A few days before the race a wise friend asked me if there was a scenario where I didn’t win but walked away satisfied. I had to think about it, but my answer ended up being yes. Fast forward to the finish, and that was the case. So thank you Phil.
I didn’t start much of a taper until 3 days beforehand, but the body was feeling rested and recharged. My resting HR and HRV were the best I’ve ever seen, dropping to 36bpm at night. I knew I was primed from a cardiovascular standpoint. Musculoskeletal-wise, I was not feeling 100%. My only complaint was not feeling loose.
In terms of final race prep, everything went as well as it could. Two nights out I ate my traditional Taco Bell and the night before I got my sub from Firehouse. I got up early to get my final ride and run in on Saturday and went to a diner for a large breakfast right after. I was in and out to drop my gear at the venue before heading back to the house to put my feet up.
Race morning was smooth with no issues. I ate 2 pieces of bread with a banana and peanut butter the second I woke up. We left my brother’s and parked where there was zero traffic or stress. I got all my gear setup and found a spot to chill at the terrace. I had so many friends come up for this race, and many of them were there to send me off race morning. I felt like I handled the stress better this year (slightly), gave my final hugs and worked my way to the start.
The Swim (57:29 - 16th OA): This was actually a very
comfortable swim. It didn’t take too long for everyone to find their space and
I focused more on myself than trying to find feet. On the top side of the loop,
I remembered just how far an Ironman swim is. I concentrated on getting to that
first turn signifying I was ¼ done. I knew the wind was against us on the way
out and the return trip went by much more quickly. Before merging with everyone
on my 2nd loop, I found a guy swimming the same pace as me and jumped on his
feet. He had a distinctive wetsuit and lifted his upper body out of the water
when he sighted, so it was very easy to track and follow. I let him navigate
through the slower swimmers and sat very comfortably behind. After we made 2
more turns, I decided to take my own line on that final stretch back to
transition. Part way back I was completely stopped by water support informing us
that there was a water emergency. After 10-15s I was able to locate where it
was occurring and opted to continue swimming the other direction around the
kayak. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to help and just wanted to get myself
out of the way. As I came out of the water and got my wetsuit down, I glanced
and saw a 57:?? on my watch for 1 minute IM swim PR.
T1 (5:25): I got my wetsuit down easily before the peelers and felt like I had a solid transition. I pulled on my new aero socks that take a little more time plus a pair of throwaway knit gloves that added an extra step. I ran with my shoes in hand across the top of the parking garage and put them on next to my bike while a volunteer grabbed it for me. I moved up 5 positions to 8th and was 19s slower than last year. I’ll take that with the gloves and how cold it was.
The Bike (4:59:58 - 5th OA): The bike started out quiet
and I only passed 2 or 3 people the first few miles. It was around 50 degrees
at the start going into a headwind, but I felt comfortable. I knew my pace
would improve on the way back, but it was tough only seeing 20mph. Not even 10
miles in, Alfredo blew by me. After having such a good swim and transition, I
was shocked to be caught so quickly. I had intentions of going with him when he
did pass, but it would have taken way too much power to stay with him. I
focused on my own race and pushed the exact numbers prescribed. At mile 40 Ty
told me 4th and 6 minutes down from 1st. This meant I
lost 6 minutes in just under 30 miles. At that rate, I’d be about 15 minutes
down starting the run. Honestly, I didn’t believe I would win a run battle even
if we came off the bike together so this was bad news. As I was coming up the
last climb of my first loop, a fellow Ku Next Gen athlete caught me on Timber
and told me nice bike =) I was hoping I wouldn’t see Kyle until lap 2, but he
was riding FAST. We shared some notes on splits in the race for about a minute,
but I wasn’t going to be able to hold his wheel. As I started lap 2, I had the
first loop riders to contend with. For the most part everyone stayed right, but
a few times I was help up. Annoyingly, one of the bike marshals cut me off on a
turn. I had to brake hard and lost a lot of momentum. Nothing else too exciting
other than me consuming all of my nutrition. This was important because I had
an extra 50g of carbs in 2 Maurten gels if I felt I needed more. This put me
right at 105g/hr.
T2 (1:44): I felt good coming off the bike and was ready to work. I already had my socks on and the shoes came on easily. I grabbed my gear/nutrition and was off. Glancing at the tracking now, I was around 30s faster than the next best split.
The Run (3:02:10 – 2nd OA): Run legs felt
good right out of the gate, so I knew I had to be mindful and hold back. First
update came within 1/4 mile, so I knew I had 13 minutes to first and around 7
to second. As I came around the capital, I had more friends and family ready to
pump me up. That first mile was net downhill, and I clocked a 6:18. In those
first few miles I focused on the heavy nutrition plan of 4 gels/hour and had
two down before mile 5. I felt completely in control but did notice some GI
issues around that time. I saw the gaps at the first turn around and Alfredo
was a solid 12 minutes ahead of me. The other two were getting closer but still
6+ minutes. At this point I was averaging 6:32/mile and was a little
discouraged to run that fast and not make up much time. I saw my crew again on
state street and keep pressing. At this point, I knew I needed to make a pit
stop but I wanted to make sure I was only going to do it once. I also wanted to
do so before I caught anyone. My idea was that at the next turnaround, the 3
guys ahead of me would think I was already slowing down. Needless to say, it
took around a minute and I felt like Kristian Blummenfelt pulling my kit back
up. That mile split ended up being 7:28 so I estimated about 50-60s lost.
Regardless, I was back in pursuit and measured my gaps again at the next U-turn.
Around mile 12 is when I finally caught back up to Kyle, and he told me the
same thing I said on the bike - I was hoping to hold you off until lap 2. We
pressed on and I started working my way towards 2nd. At the halfway
point, I was only 1 minute back and had him in my sights. I made the pass at
mile 15 and was told there’s still a chance, keep pushing for the win. Around
16-17 is when the body started to push back. My 6:40s were now 7’s, but I knew
everyone was probably slowing down at this point. I had enough calories in me,
but was probably lacking on fluids despite the cool temperature. I made it a
point to slow down through the next few aid stations and really had to muscle
down 3 more gels in the final 10K. I measured the gap at just over 6 minutes
with 6 miles to go. Very different from last year, I was able to avoid those
dark thoughts of you “you don’t want it enough” or “forget the tape”. I held
onto the idea that if he slowed down to 8’s and I held my 7’s, it’d come down
to the wire.
The final 10K I did just that and averaged 7:05 pace to the chute, but unfortunately so did he. At 1 point I was within 5:30 but lost by over 6 minutes in the end. Initially I was disappointed to not have broken 3 hours on a very ideal day, but looking at my Garmin splits I was actually 5s/mile faster than last year.
The Finish (9:06:44 – 2nd OA): I was a little bitter coming into the finish chute while the winner was showboating and even walked in front of me as I came through. Zero acknowledgement whatsoever. When I won last year, I stayed behind the finish arch and waited for 2nd place so I could congratulate him. Different mindset I suppose. Despite the disappointment of not defending my title, I walked away with a 6-minute Ironman PR and my tank empty. Given that this race was a full year apart since my last Ironman, I was expecting to perform a little better than what I displayed.
A few key take-aways:
1.
The 6-minute PR all came from my bike split, and
I attribute that to hard work and my new Ku TF1. Also, a note that Kyle rides a
TF1 and dropped the 2nd best bike spit on the day, 12 minutes faster
than me! These bikes are no joke.
2.
My friends and family are the real MVPs. I’m
afraid to leave anyone out, so I’ll just say I had a massive crew come up for
the sole purpose of supporting me this weekend. I got so many updates and was
able to feed off their energy all day.
3.
Last year this was my A race. I was peaked for
the season, got a full taper and it was the only full Ironman that year. I can
give myself some grace and focus all of my attention and effort on Kona.
I truly appreciate everyone following my journey. I know most
of you are proud no matter the result, but I really hope to have a better
showing in Kona.
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