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2011 IMAZ - Olivas' Revenge

TerryOTerryO
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RACE REPORT

2011 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 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 question, every comment makes us all smarter and better triathletes. Pay it forward.

 

To begin, there was a specific reason I chose to do this race. Details will follow, but basically I felt unfulfilled with my experience at IMAZ last year. There was crazy, unseasonable weather and multiple bike mechanical issues that I’ve never had in any race I’ve ever done. This led to early onset mental apathy which ultimately compromised my desire to run well. Despite a respectable finish, I was really frustrated that I did not race to my potential. In fact, I know this sounds weird, and maybe a little selfish, but I didn’t even really feel like an Ironman. Every race I had ever done, I finished feeling like I did the best I could and was proud of myself for doing well. I never felt that way after IMAZ. It never really meant anything to me. So ultimately I decided to buy a spot through Endurance Sports Travel and give myself one more chance to actually race to my potential. I’m so glad I did.

 

Pre-race plan: 

 

Click here if you want to review my race plan

 

Pre-race routine:



I don’t wake up to eat so that I eat twice. I woke up at 4:15 AM and had a large blueberry muffin and my coffee. I sipped on a normal strength bottle of Infinit up until about 6:30. I got to transition at 5:30 and finished my checklist. I was not rushed at all.  

 

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 right up front. That 20 minutes was all I needed to acclimate to the cold water.

 

Swim – 1:12:30 (118/442 AG)

 

This year I decided to line up in front because I was hoping to avoid running into too many people from behind. I figured a few people would go by me then I could follow them along. It worked out OK but I was still pummeled pretty badly. It only lasted a few hundred yards though. After that there was some contact but not terrible. I felt better than I did last year where I was panicking a little. I just tried to swim comfortably and not get too worked up. I took a planned break after the turnaround to catch my breath and gather my thoughts. I only stopped for a minute or so. I ended up feeling way better this year and felt like I swam well. I basically only stopped once at the turnaround but swam all the way out and all the way back. Despite feeling much better, and feeling like I ultimately went faster, I only shaved 2 ½ minutes off last year’s time. Anyway, like last year, I was really nervous about the swim, but I stayed in my box and got it done.

 

T1 – 5:03



I had my wetsuit stripped and ran the long path. I got my bag and sat down outside the tent. I put on my helmet, sunglasses, watch, arm warmers, and shoes then got out of there. I was faster than last year so satisfied with this.

 

Bike – 5:28:24 (79/442 AG)



I was very pleased with my bike this year. Last year I had multiple flats and other mechanicals that cost me almost an hour and shot my plan to hell. The weather was also cold, windy, and rainy and it even hailed for a short while. Between the weather and my bike problems, every one of my goals was shot in the first 2 hours of the race which mentally broke me. My goal this year was to get through the bike course unscathed which I basically accomplished.

 

The course is 3 loops and mostly flat. There is a gradual climb out on the Beeline that gets a little steeper over the last 6 miles to the turnaround then back down again. My nutrition went well with sips of concentrated Infinit followed by water. I used a two-sided PD aerobottle so I carried one concentrate bottle that I just added to the small side and kept the big side filled with water at every aid station. I ended up taking in about 350 calories with 700mg of sodium every hour from the Infinit and supplemented with 2 salt tabs on each loop. I had no stomach issues to speak of and I peed 3 or 4 times during the ride so I guess I stayed well-hydrated. 

 

Here’s my power numbers. My Joule has been screwing up lately with regard to distance so don’t pay attention to that. I also lost my cadence sensor on the first lap when my pedal fell off so I didn’t have that for 80 miles. That’s right….my pedal fell off my crank but stayed attached to my shoe. Thankfully it happened in front of an aid station and they got it screwed back in for me. As you can see this only cost me 3 minutes. At first I was bent out of shape, but I got back into my box and figured that it was better than a flat which would have cost me more time. For reference, my FTP is 250 (3.7 watts/kg)

 

First Lap:

    Duration:               1:44:15 (1:47:00)

    Work:                     1045 kJ

    TSS:                       83.2 (intensity factor 0.717)

    Norm Power:          179

    VI:                           1.01

    Pw:HR:                   n/a

    Pa:HR:                   n/a

    Distance:              21.8 mi

    Elevation Gain:     398 ft

    Elevation Loss:      467 ft

    Grade:                    -0.1 % (-67 ft)

                                   Min      Max     Avg

    Power:                    0          432      177      watts

    Cadence:               2          110      93        rpm

    Speed:                    0          33.3     21.5     mph

    Pace                       1:48     0:00     2:47     min/mi

    Hub Torque:          0          410      37        lb-in

    Altitude:                  1083    1497    1212    ft

    Crank Torque:       0          1136    142      lb-in

    Temperature:         57.2     71.6     63.5     Fahrenheit

 

Second Lap:

    Duration:               1:49:58

    Work:                     1142 kJ

    TSS:                       91.8 (intensity factor 0.72)

    Norm Power:          180

    VI:                           1.01

    Pw:HR:                   n/a

    Pa:HR:                   n/a

    Distance:              31.373 mi

    Elevation Gain:     416 ft

    Elevation Loss:      401 ft

    Grade:                    0.0 % (11 ft)

                                   Min      Max     Avg

    Power:                    0          432      178      watts

    Cadence:               94        102      98        rpm

    Speed:                    8.2       28.3     20.4     mph

    Pace                       2:07     7:19     2:56     min/mi

    Hub Torque:          0          410      27        lb-in

    Altitude:                  1085    1489    1202    ft

    Crank Torque:       0          213      0          lb-in

    Temperature:         68        77        71.3     Fahrenheit

 

Third Lap:

    Duration:               1:50:24 (1:50:26)

    Work:                     1097 kJ

    TSS:                       83.2 (intensity factor 0.684)

    Norm Power:          171

    VI:                           1.01

    Pw:HR:                   n/a

    Pa:HR:                   n/a

    Distance:              32.17 mi

    Elevation Gain:     438 ft

    Elevation Loss:      392 ft

    Grade:                    0.0 % (40 ft)

                                   Min      Max     Avg

    Power:                    0          2409    170      watts

    Cadence:               n/a       n/a       n/a       rpm

    Speed:                    8.3       26.5     20.3     mph

    Pace                       2:16     7:16     2:57     min/mi

    Hub Torque:          0          410      26        lb-in

    Altitude:                  1097    1524    1230    ft

    Crank Torque:       0          0          0          lb-in

    Temperature:         71.6     80.6     74.2     Fahrenheit

 

Entire workout (175 watts):

    Duration:               5:25:54 (5:28:41)

    Work:                     3291 kJ

    TSS:                       259 (intensity factor 0.707)

    Norm Power:          177

    VI:                           1.01

    Pw:HR:                   n/a

    Pa:HR:                   n/a

    Distance:              85.343 mi

    Elevation Gain:     1245 ft

    Elevation Loss:      1262 ft

    Grade:                    -0.0 % (-22 ft)

                                   Min      Max     Avg

    Power:                    0          2409    175      watts

    Cadence:               2          110      93        rpm

    Speed:                    0          33.3     20.7     mph

    Pace                       1:48     0:00     2:54     min/mi

    Hub Torque:          0          410      31        lb-in

    Altitude:                  1083    1524    1214    ft

    Crank Torque:       0          1136    45        lb-in

    Temperature:         57.2     80.6     69.8     Fahrenheit

 

I probably could have pushed it on the last lap more than I did but the wind was picking up and I felt like I was going fast enough. I wanted a sub-5:30 bike split and at that point knew I’d probably do it so I didn’t feel the need to push harder to try and get one or two extra minutes. My ultimate goal was to get myself to the run course before 2:00 PM feeling fine so that I could run the sub-4 hour marathon I knew I was capable of and come in under 11 hours.

 

T2 – 1:43



Really happy here. Did a flying dismount on the bike then ran and grabbed my bag. Helmet off then socks/shoes and fuel belt on. I had everything else in a plastic baggie that I took with me. I put sunscreen in my pocket, put on my hat, and threw out the baggie, all while running in the first 200 yards. This saved me a ton of time. Again beat my time from last year.

 

Run – 3:42:09 (29/442 AG)

 

Let’s just say I had the run of my life. Last year my run was one of my biggest disappointments. I made some rookie mistakes, but also gave up mentally halfway through. I walked more than I had to, by design, because I thought that at some point I was going to feel so bad that I wanted to stop and I didn’t want that to happen. I had never run a marathon before. But that never happened and I finished with too much left in the tank. It was yet another thing that has haunted me over the last year. This year my plan was to leave it all out on the course.

 

So with my VDot of 49, my plan was to do 9-minute miles for the first 6 miles then try and drop into 8:30’s. Last year I walked beginning-to-end of every aid station which cost me tons of time. This year I planned to run to last person holding what I needed and only walk until I was done drinking. As for nutrition, I had concentrated Perform in my 2 fuel belt bottles. I would take a sip of it prior to the aid station and chase it with 1 or 2 cups of water. I did this for 2 loops (2 bottles, 2 loops) then ditched the fuel belt and drank Perform and Coke for the last loop. I took 2 salt tabs after the first loop then forgot to take them off my fuel belt before I ditched it so I didn’t take any more. Thankfully it wasn’t hot so didn’t end up needing them anyway.

 

I knew to go under 4 hours, I would have to average about 9-minute miles. So if I put 4 or 5 minutes in the bank by the time I made it to mile 18, I should be able to make it, even if I slowed down. As usual I went out too fast, but felt like I was staying well within myself. I checked my pace at every mile and was averaging between 8:00 and 8:30 per mile. When I run, I keep a running total of how much time I’m banking in my head. So it was like :30, 1:15, 2:15, 2:15, 2:45, and so on. I decided at mile 6 to just keep going at the same pace because I felt good and thought I should bank seconds/minutes as long as possible. Pretty soon my bank was up to 9 minutes, 10 minutes, 12 minutes and I was still going strong. By mile 18 I knew sub-4 was in the bag. By mile 20 it looked like I could go under 3:45 so I tried to pick up the pace a bit. The last mile I hauled ass so I could be done. As I rounded the corner, the time clock said 10:29:29 so I sprinted to the finish to come in under 10:30:00. Here are my final splits:

 


RUN SPLIT 1: 2.5 mi
2.5 mi (20:37)
8:14/mi

RUN SPLIT 2: 11.5 mi
9 mi (1:12:10)
8:01/mi

RUN SPLIT 3: 20 mi
8.5 mi (1:13:26)
8:38/mi

RUN SPLIT 4: 26.2 mi
6.2 mi (55:56)
9:01/mi

TOTAL RUN
26.2 mi (3:42:09)
8:28/mi

 

Overall – 10:29:46 (38/442 AG – 234/2565 OA)

 

So I accomplished everything I wanted and have left feeling very proud of myself. I have never placed higher in any race I have ever done, and I did it in an ironman. I think I’m finally ready to get my tattoo. 

 

I want to thank each and every one of you that contributed to making this race a success. That includes all the other athletes that took this journey with me this year. Congratulations to all of you. It was great spending time with all of you and your families. Hopefully I’ll see some of you at IMCDA 2012.

 

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