My Much Anticipated IMAZ Race Report - For Me Anyway
Race Report
2010 Ironman Arizona
Like many race reports before mine, I will preface this by saying it is pretty long, but I have tried to limit it to just race day to help with that. For those of you reading this who may be new to EN, or who haven’t read (or written) a lot of race reports or race rehearsal reports, I feel that there is so much to learn from them, and the more information there is, the more you can learn from them. Were it not for all the people who took the time to do this before me, there’s no way I could have been this prepared to do this race. Don’t be a lurker! Every report, every question, every comment makes us all smarter and better triathletes. Pay it forward.
Pre-race plan:
Click here if you want to review my race plan
Pre-race routine:
I decided not to do the 2 breakfast thing. I woke up at 4:00 AM and had planned to have 2 bagels with cream cheese and coffee. I ended up not eating all of it. I was full. I sipped on a normal strength bottle of Infinit up until about 6:30. I got to transition at 5:15 and finished my checklist. I was not rushed at all. Despite being nervous, I was ready to go.
Event warmup:
I hopped in the water about 6:40 and swam to the bridge. I treaded water under the bridge until the pros started then made my way to my planned starting spot right of center and 4 people back. That 20 minutes was all I needed to acclimate to the cold water.
Swim – 1:15:00
I’ll be honest. I was pretty nervous about the swim. I have only swum in open water a couple of times since June. Even though I had gone the distance in the pool 3 times, the mass start and virtual blindness were really worrying me. I lined up exactly where I planned. Things were fine at the start, but I started having problems very early on. The people beside me weren’t really a problem, but I started bumping in to people very early on. But there was nowhere else to go. I kept having to stop and start, stop and start. I just could not get into a rhythm. I never have a problem bilateral breathing every 3 strokes. That went out the window so I had to breathe on one side every 2 strokes. I can’t do that and swim straight so I zig-zagged the whole swim. It was constant bumping into people in front of me, stopping, starting again, trying to stay straight, repeat. I tried to stay calm, but I was kind of freakin’ out. I decided to try and get to the turnaround buoy and pull off to the side so I could stop and regroup. I stopped for about a minute then took off again, trying to stay on the outside. Unfortunately, it was more of the same coming back. I was never comfortable in the water. I was very surprised that I actually felt good enough to run to transition when I got out. I am pleased with my time, which was exactly what I thought I would do. I think if I had it to do over again, I would have lined up closer to the front to have fewer people in front of me and hope to get some space. Very few people passed me, but I bumped into dozens. Regardless, I made it out alive with my admission paid.
T1 – 7:10
A little longer than I would have liked, but OK. Took too long getting long sleeve shirt on. I didn’t have a volunteer because I changed outside so I had to pack my wetsuit and other stuff myself then find someone to hand it to.
Bike – 6:40:30
Well…..not exactly what I had in mind. In my race rehearsal I did this course in 5:26. I was very familiar with it and was ready to execute. I did so for the first 17 miles. I was right at my goal watts for the first hour and was approaching the turnaround at a great pace. Then I noticed my tire was flat. I almost wasn’t surprised because the same wheel had a flat the day I checked my bike in. I took it to the bike tech folks to change the tube. I didn’t want to bother with it. I heard changing tubes on Zipps was a pain in the ass. And hey….they were right there and they are professionals, right? This was probably my biggest mistake of the weekend. I should have changed it myself. Why? Back to my story.
So I first tried fixing it using a can of Vittoria Pit Stop and half a CO2 to finish the inflate. Nope. Deflated. So I sucked it up and took the wheel off to change the tube. First thing I notice was that there was a thorn in the tire. The Vittoria fix never had a chance. Was I really that unlucky to get a tiny thorn which led to a deflated tire right after I just replaced it or was it there and the bike tech people missed it and replaced the tube under an existing thorn. I will never know. But if I had done it myself, not only would I have gotten experience changing a tube on a Zipp not in a race situation, I would have checked myself that there wasn’t something in the tire. I got the new tube on, started inflating and the tube popped because it was pinched between the rim and tire. So now I have no tubes, no CO2, and a flat tire (along with a lot of trash). Now I don’t know what to do. I’ve never flatted in a race before. So I sit there waiting for a support motorcycle. Nothing. So not knowing what to do, but knowing I’m finishing this race, I pick up my trash, put the tubes around my neck, pick up my dead rear wheel, and start walking. After about 5 minutes I decide to put the tire back on the rim properly so I can roll the bike. Another 5 minutes or so and still no help. So now I’m wondering if it’s safe to ride on a flat tire with a $2000 rim that has no tube. I had rented the wheels, and I paid for the insurance, so I said f*** it and started riding very slowly. Shortly thereafter I see that there is a bike service person at a penalty tent. I got over there and she got me fixed up and on my way. By now I know my bike split is shot, and I have to compose myself for the next 95 miles so I got to the turnaround, stopped to pee (which I never do), and fixed my magnet for my speed sensor which was screwed up. Then I made another unscheduled stop at bike special needs for my spare tube and CO2. After that I tried to focus on getting through the rest of the bike unscathed and setting myself up for a good run so I dialed back my goal IF to .65 and just got it done. Over the course of the next 5 hours I dropped my chain 3 times and I hit a bump which caused my Joule to flash off and reset. It was just not my day. I could not catch a break. Add to that my frustration with the weather which absolutely sucked and by the time I got to T2 I was just mentally and emotionally exhausted. My ride time on the Joule was 5:49, so all together I lost about 50 minutes (and 89 places in my age group) not including any extra time I lost by missing the window on the gentler winds the first lap and by not pushing closer to IF .7. My TSS was about 240. Thankfully, I nailed my nutrition to the plan and got all the calories, water, and salt I needed to prime me for the run.
T2 – 2:01
Really happy here. I was so happy to be off the bike, I walked to get my bag and sat down. Helmet off and socks/shoes on. I had everything else in a plastic baggie that I took with me. I put the body glide and salt tabs in my pockets, put on my hat, and threw out the baggie, all while running in the first 200 yards. This saved me a ton of time. In and out in 2 minutes, even with walking the whole transition.
Run – 4:21:15
So I’ve never run more than 19.5 miles at one time in my life. Everyone was so encouraging that this was enough to be able to carry me through to the end, but I was still worried that I wouldn’t be able to maintain my paces as planned for 26.2 miles. I started out well nailing my first 6 miles. I then picked up the pace for the next 7 miles and was going strong. I had been pushing the lap button on my Garmin every mile sign to check my paces and I was going good. Then I started doing ironman math in my head and determined that I wasn’t going to make my run time goal and my one thing so I stopped checking them. I just decided to keep going with running between every aid station and walking the aid stations. I felt like I was maintaining my previous pace, but my times say I was slowing down. Then I found out that the original paces in ironmanlive were wrong and even though I slowed down for awhile, I actually went faster for the last 6 miles. Oh well. I walked from the first cup to the last cup at every aid station but ran every step, every mile in between. I did not walk even one step between aid stations. I picked it up for the last mile and finished strong. I was not an ironman run course casualty! I ultimately picked back up 67 places in my age group on the run that I lost on the bike (321 places overall).
At the finish, I felt pretty good. After having time to think about it, I’m wondering if I felt too good. I didn’t want to be one of those people who collapses at the finish line, but I think I actually left a little out there on the run course. That last mile was not that hard for me even though I was noticeably running faster. I am wishing now that I had continued to follow my paces every hour and work a little harder to maintain them. But I chalk that up to inexperience, and next time I won’t have to worry about running the whole marathon or finishing strong because I’ve proven that I can.
Overall – 12:25:56 (142/334 AG)
I want to thank each and every one of you that contributed to making my entire season, and especially this race, a success. That includes all the other athletes that took this journey with me this year. Congratulations to all of you.
I’m looking forward to next season already. I will be focusing on the HIM distance next year and might make a run at qualifying for 70.3 world championships in Vegas. I owe it to my wife who has also had a long year. So long 140.6 until we meet again in 2012. Unless, of course, I get a lottery spot……
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Comments
Yah, you left something out on the course - about 50 minutes and a couple of tubes, CO2 cart, Pit Stop can, etc. (BTW, this July I rode my Zipp wheel 15 miles on a flat @ 15 mph, so it can be done, none the worse for wear.)
I saw you running up the ramp at T1 - you asked someone what time it was, and didn't hear my hoarse yells. Saw you again on the run under Mill St bridge about 9:20 into the race. You looked determined.
When all is said and done, you ran down the same chute on Rio Salado as Timo Bracht, Chrissie Wellington and Jordan Rapp, and now are on your way to a steller Ironman career, should you choose to go that route. "Perserverance in the face of adversity" is your lesson for the day.
terry: sorry to hear about the bad luck, but you made it through and finished strong. thanks for all the bike RR details in the threads leading up to the race. it really helped me a lot in prepping for the bike.
good luck with the 70.3's next year.
great race!
GH
Thank you for taking the time to write an excellent report. Enjoy the year off the long stuff. Hope to race with you in 2012 on a long one.
Matt
Mental toughness, that's what you have. Very impressive how you hung in there with the bike issue and conditions. It was a pleasure cheering you on and so exciting to meet you and be part of your first IM. Your wife Peggy was great - go spoil that woman!
BTW - with Joule time of 5:49, can you share what your NP was for the bike course? I'm compiling prior two years of EN AZ racer NP data and current year data to obtain a very general idea what NP ranges correlate to bike split times at AZ, all things being equal as much as possible, as a means to assist me in establishing a realistic goal for AZ 2011. Thx
Thanks for sharing. Like you said we can all learn from each other.
@Everyone - thanks for the feedback. I agree that what I learned through a series of unfortunate events will be invaluable in my racing future, especially in ironman events.
@Paul - I've already checked into that thing. I will be getting one for sure.
Really like the idea of the plastic bag in T2 - never heard that one, but really makes sense and will put that one in my bag. Best of luck next season.
P
All that bike whoo-haa would have thrown many. Way to ang tough and have a fabulous first IM! Congratulations!
congrats, Terry! Sounds like you kept it all together despite the craziness... which is awesome! Enjoy the downtime!