IMAZ Race Report

 Wrapping up my rookie pro season at IRONMAN Arizona! This was the first time I’ve taken several days before trying to unpack anything from the race. It’s already been 3 days and I haven’t even opened my data files to dissect everything. 

Unfortunately this was the last year for Arizona and it was a great venue. Prior to the race, I spent some time at the zoo to kill time and keep my mind busy. Saturday before the race I did my shake out ride and run. During the ride, my visor fell off and was immediately run over by a car. I have seen several pros wear sunglasses with their arrow helmet instead of a visor, so that is what I opted to do.

Swim (57:12 - 31st pro): It was about 20 minutes before sunrise when they started the pro men. We were given 10 minutes to warm up and treaded water until the cannon went off. With over 60 on the start line, it was hectic as always. I opted to not go quite as hard for the first 400 yards after what happened at Santa Cruz, and I think I made the right call. I could feel the tightness in my chest again, but it never got to the point of panic with pace I was going. It felt like the first 1000 was a constant battle for feet, and once I felt like the packs were established, I pretty much let myself fade to the back of my group. In the future, I will need to push harder for longer in hopes of making a main group instead of the scattered slow swimmers at the back. After this point, the swim felt pretty casual and I enjoyed sitting on the back of a group of 5. Around 2500 yards, I noticed we were all pretty separated with someone that broke about by 15-20 yards. I felt my effort was quite easy, so I put in a big surge the go around the guys I was with and move up to another set of feet. Once I caught up, I settled back in until the swim was done. I came out thinking I swam 57 high, and it wasn’t until after the race that I found out it was 57:12 and a PR for me. 

Proof that I did in fact close a gap

T1 (3:03): A shorter transition but I still managed to make it take 3 minutes… I struggled to get the wetsuit off and shove everything back in my bag, and we had to carry the bags to the bikes with us. The run was good though and my mount was quick and efficient. I chose to wear a different pair of cycling shoes (a heavier pair that I only train in), but it was much easier getting into them and strapped down. I’ll most likely stick with them in the future. 

Bike (4:35:48 - 39th pro): With a 3-loop bike course, I pushed lap 1 slightly above my targets. I was very happy with the pace and the effort felt sustainable. I came through the lap 1 u-turn with an average power of 253W. Knowing laps 2 and 3 would have traffic, I was hoping I could still hold decent power even with occasional coasting as I navigated through age groupers. As I was halfway out on lap 2, my legs were already struggling before I reached halfway. I watched my power slowly drop and couldn’t find the same gear I had. By the halfway point, I already dropped to 245W average. My speed was decreasing, but not as much as I would have expected. With the way the headwind was hitting us from right going downhill back into town, the age groupers were providing some protection. Even though pros are not allowed to slip stream, there was enough benefit just staying left the entire time. As I finished lap 2, I was ready to be done. I thought about just pulling off, ending my day and coming up with some sort of excuse. I remembered I felt similar at Placid and still had the run of my life, so I hit the u-turn and went out for that final lap. I haven’t looked at my power numbers in depth yet, but I know they weren’t great. I’d estimate around 220W to close it out. My legs felt out of juice and simply hurt. I figured a bike PR was out of the question given how much I dropped off, but I managed to come in about 2min ahead of my Texas PR. Average power was 237 / NP 243 with an average speed of 24.4mph. My heart rate was a few bpm below target, so it was clear that my legs were the limiting factor on this ride. 

T2 (1:59): I came into T2 relieved to be off the bike. Given how smashed my legs felt, I fully expected to walk some of the marathon. I had a smooth dismount, bike catcher took the Ku right away, and I was off to the change tent. As I was leaving, I decided to just power walk as I sorted myself. As I got to the arch, I started my shag. My legs were dead and I refused to even look at my pace as I slogged along.

Run (2:56:27 - 21st pro): The first mile felt rough and my legs were crushed. I refused to check my pace and thought I was running 7:30s. To my great surprise, mile 1 beeped and I saw 6:37. Considering how slow it felt, this was a positive sign. Mile 2 clicked off at 6:32. I still felt like garbage, but I changed my tune to focusing on an IRONMAN PR (8:49). This required a 3:09 marathon, and I felt it was attainable even if my pace slowed. At this point, I was focused on getting to the 10K mark while maintaining a little under 6:40 pace. My mental math told me I could run 7:30s for the final 20 miles to get that PR. I hit 10K in just under 41 minutes and started to feel a touch better. Around mile 7, Menno Koolhaas came by me and I overheard his support crew tell him 5min lead to Sam Long. He was locked in, running smooth at 5:30 pace. This was another very encouraging sign that I “held off” getting lapped until mile 7. At IM Texas, 1st-3rd had already started loop 2 before I even started my run. This told me I was having a better day than Texas.

As I started lap 2, my next focus was to get to mile 10 to see what pace I’d need for the final 16 in order to PR. I had just over 2 hours which is exactly 7:30 pace. At that time, I came up on a female pro (Amanda) and chatted for a bit. We ran together for a few minutes, and that was a great distraction for me. Miles 10-12 was a section of packed dirt, and I was 10-15s/mile slower on it. Once I got through it for the 2nd time, I really used the crowds around transition to give me the boost I needed. Now I am looking to get to the halfway point and see what I’d need to split on the back half. I came through at 1:27 and knew I could run 1:42 the second half to still get that PR. Given I was averaging 6:40 pace, I changed my tune again and went back to my original goal before the race. Finish under 8:40. 

I kept pushing and now focused on mile 16 to see I’d need the final 10 miles. I was now running mid 6:40 pace and really just wanted to stay under 7’s. As I started lap 3, Ty said something that motivated me for the rest of the marathon. “Last lap of the entire season, what are you going to do with it? No reason to leave anything in the tank.” My coach said the same thing before the race as well… Nothing after this race, so empty the tank. I repeated this in my head throughout and starting picking off a few more pros. When I hit mile 20, I changed my tune 1 final time and that was to run another sub 3 marathon. Even thought I could coast in at 7:20 pace to be under 8:40, I changed my goal again. I focused on getting to that final 5K where there would be no more excuses to ease up. The last few miles were a blur, but I remember catching 2 more guys in the final mile after splitting off towards the finish. I ran my legs off and closed my final mile in 6:32. 

Pac Man

Finish (8:34:29 - 29th pro): I crossed the finish line strong, but with nothing left. I turned around to see my official time, and seeing that made it all worth it. I’m very proud of the grit I had on the course. Usually the suffering doesn’t start until 80 or 90 miles into the bike, but one this day it was mile 50. The run started hard instead of floating through the first half like I did in Placid. Despite quitting in my head several times throughout the day, I kept going back to my friends and family refreshing their trackers. I also remembered how I felt in previous races and the results I still achieved. A nearly 15 minute IRONMAN PR to close out my rookie pro season was the perfect way to end it. That last lap of the season really felt like a victory lap for me.