....

 Ironfamily :)

 smores!

 fresh picked blueberries in a pie

 the beach

 jillian swimming

 a fruit and veggie stand along my bike route