IM St. George Race Report
Ironman St. George May 5 2012.
69”, 166 lbs, 26 years old, 3rd IM
Pre Race
Travel to St. George was easy and uneventful. My wife and I drove up on Wednesday in a rental minivan. Minivans hold so much stuff! The bike went in without any disassembly. The drive from San Diego took about 7 hours of drive time. We made record time through Las Vegas. We arrived in St. George and went straight to the expo to make it in time for check-in. This is when we first encountered the friendly people of St. George. The locals are great, nothing but support for the race, they are impressive. Check-in went smooth; it only took about 10 minutes, including the USAT charge because I forgot my ID. Next we found the rental house and settled in. On Thursday we drove to the swim venue in Hurricane and then proceeded to drive the course through St. George, Gunlock, and Veyo. Then onto the team dinner at the Pasta Factory. Thanks so much for the team captains for setting up the weeks’ events. It was great to be a part of a team and not a loaner at another race of thousands of similar people. The EN team rocks. Friday was a long day for my wife, driving back and forth to Vegas picking up our family, but it was pretty quiet for me, thanks Babe. We got my T-bags dropped off early after sleeping in.
Race Day
Wake up at 0300. Ate 2 pop tarts and a bowl of frosted Mini-Wheats. I drank a glass of Gatorade and took an Odwalla Strawberry-C and water with me to the shuttle. I was dropped off at T-2, got my special needs bags turned in, stopped by T-2 and started my GPS watch for the run, and jumped on the shuttle. It all went pretty smooth. Arrived in T-1 and body marked immediately. Next stop was the John, all systems are firing. I borrowed a pump and got on the wetsuit while talking to my cheer section. I did put on sunscreen but I could have used a reapplication later in the day.
Swim Actual: 1:26 Projected: 1:10
The swim was one to remember. The water was a perfect low 60s. The wetsuit felt great (Desoto). I made my way out to the swim start and treaded for about 10 minutes. I seeded myself just left of the center of the swim lineup a few people back. The entire pack drifted forward of the start line prior to the gun. The thought went through my mind that the kayakers had no control out here… The start was uneventful and relatively spacious for an IM. The real fun began just prior to the first turn. The second leg of 300M brought a swell and a current pushing us to the right off course. This is when I realized the winds got wild. The field was blown apart and I was left with plenty of space. I don’t mind rough water and currents so I figured these conditions may help me. The next leg was 1800M straight into the waves and wind. Most of the buoys were blown off course so I just sighted off the mountains and island in the distance. I swam past the island and to the last buoy that was still in place only to find the final turn buoy had blown away. I then made a left to the boat ramp where the exit signs were all taken down due to the winds so it was hard to spot at first. I knew my swim would be slow based on the conditions and figured so be it.
I did see a lot of people cutting the course. The majority of the people around me seemed to be heading to the left of the island and straight to the boat ramp. I never got the word about a shortened course, but some say they did. I did see the rescue boats getting worked. The rescue boats are really just volunteers who own boats but seemed to not possess any other qualifications. The fact is that the swim should have not happened but the bad conditions started after the beginning of the swim. WTC apparently has no procedure for this which is surprising and piss poor. I’m just glad there were no serious injuries that I have heard about.
My background as a Rescue Swimmer in the Navy paid off for the rough water. My thoughts/lessons for this were to do a few over distance swims prior to the next race – you never know when you’ll be forced to swim for longer than the expected time/distance.
T-1 3:23
I ran past the strippers and took of my Desoto suit on the fly. It is great to not have to wait on the strippers. I grabbed my gear bag and headed into the tent: shoes, helmet, race number belt and I was gone. I grabbed my own bike and off I went. I put on my sunglasses while running to the mount line. It was great to have my race kit under the wetsuit and just go. In the past I would change into dry bike clothes but that takes too long. I trained to be able to bike in the Tri bibs and it worked great. I noticed that the majority of the bikes on my rack were still in place but come to find out a lot of the people cut the course!
Bike Actual: 6:58:06 Projected: Who knows the course is tough.
I guess this is where my day started to go south. My nutrition the days prior and on race day was exactly like training but my stomach failed me on the run. For the bike I used Infinite concentrated bottles just like training. I had a spare at the special needs. I had water in a Torhans Aero 30. The setup worked great. I left a spare cage behind the saddle for extra water which came in handy. My gearing was a 50-34 and an 11-28.
The entire ride was windy with gust but never too hot. Some of the worst gusts were in the first few miles. I stayed aero as much as possible. The first 30 minutes was only water then at 45 minutes I started using my Infinite every 15 chasing it with water, just like training. My FTP tested at 277 but for the purpose of the race I dialed it down to 265. I went conservative because of the course and the high winds, hoping to set up a great run. The road conditions are horrible and the Headwinds to Veyo were nasty. Up to Veyo I seemed to average just over 13 MPH but I stuck to my power plan of .70. ON the decent into St. George I was flying by people spinning out. I couldn’t keep my power up due to the downhill and tailwinds but I topped out at 56MPH! Most people were sitting up and coasting but I felt I could push when applicable due to conservative pacing on the way into the winds. Most people were Yo-Yoing me working way too hard on the up hills and now trying to recover instead of taking advantage of the downhill potential. My overall IF was only .607 and my VI was 1.09. These numbers seem like poor pacing but I don’t think they were as bad as they appear. It is hard to account for the almost 2 hours of downhill/tailwinds that will not allow for full power due to spinning out. My power was lower on the second loop. I think the winds and the rough roads got to me mentally. I just couldn’t seem to push the watts. It may have also been due to bad nutrition but I didn’t realize it at that time. Either way I did ride conservatively and thought I was set up for a good run.
Entire workout (147 watts):
Duration: 6:57:13
Work: 3637 kJ
TSS: 252.3 (intensity factor 0.607)
Norm Power: 161
VI: 1.09
Pw:HR: 13.06%
Pa:HR: -32.89%
Distance: 111.632 mi
Elevation Gain: 5948 ft
Elevation Loss: 6203 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-264 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 370 147 watts
Heart Rate: 99 211 147 bpm
Cadence: 5 116 81 rpm
Speed: 0 56 16.0 mph
Pace 1:04 0:00 3:44 min/mi
Altitude: 2762 4676 3505 ft
Crank Torque: 0 1512 161 lb-in
Temperature: 60.8 89.6 73.1 Fahrenheit
T-2
I don’t have an official T-2 time but I know it was relatively fast. I left the shoes on the bike. Ran through the transition area. Socks and shoes went on in the tent. The rest of the goods were in a Ziploc and I put them on while running. The tent looked more like a trauma center than a race. There were several people puking and another couple zoned out like zombies.
Run Actual 5:42:20 Projected 4:09
My VDOT is currently 51. The Heat Pace App had me running an average of 9:09 and finishing in a little over 4 hours. This obviously did not pan out. My legs felt great and ready to rock, but I couldn’t breathe very well. It didn’t take long for me to figure out it wasn’t going to be my day. At the first aid station I realized I couldn’t eat or drink anything. I couldn’t even swallow a whole cup of water. I knew that I had to find a solution to keep moving. I tried using the John – not much happened. I tried resetting my stomach but I couldn’t make myself puke. I walked a lot during the first few miles to settle and took only ice to let it melt and drink slowly. I watched my heart rate but it was right where it should have been for moving that slow AVG of 126, MAX of 155.. I just couldn’t take deep breaths nor full swallows. The rest of my run (walk) ended on about 12 ounces of coke, 4 orange slices, and a whole lot of ice chips. After the half way point I realized my day was shot and I focused on enjoying myself. I thanked all the volunteers, cheered on the ENers I spotted, talked to a few strangers, and enjoyed the sights and sounds. It was a lot longer day than I am used to and I gained a new appreciation for the folks that stay out all night. I did enjoy and soak up the finish line for the first time.
Finish Time: 14:06:40, Division 56/144, Overall 524/1500ish
Closing thoughts/Homework
1: Figure out my nutrition. It worked in training but not in the race. Maybe it was a mix of the altitude and the desert. I have trained in similar heat leading up to the race but not the dryness of the desert. Previous experiences in CO have told me I do not fair well at altitude. I think the altitude + the desert = a spoiled nutrition plan for me.
2: Reevaluate my training for IMFL. I will add a few over-distance swims in the final 4 weeks before IMFL. I will also add in a few mini-BBWs through the summer. Probably 4 days with an emphasis on BBW type miles.
3: WTC typically is the cream of the crop for race organization but I don’t think they have that honor anymore after this disaster.
I guess the best part of the story is that I finished, achieving my number one goal. In my age group Men 25-29 only 70 finished out of the 144 total starters.
Thank you to everyone on the team. It was a fun experience building up with the team and the race week was great with all of the EN folks there together. I am looking forward to IMFL! My redemption run
!!!
Comments
Tough day! Good for you for getting it done. You have my admiration.
Nice write up about the day. Looks like everyone went through the same stuff.
Thanks alot for you, your wife and mom saying hi to me at end. I appreciated it.
I have IMAZ and you have IMFL......that'll seem like a breeze won't it? Nice for us to have a relatively easy IM course to get pumped about this fall.
As far as overdistance, I believe in it. I typically do 1-2 4500meter swims before hand. I just helps me feel less fatiqued at the end of the swim.
Don't be shy on the forums. Looking forward to seeing a FAST IMFL for you!!!