IMAZ Race Report

I woke up  on  Iron day feeling more  relaxed than I've felt before any of my other races.  Meeting Rich and Patrick  and  the  rest  of the team really gave me a head of steam and made me feel like I had some wisdom and mojo in my pockets that  I hadn't had before.   

I got off to a good  start on the swim, counting my strokes and keeping them long.  It was definitely bumpy.  With the wide course, a lot  of  people  were zig-zagging across to find a line, so there  was a lot of struggle to find space.  Still, I felt pretty strong.  When I got out, my time was only about a minute over what I'd done in my race rehearsal in the pool, so I felt pretty good, considering the number of  human-shaped speed bumps that came with the open water swim.

Transition was a little slow.  Fortunately there was a lot of room on the grass, so I was able to stay away from the very crowded changing tent.  Definitely a good  idea for anyone doing this event in the future  to get a feel for the swim to bike transition steps.

Hit the bike and despite the chilly air, wasn't super cold.  Started to feel some vibration in my rear tire and realized sure enough air was running out of  my tire.  Turned out a wire was embedded in the rubber.  Changed up pretty fast.  2 mechanics actually showed up pretty quickly  and helped me.  On that note,  I  have to say I was really impressed  with tech support - saw scooters everywhere on the course.  

There was a pretty stiff headwind going  up the highway, but of course a tailwind coming back, so I was flying.   Felt pretty good  about  sticking  to my race plan.  Have to say the  drafting out there  was RIDICULOUS.  There were moments  it looked like a pro bike  race with people coming down in full-on packs down the highway.   Have to say that the sin bins were empty whenever I rode by.  Seems like there could have been more officiating.  

I did have a little trouble with my nutrition.  I had  two 3 hour bottles mixed up for the ride.  Because I had trouble with  digestion chasing the dense mix with a water chaser during rehearsal, my practice has been to mix some of the dense solution with water in my aero drink  bottle as I  go along.  However, I made  the  mistake of losing concentration and squeezing 2 hours worth of  nutrition  in one shot  into  my aero drink early on, so my pattern got of synch and I was drinking  some really strong fluid for a while.  Did this contribute to stomach  problems later on in  my race?  Not sure.

As I got to the last half of my 3rd loop, my legs were feeling a little wonky,  so I tried to follow RnP's advice of better safe than sorry on the bike, and took my watts down by about 10 to try and save my legs a little more.  Still felt pretty good though, and had an awesome bunch of family waving me  back into Tempe.  Had a much quicker bike to run transition, and for the moment, felt good.

As I hit the run, I tried to keep my pace down.  My Garmin was reading 8:50 and I was trying to get down to the race plan 10:07.  I was literally pumping my legs up higher to slow down.  I was able to get my pace down, and feel steady.  Then things got interesting.  About mile 5, my stomach started feeling funky.  I can push through muscular pain, but queasiness is something different.  I tried a little of everything in the  aid station: coke, gatorade and water.  Nothing  helped.  I tried stopping, using the port-a-potty.  Still sick.  I've never  been able to make myself puke, so that was a no-go.  When I drank a full cup of water, I got a wicked stomach cramp, so  I stuck to sucking on ice and very small portions  of water.  

Through the rest of the run, I alternated between some walking with the best run I could  manage.  One thing that helped,  was simply closing my eyes and letting myself get inside my legs, finding a place where there was strength.  Staying in my box was crucial.  I focused on the next lamppost,  or the next tree or  the next aid station.  I looked away from the runners around me and stayed on the task at hand.

Through all of  this, I was so glad to see so many spectators  scattered throughout the course.  The goofy aid stations with pirate costumes etc. and so many people shouting my name made a huge difference.  The big high-five from Patrick bought  me at least a another  mile.   My one  thing  changed too.  I decided that if I finished, I would be able to look back at this experience and know "I didn't quit.  I'm not a quitter."  And that was what I needed.  The "one thing" really works.  

Middle of the 3rd loop, I looked at the time and realized, almost no matter what, I'd be able to beat my time of 14:01 from my first Ironman.  I'd been hoping to do much better, but I'd take it.  In the finish chute, I was able to see my parents in the stands and my sister was close enough that I was able to give her a big hug.   I'd seen the stands going up the day before, but nothing prepared me for what the finish chute actually was like.  I was totally spent, and I puked for the first time at the end of any race, but I made it.  Those 4 keys really work, and though there are some things I need  to dial in and figure out for Lake Placid next year (and I will finish Lake Placid), had I not focused on my one thing and listened to those execution podcasts, I'm not sure I'd have finished another Ironman.  Thank you everyone in the haus!  I'm ready for another year.