2018 Ironman Texas

On April 28, 2018 I was fortunate enough to participate in Ironman Texas. This was my first attempt at the full IM distance.

Quick Race Summary:

For those who don't care for all the details, my race in a nutshell...

Swim (2.4 miles): 1:10:39
T1: 8:19
Bike (110 miles): 5:07:06
T2: 7:42
Run (26.2 miles): 5:16:12

TOTAL Time: 11:49:58 (133rd AG, 838th overall out of 2900+)

Pre-Race:

I traveled (along with my wife and daughter) to The Woodlands, Texas on Wednesday the 25th to allow myself a couple of days to settle in and relax before the race, and also to make sure I could get a few easy training sessions on or near the race courses. We stayed at the Westin at the Woodlands Hotel, which was right on the waterway, and very close to the run finish. The hotel was very nice, and the immediate surrounding area had all the amenities that we could hope for, tons of restaurants, stores, etc. The weather was definitely hot, but so far was not living up to the hype regarding humidity. It was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. Over the course of the next two days, I got an easy 45 minute spin on my bike, and a short run just to keep the blood flowing, and to get a feel for the course and weather. I felt very good, and very confident in my fitness going into the race. On Thursday, I linked up with Sebastian K. and his friend Mark to do a drive-by recon of the bike course as well.

The day before the race, I was alarmed at how much walking I did (my Garmin told me I took 12,000 steps) but I didn't feel like I was over exerting myself. I got a short run in the morning, then took my bike and gear bags over to transition for the mandatory check-in. After that, I had an early dinner with my Army Ranger buddies (10 of us were set to compete) and did my best to just kick my feet up and relax. I was in bed a bit later than I had planned, but I knew I was going to get crappy sleep anyway (and I was right).

Race Morning:

I got out of bed at 3:50am, even though I had been waking up about every 10 minutes since 2:20am. I took my megadose of 1000mg lypospheric vitamin C, then started my pre-race nutrition. In this case, that meant two Bonk Breaker bars, and one serving of Infinit Jet Fuel. I took a second serving of the Jet Fuel with me, along with my special needs bags and headed to the lobby to meet up with Sebastian and Mark. We started the walk over to transition to do final preparations on our bikes. I got separated from those guys after I headed over to air up my tires, so I ended up doing the 15 minute walk to the swim start alone, and got myself ready for the swim. About 5 minutes before I joined the 1:00 to 1:10 swim time group, I popped a GU gel, which made for a total of about 1000 calories (and 40 ounces of fluid) that I took in between waking up and starting the race. As I edged toward the start with my group, I expected to be wrought with nervousness, but I wasn't. I was excited, I was happy, but the best way to describe it would be to say: I was ready!

Swim:

I stepped across the timing mat, and my first IM attempt was underway. The water was warm (I think 73 or 74 degrees) so I didn't have to deal with that initial cold shock that happens when you do not get to even toe the water before you jump in to start the race. The course turns immediately to the right, and I decided to go far left, nearest the buoys to make sure sighting was easy. Immediately, there was a lot of physical contact, which I did expect. What I did not expect, was for this contact to continue nearly all the way to the swim finish. I don't think I had a single 50 yard segment of the swim that was not impacted by contact from other people. I did my best not to let the contact bother me, but it did make it very tough to keep good form. I had to raise my head out of the water far more than I would have liked. But aside from that, the course was easy to navigate, and despite what it looked (and smelled) like in the days leading up to the race, the water quality was not as bad as I thought it would be. The buoys were yellow for the first half, and orange for the second half of the course. So it was easy to tell when we had begun the second half of the swim. Not too long after we hit orange buoys, we made a right turn into the waterway canal. This is one thing that makes the IMTX swim unique. It was actually pretty cool having spectators just yards away on either side of the canal, and on top of the several foot bridges over the canal. The narrow canal also made navigation trivial as you could see how close you were to the edge on each stroke. As we made our way up the waterway, I finally saw the last red turn buoy which signified the final left turn right before the swim exit. I never once stopped to check my watch, so had no idea how my progress was going. I did notice that my arms felt great, and I didn't feel even the slightest bit fatigued. Once I got to the exit, a volunteer helped me get stable as I grabbed onto the ladder/steps that we used to get out of the canal. Once I started running toward T1, I glanced at my Garmin and saw that I had swam a 1:10, which I was very happy with.

T1:

Transition zones at this race seemed huge. We ran quite a distance (or so it seemed) to an area where our bike gear bags were laid out on the ground. I remembered where mine was, and was able to identify and grab it before the volunteers were able to find it. From there, I ran onto a grass area that leads to the entrance of a large changing tent. Once I got to the grass, I walked, and started taking my time. I wanted to avoid getting too amped up and wasting energy in T1. I calmly found a clean chair in the tent, and sat down to put my socks, shoes, and helmet on. I also put some shower caps with elastic bands over my cycling shoes, since I knew we had a long jog through the grass and dirt (which is probably mud by now) before reaching the mounting line. Before running to my bike, I also ran to the port-o-potties since I absolutely refuse to urinate in my wetsuit, on my bike, or on myself. I had another jog to my bike (which was almost as far from the bike exit as you could be) and then the long jog with bike out to where the mounting line was. I had a smooth mount, and as I pulled away I saw my wife, daughter, sister, and nephew jumping up and down, cheering, and waving to me. It was great having family there.

Bike:

The first 5 or 6 miles of the bike were a bit awkward. Plenty of turns, and a bit crowded. There were several occasions where I wanted to pass, but knew I couldn't do it in under 20 seconds, or had to wait until I could do it cleanly. After 16 miles, we hit the infamous Hardy Toll Road, which has a reputation for fierce winds. The nice thing about the toll road was that it was closed to vehicle traffic, and was very wide. Passing was easy, and it was basically a double out-and-back circuit for a total of 80 miles. So, turns, bumps, and the usual things that slow you down were not present. The bad thing about the toll road: drafting! This race suffered from huge draft packs of epic proportions. It was absolutely ridiculous. I saw packs of riders that had more than 100 people in them. I decided to just focus on my own effort and ignore the cheaters, but it was tough not to be upset and offended by the lack of integrity displayed by a large portion of the field. I did a great job staying on top of my nutrition and hydration, and staying in my aero position. My legs felt great, and my power/HR numbers were spot on. I reached the 56 mile mark in 2:32, which was a bit alarming. My goal for the bike was to hopefully land right around 5:30 for the entire ride. So, 5:04 pace seemed entirely too fast. However, I was 100% sure that my effort was precisely were it should be and that I was not over-biking the course. Nevertheless, I decided to focus on backing off a bit, to ensure I arrived at T2 ready for a good run. On my second circuit of the toll road, the winds were noticeably stronger. I changed the display on my bike computer to just show watts and HR to make sure I focused properly on those numbers, and wasn't influenced by any drop in speed caused by the headwinds. I continued to maintain a solid but easy effort, and grabbed either water or gatorade at every aid station in addition to finishing off my concentrated Infinit GoFar bottles and Gu gels. The last 20 mile toll road stretch (heading north back towards The Woodlands) went by fast as we were back to having tailwinds. The final 14 miles or so of the course was back in town, through some residential areas and over some less than pristine pavement. I focused on finishing off the fluids I was carrying, and slowing my cadence down to more closely match my run cadence. As we approached the end of the bike course, I could see that we were going to be a couple miles short (110 miles total instead of 112). So, the 5:07 that I ended up riding was probably more like a 5:12 or so if we had those extra 2 miles. I don't care about the discrepancy other than to note that I had successfully slowed down my second half of the bike to make sure I was being conservative with energy. I had a clean dismount and handed my bike off to a volunteer and headed into T2. I was elated to be finished with the bike in a total race time of less than 6:30!

The bike leg went flawlessly! All those miles on the river trails were a perfect way to prepare for IMTX.

T2:

The run to the gear bags was pretty long. I stopped and took off my cycling shoes and did most of the run barefoot. I finally got to the gear bags, and once again I found my own bag faster than the volunteers were able to locate it for me. I did the same thing as in T1: once I hit the grass, I slowed to a walk and was very smooth and deliberate with my actions, to allow myself to stay calm and collected before starting the run. I put running gear on, stuffed my cycling gear into the bag, and handed it off to a volunteer. I doubled back to the port-o-potties to make sure I was on 'empty' before starting to run. I figured it was a good sign that I was hydrated. Finally, I left the tent, let the volunteers hit me with sunblock, then headed off to start the marathon!

Run:

I had been saying to myself for several hours that today was "all about the run." No matter how awesome my swim and bike were, if I couldn't follow them up with a decent run, then they don't matter. At the same time, I did some quick math in my head and realized that a sub-4:30 marathon today would mean a sub-11 hour Ironman! So I was torn between being ultra conservative and going into "let's just finish" mode, and trying to cap off an amazing first-timer IM finish by breaking 11 hours. So, I did the same thing as I did on the bike. I switched my Garmin to a custom page that only displayed my HR and the power from my Stryd pod. However, I still had it set to give me mile splits, so I soon realized that I was cruising the first few miles between 9:05 and 9:15 pace, which felt very comfortable. I started making sure to walk at each aid station, to both rest a bit and to make sure I was taking down as much fluid as I could handle. My heart rate was staying right where I wanted it, my breathing was very easy, and my legs felt great. However, after only 6 miles, I could already feel fluids sloshing around in my stomach. Once that started, I decided to only use water to douse myself to keep cool, drinking only gatorade. I figured this way I would only use up room in my stomach for fluids that also gave me calories and electrolytes. Though this seemed smart, it didn't really work. When I was back to the waterway on my first of three laps, I had to take an extended walk break to see if it would help settle my stomach. There is a long stretch along the canal, where on both sides there are no aid stations, so this 'break' allowed my stomach to drain a little bit, which made me feel better. I came upon my PTC teammate, Tyler Long, at this point, who also happened to be taking a walk break. We chatted for a quick minute, then I continued on. I managed to keep this same routine up all the way to the half-marathon point, which I reached in 2:12. So at this point, a sub-11 was still within my grasp! However, over the next 2 miles, I hit a very rough patch. My stomach sloshing turned into extreme nausea, and I started feeling some sharp pains in my lower abdomen. I had to extend my walk breaks. Usually, my stomach issues while running can be cured with some cola, so I tried that at the next aid station, and it actually seemed to make things worse. From mile 16 to 17, I actually walked the entire mile. During this stretch, I was wondering if I would be better off vomiting, or if that might lead to the loss of more crucial electrolytes. I opted to just keep moving forward, knowing that finishing the race was likely not in danger, but perhaps it was time to abandon hope on a really fast time. I was able to throw in some jogging with long walk breaks to get to mile 18, but my stomach was still in bad shape. By mile 19, the abdominal pains were gone, but I still couldn't eat or drink anything. Just before the 20 mile mark, I started to get light headed, and noticed that it was hard to walk or run in a straight line. My HR was fine and I still felt strong, but I was wobbly and a bit cross-eyed. I was pretty sure at this point that my problem was electrolyte depletion and not dehydration or lack of calories. When I got to the next aid station, I grabbed gatorade and pretzels (the only things I knew had sodium in them) and actually sat down on a curb to see if I could get them into my system. I got a few sips down, and a mouthful of pretzels, which was a good sign. I got up and started making my way toward the last aid station before we dropped back onto the waterway for the last time. Earlier on each lap, we run through a BASE Salts station, where you can grab a tube of their product and take it with you. It never dawned on me to use their stuff, because I had never tried it before (nothing new on race day, right?) but I was wishing I could get my hands on a tube right now. And as luck would have it, I asked for and received one in the next aid station. The guy who gave me the vial had to explain how to use it. You just pop it open, lick your thumb, plug the vial opening with your wet thumb and shake, then lick your thumb. I put the salt right under my tongue in hopes that it would absorb sub-lingually. I did the same procedure 3 times, then took one swig of water just to dilute the salty taste in my mouth. I don't know if this was a placebo effect or not, but by the time I walked the few yards to the start of the downhill leading to the waterway, I felt much, much better. I started with a slow shuffle, but quickly returned to my normal running pace. It was like the electrical system to a machine had been restored. With about 5K to the finish line, I knew it was too late to gain back the lost time from walking, but I didn't care. I was running, I felt strong, and most importantly, I was having fun! So, rather than lamenting the fact that I was going to miss a really fast time, I decided to just take it all in, smile, and enjoy the fact that I was just a few miles from a goal I've been focused on for several months. The final pass on the waterway was awesome. Tons of people on the course cheering, beating drums, giving high fives, etc. I got to the far end of the waterway, where we do a slight uphill loop to the bridge that takes us to the other side of the canal, and finally through the Red Bull arches that signified 1 mile to go. Slightly before the 26 mile marker, you get to a point where there is green tape on the ground directing you to either continue for your 2nd and 3rd running loops (left) or to go onto the finish (right). I cannot express the relief I felt to finally be going to the right! From this point to the finish, I don't even remember how I felt physically. I just remember going up a slight hill, through a bunch of turns with Ironman and Gatorade branded barricades everywhere, and finally seeing it... the M-Dot red carpet, with the black finish line archway at the end. I took a few people's advice and decided to walk the carpet, and just take in the experience rather than sprinting it in. My family was on the left side, just before the last turn to where I could see the finish. I gave them a wave, moved my bib to the front (so this guy named Mike would be able to get my name right!) and then slowed to a walk and just listened... and then I heard it... "Rob Egan from San Marino, CA... You're an Ironman, Rob!" As I got closer to Mike Reilly's booth, I pointed at him and yelled "You're damn right!" The clock on the finish line read 11:30, but that must be the time relative to the last people who entered the water for the swim. My official time was 11:49. Though this is way off from my potential sub-11, I'm not at all disappointed. I'm absolutely thrilled with a sub-12 effort for my first time in a full IM.

Early into the marathon, so far, so good!

Just steps from the famed red carpet, and a smile forming on my face.

Notes:

Some details about my preparation for the race, gear, etc.

Nutrition:

Before the race, I took in about 1000 calories (two energy bars, two bottles of my drink mix, and 1 GU gel). On the bike, I took in about 1800 calories (two bottles of concentrated Infinit GoFar custom mix, one GU waffle, two GU gels, and some Gatorade Endurance on course). On the first half of the run, all my calories were from Gatorade. After my stomach issues, I took in some cola and pretzels. As it turned out, it seems my calorie and fluid needs were MORE than accounted for, but I was short on electrolytes. The BASE Salts seemed to really do the trick once my stomach was backed up from all the water and gatorade that I couldn't absorb fast enough. Lesson learned: don't guzzle too much water. And going forward, experiment with BASE salts or similar and see if the stomach sloshing issue can be avoided altogether. My face was absolutely caked with salt after the race. With the increased heat and humidity, it is obvious that my electrolyte needs shot up much higher than I was prepared for.

Gear:

- Swim: I wore my sleeveless Roka Maverick Pro wetsuit, with water temperature around 73 degrees at race time. I stayed cool enough, and enjoyed the unencumbered feeling of no sleeves on my shoulder and arms. I used Roka X1 goggles with mirrored amber lenses. They were perfect for the lighting, but I did have to stop about 500 yards into the swim to deal with fogging. But in their defense, I didn't even get to touch the water until I was starting the race, so no time to dunk them or even put a few drops of water in each lens before I took off.

- Bike: I rode my new Felt IA16 with Ultegra Di2 components with Syncro Shift enabled, and the new TriRig Alpha One aero bars. Wheels were HED Jet+ Black (6 on the front, disc wheel on the rear) with 53/39 chain rings and 11x23 11-speed cassette. Tires were Conti GP4KS2 with latex tubes. Helmet was the Giro Aerohead. Bike computer was the Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt. All of my gear was great, no issues whatsoever with the bike. The new aero bars were very comfortable and from the pics I've seen, my position looked phenomenal.

- Run: Shoes were the Hoka One One Mach, which I really like. They feel light and agile, but still enough cushioning that my knees and hips feel good even after a full marathon in them. They do seem like they are wearing quickly though. I wore a Headsweats visor and Oakley Radar sunglasses with dark tinted lenses. My kit throughout the entire race was my LG short sleeved kit (from SSERT). The kit performed great in cool, warm, and hot temps (experienced all three in the race). It does great when dry or when soaked with sweat or water from aid stations. I have lost a decent amount of weight since I bought it, so I do notice a bit of bagginess in the top now, but still, excellent kit. My watch was the Garmin Fenix 5X. No problems with it, and the battery more than handled recording the entire swim and marathon (I didn't run the bike app, however, but instead recorded the bike on my Wahoo ELEMNT Bolt).

Logistics:

Flew to Houston via Southwest Airlines, bike was in my new PremierBikes hard case and was checked as oversized baggage ($75). No issues with the bike or case. We stayed at the Westin at the Woodlands, which was a very nice hotel, racer friendly, and close to the race expo and run finish. A mall nearby, restaurants everywhere. So hanging out and not wasting energy was very easy. My wife and daughter had a great time even when I was busy, and they were able to easily follow me in the race thanks to the multi-loop run, and through use of the Ironman Tracker iPhone app. Local traffic during the week before the race was pretty heavy, so getting training rides in on the local streets was a bit sketchy, but running and swimming were easy to get done. Race morning wake up at 4am, leaving the hotel by 5am to head to transition was ample time to get ready and head to the swim start.

Conclusion:

My first full Ironman was an amazing experience. No other way to put it. Seeing 30+ hard weeks of training come to an end and produce a great performance, even with all the stress and other issues that happened along the way is indescribably awesome. The race itself was extraordinary. From the moment I stepped into the water, until the moment I finished, it was fun. I will admit I was peeved at all of the people drafting on the bike, and the several times I saw people getting paced or receiving outside assistance on the run. However, I refused to let that spoil MY experience. Though I put together a solid race, I did make a big mistake with the electrolytes on the run, and I learned from it immediately. I can't wait to put that knowledge to the test in another race!