Got in on Wed night with the family to have time to get settled in etc. Thursday I went and registered then picked the bike up from Tri Bike Transport (TBT). Took it back to the rental house and worked to get it prepped, as I did so the front tire blew. I thought I made a mistake with my race wheel (zipp 808 clincher) in pressure, etc. so I pulled the tire and checked the tube, rim tape, etc. Thought there might be a rim tape issue until I noticed that the rim was bent inspot with a sharp edge. I was worried I had done something to on my last race rehearsal until I grabbed the tire saw it was frayed in that one spot in a way that could only really have happened if something had rubbed against it in a prolonged manner such as in transport.
So instead of meeting up with some others doing one of the loops at 4 I took the wheel and tire back to TBT. I talked to the person there and once I showed him the issue he quickly went to Zipp and got me a replacement rental and started the work to get the rim fixed/replaced. So I took the new wheel etc. and did a small loop on the hilly section right as some of the guys were finishing their run at it.
Met up with a lot of the team members at the dinner and did the swim early on Friday in the wind and cold water. The water seemed pretty cold but not too bad.
Race Day:
Got up, hit the race site, and got the body marking with plenty of time. Then hit transition and lined everything up, then took it easy for a bit. Probably took a little too long to get my wetsuit on and drop off my warm clothing bag, as I got stuck in a log jam trying to get down to the swim start and wasn’t sure I would make it in until after the start, but did manage to get there with a few minutes to spare. Checked the ear plugs, goggles, and cap all was good and soon after I was in the water.
Swim:
As expected the water was cold and there was a lot of contact on the way out through the first few buoys. Then it seemed to open up a bit, but as we approached each buoy contact started to happen up until we had passed it a bit. Then it would calm down until near the next one. Once we hit the turn mark there was quite a bit of contact but it seemed to open up some until near the next buoy where the process started again. Pushed through to the point of running across the mat, then back out for the next loop. As I went back to the water I noticed I had lost one of my ear plugs so I pulled the other which seemed a bit lose. Back in the water I went and the contact was back again, ended up catching an elbow in the eye and slammed the goggle in pretty tight, but it started to open up again after that although I started to feel a bit of water in the ear that I tossed the ear plug on and some vertigo in the water. The second loop didn’t seem as bad contact wise, and I finally made it back in at 1:17 (1:14-15’s was what my RRs were at).
Transition 1:
Came out and was cold, but not shivering badly. Got stripped by the wetsuit folks and went into the tent. Since I had an issue on my first RR with cold rain and body shivering on the ride, I decided to error on the side of caution with the race and put on a long sleeve shirt over the top of my singlet and arm warmers. But when I went to put it on I had already put on my race belt etc. and had some wrangling I had to do to get things straightened up plus as many have said the hands, etc. were cold and it was just a bit harder to do a number of things. Soon enough I was out of the tent and to my bike then to the mount line.
Bike:
Took off on the bike and within minutes was glad I had taken the long sleeved shirt. I was cold with it on especially in the shade and my feet were numb even with socks, etc. As I recall that coldness finally went away after heading out to Hayden.
Followed the team game plan and kept the watts in z1 for the first 30 or so miles until I hit the first real hill, then tried to hold them pretty close to my z2 for the rest of the time (190). Seemed to go pretty well although watts were a bit on the higher then I should have had them on the second hour with the hills. After that I did manage to settle in pretty well and just kept things nice and steady although I did manage to drop the chain once. I seemed to gain quite a bit of ground on people coming in on the first loop as I passed them on the downhill from Hayden doing the legal draft and pass all the way down into the town. At this point hydration and nutrition seemed right on, needed to pee so figured I would do that at special needs.
Got into special needs around mile 60 and saw there was no bathrooms but jettisoned the long sleeve shirt, grabbed my nutrition and took off. About a minute to a minute and a half later I noticed I was missing my Joule (racing computer), made the decision to go back to special needs to see if I lost it there. Got back and they pulled out the pack again, it wasn’t in there despite looking a couple times. I cursed several times and took off slowly watching the ground on the way out. As luck would have it a bit outside of special needs I saw it on the side of the road. So I stopped grabbed it and took off again. Looking at my data that was about a 6 minute delay. Then took made it to the next aid station hit the port-a-potty and off I went again.
The second loop went okay, after the major climb on English point the legs were starting to feel it a bit, noticed I wasn’t keeping up with the nutrition quite right, so I made sure to watch it a bit closer and decided to down a pack of cliff shots to help out. (I some times get this sharp pain between my shoulders and it seems to come when my nutrition and hydration is off so used that as a guide to dial things back in). Cheered on some of the EN folks and we pushed on. Did manage to drop my chain another three times this loop and tumbled my nutrition bottle once. Tack on another 3+ minutes to get it fixed, wait for enough people to pass to start back up, etc. I had to work a bit to try to keep the watts where I wanted them, and was starting to watch the TSS as I knew it would be pretty close to my target.
Finally got to where I knew the rest was down hill etc. Unfortunately the field had spread out a bit so I had to solo it into the wind on the way down for most of it, although I did manage to make a friend and we passed each other back and forth on the descent after a while until we caught other groups. At that point I knew the run was coming and I settled into a happier mindset knowing I would be off the bike soon. I finished off the nutrition and started focusing on the run to come.
Hopped off the bike right at 6 hours with a TSS of 280 something on the Joule (WKO says 276), a NP of 188 (190 was z2 watts), and a VI of 1.02.
Transition 2:
Dropped off the bike, grabbed my gear bag hit the tent and saw a few ENers in there. Stopped and said hi as I swapped shoes, got rid of the arm warmers/coolers, put on the hat and went out. Decided to get some sun screen and hit the rest room before making it out on the run course.
Run:
Running for me is my strong suit, so I had to work pretty hard to pull back on the run to keep it nice and slow and steady. I was supposed to hold around 8 minute pace, but I had to struggle to hold it back to 7:40 pace. Since I had finished off my nutrition on the bike my stomach was a little touchy so I walked a small piece of the first aid station to take a salt tablet (I have had some bad cramping in the legs on some of my HIMs) and then was off. Settled into a comfortable pace and just held that through the next several miles, up the hills and to the turn around point.
At that point I decided to start taking in some more nutrition focusing on the perform and cola. After the first bit of perform my stomach started to feel a little twitchy. I swapped to some cola and another salt tablet around the 1 hour mark. Things seemed to settle down, although I could feel the blister coming on strong on the left foot and some signs of cramping around the left knee, so took it smooth and steady. Tried the perform again and stomach just didn’t seem to like it so I decided to get the rest of my calories from cola on the run. After that decision no more stomach issues. Finished the first loop on the run and had passed a lot of people felt good, but also could feel that the second loop could be a bit painful.
I pushed on the run and noticed I was slowing a bit, but also was stopping to get nutrition and walk through the aid stations more on the second lap vs the first where I stopped at only 2-3. My average times went from 7:30s to high 7 minutes for the next 6 plus miles to a bit higher on miles that were mostly hills.
It was then at the turn around point for the way back that I looked at the watch and checked where I was overall time wise to see what goals I wanted to meet. At that point the sub 11 seemed within reach as long as I ran steady and worked it in. At that point I knew I just had to make it up a few more hills and it would be over soon so gave myself just mental cues of other easy runs that distance from home as I pushed it in. The last mile my legs were starting to feel tired. Then I turned onto Sherman and saw the finish and decided it was way to far away, but I was well under the time needed so I pushed it in and high fived people on the way in to finish the run in 3:26:32.
Finished the race in 10:55:59 and was whisked off to the massage tent then meet up with the family.
Overall it was a pretty good day, a number of small issued, but nothing major. Finished my first Ironman in a bit under 11 hours with plenty of room for improvement on bike and swim. Plus I never really pushed myself that hard on the run, I just tried to hold what was comfortable through the day to get the job done.
Thanks to all the ENers out there on the course for the encouragement and cheers.
Umm, Patrick, a 10:55 on that course, on that day (the swim did not do any of us any favors) is simply awesome. Esepcially considering this quote from your report: "The last mile my legs were starting to feel tired." STARTING TO FEEL TIRED??? Whoa - you've got to do another one, just to see what your potential is.
Congratulation on translating your superb training into a well-executed race.
Comments
Short Version for those wanting just the numbers:
Swim: 1:17:37
T1: 8:09
Bike: 6:00:22 (VI 1.02, NP 188, TSS 277)
T2: 3:19
Run: 3:26:32
Overall: 10:55:59
Long Version:
Got in on Wed night with the family to have time to get settled in etc. Thursday I went and registered then picked the bike up from Tri Bike Transport (TBT). Took it back to the rental house and worked to get it prepped, as I did so the front tire blew. I thought I made a mistake with my race wheel (zipp 808 clincher) in pressure, etc. so I pulled the tire and checked the tube, rim tape, etc. Thought there might be a rim tape issue until I noticed that the rim was bent in spot with a sharp edge. I was worried I had done something to on my last race rehearsal until I grabbed the tire saw it was frayed in that one spot in a way that could only really have happened if something had rubbed against it in a prolonged manner such as in transport.
So instead of meeting up with some others doing one of the loops at 4 I took the wheel and tire back to TBT. I talked to the person there and once I showed him the issue he quickly went to Zipp and got me a replacement rental and started the work to get the rim fixed/replaced. So I took the new wheel etc. and did a small loop on the hilly section right as some of the guys were finishing their run at it.
Met up with a lot of the team members at the dinner and did the swim early on Friday in the wind and cold water. The water seemed pretty cold but not too bad.
Race Day:
Got up, hit the race site, and got the body marking with plenty of time. Then hit transition and lined everything up, then took it easy for a bit. Probably took a little too long to get my wetsuit on and drop off my warm clothing bag, as I got stuck in a log jam trying to get down to the swim start and wasn’t sure I would make it in until after the start, but did manage to get there with a few minutes to spare. Checked the ear plugs, goggles, and cap all was good and soon after I was in the water.
Swim:
As expected the water was cold and there was a lot of contact on the way out through the first few buoys. Then it seemed to open up a bit, but as we approached each buoy contact started to happen up until we had passed it a bit. Then it would calm down until near the next one. Once we hit the turn mark there was quite a bit of contact but it seemed to open up some until near the next buoy where the process started again. Pushed through to the point of running across the mat, then back out for the next loop. As I went back to the water I noticed I had lost one of my ear plugs so I pulled the other which seemed a bit lose. Back in the water I went and the contact was back again, ended up catching an elbow in the eye and slammed the goggle in pretty tight, but it started to open up again after that although I started to feel a bit of water in the ear that I tossed the ear plug on and some vertigo in the water. The second loop didn’t seem as bad contact wise, and I finally made it back in at 1:17 (1:14-15’s was what my RRs were at).
Transition 1:
Came out and was cold, but not shivering badly. Got stripped by the wetsuit folks and went into the tent. Since I had an issue on my first RR with cold rain and body shivering on the ride, I decided to error on the side of caution with the race and put on a long sleeve shirt over the top of my singlet and arm warmers. But when I went to put it on I had already put on my race belt etc. and had some wrangling I had to do to get things straightened up plus as many have said the hands, etc. were cold and it was just a bit harder to do a number of things. Soon enough I was out of the tent and to my bike then to the mount line.
Bike:
Took off on the bike and within minutes was glad I had taken the long sleeved shirt. I was cold with it on especially in the shade and my feet were numb even with socks, etc. As I recall that coldness finally went away after heading out to Hayden.
Followed the team game plan and kept the watts in z1 for the first 30 or so miles until I hit the first real hill, then tried to hold them pretty close to my z2 for the rest of the time (190). Seemed to go pretty well although watts were a bit on the higher then I should have had them on the second hour with the hills. After that I did manage to settle in pretty well and just kept things nice and steady although I did manage to drop the chain once. I seemed to gain quite a bit of ground on people coming in on the first loop as I passed them on the downhill from Hayden doing the legal draft and pass all the way down into the town. At this point hydration and nutrition seemed right on, needed to pee so figured I would do that at special needs.
Got into special needs around mile 60 and saw there was no bathrooms but jettisoned the long sleeve shirt, grabbed my nutrition and took off. About a minute to a minute and a half later I noticed I was missing my Joule (racing computer), made the decision to go back to special needs to see if I lost it there. Got back and they pulled out the pack again, it wasn’t in there despite looking a couple times. I cursed several times and took off slowly watching the ground on the way out. As luck would have it a bit outside of special needs I saw it on the side of the road. So I stopped grabbed it and took off again. Looking at my data that was about a 6 minute delay. Then took made it to the next aid station hit the port-a-potty and off I went again.
The second loop went okay, after the major climb on English point the legs were starting to feel it a bit, noticed I wasn’t keeping up with the nutrition quite right, so I made sure to watch it a bit closer and decided to down a pack of cliff shots to help out. (I some times get this sharp pain between my shoulders and it seems to come when my nutrition and hydration is off so used that as a guide to dial things back in). Cheered on some of the EN folks and we pushed on. Did manage to drop my chain another three times this loop and tumbled my nutrition bottle once. Tack on another 3+ minutes to get it fixed, wait for enough people to pass to start back up, etc. I had to work a bit to try to keep the watts where I wanted them, and was starting to watch the TSS as I knew it would be pretty close to my target.
Finally got to where I knew the rest was down hill etc. Unfortunately the field had spread out a bit so I had to solo it into the wind on the way down for most of it, although I did manage to make a friend and we passed each other back and forth on the descent after a while until we caught other groups. At that point I knew the run was coming and I settled into a happier mindset knowing I would be off the bike soon. I finished off the nutrition and started focusing on the run to come.
Hopped off the bike right at 6 hours with a TSS of 280 something on the Joule (WKO says 276), a NP of 188 (190 was z2 watts), and a VI of 1.02.
Transition 2:
Dropped off the bike, grabbed my gear bag hit the tent and saw a few ENers in there. Stopped and said hi as I swapped shoes, got rid of the arm warmers/coolers, put on the hat and went out. Decided to get some sun screen and hit the rest room before making it out on the run course.
Run:
Running for me is my strong suit, so I had to work pretty hard to pull back on the run to keep it nice and slow and steady. I was supposed to hold around 8 minute pace, but I had to struggle to hold it back to 7:40 pace. Since I had finished off my nutrition on the bike my stomach was a little touchy so I walked a small piece of the first aid station to take a salt tablet (I have had some bad cramping in the legs on some of my HIMs) and then was off. Settled into a comfortable pace and just held that through the next several miles, up the hills and to the turn around point.
At that point I decided to start taking in some more nutrition focusing on the perform and cola. After the first bit of perform my stomach started to feel a little twitchy. I swapped to some cola and another salt tablet around the 1 hour mark. Things seemed to settle down, although I could feel the blister coming on strong on the left foot and some signs of cramping around the left knee, so took it smooth and steady. Tried the perform again and stomach just didn’t seem to like it so I decided to get the rest of my calories from cola on the run. After that decision no more stomach issues. Finished the first loop on the run and had passed a lot of people felt good, but also could feel that the second loop could be a bit painful.
I pushed on the run and noticed I was slowing a bit, but also was stopping to get nutrition and walk through the aid stations more on the second lap vs the first where I stopped at only 2-3. My average times went from 7:30s to high 7 minutes for the next 6 plus miles to a bit higher on miles that were mostly hills.
It was then at the turn around point for the way back that I looked at the watch and checked where I was overall time wise to see what goals I wanted to meet. At that point the sub 11 seemed within reach as long as I ran steady and worked it in. At that point I knew I just had to make it up a few more hills and it would be over soon so gave myself just mental cues of other easy runs that distance from home as I pushed it in. The last mile my legs were starting to feel tired. Then I turned onto Sherman and saw the finish and decided it was way to far away, but I was well under the time needed so I pushed it in and high fived people on the way in to finish the run in 3:26:32.
Finished the race in 10:55:59 and was whisked off to the massage tent then meet up with the family.
Overall it was a pretty good day, a number of small issued, but nothing major. Finished my first Ironman in a bit under 11 hours with plenty of room for improvement on bike and swim. Plus I never really pushed myself that hard on the run, I just tried to hold what was comfortable through the day to get the job done.
Thanks to all the ENers out there on the course for the encouragement and cheers.
Nice race! I saw your Joule on the ground. you must have been JUST in front of me.
Umm, Patrick, a 10:55 on that course, on that day (the swim did not do any of us any favors) is simply awesome. Esepcially considering this quote from your report: "The last mile my legs were starting to feel tired." STARTING TO FEEL TIRED??? Whoa - you've got to do another one, just to see what your potential is.
Congratulation on translating your superb training into a well-executed race.
great race! i'll try to run like that next year.