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Julia Herrmann: my first black eye (IMAZ 2017 race report)
IMAZ was my 7th ironman and my 3rd at AZ. (first two were back to back in 2009 & 2010). My major goal was to have a good run (meaning avg 11min/mi).
Swim (1:17): I decided to go sleeveless with a thermal cap because the *air* was going to be so cold when I got out. And they said no booties on the swim? If someone could explain they why of that to me I would be most grateful. I've never seen anything like that in the rules/regulations. No, 67 degree water temp is not that cold, but when the air is 50 something, I want warm feet going in and coming out. And sure enough, coming out of the water my feet got cone-chilling cold getting into T1. But I've digressed already.
I wanted to seed with the 1:10-1:20 group, but as we walked up, we mushed with the 1:00 group... Entering the water itself was very easy with the rolling start - only a few people on the steps at once, which made it very calm. Until you get in the water and everyone is starting out fast (for me) because they are shooting for an hour. I didn't get run over, but it was way faster then I wanted. Soon my goggles started to leak (which almost never happens!) so I flipped onto my back to kick and let the water out and -KABOOM-, I get clocked in the eye. I did not realize how the stroke in freestyle can be so much like a bar fight. After the stars cleared I decided I could handle a little water in my goggles. I struggled a bit with too high heart rate, but finally settled into my stroke, focusing on form, counting strokes, and spotting. I could have touched every single buoy. The rest of the swim was thankfully uneventful and I was happy with my time in spite of the bonk on the head and the rough start.
T1 (~6min): frozen feet. But got my stuff and headed out to the bike. Went for very simple, minimalist. I heart the volunteers with sunscreen although I forgot to get my face. (ow!)
Bike: (5:56): I think one of the best things is that we take that time to settle in on the bike. It wasn't too cold once we got going and the sun started to warm everything up. But right away I could feel the wind.... I did my JRA, and as we head up beeline, I can start to feel the road a little too much. Anxious, I check my back tire and it's just fine. But, I had a flat on the front. After I thought "AUGH!" I thought "oh thank god it's the front tire." I had just found the offending little metal sliver when race support drove up and got me back out on the course in about 2 minutes. By that time, pretty much everyone else was also on the bike course and I had to begin the game of balancing my power goals and not getting a drafting penalty. And that pesky wind. Flags were flying straight and square everywhere I looked, which felt a bit intimidating. But I told myself that the headwind up means a tailwind down. And sure enough, my times from Shea back to transition were 30 minutes faster than my times out. Yay target zones! 30 mph is just fine as long as I am at my 70% target. I did start to get a bit toasty at the end of the second lap going out for the third and final lap, so I found that what worked best was to nibble on a gel, wash it down with some water, and pour some of that water on me. Every five minutes. But it kept me going and on target and sane, especially into the wind. (when I get hot I get loopy). Finished the bike relatively uneventfully and thought I might PR the bike, but forced myself to stay on target the last half lap because I wouldn't be able to live with the bike PR if the run gets screwed up.
T2 (~6 min): It was as if my body had frozen in the aero position and my legs were incapable of any movement other than pedaling. I was very surprised at how stiff I was, and as such, needed to take a bit more time just traveling around transition (usually I am in and out in 4 minutes).
Run (4:39): This was my big win for the day. I blew my own mind by never crossing the infamous "line." Usually it hits me at mile 22. I run really hot and so when the sun was out I was just praying for it to go away. I had a water bottle with me for the first 16 miles so I could pour it on myself and not have to wait for transition. I think it did help but I was anxious to get rid of it once the sun went away as it was awkward running with it. For me the run is always a game of figuring out what I need and how much. The bottom line is that I need salt, but the most efficient way can vary. Last time at Ironman Canada I could not stomach blocks, so I did e-gels. This time I could not stomach e-gels but could do blocks. Go figure. I would take a sip of scratch labs about every half mile or so, and then I took to the gatorade at the aid stations after mile 16 when I had ditched the water bottle and it was easier to use two hands. Although I didn't train with Gatorade this time, I had trained with it years ago, and recalled it had lots of salt. And it was great. I don't know if it made a difference but my mental game was different this time too. Usually I break things down into smaller bits, and am constantly evaluating and doing math. This time I thought "Just RUN. Stay present. Stay strong. Just RUN, Julia!" By stay present I mean listen to my body's needs for water/salt, etc., and stay in tune with your pace. Nothing else. Who knew I could do that for 26.2 miles, and almost five hours. Well, it paid off. I was never 100% sure what mile I was in, but the point was that it didn't matter. I didn't want to think about anything else but the right now and keep going. And before I knew it I was flying through the miles that were normally the crazy zone (22-26). I tried not to think about it but just kept going. In fact miles 24 and 26 were under 10 min/mile each. And then I was on Rio Salado and it was time to get on home. When I crossed the finish line I thought I was going to cry. I couldn't believe I did it!!
Total (12:05:25)
I am still a little high from it all and very very happy. It was a fantastic race and I crushed my old PR by 37 minutes.
Swim (1:17): I decided to go sleeveless with a thermal cap because the *air* was going to be so cold when I got out. And they said no booties on the swim? If someone could explain they why of that to me I would be most grateful. I've never seen anything like that in the rules/regulations. No, 67 degree water temp is not that cold, but when the air is 50 something, I want warm feet going in and coming out. And sure enough, coming out of the water my feet got cone-chilling cold getting into T1. But I've digressed already.
I wanted to seed with the 1:10-1:20 group, but as we walked up, we mushed with the 1:00 group... Entering the water itself was very easy with the rolling start - only a few people on the steps at once, which made it very calm. Until you get in the water and everyone is starting out fast (for me) because they are shooting for an hour. I didn't get run over, but it was way faster then I wanted. Soon my goggles started to leak (which almost never happens!) so I flipped onto my back to kick and let the water out and -KABOOM-, I get clocked in the eye. I did not realize how the stroke in freestyle can be so much like a bar fight. After the stars cleared I decided I could handle a little water in my goggles. I struggled a bit with too high heart rate, but finally settled into my stroke, focusing on form, counting strokes, and spotting. I could have touched every single buoy. The rest of the swim was thankfully uneventful and I was happy with my time in spite of the bonk on the head and the rough start.
T1 (~6min): frozen feet. But got my stuff and headed out to the bike. Went for very simple, minimalist. I heart the volunteers with sunscreen although I forgot to get my face. (ow!)
Bike: (5:56): I think one of the best things is that we take that time to settle in on the bike. It wasn't too cold once we got going and the sun started to warm everything up. But right away I could feel the wind.... I did my JRA, and as we head up beeline, I can start to feel the road a little too much. Anxious, I check my back tire and it's just fine. But, I had a flat on the front. After I thought "AUGH!" I thought "oh thank god it's the front tire." I had just found the offending little metal sliver when race support drove up and got me back out on the course in about 2 minutes. By that time, pretty much everyone else was also on the bike course and I had to begin the game of balancing my power goals and not getting a drafting penalty. And that pesky wind. Flags were flying straight and square everywhere I looked, which felt a bit intimidating. But I told myself that the headwind up means a tailwind down. And sure enough, my times from Shea back to transition were 30 minutes faster than my times out. Yay target zones! 30 mph is just fine as long as I am at my 70% target. I did start to get a bit toasty at the end of the second lap going out for the third and final lap, so I found that what worked best was to nibble on a gel, wash it down with some water, and pour some of that water on me. Every five minutes. But it kept me going and on target and sane, especially into the wind. (when I get hot I get loopy). Finished the bike relatively uneventfully and thought I might PR the bike, but forced myself to stay on target the last half lap because I wouldn't be able to live with the bike PR if the run gets screwed up.
T2 (~6 min): It was as if my body had frozen in the aero position and my legs were incapable of any movement other than pedaling. I was very surprised at how stiff I was, and as such, needed to take a bit more time just traveling around transition (usually I am in and out in 4 minutes).
Run (4:39): This was my big win for the day. I blew my own mind by never crossing the infamous "line." Usually it hits me at mile 22. I run really hot and so when the sun was out I was just praying for it to go away. I had a water bottle with me for the first 16 miles so I could pour it on myself and not have to wait for transition. I think it did help but I was anxious to get rid of it once the sun went away as it was awkward running with it. For me the run is always a game of figuring out what I need and how much. The bottom line is that I need salt, but the most efficient way can vary. Last time at Ironman Canada I could not stomach blocks, so I did e-gels. This time I could not stomach e-gels but could do blocks. Go figure. I would take a sip of scratch labs about every half mile or so, and then I took to the gatorade at the aid stations after mile 16 when I had ditched the water bottle and it was easier to use two hands. Although I didn't train with Gatorade this time, I had trained with it years ago, and recalled it had lots of salt. And it was great. I don't know if it made a difference but my mental game was different this time too. Usually I break things down into smaller bits, and am constantly evaluating and doing math. This time I thought "Just RUN. Stay present. Stay strong. Just RUN, Julia!" By stay present I mean listen to my body's needs for water/salt, etc., and stay in tune with your pace. Nothing else. Who knew I could do that for 26.2 miles, and almost five hours. Well, it paid off. I was never 100% sure what mile I was in, but the point was that it didn't matter. I didn't want to think about anything else but the right now and keep going. And before I knew it I was flying through the miles that were normally the crazy zone (22-26). I tried not to think about it but just kept going. In fact miles 24 and 26 were under 10 min/mile each. And then I was on Rio Salado and it was time to get on home. When I crossed the finish line I thought I was going to cry. I couldn't believe I did it!!
Total (12:05:25)
I am still a little high from it all and very very happy. It was a fantastic race and I crushed my old PR by 37 minutes.
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Comments
Congratulations on the PR and a great day/memory! An IM PR is never an accident.
Keep Leading!
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