2014 IRONMAN TEXAS RACE REPORT
BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front): 1:03 swim, 5:27 bike, and 3:46 run for a 10:27 (13th M45-49) in my 2nd IM. A great, experienced group of 5 Cyclonauts who traveled down, inexpensive lodging/rental car options, cooler than average weather, and a cool race venue all added to the experience. The former fighter pilot in me comes out and I tend to debrief races like checkrides so if you don’t care about the anal details then don’t read any further.
LOGISTICS: If you are going to fly to an Ironman, this is probably one of the best to choose. The Woodlands is about 20-30 minutes north of Houston and offers two airports and numerous lodging options. We stayed at an Extended Stay America and got rooms for roughly $500 for 6 nights. Rental car deals through priceline gave us a minivan for $400 for six days as well. I think I did this race for less than half of what IMLP cost me. I did spend $300 for Tribike Transport which was probably money well spent. Pretty easy dropoff and pickup, my new bike made it unscathed (fingers crossed for the return). Everyone else checked their bikes and had no issues. Because the lodging/rental costs were inexpensive, we were all able to come in on Tuesday (race was on Sat) and stay until Monday. While it seemed like too much time before the race, in hindsight I think this extra time really allowed us to take care of last minute issues without the normal stress levels. Going home on Sunday would have been a nightmare as well, and that day allowed us time to celebrate and stuff our stomachs.
The Woodlands is a planned community around a manmade lake. A canal off the lake extends through the center of town with a lot of nice shops and restaurants and an indoor and outdoor mall. The host hotel is right in the middle, located between the Expo and transition. A really nice area.
The downside to this race: HEAT. The previous 3 years had all been hotter than average with 2013 being extremely hot and humid. We got pretty lucky with the weather this year. We had record lows Wednesday night lowering the water temp to 71 degrees and making the race wetsuit legal for the first time. Luckily, we all brought our wetsuits. The temps gradually warmed up Thurs and Fri and race day high was 86. Still hot, but a lot better than being 90-95. It was fairly windy which created a pretty good headwind for the second half of the bike. The temp on the run affected all of us after the winter we have had, but I don’t think it really crippled us like a record hot day could have done.
The week was pretty uneventful. We checked in right when the Expo opened (no line), got our bikes ready, rode, ran, found a couple of good restaurants, etc. Everyone was nursing some taper issues except Joe who had had some pretty bad cramping in St. Croix two weeks prior so he was really working hard to make sure his body was ready for the race (ART, Cryo, stretching, TEMS). Thursday was short ride/run, Friday was practice swim (Lake Woodlands is closed to swimmers year round so this is the only chance to get in the water. Also, the first chance of the season for any of us to wear our wetsuits), big breakfast, bike check in and rest. Early dinner, in bed by 8pm.
RACE MORNING: Joe and I were both awake about 3 am.
Left for transition at 4:30. Parking was simple since we were so early. Actually hung in our cars for 30 min since transition didn’t open until 5:30. We got to transition right as it opened, added nutrition to our bags, pumped tires, etc, then headed off to walk a mile to the swim start (we thought about getting 141.6 stickers printed up because of this).
The swim starts across the lake in front of a city park. The course goes about the length of the lake, back, then about 1000m up the canal to transition. Luckily Morning Bag dropoff is at the park so you can place your shoes and last minute items in your bag when you get there. The walk took about 20 minutes and long porta potty lines when we got there. I got through the porta potty at 6:40 and was rushing a little to drop bags, take a gel, and get in line to enter the water. There was a pretty good logjam entering and I got in at 6:54. My plan was to go far left since the lake is shallow and the right and center seemed to clog up. However, I got out to the center and there was almost no one there! I looked back and saw the line of folks trying to get in the water. There had to be quite a few still on the shore when the gun went off! I didn’t plan on being front row center but went with it. It filled up somewhat before the start, but nothing like other mass starts. Standard nerves for the last few minutes. The gun went off at 7 and it was game on. I don’t think my swim could have gone much better. I had a lot of contact due to my location, but every time it got really bad, I was able to get a little open space calm down. I had trained really hard all winter on my swim and was seeing some benefits. The biggest help was swimming with Jim and Rich and having folks to push me in my training. The contact eased a little after about 10 minutes, then crowded at the first buoy like you would expect. Snuck a peak at my watch and saw 21 minutes and was pretty happy with that. The 2nd turn is close to the first, then we were heading back in. I got a lot of open water and a few feet to chase. This leg allows you to cut close to the shoreline which gave me something interesting to look at when I breathed. It was hard to sight because the sun was in my eyes, but I still had a lot of folks close by who all seemed to be swimming straight. Made a right turn and headed into the canal. The canal is pretty cool because it is only about 30 feet wide and folks are on both sides cheering. They said the water gets pretty rough but I didn’t think it was that bad. Ended up on the left side and got punched in the face once when I got a little jammed up toward the side. The canal seemed to go on forever. I took a couple of peeks at my watch and saw a 5 was the first number. I would have been pretty excited to break an hour, but then we made the last turn and I still had a ways to go. Finally hit the last buoy and got out at 1:03–really happy because that is an awesome swim for me, even with the wetsuit (Garmin said 2.6 mi FWIW:-)).
T1: Kinda slow. Mainly because I decided to put on arm coolers. Should have worn them under the wetsuit but I had never done that before so decided not to try it for the first time in a race. Also a little slow since it was my first race of the year and I didn’t want to go off and forget anything.
Bike: My goal metrics for the bike were 180-185 W and 135 HR. Time goals are bad for an IM but I also knew that if I broke 5:30, had an absolutely stellar run, and the planets aligned, I might be close enough to a Kona slot to go to the Awards ceremony. Slower than 5:30 and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t be close. I wasn’t going to destroy my race over a bike split, but I was prepared to push a little harder if required. Most of you also know that I got a new bike about 6 weeks before the race. Probably not a recommended move, but one that I think worked for me and took a few minutes off my bike split. I’m still not totally comfortable on the new saddle, but Seth, Brian, and New England Bike did an amazing job of duplicating my fit. I got in two long rides after the switch that went pretty well, and I was definitely running better off the new rig. Overall, I love the new bike and still think I can get faster on it once I get a little more used to it.
The bike course makes one large loop to the north. the first 40 miles are pretty fast, mile 40-70 are this bad chip seal pavement, no shade, and a headwind. Mile 70-90 the road is better but you still have the headwind, and mile 90-112 are fairly fast if you can still go aero. The elevation gain is 3100 and the course feels flatter, but there are rollers most of the way so I guess that is accurate. It seems faster than average but challenging too because of the heat, the wind and extended time in aero. I felt pretty good the first 30 miles but my HR was stabilizing at 140-143. I tried to back off a little, but my speed was only averaging around 21 so I was afraid to back off much. I did try to bank up on fluids early which was a good call. It made me pee a lot in the middle but worth it to not be dehydrated. Aid station volunteers were great. Really good bottle handoffs. I think I drank about 8 bottles for the bike which really helped me. The bike started getting tough around mile 50. The road changed to chip seal and rattled the hell out of you. My bike was so loud I thought my front skewer was loose and actually pulled over to check it. Turns out my rear bottle holder had loosened and was making the noise but I didn’t figure that out. I passed Mik at mile 54 pulled over with a flat. He had a tough day–a lot of bad luck. Sucks because he was really in shape and I thought he was going to have a great race and a shot at Kona. Bad stuff can happen over 140 miles though. Also passed a big snapping turtle in the middle of the road around here–made me think of Gigantor. This was definitely the toughest part of the course mentally. Once I got off the chip seal I started to feel better. My HR was still around 140 and I didn’t really want to look at watts or average speed. I just tried to focus. I slowed down my fluid intake a little which was probably a mistake but I had been peeing a lot and didn’t want to pee all the way to T2. I hit mile 92 at a little past 4:30 and mental math said I was going to end up just over 5:30 if I did 20 mph. I was feeling ok, though and decided to turn it up just a little. I guess it was a good call because I think I did around 22 mph and ended up coming into T2 in 5:27. My watts were off the chart low for some reason–150–so I’m not sure my powermeter was calibrated. Regardless, nothing to complain about and I was still in the game if I could run sub 3:30 ( or so I thought).
T2: Pretty slow. Not sure why. OK, partly because I ate a banana and hit the porta john, but I needed both of those things:-).
Run: Started out feeling pretty good, and actually trying to slow myself down. My metrics were first two miles at 8:00 mile to let the HR settle, then hold 145 bpm. I had been running extremely well so I was a little hopeful I could still have an impressive run split.The heat didn’t seem to bother me, I had like a 7:35 for the first mile and then HR spiked up some. Got it settled down and was sitting almost right at 8:00 pace and 145 HR. The run is a 3 loop course through the Woodlands. About half of it is along the canal with a lot of crowd support and half of it is through residential. The middle third of each loop is the hottest as there is a long stretch out in the sun running by McMansions. We get so spoiled in our club because we normally have so much support at races. This was strange because our only cheering squad was Paul’s wife, Maria, and their kids. I have to say they did an awesome job, though! They made signs for each one of us and it was really a boost to see them.
QT2 folks also cheered as well as some girl Joe met in a bar earlier that week;-). One nice thing about a 3 loop run is you get to see most of your teammates racing. Seeing Doug, Joe, and Mik was a boost although I never saw Mary. We must have been 180 degrees out. I caught Doug at the end of the first lap which gave me a confidence boost. Knowing he was a 13 time Ironman and Kona qualifier told me I was running pretty well (of course, I also hadn’t raced the Beast in St. Croix two weeks earlier–if I have not already said it, Doug and Mary have some amazing talent and experience–I gained a lot just from hanging out all week pre-race with them). I finished the first lap, felt decent, still holding pace pretty good. At mile 12 I started feeling my quads. I knew that wasn’t a great sign and was probably a result of pushing the bike a little hard, but my pace still seemed to be holding. I remember making it to mile 16 and being like 2:27 so I was thinking if I could hold 8s I would be around 3:31. Right after that I started hitting the wall. The 3rd lap was just a gradual fade (maybe not so gradual). I walked every aid station and it was so hard to start running again at the end. I lost my salt pills on the 2nd lap and saw some lying on the ground and actually thought about taking them (No. No way. I’ll never be that desperate). You get to that point where all you can think about is to keep running and just finish. 10K left (anyone can run a 10K), 5 K left (come on, you can do a 5K under 30 minutes, don’t be a wimp), back on the canal (don’t let them see you walk). Finally, split off to the finisher’s chute (uphill, one last insult). There was a guy 100 yds in front of me. I made the last turn and saw no one behind me so did my best to enjoy the moment. Really cool call in from Mike Reilly thanking me for my military service that I will always remember. 32 min PR in my 2nd IM. All in all a pretty damn great day.
I was toast at the finish. Tried to sit down and my abdominal muscles totally locked up in a cramp. Made a stop at medical but they were being incredibly stingy with IVs unless your last name started with G and ended in I. By the time we all got back together, got our bikes, had a beer, ate dinner and got to the car it was 11:30! Long day to say the least.
Sunday was a lot of fun. Up early coffee (ahhh, caffeine again), beers (ahhh, alcohol again), hit the expo for finishers swag, huge brunch, mimosas (at the Goose’s Acre–really cool place right beside the finish line), walking, Awards ceremony (turns out I was 13th AG. 5 slots, no rolldown, with the slowest being 9:45 I think. The winner of my AG went 8:56! Dudes are just getting way too fast! Mary broke 11 for the first time and was 5th. We really thought the rolldown might come through for her, but she ended up 1 person away. It sucks, but it saved her from having to buy a round at the Kona Grill! Then margaritas, back to hotel to pack, then out for dinner at 8pm, and up early Monday to fly home.
I know this is unbelievably long, but just have to add how much I love this club. Traveling and racing with these guys was so much fun, and having teammates track me and blow up my phone, twitter, and facebook after was priceless. Huge thanks to everyone. My wife and kids didn’t make the trip but I also have to thank them for putting up with me and some long training hours this year. There is really no way to train for IM without putting it first sometimes. OK, thats it. My IM is done so now I get to drink beer and laugh at you poor suckers training for Placid this year!