Ironman St. George - TriathlonFull Ironman

I swam hard right down the buoy line as planned. There was some decent contact but I was able to find feet or clear water and was navigating and moving well. The first 15 minutes heading towards the first red turn buoy was uneventful and I began to consider the day ahead a bit. Funny thing, I noticed it seemed I was getting a little push from behind, almost like a little wave action was pushing me forward. Huh, I thought, maybe the wind picked up a bit more.

I rounded the first turn and sighted the second red marker. "Is it raining?", I thought. "Why do I feel water droplets spraying my arm?" As I would breath to the right I could see clear skies but a strange mist as well. And then it hit me, it spray being blown off the lake by wind! Where did that come from? And hey, I am rolling side to side as waves were moving past me. But here's the turn buoy and around I went...and turned straight into HELL.

I looked up to find the line and all I saw was a wall of water. Two strokes later I looked again and again saw nothing but another wall of water. Holy crap, those are waves and they must be 2-3 feet high! I stopped for a brief moment to get my bearings. There was a guy off to my left, a few more way off to the right, the entire front of the field was blown apart. I could see a large orange marker and began to make for it. Every few strokes a wave would either toss me up and down or go over me. Having grown up swimming in the ocean, I was comfortable with the wave action and water conditions and even began to laugh at the absurdity of what was happening. And then my thoughts went out to those first timers or weaker swimmers who must be panicking and being pulled from the water. For the first time during a race I prayed that no one would drown.

Once I made peace with the conditions I also made mental peace with what was yet to come. My swim time was going to be slow and I wasn't going to let that bother me and I wasn't going to spend any emotional capital stressing over it. I swallowed a lot of water but never let it panic me. I swam as best I could, sighting when I could. If I couldn't see a buoy I just aimed towards the right of the rock island in the lake. I knew eventually I would find the red turn marker. Eventually I could see a big orange buoy in front of me but no red. Where did it go? Oh, there it is, blown up against the island. I figured this must be the middle of the planned swim channel so I turned towards shore. It seemed some people had turned earlier and were to my left while others were trying to round the orange buoy to my right. I was still having trouble even seeing the boat ramp but I just kept at it and swam toward what seemed like the right spot. I made the ramp, stood up, and realized I just completed the most difficult swim of my life.

I ran over to a wet suit stripper who did me up lickety split and ran down to grab my bag. The change tent wasn't too crowded and I had a volunteer help me with my gear bags. I turned to another athlete sitting next to me and we looked at each other and just started lauhghting and shaking our heads. All I had was my helmet and shoes to put on and I ran out to collect my ride. Very smooth and uneventful transition.

So know I am at least 8 minutes behind my planned schedule and it was immediately apparent that the conditions weren't going to change anytime soon. It was at this point that I began to rethink aspects of my pacing and nutrition strategy to compensate for a longer duration race. I had with me on the bike a bottle filled with 7 GU Rocatanes mixed with water on the downtube, a bottle wih just water between my aero bars, and a FuelBox on the top tube containing 2 PR Bars cut into halves and 2 extra gels. Not including the two extra gels this gave me about 224 calories per hour for 5 hours of riding. I had planned on also grabbing some Perform for a lttle extra. Now I needed those 2 extra gels to help stretch this ride into th 5:30+ range and I was glad I had opted to bring them. I just had to use aid stations to grab water and drink to thirst.

After having ingested a fair amount of water from the resevior, I made the decision to hold off trying to take in anything for at least 20min or so to allow my GI to clear. I mean, water is water no matter where it comes from and I wanted to ensure I didn't try and pound down too much fluid so early in the race, I think that's a mistake many long course athletes make. The 2 miles of road out to the main highway was very exposed and the wind was head/cross and was just howling. There was a construction zone we passed by and sand was blowing across the road pelting my arms and legs...felt like a nice day out on the BeeLine!

After the decision to hold off on nutrition, I made the second and likely best decisin of the day. DON'T FIGHT THE WIND. I got down on my aerobars, made myself as small as possible, selected an easy gear, and spun my HR to an appropriate level of effort. Everyone around me was sitting or standing up, fighting the wind and losing the battle. I stayed down and slowly went by them all, including my ZOOT team mate Jim who is in my AG and I knew would be very competitive. I made sure to try and take note of the wind direction and then visualized the entire bike course in my head to begin to anticipate how the wind would effect various parts of the course. I began to formulate a plan as to where I would need to work into the wind and when I would have opportunities to recover, which would be crucial to get through this ride and into T2 with some sembelance of a run.

I made the turn out on the main highway and enjoyed a repreive from the wind as it was at my back. Somewhere around mile 7 or so I was passed by a big guy in my AG in an all white kit. After he passed he sort of sat up and I passed him back on a descent. Well, he was having none of that and proceeded to get out of the saddle on a climb and dropped my fast. I recall just thinking,"Dude, it's only mile 8!". Turns out he was an ex-pro cyclist from germany and would go on to ride a pro like time of 5:18 on this day.

The first 20 miles were actually very pleasant. The wind was mostly a tail, I was passing the few athletes up the road who were all well spaced out between each other. I slowly began to take in some calories using the bottle with the gels. I negotiated the No Pass zone short loop on the rec. path without having to sit in too much as I was behind a fast woman pro and another guy and they both kept up a solid pace through there. As I began my first of two loops up towards the canyon I was feeling very solid with my HR in the low 140's (I had a bike target of 135-145). I even started singing quietly the theme song from the TV series "Enterprise" that I had watched on NetFlix the night before. "It's been a long road..getting from there to here.." Appropriate. :)

I wasn't singing about 4 miles later as I left town and hit the canyon roads. The wind was a cross at first and it was STIFF. I was riding an 808 front and rear 900 disc. I knew the 808 would make the handleing tricky but the disc felt very well sorted and never caused me any grief. I stayed down on the bars and let the wind move me around a little as opposed to trying to fight. The road was clear and I was alone. As we turned and headed up towards Gunlock, just as it had at the turn in the swim, all hell broke loose. I was hit by head and head/cross gusts that must have been close to 40mph. Just stay down. You would snake around a canyon wall that would provide respite and then get hit again. Just stay down and next time you are along a canyon wall and protected, get some water in. I just kept looking up the road trying to anticipate what the wind would do, how to repsond, and make sure I kept on slowly getting in some calories and hydration. I know from experience it's easy to forget to do that when it's really windy because you get afraid to let go of the bars.

A fortunate pre-race decision I made was to wear my LG Vorrtice helmet with the visor. By having the visor covering almost all my face made me feel insulated somewhat from the wind and prevented the wind from buffeting my helmet on my head. I felt like I was ensconsed in a protective cocoon and kept me from being menatly distracted by the big gusts. I made the first climb by the resevoir before Gunlock straight into a headwind and made it into the small town. An aid station allowed me to toss my water bottle and pick up a new cold one as I steeled myself for the short, steep climb just past town and the long climb up the Wall.

A mile or so before the wall I came up on a group of about 6-7 guys who were clearly drafting. Off the back of the group was one of my team mates, Chuck, who would go on to win M35-39 and be the first AG'er OA. Before I caught Chuck, a marshall on a motorcyle road up to the group from behind and I was thinking it was going to be a penalty card party! They sat and watched these guys for a few moments..and then just road off! WTF? I caught up to Chuck and we laughed about that just before we made the hairpin turn up the Wall. I wished Chuck well and passed the entire little pack and began the climb up The Wall. It was tough, but not too bad and a tailwind helped mitigate the misery.

I knew once I hit Veyo and the Pie Shop, the pace was going to pick up measurably. Good thing as I was 40 miles into this ride in well over 2 hours. Good grief. But now it was time to make some hay. Over 15 miles of descent and tailwind. I had been making good use of my 25 on the rear cassette now it was time for the 11 to come out to play and I was flying. Looking back on my data at some point I hit 55mph. But I also made sure to try and get my recovery at this point. I allowed my HR to back off into the mid 130's for this entire section, knowing 20min of rest would help set up my second loop.

I won't recap the entire second loop as it was fairly uneventful. Clearly the course was more corowded now as I was lapping folks but the wind was a bit less severe. I made a new friend, Jason, who I passed while still in town but he came along with me and we wnet back and forth all the way to The Wall. Small world, he's coached by my good friend and pro Ian Mikelsson and he was the first AG'er out of the water in an amazing 52min! My HR was now sort dwelling in the mid 130's as the fatigue continued to build and the climbs took their toll. My adjusted nutrition strategy had gone well, I finished the bottle with gels before the Gunlock aid staion and still had two gels and a finbal half of PR Bar as I neared mile 90.

Once up The Wall for the second time I decided to really give myself a break. Once I crested the final climb and began the descent, I allowed my HR to drop to 130 but I was still flying down the road thanks to the wind. Once I hit the big descent, I literraly tucked up on the aero bars, moved all my weight froward over the front wheel, almost off the nose of the saddle, knees clamped on my top tube, and free wheeled all the way to town.

I did the little out and back on the rec. path and suffered the insult of that last climb back up to Bluff St. and made my way to T2. At the rotary of Diagonal St. I saw my coach Nick. He was able to tell me I was 2nd in the AG, which I knew as I had not passed the German dude, and I was 3rd AG'er OA coming in. Well, that's encouraging. I hit the dismount line and stopped the clock on my longest IM bike split by a whopping 30min!

As I ran through T2, I was joined by another AG'er who came off the bike right behind me. We were the only people in the change tent and recieved class A service from the volunteers! I just had socks, shoes, sunglasses, visor, and gel flask to get sorted and was out just ahead of him until I stopped to allow about 5 high school girls to lather sun screen on me...just getting my money worth. ;)

So out onto the three loop, multiple out and back, downhill/uphill run course. I knew it would afford plenty of opportunities to see where everyone was in the race and I also know it would eventually start to suck ass. They guy who left transition ahead of me opened up a gap and the course was empty save for the back of the men pro race. The only woman pro out there was eventual winner Merdith Kessler. I was so psyched when I saw fellow ZOOT'er Ben leading the race!

But I needed to take stock on myslef and try and make this run happen. I had my gel flask and would use that for at least the first lap when I knew I would get sick of gel. My goal HR was 140-150 and I was sitting on 145 for those first 8 miles, averaging about a 7:35 pace. Not too bad and I felt..ok. Coach Nick was still at the rotary as I climbed up out of downtown to do the long out and back on Diagonal Rd. for the first time. He told me I was about 20 minutes down on the German guy. OK, I thought, I am racing to hold second. Somehow I missed seeing him coming back on this long section and I just made sure to get some water and ice and a little perfrom at every aid station.

As I came back to town and passed Nick again he called out and said I was starting to close the gap and was only 15 minutes behind. Although I heard him, to be honest it didn't really impact me, I was just so focused on trying to run well and hold effort and it was becoming a challenge. Somewhere in the early stages of my second loop it began...The Big Suck. It's inevetiable and I knew it was the start of the true suffering. Every 1 mile down and back my pace was falling off. 7:40...7:45....Mile 13 was coming up, I was around 1:40 split still and decided it was time to hit the Cola. And it was cold and it was GOOD. Didn't make me run faster but did make me feel a little more alive.

With my head more clear I began to really examine where I was in the race. German dude ahead but running slower, my team mate Jim was behind by about a mile and change and he looked pretty spiffy. Again, my focus at this point was still looking behind me to defend my position as opposed to looking forward to take the lead. As I made my way back up to Nick he had another update. 10 minutes...and the German guy was looking bad. But I was feeling bad. 7:50 average pace began to appear on the Garmin and I was loosing time on the climbs and not making it up anymnore on the descents and I still had 10 miles to go.

That second climb up Diagonal seemed endless. Long and straight and a gradual incline that just zapped the legs. I tried to recover coming back down but my turnover was faltering. God, just let this be done already. And as I passed Nick to head back down to begin my third and final loop my coach looked me square in the eyes and said, "5 minutes. You can do this." I would love to be able to tell you that I heard those words and found a whole new level of pain and suffering in an effort to chase down the leader. It would be great to say I found a whole new gear and second wind and my feet began to fly as I attacked to go for the win. I would love to say I engaged in some heroic effort spurred on by my desire for victory.

But I can't, because the truth is I just kept running. I just hurt, I was just so tired, I just wanted it to be over. I made my way down the first two down and backs. The course was crowded and I was bing passed by people on their 1st or 2nd loops many of whom were in my AG. It was impossible to tell but I just had to assume that was the case. I made my way to the final lower out and back I looked up...and there he was. The Tuetonic tower who had dropped me what felt like a lifetime ago out on the bike course. And he didn't look good.

Suddenly a chill overcame me and many thoughts rushed into my head. I got him. I need to stalk him down this hill and make the inevtiable pass stick. I needed to get my aid before making the move. It was like thunderclap and for the first time that day I WAS RACING. Mind you, I wasn't going any fatser, my average pace was nearing 8 flat, but in my head it was a race, albeit a slow one. Seeing his back made all the difference and near the bottom of the hill at exactly the mile 22 marker I passed him and went into the lead.

As I rounded the turn I could see there would be no repsonse to the pass. 4.2 miles to hang on for dear life. A lot of this is a blur. I can recall moments where I felt I was really running well again and then others where it felt like I was barley moving. As I stuggled for the last time up the hill to the rotary and Nick he did what any good coach would do. With 3 miles left he told me to GO! He even threw in a "Jim is closing on you" to motivate even though I knew he was still a mile back. Nice try coach but I appreciate the effort!

The climb up Diagonal seemed endless yet again and just before the turn I was joined by my team mate Rick who was running himself into 3rd in M30-34. He encouraged me to come with him but I was on the rivet, which wasn't saying much considering my pace, but it was enough. As I came back down I passed Jim coming the other way and told him he was in third and he had a chance to catch second. It turned out that wasn't exactly right.

Unbeknownst to anyone and due to the athlete tracker giving up the ghost on providing run splits, we were blind for most of that last loop as to where the AG field was shaking out. With the mix of athletes on various loops it was impossible to track visually. There were two guys in my AG who were making massive moves up through the field and one had already passed Jim and was bearing down on the German. Meanwhile in La La Land, I continued to run toward the line, passing mile 25.

One last time by Nick and now he ran along side me and we shook hands. We had done it. We achieved the goal set out back in September. I allowed myself to begin to feel the joy of the moment. I ran the short out and back by T2 and I have to say it's one of the greatest feelings when you can peel off to the right at the little sign that says "To Finish". I ran down the chute giving some high fives as Mike called me out. As I crossed the line my Mom was to the right in the VIP tent yelling to me. I went over and gave her a hug and told her I had won the AG. I called Jamie and she was watching with our friends and they were going crazy. I waited for the German fellow to cross and shook his hand although he was pretty out of it. I then waited for my team mate Jim to come in and celebrate with him on our podiums just like we did back in Vegas. It was a terrific feeling which has yet to leave me.

After about 45 minutes of sitting in the VIP area I was ready to go so Mom and I went to collect my bike and gear and we were back in the condo by 6:00pm. We had left about 14 1/2 hours prior but it seems like we had been gone for days. I showered and checked the results inline and although the individual page results were still wrong, the overall AG results had updated. I nearly fell over in shock to see that a fellow named Randy put together a 3:06 marathon and finished just over a minute behind me. Had the race been a 1/2 mile further he would have caught me. I realized I never looked back in the finishing chute and could have been overtaken right there. Lesson learned.


As always I had difficulty sleeping that night as the race played over in my mind and my sore body never could get comfortable. I woke up at 4:00am and made coffee. Mom and I headed down to the Kona slot allocation at 7:00 and I paid the WTC piper for my entry. We went home and packed and then returned for the awards. I had great time hanging with my Zoot teammates and was very interested to meet Randy. After being called up on stage, he and I spoke about the race. I told him I had no idea he was coming up like that and all he knew was that he was chasing someone in a ZOOT kit but there was 5 of us within 2 miles of each other for most of the race! So I was camouflaged by my team.

So I have my third opportunity to go back and race in Kona and I am very much looking forward to it. My last time there in 2010 wasn't the best day and I wasn't in good form. I think my coach and I have come up with a plan that can bring me to that start line healthy, rested, and very fit. We'll see. In the mean time, I mean, what could go wrong?! ;)