Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas : Official Thread (Page 41)

Get some rest, you're borrowing trouble now, over thinking. It was silly smooth last year

Good luck to everyone racing tomorrow!

Some lucky BTer has a hot new bike he'll be riding tomorrow.

When can we sign up for 2014?????

Congratulations to everyone who toed the line yesterday and finished in tough conditions!

Was wondering if anyone knew if the awards banquet was sold out and if so, if anyone had an extra ticket?

Thanks!
Ryan

Congrats to everyone! It was a hot one yesterday.

Any hotel suggestions for 2014

There are basically four hotels within easy walking distance of everything (in distance order):

- The Woodlands Waterway Marriott (host hotel) (slightly closer than the Hyatt to the finish line)

- Hyatt Market Street (slightly closer to transition and swim start than the Waterway Marriott)

- Marriott Residence Inn Market Street

- Hilton Garden Inn

 

A little further walk but still walkable

- Marriott Residence Inn Lake Front

- Courtyard by Marriott The Woodlands

 

Every other hotel will require driving to and from the race area.

Book early.  Those four close hotels will sell out quickly.

Edited by GMAN 19030 2013-05-19 10:28 AM

Minus some issue with the restaurant last night I had a great experience at the Marriott and it's right off the run course so it's easy for family.

Yesterday was a lot harder than last year due to weather conditions. Congrats to everyone.

First full IM in the books! Yesterday's ride was tougher than all of the training rides due to the heat. Serious gut check.

Congratulations to all the athletes that finished yesterday.

Anyone hear what the actual high temps/heat indexes were?

Heat index was 97 degrees

SO, how'd you do? Aside from a serious cluster bomb of a swim my day went well. My swim was so horrendous that it destroyed my goals, but knowing that I just enjoyed the day. I had an okay bike but loved every minute of the ride on my new P3. It was my first ride over 80 miles since last July and my first outdoor ride over 20 miles. Not the smartest training plan, but no one ever called me the smartest. Run went well, slower than I wanted but it was a tad bit warm.

drove home today with my lovely wife and now am set to sleep in my own bed.

signed up for next year, have to figure out how to swim in that damn lake. I'll keep coming back till I get it right.

. Hope your day went well.- Chris #2037

On second look.....I actually hit my goal. My goal was to beat last year's disaster. I didn't train enough this year but I thought I could beat it even with as little as I did. Last year was a 12:38:xx, this year was 12:32:xx. No, not super fast, but a new IMTX PR.....next up, trying to get the race right and go after my IMFL PR, 11:11:xx......To be continued....

I was a blazing fast 16:37.....

I finished. I don't care what my time was.

I am an Ironman!

And my body is wrecked....i lost 8 pounds during the race, I walked the entire marathon because I had nothing left, I didn't eat anything after mile 60 of the bike....and couldn't keep anything down.

Still feeling bad after Saturday. 13:07 which is 45 minutes faster than last year. Car wouldnt start before race, had to borrow swim goggles from a friend id never worn before, get to bike and tire blew during the swim, while changing the tire spilled all of my aero bottle and was without for first 10 miles. Was trying to break 13 hrs but all things consider with the above and the weather I am happy.

Last year they had video on the IMTX website of the finishline. Does anyone know where to find that?

IM Texas survivor. Painful and demoralizing second half on the bike. That chip seal was the WORST and no way to enjoy any downhill with the sight of another carppy roller in front of you. "Run" = walk. Also got some IVs. That stuff is good!

What's next?

I also survived, geez was it a hard day.

Swim turned out amazingly given that this was my first open water swim/swimming with a wetsuit. I know everybody is freaking out about drowning right now, but it wasn't that bad at all.

Bike was a mixed bag. Had a bit of a file up at the 2nd aid station. Kept my target average of 22 up until that stupid chip seal area and that destroyed my arches. I have never had arch pains before, but this was so bad the best I could do was keep myself upright until the next aid station. I am so glad for the station at mile 70 with the ice pool! I chilled and soaked my feet for a good 90 mins before I could continue. If it wasn't there, I would have probably quit.

And yea the "run", it was a pretty good walk. Even now sitting here, it boggles my mind that I walked for 7 hours.

And thus I have finished my first Ironman/tri. Not the time I was hoping for, but still damn proud of myself for finishing.

Congrats to all Ironman. It was a brutal day. To those who couldn't finish, keep your head up and keep moving forward. You toe'd the line and gave it your all. Be proud in all that you have accomplished.

See you next year?

Hey everyone!

I had a pretty good day. The only hiccup was the swim. The mass start, ows, and being unfamiliar with using a swim cap really messed me up. I ended up with about 30 min longer than I wanted on my swim. I swear I'm a pretty good pool swimmer though. The Bilateral breathing skills came in handy when the chop was coming in from different directions entering the canal etc.

Anyways... The bike was my best leg. I thought the course was Awesome. Silky smooth except for that short portion of chip seal. But even then if you followed the worn out areas from the cars it wasn't too bad. I trained out in Helotes Texas for all my bike rides and did lots and lots of hills. So the rollers out in The Woodlands weren't so bad in comparison. Also having the road blocked off, ice cold water every ten miles, the support from the fans out there, etc.. really made that ride a blast. I've never had a better ride in training. I was able to keep above a 19mph pace and I passed a lot of people that beat me on the swim. I started my nutrition of one cliff bar every 40-45 minutes right away and kept with it even when I didn't feel hungry. I got water at each first hand off, took a swig, drenched myself, then maybe a bannana at every other station, and followed up with a perform and water bottle for the road. It worked well for me.

If you saw a guy with blue lightning bolts on his helmet that was me! Go Air Force!

Then came the run... I loved the bike wranglers. It really is nice not having to rack your bike and just run to your bag. My body glide melted and when I went to open it, it exploded everywhere... asked a vol for a towel and cleaned up, changed socks and shorts then I was off. I was able to hit my training pace and kept it up for the first few miles but by about 2:30 3:00 the heat really started taking it's toll on me and I started slowing down to about an 11+ min/mile. I just kept moving between the aid stations and walked the aid stations to help take in the nutrition and to give myself a little break. It was really rough to see people falling out of the run or getting carried off in stretchers or even just to see fit people walking. I wanted to join them in their walks soooooo bad but just battled through it and kept the shuffle going. I was able to beat my goal of sunset and had a 12:56!!!

My first Ironman, first marathon, first open water mass start swim, first full century ride and I got a sub 13!!! I'm stoked. I'm hooked. I think I want to sign up for next year but I'm just worried about paying the fee and getting deployed. ( I was deployed when signed up for this one so I knew I'd be able to make it)

Anyways... I had a great first Ironman despite the heat. The volunteers were amazing I tried my best to thank them all as much and as often as I could and I threw my trash away as best I could too. If you know a volunteer tell them I LOVE them. Also, the fam was there and they were a great boost when I saw them on mile 80~ of the bike and every lap of the run... I think the whole race was very well put together and well organized. The Woodlands is an AWESOME race venue. The run was incredible, the bike course was beautiful, and the people were terrific. I loved every minute of my race and cleaned up and went back to cheer on the last minute finishers.

If you're on the fence about doing IMTX as your first one I say JUMP IT! It was great!

Congrats to all the racers, thanks to all the volunteers, fam, and friends... It was a great day in Texas!

Hey BTexans! Anyone know if there is video footage of the finish? I thought it would be available for purchase or at least we would still be able to rewind the live coverage to watch it but I can't find it anywhere!?

Thanks!
Ryan

Great report Li0nel1234! It sounds like you had an awesome day out there. I love that even though the swim didn't go as planned for you that you stuck with it and had a blast on the bike and run and finished with an awesome time!

Congrats! I enjoyed reading your posts this year. What is next for you?

Great job Li0nel1234!!! I was periodically following you on myathletelive.com and watched you cross the finish line on the live feed on ironman.com. I'm doing my first IM next month at Ironman Coeur d'Alene and I've been lurking around here for a couple of weeks following you guys during your final prep - I'm also going to use myathletelive, so when I saw you were going to use it I wanted to see how it worked.

It seemed to track you pretty well, at the finish it was within about a minute or two - what did your fan club think? The total times for the bike were messed up (I think it had you averaging like 43 mph!), but the distances and location seemed to be accurate - the duration was wrong. Don't know your official times, but it seemed to be much more accurate on your run.

Any advice for using the gps? When did you turn it on - before the swim or in T1?

i think you can purchase it at finisherpix but it is not available yet. Last year we could rewind the finish on the ironman website.