Ironman Texas 2011 Race Report

This race report is extremely long so be warned. My audience is pretty much me and that's why I journal. But you're welcome to read or skim it.

Ironman Texas is in the books. Finished in 12:09:12, placed a distant 3^rd in my age group, and was one place short of qualifying for Kona. It was one heck of a day physically and emotionally.

I excitedly signed up for the race nearly a year earlier, thinking it would be good to try something different after doing 2 in Arizona.This was the inaugural race and I got caught up in the excitement. After deciding that training for 2 in one year was doable, I signed up. As the real training got closer, changing circumstances (Linda being treated for breast cancer, job situation) made this less than a great idea. Doing 2 full distance Ironmans some 6 months apart became less desirable. That truth was one of the things that impacted my performance. The time commitment that necessitated being away from Linda made the long bike rides especially difficult to even want to complete.
Before I get to a race report that might interest those considering doing this race or doing it again, I want to give the conclusion on how I did that I came up with a few days after finishing. In hindsight there were 4 things that negatively affected my final build and peak periods of training: 1st, time commitments – my job finally restarted and I began coaching others. 2^nd, I lacked getting complete rest during the 2 week taper period so I went in very tired, not from a training standpoint but in a general way. 3^rd, repeated injuries and strains to my calf muscles kept me from getting in the long runs needed for the marathon – 1 hour training runs are way less than half the of what is needed. And 4^th, a lack of mental focus and mental preparation really hurt my ability to cope with the run.

For me IMTX actually began the previous weekend when Linda (my wife) and I traveled to Atlanta for the Iron Girl sprint triathlon. She and 6 other family members all successfully completed their first ever triathlons. Linda did it a dozen weeks after completing chemotherapy on maybe 4 weeks of reasonable training. Her body just wasn’t ready any earlier. 12 weeks before the race I had to lift her legs into the van after we did a slow 20 min walk on the beach with a rest break at the half way point. What a woman! She had maybe 3 weeks of bike training for a course that was difficult for beginners. It was a great weekend, though it left me sleep deprived.

I flew straight from Atlanta to Texas after the Iron Girl. I was excited but exhausted. Being a support crew, Sherpa, and coach isn’t easy. Flew into Houston Hobby Airport, got the rental car, and took an hour and a half to drive the 45 or 50 minutes to my hotel. GPS had the hotel location wrong and the frontage roads along Interstate 45 were confusing in the dark for this first time visitor.

Found an awesome indoor 50 meter pool to train in that was very close by and that helped rejuvenate my spirits. My bike arrived by FedEx and I took it to my room. Went for a run and dinner and came back to put it together for my Tuesday training. No matter what I did, the rear wheel would not go back on right. On Tuesday Bikeland, a bike shop I’d seen near the Drury Inn and the pool I was using, was my next stop where I embarrassingly explained that I couldn’t put my wheel on. I said I didn’t know if it was stress or fatigue or what but could they help me. I was expecting them to quickly put it on the stand, pop on the wheel, and say no charge. And I would be oh so grateful and offer 10 bucks for 30 seconds of work.

Turned out the rear derailleur was broken and couldn’t be repaired. They had a lesser grade model in stock or I could wait until late afternoon the next day to get the same kind that I was used to. I opted for what I knew to avoid the “nothing new on race day” rule. A Specialized sales rep that was working the Ironman expo heard the tail end of my story and told me to come see him if this didn’t work out and he would make sure I was fixed up for the race with a loaner bike. I wasn’t happy with my circumstances but realized it could be worse. I was doing what I could do and it would be okay. I complained and moaned about my circumstances but gradually let go of being upset, trying to stay focused on only dealing with what I could control.

Instead of a ride I did another run, trying as best I could to be on the bike course. A side note: the course maps are pretty poor. I found them difficult to understand, as did my wife. They just aren’t very clear. After the run I ended up seeing the Chipotle, my ‘comfort food’! I like to be consistent with what I eat during race week if I can so I was happy to be eating the veggie burrito I eat at least once a week at home.

Knowing the bike wouldn’t be ready until late Wednesday, I decided that I’d drive much of the bike course without my bike available for doing some of the segments on. After a midmorning swim off I drove, getting lost several times. I found the terrain to be rolling with no hill climbs. And the scenery was, at least to this southern Californian, beautiful. I don’t have much opportunity to ride through woodlands and farm land like this course offered. Road surfaces seemed pretty good as well.

Took a nap and woke up to my phone ringing saying my bike was ready! Hooray! Got the bike, asked about where to ride (it was 4:30 and I’m not big on riding in traffic), and did a 90 min ride. It felt good and I was relieved. Saw much roadkill along the way, including my first armadillo. Went back for another Chipotle burrito and home to do some work from the laptop, which I’d been mixing in with the trip all week.

Let me say that Bikeland of The Woodlands was awesome. They were very understanding of my circumstances and the stress involved. The owner didn’t gouge me in any way. He said he wasn’t going to take advantage of my misfortune and gave me a deal on the derailleur and discounted the labor. Plus he threw in a Bikeland water bottle, which I used for the race. I can’t say enough about the good folks there.

Wednesday I got up, did some work from the room, and then swam. Around 11am I went to check in. Of course there was still a line but it wasn’t too bad. Had various conversations with people in line. Unfortunately one guy was a negative ninny who had nothing but complaints and sad stories. I’m not sure why he even participated in WTC/Ironman events. The line moved quickly enough and I would say there wasn’t one by lunch time. I did a road ride in the afternoon for about an hour because I wanted to make sure to give the derailleur and the new cable as good of a workout as I could. I didn’t want to have a stretched out cable not working correctly in the middle of the race. Went back for adjustments at the bike shop and picked up some nutrition I ordered. Everything was coming together. Now if I could just catch up on my sleep and feel rested.

Thursday I cut off my work responsibilities, made sure all my race bags were packed and ready and got a short ride and a very short run in. The Athletes’ Dinner and Meeting were at the Mariott. First class set up in comparison to IM Arizona that has it outside with less appealing food. It was great to meet and sit with some iamtri.com group members and to finally meet Robert and Bill (well, re-meet Bill). Got back to the hotel and rehearsed my speech for the Team Challenge triathlon group that I was about to begin coaching. It was the kickoff dinner and with them being in the Pacific time zone, it was perfect. Using Skype, we did a video call so I could speak to the group and convey my excitement. An hour later I drove back to Hobby Airport to pick up my #1, Linda, at midnight. It made for a late night but I was so happy to finally have her there.
My planned swim at the race venue got scrapped, choosing sleep instead. Instead I got up ate, got my bags and bike ready to turn in, and drove with Linda to transition. Check out the swim exit and then drove over to the swim start to get a line on the buoy layout. Briefly spoke to the guy in charge of the course. We took a drive to see where Linda might have a good view of the swim start and still be able to get to transition to see me in T1. Went to dinner with Linda’s cousins from Dallas at Guadalajara Hacienda. After eating most of my meal I suddenly started getting anxious and decided to leave them and get back to the hotel for an early morning wakeup.

The weather was pretty mild in the morning when I arrived at transition to stash my nutrition. It was then a nearly 1 mile walk to the swim start. Got there in plenty of time, layed down and relaxed for at least 20 minutes, and did a little stretching. Used my pull tubing to warm up for the swim and was immediately bombarded with questions from kids on the playground.

Headed over to the swim start. The pro start was at 6:50. The age groupers started to go in at 6:40 and I was among the first. I set up wide outside next to the nearest tetrahedron buoy, which I hung on to until 6:53. Without a wetsuit it meant treading water took an effort. As the weaker swimmers joined the group it really got crowded. There were a few people freaking out. When the gun went off there were hundreds still on the shore waiting to get in. In the future I hope they move the start line farther down the course so there’s more room for everyone to spread out.

There was a lot of bumping and bashing for the first few hundred yards. For me it then began to thin out. I picked some excellent lines, I believe, and managed to cut some tangents. I was never alone. I did find people to draft off of and also held back in my effort, not pushing as hard as I usually do. The swim up the narrow channel for the final quarter of the race not a problem for me but many behind me said that it was pretty crowded. The sides of the channel were pretty shallow so it was a strange sight to see people stand up at that point! Exited the stairs without a problem and heard
Mike Riley announce my name. With no wetsuit to take off I grabbed my bag and took too much time to change from my Speedo brief and get on my tri top and shorts.
I grabbed my bike, aware that I’d gone 3 to 6 minutes slower than past swims but feeling good. I ran past the mount line and past 3 or 4 other riders who were stopped and mounting their bikes. I don’t really understand why people don’t do a flying mount. It seems like it’s so much more efficient. The ride was cloudy and relatively cool. By the time I hit mile 10 my glasses were steamed up from the moisture in the air and my sweating. I wore them low on my nose and wiped them a few times but it wasn’t until about mile 45 or 50 that they stayed clear.

The aid stations were well mannstaffed, at least when I went through them. I went through about 48 oz. of water (with Nuun in it) and grabbed water 4 times from aid stations to refill my Aquacell bottle. Threw in at 1 or 2 Nuun tabs with each water I took. Also took in a Salt Stick capsule every half hour starting with hour 2 as I was beginning to noticeably sweat. Went through another 50+ ounces before the 112 miles were up. I used a 4 hour bottle of Perpetuem for nutrition but went through that in 3 hours so started in on the Hammer gel bottle I had in the Bento bag. Also grabbed 1 gel at one of the later aid stations.

Somewhere around 75 or 90 miles the Texas Highway Department decided they couldn’t tolerate the huge back up on one of the highways/farm and market roads. He had the police stop a big group of us at the intersection and we were there for a good 3 minutes. Of course it seemed even longer but I’m trying to be conservative. I started asking loudly to give us a turn, to let us have a turn, as the cross traffic wasn’t a steady flow. I was 35 riders back though and couldn’t see down the road. I stood over my bike expecting to go at any moment. I did do some stretching and my heart rate did drop nicely. When he finally let us through it was a draft fest for most of the athletes. I didn’t join in with that. After about a minute most of the pelotone was clear and I just built back up my pace. Within a few minutes I was done even thinking about the stop except to think of it as a rest break and was refocused.

Arriving in T2 I unclipped and kept my shoes on, as I thought we were told at the meeting, handed off my bike, and ran through to get my bag and run shoes on. With the portapotties unoccupied I peed for what seemed like 2 of the 3 ½ minutes I spent in transition.

Off I ran. The beginning segment is pretty deserted and strange, going through across an empty parking lot before connecting up to the loop part of the course. Right away I felt a fatigue - I suffered out there. My left calf had been taped with Spider Tech brand kinesiotape but not my right. The right one slowly started hurting a bit but not a major thing at first. In general I didnt feel great right off. At times I even felt a little wobbly or dizzy. Though not great, my pace wasn't horrible for the first few miles. It felt like my fatigue was coming from the accumulated stress and lack of sleep for the weeks before the race. Why I don’t think it was the bike ride I have no idea. I felt a little dizzy every few minutes, too. I gave into walking every half mile instead of every aid station by the 2^nd mile. Mile 3’s pace fell to 11:30 but I kept the next few under 11:00 until mile 8, right around the start of the 2^nd loop.

The course was mostly on the street with some of it on the cement sidewalks that go through the trees and are nicely shaded. The sun was not strong and it seems like it was mostly cloudy, a true blessing. The temp got up to 90 degrees f. with pretty good humidity. I felt reasonably comfortable, which I can only attribute to training time spent covered in layers and time in the sauna. Maybe I was delusional because I still never felt great. The gels that I carried in my Fuel Belt went down slowly. I chose to use the Shot Blox and Salt Stick caps for the first hour. The gels that I carried on my Fuel Belt went down slowly. Very unappetizing. I just didn’t feel right. Eventually I resorted to the Ironman Perform that was on the course. It was cold and tasted better than the gel. This was a violation of the “nothing new on race day” because I didn’t train with it. First time I tried it was at the race expo. I resorted to that, water, and ice cubes under the hat and down the back of my shirt. I mostly stopped with the gels and the caffeine but continued with a Salt Stick cap every ½ hour.

The left calf never gave me trouble though my left knee hurt from the beginning. Never had that before. The right calf continued to worsen. With a 3 loop run course, access to my special needs bag was there twice. For the first time I used mine because I had an Ace bandage stashed in it. Wrapped the right calf and it helped a lot.

The 3 loop course was lined much of the way with spectators ringing cow bells, cheering, and offering encouragement. There was just one semi-lonely segment in a fairly new housing area that wasn’t built out or fully occupied. Arizona’s
concentration of spectators in transition and near the finish is huge but overall there were more at Texas. For the most part there was great energy from everyone. The course is even flatter than Arizona. It’s much less open than Arizona too – desert and manmade lake versus woodlands and manmade lake and canals – but I think Texas was a little better for the athletes. I saw Linda and her cousins twice on a prominent corner. They lifted my spirits each time, though the feeling was short-lived.

For me the run proved to be a big mental challenge. All I could say about it for a couple of days was that I was an “emotional mess”. That stemmed from my frustration with my physical feelings and performance. Also early on I saw someone I saw someone wearing a Blazeman ALS shirt and this put me in tears. I just heard a week before that a family friend had just been diagnosed. In half a minute I would pull it together but I was not mentally ready for the struggle of this run. Not being in the best of shape and not having rehearsed what to focus on during the tough parts left me vulnerable. I would bounce from ALS to my wife’s 1 year battle with breast cancer to my thinking about how long I was taking to finish the run, making Linda wait for me. I would have a meltdown, pull it back together, walk or run, talk with other runners, walk, and have another meltdown. This went on for most of the run. Miles 11-20 were the worst, ranging from around 12:54 to 14:20. Miles 21-24 were 12:20, 15:10, and a couple of 12:50s. The final 2.2 miles were under 11/mile. I never walked a full mile but the walks segments got pretty long at times. The last 4 miles were mostly running. It’s easy to make yourself run when the end it in sight.

The finishline was spectacular: lot’s of spectator noise and excitement for a good distance to the end. I felt wobbly after I crossed the line and was helped by volunteers for quite a few minutes. Finally I saw Linda and her cousins, all wearing their Get Sladed Nation t-shirts. I hugged Linda and cried on her shoulder which seems to be a tradition. Tears don’t seem to come out but I certainly cry. I cried fairly often after crossing the line.

Got to the food area which offered great burritos, none of which I could eat. I had some potato chips but my best recovery food was supplied my #1 supporter, Linda, who had an O’Douls beer, 2 Clif Bars, and a bagel for me. It was heaven. The walk to the car felt like a mile but eventually we made it to the hotel where I took a 10-15 minute ice bath, put on compression, and headed to PF Chang’s to eat with Linda and the cousins. I made the mistake of drinking iced tea. The caffeine, not to mention endorphins and race energy, kept me pretty much awake all night.

During the race I had no idea what my place was in my age group. If I’d known I’m sure I would have put more effort into the run. Because I ended a very distant 3^rd it would not have mattered in the least.

I went to the roll down just in case but found that the 2 Kona slots were claimed. I decided to stick around just in case another age groups slots rolled out to another age group. It was not to be but it was fun to be there for the process. I was a little disappointed but it would have been with mixed emotions had I got a slot. I didn’t feel worthy at the time.

We went back to the hotel and checked out, before heading back to the Marriott for the awards luncheon. The pros’ speeches weren’t particularly interesting. I received my trophy, gave away my 3 CO2 cartridges to some locals, and drove for a final meet up with the cousins before flying home. The flight was tough, with legs tight, jittery, and swollen. Made it home, got our stuff (bikes fly free on Southwest), and made it home. I was certain I would never consider returning to do Ironman Texas again.

One final thought: I was pretty down on my performance for a few days after the race. With time and understanding of why I did less than I believe I'm capable of, I've gained some appreciation. I also was reminded of something I'd lost in all of it: gratitude. I've preached it and reminded others not to forget to race with gratitude. I didn't stick to my own philosophy and it cast a cloud over me. I should have remembered that I've been through a lot to get to this day. Injuries, job ups and downs, Linda's breast cancer, health issues, and on and on. Nearly every athlete out there has tough things to deal with. Being grateful that I'm out there getting to do a race of this magnatude is something to be grateful for!
Here are the boring numbers:
Swim 1:07:27 – 3^rd in age group and 213^thof 2157 overall – rather slow for me but it was without a wetsuit and I didn’t
push it.
T1 6:45 – 14^th in age group, 978^thoverall – not fast or efficient changing from my Speedo to my tri gear, socks,
and bike shoes, especially with no wetsuit to deal with. I left transition in 2^ndplace.
Bike 5:35:31 – 2^nd in age group, 436^thoverall – averaged 20.03 mph even with the 3 minute forced stop at the
intersection. Random bike splits – 0:23
Heart Rate 143 max/128 average, :30 HR 142/128, :24 HR 136/123, 3:56 HR146/123,
:22 HR 140/124
T2 5:07 – 4^th in age group, 415^thoverall – this included a long 2 minute stop at the portapotty to pee. I left
transition in 1st place.
Run 5:14:12 (11:59/mi, 7:29/km) – 17^th age group,
892^th overall – finished in 4^th place for age group but
moved up to 3^rd since the 3^rd place finisher wore a
wetsuit and wasn’t eligible for placing consideration.
Mile Splits
1 – 9:42+ Estimated HR142max/136average
2 – 10:16, HR144/137
3 – 11:30, HR140/129
4 – 10:33, HR136/130
5 – 10:44, HR136/130
6 – 10:06, HR138/130
7 – 10:24, HR136/128
8 – 11:09, HR135/127
9 & 10 – 22:24 (11:12ave), HR137/124
11 – 12:59, HR134/119
12 – 13:27, HR125/112
13 – 14:20, HR125/108
14 – 13:36, HR122/107
15 – 13:21, HR123/110
16 – 12:54, HR123/108
17, 18, 19 – 38:36 (12:54ave), HR135/115
20 – 13:59, HR123/107
21 – 12:19, HR123/113
22 – 15:09, HR116/100
23, 24 – 25:36 (12:48 ave), HR127/109
25 – 10:52, HR126/121
26.2 – 12:34 (estimate for 1.2 mi), HR143/133