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Ironman Arizona - TriathlonFull Ironman


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Tempe, Arizona
United States
75F / 24C
Sunny
Total Time = 14h 20m 29s
Overall Rank = 1669/2191
Age Group = M40-44
Age Group Rank = 339/399
Pre-race routine:

Didn't get much sleep the night before. The hotel was great - woke up at 4:30, grabbed my bags, ate some oatmeal, and then grabbed some food from the breakfast buffet they had set up at 4:30. Jumped in the shuttle at 5 for the 5 minute ride to the start line.

Got to my bike, put the special needs bags into the bin, and then just started worrying. Decided to get my tires topped off, so I found the mechanics. Around 6, put on my wet suit, and decided to take a walk. Stumbled on my family outside of transition, which was very cool.

At 6:40, started shuffling to the river.
Event warmup:

None at all.
Swim
  • 1h 47m 59s
  • 3862 meters
  • 02m 48s / 100 meters
Comments:

I beat people!!! Woo woo!

Ok, I'm a weak swimmer, but this was a pretty good swim for me. Tried to seed myself towards the back, but I'm pretty sure I wound up in the middle of the pack. It was a little hard to tell. Cannon went off, and I just started swimming... and swimming... and swimming... and swimming. Got lightly kicked a couple of time. Wacked a couple of people. If you are one of the people I wacked, I appologize.

I felt like I was moving pretty well, until I was across from Sun Devil Stadium. I probably didn't slow down, but the stadium is so big that it just felt like I wasn't moving at all. I had my watch on, but I decided I really didn't want to know how close I was to the swim cut off.

Mostly, I think that I had a pretty straight swim, especially when I was bi-lateral breathing. I wasn't sighting a lot, because I really couldn't see the bouys into the sun. On the last turn to the stairs, I started picking it up a little more, and breathing to one side. Then I started pulling to the left a little.
What would you do differently?:

More practice. A good swim for me would have been a 1:50, so this was very good for me.
Transition 1
  • 09m 12s
Comments:

Felt slow. The strippers were great. Then I ran/walk to the changing tent, got my shoes on, made sure everything was packed, and then had the girls put sun screen on before grabbing my bike.
What would you do differently?:

Push it a little harder
Bike
  • 6h 24m 59s
  • 112 miles
  • 17.46 mile/hr
Comments:

Got on the bike, and was feeling REALLY good. The bike is my strongest event. I wasn't really pushing it, just moving along, getting warmed up. THEN....

At mile 3, I wound up on the ground, having ridden off the side of the road at about 19 mph. The side of the road was loose gravel, so I completely lost control. I banged up my knee pretty badly and knew I had scrapped my shoulder and left arm. A cop was there almost immediatly, and was very nice in sticking around making sure I was ok. The cool thing was that EVERYONE was asking if I was ok, the age groupers going out and the pros who were finishing up their first lap. Anyway, the cop was asking if I needed a paramedic. Oh... I wavered, but it didn't feel like I broke anything, and the bike seemed ok, so I decided to keep going on.

Did I mention that this happened at mile 3? Only 109 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running to go.

OK, so I stayed in aero for most of the first lap, but my shoulder started to stiffen up, and it didn't feel good on my forearm. Waved at my parents, wife and kids working at special needs as I went out and back. I was starting to look for a medical tent, but I managed to miss them all.

Grabbed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at Special Needs and chatted with my family, which is when I started to figure out how badly scrapped up I really was.

On the last lap, coming back, a group of us started alternating. There was no drafting, but there were times when I was riding 2 bike lengths behind after I was passed, because they would pass me and then start to coast. A referee on his motorcycle pulls up next to me and yells out "Brian" and all I can think is "give me a break, I'm going to be penelized" He just wanted to make sure I was ok, which was a relief.
What would you do differently?:

Oh... let's see.... NOT RUN OFF THE SHOULDER???
Transition 2
  • 13m 24s
Comments:

Got to transition, and they were asking me if I needed medical. I waved them off, got my shoes on pretty quick, and then changed my mind about medical.

I've now discovered that there is a worse thing than being ignored in an emergency room. It's having 3 medical techs treating you at exactly the same time. They were wonderful at getting me out of medical quickly, but OMG, having 3 people cleaning out 4 seperate wounds at the same time is a new definition of torture. They put some ointment on and got me out pretty quickly.
What would you do differently?:

Not need medical?
Run
  • 5h 45m 7s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 13m 10s  min/mile
Comments:

Started off a little bit fast around 8:30 minute miles. At around mile 2, started doing a run/walk - about 2 min run/1 min walk. This deteriorated over the rest of the marathon. At mile 13, I just settled into a fast walk. I was worried about my banged up knee, but it didn't really start to bother me until about mile 20.

Everyone passing me was very concerned about the road rash, which wasn't really bothering me at all.

Ok, the thing that REALLY bothered me at the end. I had made arrangements with my 13 yo daughter to run over the finish line. She comes out, about 200 yards from the finish line and starts running with me which was cool, except that she was supposed to be in the family finish pen. I waved her off, because I didn't want to be DQed at the finish line. She tried to tell me that they weren't enforcing the family pen, but I wasn't really in any shape to understand. I got over the line, and then wandered aroound, watching other families, including groups do exactly what she did. If they are going to make a big deal about the family finish pen, then they should make it a big deal. She was looking forward to finishing with me, I was looking forward to finishing with me, and both of us were very disappointed.
What would you do differently?:

This is the same problem that I had at Vineman. I've really got to get a better bike to run system going. I'm a stronger stand alone runner than this. I probably wasn't pushing hard enough, because I knew I was going to finish at the beginning of the run.
Post race
Warm down:

Wandered around for a bit, cheered on some finishers for a half hour. Got in the car, and was driven back to the hotel. At this point, I realized how banged up a really was. My shoulder was so tender I had to have my wife take off my shirt.

Other than my road rash, I was actually in pretty good shape. My legs hurt, but after the first night with some Ibuprofen, only my shoulder and left knee hurt.

My family was great, and spoiled me like mad after the race. Roxanna washed my wetsuit, and helped me get changed for bed. They had sandwiches available, for when I woke up hungry in the middle of the night.



What limited your ability to perform faster:

It was only my first year of triatlons. As my wife pointed out, I did have a lot of goals this year. I lost 80 lbs, learned to swim, did my first marathon. Next year, I'll have a better base.

Event comments:

I'm subtitling this race as: Blood and Gatorade. I got to one aid station, and they hadn't tightened the top of the bottle well enough, so I was cleaning out my leg wounds with Gatorade. Weird stuff.

It was a great race. My coach really helped prepare me, and my family was wonderful. The volunteers were great and the race was well organized.

It was a good race, especially for my first season. My daughter and I have signed up for next year. I'll do better next year.


Profile Album


Last updated: 2007-11-26 12:00 AM
Swimming
01:47:59 | 3862 meters | 02m 48s / 100meters
Age Group: 392/399
Overall: 2111/2191
Performance: Good
Suit: Full Suit
Course: Out and back along the Tempe Town Lake
Start type: Deep Water Plus: Shot
Water temp: 64F / 18C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation:
Rounding:
T1
Time: 09:12
Performance:
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Yes
Wetsuit stuck? No Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
06:24:59 | 112 miles | 17.46 mile/hr
Age Group: 301/399
Overall: 1390/2191
Performance: Good
Lap 1 - 2:05:29 Lap 2 - 2:12:04 Lap 3 - 2:07:17
Wind:
Course:
Road: Smooth  Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 13:24
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
05:45:07 | 26.2 miles | 13m 10s  min/mile
Age Group: 324/399
Overall: 1636/2191
Performance:
A1 - 16:45 3.5 - 35:22 A2 - 1:53:44 12.1 - 2:15:55 a3 - 3:50:55 20.4 - 4:17:19 Final - 5:45:07
Course:
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
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

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2008-11-27 2:54 PM

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Subject: Ironman Arizona


2008-11-27 3:55 PM
in reply to: #1828946

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Expert
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scottsdale, az
Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona
Awesome job out there!!! I remember seeing you pass me on the bike, easy to spot the other Zoot Gu people. Bummer about the crash Hope you are healing well!
2008-11-27 9:36 PM
in reply to: #1828946

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Extreme Veteran
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Louisville KY
Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona
Awesome report Brian congrats. I hope your rash is healing, what a way to start the bike. This will make next year feel like a walk in the park. I takes alot of mettle to pick yourself up and get going again that early. You are one tuff mofo, great job.

Tim
2008-11-27 10:47 PM
in reply to: #1828946

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Veteran
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Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona
Congratulation on your finish! With the amazing things you accomplished this year, what are you going to do next year?!  What a truly amazing set of accomplishments.
2008-11-28 12:11 AM
in reply to: #1828946

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Extreme Veteran
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Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona
Hi Brian!  Nice job out there - I saw you a bunch of times and that road rash looked nasty for sure. I am glad you are okay.  Congratulations Ironman! Great job on your goals this year - your wife is right you had a lot of goals and accomplished them.  Amazing. Good for you - you have a lot to be proud of.
2008-11-28 4:11 AM
in reply to: #1828946

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Melon Presser
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Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona

Congratulations, IRONMAN!!! Wow, and in your first year of tri, too! Super job out there, especially coming back from that crash so early on and putting in such a smooth swim. You are truly a trooper.

IRONMEN rock. Redheaded IRONMEN are the BEST!!!



2008-11-28 5:23 AM
in reply to: #1828946

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Expert
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Chandler, AZ
Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona

Congrats. You demonstrated some real mental and physical toughness out there. Nothing like a little crash at mile 3 to throw off your plans for the day.

I am impressed that you chose to become an Ironman in your first season.

2008-11-28 7:50 AM
in reply to: #1828946

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Master
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Goodyear, AZ
Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona

Wow! Congratulations on a great race and even more for finishing after a bike crash. It has been fun to watch your training over the past 6 months! I'm glad you did IMAZ

Well done!

2008-11-28 10:16 AM
in reply to: #1828946

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Regular
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Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona
I saw you out there with the road rash (I was on sunscreen so I might have seen you before too) and it looked painful, you are doubly impressive for doing so well while having to deal with that for most of the race!  Congratulations Ironman, you did an awesome job, can't believe you did that in your first season, you're amazing! 
2008-11-28 1:54 PM
in reply to: #1828946

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Expert
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Lafayette, CA
Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona

Brian:  Great race report. Gee, I don't recall you having that great looking tattoo on your shoulder.  

You should be very proud of your year of training and the impact that it has made on your life.  I'm very impressed with your journey and I hope to join you one day on the Ironman path.

2008-11-28 5:48 PM
in reply to: #1828946

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Master
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Royersford, PA
Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona
Wow. An ironman is hard enough, but wrecking at mile 3 of the mile and still getting thru it. You are a serious Ironman. Congrats from another one of your Team Zoot GU teammates who survived the race.


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