2021 Ironman World Championship - St. George

On May 7, 2022 I had the opportunity to compete in the 2021 Ironman World Championship in St. George, Utah. This was the first time the world championship was held outside of Hawaii and was taking the place of the cancelled (due to COVID-19) championship that was supposed to held in Kona, October 2021.

Race Summary:

Just the numbers for the race...

SWIM: 2.4 miles in 1:15:53
T1: 9:04
BIKE: 112 miles in 6:13:40
T2: 6:52
RUN: dropped at mile 14
Result: DNF

This was the first DNF in a race for me. I was super bummed out, but I think I did all I could on the day, and was simply unable to execute the run (I have an idea what went wrong though, see below).

Pre-Race:

My family and I made the trip to St. George on Wednesday of race week. It was about 6 hours to drive to our hotel. Once there, I did a quick shakeout bike ride, followed by 15 minutes of running. I rode up Dixie Drive to get a look at a few miles of the run course, including the steepest hill leading back to Bluff Street. My run was just a quick out and back from the hotel.

Thursday, I had my athlete check-in, after which I did a one hour ride out on the Veyo loop. I got a look at the road leading up to Gunlock and a couple of the smaller climbs on the loop. I stopped just before the Veyo Wall (but we drove over it so I could get a look at it). I saw that the climbs were formidable, but nothing I couldn't handle. The pavement was new, but was actually quite bumpy and poorly done in many parts. And, as St. George is famous for... very little shade. 

Friday, I headed out to one of the biking/running trails just down the street from our hotel for a 20 minute run. I wasn't alone. There were many other triathletes down there. I was just cruising Z1 effort, which was about 8:45/mile pace. Every few seconds, someone would pass me, doing what looked like 5:00/mile pace or so. Just flying. I'm not sure how beneficial that is (even the pros won't go anywhere near that fast in the race, but hey, it's World's). After dropping off run and bike bags, we had an early dinner with my sister and her fiancé. I did my best to get to bed really early, since I had to catch a shuttle at 4:25am to get to the swim/T1 (they had specific shuttle times based on your start wave, so we HAD to be there on time). I had absolute crap for sleep, and was finally out of bed to get race ready at 3:30am.

Race Morning:

My hotel didn't offer a shuttle bus to Town Square, so I had to get my wife to drive me there to catch the Swim/T1 shuttle. We had no issues getting close to the buses for an easy drop off. I just felt bad that my wife, daughter (and even my dog) had to wake up so early to get me dropped off. I was on my shuttle bus just a few minutes later, and headed out to Sand Hollow Park. Getting my bike prepped only took a few minutes. So I found a quiet corner where I could sit down, sip my drink, and keep nibbling on food to keep my hydration and calories up (I had almost 2 hours to wait for my wave). The pro men and women went off at 6:15, 6:20am, and I didn't go until 7:20am. I finally went to use the bathroom and get my wetsuit on, drop off morning clothes bag, etc. One weird thing: I was having allergy attacks left and right. Sneezing like crazy and very itchy/watering eyes. The only thing that causes this for me is pollen, and I've been having problems with pollen for the past several weeks. I was worried this would make my breathing feel labored during the swim. We finally got called for Wave 8 (M50-54) and made our way to the swim start.

My daughter and I checking out the swim venue after bike check-in. A beautiful lake with stunning backdrops. Swim conditions were excellent.

Swim:

The wave took off at the exact correct time. Though instead of letting all of us go at once (we had about 400 people, maybe more) we had small groups leave every 5 seconds. My turn finally came up, and I was off. We didn't get to do a warmup, so the first time I got to touch the water was here as I entered it to start swimming. It definitely felt cold, but not shockingly so. I was able to take a few awkward steps down the ramp and do a small dive to start swimming. Despite the way they spread us all out, it was crowded right away. There was an even mix of people so slow that I was swimming over them, and people so fast that I was in their way. It took about 100 yards before I was able to start swimming my own rhythm. The sun was rising, and we were swimming directly towards it, but it wasn't in my eyes at all. Visibility was perfect. Yellow buoys every 100 yards for the first half, orange for the second half, with big red buoys at each turn. The only problem I had came at about 1000 yards in. A very fast swimmer from one of the waves after me was passing me on my right, and I caught him with my elbow as I was doing my catch. He must have thought I hit him on purpose, because he took the time to grab my shoulder with one hand, and punch me straight in the face with the other! (NOTE: the orbital bone area on my right eye was still sore two days after the race). I was completely shocked. Had this occurred on dry land, and not during a race, I probably would have proceeded to stomp this guy out, and would still be sitting in a St. George jail today. But, I had absolutely no reaction and the guy swam off (quite quickly, I might add - he was fast). I checked my goggles to make sure they weren't cracked or anything (they seemed fine) and I went right back to swimming, thinking to myself "Wow! World's is really intense!" After the first right turn, we had the sun to our left, which made visibility even better (I breathe mostly on my right). There was occasionally contact when groups of swimmers would cluster together, but otherwise it was easy going. A couple of times, I got caught in the wake of the lifeguards and media folks who were buzzing all over the place in small boats and jet skis. This would make things very rough for a few seconds, but wasn't that hard to deal with. On the back side of the L shaped loop, I was worried about having the sun directly in my eyes for about 1500 yards or so, so I had planned to switch breathing to the left for this segment, but when I got there, the sun wasn't that intense (my goggles were great) so I just kept the same stroke/breathing pattern. The last turn is a left, which sends us back towards shore, and the swim exit. It seemed like it took awhile to get there, and contact with other swimmers got progressively worse, especially the last 200 yards or so. But we finally got to the exit ramp. I was hoping to go 1:10 or faster (to beat my best IM swim from Texas 2018) but I ended up with a 1:15. Nothing amazing, but still decent, and within the range I was hoping for. I felt great, and was excited to get started on an epic bike ride. (btw, water temp was reported as 58-59 degrees all week, but was magically 64 degrees on race morning. I don't believe it was that warm, but it wasn't bad either).

Racked and ready to go! I found it strange that most pros used a disc wheel, but I was one of only a handful of Age Groupers who did. I think they are a big advantage, especially with big crosswinds and descents in St. George.

T1:

There was just a short jog to the wetsuit strippers (yes, we had them, even at world's). Unlike at Oceanside a few weeks ago, I was able to find an available volunteer and my wetsuit was off in a matter of seconds. We had a LOT of running to the changing tent. It looked more like a maze leading us back and forth from the exit to the tent three times. I have no idea why they set the exit up that way (is there a prescribed long distance they need to have before we change?). Once in the tent, I made my way quickly to rack D to get my transition bag. I mounted my shoes on the bike already, so all I had to do was put my helmet on, stuff my wetsuit, goggles, and cap back into the bag and hand it off, pee real quick (way faster than Oceanside, btw) and head to my bike. On the way to my bike rack, I saw the volunteers doing sunblock so I was sure to visit them. The bike course is completely void of shade, so I felt this was an imperative step. However, this ended up taking way too long. The volunteers weren't ready for a group of three of us who showed up at the same time. And when they finally got to me, I realized they couldn't fully apply the sunblock (yay, Covid protocol) but just squirt some on your arms, legs, and neck. As I was spreading the sunblock around, and repeatedly asking for more, I was trying to figure out how to get it off of my hands. No paper towels or anything around. So I ended up wiping my hands off on the strip of carpet we were running on, so I could mount my bike without slipping off of the base bars. I finally got to my bike, ran quite a distance to the mount line, and got going. What looked like a blazing transition at first, ended up taking 9 minutes. And I was seriously trying to go fast, unlike my last race at Oceanside where I was pretty leisurely in transition. Oh well, time to ride. I've been looking forward to this bike course for months! 

Bike:

I was quickly able to settle into my power and rhythm. There are a couple of small climbs right away, followed by a fairly quick descent. After that, we do a u-turn and retrace the route back to the reservoir and then head out to do a big chunk of the original 70.3 course as you head away from Sand Hollow, out of Hurricane and work you way towards St. George. The winds were very mild so far, which was nice. But as we all knew it would be, the course was nothing but up and down. Hill after hill, after hill. I focused on keeping my power at the low end of my range, while allowing it to creep up a bit on the climbs. Despite the amount of uphill, I was able to spend a fair amount of time in my aero position. The first 40 miles seemed to go by quickly. And I knew that by mile 60, the real tough climbs would appear. I just rinsed and repeated what I had been doing, while taking every opportunity that I could to take in fluids and calories. One problem that kept happening: at the aid stations, the volunteers at the beginning of the station were having trouble keeping up with the crowds, making it very difficult to get water bottles. At many of the stations, I was unable to get water and ended up with Gatorade instead. I really needed water to dilute my high-calorie bottles, but had to make due. At least everything they handed out was cold. The wind really started to pick up after about 45 miles, and got worse throughout the entire day. By the time we started the Veyo Loop (mile 60 or so) we had some decently strong winds. And, in true St. George fashion, they always seemed to be headwinds on the climbs and crosswinds on the descents. Even though the wind made things noticeably harder, I felt like it was manageable and that I was passing more people in the windy sections, especially on downhill sections. Along with the wind, the heat was also getting worse. It was scorching by the time we got to Gunlock Reservoir and the three short but steep climbs back there. The Veyo Wall and Snow Canyon get all the credit, but one of the climbs in Gunlock (I hear they call it "Nemisis") was actually the steepest climb on the course. I used my easiest gear there (39x32) even though I don't think I really needed to. I was trying to be as conservative as I could on the tougher hills. We finally reached the infamous Wall, which peaked out at about 9%. I've done plenty of way more difficult climbs leading into this race, so I had no trouble here. But its at this point where the course messes with your mind. Once we reached Veyo and made the right turn onto Hwy 18, everyone was expecting a fast descent back to St. George. Nope. More climbing, followed by a very long false flat, and then finally some downhill, with... headwinds! The downhill section ended up being relatively slow (200W of power, in aero position, was getting me about 17mph for a lot of it). But once we got to the Snow Canyon turn-off, the headwind became a crosswind, and I was able to get my speed up above 35mph for most of it. I passed droves of people here. Many people were unable to stay aero, or even remain pedaling as the crosswinds hit us. At the bottom of this descent, we made a right back onto Snow Canyon Parkway for the 'second loop' which is where we finally tackled Snow Canyon. By this time, it was very hot. I was later told that in both Gunlock and Snow Canyon, temperatures hit 100 degrees, even though the high in St. George was reported at 94. I was eager to get through this climb, but also tried to remain patient and make sure I metered out my power according to plan. The winds picked up on the second half of the climb, and the temperature seemed to drop a little bit as well. Soon enough, I was at the ranger station at the top, and was ready to head back to town. And again, I had a field day on the second trip down Hwy 18 from the canyon, passing many people. Stiff crosswinds were at play, but having been in them all day, I was ready for it. Once in town, it is a very slight downhill, parallel to the run course all the way back to T2. I saw my family just as I was getting my feet out of my shoes for the dismount. I was able to wave to them and still managed a good dismount, stopped my computer, and handed the bike off to a volunteer. I was hoping to maybe dip under 6 hours on this course, but the wind and heat was even worse than most were expecting. As it was, I ended up with a 6:13. But I 100% nailed my power goals, and my Variability Index (normalized power divided by average power) was 1.15. On this course, I think anything under 1.2 is awesome. I don't think I could have paced this course any better. As I ran to the change tent, my legs felt a little wobbly, but not bad. Overall, I think I crushed this bike ride.

Finishing up a great bike leg. Unfortunately, I over-did it on my nutrition, which didn't hit me until the run.

T2:

I once again ended up with a slow transition time (6 minutes). But again, the only thing I know I wasted time on was applying sunblock. No volunteers were doing it this time, but I had to backtrack inside of the tent to find one of the big jugs of sunscreen they had for us. I wasn't super fast getting my socks and shoes on, but I didn't think I was terribly slow either. I put my hat, glasses, and bib on as I was running out of the tent. After two quick left turns, we headed down a long straightaway to the run start.

The run course was every bit as difficult as was claimed, though it fell short on the scenery you come to expect from St. George.

Run:

I always worry about how I will feel during the first minute or two of the run. It is usually very telling as to whether or not I'll have good legs. Today, I was happy to find that I felt great as I started running. I saw my family again, maybe 100 yards into it, and ran over to give a few high fives as they cheered me on. From there, I settled into what felt like an ideal pace and got ready for the first 5k of uphill running. I got to the mile 1 marker in 9:10, still feeling good. So I maintained the same effort to the top of Diagonal St. The section from Bluff St. to Snow Canyon Parkway seemed to take a bit longer than I had expected, but I wound up getting to mile 3 in 27:50, so I had been running pretty even splits. Then finally, I made the left turn onto Snow Canyon Pkwy to experience the first major downhill (and also get an idea of the steep hill I would have to run up twice). I didn't feel very smooth coming down the steepest part, but I was able to speed up with a longer controlled stride, and was able to lower my HR as I descended. I was starting to feel a little bit of abdominal pain, almost like a cramp. As it turned out, it was a bit of bloating/gas. I was hoping it was temporary, but as the hill leveled out, the pain got progressively worse. I continued the same effort until the turn around area at about mile 6.5 (holding 9:10-9:20 mile pace on the hills, and 8:40ish pace on downhills). My stomach at this point was getting pretty bad. I don't want to go into details here, but from this point until mile 14 (where I ended my day), I had to make a couple critical bathroom stops, and began vomiting. The vomiting continued until about an hour after I DNF'd and was in the medical tent for awhile. For about 7.5 miles of hot and hilly running, I wasn't able to take down any nutrition or fluids. I knew it was just a matter of time before the lack of fuel, electrolytes, and fluid would cause me some serious issues, so despite how badly I wanted to race, I stopped at the mile 14 aid station and sought medical help, and officially DNF'd. The medics gave me a couple doses of some sort of antiemetic medication (I can't recall what it was, but I think it started with a 'K'). The first dose didn't seem to help much, but after a second dose (and about an hour after I stopped running) I was finally able to sip a little bit of water without immediately throwing it back up. So, that's how the day ended, but for the sake of documentation, I'll talk about the run course a bit, since I did manage to complete a full lap, and in fact saw every step of the course... so going back to mile 6.5, the turn around is actually in a public park that has plenty of trees. This is the only place on the entire course where there is any decent shade from the sun. I'd say there was a solid 3 minutes of running in the park where it is nice and cool. Then, you exit the park back onto the streets and right back into the sun. From there, its a grind, heading gradually back uphill for almost 3 miles. There are a couple of miles on busy streets, and some stretches through residential areas. Unlike the swim and bike (which had breathtakingly beautiful courses) the run course is not much to look at. The park near the turnaround, and the nature trail that you are on for a little bit are the nicest parts of the run. But what it lacks in beauty, it makes up for in difficulty. The whole course, except for the area in the park, a short stretch through a church parking lot, and a 1/2 mile out and back stretch just before the finish, is either up or downhill. The only really steep part is where you exit the residential area and head back up Snow Canyon Parkway to Bluff Street. It ramps up to about 8-10% grade there, for maybe 1/3 of a mile. And remember you hit that hill twice. By itself, or in a 5 or 10K race, it wouldn't be so bad. But after grinding up a long hill before you even get to it, it seemed tough. I managed it pretty well on lap 1, even though I was in a bad state by then. But I could tell it was going to be a pain in the ass to get up that thing on the second lap. After cresting the 'big' hill, there is a bit of rolling hills before you start a gradual downhill back toward the finish. On the second lap, that puts you at about mile 22. The last 3 miles of the course is pretty much slight downhill to a flat final mile. I was really looking forward to racing that stretch to the red carpet. But, sadly, it wasn't my day. Instead, I heard all the cheering and Mike Reilly's voice from the med tent. And let me tell you: that sucked!

Notes:

-Nutrition

--Pre-race: Upon waking, I ate two packets of instant oatmeal (Quaker), one banana, and two Pop-Tarts. I usually have coffee, but our hotel didn't set up the coffee station in the morning like they told us they would. Our in-room coffee was atrocious, so I just stuck with my Raspberry (caffeinated) Tailwind. I had to be on the shuttle by 4:25am even though my wave start wasn't until 7:20am, so I took extra calories and fluids with me for the 2 hour wait after I was done prepping my bike. I ended up having another bottle of raspberry Tailwind, a bottle of water, about 300 calories worth of Fig Newtons, and a Spring Energy gel before I headed off for the swim. All in all, about 60-64 ounces of fluid, and a little over 1000 calories.

--Bike: I carried about 2 hours worth of solid calories (600 calories, made up of 1 GU waffle, 2 packets of Cliff Bloks, and 3 GU gels). I also had another 5 hours of calories in liquid form. My BTA was normal concentration (300 calories, 1g of sodium from orange Tailwind) while I had two other bottles at double concentration (600 calories, 2g of sodium in each bottle). The plan was to drink the first BTA bottle in the first hour, then refill it half way from the double concentration bottles, and top it off with aid station water. This worked pretty well, except for times where I was unable to get water bottles from the volunteers (and instead got Gatorade Endurance bottles). I never passed through an aid station without getting some form of liquids. But in many cases, I ended up mixing Gatorade with my Tailwind + sodium citrate mixture, which bumped my carb/calorie/sodium numbers up a bit. I thought this might be a good thing, but as I found out on the run, it wasn't. At any rate, I continued with this plan, and took opportunities during slower parts of the course (where I wasn't worried about safely passing people) to eat the solids. I took the waffle first, then the cliff bloks, and the gels last. I managed to finish all of my calories. I had brought enough for a 7 hour ride, but finished in just over 6 hours. So, again, this was a bit higher than I needed, but at the time I thought that would be beneficial since I didn't seem to be having any issues with the heat or the level of effort I was putting out. The total amount of fluids was very high as well. I estimate it was about the equivalent of 9 full bottles. Even though I know exactly how much Tailwind I drank, I'm not sure what the percentages were between aid station water and Gatorade.

--Run: The plan was to alternate between taking Gatorade at aid stations with taking gel + water for the first lap, then switch to just Gatorade on the 2nd lap, and then finally toward the end, switch to coke or red bull for a final kick to get over that last steep hill. I was able to stick to this plan for about 10K before I noticed GI issues (I'll spare the details, it was not pleasant). From 10K to about 10 miles, I tried to just sip a little bit of water (and use the rest, plus ice, just to pour over myself to cool down). After that point, my stomach was completely shut down. I made it another 4 miles before I knew I had to call it a day.

-Gear

--Overall: I did the entire race in a DeSoto Forza Flisuit (I had a new custom one made with a 7mm chamois for the full bike distance). Great fit, very comfortable, and absolutely no chafing anywhere. The fly is nice for pee stops. But when I had 'urgent' GI issues, it was more difficult to get the top down for toilet access. I used my Garmin Fenix 5X for bike and run data. I also wore my WHOOP 4.0 wrist band for HR and a bunch of other metrics (though I didn't view HR at all during the race).

--Swim: I used my Roka Maverick X full-sleeved wetsuit. It is the first time I've done a full IM swim with sleeves. No issues with that at all. I used Roka R1 goggles (mirrored amber tint). St. George is famous for the swim start being right into a beautiful sunrise over the reservoir, so good tinted lenses are a must. There was no warmup allowed for age groupers, so I wasn't able to get wet or get any water into my goggle lenses, so I just used spit. However, vision for the entire swim was perfect. I kept my trisuit top down, tucked onto the small of my back under the wetsuit, which worked fine. I had the sleeves on before I got to the wetsuit strippers. Aside from the jerk who sucker punched me near the first turn, no issues at all in the swim.

--Bike: I rode my Felt IA16, gearing was 53/39 chainrings with a 11-32t cassette. I got the 32 especially for this race. I'd say I never needed it per se, but on the sections that got over 10% grade (there were a handful of them) I chose to use it to make sure I was being very conservative with my power and energy. Wheels: I used my HED Jet+ Black setup (60mm front, and disc wheel on the rear). I think using the disc wheel was a major advantage. In the heavier crosswinds on the second half of the ride, I was able to stay aero and keep pedaling even on the fastest parts of the course. Those around me could not. Part of that is practice (I climb/descend a lot, and ride in crosswinds a lot) but part of it was that I was way more stable, thanks to the disc. I ran my usual tire setup (Conti GP5000 with latex tubes, 23mm front, 25mm rear). Despite the heat, I used my Giro Aerohead helmet. It hit 100 degrees on two parts of the course, but I didn't feel like the helmet was causing any heat problems for me, and was definitely worth it during the tougher wind conditions. My bottle/BTA setup: X-Lab Torpedo BTA, with a 24 oz insulated bottle mounted underneath the aero extensions, plus two X-Lab Gorilla cages behind the saddle. I only carried one bottle behind the saddle, and as I emptied them on the ride, I would rotate them so only the empties were behind me. I intended to use the empty cage to carry aid station bottles, but the new bottles are too loose to stay in a standard cage (even a Gorilla cage) and would easily bounce out unless they were empty.

--Run: I ran in the Asics MetaSpeed Sky shoes, with Drymax medium-cushion socks. Just like at Oceanside, they were perfect. I only made it 14 miles in them today, but I have no doubt they would have been fine for the entire marathon. I wore a full hat (Nike Dryfit ballcap) to keep the sun off of my head, and my Oakley Prizm sunglasses. When the sun was at my back, I rotated the bill of the hat to cover my neck. It worked okay. Between my hat, helmet, and the sunblock that I spent several minutes applying, I had very little in the way of sunburn (just a couple streaks I missed on my hands/wrists, and at the edges of sleeves where things slide up and down throughout the day). In contrast, I saw MANY people after the race who were absolutely torched from the sun exposure.

-Logistics

--Lodging and Travel: we drove to St. George in our mini-van. Drive time was a bit over 6 hours, due to construction on I-15 just before you get to the Virgin River Gorge. We stayed at a newer hotel: TRU by Hilton, which is on the other side of I-15 from Town Square. At first, I didn't like the location, but when I needed to head out for shakeout rides and runs, I realized it was a pretty decent area. I had quick access to the extensive trail system in St. George, and was close to the convention center (race HQ, briefing, and banquet were all held there). On race morning, I needed a ride from my wife to catch swim/T1 shuttles, but it was only a 5 or 6 minute ride to get dropped off. The hotel itself didn't offer any extra amenities to make it more triathlete friendly or anything, but it was still a decent place. And despite being pretty full, it was quiet at night, which I really appreciate. 

--Food: If you are a foodie of any sort, you won't appreciate the food scene in St. George. But still, they have some good stuff. Out near our hotel, recommended places include Rib and Chop House, and there is a Cracker Barrel near there if you like homestyle comfort food type stuff. My favorite meal for the night before the race is usually either pasta or rice with chicken. St. George has a Peruvian chicken place called Viva Chicken that is my current favorite. And for post race, every time I've raced in St. George, I went straight to Iceberg for a burger and a huge shake. If you're in an AirBnB house and have a kitchen, plenty of markets are around to do your own shopping and cooking as well.

-Improvements for Next Time:

--Transitions: If I need sunscreen before the bike or run, I need to just keep some in my transition bags. Relying on the volunteers was a mistake on my part. After talking to a lot of other racers (even pros) many said they skip sunscreen on race day, because it hinders their ability to let the skin breathe. I'm not particularly worried about that, but I found it interesting nonetheless. Aside from that, I didn't make any mistakes in transition. The slow times were mostly due to the sheer size and long paths needed to get to the exits.

--Swim: I don't see anything to improve on for the swim, other than just training harder and developing an even better stroke so that I can straight up swim faster. Given my fitness and ability, I was perfectly happy with how I executed the swim here. I will experiment with keeping the trisuit sleeves on underneath the wetsuit, though that will only save 3 or 4 seconds, if that, in transition.

--Bike: my bike ride itself was great. My fitness for the climbing and heat were as good as I could have hoped. The bike and all of my gear worked out without any problems, so I see no improvements to be made there. However, I clearly made some nutritional mistakes, which manifested themselves on the run. Despite the work I put in to determine caloric, sodium, and fluid needs, I managed to overdo things in the extreme heat, and cause my stomach to basically shutdown about 10K into the marathon. I need a bit more experience to learn how my body responds to the extreme heat, to better understand how to adjust my nutrition. As it turns out, I couldn't absorb carbs nearly as well as I was used to in training.

--Run: Despite the run being the place were I had to DNF, I don't feel like I have much to improve on. The issues that caused the wheels to fall off took place on the bike. My legs, cardio, and my stride all felt very good, and on the first 6.5 miles of the run, I was positive that I was on my way to an excellent marathon. If I had to pick on one thing, I'd say that I still have room to improve on the downhills. But my ability to pace, and my climbing were awesome.

Conclusion:

Well, things certainly didn't play out the way I intended. Despite great swim and bike legs, nutritional mistakes led me to not being able to execute on the run. I'm extremely disappointed, as this no way reflects what I was capable of that day. But at the same time, I'm still glad I did the race, and all the prep leading up to it. Over the months leading up to this race, I achieved the best level of fitness that I've had since my Army Ranger days, and I went through some great changes to my overall health in the process. I also proved to myself that I'm capable of competing with top performers in my age group. Despite this being the World Championship (and me not earning my slot through qualifying at another race) I was pretty high up in my age group. Had I been able to finish off the run at the pace I was holding early on, I would have been somewhere between 11:40 and 12 hours flat, which would have had me in the top 60 in my age group. I've done much worse at 'regular' full IMs and 70.3s. So, I think that shows that regardless of how I got there, I deserved to be in that race. As a result, I realize I haven't been missing out on races like Kona as much as I think. I expected the field at Worlds to be full of super fast people, and even though there were plenty of those (the M50-54 winner went 9:36 on this course, for example) I feel like I was just as much in the mix as anywhere else I have raced when I was in good shape. This was easily the hardest course I have raced on, and I hope someday I have a chance to come back here and get redemption with a good finish. But for now, I'll focus on my upcoming races and just apply what I've learned.

Next Races:

-Ironman California (Sacramento) - October 2022: this is sort of a homecoming race for me, as it takes place around where I grew up as a kid. I know the trail system where the run course is, and some of the roads of the bike course. If weather permits, it has potential to be a fast course. But rather than focusing on a PR overall time, my biggest goal here will be executing a great run. I have yet to run a decent marathon in an IM. Even with decent easy swim/bike efforts, I think I can get a big PR with a good run. So that's what I'll aim for here.

-IM70.3 Indian Wells - December 2022: I've done this race once, and really liked it. Super cold lake swim, flat bike course, with just a bit of climbing in the last 4 miles, and then a great run course with a super hilly golf course section. Its a very honest course, which I'd love to PR on, maybe go sub-5 hours here. The run will make it tough to get a super fast time, but I think it is possible.

2022 Ironman 70.3 Oceanside

On April 2, 2022 I was fortunate to be able to compete in the 2022 edition of Ironman 70.3 Oceanside. It was my first race since late 2019, and it was my first race as a member of the M50-54 age group.

Race Summary:

For those interested in just the race performance details...

Swim: 34:31
T1: 6:32
Bike: 2:42:34
T2: 5:32
Run: 1:48:04
TOTAL: 5:17:12 (54th AG, 490th overall)

Pre-Race:

I made the quick 90 minute drive down to Oceanside with my family on Thursday afternoon. After checking into the hotel, I grabbed my wetsuit and headed down to the beach. I wanted to do a short practice getting through the surf. The waves were pretty big, but after a few practice runs, I was getting underneath them pretty cleanly. The water temperature at the time was also not too bad. My confidence about the swim start was going up as a result. For dinner, fish tacos from Hello Betty, which was right across the street from the hotel. And to top things off, I managed to get to sleep at a decent hour.

Friday morning, I got up and did a very easy 20 minute shakeout run on the last mile of the run course (10 minutes out and back from the finish chute). My legs felt great, and the effort was nice and easy. I even saw professional triathlete Ben Hoffman out there doing the same thing. After that, I had some delicious French toast for breakfast, then headed over to Athlete Check-in. My club had a large group of people in the race, and we were able to check in together and get sequential bib numbers (meaning we got to rack our bikes together in transition). I finally headed over to the harbor to rack my bike. Our rack was pretty far from the bike/run exits, but pretty close to the swim. Certainly not ideal, but I'm not going to fret over things that I can't control. Dinner that night was just some pasta (it had shrimp in it, but I only had a tiny bit of that). I had all my gear and nutrition ready to go early, and again was able to get to bed at a decent time.

Race Morning:

I woke up at 4am and started prepping food. For my pre-race 'meal' I had 1/2 cup of oatmeal with a tablespoon of coconut oil, a scoop of chocolate flavored collagen peptide powder, and 1/2 banana (basically my morning oatmeal that I eat on big training days, minus chia seeds and almond butter). To get some extra calories and simple carbs, I also had two Pop Tarts. I got dressed, made sure I had all my gear and nutrition in the backpack, then headed a couple blocks from the hotel to catch a shuttle to transition. I made quick work of getting tires inflated, getting my bike computer mounted, and adding fluids and gels to my bike. No transition bags at this race, so I also laid out my run gear, helmet, etc. on the ground next to the bike. Everything was looking good (I didn't forget anything), so I took an opportunity to hit the bathrooms before putting on my wetsuit and dropping off my morning clothes bag. I exited transition basically right when it was closing at 6:30am and headed to the beach start.

Swim:

I hung around to watch the professionals start the race, which ended up forcing me to be at the back of all the age groupers (bad move, and biggest mistake I made all day). I tried to muscle my way in towards the sub-35 minute group, but nobody was having that. I ended up not getting into the water until about 35 minutes after the age group waves started (Joe Wong was with me, and I saw Paul Green nearby as well). Once I finally got underway, I made quick work of the first batch of small waves by just leaning into them, then dolphin dived over two medium sized ones. Finally I had to contend with 3 big waves. I duck-dived under the first two without issue, but tried to surface a bit too early on the third one, which pulled me back towards shore a little. I compensated by swimming very hard for about 60 seconds, putting the breaking waves behind me. There were still decent swells and chop out to the first and second turn buoys, but the surf turned out to be nowhere near as hard to fight as I thought it would be. After the second right turn heading into the harbor, the crowding got a lot worse, and I found myself having to swim over people and get generally a bit more aggressive/hostile to hold my water than I usually do, but I felt good, and my stroke felt smooth and efficient. After the final right turn, towards the exit ramp, the water was jam packed with people, but I was able to shove my way through and get up the ramp. I was happy with my time (34:31). I maybe could have gone under 33 if I avoided some slower swimmers, but no problem. This was still a great way to start the race.

Exiting the swim (that's me in front, about to remove goggles). Just look at that chaos down in the water. Lesson learned: start the race near the front!

T1:

The run from the ramp into T1 was also very crowded. I was unable to keep a steady run as people would pause (or totally stop) on the carpet. I started yelling to people that I was coming through, then just went into T1 like a hockey player. From there, it was a short jog to my bike. I skipped the wetsuit strippers because enough people were there to require waiting. But no worries, I had practiced ditching the wetsuit, and got it off very quickly. I chose to put my cycling shoes on my feet even though the rack was quite far from the bike mount line, no flying mount. And even though it was slower to get to the line, again the mount area was littered with people and I ended up running a good 30 yards past the line to get on my bike, past the crowds. Looking back on it, I think I could have gone a bit faster with the flying mount (bike shoes already clipped to the bike).

Bike:

Right off the bat, the crowd issue continued. I had a hard time getting open space or pushing any real power for the first 10k of the ride. A lot of people were not staying to the right (and not moving when I screamed 'on your left'). I saw course marshals out there, but never saw anyone under the penalty tents. I think I had people blocking me (like Ironman rule-book definition blocking) at least 200 times. I've never had to use my brakes so much in a triathlon. I wasted a lot of speed in the first half of the course because of this, and was finally glad to see things open up once we hit that steep climb at about mile 28. Things got a lot better at that point. I did a great job staying on top of my nutrition and hydration, and once I was able to put out more steady power things were going great. I was ultra conservative in the 25mph speed zone. I'll bet I averaged below 20mph there, to be safe (if you aren't aware, Oceanside has a descent after one of the climbs that has a 25 mph speed limit zone. If you average above 25 there, you get DQ'd. Daniela Ryf fell victim to it this year. The officials don't mess around!). And then once we got to that final last 10k with headwinds, the majority of people were unable to stay aero and ride efficiently. So I passed another huge drove of people there. But, just to annoy me at the last minute, the bike-in area was super crowded and I had to dismount WAY before the line and deal with another bottleneck. I'll bet I lost 2 full minutes right there. It was ridiculous. Hats off to the overwhelmed volunteers there, as they were trying to get people through, but it was a mess. Even so, I rode a 2:42 and I was riding so easily that I was breathing just through my nose for everything except for the biggest climbs on the course. I think if I got out onto the course a bit earlier, I would have been looking at a low 2:30's ride with the same effort. I'm very happy with my ride, and the bike fitness I brought to this race. I'll have very little to adjust for St. George.

One of the few times I was in open space early on the ride (and look, I'm sticking to the right since I'm not passing anyone)

T2:

Once I actually got into T2, I got to my rack quickly, and was able to get my run gear on quite quickly as well. The problem was that I needed to use the restroom (and had needed to since about halfway through the bike). I refuse to be one of those people who pees on their bike (or on themselves as they run). So I had to find a port-o-potty before starting the run. There were a bunch of them near the rack, so I went right to them after I got all set to run. Pardon the 'too much info' but I had to go badly, and it took quite awhile. Sadly, I wasted a solid 2 minutes right here. But after that, I jogged out to the run-out line and started my watch for the run. Improvement for next time: don't run away from the run start to find a toilet. I should have tried to wait for one on course (or if any were between my rack and the run exit). Would have saved a minute or so at least.

Run:

My legs and breathing felt good immediately as I started running. I settled into what I felt was a comfortable and sustainable pace and tried to focus on stepping lightly and wasting no energy. In sharp contrast to the swim and bike, crowding was not a problem as the roads for the first mile are quite wide. I was surprised when I hit the first mile split in 8:10. I felt like I was closer to a 9:00 pace based on perceived effort. Rather than purposely trying to slow down, I just focused on my breathing, form and effort. Despite the faster than expected pace, I felt great. So I just kept going, and clicked off more mile splits in the low to mid-8's per mile, being careful to make sure I took in fluids and calories at every aid station. My first pass up the steep ramps at the pier went way better than I was expecting. These were very tough for me when I raced here back in 2016. But it was night and day difference today. I reached halfway (6.5 miles) in 55:42, and realized that if I could do a negative split, I'd go under 1:50 for the run. At about the 9 mile mark, I could finally tell my body was taking longer to settle back down after the sharp/steep climbs from the beach to street level, and even on the longer rolling hills. But I was still doing well. And at 10 miles, I made a conscious effort to pick up the pace and try to seal the deal on a negative split. The aid station near 10 miles is also the last place I took in fluids. I figured I was plenty topped off for the final 5k. The 12th mile has the last hill of the course in it, so I knew once I got there, I could really open up the pace if I had it in me. I ran my fastest mile of the day (7:38) for the final mile, and actually averaged about 7:52/mi for the last two miles. I ended up with a 1:48:04 run (for 13.0 miles, the course was 0.1mi short according to my GPS). The second half split was 52:22, over three minutes faster than the first half. This was way beyond my expectations, and a 6 minute 70.3 run PR (beating a time that was run on a way easier course). Needless to say, I'm very happy with that result. In fact, I'm trying to decide if I think I under-ran the first 6 or 7 miles.

I'm not usually that excited to check my run split. But I was pretty sure I had just run my best 70.3 1/2 marathon (and I did, in 1:48:04).

Notes:

- Nutrition

--Pre-race: Upon waking, I ate a light version of my usual oatmeal mixture (half-cup of oats, 1 tbs coconut oil, 1 scoop of chocolate collagen peptide powder, 1/2 banana). Additionally, I had two Pop Tarts. I find them easy on the stomach if I have pre-race nerves (even though I wasn't feeling nervous today). I normally have one or two cups of coffee w/ cream, but I skipped that and instead drank a 24 oz bottle of Raspberry (caffeinated) Tailwind Endurance. I've recently switched to Tailwind from Infinit and have been very happy with it.

--Bike: I carried two 24 oz. bottles of Mandarin Orange Tailwind Endurance, mixed to be 300 calories each. I also carried 3 GU Gels, for a total of 900 calories. I also grabbed a bottle of water at one aid station, drank about half of it before tossing it, which brings fluid totals to around 56 oz. To keep fluid intake consistent, I have an alert on my bike computer that reminds me to drink every 15 minutes. I took the opportunity to eat the gels when I was on slow sections (once on a climb, once in the 25mph zone, and once in the headwind section on the way back into town).

--Run: I took one cup of Gatorade Endurance at each aid station for the first 7 miles, then switched to Red Bull until mile 10, after which I quit taking on more fluids. I took no solids or gels on the run.

For the entire race, I had no energy or hydration issues, and my stomach felt great. But I did have to urinate a LOT when I got to T2. The temperature was mild all day, so fluid and sodium needs were atypically low for a 70.3 race. I won't count on it being that easy to stay hydrated in St. George though.

- Gear

--Overall: I wore a one-piece tri suit (DeSoto Forza Flisuit) which I think I prefer over two piece suits. I used my Garmin Fenix 5X watch, even though days before the race I thought it was dying (it had no problems this weekend). One recent change: I quit wearing a HR monitor chest strap in races. I have a WHOOP 4.0 wrist band, which captures HR data that I can analyze later if I want to, but I don't use heartrate as a metric during the bike or run anymore.

--Swim: Wetsuit was the Roka Maverick X. I kept the trisuit top unzipped and off of my shoulders under the wetsuit, and slipped the sleeves on as I ran to T1 (worked great). Even though I tested this setup multiple times before the race, I did get chafing near my left armpit, which has never happened with this wetsuit. I'll have to find a way to prevent that in the future. For goggles, I used Roka R1 with cobalt mirror lenses. It was so overcast during the race, that clear lenses would have been ideal, but I was concerned that if the sun broke out, I'd be hating it on the long stretch into the harbor (the sun is usually right in your face there). Even with the tinted lenses, I had zero issues navigating, and no fogging or leaking. Water temp was 59 degrees.

--Bike: I rode my Felt IA16 triathlon bike. For gearing, I ran 53/39 chainrings with an 11-32t cassette. This is the same setup I intend to run at St. George, and it also worked really well here. For wheels, I ran my HED Jet+ Black disc wheel on the rear, with a HED Jet+ Black 6 on the front. I noticed nearly all of the pros ran disc wheels, but I'd say maybe 1-2% of the age groupers did. I think it worked out extremely well, and was very stable in the moderate crosswinds and moderate to heavy headwinds we encountered. My tires are Continental GP5000. I run a 23mm front, and 25mm rear, with latex tubes at 85psi. I think the extra width on the rear makes things even more stable, and I feel like the bike rolls extremely well. For my helmet, I used the Giro Aerohead with a Halo sweat band under it. Great vision, no overheating (it was too cool to be an issue). I changed up my usual 70.3 bottle configuration. I ditched the behind-the-saddle cages and just ran an X-Lab Torpedo as the BTA system, and mounted an additional 24 oz bottle on the underside of my Tri Rig Alpha One extensions. This allowed me to have access to all of my fluids without having to leave the aero position. I will switch back to behind the saddle bottles at St. George though, since I plan to carry 2 bottles plus the Torpedo for the full distance race.

--Run: For shoes, I ran in the Asics MetaSpeed Sky. These shoes are AWESOME. I was hesitant to use a so-called super shoe, since I don't feel like I run fast enough to warrant such equipment. But these shoes clearly help me run faster and more comfortably. I absolutely love them. Ultra comfortable, unbelievably good cushioning, incredibly light, yet still stable and with a lot of spring. And after the race, my feet didn't have so much as a hot spot developing. I also used medium cushioned Drymax socks (from RoadRunner Sports). I wore a hat and my Oakley Prizm sunglasses, even though it was overcast and cool enough not to need them.

- Logistics

--Lodging: We stayed at the Seabird Resort in Oceanside. A little pricey, but it was very nice. Also, a lot of the pros were staying there, so it was cool to see them everyday. The resort is right by the pier, which is where I'd recommend anyone stay when doing this race. You basically want to be near the pier (athlete check-in, briefings, finish line, and near the Ironman Village), or near the harbor (T1/T2). I like the pier area better, and it seems to have more restaurant options. You can catch a shuttle to the harbor on race morning if you don't want to make the 15-20 minute walk. The Seabird is also pet friendly, which is a requirement for me, as our dog is part of the 'crew' when I travel with my family to races. If there is any drawback to the hotel/location, it is close to a railroad, so during the day you hear the signal at the railroad x-ing frequently throughout the day.

--Travel/parking: We drove down in our mini-van (90 minutes if there aren't any real traffic issues). We used the hotel valet service for the first night, then switched to a cheaper pay-by-the-day lot around the corner from the resort.

--Food: Our hotel location put us in proximity to a lot of good food: Hello Betty (known for fish tacos, but has plenty of other stuff, also great beer selection for post-race), Piper (upscale restaurant on the first floor of the resort, excellent breakfast, and farm-to-table food), Zig Zag Pizza (decent pizza place), and a great steakhouse in the other resort across the street (but I forgot the name).

- Improvements for next time

--Swim: Get into the correct group for the start. Having to swim and bike past several hundred (or more) people definitely cost me some real time.

--Bike: Not much to say here. Other than losing a few minutes due to the crowded course, my bike performance was as good as I could have hoped. I think I can hold the same effort (and avg/normalized power) for the full ironman distance.

--Run: I think there might have been a slight chance that I could have run faster overall. I was very conservative on the first lap to make sure I didn't blow up, and as a result I had tons of energy in the final 10k to run a negative split. But was that too much extra energy? Hard to say. But in any case, I'd rather under-run and have a strong finish, than over run and blow up. Also, even though I felt fantastic on the uphill, I wasn't very smooth on the very steep downhill (i.e. the ramps down to the pier and beach levels). That can be practiced (though I don't think there is any downhill that steep in St. George).

--Transition: T1 could have been faster had I stuck with my plans to do a flying mount, but I think we're talking 30 seconds or so. Also, instead of jogging with my bike to the exit, I'd have to run very fast to make up more time (again, hard to do with the number of people exiting at the same time). T2 could only have been faster if 1) I didn't use a porta-toilet in transition, or 2) I found one more in-line with my path out onto the course (or on the course at an aid station or something). Stuff like putting on/taking off my helmet, ditching my wetsuit, and getting running shoes (and socks) on went great, but I'll still try to practice more to refine those even further.

Even though I'm super happy about my overall time, I do see the potential to have gone under 5:10 (and maybe even flirt with a sub-5) if I can capitalize on the marginal gains that I lost here (less crowded swim/bike, no wasted time in T2 for bathrooms, and being a tad more aggressive in the first half of the run). I'll keep these in mind for my next races. I'd love to get into one of the faster 70.3's like Salem, as I'm sure I could crush a sub-5 there. But as my focus this year is on St. George (and maybe going for a fast time in Sacramento), perhaps I'll target a 70.3 as my 'A' race next season.

Conclusion:

When I factor in my age and the course, I think this is arguably the best triathlon performance I have had. When I did this race back in 2016, it was my second 70.3 race ever, and I finished it in 6:25. So to be 6 years older and 1 hour 8 minutes faster, its almost hard to believe. Even though I wasn't fully rested or tapering for this event, I managed a great (for me) overall performance, and really surprised myself with a 70.3 run PR. I think this is a sign of good things to come next month at St. George. My family had a great time this weekend as well, and my Pasadena Triathlon Club teammates also had great performances. A fantastic event all the way around.

Next Race: Ironman World Championships - St. George, Utah (May 7, 2022)

2019 Ironman Lake Placid

On July 28, 2019 I competed in Ironman Lake Placid. This was my second time competing in a full 140.6 Ironman event. This event is unique, as I am part of a 4 man team representing a charity/campaign that looks to assist military veterans who may be struggling with their transition back to civilian life. To learn more about it, check out the website: Project 2.0

Quick Race Summary:

For those only interested in the numbers, here's how my race went...

Swim: 1:20:07
T1: 11:23
Bike: 6:21:56
T2: 8:09
Run: 6:39:23
TOTAL: 14:40:57

Pre-Race:

I headed out to New York on Thursday before the race. My flight took me from LAX to Dulles (Washington, DC), and then to a small airport in Plattsburgh, NY. From there it was about a 1 hour and 10 minute drive to an Airbnb rental house that my team and I were using in Saranac Lake, NY. It was just a few miles out of Lake Placid. By the time I got to the house it was after 11pm, and all I had time to do was unpack and assemble my bike. It made the trip with no damage, which is always a relief.

Having coffee, overlooking the swim course (Mirror Lake)

On Friday, I took care of race check-in, and did a 45 minute test ride on my bike to make sure everything was good to go. I also had a chance to see a bit of Lake Placid, and in particular, the famous ice arena where the "Miracle on Ice" took place back in the 1980 Olympic games.

Meeting The Voice of Ironman, Mike Reilly

Saturday, I did my last shakeout run (an easy 20 minutes near our rental house in Saranac Lake), and then headed into Lake Placid to do bike and gear drop-off, as well as get a practice swim in Mirror Lake. My teammates and I just did an easy 700 yards or so together. After that, we did a few other errands in town, then headed back to the house to get off of our feet and start conserving energy for the race. Dinner consisted of pizza and pasta (I usually do something rice/chicken based the night before, but pizza and pasta actually sounded good, and sat pretty well with me). I was in bed at around 10:30pm, not too worried about sleep, since I never sleep quite right the night before a race anyway.

Site of the Miracle on Ice (1980 Olympic Hockey)

Race Morning:

We were all awake at around 3:30am or so. Our goal was to get out of the house by 4:15am. I did my usual routine as far as nutrition goes, got dressed, then made sure I had everything I needed for nutrition drop-off, morning clothes, and the swim start. We drove to a designated shuttle spot near a fire station outside of town, then boarded a shuttle that took us near the transition zone. We all made quick work of the last minute details such as adding nutrition to our bags and bikes, airing up tires, etc. We regrouped near the swim start, and just relaxed for awhile before finally suiting up for the swim. I also had a chance to hop into the water and swim a few yards, which I almost never get to do, so I took advantage of that. Finding the morning clothes bag drop-off was actually a pain, and then after that we had to push through heavy crowds to get to the correct spots for the rolling swim start. I wanted to start with the 1:10-1:19 group, but I was only able to push myself to the 1:20-1:29 area, which turned out to be just fine. After a few more minutes of waiting, the race was underway.

Swim:

Finishing Lap 1 (me in the red top)

I got underway, and immediately there was a lot of contact. A cool thing about swimming in this lake is that there is a cable that sits 4 or 5 feet deep and runs the entire swim course. If you are able to stay above it (or a few feet to the right or left) you can almost use it as a swim lane line and not even have to look up for buoys to navigate the course. While this is nice, it means that everybody is trying to stay close to the cable, and it made for lots of bumping, slapping, and dunking. I took a few good shots to the back of the head, got kicked in the face, shoulders, and ribs. I did a good job deflecting a lot of it (there are also advantages to NOT being the skinny guy in this sport, I'll put it that way) but it got annoying after awhile. The course is two laps, and you get out of the water after one lap, and jog a few yards back to the swim start for lap 2. I exited the first lap in exactly 40 minutes. I was hoping for anywhere between 35 and 40, so this was fine. The second lap seemed to go by faster than the first one did. There was still a lot of contact with other swimmers, but I was used to it and didn't feel like it was slowing me down much. My second lap was 39:46, so almost identical to lap 1. I couldn't ask for more even pacing. Though this is a bit slower than my last full ironman, I was happy with the effort. I conserved energy and was not the least bit fatigued.

Exiting the swim. 138.2 miles to go!

T1:

I ran straight to the wetsuit strippers, then began the jog towards the transition area. I didn't have my watch in multi-sport mode, so I didn't track the time or distance that I spent running, but I would say it was medium (not short, but also not crazy long like it was in Taiwan a couple years back). The isles where our bags were hung were very narrow, and I had to tell a couple people to get their bags and go to the tents (they thought they had to change their gear right there by the hooks). Once in the tent, I was quickly into my cycling gear, had everything I wanted to carry in my jersey, and took the time to use the urinal trough (I was very well hydrated!) before running to my bike. I was racked at the far end of transition from the tent. I grabbed my bike and headed out to start the ride. I was surprised later to see how slow my T1 time was. Aside from stopping to use the urinal, everything seemed to have gone smoothly. Oh well. Time to ride!

I had to do a lot of passing on the right.

Bike:

The bike course starts out with some moderately steep downhill, so it was imperative to be extremely alert to avoid other riders. After that, the course goes right into what it is known for: hills! The course map says there is 8400 feet of elevation gain, but it wasn't quite that much. But still, there was very little flat terrain on the entire course. I had been working hard on climbing, and incorporated a lot of hills into my training, so I knew I was ready for anything Lake Placid could dish out. Since I also raced St. George already this year, I was well versed in carefully pacing myself on the climbs, and then blasting the downhills. This is a two loop course, and the first 25 miles goes by very quickly, including a steep descent on which I averaged about 44mph, and peaked at 54mph. The second half of each loop is where the real work begins. Plenty of hills, though nothing particularly steep or long, just a lot of uphill. The most difficult part of the course (for me) was the final 12 miles of each loop. You're 44 miles into a 56 mile loop, and feel like you are edging near the end of it, but the last 11+ miles are essentially a climb. So it goes by very, very slowly. I was doing a great job controlling my pace, keeping power and HR right where I knew they needed to be. There is a series of three hills, one after another, called Mama Bear, Baby Bear, and Papa Bear near the end of the loop. None of them are very steep or long, they just appear after a very slow stretch of the course. As I was topping out Papa Bear, I felt a popping sensation in my left knee, followed by sharp pain. For the next 5 minutes or so, every pedal stroke was painful. After trying to stretch on the bike and massage the area, it seemed to settle down (also, I was beyond the hills on that first loop). I tried not to be too worried, and focused on getting back in the groove for the second lap. My time at 56 miles was 3:08, which is extraordinarily slow, but we did have a lot of elevation gain. I still felt very fresh and was doing a good job keeping on top of my nutrition and hydration, so I knew I was ready to tackle the second half of this bike course. Everything was going smoothly on lap 2, the only difference being that winds picked up quite a bit (and seemed to always be in your face on the hills, and crosswinds on the descents). Also, the rain started up. It didn't last, however. I think I was rained on for a total of 30 minutes, with 10-12 minutes of that being very heavy. It was actually a nice distraction. I finally got back to the 12 mile grind from Wilmington back to Lake Placid. Again, it was a mirror image of lap 1. Unfortunately, that is also true for the knee pain I felt on Papa Bear. In virtually the exact same spot at the top of that climb, my knee was hurting again (and again it settled down after a few minutes). I was concerned at this point, but also glad to be near the end of the ride. Winds had really picked up, and conditions for good cycling were really deteriorating. I made the last few twists and turns back into Lake Placid and finally dismounted. My second lap took 3:13, so it seems the wind and rain may have slowed me down a touch. Power and HR were still spot on (I average 175W with 127bpm heart rate) and I felt very good. Aside from the knee pain, that was a well executed bike ride for me.

It looks flat here, but trust me, it wasn't! Beautiful bike course though.

You know you paced it well when you are breathing through your nose after 112 miles.

T2:

I decided to walk to my run gear bag to take it easy on my knee. It was less crowded than after the swim, and I was easily able to get my bag and find a seat in the changing tent. Again, I needed to use the urinal trough, and again, even though I felt like I did everything smoothly and quickly, I was amazed at how slow I was (8 minutes). I really need to practice transitions more. Oh well, on to the run!

Run:

My excitement to start the marathon was extremely short lived. I didn't get 5 yards beyond the timing mats before I realized my left knee was not having it. Putting full weight on the left knee was quite painful. The run starts out basically going down the steepest hill on the entire course. I had to step awkwardly to get down it, but was able to get into a slight groove for the next mile or so. By the time I got near the 3 mile mark, I knew the pain was going to get to the point where I couldn't continue, so at the next aid station, I asked to see the medical staff. They needed to radio the medic (he was patrolling that section of the course in a vehicle). Once he came back, I explained my issue and asked if he could just wrap or tape the knee a bit to help give it some support (I had hoped that would take the edge off of the pain). He didn't have the supplies on hand to do it, so I had to make my way to the next aid station (just shy of a mile away), where they had a team of medics that could help. I had wasted about 15 minutes here, and was starting to think that a decent run was out of the question, but I was still hoping to salvage the race. The medics at the next station were extremely nice, and wanted to do as much as they could. But all they had was some KT tape and Icy Hot. The tape would not stick to my leg because of all the sweat and sunblock, but they tried anyway. I don't think I made it 100 yards before it fell off. By this point, I was barely 5 miles into the marathon and unable to run. I started trying to speed walk, which did not hurt, but I knew it meant that any sort of decent run time was out the window. I was only able to hold about 15 minutes per mile at a walk. A couple of miles later, I saw one of my Ranger buddies behind me at one of the turnaround points. He was way in front of me at the swim (he's fast) so I didn't know how he wound up behind me. As it turns out, he was continuing on after wrecking his bike about 90 miles into the ride. He caught up to me shortly after that, and we continued on together. With neither of us in condition to run, we made our way around the course by shuffling the down hills and some of the flats, and walking everything else. Each time we passed the medics, I'd stop in to get more Icy Hot applied to my leg to take the edge off of the pain. When we were nearing the halfway point, I did one stupid thing: there was a drove of people cheering as we went up the long/steep hill near the finish area. Like an idiot, I got caught up in the moment and tried to jog up the hill. I actually made it to the top, but I paid for it. From there on out, my pain got progressively worse. I was still able to shuffle the downhill sections, but I wasn't able to walk at the same pace. The second lap of the run seemed to take forever. The only redeeming thing about the situation was that we were able to meet and talk to a lot of people. There is definitely a lot going on during the race, and a different vibe when you're not all out racing. And to my surprise, I actually really enjoyed it. Normally, if I had my head down and was focused on my running, I would have missed all of that. Considering that I was there as a part of a team, representing a cause, it actually gave me more opportunity to spread awareness about why we were there than had I been able to pull off a 4 hour marathon or something. So instead of being bummed about the failed run, I started trying to make the best of it by having fun, and helping others do the same. Even as slow as we were moving, we were far from alone. We had plenty of company out there, and had a nice group of friends to hang out with for the final 5 or 6 miles. We finally reached the last turnaround point just after mile 25, and even though we were hurting, we decided to pick up the pace and run in the last 2/3 of a mile or so. It was killing my knee to do it, but getting to run past the crowds and into The Oval to reach the finish line was pretty spectacular. All in all, the injury probably added a good 75 to 90 minutes to the time I think I was capable of. Certainly not a disaster (as I did at least finish) but clearly not the performance I had hoped or planned for. At any rate, I was glad to be done, and glad to hear Mike Reilly saying my name for the second time!

Notes:

-Nutrition

--Pre-race: I took a dose of lypospheric vitamin C, ate two Bonk Breaker bars, and drank a 300 calorie bottle of Infinit Jet Fuel before leaving the house. I also drank a small cup of coffee. I ate one more bar and drank a second bottle between then and the time we set off for the swim start. All in all, about 850 calories and 48 ounces of fluid.

--Bike: I started the bike with two 24 oz. bottles and my X-Lab Torpedo full of Infinit GoFar. I also had two Stinger waffles and two GU gels. I took on several bottles of water and Gatorade Endurance at aid stations. I was able to finish all of the fluids I carried as well as the solid stuff. All in all, probably close to 1800 calories taken in, and I'm not even sure what volume of fluid. It was plenty though. I had no energy issues, and I seemed to have stayed very well hydrated.

--Run: Since I wound up being on the run course for way longer than expected, I altered my nutrition plan. While I was waiting for the medic, I ate some solids (bananas and pretzels), but on course, I stuck to the usual (Gatorade early on, then switched to Red Bull and Coke later on). I was able to stomach a lot more water than usual as well.

-Gear

--Overall: I wore my two piece LG SSERT kit, Wahoo TICKR HR monitor, and Garmin Fenix 5x for the entire race.

--Swim: I wore my Roka Maverick Pro sleeveless wetsuit over my tri suit. I actually really like this setup, as it makes transition way easier and faster. The tri top caused no issues as I swam. I wore my new Roka R1 goggles (mirrored cobalt shade). The conditions were so good in the swim, it didn't really matter what goggle I used, but these were great. Good visibility, no fogging or leaking.

--Bike: I rode the Felt IA16. Gearing was 53/39 chainrings, and 11x28 11-speed cassette. On this bike course, I used ALL of my gears. Wheels were HED Jet+ Black (Disc wheel on rear, 60mm on front). I wore my Giro Aerohead helmet. This setup was fine in the winds on on the hilly terrain. The visor on the Aerohead was starting to get pretty spotty during the heaviest part of the rain, but it didn't last long enough to become a real issue. A lot of people had issues in the wind on descents, but I felt very solid (thanks to Mt. Wilson, GMR, Crystal Lake, and the river trails for preparing me to be a solid climber, descender, and good in the crosswinds!).

--Run: I ran in my Hoka One One Clifton 6 shoes. I didn't bother wearing any kind of racing flat. The Cliftons are great, and have been working really well for me. I wore a visor, and my Oakley Prizm sunglasses. No issues with any of my gear.

-Logistics

--Lodging: the entire team stayed at an Airbnb rental house in Saranac Lake, NY. It was a short drive into Lake Placid from the house, which was a bit of a hassle on race day, but was otherwise pretty nice. The house itself was great.

Our Airbnb rental in Saranac Lake, NY was nice!

--Travel: I flew United Airlines from LAX to Plattsburgh, NY. There was a stopover in Washington, DC (Dulles). It made for a long day getting to NY, and my arrival was too late to allow the use of a rental car. On the return flight, I had to leave Saranac Lake for the airport after sleeping for roughly 3 hours after the race. That made for a terribly long and exhausting travel day. I think the Ironman post-race party was still going on as Derek and I left for the airport!

--Food: Lake Placid has a plethora of good restaurants, stores, etc. Food is easy to find there.

Improvements For Next Time:

• Uh, don't tweak your knee on the bike?
• Try to stay somewhere closer to the race. Lake Placid is chock full of decent hotels and rental houses. Having to drive into town on race morning just adds a couple stressful hours to an already extremely long day.
• If arriving on Thursday, try to do it early enough to rent a car at the airport, and early enough to knock out race check-in before it closes.
• Don't travel on Monday after the race! Having to get everything cleaned up and packed away while you are stumbling around shortly after finishing an Ironman is brutal. On top of that, the lack of sleep makes the day after that a bit tough as well. 

Conclusion:

Ironman Lake Placid is an amazing race venue. The swim and bike courses were absolutely beautiful. The run was also nice, and despite the issues I had, I am very glad I did the race, and equally glad that I stuck it out and finished, despite not getting to be competitive on the run. If you are debating signing up for this race someday, do it! It is a challenging course, but totally doable. The scenery is hard to beat, and the town and people were great. I'm also glad that I got to live up to my end of the bargain with regards to the Project 2.0 campaign. I did my best to represent the team and the cause throughout the race, and the entire time we were in Lake Placid.

NEXT Race:

Depending on how quickly I recover from this knee issue, I may do IM70.3 Santa Cruz in September. And if not, then I will try for IM70.3 Indian Wells/La Quinta in December.