My goal for this report is to make it as short as possible but to still capture everything worth remembering about the day. I won't go into too much detail about every little aspect of the race but will instead focus on the important stuff that affected my overall performance.
Leading up to the race, I had the misfortune of being hit by a car while riding my bike. Luckily it was a slow motion accident as a car rolled through a red light while I was crossing Laburnum Ave on the Capital Trail. When I got hit, I was so mad. The driver got out and was very apologetic and admitted he was at fault. I gathered myself off the pavement and out of the road. After a quick examination of myself and my bike, I determined I was mostly OK. So the driver went on his way and I decided to continue on my ride. I had a 4 hour ride planned and was only about 45 minutes into the ride.
While riding up the hill, I noticed some throbbing on the outside of my lower leg. I stopped to inspect it and noticed some bruising and swelling. I decided I would continue my ride and reevaluate myself at Four Mile Creek Park which was about 10 minutes away. While riding to the park, I was in a pretty bad mood. I ended up pushing it pretty hard to let off some steam. When I arrived at the park, I stopped and used the bathroom and ate a squashed banana. I decided I would continue for a little longer. At some point, I realized I only had a few miles to the next milestone/bathroom. So I continued. In the end, I ended up with 72 miles on the bike. I decided I must be OK since I was able to do that.
However, my knee was a bit tweaked. But I was able to complete all my workouts without any pain including a long brick the following weekend. I felt like I was in pretty good shape for the race.
The night before the race, I could not sleep. I was tossing and turning, my mind racing all night. In the end I probably got about 2.5 to 3 hours of sleep. Not ideal at all.
On the day of the race, it was announced that the water temperature was 78.8 which meant the swim was wetsuit-optional. We could swim in a wetsuit if we wanted to but we would not be eligible for age group awards. I am not sure why I chose to wear my wetsuit. I knew wearing a wetsuit in a wetsuit-optional swim would mean I would be at the back of the line. That worked out well for me in Louisville. Until I crashed out anyways. Perhaps the lack of sleep clouded my judgment. I know I was extremely anxious and not feeling my best. I am much faster in my wetsuit for sure. But wearing the wetsuit in the warm water for the hour and 17 minutes it took me to complete the swim turned out to be a bad idea.
When I got on the bike, I downed all my fluids in the first 10 minutes of the ride. I felt pretty good for about 45 minutes. After that, I felt pretty bad. In fact, I would say I felt horrible. I questioned why in the world I was doing this. I entertained the idea of quitting. But only momentarily. I knew I could finish the race even in the worst conditions. Also, when I am feeling one of these inevitable low spots during a long day of racing, I always think of my brother John and how he was such a trooper. That always helps get me through the rough patches.
At mile 60 I stopped to use the porta pottie. It was quite evident by the color of my urine that I was very dehydrated. I was pumping the fluids in as much as possible but the warm swim put me in a deficit that was proving hard to overcome. Right after the bathroom break, I stopped in special needs and drank two Red Bulls. They were still cool since I had frozen them the night before. The short break along with the rush of sugar and caffeine boosted me up a bit. I started to feel better and rode the next section feeling pretty good.
However, once I hit the final turnaround, the reality of the strong headwind was in my face. A cold front had rolled through and I was fighting to maintain 14 mph on the bike. I stayed aero as much as possible but my body was tired and I could not stay down for long periods of time. Everyone around me was struggling. The toll road for IMTX is mostly flat, mostly smooth, with no traffic and lots of room. Those are the pros. The cons? No break from the heat or the wind. And absolutely no scenery. Just miles and miles of concrete. Kinda boring really.
The bike course beat me down and was a bit demoralizing. The wind was relentless and the course mentally challenging. I had hoped to finish the course in about 5 hours and 45 minutes. When I turned off of the toll road, I realized I would be over 6 hours. Definitely not a terrible performance especially considering the wind and how awful I felt. But slightly off my initial private goal. My official bike split was 6 hours and 10 minutes. Later when I looked at the data from my Garmin, I found that I had 6 hours of ride time for the 110 miles (the course was slightly short) and 10 minutes all together of time not moving. The 10 minutes was the accumulation of bathroom breaks and special needs. Normally in an Ironman I would just pee on myself on the bike course. But I was not in the mood and in the end I think the bathroom breaks helped me hit he reset button.
When I finished the bike, I was greeted by my cheering fans. It is always so great to hear Melissa's encouraging screams. And Melissa's sister and husband were there too so I had extra encouragement. I always get a lift when I see Melissa out on the course. It was quite refreshing.
Once I hit the run course, I felt relieved that I felt fairly decent. Running is my thing and I usually am most comfortable hammering out a run. I was doing well until about mile 10. That's when things started to turn for the worse. My knee started bothering me. I could tell it was from when I got hit by the car a few weeks ago. The pain gradually got worse until I had to start taking walk breaks every few minutes. Unfortunately this meant that my 4 hour marathon goal was slowly slipping away. As I slogged my way through the rest of the race, I noticed that I did not seem to be sweating any longer. Also, I had to stop to use the porta pottie about every mile or 2. I have never had to go so much in my life. I am not sure of the science behind it but I am guessing I did not take in enough salt after my dehydrating swim.
In the end, I ended up running the marathon in about 4:25. This was much slower than I was hoping for but in the end, my overall time was not terrible. It was quite slower than IMTN in 2014. But considering the pain I was experiencing due to the incident with the car, I can't really complain too much. After all, there was a man who died during the swim portion. I feel so bad for his family and when I think about it, I am just happy that I am healthy and was able to have a respectable finishing time. My overall finish time was about 12:20. Not my best performance but I think I learned some things for next time regarding nutrition and pacing.
I have to thank Melissa for her support. And thanks to her family for putting us up in Texas. We had a very comfortable and relaxing time leading up to the race. Thanks also to my coach David Luscan who prepared me for the race. Dave has elevated my fitness much higher and faster than I could ever accomplish on my own. His science based, no nonsense approach to endurance training fits in well with my personality.
Thanks for reading!
However, my knee was a bit tweaked. But I was able to complete all my workouts without any pain including a long brick the following weekend. I felt like I was in pretty good shape for the race.
The night before the race, I could not sleep. I was tossing and turning, my mind racing all night. In the end I probably got about 2.5 to 3 hours of sleep. Not ideal at all.
On the day of the race, it was announced that the water temperature was 78.8 which meant the swim was wetsuit-optional. We could swim in a wetsuit if we wanted to but we would not be eligible for age group awards. I am not sure why I chose to wear my wetsuit. I knew wearing a wetsuit in a wetsuit-optional swim would mean I would be at the back of the line. That worked out well for me in Louisville. Until I crashed out anyways. Perhaps the lack of sleep clouded my judgment. I know I was extremely anxious and not feeling my best. I am much faster in my wetsuit for sure. But wearing the wetsuit in the warm water for the hour and 17 minutes it took me to complete the swim turned out to be a bad idea.
When I got on the bike, I downed all my fluids in the first 10 minutes of the ride. I felt pretty good for about 45 minutes. After that, I felt pretty bad. In fact, I would say I felt horrible. I questioned why in the world I was doing this. I entertained the idea of quitting. But only momentarily. I knew I could finish the race even in the worst conditions. Also, when I am feeling one of these inevitable low spots during a long day of racing, I always think of my brother John and how he was such a trooper. That always helps get me through the rough patches.
At mile 60 I stopped to use the porta pottie. It was quite evident by the color of my urine that I was very dehydrated. I was pumping the fluids in as much as possible but the warm swim put me in a deficit that was proving hard to overcome. Right after the bathroom break, I stopped in special needs and drank two Red Bulls. They were still cool since I had frozen them the night before. The short break along with the rush of sugar and caffeine boosted me up a bit. I started to feel better and rode the next section feeling pretty good.
However, once I hit the final turnaround, the reality of the strong headwind was in my face. A cold front had rolled through and I was fighting to maintain 14 mph on the bike. I stayed aero as much as possible but my body was tired and I could not stay down for long periods of time. Everyone around me was struggling. The toll road for IMTX is mostly flat, mostly smooth, with no traffic and lots of room. Those are the pros. The cons? No break from the heat or the wind. And absolutely no scenery. Just miles and miles of concrete. Kinda boring really.
The bike course beat me down and was a bit demoralizing. The wind was relentless and the course mentally challenging. I had hoped to finish the course in about 5 hours and 45 minutes. When I turned off of the toll road, I realized I would be over 6 hours. Definitely not a terrible performance especially considering the wind and how awful I felt. But slightly off my initial private goal. My official bike split was 6 hours and 10 minutes. Later when I looked at the data from my Garmin, I found that I had 6 hours of ride time for the 110 miles (the course was slightly short) and 10 minutes all together of time not moving. The 10 minutes was the accumulation of bathroom breaks and special needs. Normally in an Ironman I would just pee on myself on the bike course. But I was not in the mood and in the end I think the bathroom breaks helped me hit he reset button.
When I finished the bike, I was greeted by my cheering fans. It is always so great to hear Melissa's encouraging screams. And Melissa's sister and husband were there too so I had extra encouragement. I always get a lift when I see Melissa out on the course. It was quite refreshing.
Once I hit the run course, I felt relieved that I felt fairly decent. Running is my thing and I usually am most comfortable hammering out a run. I was doing well until about mile 10. That's when things started to turn for the worse. My knee started bothering me. I could tell it was from when I got hit by the car a few weeks ago. The pain gradually got worse until I had to start taking walk breaks every few minutes. Unfortunately this meant that my 4 hour marathon goal was slowly slipping away. As I slogged my way through the rest of the race, I noticed that I did not seem to be sweating any longer. Also, I had to stop to use the porta pottie about every mile or 2. I have never had to go so much in my life. I am not sure of the science behind it but I am guessing I did not take in enough salt after my dehydrating swim.
In the end, I ended up running the marathon in about 4:25. This was much slower than I was hoping for but in the end, my overall time was not terrible. It was quite slower than IMTN in 2014. But considering the pain I was experiencing due to the incident with the car, I can't really complain too much. After all, there was a man who died during the swim portion. I feel so bad for his family and when I think about it, I am just happy that I am healthy and was able to have a respectable finishing time. My overall finish time was about 12:20. Not my best performance but I think I learned some things for next time regarding nutrition and pacing.
I have to thank Melissa for her support. And thanks to her family for putting us up in Texas. We had a very comfortable and relaxing time leading up to the race. Thanks also to my coach David Luscan who prepared me for the race. Dave has elevated my fitness much higher and faster than I could ever accomplish on my own. His science based, no nonsense approach to endurance training fits in well with my personality.
Thanks for reading!
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