Heading to Kona Again! Ironman Texas Race Report!!!

The best part about Ironman racing is nothing ever goes perfectly. As Big Sexy (Chris MacDonald) said at the Ironman Welcome Dinner,  “Ironman is all about who handles the adversity the best.” Essentially no Ironman race ever goes exactly as planned. The other part about racing that I like is no matter how out of it you may think you are, if you regroup you can often come back.

Race Morning.

Up at 0400hrs for a light breakfast: a couple over easy eggs, a bagel with jam, and a cup of coffee. We headed to the Woodlands at 0500 arriving shortly after 0520. Transition didn’t go as planned. When I checked my bike my rear tire was flat. I think the heat had over inflated my tire forcing the tire off the rim and over-expanding the tube. Seeing as I normally only fill my Hed C2 rims to 90psi, I don’t see how they can really expand that much to ove- inflate but I guess that’s a lesson learned. I quickly ran back to the car and changed the tube (thankfully my tool kit and pump were in the car).

Swim

The start was chaotic. The only saving grace was that it was a non-wetsuit swim so anyone not racing for Kona slots or AG awards could race in a wetsuit but the wetsuit wave started ten minutes later. I think that reduced the chaos at least a little. I lined up just to the left of the right start buoy as it had the straightest line down the buoys. When the gun went off all hell broke loose. I don’t think I’ve been in a worse start. There were punches, kicks and pulls for the first couple hundred meters and then things slowly spread out. I think part of the issue was the poor visibility; you couldn’t see you own hand let alone the person beside you or in front of you. The best part…not even 500m into the swim, I passed some guys doing backstroke…seriously, if you are going to do backstroke then perhaps you should start at the back. Other than the punches and kicks, the swim was uneventful. I was happy to see 1:08 on my watch as I exited the swim, a PR of almost 8 minutes (and without a wetsuit ).

IM Texas Swim - about 200-300m after the start.

 

Bike

Transition was uneventful and then it was onto the bike. I felt very strong as I jumped onto the bike and I knew I was going to try and push the bike a little. I was aiming for 230W and if I felt good after 90km I was going to push it a little more. After about an hour or so on the bike, my right quad started to tighten up a little so I back off the pace slightly and went by feel. Shortly thereafter my race took a turn when I heard the dreaded hiss. At first I thought it was the guy in front of me who I was in the process of passing, but quickly realized it was my rear wheel. I thought to myself - seriously now. I jumped off the bike, yanked off the disc and quickly changed out the tire. I thought, ok a little adversity is ok. Back on the bike with having lost only about 5 minutes. As the bike went on, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to hold 230W. My power was dropping and I was quickly starting to overheat despite my best attempt at dousing myself with cold water at each aid station. Nutrition seemed to work well, but the last hour on the bike was a bit depressing as my power continued to drop and I fought to keep my quad from seizing up. I was happy to finish the bike and see 6:11 on the clock as I entered transition – mentally calculated that I must have just biked a 4:50 (actual was 4:48) (The clock was set to the Pros start which was 10 minutes earlier than us). Despite my struggles in the second half of the bike course, I had managed to hold my position, and bike a 4:48 (including the pit stop to change my flat) on 207 W (average power including zeros) / 211 W NP.

Just passing aid station #10. (The person in front is Jennie Hansen -FPro)

Run

Through transition, where I had one of the volunteers douse me with water, apply sunscreen, and then proceeded to the first aid station to get ice. I was a wreck coming off the bike. I knew I was close to heat exhaustion and felt awful and to top it off I couldn’t get my Garmin 910xt to display my pace. So I decided to forget the watch and focus on trying to get myself cooled off as I worked my way through the first lap. So at each aid station I stopped and refilled my suit with ice and doused myself with water. I felt pretty good through the first two loops. The last half of the last lap was mentally taxing. I wanted to walk, but I had no clue of my position in the race so out of fear of potentially losing a shot at Kona I pushed to the best of my ability. I was stoked when I came up the finishing shoot and saw 9:19 on the clock. Sweet a new PR at the Ironman distance 9:09. Despite a 3:04 on the run, I still managed to have the fastest run split in the age group and one of the fastest amateur runs. 

Heading up the finisher's shoot, but taking time to high five the kids!

2^nd in the M30-34, 4^th Amateur, and 17^th Overall.  Kona here we come!