IM Arizona Race Report
Well, it;s over. I started with En to train for CDA 2010. Had a big FAIL due to stomach bug the day of the race. I lost almost 8 pounds from 1 am to 5pm race morning at CDA 2010. Finished in 16:2?:?? Needless to say I was glad to finish thanks to new execution plands from RnP race morning. Sooo...
Im AZ 2011 is the comeback. Training went well other than missing a few Sunday rides.
Saturday - Kids run with the fam and chilling until the Swim practice. Suited up I realized I forgot my goggles. Borrowed some from a friend of ours and jumped in. The water was biting and I thought "crap" it's going to be a long Sunday. The swim is not my best but I felt better this year than last year. Great lunch and dinner, napped, made phone calls, listened to music and had a family meeting over dinner talking about plans for their day. Said goodnight and actually slept really well.
RACE MORNING
Wake up at 5 am and down and Advocare Berry shake, sip on REHYDRATE the rest of the morning. We get to transition, set up the joule, sync my garmin and head back for pics with the family. Hugs and kisses and Im off through transition. I have my gear bag with me and the plan was to give it to my wife. Well plans change and 3 minutes to race time I am by the run special needs waiting to hand it off as well as my wedding ring since it would slide off in the swim due to 35 pound weight loss. Well, no family around and wetsuit around my waist I hit the the orange can and headed over to transition to drop my gear bag trying not to freak out. A volunteer saves my life by grabbing my bag and wishing me luck. Waiting to head into the water I get the wetsuit all the way on while talking to peeps around me. I realize I still have my wedding ring on as the volunteers are rushing to get the last of us in the water shouting 60 seconds. Wedding ring gets tucked into my left sleeve. Mental note "don't forget ring when you come out of the water.
SWIM - 1:29:02
I hit the water and head toward the start. Still under the bridge the race starts without me. I know I'm at the back and don't really worry to much. Im shooting for a 13 - 14 hour day. First 400 meters I stop about 4 times to empty my goggles. No biggie Im feeling relaxed, no nerves for once. I wish I knew why. So starting at the back I was expecting around a 1:35 swim and to not be passing to many others. I hit the turn around, see paddle boarders jumping in to get people and pray that they are okay and am thankful its not me.
i swam a little off course on the way out so decided to stay closer in to the buoys on the way in. I swam well but kept crawling over people which slowed me down but i came to the stairs safely feeling fine and relaxed. grabbed the rail with my right hand, put my left hand on the step and pressed myself up. I volunteer held me down from standing and all of a sudden my right hamstring locked up. What is this day setting me up for? I don't know why he held me down. So up the stairs as I unzip and start to remove my suit , i get it down to my waist and get to the strippers and scream "oh crap". I sprint back to the top of the stairs with volunteers asking whats wrong. "I lost my wedding ring" About 2 minutes later a girl runs up yelling "I found it! Go! GO!" Im trying to thank her as she pushes me to the strippers and just says hurry. VOLUNTEERS ROCK!!
T1 - 11:29 uneventful except for the ring
BIKE - 5:47:53
Great mojo on the ride form EN teammates and Family members and of course Rich. Headed out pretty easy on the bike for the first hour. I started trying to hit my watts but couldn't seem to get there. No worries, it is a long day. Better to be ready for the run and not screw anything up. I stopped on the second and third lap to hit the orange can and get my infinit refilled. Bike was almost perfect except I didn't hit my watts. I also sat up a few times and backed off due to not being able to pass a pack of cheaters ant certain points.
goal watts 180/ time goal 5:40
Lap1-168/.67 (1:50:26)
lap 2- 178/.6871:58:45
lap 3- 168/.66 (1:58:42)
T2- 3:31 uneventful
RUN - 4:48:23
Listening to the 4 keys talk on Saturday the words Rich uttered were "it's gonna suck out there at some point. If you think its not..." He also said "you can make it suck at mile 18 or later or you can make it suck earlier... Let it come to you." Well, I chose the last bit but screwed up before that!
MIles 1-8: Chose to do the whole loop as 10:00 (easy pace +:30) then drop into 9:30 pace. This went perfect, I felt strong, rewarded myself a walk at the aid station for 20 seconds and was on track.
Miles 9-10. perfect. Feeling good at 9:30. Then things changed.
Miles 11-14: DIZZY the whole time. Saw my family here again and my youngest son said lets run! I needed to stop and let the dizziness go away. He was pulling on my arm and saying lets go. He was so excited I wanted to break down and cry since I NEEED to shut it down for a second. Lisa asked if I have been eating and I realized that The 200 calories of infinit I was using for the run was still 100 calories sitting in my hand. I should have already been starting on my next 200 calorie bottle. At this point my kids and wife walked me to the station before the BAH ( big ass hill) and I grabbed solid food figuring grapes and oranges to be the best bet. I finished the infinit too. Walked the hill, Got rid of the dizziness and ran to the next aid station where I was dizzy again. Continued the walk until dizzines left which was around mile 18. Also, Saw Rich and my wife on Motivational mile. told him I got this. Had no idea what my time was or how much further I had, I just knew that when I was running I was decent. If i could stop walking I would be better. Walked with my wife across the bridge gave her a quick kiss and went to finish
Miles 15-end: Even with all this walking I was able to average 12 minute miles so when I was running I was moving at a decent pace and I finally wasn't dizzy after 18. After 4 miles of the extra walking and trying to get rid of the fog in my head I was scared it would come back (sissy) so I continued walking too much. By the time I was at my last 3 miles i was at an 11:15 average with a good pace while not walking. dance of the eleven minute superstars!
Also, Saw Rich and my wife on Motivational mile. told him I got this. Had no idea what my time was or how much further I had, I just knew that when I was running I was decent. If i could stop walking I would be better. Walked with my wife across the bridge gave her a quick kiss and went to finish. Family was there, I was smiling. Loved It.
And my HR strap was messed up so no comments please. HA
I messed up my garmin splits as some are 2 miles long but oh well. Thanks to the team, the coaches my family and everyone out on the course cheering for Endurance nation. I could not have done this without everyone together. It was a great day.
Lessons learned: Focus on run Nutrition. Don't zone out. Have a good time and enjoy the day and whatever is thrown at you. Thank the volunteers your family and encourage your teammates all day; all year. Don't bring the suck yo you.
I have a ton more but I think this post is long enough. Thanks everyone.
Split  |
Time |
Moving Time |
Distance |
Avg Pace |
Avg Moving Pace |
Best Pace |
Avg HR |
Max HR |
Calories |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summary | 5:33:29.9 | 5:04:47.0 | 27.08 | 12:19 | 11:15 | 3:09 | 144 | 144 | 3,379 |
| 1 | 9:58.6 | 9:58 | 1.01 | 9:55 | 9:55 | 8:49 | -- | -- | 127 |
| 2 | 9:58.5 | 9:57 | 1.00 | 10:01 | 9:59 | 8:53 | 144 | 144 | 131 |
| 3 | 10:06.6 | 10:08 | 1.00 | 10:05 | 10:06 | 8:57 | 144 | 144 | 131 |
| 4 | 9:55.1 | 9:41 | 1.00 | 9:57 | 9:43 | 8:53 | 144 | 144 | 131 |
| 5 | 9:52.8 | 9:53 | 1.00 | 9:51 | 9:52 | 7:33 | 144 | 144 | <td class="rich-table-cell" id="j_id197:normalTable:4:t8" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 4px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 4px; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-color: rgb(229, 229, 229); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: rgb(229, 229, 229); font-size: 11px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font: normal normal normal 12px/normal 'lucida grande', arial, verdana, sans-serif; text-alig
Comments
Paul - Congrats on your AZ finish. Even with some nutrition issues, it sounds like a much better day than the one you had @ CDA in 2010. I raced CDA this year and that's a tough course to race with a stomach flu. Just finishing CDA while sick shows your toughness. Again, congrats on your success this year in AZ.
Hey Paul,
Great to see you out there getting it done! Congrats!
Good save on the wedding ring! I know which lake mine is in!!!
Good steady splits on the bike. Good recovery on the run. Yep lack of cals will catch up to one in a long day. Way to stay with it and get it done! Recover well.