Augusta 70.3

This past weekend I had the chance to head down to Augusta to race their half ironman. The race was well-organized and well-run.

We left Atlanta on Saturday afternoon after watching the first half of Michigan's blowout win over Bowling Green. On the good note we promptly ran into a paving project on I-20. Boo GDOT. Anyway, we went straight to the athlete check-in at the Marriott in downtown Augusta. There, the check-in process too longer than it probably should have with two separate lines. This can largely be forgiven, however, when considering that this is one of the biggest 70.3 races in the USA.

Next it was down to transition to deposit my bike for the night. Transition is a little south-east of town along the river in a nicely sized grass field near the marina. It held up well given the wet conditions that would be present on race day.

For fuel, we hit Mellow Mushroom for dinner. As always in Atlanta, it was good. We finished half a large mega-veggie (-tofu, +chicken) and made our way up to our hotel on the Washington Rd near the freeway. The hotel density along this stretch of road must be among the highest anywhere; it was crazy.

Anyway, come morning the race went well. Despite occasional rain through out the morning, there were only around 40 DNFs. The swim was with the current in the Savannah River and the water temperature was a perfect 72 degrees. The bike was a meandering loop. I'm still not sure where exactly I went; I just turned where I was told. The run course was great. It was a double loop that winds back and forth through the Augusta downtown area. This gives spectators plenty of opportunities to see the athletes and the athletes enjoy a pancake flat course with lots of people around to cheer.

Food afterward was OK. They did have a Michelob Ultra trailer pouring beer, but I wasn't quite ready for that. All-in-all a good time.

When we got home we went out for a nice dinner at one of my favorite Atlanta restaurants, Ecco.

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