Ironman Chattanooga 70.3 2024

 Triathlon season is back baby!! That’s how I’m starting this one. Just super excited to be back in tri season. Winter was spent with consistent training and added in 2 days a week of strength training to try and slow this aging process. 10 weeks ago I switched to a more run focused training plan to try and PR the Indy Mini. The sudden hit of humidity derailed that plan 2 weeks ago. What it also did was teach me that when I set hard time goals and put unnecessary pressure on myself, I lose the FUN of endurance sport. It’s not news to me that heat and my run pace don’t get along. Knowing that Chattanooga is always hot and humid, I knew I needed to chill and just try and be steady. Have FUN! 

Sunday before the race, I’m feeling good. Recovered from Indy. In good shape. Bike fitness was decent. Run fitness good. Thankful for a down river swim! Race week! Let’s do this!

Monday, race is 6 days out. One last 40 mile ride to get bike legs ready. About 8 miles into the ride, I hit a hard bump going pretty fast. I was on the bike path for crying out loud. I’ve ridden Vengeance for 7 years. Put her through many races and lots of miles. All the wear and tear plus that hard bump led to a broken fork. Handlebars didn’t break all the way off. I didn’t crash but the race bike I’m so used to, not operable. My neighbor came to rescue me and drive me home. Off to the bike shop who confirmed Vengeance was inoperable. I also got referred to Creekside Cyclery who is a Scott dealer. They have been amazing to work with and my new fork is ordered (from Europe).  You don’t want your kids getting hooked on drugs? Get them into cycling. No money left for drugs!

Ok, 3 days before I leave and need a bike. I’m lucky I had 2 options. Road bike or trainer tri bike. Both would suffice. Chatty course is fast and tri bike is faster. I’ve trained all winter long on trainer bike (Christy). Off the trainer Christy came. New tubes and tires put on. Rear hydration cage moved over. TubesNLube checked Christy over and made sure gears were in order and tires lined up, no brakes rubbing. Problem solved. I’ll admit, I freaked out a little. The bike is usually the longest part of the race. Not riding Christy outside in a few years and now relying on her for 56 race miles was shady. I got in a good shake out ride Thursday which made me relax. Christy was ready to be called up to the Big Leagues!

Friday was travel day. Had a nice Tennessee Highway Patrolman remind me to not drive over the speed limit. Got into Chatty just in time to check in and get my packet. Bike stickers on. Bib on race belt. All systems go. Dinner at Community Pie for amazing thick crust GF pizza!

Saturday I knocked out run streak day 2796 with Brittney who ran further and found the beautiful bike path along the river. Got the bike checked in. We headed to Ruby Falls and enjoyed the cave tour. It’s very cool to see, even if you’ve seen it before. I was happy to do something with my beautiful wife and be out of the sun.  Lunch at Tony’s Trattoria for Tettrazini! After a nap at the hotel, we decided the rocket fuel for Sunday was located at Community Pie! Brittney loves the “New York “ style pizza and I never get thick crust pizza at home. Absolutely amazing Saturday. Brittney knows how these race weekends go. Lights out for an early alarm. 

Race day! The best day!! I slept decent. Woke up ready to go have fun. Sean Walsh was in town and had said, “when I see you on course, you better be smiling!” It was the reinforcement I needed to enjoy the day. I walked the mile from hotel to race site. Set up transition. Made sure tires felt pumped up and didn’t mess with them further. Once bottles were filled and transition was set, I got on the bus to swim start. Sat with a guy who raced Hawaii 70.3 and Nice,France IM last year. Good talk with a fast guy!

I walked a lot further to the front of the swim line than I normally do. I knew the river current would help me. I also hoped the width of the river would help spread out the swimmers. Water temp was 72.6. Wetsuit legal. Game time!

3 swimmers were told to go every 3 seconds. We jumped off the dock feet first and your race has begun. I swam to the middle of the river. It’s supposed to have the most current there. I could feel it helping me but I had to work some. I just got in my groove and kept swimming. The boathouse we start at is 1.4 miles from the exit. It kind of equals out, longer swim but current assisted. Very little contact with other swimmers until I made my way toward exit. It’s a BIG step up to get onto exit platform! I had to hoist myself up and throw a knee onto platform. Volunteer grabbed my hand and helped me up. Then a short run to my favorite “aid” station! The STRIPPERS!! Wetsuit strippers gotta have the most fun. Athletes run up, lay down with wetsuits already half way off, and strippers yank as hard as they can! Amazing experience!

I stuff my goggles and nose clips into my swim cap and roll it into the wetsuit as I run toward my bike. Long run to the bike! Bike socks and shoes on. Nutrition into pockets. Helmet snapped. Off I go. One major difference between Christy and Vengeance is one less bottle cage on Christy. The decision to rely more on Maurten gels and less on Infinit fluids was based on necessity. One gel every 10 miles. Drank some Infinit. Used Base Salt to prepare for later. 

Bike course is a blast. Wind was low. LOTS of bikes out there. Got crowded early and often. The only “tough” hill is right after a left turn about 26 miles in onto Andrew’s Lane. I was prepared and geared correctly. I passed 6-8 people up that hill (they passed me back on the run). Then we get to bomb down the road for a while. Free speed with the proper tri bike! Christy was cooking. Legs were feeling good. I was smiling. Then a few cars showed up on the bike course. The roads were open but these drivers did not want to go slow and caused a few traffic jams. I had to warn a rider or 2 of incoming cars so they didn’t become hood ornaments or unalive themselves. I had to burn a match getting around a car that was just in a bad spot and refused to go slower.

Bike mechanical issues and crashes are typical in these races. I always hate to see riders on the side of the road but it’s worse when they are in middle of the road or surrounded by paramedics. One female rider donated a decent pool of blood to the road and was being helped by paramedics into the ambulance. I saw this but tried to focus on my own safety. Didn’t realize the red stuff was her blood until I was next to it. I rode a little safer till the end after that.  Goal was to get to finish line without injury. Bike time was 2:46. Christy did amazing. I was ready to run.

I saw Brittney as I rode in. Ran the bike up to the rack and switched socks. This took an extra minute but dry socks felt better. Shoes on. Grabbed my belt and hat and off I went.

Staying in safe mode, I switched my watch to heart rate screen. Had to keep heart rate down at the beginning of the run. I know what happens if I go too hard early on  and it’s not pretty. Brittney wishes me good luck as I started the run. About a mile in, I hear the booming voice of Sean Walsh. I see his pretty face. He says “Matt Kennard you are going too slow.” I explain my heart rate disagrees and I listen to it. He laughs and we hug. Smiling friendly faces are so helpful on course! First 2 miles are up and over a highway bridge in full sun. It’s warm and getting hotter. Then we go to the bike path. There’s shade there! Wonderful cooler shade! But man is it packed with runners running both ways. There’s like 2700 registered athletes for this race. It’s popular. There’s only so much room on that path. I was more thankful for the shade than the fact we were packed onto the path. Volunteers were fantastic with providing fluids and food and positive energy!

Then we hit this big ass hill. There’s a lot of walking going up this hill. Me included. Once up the hill, we turn right onto a bridge. There was a ton of people. But no noise. So I called them out on it. “This many people and y’all are quiet??” That got them going! Their energy picked up my energy! I have no idea if spectators know how much they can help athletes. The bridges we cross are LONG! The sun is cooking us. Just keep running. A right turn off the bridge goes downhill to an underpass. Complete shade! For like 75 glorious feet! Then back out to the road. A tri team brought out a tent with some excellent music  Then we hit the last bridge of the loop. Wooden footing has seen better days  closer to the end finds more and more spectators.  I find Brittney! She gives me great motivation and says I’m killing it  I’m feeling good and know I have one more loop in me. I take in my last Pickle juice shot. I keep using ice and drinking as much fluid as possible. The Bromance race saver sack was an integral tool in keeping my head cool. 2nd loop goes a lot like the first. “Just be steady Eddie” I think to myself. Some runners who passed me early on, are coming back to me as I stay steady. Bike path is packed but still shady. Hill somehow got longer and steeper but I make it over. One big change occurred!

When I turned right on the first bridge, a “human tunnel” has formed. They had taken offense of me calling them out earlier! This human tunnel was LOUD!! It was incredible!! So much energy! Absolutely amazing! So much fun! Ok, it was HOT AF at this point. The bridge had cones and flags. I used these as run to and you can walk to the next points. Somehow, I’d run even further than what I agreed to. Around 11 miles in and my shins started tightening up. I’ve dealt with this before. It sucks. I prayed they didn’t cramp. I took more Base Salt. I used a pack of Honey Stinger chews. I refused to go into the dark hole  

A few weeks ago, an athlete threw shade at my football team by saying he didn’t want to be “Ohio Soft.” He had no intent of pointing that at me. I took this as a motivation factor. “I’ll show you Ohio soft!” I refused to let tight shins slow me down. I stayed steady. Then I came up on that tri team tent again. Their loud speakers was booming 90’s rap. The Dr Dre Snoop song that includes the lyrics, “my beeper keeps beeping, but I’m just like a clock when I tick and I tock, but I’m never off and I’m always on till the break of Dawn “ was rocking! They were grooving! I started grooving! I was rapping out loud. Fueled my fire! Helped get me to and over that last bridge. The spectators were hyped up and loud now! I love going toward the finish line! Downhill I ran and I could see it. Brittney was on left side. She got a kiss before I finished. I looked behind me to make sure I wasn’t blocking any incoming runners. Then I opened up my arms to full little kid airplane mode and smiled as I made my way across one of my favorite places ever, The Finish Line! Another 70.3 done and dusted! 

I hadn’t even looked at my run splits. Had no idea where I was at with overall time. Then I saw 6:05 on my watch.

6:05 is my slowest Chatty time of 3 races. My competitive brain wanted to be disappointed. My more experienced brain took over. This was a longer swim than before. This was on a different bike. I had no cramps. I was walking decent. No injury. I’m older. I had FUN! It was a challenge that I conquered. I have an amazing wife who supports this wild lifestyle. I’m a lucky man. 84 degrees with 90% humidity. I’m pleased with everything. Very successful weekend!

 Every race has things that remind me of my family. We passed Heidi Lane on the bike. The run course goes around 2 nice sets of tennis courts. I saw a Purdue tri kit (Purdue is a high on Heidi’s list of potential colleges”. Then there was a spectator with a blow up bear. All things reminding me of my now high school senior! Cant believe next year at this time we will be having a Graduation Party!!

Can’t thank Brittney enough for all the help and support to make these races happen. The head mechanic Chris at TubesNLube did a spectacular job of making sure Christy was race ready! All the spectators, volunteers and safety forces at the race were fantastic!

IRONDAD takes the Kennard family to Oregon in July for the next 70.3!