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 Swim
Comments: Results include non-wetsuit and wetsuit swimmers. Gun went off and I surged the best I could. I knew from the previous practice day's practice swim that this was going to be slow as I could not really kick with my right leg. About 50 yards in I sited and saw Ally had gotten away pretty clean and was about 10 feet ahead. Nice! Found a good pair of feet to draft off and was able to hold them until the person slowed down on the back side of the first loop. Looked up ahead and there was Ally so I jumped on her feet and I came out just after her on the first loop. Second loop she got away from the group of us so I settled in behind someone and just kept it easy. Finished the swim and on my way into transition one of our friends said Ally had the fastest overall women's swim split (she ended up 2nd overall, but first wore a wetsuit so she won the $2000 TYR swim bonus package!). This was a good start to our day. What would you do differently?: Be able to kick with both legs.  Transition 1
Comments: Good solid T1 - 55th OA. Went smooth. Came out of the tent and there was Ally exiting the womens tent! It totally made my day to run through T1 with her and be able to blow her a kiss before we started the ride.  Bike
Comments: Started off and felt pretty good on the bike. Passed 5 people within the first few miles and then just settled in. Around mile 10 or so 7 guys came by me in a nice draft pack. Those guys were hammering and would either A) blow up or B) they were just very good riders. Hit the downhill, passed all 7 of them back and hit 50mph. FUN! I love descending and stayed tucked in my aerobars the whole way down. At the bottom of the descent I started getting in some solids (cliffbar) as my HR was nice and low and my body easily digests anything when my HR is this low. For the rest of the first loop I was being passed every once in a while but just kept it steady at my prescribed watts (220). Climb up into town felt easy and I tried to kiss the dancing bananas (thanks Amy!) which the crowd seemed to get a kick out of. Did see 2 massive (think 30-70 riders) draft packs on the new out and back which was disappointing but I knew those would get blown up once the hills started to hit. 2nd loop I felt good and began to work. While I did not pass anyone from mile 5-56 on the first loop, the second loop was much different. Again got in my solids as the bottom of the descent while HR was low, which worked well. From mile 85-112 no one passed me and I passed a bunch of people back who had blown by me earlier in the race. Leg started bleeding a bit around mile 20ish and my bike shoe had some blood in it by the end of the ride but the cut had not opened up and was not that painful which I was happy about. What would you do differently?: Not a whole lot. Paced this pretty decent. Taking 10 days essentially off before the race certainly did not help and I have no idea if or how much faster I would have been but I was happy to finish with no mechanical issues and ready to run. Transition 2
Comments: Great support from the volunteers again in T2 - one person was rubbing sunblock in while the other helped me get ready. They were outstanding all day. Pretty good T2 - 138 OA  Run
Comments: Started off running and right away I was limping - Cut felt sore plus I had a hot spot on the bottom of my foot on the same leg. This lasted for the first 4 miles and then I felt good and was able to get pace where I wanted it (8 min/mile). At this pace people were still blowing by me like I was standing still which was fine because even if healthy, my goal pace was 8/mile. On the hill around mile 7 I felt something start to give and had to stop. I took a minute or two on the side of the road to open up everything and look at my leg and sure enough the cut had opened up some. From that point on I walked every hill as those were what was hurting it. I also walked every aid station to get fluids/calories in. Walking every hill and aid station meant my pace was low 9's on average but I was fine with that and was able to hold that pace the entire rest of the run. It was great to see Ally out running - no bike issues! Plus we had 20ish other friends doing the race and 10 others cheering/volunteering - it made a good day better. Coming around the oval, I had it all to myself and I can say I have never been so satisfied to finish a race. I have had many more successful (placement wise) races than this but none of them have meant as much as this one. I had finished the race, posted a respectable time and knew that Ally and our friends either had or were going to finish. What would you do differently?: Not much. Post race
Warm down: Ended up in medical. Leg had opened up so they cleaned it and rebandaged it. Also got some fluids in as I was down 7lbs vs. my pre-race weight. Went back out and was able to see Ally and some of our friends finish. Huge shout out to some of BT crew - Turtle, Weds, Z, BITM and QueenK - thank you so much being there and cheering for everyone. It was so good to see you out there! You people are loud! Event comments: Great course, crowd support is amazing and the course it truly challenging and beautiful. Last updated: 2010-10-26 12:00 AM
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United States
Ironman North America
75F / 24C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 143/2462
Age Group = M35-39
Age Group Rank = 40/298
WARNING: Long race report. :)
Two weeks before the race I wrote down my time and overall goals for the race. I hoped to be around the 10 hour mark which would have put me in contention for a Kona slot. I was coming off a great block of training where I had averaged 200+ miles per week on the bike and 37 miles per week running. Everything felt great and I was ready to go. 10 days prior to the race I was hit by a drunk mountain biker, his 40 oz of bud smashing on my shin and opening it up to the bone. I ended up in the ER with multiple layers of stitches. I was fortunate that my doctor was a distance runner and he did everything he could to hopefully get me to the starting line. I really wanted to do this race - it was my fiance's first IM and was something we had worked really hard to do together. Plus it was the only distance I had yet to put together a race I was happy with.
All of that went out the door after I got hit. Going into the race I had tried running a few days before the race and my leg had started bleeding again. Swimming and biking were manageable (some pain, minor bleeding on the bike) but I was really worried about the run.
Put on a large waterproof band aid and compression sleeve over my leg to hopefully keep everything in place.
Ally and I chose to wear our speedsuits and headed out to the front of the line. Guys were being idiots - they were fine letting me by but would not let Ally by. I had to explain to one guy that his sub 1 hour goal time was not going to be faster than Ally. Finally we made it up front and it was all dudes in wetsuits bumping and pushing us. Ally started to freak a bit so I stuck her in front of me on the front line and got behind her. I swam D1 in college and played waterpolo. The pre-start felt like a waterpolo scrum. I don't think the others in wetsuits did it on purpose but starting the wetsuits vs. non-wetsuits together was an issue and it was a violent pre-start to the swim.