Passed the time waiting for the start talking with several people I met at the BT Friday swim. Gun went off and slowly walked into the water. Put my goggles on and started swimming. I got kicked and grabbed a few times but nothing real bad.

I’ve been in the 1:18 to 1:24 IM swim range for years. If I want to swim faster then I’m going to have to have to change the way I train. I need to swim more and add more interval work in the pool.

Got stripped, got in, got out. It went very quick, it was over before I knew it.

Nothing.

The best bike advice that I have ever heard is to ride the ride you should not the ride you could. However, I really failed to follow it today.

In my written pre-race bike pacing plan I said:

Easy pace (130 BPM or lower) until the start of the north hill loop. The first time around the north hill loop and until I’m back to start the second hill loop I want to keep my heart rate below 135 BPM, it will jump on some of the hills but even then I want it under 150 BPM. For the second time around the north hill loop I want to keep my heart rate below 140 BPM, again it will jump on some of the hills but not above 155 BPM. My heart rate monitor is set to beep at 160 BPM, if it beeps I will soft peddle until it drops to 130 BPM and then start riding again. No peddling above 25mph, coast the down hills, save my legs.

I did not succeed in following my plan today. At around mile 30 I knew I was off of my plan and I made the decision to keep riding hard. I knew that my run might suffer but I was having too much fun passing people on the bike. I went from 1288th place out of the water to 372nd place at the end of the bike (passed 916 people).

The other thing that played into the decision to ride above my plan was that I’ve never really taken a big risk like this during an Ironman. My past bike efforts have been fairly conservative. I’ve ended the past races wishing I have made a bigger move on the bike or run. Big Risk = Big Rewards but also Big Meltdowns. For most of the day I was above my pre-planned pace by 5 to 10 bpm but never went above 152 bpm even on the hills. I forgot to check my average HR when I got off the bike but I would guess it was somewhere around 140 bpm (in past IM’s I have been in the 130 to 135 range). So my bike pace was not insane but definitely higher than planned and higher than my typical long training rides.

On the bright side I nailed my bike nutrition plan. I sipped on a 750 cal bottle of Spiz all day (1/3 by mile 40, 1/3 by 70, 1/3 by 100). Also had a package of cliff shots at miles 30, 60, and 90. On the first loop I was drinking a bottle of water about every 10 miles (between aid stations). At the start of the second loop I was getting very thirsty so I bumped up my water intake to include chugging a bottle of water while riding thru the aid station. Had to stop and pee once on the first loop and twice on the second loop.

This was a fun ride for me.


Follow my pacing plan is an obvious answer. However, the other answer is to step up my training to support a faster race day pace. For example if I want to race at 140 bpm then I cannot train at 130 bpm, I need to train at the higher HR.

The only thing nutrition wise I should have done was taken in more salt. I had mixed in 3 electrolyte caps with my Spiz. Also one of my cliff shots had extra sodium in it. Took 2 pills at the end of the bike around mile 110.

Race wheels, it’s time. My running outfit (including shoes) cost more than my current wheel set.

For yet another year I have failed to break the 1 minute T2 barrier or break into the top 10. Went thru T2 in 1:07, good enough for the 14th fastest T2 time of the day.

Run in my bike shoes and helmet. It might not help my marathon time but it would save time in T2.

Going into this race I wanted to break 4 hours for the marathon. If I had a great day I thought I might be able to pull off a 3:45. My plan for the first 20 miles was to keep my pace between 8:35 to 9:00 per mile. Then at mile 20 I would reassess where I was at and either start to push the pace or just try to hang on.

In the past I have always ran the first mile too fast. One year I ran a 6:30 first mile, I have no business running that fast in an open marathon let alone an IM marathon. This year my plan was to not go crazy in the first mile. I had skipped the sun lotion station in T2 so I used the first mile to apply some sun lotion that I was packing with me. I hit the first mile at 8:46, very very happy with this.

The next 7 miles were uneventful. I was running well between the aid stations and walking thru the stations. At the stations I would grab a cup of water and then a cup of Gatorade. My pace was just under 9:00 per mile and I was feeling ok. I came to the turnaround hill and power walked it. Hit the turn around and started running back to town.

Heading into the aid station around mile 9 my right leg unexpectedly cramped up. It hit so fast and hard that I almost fell down. I’ve had cramps like this before and realized that I had not been taking in any extra salt (stupid move). I had 6 pills with me, I swallowed 3 and limped thru the aid station. Heading thru this station I drank something like 2 cups of water, 3 cups of Gatorade, and 2 cokes. By the end of the station the cramp was starting to go away. Started a slow jog to the next station.

At this point I changed my run plan to a survival strategy. The new plan was to take an electrolyte pill at every aid station and double my liquid intake. I still wanted to run between stations but I was no longer worried about pace.

Made it back to town and the special needs bags. Picked up my bag since I had another 4 salt pills in it. Headed back out of town, still using my survival mode running plan.

Just before mile 20 Q (Jeff) passed me. I tried to run with him but that only lasted for about 20 yards. Walked the turnaround hill again. Survival mode run back to town. Saw Condorman (Tim) somewhere around mile 22.

Turned down Sherman and headed towards the finish. Crossed the line at 11:14:38.

Before the race I told my wife that if I had a good day I should finish around 11:26, if I had the perfect day I would be done in 10:45. I made a few mistakes but I ended up somewhere between “good” and “perfect” so I am very happy with that.


Not pace the bike the same unless I’ve trained to ride at this level. Also, my mid-week long runs were not consistent this year. We had a very wet spring compared to past years. In the past I’ve managed to get in a longish mid-week run. This year I was a wimp and did not run if it was raining. Also, I need to pack more electrolyte pills on the run.

Had some pizza, drank two bottles of sports drink, went and stood in the lake for awhile. I was starting to feel a little run down and could tell a major crash was coming. Picked up my bags and bike. Home, showered, beer in hand, and watching the live finish line feed by 9:00pm. Asleep in front of the computer by 9:30.


This was my 6th time at CDA. I’ve already signed up to race in 2011. Needless to say I think that this is a great event.