Ada, Michigan United States Tris4Health

Total Time = 00m Overall Rank = / Age Group = Age Group Rank = 0/

4:31 moving time (5:01 official w/ flat tire)



Plan: Go out aggressively on the swim and catch some fast feet. Take some chances if necessary to do so. On the bike start out at 225W and move up to 235W if feeling good and on the run start at 160-165 bpm heart rate range moving into low 170s for the last few miles. Focus on effort – not time. That said, I know that if conditions are decent that 4:30 is certainly within reach.



Pre-Race: The weather forecast was pretty terrible for race morning with heavy rain and possibly thunderstorms. Last year was the same way so I was prepared for the conditions and just have to deal with it. This was a 7:00 start so I had to leave home at 5:00 to make the 45 minute drive and long walk to the transition area. As predicted it rained the entire time preparing transition which was a bit miserable so put my wetsuit on a bit early. Was able to get in a 5 minute swim warmup and a gel 15 minutes prior to start.



Swim (31:51 – 45th OA and 6th AG): After the big swim focus at the end of 2013 and into early 2014 my confidence and comfort in the water has improved incredibly. That said, I lined up in the front row and on the most direct line to the far buoy. It was definitely a rougher start but was completely worth it as I was able to get on the feet of fast people and they sighted very well which made my job easy. After the first 200 it cleared out around me and just focused on smooth tempo and staying on feet. When I hit the boat ramp and looked at my watch I was super happy to see 31:xx. Hit the wetsuit strippers who pulled me out lickety split and headed for the bike. Half IM swim PR.



Bike (2:24:04 moving – 23.4mph 2:54:31 Official – would have been 23rd OA bike): This is a long transition area so had my shoes already clipped in for the long run to the mount line. As I jumped on my bike I saw Dan Stubleski, the reigning Ironman AG World Champion behind me and thought “did I really just beat that guy out of the water”. Actually I just beat him out of T1 as he was a few seconds faster in the water - Small victory J. It was continuing to rain throughout the bike course but really posed no real problem just a little cautious on the turns. My power started on the high end, around 230W but felt easy so mostly just kept it there for the first half. By the halfway point, I was really starting to get anxious for the run because of how great I felt on the bike. About the same time that I was thinking that….I started to feel a little bounce in my rear tire at mile 35. There is no way that can be a flat and then it got worse and worse and had to pull over. My first thought, “you can’t be serious, not today”. Immediately got to work to change it when I realized I had no disc wheel adapter with me to inflate it and it started to sink in that my day is likely done. Motorcycle pulled up and called for the sag wagon but would likely be awhile. Absolutely painful to see all my competitors fly by. This is just a hobby and I felt like a child who just had his candy taken away. So the bike tech folks finally got me rolling again after 30 minutes on the side of the road and my thought was just make the best of it and give it all you got – still a lot can be taken away from this for future races. I was able to just keep my power steady at 231W and rolled into transition with 2:24:04 on my garmin – a 2 minute improvement from last year. (231W NP – 225W AP – IF 0.85)

Nutrition: 550 calories Infinit – 2 water bottles – 6 endurolytes



Run (1:31:41 - 6:59 pace – 24th OA and 3rd AG): Let’s just say I ran a little angry!! My legs felt great starting the run and weather was actually favorable – light rain and humidity did not seemed to have kicked in yet. The course is pretty flat except for 2 nasty little hills that you hit twice due to the 2 laps. My pace started at 6:45 and HR in the 163-165 range which was exactly to plan. I really felt steady and strong on the first loop and was able to tackle the hills fairly easily. I may have gotten passed twice on this run but for the most part I was doing all of the passing. At the start of the second loop I was still feeling pretty good and keeping pace steady although the humidity was a little more noticeable on this loop. The hills the second time through were a bit rough although I was able to shuffle up and get back to a nice rhythm. As predicted the pain of the effort started to take its toll around the 10-11 mile range and I had to dig to maintain pace. At that point you can throw the HR monitor in the garbage because it is just about getting to the finish as fast as possible. The last 2 miles hurt pretty bad although still was able to run a 6:55 and 7:00 last 2 miles although the two hilly miles (9 & 10) were in the 7:30s. When I came through the finish chute and the clock read 5:01 I was kind of shocked because I really had no idea how long I sat on the side of the road for – it felt like an hour.

Nutrition: (1) Gatorade cup every station – 2 endurolytes.



My adjusted time if you take out the 30 minutes on the side of the road was a 4:31 which would have put me 4th AG and 17th OA out of about 450 competitors. Certainly a tough pill to swallow with the flat knowing I was having such a great race and would have been a big time PR. At the very least, I can draw from the solid effort for future races and likely improve even further.