Kris Swygert's day in North Carolina

Ironman 70.3 North Carolina

Race Recap

 There was so much work that went on prior to this race. I am so thankful for everything Branden did to get me to the starting line to perform my best. From multiple bike fits, sweat testing, nutritional tweaks. Probably most significantly, I tweaked my back race week (likely a bulging disc). Branden got me in touch with Kevin Purvis who took the time to meet with me and give me some exercises that significantly benefited the discomfort I was experiencing.

First and foremost, this was the most well-organized Ironman race I have been to yet. It does present some challenges logistically both for check-in and race morning; however, they event goes off without a hitch. Not to mention, there was an army of volunteers to assist, and they all did so with a smile and warm-heartedness.

My goal was straight-forward: Have a complete race. In my prior 3 attempts, I have been unable to do so. I was hoping to secure a world championship spot, but looking at prior year results, I knew that was going to be a stretch as there are some fast folks at this race. At worst, I wanted to break 5 hours.

Race morning came early, with a 3 A.M. alarm. I prepped my nutrition and headed out, making sure to pre-load with LMNT (as I tend to “sweat” a bit ). Had to drive downtown to catch a shuttle to T1, set up T1 and then another shuttle to the swim start. Made for a long morning pre-race. It might bother some, but I just rolled with it.

Swim was a point to point with a helping current. I went out a bit too fast (looking at my stroke rate and pace). Also, had some water unexpectedly leak into my goggles. After about 500 meters, I pulled up, fixed my goggles and proceeded to have a quick anxiety attack. I waded for about 30-45 seconds, caught my breath and refocused.

After that, it was on! I focused on my stroke, getting good rotation and setting up my catch and forceful pulls. The sun was just coming up, so I had trouble sighting the buoys in the light with tinted goggles, but only veered off course once. When I arrived at the dock and clicked my watch at 25:XX I realized how much the current was helping. I probably lost a good minute due to my shenanigans in the water, but seeing my time stoked the fire.

The run from the swim exit to T1 is long. Being on damp grass resulted in some wetter than normal socks, which would come to light during the run. Exiting T1, folks need to learn how to move off to the side and mount. It was chaos for someone like me who does a flying mount, but I saw a little daylight and squeezed through luckily.

I was excited to get on the bike with my new setup that Branden and I had worked so hard on. The first 10-15 miles, I was certainly passing quite a few people with only a few passing me. Then miles 15-30 came – a long, straight stretch of highway into the wind. I was putting down good power but it was frustrating to be under 20 mph for most of that stretch. It was also during this time 2 noticeable things happened: 1) a guy passed me so close that I lost balance and had to put one hand on his shoulder to keep from spilling, and 2) 2 different “drafting packs” passed me, each with 10-15 riders in a bunch. Normally, I wouldn’t care, but for me with the aspirations I had, I was disappointed to see such egregious rule breaking. I didn’t see a single marshal the whole race (which would be my only complaint).

At mile 30, turning out of the wind and into the trees and some rural roads, I was hoping my pace would increase. Maybe it did slightly, but I was struggling to stay at the back of a line of riders I hitched on to. I was afraid that putting down more power could come back to bite me later in the race, so I let them go. At this point, it was getting more difficult to stay focused as I was staring at a potential 2:45 bike split, which I never expected. I was somehow able to persevere and about mile 40, turned back onto the highway downwind and started pumping. Power came easier and my speed was often 25+ mph. I ended catching up to some of the riders I did the first 15 miles with, and it was just the momentum I needed heading into T2.

It's important here that I note generally speaking, I nailed my nutrition on the bike. 4 bottles of infinit with added sodium citrate. Each bottle has 53g carbs & 2000 mg sodium (~85g carbs & 3,200mg sodium per hour). I also added 10-15 oz of water from the aid station to make sure I had 90+ oz of total fluid.

I got off the bike feeling better than I had in any previous race. Despite my desire to hammer, I stuck with the race plan and took it out “easy” the first 2 miles. Then, I committed the cardinal sin of race day…I did something new. I took a Maurten gel. The next few miles ticked off with nothing more than a little burping, but miles 6 & 7 provided the results of this little experiment. I was on the verge of vomiting and had to slow my pace (slightly) in order to ease the distress. It was a difficult 15-20 minutes and I felt the race getting away from me. This was truly the “deep end”. I used every piece of my mental makeup to keep pushing not knowing if and when it would end, if at all.

But, as luck would have it, in the matter of what felt like a few seconds, the fog lifted, the clouds parted, and the race was back on. I began lifting my pace for miles 8 & 9. There was a guy sitting on my shoulder breathing in my ear those 2 miles. But, I remember thinking to myself, “I am going to break you”, and I did. Just like the race plan said, at mile 10 I started racing with my heart. I pushed each subsequent mile harder and my pace faster than the mile previous. When I thought I had nothing else to give, I pushed harder all the way to the finish line. I clicked my watched, looked down and saw 4:48.

What word came to my mind at that moment: RELIEF.  It is not lost on me how much my family (significant other & our daughter) sacrifice for me. I did not want to make this trip without them and fail to accomplish what I had intended. It is just as much a victory for them as it is myself. I am lucky!

So, was this a “complete” race in my mind? No, but it was about a close as you can get. It felt like an adventure, a war. There were a number of battles throughout, and I can confidently say I overcame and won each of them. I made myself proud knowing what I went through, regardless of what the outcome would have been. Did I snag a world championship slot? No, but I controlled what I had the ability to. That will always be enough for me!