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Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas
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Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas - Triathlon
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 Swim
Comments: For anyone looking for a little extra MMA fight training, this would have been good for you. I only have one other IM swim to compare this too but IMFL was no where near this violent. People seem to be much more aggressive. I only had open water a few times and then it would go away in a hurry. Got punched in the mouth so hard that it split my lip. Nothing like a good bloody mouth to get my IM started. I had almost constant contact the whole swim. Was fine with the contact after a while until we got to the canal. That's when I first came in contact with someone with a wetsuit. He swam right into me and fought to get by me. Probably the most aggressive swimmer I've ever come in contact with. Wasn't sure if he thought he going for what he thought was the win or scared some sort of water creature chasing him. He gets by me and I'm very thankful that I'm done with him.(Or so I thought) About another 25 yards ahead I guess he got away from the sea creature and decided to start walking close to the side. I didn't see him and swam into him. He got a little grumpy and started to swim again. As he started to swim again he gave me three nice scratches across my face. I was very much in shock. I certainly want to think it wasn't on purpose but I wouldn't place any bets on that. By the time I cooled down, I was finishing. In my training, I was swimming between 1:15 and 1:20. I just had a very bad swim. I'm not against a wetsuit but I think I think it would be better for everyone to be able to wear a wetsuit or no one. Everyone was aggressive but the wetsuit guys that I encountered seemed to be a little more aggressive. What would you do differently?: Swim better  Transition 1
Comments: Got my bag and didn't even go in the tent. All I had to do was put on my socks and shoes and go. There were lots of people doing the same thing with me just outside the tent.  Bike
Comments: First half of the ride was going just as planned. I was taking it easy and trying to conserve for what I knew was going to be a very tuff second half. It started get really hot when we got out of the national forest. I was about 3:15 at the half-way point. Little did I know, this is where the wheels would start to fall off. I know everyone says the aren't hills but I train in the lowcountry of SC. We have no hills. Not exactly sure what happened but about mile 80, I started to cramp again just like I did at IMFL. I had several 80 mile rides, several 90 mile rides and 3-100 milers with lots of other rides in my training. I never had any trouble with cramping during my training. I cramped so bad that I thought I was going to fall off my bike. The next 30 miles were absolute torture. Between the heat, wind and the cramping, it was a very tuff day. Transition 2
Comments: I was so hot coming of the bike. The volunteers took my bike, helmet and shoes and I was off to get my bag. HOT CONCRETE! That put a little pep in my step until I got to the grass. Going into the tent another volunteer gave my ice to put down my top and bottom. I sat down to put my socks and shoes on and tried to cool off. Didn't take long to realize that there wouldn't be much time to cool off in the tent. It was only slightly cooler than an oven. The volunteers were great and they were stuck in there just baking.  Run
Comments: I trained much harder on my run for IMTX than I did for IMFL. But I had nothing from the start until the last 100 yards. One month earlier, I did a brick of 100 mile bike followed by a 10 mile run and had no trouble. I started running and walked up the hill. After I walked up the hill, the sufferfest was definitely on. I couldn't get anything going. I met up with Michelle around mile 2 and we stayed together until about mile 25. She was a life saver for me. About mile 25 I saw an official marking a guy's number because he children were walking with him. I thought it was a little ruff for since we were already coming in at about 16:30 but the rules are the rules. Not exactly sure that's what they had in mind with the rule but anyway. So just before I was to turn right to go to the finisher shoot, the same official jumped in front of me and told me the same thing. I had no idea what she was talking about. The same guy who got marked earlier was beside me and on the other side of me was his dad or uncle or something. I told her I had no idea who he was and was in no way talking to me. She acted like she didn't believe me at first but I think she realized that he wasn't with me. So she sent me on my way for another .2 miles. The finisher shoot in Texas is unbelievable. I guess there are a few benefits to being in the last 30 minutes. The finisher's shoot is absolutely packed and insane. That and I also got a great picture of me getting a high five from Mike Reilly just before I crossed the line. Post race
Warm down: I was taken to the medical tent to get checked out. My hands and feet were very swollen. The Dr said my body was trying to hold onto fluids and it should be better in about 12 - 18 hours. He was right. All the volunteers were great all day and the medical tent was exactly the same. I am very disappointed with my time. I was thinking I would be closer to 14.5. The conditions were very tuff. But in the big picture, I finished and that is a big accomplishment and something to be proud of. That may have very well been my last IM. It takes a lot of time away from my family and is very hard on everyone's body. It is a very significant accomplishment for everyone who puts in the training and lines up at the starting line. I saw some people that were struggling and pushing hard even if they didn't finish in time to get their medal. I saw lots of things out there that truly moved me towards the end of the race. I'm just proud to have crossed the line in under 17 hours. Last updated: 2012-07-31 12:00 AM
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 2013-05-27 7:23 PM |
New user 239   Walterboro |  Subject: Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas |
| 2013-05-28 7:27 AM in reply to: #4758139 |
Regular 389 | Subject: RE: Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas Great job. Way to hang tough. |
| 2013-05-30 6:51 PM in reply to: #4758139 |
| 4 | Subject: RE: Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas Nice report. Thanks for sharing. I couldn't agree more with your sentiments on the swim. The start is certainly full contact and one should expect that, but the 2nd round of near-drowning when the wetsuits catch up is crazy. I am a decent swimmer and I was caught and run over by several wetsuited competitors in the canal. My thought is if you can make up 10 minutes on an above average swimmer, you really don't need to be wearing a wetsuit. Anyway, great report and congrats on finishing. |
| 2013-05-31 3:11 PM in reply to: JokerRN |
Pro 5123 Canandaigua NY | Subject: RE: Memorial Hermann Ironman Texas |
| General Discussion-> Race Reports! |
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We left home Monday morning and drove about 14 - 15 hours the first day. We were in my training partner's very nice RV. We took turns driving between myself, him and his wife and had a good trip. Being able to walk around and stretch out certainly made for an easy trip. Woke up the next morning and drove the next couple hours into The Woodlands. I was staying at The Drury Inn. I thought it was walking distance from the race site but it was a little farther than I thought. We got checked in Wednesday and went and drove the bike course. My wife flew in early Thursday afternoon. Glad I don't have to travel for work. Not a big fan of being away from my wife and girls. Got her all checked in and we went to the athlete dinner with my coach, training partner, another friend and their wives. I thought the food at the athlete dinner was much better than IMFL. Walked around the race site with my coach and our wives after dinner. The Woodlands is a very nice area. Apparently The Dave Matthews Band was doing a sound check for a concert the next night and played what was almost a concert Thursday night. So we enjoyed the music and the canal area. Back to the room and had a good night's rest. Woke up Friday morning and went for the warm up swim. Nice and easy and then went and checked the bike and bags in. Had supper and went back to the room to try and get to bed early. I usually had trouble sleeping but not this night. (Last thing to go right for the next 24 hours) I was asleep by 8:30 and sleep until 4:00. Woke up and went down and put nutrition on the bike. My wife dropped us off at the swim start.
No real warm-up other than swimming out to a guard and holding on.