Race Report – Ironman Arizona – 20 November 2016

Plan going in:

race-plan-for-im-arizona-20-nov-2016

Pre-Race – I got up at 0300, cooked, ate, and prepared. I went to grab my watch from the charger and somehow it was at 0%, so that was a big buzzkill. I had a spare portable USB battery charger and a spare 910XT watch just in case this happened. I managed to charge up the watch and give it to my friends to bring to the race, and we were out the door by 0440. We parked a bit away and got to transition around 0500. I hit the restroom and went straight to my bike bag to drop off my sunglasses. I made it to my bike rack and filled up the front water bottle, set my bike computer up, and pumped the tires. Kristen came over and we chatted a bit. I didn’t bring my cell phone with me and that was a mistake as there were too many people to find my friends.  Luckily, I ran into a friend from San Antonio and she helped me track down some folks. I was able to finally get my watch and I seeded myself at the 1:10 marker on the swim start.

Warmup – heavy band work pre-swim, running around transition

Nutrition – 1 gu, 1 salt pill, water and powerade zero

Swim – We started pretty early (~0655L) and it wasn’t too much of a madhouse at the beginning. A lot of slower folks seeded themselves up front to give a buffer time before cutoff, so working through them took some effort. I hugged the buoy line as best as I could and didn’t drift that far, so I was quite pleased. I can’t pace an IM swim right so I felt good, but wasn’t sure if it was easy or hard, so I just stuck to it. My friend Kristen caught me at the halfway mark, but she escaped so fast that I couldn’t hang on. I got out and didn’t feel too gassed, just bummed because I knew it was a slower swim than I was capable.

Final Swim – 1:14:37 (no swim file, watch didn’t start)

T1 – The wetsuit strippers grabbed me right away and we got the wetsuit off. I hustled to the bike bag, grabbed it, and sat down on the ground outside the tent. I put on socks, shoes, and helmet, then tossed my swim stuff in the bag and ran off. I had the sunscreen folks douse me in plenty of sunscreen then ran to grab my bike. The poor volunteer at the bike rack was overwhelmed so I ran to grab my own bike and got out of transition.

Final T1 – 4:38

Bike – The bike was flat with 3 loops and I had done this course in 2013, so I was prepared this time around. Coach Mike and I had talked the day before the race about bike pacing, so it was roughly this:

1^st loop – 0.68 IF

2^nd loop – 0.7-0.72 IF

3^rd loop – 0.75IF

First Loop Out – I averaged around 189 NP on the way out to the turnaround. There was a strong headwind but I wanted to stay on power and take it easy, so I just stuck to watts and held on.

NP = 188, Avg Power = 185, HR = 157, Distance = 18.6 miles, Duration = 1:03:04

First Loop In – Once we hit the turnaround at ~18.5 miles, we had a huge tailwind so I took advantage and pressed.

NP = 176, Avg Power = 167, HR = 151, Distance = 18.4 miles, Duration = 43:28:98

Total 1^st Lap: NP = 183, Avg Power = 177, HR = 155, Distance = 37.6 miles, Duration = 1:48:03

Second Loop Out – Once I realized that the splits were dependent on the wind and it would provide a huge advantage, I decided to hammer the first loops out to the turnaround then recover on the way back. I wanted to make sure the wind didn’t shift on me so I made sure to hammer what I could.

NP = 197, Avg Power = 186, HR = 151, Distance = 18.4 miles, Duration = 58:59:45

Second Loop In – same as 1^st loop, pushed where I could but we had a big tailwind

NP = 175, Avg Power = 159, HR = 147, Distance = 18.4 miles, Duration = 44:19:53

Total 2^nd Lap: NP = 188, Avg Power = 175, HR = 151, Distance = 38.6 miles, Duration = 1:47:48

Third Loop Out – This is where fatigue starts to creep in, so I knew I just had to push this last bit to the turnaround and cruise back to get ready for the run.

NP = 193, Avg Power = 180, HR = 152, Distance = 18.4 miles, Duration = 58:58:86

Third Loop In – The wind shifted on us like I had feared, so I actually had to do some work here. I made sure to finish fueling and to stretch to gear up for the run.

NP = 180, Avg Power = 167, HR = 149, Distance = 18.4 miles, Duration = 48:41:47

Total 3^rd Lap: NP = 188, Avg Power = 175, HR = 151, Distance = 34.5 miles, Duration = 1:41:21

Bike Nutrition:

Hour 1-5 – 2x salt pills, 2x gatorades, per hour + 1x bottle of water at aid station

Hour 5 – finish – 1x gu, water, 2x salt pills, half a gatorade

Overall Bike – NP = 186, Avg Power = 175, HR = 152, Distance = 111 miles

I averaged 0.67IF for the whole thing, so I figured the descents gave me a bit of rest. Overall, I’m quite pleased with this time considering I didn’t put as much bike volume in as I should have and I missed some key rides during the year. There’s still considerable room for improvement so that will be a focus in 2017.

Final Bike – 5:18:13 (PR)

http://tpks.ws/WMp4l

T2 – Jumped off the bike and the bike handlers caught me and took the bike away. I hobbled/ran over to the run bags and got inside the tent. I had a volunteer with me the whole time to make sure I was alright. I ripped off my bike shoes, socks, and helmet, then stuck them in the bag. I squeezed on my run socks, run shoes, grabbed my water bottle and belt, then headed out the tent and thanked the volunteer. I had the suncreen folks douse me again. My right foot always eats it on the bike and my lower back was pretty tight, so I knew this run would be fun.

Final T2 – 2:27

Run – I knew within the first mile that this run would be tough for me so I had to strategize on the fly. Our initial plan was to hold 8:15s for about 45 minutes, then get down to 8s and hold. I already knew this wasn’t going to happen based on how tired I was and seeing my low HR, so I decided to hit each aid station and power walk through it while taking 1-2x cokes during each stop. I would then run to each station and hold what pace I could.

Run Nutrition:

Hour 1-4: 5x salt pills, 8oz gatorade, 3x gatorade endurance chew each hour, 1-2x coke each hour

I had a first class ticket on the pain train, so this run was just a pure slugfest. I hit the first 13.1 around ~1:48 so I figured I may be able to go under 3:40 if I could keep pace. My legs were pretty much goo at this point so I just stuck to the nutrition plan and focused. My watch died at mile 22 so it was only about 4 miles to finish, so I just made sure to hang on for dear life. Once we hit mile 24, we were at the bridge, so it was pretty much a final sprint the last ~1.5 miles. My left hamstring felt like it was going to explode so I pushed what I could but it was ugly. I crossed the finish line and was glad the whole thing was over.

Final Run – 3:42:49 (PR)

http://tpks.ws/pVqhK (watch died on me around mile 22, bleh)

Overall Time – 10:22:58

http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/coverage/athlete-tracker.aspx?race=arizona&y=2016

Conclusions

Overall, I’m quite pleased. My previous PB was 11:40, so I improved by 78 minutes. I feel I executed my nutrition plan quite well and it held me up to the finish. I felt tired on the run with a low heart rate, so I need to work on improving my endurance and fitness in general. I had missed a lot of training this year and it took me awhile to get back in decent shape, so there’s much work ahead for 2017.

Key takeaways:

1. Improve swim mechanics and IM pacing
2. Spend more time on the bike
3. Improve run fitness and mechanics

Special thanks to Coach Mike Ricci of D3 Multisport for getting me to this point – it’s been a great experience and there’s still a lot of untapped speed left in me. Also, thanks to Bryan Mineo for all the swim instruction during this past year. Thanks to Kristen Hughes for training with me on the long bike rides – having someone to train with makes the long days less miserable! Lastly, thanks to Suzy, Julia, Alfonso, and Rosalinda for the fun times in Arizona.