Ironman Chattanooga 28 September 2014 – Race Report

This is an extremely long race report with details that may not be of interest to you. It's so long I didn't even proof read all of it. If you're wanting to race this in the future then this might be useful for you. If you're one of Linda's and my athletes and mostly want to read a little about goals and measures of success then skip down to the last few paragraphs. If this is just not your cup of tea it's not too late to turn back! And just so you know... it could have been longer as I owe huge thank yous to SO MANY PEOPLE!!!

Ironman Chattanooga was #7 for me and I am pretty happy with how it went. It was an unbelievable weekend being a Team Challenge athlete and being a part of the first Iron Team. Having Linda, 7 family members, Kat and the management team, the rest of the Ironman coaching team, and 210 fellow TC athletes out there was truly wonderful. The race didn’t go to plan – they rarely do. There were many areas that could have gone better or where I made mistakes but that’s all part of the challenge. What follows is my race report, in too much detail for many of you, but my recollections from Saturday and race day. Detailed splits and heart rate info may get added later if I’m unable to recall it all.

Race Day:

I woke up at 4am to get ready and follow my “plan”. Didn’t have my head in the game as much as I should have and realized that I hadn’t fixed my Garmin settings for multisport, which would eventually affect my transition time for T2. We ended up 10 min behind schedule but I wasn’t worried or concerned. It was nice to be less than a mile from transition.

Linda dropped Mom, Corey, and I off and parked while I prepped my bike with nutrition and did a final check. Then I added to my gear bags, made a pitstop at the portapotties, met up with my support crew, had Linda turn on the gps tracker before returning it to my bike gear bag, and lined up for the shuttle to the swim start. Also saw Coach Jimmy and Coach Ginny – it was nice seeing them there and nice seeing them at multiple points during the race too. It was calm in transition and someone pointed out that there was music pumping through the dark. Instead the music was more calm and laid back – smart.

The shuttle process was smooth and efficient. The line went fast with plenty of room on the school buses for spectators to ride with their athletes. The line for the swim start was long and pretty dark. Soon the rest of the family, Stephanie, Allen, Maria, Marc, and Courtney made it and hung out with me. Athletes occasionally went into the bushes to pee. I did as well, concerned because without a wetsuit it was a little harder to just pee yourself. I also got out of line to use my handled stretch tubes to warm up. As it got closer to the 7:30 start time I got out of line to do some push ups. Both of these things warm me up, especially my lats, eliminating the burn that ALWAYS occurs when I don’t get a proper water warm up.

Once the line began to move as the first people in line started swimming, things went fast. The more it moved the faster it went because spectators would get out of line as it progressed. Soon the athletes were jogging to the dock to jump off 3 to 5 or 6 at a time. Because of the layout and location of the dock and the river walk, my support crew ended up missing me for the entire swim. It was GREAT having them there before the swim though. Haven’t gotten to do that before and it was nice.

THE SWIM: Wearing my Team Challenge race kit, covered by my swim “speed suit”, my race cap, and new goggles, I jumped into the mild 77 degree non-wetsuit water feet first as instructed and headed down river and out, away from the left bank. I assumed the river would be moving faster farther from shore. The swim was never congested as the area is VERY wide. I didn’t do enough preview to feel confident in what course I was taking. I rarely even had to dodge the many slower swimmers who had gotten in line and started the swim before me. I was gashed on my forearm by some guy’s big toenail when he did his jumble of flutter and scissors kick as he swam.

Navigating wasn’t difficult because the current was so strong but it was sort of hard to figure out the BEST course to take. The kayakers seemed either very close to the river bank or far out into the middle of the river and so they provided me with no help. I chose a line that seemed to be a consistent 40-50 meters to the right of the buoys that lined the course. For the first time in one of these I didn’t get a calf cramp. I DID get a strange cramp in my left knee, which finally released as I continued to swim. Towards the end I did start to feel the right calf tighten but focused on relaxing the muscles in the area so it never seized. I never ended up swimming very hard but instead focused on staying long and having a strong pull. It didn’t feel like the usual race. Water was fairly smooth most of the way except under the 2^nd bridge when we got quite a bit of boat wake making it choppy.

I made a left hand 90 degree turn at the last buoy and headed to the temporary metal, carpeted stairs to exit the swim. The bottom step was well below the surface so getting out was not difficult, especially with volunteers helping you to your feet. Up the stairs I went then across some sidewalk before walking up a short, carpeted hill up to the gear bag and the changing tent. I did not run, purposely measuring my effort and not getting too jacked up. After I picked up my bag a volunteer unzipped my suit.

SWIM SPLIT 49:46 non-wetsuit, freshwater, with a strong current (16 minutes faster than previous best) 6^th of 103 in age group; 156^th male; 208^th overall

TRANSITION 1: In the changing tent there was plenty of room and lots of chairs. It took me longer than expected to put on my arm coolers but I was concerned that it might get sunny during the ride and knew they would help offer some sunburn protection. I also wore Linda’s bike gloves just because I wanted to feel her presence with me on the bike. Eventually I got everything on, though I was aware that I wasn’t moving as fast as I should have or could have. I waited to get everything on before running out to get my bike. I found it quickly without volunteer help. Then I pushed the bike through the “Bike Out” and saw a dozen riders in front of me at the mount line at various stages of mounting their bikes. I ran past the mass of people, most of whom stopped just after the line to get on. I went about 10 yards past the line, easily did a running mount, clipped in, and was off, all while avoiding the crowded, shaky conditions at the line.

TRANSITION 1 SPLIT 9min55sec

BIKE: The bike felt good from the beginning. The course is flat and on urban streets to begin with. It crossed some well-marked, lightly carpeted railroad tracks where enough debris had fallen from bikes to open a bicycle supply shop. There were bottles, nutrition packets, tubes, tools, CO2, and even a whole rear seat bottle holder mount left sitting on the ground after people had rumbled over the tracks. At about 10 miles you leave Chattanooga and cross the state border into Georgia. Mostly rural farm country follows, with much rolling terrain but no sustained or significant climbs. It was beautiful, cloudy, and cool – easily below 75 degrees.  Turned out that the rain would hold off until the run and the sun would never make an appearance.

At times it was hard to get out of a draft zone as a group of cyclists would either catch up with me or I would catch up with them. With everyone riding hills in different ways you frequently pass and get passed by the same people. I tried to pedal the downhills without coasting but without working too hard, carry my momentum into the next uphill, and pedal steady but not hard to crest it for the next downhill section.

Course hazards were well-marked and easy to avoid. Unfortunately for some of the very early riders some ignorant, unhappy locals sabotaged some of the course. In one are someone put tacks across the road, causing punctures that you just can’t make up for. It’s time lost that you’ll never get back and it likely ruined more than one person’s attempt to qualify for Kona. The other sabotage was done when someone dumped tar and dirt across a lane. All of these things were cleaned up but not before hurting some people races.

The first loop went well and it was a surprise when I came across a small Team Challenge cheer station out there. It was also a fun and surprising energy boost prior to the 2^nd loop when you go through part of the small town and lots of people are cheering and lining the streets.

Within a few miles of finishing the first loop I realized I had expended too much energy. I felt the fatigue in my legs (and body) and realized this was not going to be good for the run. The excitement of being out on the bike and of keeping up with or passing people is hard to control. I thought I was okay based on watching my heart rate. I’ve done century rides with an average HR of 10 beats higher than I was going so I thought I was good. In hindsight I didn’t take a few other factors. During training this year it has been difficult to get myself into mid- or high- zone 2 and especially to sustain that. 2^nd, I’ve done fewer 100+ mile rides in training for this race compared to my best previous races. 3^rd, I nearly always feel good during the first half of the ride and I always know in hindsight that I need to force myself to hold back.

I dialed it back on the 2^nd loop and my splits showed. I was also feeling the fatigue. I knew I wasn’t likely to recover from such a large mistake but hoped I could get some of it back for the run. I took in about the right number of calories, leaning towards solid energy bars (Hammer Cranberry Almond) and saving most of the concentrated CarboPro combined with some NUUN electrolytes for the 2^nd half. I also had water, which I replenished probably 4 times at aid stations, 1 bottle each time.

Caution: the next 3 paragraphs may contain too much information for you! However, I represented Team Challenge and the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation out there so this is even more appropriate to share than usual.

For the first time ever I was able to pee on the bike without stopping my ride. I was glad I needed to go by the ½ way point because to me it meant I was probably doing a better job of hydrating than I usually do. My rookie pee mistake was not picking a long enough downhill for the “release”.  As the hill bottomed out I was still “going” but the bike probably slowed to less than 10 mph! This kills your momentum AND causes things to end up reaching you shoes! Oh well. I got an extra bottle at the next aid station and squirted myself down.

There were fewer “packs” of people on the 2^nd loop. I continued to do well missing road obstacles and I made it around the sharp turn at the bottom of a hill without going off the road. I DID manage to drop my chain twice while shifting to the small chain ring. It didn’t happen during anything particularly intense. I think things were just slightly out of adjustment

I have not been happy with nutrition strategies for at least 2 Ironman races now. I’ve tried a number of things in training and though they haven’t caused me issues I also don’t think they’ve been the best. The issue is even more important for me because of my shortened GI tract – no large intestine. Unfortunately at around mile 80 or 90 I started needing to “eliminate some waste”. This is the earliest I’ve ever had this happen during an Ironman. It could have been in part because I chose to pee during hour 3 of the ride. Due to my “anatomy” after I pee it can make it feel like I have more urgency and need to “eliminate”. I chose not to stop but to wait until I got back to transition but I had my usual internal debate – do I “break the seal”/”pop the cork” and stop at the portapotty or do I wait? If I break the seal it means I may have to stop again because it’s difficult for me to eliminate everything the first time, (again due to my altered anatomy) but that meant things continued to back up over the next  hour and a half or so.

The final 10 miles back felt slow and heavy. With the bowel issue limiting how many calories I chose to take in, plus taking the first loop to hard, I was receiving the consequences. Just as I came down the end I saw my support team/family. It was nice to see them. Because they never caught up with me during the swim or for T1, by the time they would have gotten the shuttle out to mile 50 and 100, they would have missed me once and then not been able to get back before I got back to T2.

BIKE SPLIT(116 miles) 5:39:33 5^th fast bike split in age group; 333^rd male; 386^th overall

TRANSITION 2: I couldn’t have been more happy to get off that bike. I could tell my thinking wasn’t as clear and then when I dismounted I felt the leg fatigue as I handed off my bike, got my gear bag, and jogged into the spacious changing tent. I remembered to grab my Garmin gps ‘watch’ off the bike as well. I sat down and went through prepping for the run without my usual urgency. My Garmin wouldn’t cooperate so as I took off bike gloves and arm coolers I also worked on getting it set up. It was tough getting the gloves and coolers off and even tougher getting my Team Challenge colored orange and blue compression socks ON. They are probably one size too small – at least during an Ironman! Though I was later complimented on my style, I’m sure it cost me at least 3 minutes in that tent. Those 3 minutes were in a seated resting position so it DID help revitalize me some. Finally got it all together, added cold water to my hand bottle, and jumped in the portapotty for relief. Another 3 minutes of transition spent. I also just left my “wetones” butt wipes in there, hoping I wouldn’t need them again. Another mistake.

TRANSITION 2 SPLIT 11min 30sec – my slowest ever… by a LOT

RUN: I felt a little refreshed coming out of transition and onto the run. You run through the crowds and begin the first hill climb. I had planned to walk it, knowing it was steep enough that there would be no time gained in the end by running it. The next 7 or 8 miles are relatively flat and quiet, with few spectators except for the great volunteers. Most of this section is more or less at river level with occasional views followed by a run along the coned off highway back to near transition where we then cross the river by bridge. This is where the real hills begin.

This south side of the river goes through some city streets and neighborhood/ residential areas. Think: small town, not big city with tall buildings. It is very hilly with almost no flat sections over there. However, people came out in big numbers and cheered everyone on. It was a party atmosphere with people set up in front of their houses, lining the streets, or just coming from elsewhere to watch. The energy was great and helped make the hills more tolerable. Though I trained on hills I didn’t train for hills that were quite this long. Considering that my quads were tired from the bike and hurt the entire 26.2 miles, I think I handled the hills pretty well. Even though downhills can feel worse I managed those sections better than the uphills.

This was a 2 lap course. Each lap was made up of one loop on the north side of the Tennessee River followed by the shorter but much hillier loop on the south side. It was well-marked and nicely laid out. The aid stations were good and staffed by more great volunteers. Rain arrived sometime during my first lap… I think. I don’t actually recall when. It wasn’t a cold rain and the temperature stayed mild. I don’t recall seeing sunshine but it was still beautiful country to see, especially when viewing river and forest.

The GI issues continued into the run for me. I was able to take calories and water in as I had planned but my stomach began to get unhappy with me. Eventually I stopped 3 (or was it 4?!) more times in the portapotty for some “dual” elimination. It was nice to sit down but not nice to stand back up. I was happy to see a hand grip on the door so I could hoist myself up when my business was done. These stops took at least 2 minutes each and possibly more than 3.

My stomach, etc. never did feel great and soon I stopped eating the ShotBloks I had intended to use as calories. I started to resort to small cups of Coke from the aid stations as that’s a common strategy for people when nothing else seems to work. That went well once or twice but soon I was spitting that back up (and out). Except for once at Ironman Arizona I have not had a cola/soda pop drink (except carbonated water) of any kind in 15 years so it’s not a surprise that I couldn’t handle much of this. Next I tried some chicken broth for the salt and lack of sweetness, hoping this might help. The 2^nd time I ended up not keeping it down. Again, 15 years since I had this! While sticking to the “nothing new on race day” is a good idea, sometimes conditions require you to do otherwise. Pretty much it was ice or a little water for me the rest of the time. I probably took in about 400 calories total out of the 1000 I had planned.

At times I would walk for part of a ¼ mile and heart rate would drop into very low zone 1. When I ran it was always under control in Zone 2 and actually a bit lower than planned. The limiter was the leg muscles. Overriding the brain telling you that you need to slow down because your legs hurt like hell is ALWAYS the challenge. I had mixed results with that this time around. During the last miles I would check my watch and see an 11:20 to 11:40 per mile pace. That was frustrating but also seemed to be as fast as I could run and still finish.

RUN SPLIT 5:05:47 33rd age group; 684^th male; 832^nd overall

FINISH LINE: It was a fun and unique experience to have “teammates” out there on the course. Around 200 people had orange Team Challenge kits on. I did my best to encourage everyone I saw. I wore wristbands for the entire 144.6 miles in honor of a select few honorees and supporters. For the run I strapped on my race belt, threaded with many more wristbands. On each wristband, each debossed with “Team Challenge – CCFA”, I wrote a donor’s, honoree’s, or supporter’s name so that I could have them with me for the run. All the support I received over the last year made this something I really wanted to do.

The finish line is one I will never forget. Many months before I had decided I would pay to have a Team Challenge flag made so that I would be able to cross the line holding it high over my head and unfurled. I got in touch with Mike Plant and he got it made for me at his cost. It was ready just in time for me to have it before I left for Atlanta and Chattanooga. As I came down the finishing chute Mom was waiting there to hand it to me. It took a few seconds to get it all set right but then I ran down that chute and crossed the line in celebration and in hopes of attracting more attention to Team Challenge, CCFA, and to the diseases.

Unbeknownst to me, thanks to VIP privileges arranged by Craig and Aaron of CCFA, waiting for me with my finisher’s medal was Linda! She hung it around my neck as I stood there surprised and happy. Then we of course hugged (with the flag covering us!) and I cried on her shoulder like I always do when I see her after one of these. Even better? Kat was there getting it all on video with her phone. It was all icing on the cake!

FINAL TIME 11:56:31 22^nd of 103 in age group; 684^th male; 832^nd overall

SUPPORT: My support crew family was wonderful as always. Linda, Corey, Marc, Mom, Courtney, Stephanie, Allen, and Marie were all there doing the sometimes harder thing of spectating and support. It was great to see them every time I passed them out on the run course. It was a very long day for sure! The Team Challenge staff and coaches were also wonderful – Kat, Aaron, Jimmy, Ginny, and Craig, and everyone else who worked or volunteered really made this event special. It is quite memorable and meaningful to have an experience like this. I also couldn’t have had such an amazing journey without all my donors and honorees. They are too numerous to mention here and if I only name some then I’ll be leaving people out. I had well over 100 people behind me, helping me fundraise, raise awareness, and find a cure. I was overcome with emotion many times in the weeks and months leading up to this race day. The support, generosity, and kindness were amazing and I am so grateful.

RESULTS/FINAL TIME/GOALS: I missed many goals but also achieved many. Before I even made it to race day. The fundraising exceeded my wildest imagination. In the end people supported me with over $18,000. It was barely a year earlier when I signed up for this that I was fearful about making the $5000 minimum. In the end I was the 5^th highest fundraiser on the team. It simply boggles my mind.

At the pre-race Team Challenge brunch I was given the team’s Inspirational Award. It came as a total surprise and was very lovely and meaningful. I managed to speak a few words, getting to give a version of my pre-race coaching advice to my fellow athletes in the room. (Thanks Mom for getting that glass award home in one piece!) I did try to represent the award well on the race course, cheering as many TC athletes on the run as I could manage (I would have done that anyway but the award gave me a little higher profile I suppose.)

My outcome goal was to make the top 5 in my age group. I fell well short of that with a 22^nd place. I never adjusted that goal during the final weeks but knew it was a long shot.

My performance goal was: 11:45 – splits – swim :55, T1 7 min, bike 6:10, T2 3 min, run 4:45 – (would be very happy to be under 12:15 for this tough course)”. My actual times was: 11:56:31 – splits – swim :49.46, T1 9min55s, bike, 5:39.33, T2 11min30s, run 5:05:47  This goal was adjusted a bit as race day approached. I viewed the 4:45 run time as tough to achieve because of the hills but in hindsight I would have been close without the nutrition and bathroom issues… oh, and if I ridden smarter on the 1^st half of the bike.

My process goals included being emotionally “even”, stay long and reserve my effort on the swim, start easy on the bike and keep heart rate below 133, run through my mental checklist frequently, take in nutrition regularly, and ask myself “Will this set me up for a good run?”. I was successful in all of these except for that final question. Part of the failure on my part was not realizing that my training indicated that my heart rate and perceived effort would be off. Even though my heart rate on the first loop was in the 114-125 range it was far too hard.

My experiential goals were all met or exceeded. I think I represented my donors, Team Challenge, and Skip Dickerson (a fellow J-poucher I was coaching who died unexpectedly) in a positive light and with good sportsmanship and pride. I raced with joy, gratitude, and love (and a smile much of the time). I embraced and took in the beauty of my natural surroundings. And finally, I certainly had fun with the volunteers and spectators, letting them know they were appreciated, joking with them, thanking them.

I have identified a number of things that I can do to help me be more successful with my time goals and my race execution. I’ll leave those out of this report. I DO know that my preparation for this race fell well short of some previous Ironman races because of the amount of real world work and coaching I was doing. It is always a challenge for all of us who have to work and train. Finding the balance, finding the time, and doing all of it well is challenging and always a moving target. It was far tougher to be prepared for this race than Linda and I anticipated. This is not to say I didn’t have choices or make choices; it just means that it has been a jam-packed year. Regarding goals and success…

Success can sometimes be difficult to measure, especially if you are focused on only one single, solitary goal. If you can identify many different measures of success you can find much more satisfaction from the effort you put into something. It can be as big as fundraising for a cause and racing an Ironman. It can be something small and private that may only mean something to you. I can be anything in between. Certainly it can easily be bigger or far more important than an Ironman. The thing is that identifying where you want to get to can be very helpful in tuning you in to what you need to do. It focuses your priorities. It encourages you to be consistent in your preparation. It gives you a reason to get up every day. I could NEVER come close to my goals and do what I do without the love and support of Linda, who sees how important this is in my life and who does incredible things to help make this possible. Grateful only begins to describe how I feel. The world, and most certainly my world, is a better place because she’s in it.

This Ironman was a unique, challenging, frustrating, and amazing journey for me - unlike any of the previous 6. I'm planning to do 70.3’s and shorter in 2015 before revving up again in 2016 (when I age up to the 60-64 age group).