Ironman III, the return to Arizona. Or.. Swim/Bike/Death March

For a variety of personal reasons, which I will not put the reader through, my training for Ironman Arizona was not where I wanted.  As the race approached, I had to face the realization that I was undertrained and overweight; even by my own pudgy standards.

There is no cramming for the Ironman exam.  It takes months of consistent training to be properly ready.  I trained, just not to the level I would have liked.  

I left San Diego for Tempe on Thursday, and took a nice easy drive out.  Checked into my room, which was actually in Mesa, as I went cheap and stayed eight miles away to save $45 a night.

Friday I went over to the Ironman Village and picked up my packet.  Having done two full Ironman races, I knew what to expect, I strolled through the vendors, talked to one of the recovery boot vendors, and did a 10-minute demo.  They felt pretty darn good, but they are out of my budget right now.  

I picked up my bib, timing chip, and goodies, and took a stroll through the Ironman store.  I always get an M-dot shirt with the names of the participants on it.  I have one from every half and full I’ve done.  And I liked the IMAZ coffee mug, so I got one of those.  I don’t need to buy out the store anymore though, I’ve done this!

Got my stuff, time to put my feet up for a bit.  As I drove back to my motel, I passed the spring training facility for the World Champion Chicago Cubs!  What a facility, and the cool part is they got the streets around the park named Addison, Clark, Waveland, Sheffield.  

My routine for the day before a race is to get a short, 30-minute shakeout ride, then rack my bike and rest.  The shakeout ride went fine, but I thought my rear brake was soft.  I gave my bike to bike tech to check it out.  They were swamped and had a 3.5 hour wait, so I went and had some lunch.  Came back and still had to wait an hour.  Ugh.  Finally got my bike, racked it, and went into rest mode.  Social media off, calm the mind, visualize a successful race.

I slept GREAT!  Woke up 10 minutes before the alarm.  Had my breakfast as I drove in.  Got parked, made my final preparations and now nothing to do but wait.  I found a place to sit and get off my feet.  Pros start at 6:40. Age groupers start at 6:50 in a controlled self-seeded start.

About 6:20 I start putting the wetsuit on, take my morning dry bag down, and got in the queue for the Roka swim course with the 1:20 swimmers.

BOOM!  There goes the cannon and the pro men are off.

BOOM!  There goes the cannon and the pro women are off.

BOOM!  There goes the cannon and the age-groupers start!  And now, we are moving.  It didn’t take long and into the water, my race starts.  Swim, swim, I can’t see.  Roll over, rinse goggles, go.  Swim, smash, smash, goggles and cap knocked off.  Grabbed the goggles, lost the cap.  Swim, swim, can’t see.  Goggle fix.  I could not get the goggles to stay clear.  Finally got far enough as we approached a bridge, and I could sight off it, so I wasn’t worried about the limited vision.  I felt strong swimming at this point, and this continued throughout the swim.  I figured I had dropped back to the 1:30-1:35 swimmers with the goggle issues, and had some negative self -  talk, and doubt going on here.  So I gave myself a butt-chewing and got to it.  Then good positive self – talk as I got in a groove!  Here comes the final red buoy, left turn, I can here cheering, and announcing, and can see the exit stairs, and volunteers, and I’m out of the water!  In 1:23:17!  My second best swim at this distance, which is three Ironman races, and one Tiki Swim.  But it feels like a PR with the start being so bad.  I really thought it was about 1:30 so I was stoked.  Off to Transition one.

As I exited the water I was a bit wobbly.  I quickly realized I didn’t flutter kick enough toward the end and had no blood flow in the legs.  Too late now, just start toward transition, I got my legs under me pretty quick.  Got my bike bag, found a seat and got ready for the bike.  Jersey, knee sleeves, socks, bike shoes, helmet.  Go grab my bike, and away we go.

Two years ago when I did this course it was very windy.  The forecast for this year was six MPH with gusts to nine.  Well it felt stronger than that right away, but not even close to as bad as two years ago.  The bike course is three loops.  Out Rio Salado, left on McClintock.  Right here is a Portillos.

  If you are from the Chicago area, you know Portillos.  I wanted to stop.  But, alas, this is a race, and I keep going.  Right on McKellips, left on Alma School, right on McDowell, and left on the Bee line.  The Bee line.  ~10 miles, fully exposed, slightly uphill until the end when there is a definite kick up.  And outbound into the wind.  The first loop is pretty crowded.  More than half the field swims 1:15 to 1:30, so more than half the field is hitting this at the same time. 

Now remember, no drafting, and a six bike length gap is required.  Yeah, right.  Do the best you can and truck along.  The neat thing about a multi loop course is as we are on loop one, the pros go zooming by on loop two.  And I mean zooming by.  Anyway, I’m watching my power staying within, actually a bit under the plan, and doing better than expected on speed overall.  Thankfully no mechanicals this year!!  I stopped at mile 62 for special needs, which was two fresh bottles of carbo pro, along with a Snickers and a Coke.  I stretched out as they retrieved my bag, took a few swigs of Coke, and was off.  I stopped at mile 92 for a quick nature break and another stretch.  Then, it was head on in.  Except the wind had shifted.  As I went down the Bee line my speed was much slower than the first two trips.  The wind was more cross than help, and as I turned on McDowell, wham, right smack into it.  Ugh, expecting a free ride in, and DENIED! 

But finally, on Rio Salado, and the sound of cow bells, cheering, and the village.  Volunteers take my bike, and I get my run bag.  Gotta say, I made it through the bike pretty good.  6:39 (6:32 pedal time) and I wasn’t cooked.  I kept my power in check, and felt ready to run.

In the transition tent, I change out of bike gear and into running gear.  The last thing to go on: my shoes.  A pair of Hoka Bondi 2s.  Well broken in, trained in, with socks I’ve trained in.  Of three models of shoes I used in training, I had no issues with these.  And I wore them on my longest training runs.  That is why they were selected as the marathon shoes.  

I walked out of transition ready for my 30-90 run-walk ratio, which would give me a 6:15 to 6:30 marathon.  This is where my training was, and I’ve learned do not try and do more than where you are.

The first mile has a few short up-hill sections right at Tempe Town Lake, not bad, but I could feel it.

 I also felt a weird sensation, pain in my left foot at the arch.  So I took a quick stop to make sure there wasn’t an issue.  The shoe was on right, the sock was smooth, but I could feel this pressure on my left arch.  Nothing I could do about it, so on I went.  

One of the hardest parts of a triathlon for me, mentally is the start of the run.  I swam a bit better than mid pack for my age group.  I biked just under mid pack.  But I run much slower.  Which means just about everyone I come off the bike with goes right by me.  But I stayed with my plan.  I could feel that tight tension in my quads by mile four.  When I ran I focused on engaging my glutes and hips to take some pressure off the quads.  It usually works.  It wasn’t helping much here.

Assessing where I was, at mile six, I was going to have two main issues over the last 20 miles.  One my quads were getting very grumpy, and two, my left foot was really starting to get uncomfortable.

Despite this, I kept up with a slow version of my 30-90 split and trudged through the halfway point about 3:15.  I say about as my Garmin dropped out a few times going under bridges.  

Right after the half way point is special needs.  I called out my number and picked up two small bottles of pickle juice and my headlamp.  I stopped again to check on that left foot.  Still could not see anything causing the discomfort/pressure.  But it was there, and getting worse.  I decided to walk mile 13-14 and take it easy over those small hills on this two lap course. 

I resumed my ratio at mile 14 and had a couple of decent miles.  But at mile 16, almost right at the marker, I simply could not run.  For the next 10.2 miles I walked.  I tried to go into a run three or four times, and never got more than four to five strides.  It was, in short a death march.  Every step my left foot screamed, my quads groaned, and now my back was hurting too.  Probably from compensation for the foot and quads.  Oh, yeah, and the knees started to ache.  

I tried to keep smiling.  When 10-time Ironman champion Chrissy Wellington was asked why she always had a smile, she said it makes it hurt less.  She is right, but smiling took energy too.  So I tried.  I tried to thank the volunteers at aid stations, and keep my humor.  I did math, multiplying double digit numbers to keep the mind off the pain.  

Mile 20.  Just a 10K to go.  You are almost there.  You’ve got this.  It’s all downhill from here.  If you’ve done any kind of race you have heard well - meaning volunteers, spectators, and even other competitors say these things.  When you are in a slow walk 6.2 miles is an eternity.  I do NOT want the hear this.  And it continues.  Just five to go.  You look great.  No, I don’t.  I look awful.  It takes an insane amount of effort just to move my leg forward.  But forward we go.  Off the bike I had a great chance for a PR time.  At mile 22.5 my PR time was gone.  Finally, mile 25.  The longest mile in the history of man.  Oh, I know a mile is 5,280 feet.  But this mile defies logic.  It seems never ending.  It goes and goes and goes.  Finally, I can hear Mike Reilly, the voice of Ironman.  Telling person after person they are an Ironman.  Dammit, that gets me emotional.  I can’t figure it out, but there is something about finishing an Ironman.  I mean, I get it for your first.  I was confused why it happened on my second.  I really didn’t expect it on number three, but there it was.  Maybe because the run, death march was so hard, and I still got through?  Maybe the joy on so many first timers?  Maybe the nice guy I shared some miles with that was on number eight, Ironman being his new vice, five years sober.  I told him, that was way more impressive than the Ironman!  Great job dude, wish I got your name.  

Well, there it is, the finishing chute.  Try to run, you’ve got to run through the finish.  Somehow I managed a pathetic jog, and went through the finish.  And for the third time in my life, Mike Reilly called out:  STEVE SMART YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!   I will not lie, I love that.  Almost 16 hours.  My slowest Ironman thanks to the death march.  But hearing that, makes it worth it.  

I am an Ironman.  Again.  For the last ten miles I really was thinking maybe this should be my last full Ironman.  But the finish is magical. And I’m planning on what one I’ll do next.

Many, many years ago when I was really into bowling, there was a tournament known as the Peterson Classic.  It was held at a dump known as Archer 35^th Recreation on Chicago’s south side.  In a less than desirable neighborhood.  The tournament was intentionally insanely hard.  Great bowlers would leave shaking their heads with scores they hadn’t shot since they were little kids.  And there was a sign up that said, Mr. Peterson This is the next to last time I’ll ever bowl in your tournament.  I think the Ironman is a lot like that.  This is the next to last time I’ll ever do that to myself.

Epilog:

The blister:

The bling:

Next:  Undecided.  Evaluate.  Must....lose....weight....

Ironman Arizona 2016; Pre race through the swim

For a variety of personal reasons, which I will not put the reader through, my training for Ironman Arizona was not where I wanted.  As the race approached, I had to face the realization that I was undertrained and overweight; even by my own pudgy standards.

There is no cramming for the Ironman exam.  It takes months of consistent training to be properly ready.  I trained, just not to the level I would have liked. 

I left San Diego for Tempe on Thursday, and took a nice easy drive out.  Checked into my room, which was actually in Mesa, as I went cheap and stayed eight miles away to save $45 a night.

Friday I went over to the Ironman Village and picked up my packet.  Having done two full Ironman races, I knew what to expect, I strolled through the vendors, talked to one of the recovery boot vendors, and did a 10-minute demo.  They felt pretty darn good, but they are out of my budget right now. 

I picked up my bib, timing chip, and goodies, and took a stroll through the Ironman store.  I always get an M-dot shirt with the names of the participants on it.  I have one from every half and full I’ve done.  And I liked the IMAZ coffee mug, so I got one of those.  I don’t need to buy out the store anymore though, I’ve done this!

Got my stuff, time to put my feet up for a bit.  As I drove back to my motel, I passed the spring training facility for the World Champion Chicago Cubs!  What a facility, and the cool part is they got the streets around the park named Addison, Clark, Waveland, Sheffield. 

My routine for the day before a race is to get a short, 30-minute shakeout ride, then rack my bike and rest.  The shakeout ride went fine, but I thought my rear brake was soft.  I gave my bike to bike tech to check it out.  They were swamped and had a 3.5 hour wait, so I went and had some lunch.  Came back and still had to wait an hour.  Ugh.  Finally got my bike, racked it, and went into rest mode.  Social media off, calm the mind, visualize a successful race.

I slept GREAT!  Woke up 10 minutes before the alarm.  Had my breakfast as I drove in.  Got parked, made my final preparations and now nothing to do but wait.  I found a place to sit and get off my feet.  Pros start at 6:40. Age groupers start at 6:50 in a controlled self-seeded start.

About 6:20 I start putting the wetsuit on, take my morning dry bag down, and got in the queue for the Roka swim course with the 1:20 swimmers.

BOOM!  There goes the cannon and the pro men are off.

BOOM!  There goes the cannon and the pro women are off.

BOOM!  There goes the cannon and the age-groupers start!  And now, we are moving.  It didn’t take long and into the water, my race starts.  Swim, swim, I can’t see.  Roll over, rinse goggles, go.  Swim, smash, smash, goggles and cap knocked off.  Grabbed the goggles, lost the cap.  Swim, swim, can’t see.  Goggle fix.  I could not get the goggles to stay clear.  Finally got far enough as we approached a bridge, and I could sight off it, so I wasn’t worried about the limited vision.  I felt strong swimming at this point, and this continued throughout the swim.  I figured I had dropped back to the 1:30-1:35 swimmers with the goggle issues, and had some negative self -  talk, and doubt going on here.  So I gave myself a butt-chewing and got to it.  Then good positive self – talk as I got in a groove!  Here comes the final red buoy, left turn, I can here cheering, and announcing, and can see the exit stairs, and volunteers, and I’m out of the water!  In 1:23:17!  My second best swim at this distance, which is three Ironman races, and one Tiki Swim.  But it feels like a PR with the start being so bad.  I really thought it was about 1:30 so I was stoked.  Off to Transition one.

To be continued…

Ironman Arizona

Thursday November 13, 2014.  Three days until Ironman Arizona.  Today’s schedule is a 45 minute bike, easy, make sure the bike is good, and just shake out the legs a bit.  With this accomplished, I focused on quality food, and a slight uptick in hydration to compensate for the desert dryness.  Also increased carbs, but not to a stupid amount, and no over-eating.  Thursday was  a glorious day in greater Tempe.  A high of about 80, light winds.  It would be a great day to have an Ironman.   Nice of my hotel to welcome us too!

Friday November 14, 2014.  Two days until Ironman Arizona.  Another glorious day.  I do not workout two days prior, I find this is a good off day for me.  I did go to packet pick up and take care of making sure I got my packet, instructions, and all was ready to go.  Continue to get proper food and drink in me.  And relax.  Try and relax.  Stay off the feet.

Saturday November 15, 2014.  Ironman eve.  Yet again, a terrific day.  Another 40-45 minute bike ride.  This time I headed out from the bike start for 21 minutes, then turned around.  Went through a warm up, hit all the gears, and a couple of short bursts.  Felt strong and good.  Wiped the bike down, put the numbers on the bike, and racked it.  Also dropped off my bike and run bags.  Nothing to do now but eat, sleep, and wait.

Sunday November 16, 2014.  Ironman Arizona.  Greeted with a nice, cool morning.  The buzz is electric in the Ironman Village.  Nervous, chatty athletes.  Nervous quiet athletes.  Even some that looked calm, cool, and collected.  For some reason I was nervous.  More nervous than I remember being for IMCdA.  Then it was bothering me that I felt nervous.  I couldn’t seem to calm down.  I was wondering if I should have brought a second bike helmet.  The second for, well, you know, barf.

What calmed me down?  Putting on my wetsuit.  Once the wetsuit was on, it was like, oh, okay, we’ll migrate down to the lake, get in, and swim.  I’ve done this a time or two.  In we go, down some steps into Tempe Town Lake.  About 300-400 yards from the start.  Had to get in at the exit point due to low water levels.

Used the 300-400 yards as a warm up.  It seemed like an eternity, but finally BOOM!  The cannon went off.  Swim start?  More like mortal combat.  2,700 people starting to swim at the same time in no semblance of order.  Push, smash, crash.  Repeat.  Trying to find some swimming room.  Had to go Tarzan style for 400-500 yards just to not crush someone.  The visibility in the water was less than zero.  The lake water was very silty.  I found some swimming room, and got into a bit of a groove.  Now that I was swimming, I would come up on groups of other swimmers.  Getting around them was like trying to make progress in a traffic jam.  Roughly three-quarters of the way through and suddenly the water has a chop to it.  Great, it wasn’t challenging enough with 2,700 people and no visibility.  Now I’m fighting the water.  A few minutes later it hit me.  Or was that another swimmer hitting me (again)?  The chop means WIND.  Expletive, expletive, expletive.

Finally the end of the swim.  Getting out on the steps was a challenge with the low water level, and my sea legs.

Up and out, about five minutes slower than CdA, and ten minutes off my goal, but with the conditions, acceptable.  Off to transition.  Hearing lots of Go Tri Club!!!  TCSD and TCSD rooters were out in force.

Walking/trotting to the transition area, I locate my bike bag, and head toward the changing tent.  Since I am not changing my bottoms, I don’t go inside, but find a tree to lean on and get out of my wetsuit, change my top, and get my helmet, sunglasses, and cycling shoes on.  I skip the wetsuit strippers.  I found it took longer at CdA and I had to carry a heavy wetsuit to transition.  I’d prefer to have my hands free until I was ready to change.

Now that I was ready to ride, I went over to the bike racks, and headed out.  It was a short distance to the mount line and I was riding.  Once onto the road my fears were confirmed.  It was WINDY.  My least favorite element to ride in.  Wind never stops.  It is noisy, and relentless.  Okay, get your mind right.  You cannot control this.  You’ve ridden in it.  You did the 2011 Eastern Sierra DoubleCentury.  You can do this.  Positive thoughts.  The return will be a tailwind.  The course, was a three loop out and back.  Most of the way would be right into the wind and most of the way back with it.

The first out went pretty good.  Slower than I planned, but that was all wind.  My effort was right, and I felt good.  About that wind.  You really feel it, as if with every pedal stroke you take, someone is pushing you right back.  And when it gusted, wow!  Sustained winds of 20 MPH with gusts over 30.  The bike was being pushed all over.  I FLEW back into town.  My first loop was just three minutes slower than my stretch goal despite the wind.  Turn around and do it again!  Through town and out to the Beeline Highway.  The Beeline was just shy of 11 miles.  Going out right into the wind, and a bit uphill.  Just a quarter of a mile on the Beeline I shifted and my chain dropped.  Expletive.  Okay, two minute fix, right?  Not even, usually.  Get the chain on but the crank will not turn.  Flip the bike to get a good look at it.  Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!  My chain is bent.  I mean bent, like will not roll over the chain rings bent.  Is my day over?  All I can do now is wait for Bike Tech and see what, if anything can be done.

And wait.  And wait.  Finally a vehicle stops, I tell him, and he radios one of the motorcycle techs.  He shows up a couple of minutes later.  Now I realize my day might not be done, as he has chain links.  He goes to work on my bike.  It did take a few minutes, but I was back in the game!!!  I cannot thank him enough, back on the bike, and continue my second loop.

By the way what is that smell?  Ugh that is awful.  Okay its gone.  Hit the turnaround and come flying back down.  There is that smell again.  Wretched sewage, or something?  Oh, there is the sign.  Landfill turn right.

Back into town, and one more time, turn around and back out.  Here is where the mechanical hurt more than the 45-50 minutes I was idle.  I never got the same groove on the bike after the delay.  I think I stiffened up some.  And it screwed with me mentally.  I kept wondering where I would be if it hadn’t happened.  Trying to get those thoughts out of my head, and into being thankful I was still out there.

At what seemed like an eternity, I hit the far turn-around one last time, and zipped back into town with the tailwind.

Off the bike and into transition.  Now I am calculating times.  See, the run is always my weakest sport.  And I have had injury issues all year.  I broke my foot in March.  And after I started running again, I have had knee issues.  So I did not get the run build I wanted.  I went into this with a very conservative run strategy.  Walk the first four minutes.  Then run 30 seconds, and walk 1:30, repeat.  I did this the last two months of training, and it was working, and I figured a 6:00 to 6:30 marathon based on this.  No world record, but better than my CdA marathon with a strong run build.  My concern was would the knee hold up?  I’m starting the run over an hour later than I anticipated.  If this becomes a walk, I’ll be struggling to make the 17 hour time cut.

Think positive.  Start your 30-130 and FOLLOW THE PLAN.  You put this plan together, your body responded well the last two months.  The knee has been doing great the last month.  Your actual running has improved.

First run segment,  Ouch!  No, not the knee, my left hamstring.  What???  This has not been an issue at all.  Okay, diagnose.  Is it a cramp or a pull?  For the second time I was wondering if my day was over.  Feels like a cramp, which is weird.  When I cramp it is usually my quads, occasionally my calves.  And more often, after my day is over.  However, I did have pickle juice with me.  The worlds greatest cure for cramping.  I took some and about 30 seconds later I was good.  I was off, and on to my run-walk.  And I was run-walking STRONG.  My splits were great, as I was tracking a 3:00 half marathon.  The sun was going down, it was chilly, which is good for me.  Heat and running do not mix for me.  The conditions for running were ideal!  They flat out sucked for cycling with that wind, but for running, fantastic.

The run course is two loops.  The cruelest thing on earth is hitting the end of loop one.  You see the split for finish or continue.  You see faster athletes finishing.  You hear them finishing.  You’ve still got 13.1 to go.  Here it is for me.  Can I get in around six hours?  Heck, can I break six hours?  The half was 3:00:29.  I need an oh-so slight negative split.  And I feel good enough now to do it.  Will it hold?  Miles 13-18 no problem.  Then I noticed I was creeping into 14 minute miles.  The difference wasn’t the run segments, I was walking slower.  So starting with mile 20 I started running more.  I went from 30-130 to 40-120 then 45-115.

Not a single niggle from the knee all day!  No more hamstring issues, and just a bit from the calves, another gulp of pickle juice fixed that. 

Getting close to the finish, I hit a walk segment,  Walked maybe 30 seconds and I reached the barriers marking the finish chute.  No way I was walking any of this.  Too much crowd support.  I started running, and the folks watching started cheering.  They love to see folks run it in.  Around a slight bend and there it is.  The finish line.  The big timer.  Mike Reily’s voice booming, telling the person in front of me they are an IRONMAN.  I migrate to the right side, and high five a bunch of spectators, then make sure my bib is centered, I hit the final few meters, and I hear Mike bring me in.  God, I LOVE that!  Me, I am an IRONMAN!!!! (For the second time).  It is very emotional.  And then, it is over.  Just like that.  Done.  The volunteer takes you back, makes sure you don’t need medical, and gets you to the photo area.  They take a few shots, and get you to athlete food.  And you are done.  Euphoria, emotion, and hey, its over?  I want more!  Well, maybe another time.  Right now I think I want off my feet.

Oh and the run time?  My Garmin showed just over 6 hours.  Darn, missed the sub six.  Except the official time has me at 5:59:48.  Very, very happy!

So a strange Ironman for me.  The event I expected to be the best, the bike, was the poorest event of the day especially with the mechanical.  Even without it, it was about 6:45 of ride time, which is disappointing for the course.  I really expected to have a bike time faster than my run time here. 

I would be remiss not to thank all the volunteers, and especially the bike tech that saved my day.  Thank you all for your support.  And thank you to Ironman for putting on a great event.

Gear:

Swim

Blue Seventy wetsuit

Tyr Rx googles

Bike

Specialized Transition Comp

Williams 58-85 wheels (LOVE THESE)

50-34 compact crank set

11-28 cassette

X-Lab cages

Run

Saucony Kinvara 5 shoes

Fuel Belt

Total time 15:15 – Was shooting to go sub 14, but the mechanical and wind put the kibosh on that. 

On course photos courtesy of Tri Club San Diego

pre-race photos by me.

 What is next?  Well I am signed up for IM California-Oceanside 70.3 in March.  If my knee continues to behave, my plan for next year is one or two 70.3s and several shorter tris.  I also want to focus on my weight and conditioning.  For a former obese ~400 pounder I have done well.  But by triathlete standards I am heavy.  It shows in the pictures this year, I really need to get the weight down some more.  This will help with speed, but more importantly it will save the joints and muscles stress, allowing me to keep doing this stuff.

No 140.6's next year, unless, of course the Kona Lottery comes up for me!  :-)  I'd walk through hell in a gasoline suit to race at Kona.

IMAZ - Volunteer Duties

Ironman Arizona.  No, I did not race.  I volunteered.  Run Aid station six, which on a two loop course meant we were right around mile 6.5 and 19.5. 

No, I didn’t do this out of the goodness of my heart.  I did it for one reason, to get priority registration into IMAZ 2014.  However, having raced four half-iron distance races, and one full I understand how important volunteers are. 

My shift was 7:00-11:00 PM, however, I went to the Ironman village about 2:00, saw the winner cross the finish, and a whole bunch of age-groupers come off the bike and head out on the run. 

I headed over to my station about 3:30 and jumped in.  Early on was a mix of the fast kids going through mile 20 and mid-packers hitting mile 6.  As time went on, the mid-packers cycled through to mile 20, and back-packers were coming through mile 6.  Finally the groups thinned out and it was back of the packers coming through at mile 20.  

I love watching these people come through.  They are usually walking, you can see the pain and agony of 134 miles done.  They are pulling every ounce of what they have to go the final 6.6.  We call out what we have, and they are glazed over.  They want something they just don’t know what.  We try to encourage, and motivate.  And I hope they make it, hope they hear Mike Riley call their name.  Hope they have the memories of being an Ironman.  Most will make it.  Some will not.   Seeing the broom wagon creep behind runners gives the eerie feeling of the grim reaper stalking.  I hope they try again. 

Highlights from my perspective:  Seeing the challenged athletes come through with pain, anguish, and a smile.  Chasing the athlete down about 1/3 of a mile that wanted vasoline, but we didn’t have it right at the table.  She was really surprised!  Cheering on my fellow Tri Clubbers!  

Lowlights: I didn’t see one of my open water swim mates, Shawn, who went on to a great finish; and one person drop an F-bomb when he was handed coke and wanted broth.  Note- he asked for Coke, and dude, lighten up.  

Observations:  When I started this stuff, I was told when you enter an aid station, know what you want, seek the person that has it, make eye contact and point.  I do this, and get what I need 99% of the time.  I was surprised how many people come in with no idea what they want, and look like they need a menu.   Steve's suggestion, don't be shy.  Call out clearly what you want.  The volunteer that has it should respond and hold it out.  The volunteers want to get you what you need, and want to help you. 

A serious observation:  I saw several people come through that looked overwhelmed and undertrained for the event.  An Ironman is a BIG event.  I encourage all triathletes that want to reach for an Ironman to do it, but please, take the preperation seriously.  You don't have to be super lean (but leaner helps) you don't have to be fast, but you can't be slow at all three sports, and you have 17 hours.  In my humble opinion you should think you can honestly do it in 15.5 before signing up.  This gives you 1.5 hours for "bad stuff" to happen and you will still make it. 

The aid station I was at is affiliated with the Blazemanfoundation for ALS.  If you are not familiar with this story, please see it here. 

I got registered for the event next year, so Ironman number two is 363 days away.  Here we GO! 

 

By the way, working an aid station is almost as tiring as racing.  I need a nap.

Chula Vista Challenge, 2013

The Chula Vista Challenge was my third race this year of four on my calendar.  Superfrog awaits to finish out my year.  This is an Olympic distance triathlon, also making it the shortest event of my year.  Please do not mistake short for easy.  There is a reason the Challenge is in the title of this race! 

The logistics of this race are different than many in that you have two transition areas separated by about 12 miles the way the crow flies.  This requires preparing your T2 bag with running shoes and other necessities the day before and leaving it at race check in.  Since it is recommended you park near the finish and take a shuttle to the start, you also need to leave your bike at T1 the day before.  In short, you pretty much set up the day before. 

I took care of all of this on Saturday including my usual Saturday shake out ride.  Felt good on the bike during the Saturday ride and forced myself to take it easy and limit the ride to under 40 minutes.  This made me happy since my legs felt so dead on Thursday I skipped my planned ride.  I also felt very tired, and since it was race week decided extra rest was okay.  

Sunday morning!  A 3:40 AM wake up.  Why do we do this?  Not that big of a deal, really since I get up at that time twice a week for my swim workouts.   

I make sure I have my swim gear and my nutrition and drive off to B2BE fitness, which is near the finish line, a race sponsor, and where the shuttles will take us to the start.  Nice coach buses to take us over. 

Head into transition and take care of the usual business.  Walk through swim out into T1, and bike out.  Take a look at the bay and wow, the tide is OUT.  It looks as if you could walk to the first turn. 

I put on my wetsuit and headed out to get into the water for a bit of a warm up.  The looks were not deceiving, the tide was out.  The entry was also rocky with small pebbles, then mushy.  I mentally mark the area where I can start swimming, and take a short practice swim.  That felt really good, and I am ready. 

I look around as our wave queued up and realize the wave seems small.  In fact, the race itself seems like a small race for a triathlon in San Diego.   

Elites go off first, I was in wave 5, but the time went quickly.  Soon the siren sounded and we were running/trotting into the water.  Running over the pebbles/rocks was actually easier than walking over them so I was in, got to the area I marked in my mind as get down and swim, and I was off.  I passed a bunch of wave mates right of way that out ran me, and I was off feeling good in the water.  By the first turn I passed someone from the wave in front of me.  The waves were three minutes apart.  Another 200-300 meters out I was passing a bunch of previous wavers and even some from the wave before that.  I knew there were a couple of really fast guys that were gone, but I didn’t see any other white caps.  Am I really swimming this well?  Just keep going.  Out of the water, the timing mat is up near the entrance to T2, so I had a run of about 200 yards to the mat through the pebbles, up the beach which meant a big step up where there was some serious beach erosion, and into T1.   

Official swim time 28:23, a Personal Best for the distance, including the run!  And 6^th out of 19 in my AG.  Actual swim time was about 27:00.   In just my third year of swimming I am thrilled with where my swimming is.  I would attribute the most recent improvement to two things, one I discovered how to improve my roll three weeks ago in the pool.  This was one of the benefits of a post Ironman easy swims where I was focusing on form.  The other is we have a small group that is doing open water swims on Sunday mornings.  This has helped my sighting and open water awareness.  Looking at the Garmin data, the swim track actually looks straight, not like a drunken bee that many of my previous race swims look like.  Thanks to the swim group’s main participants: Andrea, Speedy Ted, and  Sugarmagnolia. 

Into transition I go.  I have made the argument that a mid-packer doesn’t need to worry about flying out of transition.  Seconds matter if you are competing for a podium, etc.  That being said, looking back, my T1 times have been too slow.  I made a conscious effort in set up to get through T1 better.  Including no socks for the bike.  Boom!  2:24  to get out of T1.  Off on the bike.  Often my best event, certainly my favorite, as my journey into triathlon began with cycling. 

When I start the bike in a tri, I generally stay on the bull horns until I get my breathing regulated and my pedal strokes in synch.  Then I go aero and get into my race at race effort.  Right of way on this ride my legs felt heavy and had a hard time getting going. 

I felt like I was putting out 40K race effort, but getting IM pacing results.  Another reason why I need a power meter.  If anyone at Garmin is reading this, I would be happy to give you a mid-packers perspective on the Vector  Contact me and I'll let you know where to send it.  Anyway, the ride felt like a struggle throughout most of it, even the first 10 miles which is mostly flat, fast, and easy.  The last 14 which is mostly uphill and accounts for most of the 1,200 feet of elevation gain was rough.  In a rarity I was happy the bike was done.  1:25:01.  For reference I expected to be just under 1:20.  11^th out of 19 in my AG for the bike. 

Transition 2 is one of the cool experiences of the Chula Vista Challenge.  They handle T2 the same way Ironman does.  A volunteer takes your bike and racks it for you while they grab your run bag.  You get to sit on an actual chair and put your shoes on!   Another 2:24 transition and off on the hilly run course.  400 feet of elevation gain over 6.2 miles.  And we are not talking about gentle inclines.  No, these are harsh spikes up.  Those of you that read my race reports know that the run is my weakest event.  Generally I am right in the middle of my age group for the swim and bike, but the bottom 10-15 percent on the run.  I am working on it.  The strategy for this race was to go with a 1:30 run to :30 walk, and when the hills hit, to modify it to walk the steepest parts. 

This run went well by my standards, and I really enjoy running through the Olympic Training Center.  To think of the athletes that train there, and here I am running through their training grounds.  Soon enough it was up the stairs, yes stairs just after mile 5 and I was out of the OTC and headed for the finish.  1:09:01 a 12 minute improvement from last year, but still 18^th of 19 in my AG.  The splits were pretty even from 10:53 to 11:30, the 11:30 being the hilliest mile. 

 

The bling!

 

**Update** I had already written the bike section and took a break as I finished the blog.  I went over to my bike to take off the race wheels and I think I discovered part, if not all of my bike issues.  The legs may have felt a bit heavy, but it is not their fault.  No, my front brake was rubbing ever so slightly on the wheel.  No enough to be obvious, but taking it around the parking lot for a spin, then adjusting it and going again made a noticable difference.  Not sure what I could have done, as I checked the bike over in transition before heading to the swim and the front wheel spun fine.  It wasn't a lot, but definitley could have cost me 1-1.5 MPH.  Grrrrrrrrrrr.

Huge thank you to the volunteers of this well run event.  Which brings me to why this event does not seem to draw as well as others.  Is it the challenge portion?  Yes this is more challenging than a typical Olympic Distance event.  But it is a well run event and provides a good race experience.  I would highly recommend you put it on your calendar. 

Equipment nerd like me?  Here is what I used: 

Swim: X-terra Vortex sleeveless wetsuit, Aqua Sphere Rx goggles 

Bike: Specialized Transition, 52x36 mid-compact crank set, 11-28 cassette, Williams 58-85 wheels, X-Lab Torpedo and rear carrier 

Run: Saucony Triumph 9 shoes 

Nutrition: Carbo Pro, water 

Upcoming Races:  Superfrog 70.3 September 29.  California 70.3 Oceanside 2014.  And I am volunteering for IM Arizona in November.  And ya’ll know what that means!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2013

Steve Smart-you are an IRONMANNNNN!  After 14 hours 56 minutes and 9 seconds of racing that was my greeting by Mike Reilly, the voice of Ironman.  And it sounded great!   

How did I get there?  Well, now it’s time for the rest of the story as Paul Harvey would have said. 

I arrived in Coeur d’Alene the Monday before and went straight to City Park which was race central.  I looked at the lake, a very large lake, and saw something very cool.  A plane land right on the water!  A short distance away there were four huge Ironman trailers as they were beginning to assemble the village. I headed to my motel to check in.  Upon arrival the front desk clerk asked me if I was there to compete.  A quick scan of myself and I wasn’t wearing any race apparel, in fact I was wearing a Chicago Blackhawks T-shirt and shorts.  I thought, wow, do I really look like a triathlete?  I must be hiding my pudge well today.  All that took about a nano-second, and then I responded, “Why yes, I am.” 

On Tuesday I had breakfast at the local Denny’s.  The waitress asked if I was there to do the race.  This time, I gave a clue, as it was a chilly morning and I had my jacket on from the Austin 70.3.  Turns out her husband was going to race, and I got the low-down on the warmer than normal lake! I had been told last year it was about 55 on race day.  After breakfast settled I went back to the lake for a short practice swim.  There are signs up to swim at own risk, no lifeguard on duty.  There is also a swim area defined just off the beach.  So in I go.  The water is chilly, but not cold.  I start to swim and notice a few things.  There is no salty taste to the water, which is weird to me.  It is not cold, but I would use the word crisp to describe the temperature.  And it is clear, I can see the bottom!  That does not happen in Mission Bay.  Swimming out some, and looking down I see a beer bottle.  I guess dirt-ball-scumbag-morons live everywhere.  I also see a few fish which is cool, and notice I am fighting a current, not cool!  I swam for about 20 minutes just to get used to the lake.  Then it was time to get on the bike and ride about 20 miles of the course, the ride took me over Cougar Gulch, a 1.5 mile climb that gains 471 feet per Strava.  Sound like any other climbs you San Diegans know of?  I have named this climb Torrey North!  I finished my workout with a short run.  See coach Vance, you talked about doing mini-tri’s during your taper seminar.  I listened! 

Wednesday I took a longer swim, a half-iron distance swim of 1.2 miles and was happy with how I felt in the water.  The lake is different for me, and I felt slow the day before.  Today I covered the 1.2 miles putting out just less than IM effort, in projected IM time.  This makes for a happy Steve. 

Thursday it poured and was cold all day.  I went down and checked in, wow, that threw a big knot in the stomach.  I now have a blue wrist band, bib, bike numbers, oh and a really cool back-pack.  Nice swag! 

The swag and my bib

Friday and Saturday were mostly waiting, getting nervous.  To try and stay calm, I took short rides both days which helped.  Friday night was a “mandatory” athletes meeting.  Rules, course, and some good motivational videos!  After the ride on Saturday I got the bike numbered, lubed, and wiped down, and took it to transition. 

Virtually everywhere I went people asked if I was racing.  There was a genuine buzz around the entire area about the race.  It looks like most of the locals celebrate the event, which is great since it does put a pinch on getting around. 

Saturday night was game five of the Bruins/Blackhawks Stanley Cup Finals.  I am originally from the Chicago area, and am a HUGE Blackhawks fan.  I was good, and disengaged from social media and did not turn the game on.  Went to bed early, and actually feel asleep and slept pretty good. 

3:45 AM the alarm goes off.  3:46 check the computer.  Hawks won!  The day is starting off right! 

Eat and get ready, then head to City Park. 

If you’ve done triathlons, but not an Ironman, you are probably used to setting up transition with your bike, and all your stuff in one spot.  Maybe T1 and T2 are split but you still set your stuff up at your spot by your bike rack. 

This was a single transition, but, we really had three spots.  One was where the bike was racked.  The second was our bike bag where your helmet, cycling shoes and anything else you needed for the bike would be.  It had to be in the provided bag.  Three was a run bag, running shoes, cap, etc, in the provided bag. 

It was time to put the wetsuit on and get into the water for a warm up.  Yes, I said warm up for the swim.  This is always advised, as getting into the water gets you used to the temperature.  No shock and it helps calm the nerves.  Advised, but not always possible.  Big events often do not allow warm up swims.  However, this year, IMCdA was the first event to follow Ironman’s new Swimsmart protocol.  Allowing swim warm-ups and going away from the mass start to a rolling start. 

After a short warm up, I got into the queue for the rolling start.  They had us self-seed by our projected time.  I was estimating an hour and twenty minutes, so I got into the area marked 1:16 to 1:30.  The pros were already off as they started at 6:00, and the first age groupers were going out at 6:35.  The cannon sounded and the speedy Age Groupers were off.  Looking out at the lake feeling the coolness of the 48 degree morning there was a bit of fog hanging just past the turn buoy.  Almost to say, swim too far, and you belong to the fog.  6:43 and I am up, over the timing mat and my day has begun.  I am officially participating in an Ironman.

The rolling start worked well as there was no initial chaos.  There was room to swim and I got into a bit of a groove.  Then around the 500 meter mark, it seemed like the amount of people in the water tripled.  I was taping feet and couldn’t find a spot to get around.  Finally a bit of room, and I was at the turn, about 900 meters out in good time.  The next turn was just 120 meters away, and we headed back to shore.  Another traffic jam.  This time, I got kicked, and elbowed three times.  The last time flipping the lens on my goggle over.  I had to stop, get on my back and fix my goggles!  I noticed when I restarted the swimmer that was next to me swung his elbow way out on his stroke, almost side-arm.  No wonder I got popped by him three times.  I might have given him a pop when I caught back up and went by him for good. 

Hit the shore, and back into the water for the second lap.  This lap, I went a bit wider to have some room, and it was mostly un-eventful.  The fog had lifted and the sun was out, so looking east which was breathing left on the way out was blinding!  The 120 meter across section was right into the sun.  Coming back in, I mostly breathed just to one side to keep my vision and sighting.  I am glad I can breathe out of either side equally well.

 

Out of the water in 1:20:50. (Nice prediction, eh)? 

Up the sand and head to my bike bag, after getting the bike bag you can go into or just outside of the large changing tent to get ready for the bike.  You put your wetsuit into the bike bag and leave it, and head to your bike, grab it and it’s the best part of the day.  112 miles of cycling! 

The first part of the bike is through town, a whole bunch of turns.  After a couple of miles, and what felt like 79 turns, we are on Lake Drive which runs along the lake heading east.  It is flat and fast until about five miles or so when it pops upward.  Then a descent and it is time to turn-around, so we get to go right back up again.  Right back through town and the 79 turns (I might be exaggerating a bit) and southbound on U.S. 95.  Over the Spokane River and we head south in the northbound lanes.  Ironman’s profile of the bike course showed about 2,300 feet of elevation gain for one loop and it is a two loop course.  I’ll cut to the chase, my Garmin said 5,800 for the full 112, and Training Peaks elevation correction agrees.  Cougar Gulch leads off the climbing, it flattens out, then up, then down, then flat, then up, well you get the picture.  Big cold lake, lots of hills on the bike, very pretty setting with conifers everywhere!  Is this IM Switzerland?   

I felt good on the bike through the first loop and into the second.  The second trip over Cougar Gulch wore on me, and I felt much slower after that.  In the end, though, I came through the bike in 6:48 and change.  I anticipated just under 7 hours, and was hoping for 6:30, so overall, I’ll take it! 

As you roll into T2 a volunteer takes your bike and racks it for you, another one grabs your run bag.  Into the changing area, and I grab a set to put my running shoes on.  A quick trip into the port-a-potty and it’s time to run a marathon. 

The run course was similar to the first part of the bike course, going out about 6.5 miles, and coming back with an additional loop in town, then another out and back.  So that same hill we hit on the bike around mile five, we hit on the run twice!  But the ups and downs of running a marathon are many.  And they are not the story here.  The story of the marathon is Coeur d’Alene.  The people are amazing!  All throughout the course spectators were everywhere.  Through the neighborhoods with music blaring, and a boatload of energy.  This marathon had more rock-n-roll than a rock-n-roll marathon.  Along the lake, folks had the tunes cranked up on their boats.   

When everything hurts, and it takes all you got to go, all that support adds gas to the tank. 

Then you get into the final mile.  People are two, three, and four deep behind the barriers, yelling and cheering.  Lots of cowbells, in fact, I would say there were more cowbells than at an Olympic ski event.  They had to be seven to ten deep at the final 400 meters.  Running in is very emotional.  The thoughts that went through my head; all in a matter of seconds.  From pushing 400 pounds seven and a half years ago to my first century bike ride.  To losing my mom three years ago.  To my wife and her battle with breast cancer last year.  And here I was, this 47 year old adult on-set triathlete running the final half mile of an Ironman high fiving the crowd and to hear what every triathlete should hear at least once.  Mike Reilly boom out their name, as he did mine, and say that YOU are an IRONMAN. 

Stats:

 Total time 14:56:09

 Swim 1:20:50

 T1 9:18

 Bike 6:46:27

 T2: 5:52

 Run 6:33:42

1,710^th place out of approx 2,800

193^rd in AG out of approx 244 

Gear

  Swim:

    Blue Seventy Fusion wetsuit

    TYR Rx goggles   

Bike:

    Specialized Transition Comp

    Mid-Compact 52-36 with 11-28 cassette

    Williams 58-85 carbon clinchers

    X-Lab hydration torpedo and rear carrier   

Run:

     Saucony Triumph 9 shoes

     Energy from the crowd!

 The after:

 

I was moved by the amount my social media feeds had "blown up" during the race and how many people stayed up to watch the streaming of me finish.  This was very humbling, and I thank each and everyone of you for your kind words and support. 

 

Thank you:

 

To God for giving me the stregth and desire to take this on, and for getting me through.

To my Wife for putting up with my training, my addiction to gear, and my whacky-ness especially after long training days.

To my triathlete friends for your encouragement.  Many of you are also my social media friends mentioned above. 

To my dad for being my dad.

To my mother-in-law for keeping Angi company while I was away.

To my bike mechanic for making sure the Transition was running good on race day!

To Ironman for putting on a great event.

To the people of Coeur d'Alene for being the best spectators of any event I have ever done or been to.

To the Chicago Blackhawks for winning the Stanley Cup Monday night, putting the cherry on the sundae to a great weekend.

 

If I missed you, I am sorry, but if you supported me in anyway, I truly do appreciate it.

 

By the way, it is now Wednesday afternoon.  My aches and pains still have aches and pains.  That is a grueling event.  But very worth it.

 

I have been asked if I will do another.  No.  Yes.  Probably.  I am considering Arizona 2014.  Okay, I am in the preliminary planning stages, so I am seriously considering it.

A few photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Lake, the Monday before

Bike Racked and Ready

 

 

 

Getting aero!
 

All smiles, done and dusted!

Epilogue 

My initial writing of this blog did not include some things I consider standard for my race reports.  Mostly a, this went well and lessons learned section, as well as what’s next? 

I had so much excitement in the days after the race and so many thoughts going through my head, I just forgot to include them. 

However, these are critical components, maybe not for the reader, but for myself, as typing it out helps me plan my next steps. 

First off, I didn’t even detail my run.  This was in part by design, as I wanted to focus on the tremendous crowd support.  The Ironman website mentions the run being the highlight of the race, but hey, they are selling the event.  Well in this case they under-sold it.  I am still amazed at the amount of people that came out to watch us have our few seconds of glory. 

Those of you that know me, or follow any of my musings know that the run is by far my weakest event.  My swim and bike are typically at or just below middle of the pack for my age group.  My run is in the bottom 10 to 15 percent. 

I had trained to a 5:30 to 5:45 run, and really thought this was doable, if I struggled maybe 5:45 to 6:00.  So how did I get to 6:33? 

Believe it or not, I had plenty of legs.  My heart rate seemed a bit high, but manageable.  Something weird happened between mile 9.5 and 13; I had a hard time getting air into my lungs.  I would be wheezing after 20 seconds of running.  So I walked, and walked, and walked.  Around the turn-around I felt like I had some air flowing again, so I resumed my run/walk strategy that I had timed out so diligently in my training, and was able to keep to it except for the big hill around mile 6/19.5.  I actually had a slight negative split to my run.  So even though the time was well off my goal and honest prediction, I was not too disappointed in it.  Especially since I ran the final half mile in and could have kept going! 

So what worked?

The swim:  Right on prediction and other than getting popped and elbowed, which is just part of it, the swim was as expected, and I came out feeling ready to ride. 

Nutrition:  I never felt like I was ready to bonk.  No GI distress except for a bit of gas which is normal for me, and I never felt like I had too much in me.  Following the Training Bible concept of eating “just enough.” It can be a delicate balance as in training I bonked more than once.  But I did not bonk at all during the race. 

Lessons learned: 

Transitions:  While I contend that a fast transition isn’t really necessary until or unless you are competing for a top 10 or Kona slot, over 9 minutes in T1 was a bit much.  I just didn’t have my thoughts organized or a good plan for getting through T1.   

The bike:  The time was okay, and was in my predicted range.  However, the first half was much better than the second.  And my cycling did not see the improvements through this training block that I wanted it to.  I have hit a plateau.  I think I need to make some changes to my cycling training.  And a big change is I need to invest in a power meter.  What gets measured gets improved, and there is no better way to measure one’s cycling that through a power meter.  Any of you loaded wonderful readers want to gift me one? 

The run:  It has been and continues to be my weakest sport.  Despite the 6:33 marathon, I did see improvements in my run throughout the training.  A big part of this was due to taking Brian M’s run clinic late last year, and working on better form.  I completed a six month build to the IM and stayed injury free while logging more miles than I ever have.  So now, its continue to build on that, and start to try and run faster over shorter distances to get that feeling going and continue to build run fitness. 

Weight:  I’ve come a long way from a guy that was a couple of donuts shy of 400 pounds.  But let’s face it, as a triathlete I’m pudgy, and if I want to knock off a couple of hours from my time, I need to find a way to take off another 20-30 pounds.  The added bonus to that is it will help my running, and hill climbing on the bike. 

So what is next? 

August 11 is the Chula Vista Challenge.  It is an Olympic distance tri that is very challenging with a mostly uphill bike and a very hilly usually HOT run.  I did it last year, it is a fun event, and I really just want to see if I can improve. 

September 30 is Superfrog.  The original 70.3, I also did it last year, and want to conquer that doggone beach run. 

Looking ahead to November of 2014:  IRONMAN Arizona!  And here it is for all to see:  I am targeting a sub 13 hour finish.  A two hour improvement; here we go!

 

And a couple more photos from the race: