IM AZ race recap
Like over 1,100 over the athletes that morning, this was my first IM. I want to start off by saying "thank you" to the EN community and Coaches RnP, your guidance and knowledge made this race successful and enjoyable for me.
Swim - I did a quick rehearsal swim on Thursday morning, so I knew it was going to be cold, but not too cold. I swam mid-pack and was jostled and kicked like most people for about 80% of the swim, but it never felt dangerous or unnerving even though I'm not a strong swimmer and that was only my 4th open water swim. I finished 1:19 which was right where my last three practices swims put me, so I was happy with it.
T1 - The cold caught up to me here. I had to stay in the tent for awhile to warm up before I headed out and possibly had the longest T1 time every recorded. Oh well, it will be an easy bar to beat next time. I also decided to go for comfort and changed into cycling clothes, which I probably won't bother doing again. Since my goal was to finish I decided the night before to go for comfort on the run and ride and I don't think it was worth the effort or time lost.
Bike - This was just an outright weird bike ride for me. All of my practice rides and RR's had me finishing just over six hours and my powertap shows a 6:11, again about what I expected. However I had some "issues" and my real time was 7:02. I had a rear flat the second loop and had a hard time breaking the tire off my rented wheel. I was able to get through it and lost about 12-14 minutes. Those things happen. The weird thing though was my sweat rate or lack of sweat. The entire ride my arms and head were salty and dry, more than I would have expected in AZ since UT has a fairly similar lack of humidity. It seems all the liquid I took in, my two 3-hour infinit bottles, water and enduralites were passing my system in the other available way. I stopped to pee 12 times, possibly another course and maybe even IM record. Sure it was only ~3 minutes a stop, but that was a ton of time not moving forward. That has never happened to me before and I'll have to think about why it did. Too many enduralites? I took 2/hr plus what was in the Inifinit, which seems about right. Body not acclimatized? That seems like a stretch since our summer/fall is close to theirs just cooler. Needing stronger core muscles on the bike? Maybe. I'm sure that's true, but maybe not a factor here. Anyway, the ride ended up being a start and stop leg that should have been completed an hour quicker.
T2 - changed to normal running clothes
Run - Held about an 11 minute pace for the marathon with no issues using the method of running between the aid stations and walking about a minute at each. I also saw the family four times on the last two loops due to the spectator friendly nature of the run course. I actually enjoyed the run, so I know that means I should have picked it up.
It was great meeting some of you at the dinner Thursday and I was glad to read about your successful races.
Comments
Good job David.
When you rented your wheels, did they come with tires and tubes or did you have to provide them?
Arnaud
Race Day wheels provide the tires ready to go. You just need to have your own backup kit.
Sounds like you got it done even with some "unseen" obstacles. Good job.
Nice job David, sounds like it was certainly a learning experience for you which will pay big dividends for your next race.
Congrats on having that first IM under your belt.
Great job Dave. Great to meet you in Tempe.