IMFL Race Report - Steve Wallace
Florida 2011 Race Report
Steven Wallace
Age: 43 Height: 5’11” Weight: 198
Swim: 1:24:35
T1: 18:12
Bike: 6:54:03 Ave HR 133.
T2: 11:25
Run: 5:07:30
This being my first Ironman the plan was to enjoy and finish.
Swim: I decided to stay in the back and to the right due to the currents pushing to the left into the markers. I wanted to stay within my zone and not get caught up in the moment so I was casual about it when starting. I did find I still at times had to breath more often than I trained so I would just back off a bit to get into my normal pattern. I was shooting for a 1:30 swim based off my practice plus a couple of extra min but I was surprised to see the time I got. I think the practice of sighting on the return side by using a building helped allot.
T1: I choose to take it easy by walking to help keep my heart rate under control and not let the adrenaline catch hold. I also wanted to be comfortable on the ride so I decided to change into a biking outfit, this along with a plus a potty break added up to a long transition. Maybe next time I will go the simpler route preached by EN to shave a few mins.
Bike: Very windy with gust up to 20MPH or more. When I trained with a friend for this race my long ride simulations were given a nick name of Yoga Ride and I planned that same approach for this. I had found my Zone 2 range was about 127 to 145 so I set my HR monitor to beep when I passed 140 BPM. During the first part of the race and with more of a head wind I rode in Zone 1 with just over 15 MPH. The second half I started to push toward my 140 range but tried to keep it around 133. During this part I rode in the 17.5 range, some of it due to the better winds on the return. I took gels, power bars and Perform during the ride to maintain my intake. For special needs bag I had a peanut butter sandwich and Oreo cookies as a treat to help me look forward to that point. I also had quite a few potty breaks and if I could have avoided a few of them and the long lines associated with them I could have shaved a few mins.
T2: Again I wanted to take it easy and be comfortable. I sat and took a gel and a few pretzels. I then changed into my run shorts and shirt. I also chose to change socks. Knowing that I go out to fast I decided to walk out of T2 to allow myself time to calm down. I started to jog and still had to work to keep the pace slow. After the 6 miles I tried to pick it up but knew at that point I just needed to keep running. My pace did start to decline as I needed to take a few extra seconds at the water stops plus the few bathroom breaks. By the last ¼ of the run just about everyone was walking except me. I noticed that my swim exit place for my division was 340, out of the bike was 377 but I gained it all back on the run plus 2 so I ended at 338. I feel like this was a great result for me and now I can look back at where I took it very easy and shave time from transition, breaks and the biggest area is I am still working on losing weight.
0
Comments