Ironman Texas 2015 (Page 12)

Yup, you're not the only one. The taper always causes my sleep patterns to get all funky. I end up getting tired really early, going to sleep, and then waking up around midnight not able to get back to sleep. It never fails that I do get the anxiety dreams though. It always involves me getting onto the run and then getting lost. I always feel good and fresh in my dreams, and have a good pace, but I just can't seem to stay on the course. I keep asking everyone where I"m supposed to go but they all look at me like they don't know what I'm talking about.

Seems like it will be pretty hard to get lost on the Woodlands run course, so I'm not too worried.

Glad that's an option. A few years back they didn't let a guy race because his flight from Spain was diverted. Doesn't make much sense but they are consistent with the rule.

Dang.. I thought I'd had one easier spot of getting that Kona slot... (inside joke from another thread). I'm glad you were able to work it out, it would be really crappy to train, plan, train, plan, hurt, heal, train, plan, pay, train etc... then not get to race.

This last week is tough...I keep dreaming I am walking up to the swim start and I keep waking up. Anxiety sucks.

Haha. Maybe all the fast guys in our division will miss the check in deadline and we'll both sail into Kona.

The way the weather is looking, I'm just going to go into "finish" mode. I'm sure it could change again, but the last couple of days it has been steady at a high of 90 with 10-15 mph winds out of the SSE. That will make things difficult. I was hoping that the weather would be significantly cooler and less windy than what I train in. Believe it or not those conditions are still better than what I'm used to, but not by much. Having done my last two long rides in heat indices greater that 100 with 20+ mph winds I can tell you, it is NOT fun.

Looks like it is going to be a HOT one. I get to train in it but feel for those that are not used to the heat and humidity.

I've had a couple of anxiety dreams, like the one about not realizing I didn't drop off my transition bags until the gun goes off for the swim start, but other than that have been sleeping pretty well fortunately.

Was just able to add Thursday night to my existing reservation at the Drury so I don't have to change hotels after the first night which is a good thing. I always sleep horribly the first night in a hotel.

I hit the road tomorrow. I'm ready!

Edited by WyattEarp 2015-05-12 8:52 AM

If you're looking for something to do tonight, The Woodlands Cycling Club has a group ride that leaves from the parking lot of Stonebridge Church (near the corner of Research Forrest Drive and Branch Crossing Drive) at 6:15. The ride will be about an hour, maybe a little less......fast paced, but not crazy. It's an ideal tune-up two days before the race, plus a great opportunity for a last minute maintenance check on the bike.

We leave the church and ride over to a subdivision that has some very low traffic roads that are in excellent shape.

The ride's open to everyone, but it's a fair weather bunch. If it's raining, no one will show up. We ride laps in the subdivisions, so you can ride at whatever pace you want. We'll typically have between 10 & 20 people show up for this ride.

It's getting VERY Real everyone!!!



On a side note, I have slept better the past 2 nights!!!

Yep...it's on now. Good luck out there tomorrow!!

Are any of y'all alive? I've been following this thread because I think I'm going to do this race next year. I keep checking in to see some reports but y'all are silent, starting to get worried about y'all!

Hey Wyatt Earp, I am from Baton Rouge and I was there volunteering at Bike Station #1 and Run Station #5 this weekend. Probably handed you some nutrition or drink. Hope your Race went well. Volunteered so I could sign up for next years race, was at the sign up table at 7:30 Sunday morning.
Weather held out, besides being a little warm and humid and a touch of wind. At least no Rain. I hate the rain, while on the bike.

I'm alive! Doing well. Raced by my wife's side and we came in 19 minutes under her goal of 15 hours. Tough conditions at times out there, but I believe that the race is being moved into April which will change some of the tougher parts of the race. It's a great race, I did it four times and loved each race. This is the first time I stayed at the host hotel, it was great. I had some elderly, sick, and young fans watching us so them being able to be close was great. The hotel did a great job too, however, if you choose to stay farther away, it is much cheaper and still very easy to get to and from the race location.

Have fun!

Alive and well!!! and most importantly an Ironman!!!

I'll say a few brief things about this race right now.

1) I give a ton of credit my coach Scott at Sonic Endurance. I am done with my first Ironman and I think it is a testament to my training that yes, I am a bit sore, I feel really good and had no problems being a regular Dad yesterday and employee today. I felt like I was truly prepared for 140.6 miles. So thanks Scott!!

2) I will most likely do a full write up on this later, but in short, we made have called them volunteers, but to me they are ANGELS helping me get through the day. It would have been impossible without their support on the course.

3) It was a blast competing with such a wonderful group of men and women. The entire day felt like even though it was a race against others, we were still all in it together helping each other finish strong. What a great group to be associated with out there.

I'm sure there will be more thoughts later, but congratulations to everyone and I hope your day went as well as mine!

Justin

Well, I survived. Humbled and sore, but made it.

A couple of thoughts:

1. When you live on an island which has a max elevation of 12' the term "rolling hills" might as well say "Swiss Alps". I got my butt handed to me on the bike course something fierce.

2. A full Ironman is more than double a Half-Ironman, maybe not in distance, but certainly in effort.

3. I am happy I did it, but happy it's done. I am going to go back to concentrating on halves as I feel like I can "race" those.

4. The most amazing thing to me were the volunteers. I don't know if all IMs are like that or it was just southern hospitality but ever single volunteer was 110% every minute from 5:30 am until midnight. I can't even wrap my head around it. They were beyond amazing. I feel like I need to go volunteer for an IM now just to pay it forward. They were completely over the top. I could recall 100 stories of how so many of them went so far above and beyond. I wish I could thank them individually.

5. I am an Ironman!!

Bonus: The image bellow was me in the Ironman store the day after the race...





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Ironman I am. I do feel like I was ready for it as far as training goes but have to say that although I train a lot in hot and humid this race was absolutely brutal. I spent most of miles 5-13 of the run just trying to cool down and keep going. I rallied and had a pretty good last half all things considered. Was right on my goal times for my swim and bike but ran nearly an hour slower on the run. Finish time of 13:51:57 really wanted that finish time to start with a 12.. I'm with 3mar as I think I'm going to stick with Olympic and 70.3 as I feel like I can race those and am a little more competitive. Would have to think long and hard about an Ironman rematch.

Also as everyone echoed the volunteers were great. Amazing course support out there. Also highly recommend the Drury Inn for anyone doing the race. It was very inexpensive, clean and had just about the friendliest most accommodating hotel staff I have ever stayed with.

Edited by WyattEarp 2015-05-19 7:22 AM

I liked the course, heat and humidity meh, really strung out finish line, transition, swim start and mudwrestling in transition not so much.

The heat and humidity was manageable, but as we had a late spring (snow up until 2 weeks before race) I was not able to train in any heat whatsoever. The second half of the run was affected in a general slowing down kind of way. It is hard to put a finger on exactly why, but the last 13 miles was just slow. I am glad I did it but driving 5100 miles in one week was a bit much.

Does anyone else feel like crap? I'm not sure if I'm getting sick, or if this is part of the post Ironman norm. I did an easy 5 mile run yesterday and it helped reduce the muscle aches quite a bit. I really have no muscle or joint aches to speak of now, however, I'm just generally run down and feel like one does at the beginning stages of a cold or flu. I took today off and was planning on getting in the pool tomorrow for a light workout. How are the rest of you doing?

To be completely honest, this is NOT a brag post, but I feel great. My day after the race my wife was so tired (from all the cheering I guess) I had to carry her upstairs to bed and it was not a problem. My legs were a bit heavy Sunday and Monday but fine the last 2 days. My shoulders/neck on the other hand were VERY sore until today. But physically I feel great. I am not; however, going to do anything for a few more days. I want to give my whole body a chance to recover. I lost 8 pounds during the race!!!!! I'm back to normal now but I didn't feel too hot Saturday night. I almost told my wife to just take me to the ER on the way home, but I was too tired to mutter the words. If you are feeling run down, I'd just rest man, no reason to push your body right now. Not only did you stress your muscles, but you put your entire system to a serious strain, kidneys, heart, lungs, spleen (maybe).... But the point is that you shocked your system. Give your whole body a few days to recover.

And on another note: You totally beat me!!! jack a$$

Alive and an IRONMAN!!

I finished in 15:37, which was right about where I thought I'd finish. I trained on the course, so it didn't seem bad at all to me. Even the heat didn't seem too bad, thanks to my DeSoto cool wings and copius amounts of ice and water on my head. I am working on my race report, but to sum it up - It was awesome and the volunteers and spectators made this race so much fun! I always said I'd be "one and done", but I *think* I'd like to do this race again...just not in the near future. It's my husband's turn now. I did spend a small fortune in the store on Sunday, too. Gotta have enough stuff to hold me over until I do another one. :-)

I am an IRONMAN! Finished in 14:16. It was a tough 20 weeks preparing for this race. Every single second was worth it. I could write a full book on my experience during the race. I am in the process of typing up my BT race report. It's going to be impossible to capture everything that went on.

Congrats to everyone who had the courage to take on this challenge.

Now it's time to find out where I can complete IM #2 = )

Ironman recovery is highly individual. However, even if you are an uber great recovery kind of person, you will feel drained for a couple of weeks. Anything that raises your heart rate will quickly tell you to stop doing that. Keep workouts short and in Z1. No intensity for like 3-4 weeks.

By the way, my full race repot is here: http://txrunnergirl.blogspot.com/2015/05/imtx-race-report.html

Warning, it's long.

Awesome report Christy. Congrats!

How do we start a new thread for next year? I'm in.