Started off to the right, about 50m back from the start line. Once the gun went, it was the washing machine everyone hears about. There was no chance of "swimming". It was "head up", almost a doggy paddle ala water polo style for the first 5 minutes or so, then turned into "protective semi-swim" for another 5, then finally got into a rhythm. Swim speed was heavily impeded just by the sheer number of swimmers. I felt myself really getting pissed off at having so many slow people around me, but eventually just decided to stay calm and try to get through the swim expending as little energy as possible.

There were 2 distinct draft packs in the water. One formed near the wall on the outer edge. One forming on the inside. I chose the inside group, but unfortunately it ended up being the smaller group, and it kept drifting way to far inside, and had to swim back towards the wall to stay outside the buoys.

Try to start much further up towards the starting line. Even though I'm *far* from fast, even 50m (even had probably 150m+ of people behind me too) back was way too far into hydro-sloth land.

Also, make a faster decision on where to be earlier in the formation of the draft packs. By the time I realized I was with a not-so-great group, I was way too far to jump ship.

Wetsuit strippers rock! Loved that part.

Got out of the water feeling awesome. Off w/ the wetsuit and easy jog up to T1. Grabbed my bag from the ground, and ran into a very full changing tent. Sucks being MOP, but oh well. Wore my speedos for the swim, and changed into real cycling shorts and a cycling top for the bike. I figured comfort was key for this first IM race. Speed would come later.

All dressed up, helmet on, shoes on, threw wetsuit, goggles, caps and suit back into T1 bag and handed to volunteer. Then ran off to grab my bike from the racks.

Mounted just fine and away we went.

Probably will swim in my tri shorts, and then keep these on for the bike next time. I liked having the extra pockets on my cycling top, so as long as I can get everything to fit on the bike, I'll probably wear my tri top next time as well.

Otherwise, just move faster. T1 at IM AZ will always be a bit long I think.

Goal was to negative split the loops, which I successfully did. 1st loop was very, VERY easy. 2nd was a little harder (plus had to stop to pee). 3rd was pushing the most, but the wind had changed by this time so even though it was faster, it wasn't nearly as fast as it should of been.

Goal was to keep my HR in the 13X's (I try to stay 15X's in HIM's). HRM was giving me big time false readings for the first few miles. If I had hit 246 BPM, I'd be dead right now. :)



Splits:

Loop 1 - 1:55:31
Loop 2 - 1:54:05
Loop 3 - 1:54:41 (Slightly longer due to T2 entrance)

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/7203865

Nutrition was (2) 24oz bottles, each filled with 5 scoops of Carbopro and 2.5 scoops of Cytomax (~800 cals/ea), a flask of 5 Espresso (caffeine was wonderful!) Hammer Gel's, a PB&J sandwich, and 10 Salt Stick salt tablets. Just had water in my aero bottle, which I refilled 4 or 5 times.

Swigs from my nutrition bottles every 15 minutes, salt tabs on the :30 and :00, and hammer gels on every :45 mark. In hindsight, I feel I nailed my nutrition very well.

I carried all nutrition on me, but had spare everything in my special needs bag. Fortunately I got to the half way point, properly had finished off my first Carbopro/cytomax bottle, tossed the empty bottle and flew right past the SN1 stop.

Lower back and neck was a bit sore almost from the start of the bike. I probably arch my back in the swim or something. This was the longest swim, followed by a long ride for me by a long shot. Stood up every 30 minutes or so and stretched, which kept things tolerable.

The Arizona course is far from hilly, but there is a constant incline on the way out. I was averaging probably 16 MPH most of the out part, but then was bombing the downhill part at 31-32 MPH while keeping my HR in the 130's. I think this course is extremely aero intensive, and I was *very* happy with my HED3/Renn disc wheel choice. I'm sure the aero helmet didn't hurt either.



Finish the bike feeling extremely good. Plenty of gas in the tank for the run. Just was glad to give my butt a break from that damn seat.



1. Push a little harder. Particularly on the second loop, before the afternoon winds pick up. I think I could of dropped another 20-30 minutes very easily and still finished very fresh.

2. Not bring the Cliff Bar nor the Sport Beans. Did just fine with the Carbopro/cytomax, Hammer Gels, and PB&J sandwich.

3. Ideally would get a couple long rides in with my aero helmet. Though its light weight, it is a little heavier than my normal road helmet, and caused my neck to get pretty sore.

4. Lower back strengthening.

Cruised in to the dismount line single file. Figured there was no need to pass anyone at this point. I always dismount to the left. Volunteer grabbed my bike and told me to get off to the right. Ack! Was harder than it sounds. :)

Volunteers already had my bag ready, handed it to me as I ran into the changing tent. Had images of all that footage of the Kona leaders running with their helmets on into the changing tent, and how funny they always ran. Figured they must be sore, but realized its not really soreness, just weirdness shifting from a long bike to a quick run.

Knew I had done better than in the swim, as the changing tent was much more empty and had a lot faster looking people in it. Grabbed a seat and changed into my tri shorts and tri top. A volunteer eagerly helped me pack everything up, and scrambled off with my bag.

Finished getting my shoes on and then realized my sunglasses were in the bag they just ran off with. Plus I still had my bike gloves and 1 sock on the floor here. Damn!

Volunteers fortunately found my bag after a minute or so, and I got all squared away and headed out on the run. Felt great.

1. Not get flustered with volunteers being very helpful and rushing me. To no fault of their's, I just wanted to help them help me, and it cost me some time.

2. Remember to body glide the bottom of my feet properly.

3. Don't pack a water bottle in my T2 bag. Didn't need it, and ended up chucking it in the 1st trash can on the way out.

Took off feeling great. Though by mile 2, I knew it was going to be a long day. The back of both my legs were starting to really tighten up. Not like a sudden cramp, but a super sore, obviously over-used muscle soreness.

It was a sore spot I knew very well. My piriformis on both sides. I always figured it was because I pushed too hard on the bike, but this proved that wasn't the case. I went beyond easy on the bike, and it was just as bad as in my half ironmans.

I ended up shuffling along as best I could, stretching at every aid station.

Goal was to keep HR in the 130's again, but really just played it by ear.


Eventually I decided to try the Advil (2 200mg tablets) I had with me around mile 14-15. Never taken it in training, but figured how much worse could this get. Ended up that was my savior. Made an absolute HUGE difference about 15-20 minutes later or so. To the point I was back to running.

Volunteers and spectators were unbelievable. Seemed like the entire town really supported the race, as every time I went across the bridges, there were cars packed with people honking, hootering, and just going crazy in general. Definitely made it a ton of fun.

The aid stations were awesome too. Lots of little kids running around helping out. People asking what we needed, and just incredibly helpful. The aid stations were very well stocked, and just couldn't of been any better.

Drank the chicken broth as much as I possibly could, as it started getting cold once the sun went down and the warm broth was just perfect.

Probably not the smartest thing, but my nutrition plan was to basically live off the land, and play things by ear. I took a flask of 5 Espresso Hammer Gels again, which was awesome. Typical aid station routines were a rolling repetition of the following:

station 1 - water, gatorade
station 2 - water, salt tab
station 3 - water, hammer gel

I tried some pretzels and cookies, but had a hard time getting them down due to them being so dry. Ate a piece of banana a couple times, and like I mentioned before, after mile 15 or so, I drank that chicken broth pretty much at every aid stations till the end.

Once that Advil kicked in (which I felt like a cheater when it did), my spirits really picked up. I really felt like I had the cardio left in me, but my legs just weren't firing right.

Ended up downing my last hammer gel shots about mile 23, and the caffeine really helped fuel the last push.

Ran into the finisher shoot all alone, and though I don't really remember seeing anything, I very clearly heard Mike Reily's voice saying "Chris Grout from Chula Vista, you are an Ironman!". The 10-15 seconds coming down that finisher's chute, and then seeing my friends and family definitely made the entire day very well worth all of it.

Run splits:


Dist Dur Heart
1.00 08:30 147
2.00 10:15 143
3.00 10:36 140
4.00 09:47 145
5.00 10:15 143
6.00 12:11 137
7.00 10:39 138
8.00 11:48 135
9.00 11:02 140
10.00 11:49 135
11.00 11:06 137
12.00 13:16 129
13.00 13:36 125
14.00 12:58 126
15.00 14:54 135
16.00 13:38 139
17.00 13:54 117
18.00 11:39 128
19.00 12:56 124
20.00 11:37 132
21.00 11:27 133
22.00 11:43 132
23.00 12:52 130
24.00 11:04 133
25.00 10:52 135
26.00 09:05 146
26.11 01:14 166

Didn't quite negatively split the run, and its obvious the middle loop wasn't good.



1. Since the race, I've done a lot of research and it ends up my piriformis issues are almost expected. I've sat on my butt in an office job for the past 15 years. I have a major glute imbalance issue, but it sounds like its fairly easy to fix.

I'm doing some piriformis specific strengthening and plan to do a weekly yoga or pilates class. If I can fix this, I know I can immediately go a helluva lot faster. I'm becoming a believer that core strength and balance training really can make a difference.

2. Taken the Advil a LOT earlier. Had no GI issues whatsoever, and it dramatically help my soreness. I even had more in my SN2 bag. I probably could of made a killing selling Advils to other racers even. :)

3. Probably should of used more Hammer gels, as I definitely perked up after each shot. I think the caffeine really does the trick for me.

4. Ended up rubbing the back of my left ankle bloody raw. Need to use the body glide more next time.

What warm down? Crossed the line, got my medal and t-shirts and then started the hugging of my friends and family. They really had a very long day as well out there, so I cannot even express how thankful I am for them being there.

Saw Coach Mike and thanked him for all the time and effort in helping me get to this point. Its amazing how things just evolve over time, and Coach Mike Plumb has constantly readjusted my training plan and schedule to make sure I stayed healthy and got to these events in good shape. Definitely could not of done this without him.


1. Experience. Fear of the unknown. Got this down pat now, so IMAZ'09 watch out!

2. Need more time on the bike. As much as I think I could knock out another 20 minutes or so off without much more effort, other guys still have me beat by over an hour. Definitely can make up a good deal here.

3. Lower profile bike fit? Would like to get more agressive, as it seems from the pictures I'm pretty damn upright.

4. Get more swimming in. I admit, I got really bored swimming and missed a lot of workouts. I definitely can't blame my poor swim time entirely on my swim start positioning and poor draft choices. I need to get to a masters swim.

5. Address this piriformis issue. Seems this alone could easy take an hour+ of my run time alone. I spend the majority of my time training on my running, and feel its just not showing because of this stupid imbalance.

6. More organized in transitions. This goes along with the experience point, so I'm not sweating this one.


Absolutely loved everything about this event. NA Sports, regardless of what you feel about the pricing, just does a damn good job on these events.

Was so happy, I signed up for next year's race the day before this one. So I'm back for IMAZ'09, and big time looking forward to it.