Ironman St. George - Utah - TriathlonFull Ironman

I have improved my swim but I still didn’t have the performance I was looking for. My sighting was terrible and wouldn’t doubt that I added a couple hundred meters. Most people tend to stay on one side of the bouys. I seemed to slalom around each of them. As soon as I got out of the water I noticed the clock and immediately became frustrated. At this point I figured the only thing to do now is focus on transition.

Most everything.

The volunteer handed me my bag and found a little area of asphalt and started putting on my gear on. I just was assuming the tent was full and the sun felt good. I was surprised with the sun out I wasn't too cold. Stuffed everything back into the bag and off to the bike.

My goal on the bike was to hold an average power of 210 watts. We came up to St. George back in January to pre ride the course. Leaving T1 my only concern was my stomach was in pain. This is new for me since I haven’t had GI issues before on a race. I figured I wouldn’t eat anything till it calmed down which was a good tactic I think because it did clear up but not until mile 50. The ride into town was nice and was looking forward to getting onto the loops. The town support was fantastic and enjoyed seeing the support. My pacing to town was solid and wanted to see how the trip through the reservation and Gunlock was going to be. I really wanted to stop but I convinced myself it was only 6 hours to T2 so you can hold it. The same goes for my special need bag. I had a piece of rum cake baked by Tayna (StandWithFist) waiting for me. I still had all my nutrition on me that I expected to eat by then so I figured I would save the time and just continue on. It was good motivation to think about something yummy in there though. Thanks Tayna. The bike segment turned out alright but between missing some of my nutrition and maybe going a little too hard set me for a sub-par run. My average power was 213 watts and my normalized power was 231 watts.

This is point in the story line that things take a turn. I was happy to get off that bike like everyone else and couldn’t wait to change into my running gear. At this point my attitude was good and was proud of my ride. Now all that was left to do was a run. The timing was ironic because as I entered the large tent I could see Kim enter the woman’s changing area and saying that they pulled her off the course. I was devastated!

SIDE NOTE TO RACE REPORT:

I suggested to my lovely wife last year that we should do an Ironman together. I was already signed up for IMAZ 2009 but she wasn't. When St. George was announced I saw other BT folks register and suggested it would be a fun adventure. Now keep in mind that she did want to do one but I didn't know the course and we had never been to Utah. How bad could it be? So we register. She continues to train and do well. We raced together at Vineman 70.3 and we had a blast. As my training ramps up to IMAZ I have a bike crash. Not only does she have to see me crash and helicoptered to ICU but she takes care of me through the surgeries but also tolerates my compulsion to race IMAZ. I finish IMAZ with a lot of emotion and satisfaction. After all that I promised myself I would treat St. George as fun race. However, this would be Kim's first Ironman and it turns out it's a bit more difficult than IMAZ. We did a pre-ride of the course in January and Kim stayed loyal to plan. So for the last three months I'm having feelings of guilt for signing her up and a huge amount of pride for the training she's been doing.

BACK TO THE RACE REPORT:

A full years worth of emotion hit me as I sit in T2. All the racing and training we did together to helping me recuperate after my crash to putting the medal around me at IMAZ. I wanted to be there and do the same for her. That isn't going to happen and I find myself sitting in T2 contemplating. It is interesting how fast priorities can change. I know that she is a very strong person and decided that my consoling her at that moment wouldn't do either of us any good so I figured I would go and do the run.

The last couple of months I was really looking forward to this run. I had run it already and knew what to expect. At this point I was just going through the motions. I ran the first lap at the pace I wanted and figured I would keep that going. I guess I was wrong. Ounce I got to the turn around the race just changed for me. It no longer was a hard and fascinating challenge but just something to finish. I give all of the credit of motivation to my friends in Phoenix who were watching online and Elliot and Kevin who were at the finish line cheering. If it wasn't for the 'accountability' to do my best I certainly would not have. This was a first for me.

I don't know right now.

Gave Kim a hug.