Ironman Arizona Race Report - 21 November 2010

Warning! This is a very long post with many details...
Wow, what a day! I finished in 11:51:07, bettering last year’s time of 12:32:02 and succeeding in landing between my “A” dream goal of 11:40 and “B” realistic goal of 11:59:59. I was 30^th of 172 (or 150 depending on who's counting) men in my age group and overall 584^th of at least 2361 that started.

Woke up at 4:00 at Hyatt Place in Mesa, Arizona, not having slept real well. At 2am I was up and so ate a little something before going back to sleep for 2 more hours. Ate, showered to bring my core temperature up, shaved, dressed, sunscreened, gathered everything together (and double-checked my list to be sure I remembered everything), and went down to the van. We made a wrong turn heading to the freeway and I was not exactly tolerant of the mistake - pre-race stress. It was a whole 2 minute delay!

I arrived at Transition around 5:15 with my good friend and Sherpa, having been driven by my wife and dropped off. It was warmer than usual, around 60 degrees. I did NOT forget anything, unlike last year when I forgot my bike nutrition bottle. Got all my nutrition loaded on the bike, pumped my tire, and sent my Sherpa back to the hotel, though not before saying one last goodbye to my wife on this cell phone. Took my Special Needs bags over to the proper drop off spots, did a quick 10 min warmup run, and then stood in line for the bathrooms. It was pretty crowded. Seems like I waited 20 min but I’m not sure. Put my shoes into my T2 bag, slipped on my throwaway socks and a pair of flipflops, and went to find a place to put on my wetsuit. Shared some BodyGlide with someone and got help with the final wetsuit zip up by a volunteer. Turned in my morning clothes bag and made my way through the “Swim Out” inflatable. It took longer to get ready than I expected but at least I didn’t feel rushed like last year.

My swim split was pretty close to being right on as predicted, with a time of 1:03:07 (1:00:49 last year), a time I’m pleased with given my diagnosis of a 75% tear in one of my rotator cuff tendons, arthritic issues and pain in my AC (acromium clavicle) joint, and a loss of 5 weeks training back in Aug/Sept. About 2/3rds of the way through the swim, I got a severe cramp in my left calf. I considered stopping to take care of it but eventually got my foot flexed just right and it eased. The cramp returned even more strongly about 500 meters later and the flexing wasn’t causing relief. My mind was racing to make decisions. Should I stop? Would I be able to walk when I finished? Would this screw up my ride or run? I’ve had plenty of these in the pool over the years and when the muscle contracts and won’t release for some time, using that muscle becomes less than pleasant. After a few seconds, it completely stopped me and I bobbed vertically in the water trying to decide whether or not to look for a lifeguard’s paddleboard to hang onto until I got it to release. My impatience and desire to keep going won out and I managed to release it again by flexing my foot. This isn’t exactly the most streamlined, efficient way to swim but better than the alternative!

I found the swim to be a little more crowded up near the front compared to last year. Maybe that was because I wasn’t one of the first ones in the water this time, jumping in around 6:43 or 6:45. Maybe it was my positioning. Or maybe it was because I was 2 minutes slower. The water was expected to be a cold 60ish degrees but to me it felt warmer. Not sure what it actually was. I seeded myself about 3 people back from the lead row and this time I was on the side, one half to 1/3 closest to the buoy. A few minutes before the cannon went off I noticed a much clearer spot barely 10 yards closer to the buoys and moved there.

I was jostled and banged into quite often for the first few 100m but then it eased, only to be randomly bumped some more. Took a few bumps to my arms as I got tangled with other swimmers. Also got a sharp kick to the ribs. No matter where you swim it’s always frustrating to suddenly be bumping into people when you think you’re swimming straight. The trouble is everyone else thinks they are going straight too! I managed to draft off of other swimmers to some degree maybe up to 50% of the time. I will say that I was frustrated with the person who kept banging into me once we turned towards the stairs, 100 yards from the swim exit. He was obviously not going straight. Either was a guy to my right who swam way wide and off course. Of all places to be able to swim straight, that would seem to be the easiest place. So it goes!

My T1 was slow at 6:53(7:32 last year). I blame it on the cold and a lack of assistance in the tent because of the number of bodies in there. It’s surprising how much more crowded the changing tent was by my getting out of the water 2 minutes slower than in 2009.

The bike split of 5:45:11(5:44:22 last year) was 5 minutes slower than predicted but the conditions were also tougher than predicted. While the temperatures were more mild than usual, the winds blew up to 35 mph with occasional gusts to 40 mph. My bike splits going out of town and uphill were faster than the downhill splits! It also rained for much of the hour during the 2^nd half of my 2^nd out-and-back. This was only the 2^nd time I’d ever ridden in the rain. As a result I learned that every time you steer around a curve or corner that water coming off the front tire drenches your foot. I know that’s probably obvious to most but even with rain during my last 6 weeks of training I managed to avoid riding in it for all but about 10 short minutes.

On the first loop going out, an official warned me (I think) not to get too close to the guy in front of me. I was mindful of this for the rest of the ride, first because I want to abide by the no drafting rule and not “cheat” and also because I don’t want the referee to have to decide to give a 54 year old geezer a 4 minute penalty. During the 2nd loop I took water from an aid station for the first time and it was very uneventful. After filling up my aero bottle on the handlebars, I tossed the bottle, and then retrieve an electrolyte tablet (Nuun brand) to drop in. When I returned the container to the bar on my bike’s top tube I missed and it went rolling across the highway. Not a disaster since I had plenty of electrolytes available, but disappointing. It was also amusing to me that I messed up on something so simple. In fact, what I thought about most was that I lost the container with an attached lid; disappointing.

Until now, 5 days later, I was neutral about my bike split. Now that I’ve looked at the results on the website I realize that most people struggled in the weather conditions. I had just assumed that since the wind was pretty much blowing in the same direction the whole time that its net effect was zero. My time was within a minute of last year’s so I just figured I hadn’t made much improvement. But when I compared my age croup placing and overall placing to last year I had made a significant improvement. In this case being able to compared with everyone’s times this year and last year added a perspective I didn’t get from the my raw times.

T2 was also slower than expected at 6:40(6:11 last year). I struggled to get my socks on and I also used that time to take a bathroom break. With a surgically removed large intestine, I must visit the port-a-potty more often than most. Last year I had to do the same thing but chose to do it right after the start of the marathon after transition which made the run time last year a couple minutes longer.

The run split was 4:49:16 (5:33:10 last year). Not exactly fast but for me it was very good. My 1 stand-alone marathon time is 4:29:12 so in spite of how difficult the run was and how poorly I ran it, I’m pleased. My first 3 miles were much too hard and too fast. So were the next few subsequent miles. I don’t know but for me the toughest thing about an Ironman may just be running the 1^st 5 or so miles at a low heart rate and under control at a slower pace. Every time I looked at my HR monitor it would be too high. I’d try to back off but then the next thing I knew it was way up again. I ran using the run-walk technique, running to a mile marker and walking 30 or more seconds and running to an aid station and doing the same thing. This usually meant I averaged 2 walk breaks every mile.

I was forced to make one more pit stop early on the 2^nd loop. Then, at around mile 17 I had a meltdown, having run too fast at the start (allowing my HR to drift into the zone 4 range). I was struggling. I couldn’t keep my focus, I couldn’t walk straight, and I had a tough time running. Mental function was pretty limited. At one point I stopped completely, bending over and resting my hands on my knees. My GI tract wasn’t happy with me either. Don’t know if it was too many calories or water and electrolytes or what. I did something you are not supposed to do: I tried something on race day that I didn’t practice with. I drank some cola! You may think, what’s the big deal? We’ll the last time I drank a soda of ANY kind, let alone one with sugar in it, was 1998! It actually seemed to work, picking me up some. It didn’t completely stay down but I don’t think it was any worse than what I was already doing.

Although I had strong intensions of not walking the little hill that first appears around mile 5 or so, I ended up walking most of it on loops 2 and 3. It seemed like it was taking too big of a toll on me to run it all the way.

I pushed through and pretty much ran the last 3 miles except for 2 short walk breaks. The last 1.5 miles were pretty strong, steady, and painful. I had envisioned the finish many times, seeing my finish time and being jubilant and euphoric. Instead I had tunnel vision, barely seeing the absolutely great crowd, not seeing the clock, hearing my whole family cheering but not hearing Mike Riley call me an Ironman. I did feel exhausted but triumphant. The catcher volunteer held me up so I wouldn’t fall over and was about to take me to the medical tent. I asked to walk around a little so 2 of them supported me, draped in a mylar blanket. The more I walked the better I felt and so the guy went to help other finishers. The woman helped me go over so I could hug and kiss my wife and my mom, who surprised me with her arrival yesterday. (I never thought she would do it as she is devoted to my dad who has Alzheimer’s. She visits him every day.) Then I saw my friend (and chief driver and shepa for this trip). I hugged him, my son and his girlfriend, my 2^nd son, and my “foster” son.

They handed me an O’Douls nonalcoholic beer and I got my picture taken with it and the medal. I was very emotional over the next hour, crying at least 4 times, grateful to have so much support, grateful for the opportunity to participate in such an amazing event, happy to have my wife and mom here, pleased that I pushed myself as hard as I did to achieve a pretty good goal, and relieved to be done.

After the picture I went for some food. Since I’m a vegan (except for fish), pizza is not something I can eat. The French fries, one of my favorite things but something I’ve mostly given up for training, would have been good but were even too salty for me, and I’m salting lunatic! The only thing that tasted good was the O’Douls! Signed up for a massage as my legs were killing me. It was fantastic! Went and collected my things, immediately changing into warmer clothes as I was shivering cold.

My intension was to go back to the hotel, take an ice bath, clean up, and return to the finish line. My Get Sladed Nation was starving for dinner though and it didn’t take much to convince me to go out for dinner instead. I didn’t get to bed until 2:15 and then woke at 5:15 when my wife and friend both got up to take people to the airport.

We had some breakfast and then headed for the Roll Down. I’d never been and wanted to see what goes on. From there we walked to the Awards Banquet breakfast. The highlight was hearing Chrissie Wellington talk about her victory and world record.

My wife, my friend, and I hit the road around 12:30 for the 6+ hour drive back to San Diego.

Some of the unusual sights and observations from the race:

·         2 dead, mostly desiccated coyote carcasses on the side of the road during the ride.

·         First time I’ve actually seen people peeing on the bike as they ride. The first was a 40 year old woman (who was faster than me). Next was a 39 year old woman. I felt like they were marking their territory, telling me not to pass, that their lead was insurmountable!

·         Lots of dropped sandwiches on the bike course. I know some people insist on having this but it seems to me to be very cumbersome and difficult to access. I don’t really understand why people can’t forgo a sandwich for lunch for just one day. It seems like something more convenient would be make a lot more sense.

·         On the run some woman had a sign that read, “Spandex butts drive me nuts” so I shook mine at her, which made her cheer

·         The Phoenix Triathlon Club’s aid station where the male members were dressed as police officers in short-shorts and 70’s era mustaches and the women were dressed in revealing police outfits.

·         Running with a smile garners more cheers and encouragement from strangers. I lost the smile most of the time for loop 3.

·         Wearing a pink cap with a breast cancer ribbon also gets attention, at least on a man.

·         Did anyone see their Ford Inspirational Message on the board? I don’t know if my chip wasn’t activating their mat or what but mine never appeared.

Lessons from the Day

 I learned a number of things from this race that I can use in the future.

·         Put chamois butter/cream in T1, T2, and both special needs bags.

·         Placing backup nutrition in the bike special needs bag is a good idea.

·         Running at an easy pace/jogging for the first few miles may be the hardest thing I need to force myself to do.

·         I need to more accurately calculate my hydration needs on the run.

·         I can continue to improve my run, both in endurance and speed.

·         I need help from a coach regarding my riding posture and body position. I can feel that I don’t have a consistent position and question what position might be most powerful and efficient.

·         I need to do more work riding my own bike so that riding in the aero position becomes easier.

Goals, Splits, and Places

2010 – 11:51:07 – splits 1:03:07 / 6min54s / 5:45:11 (19.5mph) / 6min41s / 4:49:16 (11:03/mi)

30^th place out of 150 Men 50-54, 551 of 2361 overall; swim 7^th, 247^th; bike 26^th, 427^th; run 55^th, 1032th

2009 – 12:32:02 – splits 1:00:49 / 7min32s / 5:44:22 (19.51mph) / 6min 11s / 5:33 (12:43/mi)

59^th place out of 170 Men 50-54, 1132 of 2516 overall; swim 2^nd, 170^th; bike 50^th, 780^th; run 104^th, 1748^th)
A Goal - 11:40 Dream goal - splits 1:04 (1:32/100yd / 5 min / 5:40 (19.77mph) / 4min / 4:48 - (11 min/mile)
B Goal - 11:59 - splits 1:04 (1:32/100yd) / 5 min / 5:40 (19.77mph) / 4min / 5:06 (11:41/mi)
C Goal - Finish! After all, that's what I'm here to do and stuff happens

Watch Splits and Data

Bike 5:45:11(19.47mph), HR151max/121average

Zone1 – 0, Z2 – 43.5min, Z3 – 4:54.5, Z4 – 5min, Z5 - .25min

Lap 1 – 1:52:58 out 56:45, HR151/118; back 56:12, HR132/119

Lap 2 – 1:54:23 out 54:09, HR 137/123; back 1:00:14, HR137/122

Lap 3 – 1:57:56 out 51:50, HR134/124; back 1:06:06 HR135/121

Run 4:49:16(11:02/mile), HR147max/127average (77%)

Zone1 – 2min, Z2 – 27.5 min, Z3 – 2:50.5, Z4 – 1:28, Z5 – 0

1 – 10:07; HR136/131

2 – 9:34; HR137/133

3 – 9:24; HR146/136

4-5 – 19:12 (9:36ave.); HR145/136

6-7 – 20:47(10:24ave.); HR139/131

8 – 10:02; HR139/132

9 – 10:08; HR142/134

10-11 – 23:02(11:31ave. – 2+ min. bathroom break); HR137/129

12 – 10:39; HR141/132

13 – 10:30; HR135/131

14 – 10:57; HR134/128

15 – 10:56; HR134/127

16-17 – 23:35(11:28ave.); HR129/121

18-20 – 36:59(12:20ave); HR134/120

21-22 – 23:41(11:50ave); HR130/121

23 – 13:09; HR133/121

24 – 12:26; HR128/117

25-26.2 – 24:46(11:09ave); HR147/125