IMAZ this past Sunday was my third Ironman; all three have been IMAZ. This is my race report sans power meter and Garmin numerical analysis, which I haven’t downloaded yet. I definitely do not apologize for the length of this report… J
Pre-race
I came down on the previous Sunday with my family, to stay for spring break in a rented house. We had my wife and I, our three teenage daughters each with a friend, my wife’s mother over from Las Vegas, and Danny our Corgi. I had been working 60 hour weeks the last few weeks before (damn deadlines), so I was coming into IMAZ with an early taper so to speak. IMAZ was a “B” race for me this year since I’m doing Canada as my “A” race.
I had a relaxing week overall, mostly hanging around the house. I actually managed to read The Appeal, the first fiction book I’ve read in probably four months. I also did three practice swims in the “iced tea” of Tempe Town Lake. And I got in a five mile run, a 30 minute post-swim run, and a 30 mile bike ride on Friday. Tri Bike Transport had brought my bike down for me, and I spent Saturday cleaning it up. I also had a last minute fix from Landis Cycles for a badly shifting rear derailleur.
Race Morning
I saw my coach Jill Fry at the start of the race, and I had my whole family and my daughter's friends, all wearing their matching shirts. And Danny our Corgi, of course. I did feel very relaxed, and it was the first Ironman where I had more than 3 hours of sleep the night before. J
I saw Jill Brandon at the start and we hung out a bit, calming our pre-race nerves. Jill and I discussed how it's never the actual race that makes us nervous, it's the worry that you forgot some critical piece of equipment... very OCD.
Swim
I seeded myself not too far back in the broad start pack, just past the bridge and under my family. It was cool that they could actually see me for the deepwater start. Then “boom” goes the cannon, and off we go. Jill’s advice was to find people to draft, and my personal goal was to improve my sighting. Overall I’ll say I did both pretty well and had a great swim. I came in 4 minutes faster than last year at 1:20. I did managed to get kicked in the crotch twice, bashed in the head twice, and kicked in the face once hard enough to almost but not quite start a nosebleed. Drafting in “iced tea” sometimes means being surprised that the guy ahead of you slowed down.
T1 was uneventful. There’s quite a run from the swim exit to the bags, but luckily I didn’t get slammed in the face like last year when an exuberant finisher raised his arm for a high five with an onlooker just as I passed him.
Bike
My race plan called for 155 watts steady for each loop. That gave me 19.1 mph average in my 30 mile ride on Friday, so I started out with high hopes on the bike, especially given the low wind forecast. Well, that just didn’t come true. The headwind was brutal, not because it was super strong but because it was strong and steady. Unrelenting is the word. On the back half of the first loop it was an amazing tailwind. I hit 34mph steady on the slight downhill, then steady 31 on the flats. I struggled to keep the power above 150 watts at 100+ rpm in my highest gear. I had an 18.2 mph average on the first loop, about the same as last year.
The second loop was even tougher than the first going out, but a bit less of a tailwind coming back. The third loop had a lesser headwind, but by then my legs were starting to fade and my neck was killing me from the aero position. I was chafing, too, so I kept squirming around on the seat trying to find a better spot. And on the return, the wind faded way back, so I didn't get to enjoy a strong tailwind. My wattage had dropped to 150, then 145. I finished the bike in 6:33, about 22 minutes slower than last year.
This is pretty much what I expected since I knew I was coming into this a bit undertrained on the bike. I was crossing my fingers for good conditions to make up for that, and didn't get it. The good news was that my nutrition plan of fuel bottles of water & Carbopro along with 1000mg of sodium every hour worked really well. I had no stomach problems at all on the bike, and except for exhausted legs and a sore neck I was fine.
T2 was also uneventful. I had a long run up to my bike on the next-to-last row, and had to unrack it myself. And the bike mount area was over crowded.
Run
I started the run hopeful that I could stick to my planned 3:50 marathon and maybe a sub-12 finish. Despite the heat I was concerned about consuming too much liquids because last year I had stomach problems mid-marathon. My plan was to have a one cup of liquid at each aid station, alternating water with cola and sometimes a half cup of water and a half cup of cola. I was also running with Saltstick tablets and taking one every 30 minutes.
But alas, the blazing sunshine and heat did me in. I ran the first two miles, then started to get dizzy and had to walk an aid station. Then I ran maybe another mile, then walked a bit more. My stomach was a bit borderline, but I was trying to run as much as possible and take in as much fluid as I dared. I saw Jill, and I was confident this would be like IMAZ06 where I got stronger every loop.
Somewhere around mile 9 I fell apart from dehydration. I suddenly got very dizzy, and I felt very chilled. I had goosebumps on my arms, and that shouldn't happen in 92 degrees. I also felt very sleepy. At the next aid station I downed a bunch of water and gatorade (about 10 ounces each), took another Saltstick table, and then a few hundred yards later sat under a bridge on the curb. I waited there in the shade for a few minutes, head on my knees, waiting to recover. Several people asked if I needed help, which I declined, and of course I wanted to dodge the medical people because I didn't want an involuntary DNF. I wasn't all that bad, I thought, and that was proved true because after several minutes the dizzyness and chills were gone and I started moving again.
After that I stopped using ice and sponges so much, doubled my fluid intake and increased my electrolyte tablets, and just ran most of the time at 10:30 to 11 minute pace. I also walked the few short hills on the course (climbs up to the bridge decks, mostly). I felt pretty good, but a little dizziness would set in once in a while. I wished I had brought my Amphipod race belt so I could take fluids when I wanted rather than waiting for the aid station.
The sun went down (finally!) at 6:57, and now I had an hour to run the last 7 miles or so for a sub-13 finish. But after some thought about my running pace, I figured I couldn't do the 30 seconds per mile faster that would take so I set my goal at a sub 5 hour marathon. Without the blazing sunshine, I pretty much ran the entire last loop, walking a few aid stations. I haven't checked my Garmin, but I think the pace was 9:45 or so. I felt pretty good, and for the last 3 miles sort of regretted not going for the sub-13 finish. It would have been a gutsier move, but maybe I would have blown up too. I can’t say.
I came in with a 4:58 marathon and a 13:05 overall time. In the finish chute I took the time to spot my family in the bleachers, high-fived two of my daughters in front, and soaked up the cheers. No sprint down the line for me this year.
Conclusion
I am happy with my race execution; except for not recognizing and correcting my dehydration earlier I didn’t make any significant errors like forgetting sunscreen two years ago or skipping special needs on the run and thus missing my electrolyte tablets last year
I learned a ton about hot weather running on Sunday. You can read about it all you want (and I've read IMCDA race reports and the like) but to experience a 90+ plus marathon is a whole different thing. You can read about dehydration but to experience it during the event is just different.
Overall IMAZ08 was by far the toughest of the three Ironman races I've done. Last year was windier on the bike, but I was better trained and it wasn't as hot. The run last year and the year before were cakewalks compared to the run this year. According to weather.com, I ran all but the very last part of the marathon in the low 90s.
Plus nearly all my race time goals were going by unmet. Last year, I was on a PR pace in all three sports and overall time. It's a totally different mental game to be out there on the course suffering without those types of goals for motivation. You have to dig deep and really bring it to keep on running on a day like yesterday. There was a huge percentage of walkers, and many times just walking along with them sounded really, really, appealing. So I have to say I’m proud of myself for running as much as I did.
