I got up at 4am on race morning, 3 hours prior to start time. Although transition wasn't opening until 5 am, I wanted to get some nutrition in and start focusing on the long day ahead. I was dropped off around 5.30 am and quickly deposited my gear and special needs bags so I could hit the porta-potty line. By the time I got back to transition, there was little time left to get suited up, as the 6.50 am pro start was already underway. I had less than 10 mins! So much for any sort of warmup!
Getting into Tempe Town Lake was unlike any water entry I had experienced before. There was only 1 small set of stairs in/out, so most of us took to jumping off the concrete ledge that holds in the "lake". It was only about a 3 foot drop, but at 60 F (15.5 C), the instant full-body immersion took your breath away! Luckily my race nerves helped numb the cold shock and I started making my way to near the front of the 2600 or so other swimmers. Although I'm not a strong swimmer, I didn't want to get held up during the swim start and I also figured that most of the folks that would be going past me would be good enough swimmers that they should be able to mostly avoid swimming overtop of me. It turns out this strategy worked pretty good for me, this time.
The swim was mostly uneventful. After 10 mins or so, my feet started to get numb, but the rest of my body was comfortable. On the 2nd half of the swim, I even felt my legs getting warm (no, I wasn't kicking that hard). Getting out of the swim was again a bit tricky, with the first step of the stair being a little too high to easily step up on. I initially put a little too much faith into the volunteer that had offered me his arm, and almost launched both of us back into the water. We quickly recovered and I got onto the stairs, only to slip and take a small chunk out of my shin. Luckily I was so excited that I didn't even notice this until the next day!
[For future IMAZ first-timers, be careful getting out of the water. I had read that this was the trickiest part of the race and it turned out to be that way for me too]
I hit T1 was a large number of other racers. In fact, I think we overwhelmed the volunteers at that time, as I ended up sitting outside the tent, by myself, struggling with my gear. The weekend was the coolest (highs in the upper 60's) Tempe had seen in the past 5 weeks or so and I highly dislike being cold, so I fought a bit to get on my arm warmers and wind vest. I also donned my gloves and was glad that my toe covers were already on my shoes. I was finally on to the part of the race where I am most comfortable - whew!
The 3 lap out'n'back ride sounded like something I would prefer. I do well feeding of the energy of the cheering crowds and with my family being a part of that group, I was looking forward to the extra boosts! Since I exited the water at a busy time, the ride out of town was quite crowded, but the road surface was super-smooth and my legs felt strong on the gradual uphill heading NW into the desert. It was time to start making up some spots in my AG!
I finally hit the turn-around and realized why I had been feeling extra fast on the way out. The wind was directly out of the SE, so we were headed straight back into it on the way back into town. Dang! I was glad that I was disciplined enough on the climb going out, not to have pushed hard, as it would have made the downhill return that much harder (post-race, I found out that speeds going out, uphill, were 4-5 mph faster than coming back in, downhill!).
By the 2nd lap, all of the swimmers were on the course and there was a lot more passing to do. I felt a little bad for some folks, knowing that they were obviously going to have a super-long day ahead, if they even made it to the finish. It was definitely interesting to take note of the bikes and equipment as I slipped past a lot of these folks.
The wind slowly picked up throughout the day. Near the end of my 2nd lap, a small, refreshing rain shower slowly turned into a drenching, cooling me back off for the rest of the ride. I was very happy with my extra clothes that I had put on, especially after the soaking - I would have been miserable without them!
T2 was much less busy than T1 had been. This time I had a personal helper (I had only heard about this in fairy tales) and I made good use of his support. I was quickly out onto the 3 lap run and my legs felt surprisingly good. Now I was to see how long my Achilles would hold up... (5.5 weeks prior to race-day, on Oct. 14, I had injured it, so had very little running from that point on, as I could only get 30-60 mins of easy jogging before it would start hurting).
After about 20 mins into the run, the pain started. I pushed on as long as possible, wanting to get as far as I could before I would be reduced to walking. Somehow, that time never came! There were a couple small sprinkles on the run and the wind continued, making things quite cool, at times, but it was so much better than being too hot. Although my pace fell well off my goals, I only walked once, through the aid station at mile 22.
As I came into the last couple hundred yards, I was ecstatic - I could hardly believe I finally made it! Although I had a lot of pain in my Achilles and both knees, the cooler weather helped me avoid dehydration and my cardio was OK. I really felt much better than I had expected, which led me to start thinking about improving on my time in the future!
My biggest thanks for everything goes to my family, of course. They gave up so much to allow me the time to train to achieve my goal and I owe it all to them! The 3-lap bike and 3-lap, figure-8-ish run course gave me numerous opportunities to see their smiling faces and hear their cheers. The had some great cheer-gear and I felt extremely lucky to have such amazing support for me on the course.
I would also like to thank my coach, Tim "Doggy-Dog" Reed, who set up a training plan that fit my schedule like a glove and pushed me well beyond what I could have done on my own. Thanks also to GG & Dr. Wlad for oodles of advice and training support. Next, Josh @ Tri-Massage, Dr. Hansen @ High Altitude Spine & Sport, and Dr. Mathey @ Alpine Clinic of Chiropractic, all are thanked for helping me through various issues during the season. Finally, the volunteers and spectators at IMAZ were superb and I felt like a super-star every time I went by them. Thanks all!!
Summary (note, no dehydration or stomach issues):
- pre-race: (~400 calories - 1 Powerbar, Gatorade, water)
- swim: 1:09:03
- t1: 7:08
- bike: 5:27:18 (~1800 calories - 1.25 Powerbars, 4 x EFS gel, 4 x EFS powder, 4 x Hammer Perpetuem, 1 Red Bull, 1/4 banana, lots of water)
- t2: 3:07
- run: 4:06:26 (~1100 calories - 8 x EFS gel, pretzels, cola, water)
- TOTAL: 10:53:03 (~3300 calories, 39 AG, 268 O)
