Ironman Arizona - Triathlon

Water was below the 62 degree temp they advertised. i'm from New england and this was shockingly cold. I dove in off the boat ramp and instantly it took my breath away. Temp was much colder than even the swim practice the day before.

it took me about 200 yards to fix a leaking goggle. why is it that these issues never happen at all during training, but only seem to occur once you are racing? I also had some wetsuit issues. i would swim a bit and then clear goggles. finally fixed it and the wetsuit issue. it was right after i got going again, that i felt a major 'chill' throughout my body. i had on a sleeveless suit, and i was thinking hypothermia. i kept swimming and eventually i 'warmed' up and forgot about hypothermia. i saw some forum posts, that 90 athletes DNF'd either during the swim or in transition.

i turned the last turn buoy and thought we were almost done but that last segment took forever. i was talking to my coach before and he thought it would be clear swimming the whole way. but i was constantly swimming with others. i think if i had swam with faster swimmers i would be all set, but i think the seeding system didn't work correctly due to swim corral set up issues. my coach was watching the swim and he said the swim didn't have bunches, it looked like everyone was in lines.

Practice with swim cap and make sure goggles didn't leak. put body glide on and make sure wet suit is on properly.

other than that. first Ironman, totally happy with the swim. my swim fitness allowed me to stay warm, well relatively anyway. i think others who couldn't do freestyle the whole way suffered and as a result may have DNF'd..

long run from swim exit to T1. I had an issue even standing up after that swim. i wobbled up the ramp, and kept my wetsuit up and cap on. i walked, until i felt good. then started to jog/walk. i zipped wetsuit down, and kept cap and goggles on my head.

i started to jog as i got closer to transition. then plopped down got the wetsuit stripper and went off to get my bike gear bag.

my parents were right there and they called me. i went over to them and gave them a high five. i realized how cold i was when my dad said, your hands are cold. got my bike gear bag and headed to the change tent.

i didn't want to go into the tent and change, as i was just putting on my shoes, socks, arm warmers and helmet.

took my time and noticed my neck had friction burns on it when i sprayed sunscreen on my neck. ouch.

nothing. i figured 15 minutes in transition even without a long run. so pretty happy with this, it felt longer.

my coach broke it down, 6 18 mile segments for the bike. it helped immensely mentally to deal with the 112 miles.

i took it really easily on the first segment. i did not want to get caught up in the race and get sucked into going too fast.

i drank two bottles of gatorade every hour. i ate one cliff shot block every 15 minutes, and took two salt tabs every hour. i peed a lot. 5 times during the bike! i was worried about dehydration and i was not dehydrated.

i kept it easy on the way out and then i'd cruise on the way back into town.

on my last segment back in, i pushed a little too hard, and i felt a twinge behind my knee. i didn't think anything of it and kept going.

i had some issues on that last segment. i couldn't hold aero position for very long. i think between my bike fit, where i have to crane my neck up to see down the road, and that my last few weeks training i wasn't able to get out on the road due to rainy weather in the NorthEast. my legs felt good and i slowed up a bit, but i had plenty of fitness just couldn't go fast.

not go as slow on the first segment, and then not push so hard on the way back in.

better bike fit, and can't do much about the weather.

it was cool riding through the Ironman village area and seeing all of the spectators. i got to the dismount line and got off my bike. i usually do a flying dismount. no need today.

i gave my bike to the volunteer and she asked if i needed anything. i stopped my bike computer and i couldn't remember if i turned it off or not.

i headed over to get my run stuff.

got my run stuff and my coach was coming up behind me and asked if i was feeling good. i gave him a thumbs up as a volunteer who was super cute by the way asked me if she could get me anything. i asked her if she had lobster or filet mignon, my coach said he must be feeling good.

she got me some water i think, i put on my sneakers and put everything in my bike bag. i think i also had another joke or two, i can't recall. went to the port o potty and peed again.

it felt like an eternity in here so i was shocked to see under 7 minutes.

nothing.

i headed out on the run and i was warm. my coach and i had a plan of running 4 minutes and walking 20 seconds. for the first few i walked 30 seconds, and then shortened it. i would also slow down through aid stations and get gatorade and water. i also peed every other aid station until mile 9 or so.

I splashed water on my face at one point and felt chilled so i stopped doing that even though i felt warm.

great atmposhere and spectators were awesome. as were the volunteers.

when i do Ironman again, no if, but when. i need to figure out run hydration. i don't think i kept up with my hydration levels by only drinking one or maybe two cups of gatorade at every aid station. i need more than that, and need to figure it out. i stopped peeing at around mile 9 or so, and i realized that was a huge problem.it took me until almost 10 miles later before i peed again. it was also around mile 15 that my IT band issue came back and then right after that happened, my ham string in my other knee started to hurt.

hydration, i felt i could put down a 5 and half hour marathon realatively easily and so i was disappointed in finishing in over 6 hours. i'm still trying to analyze what happened. most likely hydration followed with a close second on hamstring, which is still hurting as i write this on Nov. 30th.

my plan though was to finish, that was my goal. so i was succesful there. if i ran further or faster in the beginning i may have blown up and not been able to finish, so strategy wise i'm happy, but competitor in me realizes i was a bit conservative and had more to push, for next time anyway.

More like warm up. temps were cold in Tempe. sun went down at 5:22 and temps went from mid-70's at 5;22 to probably mid-40's 10 minutes later. temps dropped fast. i had a tri top on and a long sleeve tech shirt and that was not enough to keep me warm.

i grabbed a thermal blanket and then looked for food. i met up with my parents and my coach and he went to grab my stuff. we were looking to get dinner at the hotel bar but they stopped serving dinner, in fact only one restaurant was open after 8 pm. that seems a bit short sighted of Tempe area eateries, most of the athletes finished when i did, it would have been wise to realize this to get some extra revenue.


The run, still not entirely sure what happened, but i'm guessing hydration issues on the run. Still goal was to finish, so in that midset super happy, super stoked.

taking lessons from Ironman to put to next season racing sprints and Olympics, better hydration on the bike, i know i need to drink way more than i do.


there may have been post race activities, but i got in too late to experience them. i looked for food which was limited at that time of night, plus even though i was starving, i wasn't really hungry. i needed to warm up, and pee.

Tempe was a great city, it was too bad most restaurants were short sighted in not staying open past 10 on race night.

Volunteers and Spectators were awesome. Running through the gauntlet near transition was something else, as well as the finish line. were there were hundereds of people still there.