Ironwidow's Race Report of St George

Brett wrote a race report as a "view from the other side of the fence" so thought I would publish that  too. Made me chuckle at times!

Spot the Ironwidow in Arches Nat'l Pk. (Clue: just R of centre standing on the boulders in bottom third)

Ironwidow in Veyo

The Ironwidows Race Report         

Finally the day had arrived! Months of nodding in agreement to disjointed conversations and evenings of watching telly by myself while “the girl”, Chris, had another early night were over.

A strategy had been hatched with my fellow “Ironwidower”, Iain, that he would go out to the swim start and transistion one, while I would position myself early on the bike course. Then we would meet later out on the bike course.

It had dawned as forecast … hot … hair blower dry and hot! So I positioned myself where any good support crew member would … Starbucks – coffee and free internet! That way I could keep track of the swim results. Things were not looking so good … so I ordered another coffee!

During the week I had scoped out the ideal position to offer my words of support from … near the top of one of the many hills … what I hadn't counted on that bunches (cycling style) were coming through … but being honest “the girl” and the “the other girl”, Zarnia, were riding to the rules! Before I could get a word in “the girl” had told me “that was her worst IM swim!” and she was gone … oh well, things were normal I thought, nothing to worry about! Meanwhile following close behind was “the other girl” smiling and enjoying being on the bike, wahoo!

With them through the leg of the bike that leads to where the two laps start and finish, I popped home got onto the bike and crossed town, to the major corner of U18 and Snowpark canyon, here was a fast corner were there would be lots of action after a 17 mile down hill section … I arrived just as the first pros were finishing their first lap and flying they were just spectacular speeds around the corner enhanced by the sound of deep carbon wheels on a smooth surface! This was a major intersection six lanes crossed by four in the other direction, traffic control was good spectator control was scary as numbers built the edged out onto the road taking up a lane creating the blind lead in to the corner, creating more than one crash!

Ah, life is good.

Right on time “the girl” came through looking focused and not saying much! Phew! Meanwhile “the other girl” came through smiling, seemingly making up some time! Between laps my fellow Ironwidower demonstrated his roots with a wee jig, when he stepped off the footpath in his barefeet on to the road. Lessoned learned I thought heat, no shade, barefeet do not mix! Only he did it a second time when the Kiwi Pro Bevin came through!

Again we split our resources the other Ironwidow moving on and I headed off to get some more fluids! But coming back I punctured … shit I hope it is only me! Ahhh the worry of support crewing, by this stage I had got back to the intersection and then could see not only cyclist coming down and into the town but also the runners heading out and back. It had now reached into the thirties and humidity was very low. I watched Chris come through on the bike what seemed a slightly faster lap than the first. I headed down into Diagonal street, where my fellow Ironwidower was held up. This street was where the cyclist and runners came in and out so was fully blocked off with three aid stations set up as party central. You wouldn't believe my luck … a second bloody puncture! As I walked down the street to the bike shop to purchase more inner tubes I spied “my girl” running towards me … elbows flying looking good with form! Sweet! I thinking, looks like we are in for a good race!

On arriving at the bike shop sitting outside were two salad dodging ironman competitors who had pulled out of the race after the bike discussing, how good they are at doing two thirds of the race!

Staple diet of an Ironwidow on race day

With the tube replaced and an extra one in my pocket I headed through town to the run turn around, I didn't have to wait long when “the other girl” came through smiling and running strongly! When she enquires ... how is my girl going? Gulp, you mean you haven't seen her? I think! My mind starts to race … mmm something is a miss here! So I slowly move up the road to see if I could see “my girl” ahead of us … when she pops into sight still heading to the turn around … walking, wet sponges stuffed ala Macka! Looking very distressed. Oh no! The race has turned to custard … big time!

We had a disjointed conversation which just made me more concerned … it turns out the medics at one of the early aid station made her sit out for 10 – 15 minutes because of the heat. By this stage it was over 90 F (30C). As we talked the Aid Station team leader came up to us and made sure that “my girl” was alright to continue, taking control, he saturated several face clothes and told us to head to next aid station and re- assess it there. Genuine concern and excellent support from the aid stations “the girl” made it one aid station at a time (they are at every mile). By the time “my girl” had made it back into town, my stress levels had dropped and I left her to complete the next lap by herself.

I had never seen so many people walking on an Ironman marathon leg. I headed back to the apartment to swop the bike for the car and then up to the run turn around again. When “the other girl” came through, grabbing a popiscle from the aid station she headed strongly back to the finish line with the chance of finishing in daylight for the first time!

It was a nervous wait … then “my girl” appeared running! Wahooo! 6.35pm at the turn around night fall was 8.38pm A good chance she could finish before nightfall too! Cheering her on I left for the finish line!

Once again the nerves started, finally with my fellow Ironwidower we were able to welcome “his girl” in! Just over 13 hours and in the daylight! Congrats for a day where she just got stronger and stronger!

The butterflys I had turned to stampeding elephants while I waited … and waited … the lights came on … it got dark … When finally “my girl” arrived, not very happy but finishing a very tough day out! I was so pround of her ability to just keep on moving forward, when all her mind was saying “pull the f**k out!”, “go on just quit”

Boy I was pleased that I didn't have to race in that heat … described by some as trying to race with a hair blower turned on full in your face! Over 18% did not finish!

When I finally got through to the family area, “my girl” was not in good shape, to say the least! “The other girl” headed off to the medical area and brought back a medic and wheel chair and we headed off to see a doctor, after a while they released her and the day was over!

Practice for carrying me home post-race

Starring

Ironwidower – Brett

My fellow Ironwidower – Iain

My Girl – Chris

The Other Girl – Zarnia

and yes people were harmed in the making of this!

Hope you enjoyed this alternative perspective! All his words, not mine!!

Ironman St George Race Report

Prologue: the day before the race Brett gives me a card wishing me luck and reminding me of all the hard work I have put in and that he has ultimate faith in my capabilities, even if I do not. He also gives me a fridge magnet with a quote by Winston Churchill on it: "If you are going through Hell, keep going".  How apt this was to be for Saturday 7th May 2011!.

PRE:

Alarm off at 3.45 , brekky + down to get the school bus out to Sand Hollow at 4.30am. Have resorted back to a pre race breakfast of coffee, bagel w peanut butter, banana + jam. Had intentions of having another half bagel for extra carbs but I would have been physically sick so didnt. Zarnia and I hopped on the second bus and arrived at Sand Hollow just before 5am. My front tire was flat so I managed to avoid the pump-up queue and one of the mechanics sorted it all out for me.Spent ages stretching + warming up my shoulders with my theraband. Just as well as we weren't allowed in to the water til after the pro start ; 1600 athletes shuffling through a narrow corral into the lake took forever and  Z and I were quite far back- I hadnt even finished my usual pre race warm up wee when the gun went off!

SWIM:   1h 16.x  750th place o/a

Water temp 16 deg, neoprene cap + booties worn (lots of sharp rocks at swim start so I would highly reccommend booties for this course)

Despite little in-water warmup, my shoulders felt good initially and for the entire swim.I stuck to the left side and close to the buoy line to enable easier sighting and ensure I didn't stray off course too much. Only strayed slightly off once and seemed to have clear water for a lot of the swim until we got close to a buoy and suddenly a load of bodies appeared from nowhere. Got kicked in the eye once and had a bit of close contact with a few swimmers ( what is it about big men with beards??!!!. they are my nemesis in the open water!) but otherwise was uneventful and thanks to all the paddle/band/buoy work + long swims MM had me doing I felt like my swim form was good and even right to the end. Got a shock when I looked at my watch to see I had had my slowest IM swim by nearly 4 mins.
No HR data as my Polar crapped out 3 days prior to race and my studly new Timex GPS watch which I got for a bargain at the expo didnt read my HR until I stepped out of the water.

T1- 4 mins ? . Not much to say except that wetsuits don't remove easily over the Timex GPS watch. A button got pressed somewhere and I couldnt get the multisport mode functioning; only laps. The air temp was already feeling quite warm so opted for just a bike shirt over my tri suit (mainly for pockets).

Looking at Snow Canyon

BIKE:    6h 38  av Pwr 119 NP 138W   av HR 148.  754th place o/a

The first 20 miles of the bike are fast. Reasonably undulating but the road surface is super smooth and helped by a wee tail breeze on race day. However, I have to say that many triathletes have exceptionally poor bike handling skills or ability to descend well. Several times I was worried that I was going to get taken out by another rider or meet a sorry end thanks to the debris of water bottles already strewn across the road. By the time I got to Snow Canyon Parkway, I had already seen two crashes!

My ride went well in terms of time+wattage. I stuck to cap of FTP (190W) on all the steep climbs (thanks for the advice, Mimi!) and stayed seated ( of course you can imagine all the guys I saw standing up hammering the pedals on all the rollers on the first lap!!)
For the rest of the ride I was aiming to stay around 120-140 W (aerobic) and on the smaller rollers a cap of ^ 165 W. I kept an eye on my HR to keep a check on dehydration etc.
Physically and mentally, I didn't feel great the entire ride. Normally in an IM, especially the first lap of the bike I feel really zingy and feel like I am riding waaaay too easy but not this day. I know I did spend a bit of mental energy feeling dissappointed with my swim time but I worked through that in my head and had let it go by the time I had got to Snow canyon to start the 2 loops and focussed myself on hydration, fueling and my Power #s. One of the biggest gains I have found using my Powertap is having an instant reference point  helps me concentrate on what I am doing during a race and not so much the effort caps on climbs but helps me avoid slacking off during easier portions of the ride.
Nutrition wise I used Pwerbar Perform drink, Clif bloks. half banana. a gel, fun size milky ways, water. I was aiming for 40g CHO/hr in mostly liquid form and achieved this. Given my state of both mind + body on the ride it concerned me that perhaps I had been running low on fuel the entire time? I added up everything I had eaten or drunk and it worked out exactly as I had planned.
However, MM had said to me "you don't have to feel good to race good" and I knew I was riding OK given my Power numbers and eating/drinking wasn't making me feel any better so I just had to suck it up and get on with it:)

Pie shop in Veyo.Nom Nom

We had a warm tail breeze up the canyon and it was starting to get HOT by the second lap. I stopped to put some ice under my helmet on 2nd loop ( not so easy with a vented helmet!) and squirted myself with water sporadically. By the time we reached Veyo on the second loop, my HR had risen a little and I just had not been quite able to hit the same power #s as on 1st lap.I know decoupling is a sure sign of dehydration so I glugged away another bottle of Perform all the way back down to town. However, I could already feel myself getting agitated with the heat - my chest had felt a little tight and at some points on the ride I felt like I couldn't breathe but I think that may have been a little hyperventilation caused by my mild panic about the heat and how the HELL was I going to cope on the run????

I must say though, that the bike ride is very scenic and the time just flew by. Its not a mentally challenging bike course but is definitley more physically challenging than IMNZ.
My feet were cramping and the arthitic big toe joint on my right foot had become very stiff that i couldnt place any weight on it while pedalling. Weird? It usually hurts in the cold or if I have done heaps of road running but never cycling. Oh well, hopefully would come right when I put my trainers on.

T2:  Didnt rush this as was trying to cool myself down a bit. Reapplied sunscreen, grabbed a drink of water and shuffled out at steady pace. My foot cramp+ big toe ache eased away after a few minutes. Phew, looks like I will be able to run.....if I could just cool down a bit!!

RUN:  5.45 . Finish time 14.06 900th o/a In the dark :(((

Do you know, I can't remember much about the run.( Maybe its one of those memory healing things like women get after childbirth- you forget the suffering:). I shuffled up Diagonal and then onto Bluff, feeling very very hot and still struggling to breathe.Guess I mustn't have looked too flash as I approached the aid station at mile 2 as the lady there asked if I was OK and next thing I am sitting in the shade there getting water and ice poured on me by the volunteers there. I used this as a chance to  drink a bit more Perform ; the medic guy had a look at me + said it was up to me but he coudl take me back to T2 if I wanted.There was another guy  beside me who was a pale shade of grey and seemed to be coughing relentlessly- I thought to myself, "well, you are not in as bad a state as him so time to get on with it". I must have been there for about 15 minutes so decided to just aim for the next aid station and then review things and so on..
I attempted to run but just couldnt - my legs were all funny and jelly like ( but not like the normal brick legs feeling) and I was still struggling with the heat, although there was a bit more of a breeze on Red Hills Parkway so it wasn't quite as intensely hot there as it had been in town.
So I was reduced to a walk - F****. I thought there is NO goddam way I am walking 26 miles....that means i will finish in the dark.. that means a 5 hr + run split......NO WAY...NO WAY.....
But that was just my ego and after a while once I was headed back to town towards the turnaround ( and I was able to start jogging as I had cooled down a bit) I knew that i would finish. Had to walk the uphills on the 2nd lap and everything was hurting but in the normal-2nd half-of an -ironman-run -way I am familiar with and I can put up with that.
Used the sponges this time to stuff up my shorts and cool my quads down and that was very pleasant!

Run Course-Red Hills Pkway.

My watch died about 1 hour into the run so had no idea re time or HR. My second lap must have taken about 2:35 as I asked Brett the time of day as i approached the roundabout just before the run turnaround and he said it was 6.30 pm. I finished at 9.06 pm. 1st lap must have been 3.10 ( inc 15 mins sitting in the aid stn)

Nutrition wise for the "run" ( walk...whatever..) I used Perform drink, Coke, water + a pack of clif bloks + a popsicle + a few pretzels or chips.

As I headed to the finish line I saw 14:06 on the clock; hadn't even been able to break 14 hours. But by this time, I didnt care - I wasn't elated; I just felt a mixture of numbness + relief that it was over. My finish line photo  expression says it all - I look bloody miserable and am glancing down at the ground.

 I managed to force down a slice of pizza then Brett appeared and gave me a hug then the floodgates opened..............and I wasn't feeling so great either so next thing I was getting wheeled in a wheelchair  to the medical tent. First time I have paid a visit to the med tent post race - it's like a war casualty zone in there!LOTS of people wrapped in blankets and half dead looking. Anyway, I was also wrapped in a blanket on a camp bed as they checked my "vitals". Had had a massive drop in blood pressure and was a bit dehydrated ( all to be expected after an event like IM) but nothing serious. They gave me some chicken broth and another bottle of Perform to drink and once my BP was getting back towards normal I was discharged.

POST-RACE THOUGHTS

- Travelled to the US from NZ 9 days pre race,  takes 2x 1 hr flights+ 12 hr flight+ 2 hrs in a car + 18 hr time difference. Maybe still had some residual fatigue from the travel. In future, would travel no less than 12-14 days before.

- I  did exceed the volume of training MM put in my programme at times and maybe this also gave me extra fatigue that I hadn't shaken off.

-I don't do well in the heat ( Wanaka 2010 went from vv cold water-vv hot day, 1st day of EC Utah camp last yr, this race) so need to avoid races where it gets vvv hot OR do longer acclimitisation.Also VERY dry in St G. I did superhydrate with electrolytes all week and we didnt have the air con on in our condo.

-I know I have made strength gains on the bike and swim , I feel I rode reasonably well at St G and didnt blow myself up on the bike. However, its a very spiky course which may have had some effect.

-I need to improve my body composition- although I eat healthily and have a diet high in unprocessed foods, once I am into big training build ups I give myself the "OK" to eat plenty chocolate + other sweet stuff. A light went on when I read Mike Coughlins peice on EC the other day about how training a lot hid his sugar addiction. BING! Thats me - and I have been in denial about it.Time to change.

- Volunteers here were EXCELLENT and full of positive encouragemnet and support for everybody

-Headspace is such an important part of endurance racing- I was already getting anxious about the heat and the run during the bike, was it almost a self-fulfilling prophesy?
I ran a gamut of emotions during the day ( shame, embarrassment, panic,, dissappointment, enjoyment to name but a few:)) but now I just have a sense of apathy towards the race. Brett said he was proud of me for not giving up but I don't feel particularly proud for toughing it out......though now I will have a LOT more sympathy ( and empathy!) for the people you see walking the marathon and are out there well into the night.

Local wildlife encounter at Bryce Canyon

- Its an AWESOME course and it hasn't put me off doing this race again, I hope it survives as it is definitely a true test of one's limits and the course is beautiful. You could have all kind of weather thrown at you here -wind and extremes of hot or cold. The local community are great, friendly and behind the event 100%; we were in St George for 10 days and didnt encounter any negativity at all.

Bring on IM Canada!!!!!