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Ironman Tulsa - Triathlon


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Tulsa, Oklahoma
United States
Ironman
68F / 20C
Precipitation
Total Time = 17h 15m 31s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Breakfast 4 waffles, 12 oz OJ, coffee. Drank a gatoraid and water while waiting.
At course honey stinger waffle and then GU just before entering water.
Set up bike and nutrition for the ride. Talked to some other athletes, met a few interesting people.
Event warmup:

1.2 mile walk from T1 to Swim start
Swim
  • 1h 55m 33s
  • 4306 yards
  • 02m 41s / 100 yards
Comments:

It was hard to spot buoys on the way out the return was much better
What would you do differently?:

Swim faster
Transition 1
  • 12m 11s
Comments:

Really long run from swim out to bike in bare feet on asphalt. It hurt. no carpets down and they wouldn't let me take shorter route to my bike.
What would you do differently?:

Hopefully next time they have strippers and a changing tent. It was difficult to put on my shirt as it was raining while I was trying to dress. I got twisted up and had to take my shirt off and try again.
Bike
  • 7h 54m 3s
  • 112 miles
  • 14.18 mile/hr
Comments:

Dangerous bike course. The road conditions were deplorable. I had a flat and two mechanicals because of the roads. I had to stop to fix the flat. The tire was underinflated from the CO2. I must have taken it off too soon. I rode roughly 10 miles with 60lbs of pressure. My mistake for not practicing more.
What would you do differently?:

Not race here. I could have practiced more with my CO2. I think I will carry fewer fluids and rely more on the aid stations.
Transition 2
  • 06m 38s
Comments:

Good transition. It went smoothly
Run
  • 6h 40m 30s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 15m 17s  min/mile
Comments:

One of the nicest run courses I've been on. Not nice enough for me to come back. I was exhausted after the bad bike. I struggled to run most of the race. My legs were dead. I did make a friend on the run. We walked together for quite a while. I ended up leaving him on the last couple of miles. I had a slight hope I could get done under 17.
What would you do differently?:

Not race here. The volunteers were great! I wish I had learned the run 15 strides walk 15 strides trick earlier. I think I could have taken a lot of time off of my run.
Post race
Warm down:

Med tent and IV is always an instant road to recovery

What limited your ability to perform faster:

The bike

Event comments:

Tulsa is a great city. The people here want the race here and are very welcoming. I cannot say enough about the hospitality of the people in this city. The residents the volunteers everyone from here was great. The bike course is horrible! The most dangerous course I have ever ridden. So many of the roads were all potholes. Many of the downhills were just chewed up and dangerous. IM needs to find a safer route.




Last updated: 2021-05-24 12:00 AM
Swimming
01:55:33 | 4306 yards | 02m 41s / 100yards
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Suit: XTerra sleeveless
Course: First part was hard to navigate. It was supposed be be yellow out and orange back and they put a yellow buoy on the back I was spotting on this and went way off course
Start type: Run Plus: Waves
Water temp: 68F / 20C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting:
Waves: Navigation: Bad
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 12:11
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Average Helmet on/
Suit off:
No
Wetsuit stuck? Yes Run with bike: Yes
Jump on bike: No
Getting up to speed:
Biking
07:54:03 | 112 miles | 14.18 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Bad
111 bpm average 155 max
Wind: Headwind with gusts
Course: Worst bike course I have ever ridden!. Hills were as expected. The pavement conditions was substandard. The pavement was so bad many of the downhills were dangerous! I won't be back. Rain didn't help, but that is part of racing. I did well with eating and hydration. I think I'm going to go back to tang in my water bottle. It is milder than Gatoraid. I almost lost it on a downhill. my tire jumped and skidded. Fortunately I was able to get it under control.
Road: Potholes Wet Cadence: 74
Turns: Good Cornering: Good
Gear changes: Good Hills: Bad
Race pace: Hard Drinks: Just right
T2
Time: 06:38
Overall: Good
Riding w/ feet on shoes
Jumping off bike
Running with bike Good
Racking bike Good
Shoe and helmet removal Good
Running
06:40:30 | 26.2 miles | 15m 17s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
99 ave 140 max
Course: Beautiful and flat
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? No
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? No
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 2

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2021-05-27 8:39 PM

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Expert
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Subject: Ironman Tulsa


2021-05-28 6:21 AM
in reply to: #5276307

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Master
7712
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Orlando
Subject: RE: Ironman Tulsa

Yikes, that bike course sounds horrible! So happy you didn't crash.I watched some of the pro race and saw that many of them had issues with it too. Congrats on getting through another IM!

2021-05-28 8:23 AM
in reply to: amd723

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Master
9705
500020002000500100100
Raleigh, NC area
Subject: RE: Ironman Tulsa

Great job finishing what you started.

I've heard from others that the bike course was in pretty bad shape.  Here are some of their comments. I think that you'll find broad agreement that both the course and conditions were bad.

  • Knew from the bike recon the course was rough - holes, gravel, bumps - and with the rain, even more opportunity for mechanicals/crashes so focus was steady and safe ... get to T2
  • Bike was nail biting.  5 hours of rain, difficult roads, wet brakes on the downhill with turns and gravel at the bottom.   What I did right:  Meticulously stuck with my nutrition and power numbers.   Twice I was forced to stop in order to get my gear out of first gear and moving again across the other gears.  I had 32 COG cassette which worked fine in training but not so good IRL with rain, grit and mud
  • Moved through T1, started the bike. It was already raining, so I had to focus on the road to avoid the obstacles. Lots of up, down, turns. There's a very dangerous downhill that I braked the entire way down. You could hear tires pop in the potholes, a guy goes down right behind me with the horrible sound of flesh vs. pavement, then carbon vs. pavement. A few miles later, I hit a hidden obstacle in my aerobars. It launched me forward and off my aerobars and seat. My taintal area bounced off the top tube (overrated experience), and amazingly I was able to grab a bullhorn with my left and in what felt like mid-air flight. I was probably only going 15 mph, but it still would have hurt. Both aerobar ends rotated right about 15 degrees and stayed there the rest of the ride. ... At 65, we turned S into some wind. The rain stopped, but all the mud turned my drivetrain into a chainsaw. Rain returned an hour later, which cleaned the bike and silenced the drivetrain (waxed chain in rain is $).

What would I do differently?

  • RainX sunglass lenses... hard to see bike computer and impossible to see run watch with "cheater" sunglasses.

What should we know about this race

  • roads suck
2021-05-28 10:03 AM
in reply to: jmkizer

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Expert
2811
2000500100100100
Subject: RE: Ironman Tulsa
Originally posted by jmkizer

Great job finishing what you started.

I've heard from others that the bike course was in pretty bad shape.  Here are some of their comments. I think that you'll find broad agreement that both the course and conditions were bad.

  • Knew from the bike recon the course was rough - holes, gravel, bumps - and with the rain, even more opportunity for mechanicals/crashes so focus was steady and safe ... get to T2
  • Bike was nail biting.  5 hours of rain, difficult roads, wet brakes on the downhill with turns and gravel at the bottom.   What I did right:  Meticulously stuck with my nutrition and power numbers.   Twice I was forced to stop in order to get my gear out of first gear and moving again across the other gears.  I had 32 COG cassette which worked fine in training but not so good IRL with rain, grit and mud
  • Moved through T1, started the bike. It was already raining, so I had to focus on the road to avoid the obstacles. Lots of up, down, turns. There's a very dangerous downhill that I braked the entire way down. You could hear tires pop in the potholes, a guy goes down right behind me with the horrible sound of flesh vs. pavement, then carbon vs. pavement. A few miles later, I hit a hidden obstacle in my aerobars. It launched me forward and off my aerobars and seat. My taintal area bounced off the top tube (overrated experience), and amazingly I was able to grab a bullhorn with my left and in what felt like mid-air flight. I was probably only going 15 mph, but it still would have hurt. Both aerobar ends rotated right about 15 degrees and stayed there the rest of the ride. ... At 65, we turned S into some wind. The rain stopped, but all the mud turned my drivetrain into a chainsaw. Rain returned an hour later, which cleaned the bike and silenced the drivetrain (waxed chain in rain is $).

What would I do differently?

  • RainX sunglass lenses... hard to see bike computer and impossible to see run watch with "cheater" sunglasses.

What should we know about this race

  • roads suck


None of those statements are an exaggeration. I know the hill they are talking about. I thought I would feather the brakes down to make the turn, and ended up riding the brakes all of the way down. There is a dump on this hill and the day before, it was covered in clay. IM cleaned it. It was raining so hard that the clay was washing back into the road. When I broke down my bike to come home there was grit and clay everywhere. I'm going to have to tear it down clean and grease everything, before I give it to D2.
2021-05-28 10:07 AM
in reply to: JBacarella

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Master
9705
500020002000500100100
Raleigh, NC area
Subject: RE: Ironman Tulsa

Originally posted by JBacarella
Originally posted by jmkizer

Great job finishing what you started.

I've heard from others that the bike course was in pretty bad shape.  Here are some of their comments. I think that you'll find broad agreement that both the course and conditions were bad.

  • Knew from the bike recon the course was rough - holes, gravel, bumps - and with the rain, even more opportunity for mechanicals/crashes so focus was steady and safe ... get to T2
  • Bike was nail biting.  5 hours of rain, difficult roads, wet brakes on the downhill with turns and gravel at the bottom.   What I did right:  Meticulously stuck with my nutrition and power numbers.   Twice I was forced to stop in order to get my gear out of first gear and moving again across the other gears.  I had 32 COG cassette which worked fine in training but not so good IRL with rain, grit and mud
  • Moved through T1, started the bike. It was already raining, so I had to focus on the road to avoid the obstacles. Lots of up, down, turns. There's a very dangerous downhill that I braked the entire way down. You could hear tires pop in the potholes, a guy goes down right behind me with the horrible sound of flesh vs. pavement, then carbon vs. pavement. A few miles later, I hit a hidden obstacle in my aerobars. It launched me forward and off my aerobars and seat. My taintal area bounced off the top tube (overrated experience), and amazingly I was able to grab a bullhorn with my left and in what felt like mid-air flight. I was probably only going 15 mph, but it still would have hurt. Both aerobar ends rotated right about 15 degrees and stayed there the rest of the ride. ... At 65, we turned S into some wind. The rain stopped, but all the mud turned my drivetrain into a chainsaw. Rain returned an hour later, which cleaned the bike and silenced the drivetrain (waxed chain in rain is $).

What would I do differently?

  • RainX sunglass lenses... hard to see bike computer and impossible to see run watch with "cheater" sunglasses.

What should we know about this race

  • roads suck

None of those statements are an exaggeration. I know the hill they are talking about. I thought I would feather the brakes down to make the turn, and ended up riding the brakes all of the way down. There is a dump on this hill and the day before, it was covered in clay. IM cleaned it. It was raining so hard that the clay was washing back into the road. When I broke down my bike to come home there was grit and clay everywhere. I'm going to have to tear it down clean and grease everything, before I give it to D2.

Mostly I wanted to let you know that you are definitely not alone in your experience on the bike. I'm sure that you knew that but just to reinforce.

Also, I thought the RainX and waxed chain comments were good.

2021-05-30 8:35 PM
in reply to: jmkizer

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Expert
2811
2000500100100100
Subject: RE: Ironman Tulsa
I use the wax/oil mix because of the dirt road. I had never thought of RainX before


2021-06-01 8:35 AM
in reply to: #5276307

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Pennsylvania
Subject: RE: Ironman Tulsa

Wow, Jim, a tough day out there for sure.  The bike sounds dreadful and very dangerous even if the road were dry.  The rain compounded the danger.  Glad you were able to keep the rubber side down, it really stinks to have so many mechanicals.

2021-06-01 1:06 PM
in reply to: JBacarella

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1731
100050010010025
Denver, Colorado
Subject: RE: Ironman Tulsa
Originally posted by JBacarella

Originally posted by jmkizer

Great job finishing what you started.

I've heard from others that the bike course was in pretty bad shape.  Here are some of their comments. I think that you'll find broad agreement that both the course and conditions were bad.

  • Knew from the bike recon the course was rough - holes, gravel, bumps - and with the rain, even more opportunity for mechanicals/crashes so focus was steady and safe ... get to T2
  • Bike was nail biting.  5 hours of rain, difficult roads, wet brakes on the downhill with turns and gravel at the bottom.   What I did right:  Meticulously stuck with my nutrition and power numbers.   Twice I was forced to stop in order to get my gear out of first gear and moving again across the other gears.  I had 32 COG cassette which worked fine in training but not so good IRL with rain, grit and mud
  • Moved through T1, started the bike. It was already raining, so I had to focus on the road to avoid the obstacles. Lots of up, down, turns. There's a very dangerous downhill that I braked the entire way down. You could hear tires pop in the potholes, a guy goes down right behind me with the horrible sound of flesh vs. pavement, then carbon vs. pavement. A few miles later, I hit a hidden obstacle in my aerobars. It launched me forward and off my aerobars and seat. My taintal area bounced off the top tube (overrated experience), and amazingly I was able to grab a bullhorn with my left and in what felt like mid-air flight. I was probably only going 15 mph, but it still would have hurt. Both aerobar ends rotated right about 15 degrees and stayed there the rest of the ride. ... At 65, we turned S into some wind. The rain stopped, but all the mud turned my drivetrain into a chainsaw. Rain returned an hour later, which cleaned the bike and silenced the drivetrain (waxed chain in rain is $).

What would I do differently?

  • RainX sunglass lenses... hard to see bike computer and impossible to see run watch with "cheater" sunglasses.

What should we know about this race

  • roads suck


None of those statements are an exaggeration. I know the hill they are talking about. I thought I would feather the brakes down to make the turn, and ended up riding the brakes all of the way down. There is a dump on this hill and the day before, it was covered in clay. IM cleaned it. It was raining so hard that the clay was washing back into the road. When I broke down my bike to come home there was grit and clay everywhere. I'm going to have to tear it down clean and grease everything, before I give it to D2.


Oh my, it sounds like a horrible experience!
I'm sorry for the issues on the ride. Mega congrats on finishing strong!
2021-06-02 4:06 PM
in reply to: marysia83

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Alpharetta, Georgia
Bronze member
Subject: RE: Ironman Tulsa

Wow what a day! I wish the roads were better... that part of the country needs an Ironman race so I hope they find safer routes. Well done with all of the challenges!

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