Here’s my race report for Ironman Arizona 2006, which was my first IM event and my first triathlon since September 2004.
It was a magnificent event that I truly enjoyed. I achieved both my real goals and one “dream” goal, and it was not a suffer-fest and I had no “low lows”. Much as I recognize the need at times to dig deep to succeed, I’m glad I didn’t have to do that. Mentally this was by far my best triathlon. I could not have hoped for a better first time Ironman. It was an incredible experience.
Overall results: 13:21:24, 909th overall, 151 out of 268 in my M40-44 age group. In the first half overall, and close to the first half of my age group.
Intro
I started triathlons about 3 years ago after getting into cycling 5 years ago. I had done several sprints and an Olympic distance, and I set myself a goal of completing an Ironman while I was 40.
In each triathlon I suffered on the run, often forced into a walk by injury or cramps or exhaustion. I just was not a very good runner, or maybe I was pushing too hard on the other events.
In 2004 and 2005 I focused on becoming a better runner by training for a marathon as my ‘A’ race. And in both years, I suffered injuries (IT band in 2004, bad cramps on the run in 2005) and the event became a grueling torture-fest of “how much pain can I endure before crossing the finish line” (yes, the dig deep to succeed part). Worse, I would be out of commission for weeks after each event. This was a crappy pattern I was determined to avoid.
I still needed to do that Ironman before I turned 41 in June, so Ironman Arizona 2006 was going to be my last chance. I started training specifically for it 20 weeks ago, using a MarkAllenOnline coaching plan.
My Goals
#1 – Finish without injury (either during the event, or by pushing myself so hard I’d be broken for weeks)
#2 – Finish in under 14 hours
Dream goals: under 13 hours total, finish in the first half overall, finish in the first half of my age group, miraculously finish the swim in 1:20, average 18mph+ on the bike, that sort of thing – beyond my abilities demonstrated in training.
The Swim
I had swam a mile in Friday’s practice swim (my first open water swim since the Kirkland Triathlon in September 2004), so I knew the water temperature would be no problem. I managed to stay composed and calm all morning long, surprising myself. I’m usually fairly anxious at the start of a race, but not today. I jumped in and swam to the back of the pack, near the outside. I asked a few people what their times would be so I could seed myself, and thought I did OK.
The cannon went “Boom!” and we were off. Within 90 seconds, I had been slapped in the head twice and the legs a bunch of times, kicked in the back of the head, and I had managed to accidentally swim up someone’s legs far enough so he (or she?) could kick me in the groin. Not the best start to the day, but after several minutes I managed to get some kind of actual stroke going.
The swim was mostly uneventful. I had a steady TI-ish stroke going, with an OK kick and bilateral breathing. My heart rate was low, probably in the 115 range. The only surprise was just past the turnaround, when suddenly I had a cramp in my upper right calf. Where the hell did that come from? I had never had leg cramps in training, but then again I had never really swum that far without any kind of turnaround or stopping. This was, after all, only my second open water swim in over a year. The cramp eased out in about 60 seconds, and was gone. It was scary, though, because in past triathlons I’ve had leg cramps problems on the run. Was the entire triathlon going to be filled with leg cramps? I had been kicking stronger than usual, so I decided to weaken my kick a bit. The cramp returned (albeit much weaker) once more on the swim. Yuck!
Soon I was at the turn then heading for the steps. A quick climb out, down on my back for the wetsuit strippers, and as I climbed back up my legs cramped for a moment – both of them, thighs and calves. Double yuck!
Swim results: 249th in category (M40-44), 1730 overall at 1:35:41 at 2:32 pace. Not bad for me, pokey swimmer that I am. The start was definitely slow as I figured out how to swim with all those people, and the weaker kick slowed me down. But I felt good and for me the most daunting part of the Ironman was done.
T1
I walked much of the long, long way to the bags and then into the changing tent. I wanted to give my legs plenty of time to get working again, given those cramps. I ate the banana in my bag, and then changed out of the swimsuit into my bike shorts, put on my newly purchased IMAZ logo wear tri singlet, struggled with gloves, socks, and shoes, and out of the tent I went to the sunscreeners. Lesson learned: spend more time getting the sunscreen on everywhere, especially in Arizona. I jogged up to my bike, and was thrilled to see they had bike wranglers ready to hand out bikes. I yelled “299!” and there it was waiting for me already. I could get used to this kind of support!
Total time: 12:17
The Bike
The bike leg started out very crowded, and it seemed like it took a while to open up. I didn’t want to be caught drafting (hey, I was afraid of all those penalties they kept talking about), but it was hard to maintain 4 bike lengths. I started to pass people one after the other, making sure I wasn’t blocking. I spent most of the first loop passing people fairly steadily. That’s my usual – slow swim plus better bike equals a lot of passing.
My plan was to ride with my heart rate in the 145-150 range, never spiking past 160. I spent about 60% of the ride on my aerobars or in the drops, which is a lot for me on my Trek 5200 with clip ons. Around mile 56, I started to develop a hot spot on the ball of my right foot which would bedevil me for the rest of the ride. It would come and go a bit, and I’d crunch up my toes to avoid pressure on the spot, and I’d try a more push-pull technique with much less down force. This foot pain was manageable, but it definitely slowed me down. And around mile 70, I started to develop a pain in my upper right calf, exactly the spot that had cramped during the swim. But in the scheme of things, these pains were acceptable.
I loved having the vast amount of support. I picked up gels, water bottles, and Gatorade at the water stops, so I hardly needed anything in my jersey pockets except the salt tablets. I felt so good I decided I needed nothing in my special needs bag and skipped the stop. That turned out to be stupid because a half mile later I said “Oops! Sunscreen!” I was starting to get torched by then, but it was too late. High hazy clouds had saved the day from being a total scorcher, but it was still hot at what I hear was 88 degrees. And I could feel my shoulders burning without enough sunscreen.
My nutrition plan worked well - a Gu every 45 minutes, finish a bottle every hour or so, a salt tablet at the start of the ride and every 3 hours, and eat a bar (Cliff or Odwalla) every 2 hours or so. I never felt sloshy, sick, or bonked.
Bike results: 190th in category and 1179th overall with 6:33:15 at 17.1 mph average. Faster than my training rides, but man there were a lot of fast riders. I felt strong still, but I was worried about my right foot on the run.
T2
I handed off my bike to the wrangler and jogged down to get my bag. Swapped my bike shorts for running shorts, helmet for running hat, bike shoes & socks for running shoes & socks, and off I went. I slapped on a ton of sunscreen, but knew it was really too late.
Total time: 8:27
The Run
My run plan was to keep my heart rate under 150, and walk if it went past that, walk any obvious steep sections, and walk many of the aid stations that are every mile or so. I had to walk about half the first 2 miles because my heart rate kept spiking each time I ran, so I had to return to walking. I was starting to wonder if the run was going to be a walk in the sun. But I was saved by a fellow runner from Southern California who suggested her heat management plan of holding an ice cube to cool the body and sipping the ice water as the ice melts. I had no heat management plan of my own, so that sounded good to me. The “ice under the hat” trick has never worked well for me because the water runs sweat into my eyes (which sucks for my contacts). But the ice in the palm worked really well. I augmented that by dropping ice cubes into the front of my tight running shorts. I kid you not, and it worked very well.
The ice plus having more clouds roll in after mile 2 really saved my run time. I also copied other runners by shoving the cold water sponges into my jersey, swapping them out every aid station. I ran with a cup of ice and the sponges for 23+ miles.
By the second loop, I calculated I was going to go over 13 hours unless I really picked up the pace, but 14 hours was nailed. I was super happy about that, so I decided to split the difference and beat 13:30. I believe my second loop was faster than my first, and the third was even faster than the second.
I ate oranges and bananas from the aid stations and drank their Coke and Gatorade, and sipped the melting water from my cup of ice. I didn’t bother with Gu, but I did have one more salt tablet. At special needs I ate half my apple, and re-applied spray sunscreen.
I felt simply great on the third lap. I was feeling very fleet of foot, running all but two steep sections on the course and walking only enough to get new sponges. Mentally I was simply joyful to be running well with the finish line almost upon me. My right calf was a bit tight and there was minor pain up near the back of the knee, but the hot spot I had on the bike never caused problems. My form was excellent and many spectators and volunteers commented on how strong I was running.
I finished the Ironman with a full speed sprint down the finish chute, weaving around two other runners with their entourages to break the tape. They didn’t have time to announce me, but that’s ok with me. There’s always next year.
Run results: 101st in category and 596th overall with 4:51:45 and 11:09 pace. All my focus on becoming a better runner paid off, since I was in the fastest 30% overall and first half in my age group.
Aftermath
The surprise of the day for me was how great I felt on the marathon, especially after the problematic first two miles. I ran the best marathon I have ever run. Not the fastest, but the best. My focus on becoming a better runner really paid off.
It turns out I did do something funky with that upper right calf, because what I thought was an odd sunburn (narrow, deep red vertical line about an inch wide and 4 inches tall) turned into spreading bruise the next day, and I was getting some good swelling. On Monday I did the RICE treatment to my calf and by Tuesday morning I was fine. Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning I played tennis with my kids and otherwise moved around normally. I’m very pleased I had no real injury. Oh, and the sunburn. Nose, cheeks, neck, shoulders, and thigh are nicely burned, and my upper back around the armholes to my tri singlet are especially torched – except for handprints, streaks, and the like.
I am surprised how non-competitive I was on the bike. Not that I felt slow – just everyone else was so fast! I need to think about how to become more competitive on my next Ironman. And I think I want a P3C.
