I normally don’t do race reports, but IMTX was a little different
so decided to put it down in writing.
My last IM was Arizona in 2009, after completing seven in the
previous 4 years. Needless to say, this was a long layoff from IM racing and
since I’m not getting any younger, was interested (nervous) to see how things
would go. Training was somewhat
inconsistent, but with work and family I did what I felt was necessary and to
be honest, was worried it wasn’t going to be enough as I averaged about 14-hrs of
training per week, whereas I used to get in 18-20 in the past.
I flew into Houston Thursday before the race and of course my
bike doesn’t show up on my flight. Thankfully it was on the next flight from
Colorado Springs to Houston which was 2 hrs later. So, hit a local Wal-Mart and
picked up some last minute supplies. Was relieved to get the bike and then head
over to registration for check in. In and out quickly so off to the hotel to
build the bike and chill out.
Friday was uneventful, just hung in the hotel room, did some work
and watched TV until bike check-in which went very smooth. Back to the hotel
and I noticed the temp reading on the car dash was 100! Yikes, it’s going to be
very hot and humid tomorrow. Oh well, nothing I can do about the weather so off
to TX roadhouse for my filet dinner - yes, I eat a nice steak the night before
every race (along with a side of pasta). Done it for years and seems to work
for me. I have to say the bartender
looked at me a bit strange when asked if I wanted a beer or margarita and asked
for a glass of red wine. I guess most guys sitting at the bar by themselves
don’t order red wine!
Race morning. Interesting setup as we had a good 10-15 walk to
the swim start. No wetsuit so slipped on the Blue Seventy speed suit and headed
into the water. To say the water was
murky is an understatement. When you can’t see your own hand in front of your
face only a couple inches away is not right. That said, the water temp felt
great! Swam across the lake and stood in
knee deep water until right before the start and surprisingly I was eerily
calm. No nervous energy being wasted and extreme feeling of calmness and
confidence about the swim. Cool, I like this feeling.
Couple minutes before the swim, headed to the start until the
canon went off. Here we go! The swim stayed crowded for about half way out to
the first turn. Hard to draft off anyone as you couldn’t see the feet in front
of you or even their bubbles. Yes, just a bit murky. Stayed very relaxed
through the swim and started to push it just a bit before we made the right
into the canal. I was passing a number of swimmers on the return and never felt
like I was pushing hard. Once in the canal I could see a group of about 10-15
aprox 50 meters ahead and I was gaining on them. However, If I pushed to catch
them I had to determine how much energy I’d have to use and what the cost would
be for gaining maybe 30 seconds. So, I made the decision to continue to swim my
pace and stay comfortable. Exited the swim in 59 min and was content with that.
Not as fast as I thought but nevertheless, under an hour still puts me where I
want to be starting the bike.
Steady transition and
off to the bike. I told myself the day
before, take the first half of the bike conservative as the way back in will be
into a head wind and miles 60-85 are rolling and I know nothing is really won
in the first ½ of the bike. So, go out easy and bring it back in strong and
steady. About 30 min into the ride I
spot a Wattie kit riding strong ahead of me. Introduced myself to Ken
Petruzzelli and we both wished each other luck and kept riding. At the 56 mile
mark, I was sitting at 2:25 and did a little self-assessment. Feeling like I hadn’t
put in any real work yet and ready to get the race started. On to the 2nd half,
the wind kicked in but didn’t really bother me as it was a steady wind and not
super gusty. As I said, nothing really happens in the first half of the bike
and a handful of riders who passed me early in the ride, by mile 85ish I had
the opportunity to say hello to them
Gave me more confidence that I was having a good ride and my pacing so
far had been good. I did have a little laugh as I look at my mileage and saw 85
and thought to myself, “it’s been years since I’ve ridden this far!” As I said
earlier, I haven’t done an Ironman in 4 years and in training for TX, I never
rode more than 75-80 miles. So, while I had a little laugh, I also had the thought
this could be where things start going downhill. Thank goodness, back closer to
the Woodlands I was still feeling steady on the bike and was within the final
12 miles of the bike. However, these
miles seemed to take FOREVER! Something
about hitting 100 miles, you get this feeling you’re almost done, but you still
have aprox 30 min to go. Finally made it
back to T2 and was super stoked to ride sub five with a 4:58. Only problem was
as soon as I put my Left foot on the ground I almost fell. Something was up
with the ball of my foot and I couldn’t put any weight on it. Crap what’s going
on? This was my first realization the
run was going to suck. Feeling came back in my foot after a couple easy steps
and I was able to keep moving through transtion.
The Run - Holy Hotness Batman!
I always have a plan on how I’m going to run the marathon, but I knew in
the first 10 steps out of the transition I had to change my plan - better yet,
throw my plan out and just go with the “just finish” plan. I’ve raced a lot of hot IM’s but this was ridiculous. In the first mile, I had two guys who I
thought were in my AG run by me and there was no way I was going with
them. My entire mindset was now just
keep moving and get to the finish line, forget about placing, forget about
Kona, just put all my physical and mental effort on just getting to the line. I
also told myself don’t look at mile markers; you just have to run three laps.
Made it through lap one in 1:05 which I didn’t like, but was just happy I made
it through one lap. Here we go lap two which I’m sure would be slower, but just
keep moving and try to minimize my losses.
Now is the time when it got really tough. The heat was crazy and both
feet and quads were killing me. Through lap 2 there were about 6 times where I
felt like everything was going to shut down and I’d be forced to walk. Each
loop I saw a sign which said, “just finish” and I just kept telling myself to
keep moving and not stop. If you stop, you are done. Another reason I hate
stopping is this means the finish line will take that much longer to reach so
if I can just keep “running” the finish line will get here that much sooner and
I can stop for good. By this time I made it to the start of lap three and again
played the mental game “I can run for an hour (plus a little more!), and an
hour is a short run.” Now it’s really tough trying to get everything you need
through the all you can eat and drink “buffet stations” with almost everyone on
the course and you can’t afford to miss the ice, water, coke, pretzles,
etc. But the volunteers were great and
I’d go through yelling everything I needed and they all came out to get it to
me. I remember hitting mile marker 20 and this is when I finally started
looking at the miles. With each mile “I can run 6 miles, 5 miles, 4 miles, just
keep going…” It wasn’t until I finally hit the path along the canal, I had the
feeling of “I’m going to make it.” But, I still wasn’t sure. With 1.5 to go, my
brother-in-law told me I was 2nd in my AG and he told me to go. My response
was, there is no response. If I’m 2nd I’m good with that as I’ll get my Kona
slot, when I didn’t even think I would finish.
Running into the shoot, was one of the best feelings - Yes, done!
Finally, but boy did that suck. About 10
min later, my bro-in-law informed me I won my AG, guess I passed the two guys
who passed me in mile one. Somehow the race now doesn’t suck as much. It just
sucked less.
I always try to come away learning and after 14 IM races here’s
what I learned in TX:
1 - be confident and stick to your plan
2 - keep your head up when riding. At mile 60 I was kind if in a
zone/daze and just picked my head up in time to see a motorcycle stopped on the
side of the road assisting a rider. Another second or two and I hit the
motorcycle and my race report is very different.
3 - Be confident to totally throw your plan out the window
4 - Never set a goal time
5 - Find anything to keep you motivated, even if it is seeing the
Moxie Multisport crew Rockin the W!
6 - TX is stupid hot, find somewhere else to race.
7 - Loved meeting a bunch of Wattie athletes!
A couple thanx must go out:
First, thanx to the support from all the wattie ink elite team
members! This is such a cool team to be a part of. Thanx to Powerbar, K-Swiss,
blue seventy, fuel belt and all the wattie sponsors for taking care of us. To Derick Williamson (Durata Training) and Steve
Pye (Practical Coaching) for allowing me to bounce all my thoughts and ideas in
training and reviewing what my plan was and for offering all the advice and
input (folks, want to go faster, invest in a good coach first, then the aero
helmet, wheels, etc). Stacy Sims at Osmo nutrition - you turned my hydration
and nutrition upside down, but it worked. Ben Sharp - I valued your opinion on
equipment choices. Kelly Williamson - I had you till the run (damit!)- thanx
for your advice and thoughts on how to attack the course. Finally to my wife
and kids for putting up with all the tri crap, glad to hopefully make it worth
it with our Hawaiian “vacation.”
Aloha,
