Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman


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Tempe, Arizona
United States
NA Sports
82F / 28C
Sunny
Total Time = 12h 48m 29s
Overall Rank = 1167/
Age Group = M30-34
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Arrived in Tempe on Friday morning and did the whole registration and expo all day.I wanted to take in everything and do it all so next year I can focus on just my race. Love the city, hit a piano bar on Friday night and probably had about 5 too many beers but hey was in town to have a good time. GOt a nice massage on Saturday to loosen up and that helped a ton.
Race Day:
woke up around 4:15
Started with bagels and gatorade. Kept eating and drinking all morning up til race start. Also had half a clif bar and a banana. Had way too many trips to the bathroom and felt like "more" needed to come out but it wasn't happeing.
Event warmup:

No warm up to speak of. Got my tires pumped and got into my wetsuit about 10 min out from race start. Made my way to the water, and jumped in preparing for the worst as my pre swim the day before went horrible. I was cold and had a hard time breathing but today with the swim cap on to keep my ears a bit warmer it felt ok.
Swim
  • 1h 24m 51s
  • 4224 yards
  • 02m 01s / 100 yards
Comments:

Horrible!!!!!

It went bad from the start. First off, only my second time in a wetsuit this year ( the first being the day before at the practice swim) so what could I expect. Not sure the suit was fitting me good as my right shoulder was tight and hurting just a few minutes in. I was having trouble with the cold water and it was causing my breathing to get screwed up. Was drinking too much of the lake and started causing bloating feelings and the "I am going to shit myself" feelings which were not pleasant. At about the half way point I was thinking just finish this da#$ thing and get out of the water. I knew i could sit in T1 to get myself back together but just wanted to get out of that water. The last 1/4 of the swim became brutal. It got to the point I could barely lift my arms to form a stroke and I was just pounding the water to keep moving. I could see the exit and made my way to it. They had to help me get out of the water as I had no strength left in my arms to reach up and get on the stairs.
What would you do differently?:

Well how about swim and maybe even do some OWS in the summer. I did one swim about 2 weeks before the race of 4000+ yds, outside of that nothing over 2500 the whole year I think
Transition 1
  • 12m 48s
Comments:

For the first time I was having doubts about being able to go on. I couldn't get my wetsuit off or even started. My arms hurt so bad and couldn't raise them up past my shoulders. The nice volenteer helped get my suit off and I was feeling dizzy and hazy and was shaking cold.

I made it to the port a john to try and relieve myself but to no evail. I think I had so much air in me and it was going to take a while to get it out of me. Got out of there and into the T1 tent. Thankfully they had a heater in there and I found a chair and just sat there shivering. I started having thought of just sitting in there for a while to warm up but I knew I had to go get my bike and get going. After a few minutes I started to wobble towards my bike. I was still dizzy and shaking. Mike Ricci saw me by my bike and said hi and gave me a pat on the back which just about knocked me over. I probably should not have got on the bike at that point.
What would you do differently?:

Not even sure where to start
Bike
  • 6h 15m 17s
  • 112 miles
  • 17.91 mile/hr
Comments:

Happy that i finally got my stomach right and could go on.
What would you do differently?:

Once again train for this race.
Transition 2
  • 03m 2s
Comments:

just got through it in no hurry. Was not looking forward to 26.2 miles after all I had been through adn I knew my fitness or lack there of would prevail.
Run
  • 4h 52m 33s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 11m 10s  min/mile
Comments:

Well, I made it to this point and there were times I didn't think that would happen. Wasn't sure how it would go as I hadn't ran for squat all year. I knew I would finish as running Was my strong suit so I just started to grind out the miles. First mile started out okay and I kept it going from there. I got to about 6 miles and started to think "hey maybe I can just gut out a 5 hr mary and steal a pr out of no training and a horrible day." Second loop was awesome. I felt great and picked up the pace a bit. Third lap the fitness really hit me. I got dizzy at an aid station so went into conservative mode and made sure I walked a good portion of the aid stations and got in enough food and fluids. Mentally struggled the last 4 miles or so and got to about 1.5 mi to go and was walking a ton. Had a nice conversation with a Iron virgin and then realized I was about 3/4 mi out so said goodbye and started the trek to the finish. Passed a big group to ensure no mayhem at the finish line. Saw the tape and the lights and was glad to be done.
What would you do differently?:

Um, train maybe?

I guess seeing i did an open marathon 4:08 5 weeks out and then went 4:52 I can't complain
Post race
Warm down:

looked for Aaron in the mob of people and finally found him. Called my wife and got in the massage line. Had a slice of pizza and some cola.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The fact that I had no business doing an Ironman in my condition. I learned for a hard fact that "You can't fake Ironman"

Event comments:

Awesome venue for a race and top notch all around. I will have to come back someday.




Last updated: 2008-04-04 12:00 AM
Swimming
01:24:51 | 4224 yards | 02m 01s / 100yards
Age Group: 173/
Overall: 1633/
Performance: Bad
Suit: Full
Course: one rectangle loop in Tempe Town Lake
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Shot
Water temp: 62F / 17C Current: Low
200M Perf. Bad Remainder: Bad
Breathing: Bad Drafting: Bad
Waves: Bad Navigation: Below average
Rounding: Below average
T1
Time: 12:48
Performance: Bad
Cap removal: Bad Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: No
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed: Bad
Biking
06:15:17 | 112 miles | 17.91 mile/hr
Age Group: 151/
Overall: 1273/
Performance: Bad
Wind: Strong
Course: 3 x out and back. First loop was into my face out the beeline, second loop was mixed wind and the 3rd the wind had reversed itself. When I crossed the mat to mount my bike I about fell over. I had no strength in my arms to grip the handlebars and was not sure how I was going to do this. i was still shaking but headed off anyways. I couldn't go aero as my stomach was in knots. I made it to the first aid station and stopped and sat in the porta john for about 3 min. Trying my hardest to "clean myself out." Got out and back on the bike. Up the beeline the first loop I was going about 12 miles an hour as the winds were tough. Made it to the turn and was going aobut 33 mph back. I was flying all the way back to the turn but stomach was still not right. On the second loop I stopped again for about 2 min in the port a john and started feeling much better. Lived off the land the whole race and it went well. The last lap was great. I felt strong for the litte training I did but actually pickeup up my pace by 1 mph. Finished strong but still was ready to get off the bike.
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence: 72
Turns: Average Cornering: Below average
Gear changes: Average Hills: Below average
Race pace: Comfortable Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 03:02
Overall: Below average
Riding w/ feet on shoes Bad
Jumping off bike Bad
Running with bike Bad
Racking bike Bad
Shoe and helmet removal Bad
Running
04:52:33 | 26.2 miles | 11m 10s  min/mile
Age Group: 124/
Overall: 1045/
Performance: Bad
Course: 3 x around Tempe Town Lake, a few hills on back portion.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 2
Good race? No
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