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 Swim
Comments: Another tough, physical congested swim but this time my mind was right. Literally fell into the water off the ramp at the start as the ramp ended. Started swimming and within 50 feet got kicked in the right goggle which filled up and I had to stop and drain it and it kept leaking for the next 5 minutes until I got the seal right. Emptied it twice more then it was ok. Lots of contact with people clawing me and trying to swim over me while I was staying relaxed. No panic and felt good even when I went under knowing I could do this now. Keeping control of the breathing was most important. No stacking of breaths=perfect! Kept on counting down from 100 then I felt like I was swimming and could get into a rhythm, found some feet for a while. Turn buoy was another scrum and I saw it so I swam wide of it. Hit the turn around and felt the bottom and saw people standing up---in the thick mud! Walked a bit. Saw my swim pace was 1:40 at that time-couldn't see the watch in front of my face due to blackness from the mud. Started swimming again and walking slowed me to 1:44 pace. Swam on to the end. Ramp was slippery and I landed on my knee but helpers pulled me up-thanks guys! Cut my toe and banged my whole foot. https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7476842221/1 https://www.strava.com/activities/5949886454 What would you do differently?: That was about the best I've ever done and certainly my best here by far. I would not change a thing.  Transition 1
Comments: I got out of the water and ran fast to my bike, which had a great spot this year, right by 'bike out'. Pulled my cap/goggles off while running and got out of the sleeves and un-zipped. Got to transition spot and took off suit and threw everything to the back. Sat down, toweled off feet/face (missed the shower), socks on/bike shoes on, grabbed a gel and ate it, bike helmet on-clipped and unracked bike and ran to mount line. Struggled trying to get my wristband on while running and almost took out people running with their bikes next to me. Finally got it on and passed 2 or 3 people running past the line, jumped on and went. https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7476842221/2 https://www.strava.com/activities/5949886525 What would you do differently?: Put wrist band on at transition, not while running.  Bike
Comments: I tried to hold a steady pace and keep the cadence up except when standing. I stood up on any little hill (basically overpasses) and tried to pass people at these places. I always said 'on the left' and passed hundreds of people, no-really I did. Only a ~20 people passed me. Lots of fast women fish ahead of me and then the uber boy bikers showed up passing me like I wasn't moving. I was very conscious of maintaining my distance but there were lots of groups and there was real advantage cheating that way because of the wind. I saw penalties handed out all around me but I was always the lone biker staying away from the pack but my time was clearly going to be slower than the cheaters. Quads were starting to hurt a bit. I took both my mix bottles w 250 cals plus nuun tabs and an extra water as I felt I was getting hot. Dropped my bottle just before coming into an aid station and stopped to pick it up so I didn't get a penalty. https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7476842221/3 https://www.strava.com/activities/5949887012 What would you do differently?: Try to stay in aero position more but my back was a bit sore. Unending flatness is trying on the back. Wind was brutal and I'm sure it would have helped to be down more. Transition 2
Comments: Transition includes 2/3 of a mile in Bader so I slowed a bit and tried to think about what needed to be done. Knew right where my spot was this time. Run with bike-racked it, helmet off, shoes off, sit-run shoes on, visor on, run belt on-stand up and remember which way to run. You run out the opposite side but my brain wasn't working so well. My wife yelled 'Run out the back' and helped me and shouted more encouraging things-love that girl. Ate another gel but I could have waited until the first aid station. Broke a pre-formed ice pack and put it in my kit as the last thing I did and grabbed a ziplock to put ice in on the course. https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7476842221/4 https://www.strava.com/activities/5949886543 What would you do differently?: Not much.  Run
Comments: Windy, hot, windy, hot, crampy, hot/hot, crampy/crampy...yeah, that's how I remember it-ha. I put an ice pack in my kit which felt 'cold' for about a mile-and I chucked it into a garbage bag on the boardwalk as soon as I got there. Plan was to start a minute/mile slower than plan due to heat, so I targeted ~9:30 pace but quads were starting to twinge by mile 3. Salt stains were on my kit but I didn't feel dehydrated at all and felt I was keeping up with fluids/lytes ok. I was really under trained for the run and cramps were from low volume training. I did only 2 runs that were over 6 miles in the 2 months prior to the race-7 miles on 8/16; 6 miles on 7/24 (my Oly race). Not smart...Peak run volume was ~20-25 miles and lots of weeks were in the teens. https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/7476842221/5 https://www.strava.com/activities/5949886900 What would you do differently?: Much bigger run volume and more long runs just for 'time on my feet' to avoid cramps. Otherwise, I gutted it out pretty well. Very sad to have slowed so much at the end as the cramps were incapacitating. One minute faster would have gotten me 3rd AG, rather than 5th. Take home message is to push hard all the way to the end. Post race
Warm down: As usual, I couldn't move well. I went directly into the ocean to cool my legs off, which was great until the salt hit all my blisters and chaffing and burned like hell. Stayed in the water for 10 minutes which helped, I'm sure. Back to sit and chat with Denise and tell her all the craziness-especially mud walking during the swim! What limited your ability to perform faster: Under trained for the run and heat/cramps was the dagger that killed my race. https://www.ironman.com/im703-atlantic-city-results pics in strava- Event comments: As always, Delmo runs an exceptional race. Mr. Hollywood loves to bring the best and he does. Weather is beyond control but we were warned. Course is great and can be super fast when not really hot. My PR is from here and I'll never beat it. Last updated: 2020-08-29 12:00 AM
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United States
Ironman
68F / 20C
Sunny
Overall Rank = 317/1547
Age Group = M 60-64
Age Group Rank = 5/49
Slept great 2 nights before, not so great the night before the race-up at midnight for an hour and arose at 3am and stayed awake. Tried to stay relaxed. Usual pre-race meal/shower/BR. Sipped G2 w nuun all morning to stay hydrated. Bodyglide/body marking, timing chip-secured w black tape (self due to covid) but I didn't want to dress early so I stayed in my shorts and brought the race kit-zoot black tri shorts and 2XU black sleeveless LG top. Race started at 6:45am, and we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express only 4 miles away so there was no real line. Left at 5 and were parked by 5:15am. I changed and Denise helped me lug all the stuff to transition to prep-Aero helmet/bike pump, IM bag w shoes (R/B), run belt, socks, towels, nutrition and bottles/ice, swim bag w wetsuit. Set up transition, put ice on bottles and synced the Garmins with the power pedals. Wore socks and flip flops,Changed into race kit and brought contacts. Wore LS shirt and sweats. Windy and cool. No swim warmup but I did one at the hotel the day before-water was salty. The Holiday Inn had a beach behind it so you could actually swim! Bonus...I wore both the 920 and 935 Garmins.
Athletes were not separated from family so we could stay together close to getting into line. Self seeded swim with times every 3 minutes-starting with sub 27 min. I took off my warm stuff/flip flops/socks and gave it to Denise. Went to BR again and got in the line @ 37-40 (a bit aggressive but I was feeling confident). My best swim at HIM is like 38 min, here was 40 min). Just waited in line and got into the water ~7am. Wore clear goggles for better visibility-excellent choice.