Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman


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Tempe, Arizona
United States
Ironman North America
78F / 26C
Sunny
Total Time = 11h 01m 40s
Overall Rank = 212/2066
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 40/330
Pre-race routine:

First Ironman so everything was a learning type of thing. Got up at 0400 and left for race site at 0420 with my wife. Had car already packed from night before. Drank my high protien shake and ate a bagle. I planned to wear the same outfit all day so thats what i dressed in, and put sweat on for some warmth.
Event warmup:

Did nothing for warm up, Just got bags turned in, checked on bike to make sure it was still good to go, no flats. Then went around finding all my friends and taking lots of pictures. Just relaxing. Was surprisingly not nervous. I was taking it all in and haveing fun. Then the pros took off so i got in my wet suit and headed for the H20.
Swim
  • 1h 14m 8s
  • 3862 meters
  • 01m 55s / 100 meters
Comments:

I am a terrible swimmer. I had a goal of 1:15 today and beat that. so i was very glad about that. I also was within seconds of my training buddy's who usually bead me by 4-6 minutes over this distance in practice. It was like a washing machine out there for me in that time frame. I have got to take 15 minutes off my swim by next year. My swim always puts me mid pack and way be hind, i then have to play catch up the rest of the day. Got my goggles nocked of twice, and an elbow in the nose once. I was pretty darn glad to get out of that water. The distance was easy, but just slow.
What would you do differently?:

Pin my ankle chip holder on for extra security. Part way through the swim it came loose and i thought it had fallen of my leg. It had not, but i kept stoppin every few minutes to tighten it and make sure it was still there.
Transition 1
  • 06m 21s
Comments:

My transition was slower than i had hoped for. I had a goal of 5 min for each. The transistion was very crowded when i came in, but i think what held me up was i was just not thinking very well. Still haveing after shock fromt he swim beating. I saw my best friend and training partner in transition. He beat me out of water by one min. But i always transition faster than him, and was long gone by the time he left the tent. After taking off wet suit i was dressed to ride. Just had to put on number and biking gear. Had to go get my own bike, not enough volunteers for the number of athletes in transition at that time.
What would you do differently?:

Put my sun screen on my self. I got burned pretty bad out there on my back. The volunteer did his best but missed some spots that burned.
Bike
  • 5h 48m 54s
  • 112 miles
  • 19.26 mile/hr
Comments:

There were some pretty pot holes out there you had to be carefull of. Seen some pretty back wrecks, came clost twice my self. The side winds would hit you out of no where and just throw you sideways a few feet. I was so glad to get off that bike alive. Got pretty sticky trying to poor drinks into aero bottle due to wind blowing it around on ya. My bike was a sticky mess after. Biggest surprise for me was how i was able to stay in the aero bars the whole ride without too much discomfort. That had been a concern because i dont train in aero as much as i should, but on race day it came together and was not an issue. The wind made you want to stay down and low anyway. I was trying to lay on top of my top tube.
What would you do differently?:

train in the wind every chance i get, and stop complining about training in the wind here in San Diego, cuz that seems to be the norm for the race in Tempe.
Transition 2
  • 03m 50s
Comments:

I messed up what could have been a pretty good transition by taking off my shoes before i went into porta potty to pee. I was like crap, no way am i stepping in there without shoes, so i had to put them back on to go in and do my stream thing. Then off with the shoes and glove helmet, and i was out of the tent.
What would you do differently?:

think more clearly and put my halo on right side out. I ran the whole marathon with my skull cap hallo in side out. How stupid was that.
Run
  • 3h 48m 27s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 08m 43s  min/mile
Comments:

excellent run course, and a lot of fun. Plenty of aid stations, great mile markers. Always knew where you were at. I had thought coming off the bike in T2 "man there is no way i am going to be able to run this marathon" My legs were fried from the wind. The run is my strongest event, and i was concerned i had messed up by going to hard on the bike. However i left the transition and fell into a nice smooth jog. Legs came back pretty good, and were saying hey "we are still here, let go, lets go" But my stomach was saying "hey i am here, and i hurt" I think i got my H20 to sugar drinks a little off on the bike, and it took about 5 miles for my stomach to settle down. My legs and lungs could have run faster but my stomach said no way. Had to spend about 5 minutes at mile 4 in a porta pottie trying to get things under control there. After that, it was off to the races. I was able to run the whole marathon, never bonked, and felt pretty darn good. the wet sponges were awsome and the chicken broth was excellent for beating back the hyponatremia. On all my running events i only drink water and take goo, thats it. But i tried the broth on this race and it went down well. Best thing about the day was that i had no muscular aches or problemes. Hams strings that normally will get a littl sore and stiff in training were no problem. I was very happy to have no structural problems in the race. It all came together pretty darn good.
What would you do differently?:

Not walk through as many aid stations. I will always run between aid stations and then walk through aid stations to make sure i get fluid in. I need to be able to drink on the run. Just a little of that would have put my total day race time in the 10 hour range.
Post race
Warm down:

Just walk around and got a massage. did a little stretching. Was not able to eat anything for a while

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Short amout of time to get ready for the race having come back from deployment in military from the desert. I came back pretty out of shape. I will now have a full year to get ready for IMAZ 08.

Event comments:

this was the best race of any race i have ever done. the voluteers were world class, and have hooked me on IMAZ. I will be back every year. It was fantastic.




Last updated: 2007-04-18 12:00 AM
Swimming
01:14:08 | 3862 meters | 01m 55s / 100meters
Age Group: 0/330
Overall: 897/2066
Performance: Average
Decided not race with my HR monitor. Thought i would go by feel. Glad i did. I can usually tell pretty close how i am doing by just feel.
Suit: QR An old suit i have sown up several holes in.
Course: Awsome course out and back in lake. Water temp was just fine.
Start type: Deep Water Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Average Remainder: Average
Breathing: Average Drafting: Average
Waves: Navigation: Average
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 06:21
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: Yes
Getting up to speed: Good
Biking
05:48:54 | 112 miles | 19.26 mile/hr
Age Group: 86/330
Overall: 399/2066
Performance: Good
Wind: Strong with gusts
Course: Only good thing about the weather on the bike was it was not hot, but damn was it windy. First two laps not to bad, but when i hit that turn around on beeline it was terrible. I could tell most everyone was struggling with it. At the end of my second lap i was like hey, i am going to go sub 5:30, The wind said oh ya, we will see about that, and it seemed to blow harder. Oh well, i gave up my time goal and just decided to save the legs a little bit for the run. Even that went bad, cuz it seemed to even just make head way i had to peddle harder than i wanted to to just get back. Pee'd off the bike twice. Wow what a thing to do, never done that before, but there was no way i was going to give away hard earned time. So a bottle of nice plain H20 down the front of the shorts and let it go. No problem.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Good
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 03:50
Overall: Average
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal Average
Running
03:48:27 | 26.2 miles | 08m 43s  min/mile
Age Group: 23/330
Overall: 134/2066
Performance: Good
Course: excellent run course, and a lot of fun. Plenty of aid stations, great mile markers. Maybe a little too much concrete. Volunteers were the best in the world.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 5
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5