Ironman Arizona 2012 Race review

WHY ANOTHER IRONMAN?

Well 2012 certainly has been a busy year.  In addition to trying to recover from the breathing problems I was having related to the mold exposure in my office, I purchased two additional insurance agencies, moved my main office to one without mold and opened a 2nd location.  Nothing like a full plate. I also want to thank my wife and kids.  There is a lot of time away from them training leading up to an Ironman race.  I spent hours each week in my basement on a bike trainer or treadmill.  I am grateful for their support and patience!

When you register for an Ironman event you are almost a year out from the event and as I have seen a lot can change in one year.  After not being able to finish Ironman Wisconsin in 2011 I decided I had to do another full Ironman.  I couldn't have my last IM attempt be a DNF.  This would be my one and only race for 2012.

I really enjoy doing the IM events with the groups from our triathlon club, Annapolis Triathlon Club (ATC).  For IMAZ we had about 17 people sign up for the race.  Doing an event like this with a group allows for many training partners as we get ourselves ready for the big day.  It also really helps when getting to the race location to have a group to be around to help calm the nerves.  If you have a chance to do a race with a group of friends I would highly recommend it.  Having friends there on race morning would prove to be my key for even starting the race!

RACE VENUE

The race is in Tempe Arizona (outside of Phoenix) and I loved the city!  It is about a 10 minute ride from the airport.  We stayed in downtown Tempe about a 5 minute walk from the race sight and race transition area.  It could not have been a better location.  We did not need a rental car and there were plenty of restaurants all within walking distance.  If you ever decided to race IMAZ spend a few dollars more and stay in downtown Tempe.  It will make the race a bit less stressful.  The weather was also spectacular and race day would be the same.  Sunny and 80 degrees.

Ok onto the race report..

THE SWIM

The swim is in the dark cold waters of Tempe Town Lake.  This is a man made lake in downtown Tempe.  Now let me get this out of the way up front.  I DO NOT LIKE BEING COLD.  And I especially don't like cold water.  My biggest concern of this entire race was the swim.  Swimming 2.4 miles is never easy.  It is not any easier with 2500 others in a 200 wide space shivering in 64 degree water. This type of swim can be dangerous and you have to respect the distance and the conditions.

Since I have had my breathing problems (related to my mold allergy), swimming has been a bit more difficult.  My most difficult times breathing had been during the swims. I have gotten much, much better since moving my office but the swim always makes me nervous.  I had done the practice swim the day before the race and it did not go well.  I had difficulty catching my breathe and became a bit panicked.  I had actually decided that if I did not feel comfortable swimming on race morning I may just withdrawal from the race.  I did not want to put myself in a position I would regret later or worse yet severely compromise my safety.

As I got ready in the hotel I decided not to race.  I brought my wetsuit and swim gear with me but was ready to tell the race director I was not racing.  I shared my concerns and decision with my friend Jeffrey Lancaster as we walked to transition area to get ready.  He tried to assure me that I would be fine and could do this swim.  For some reason I really feared this swim.  Maybe it was the cold water combined with the unknown "could I do this swim?", but I was really nervous.  Once we got to transition I spoke in more detail with my coach, Ashley Halsey, and another friend Nancy Hill.  Nancy looked me in the eye and sternly stated that "you are getting in that water!"  Ashley told me to remain calm and at least try to swim because he did not want me to be kicking myself 6 months from now for not at least trying.  It was Jeff, Nancy and Ashley that reassured me to at least get int the water and just see how it goes.  I decided to force myself to get into the water and see how I felt. I figured the stern tongue lashing from Nancy would be worse than the cold water :)  Thank you guys!  You had your own race to get ready for and I appreciate your help getting me focused.

So I preceded to get ready for the swim and move with the crowd over to the swim entrance area.  As I started to enter the water I saw many swimmers standing on a ledge at the waters edge walking to the swim start.  So rather than jumping into the water I walked along the edge and eventually did get into the water and just hung onto the wall to remain calm.  Now I tend to hang toward the back of the pack at an IM swim anyway.  An IM swim is a mass start swim.  The cannon goes off and a huge slug fest of arms hands and feet all start churning up the water.  If you are not careful you could get hurt at the start of the swim.  So I hang back a minute or two and slowly start the swim.  As 7am approached I will admit it that I was scared.  I was hoping I could breathe ok and I was hoping I could remain calm and get into a rhythm. 

At 7AM the cannon went off right above me.  The craziness had started.  I slowly made my way out past the start and just started swimming.  Boy was the water cold!  It took me a few minutes for my face and hands to adjust to the cold water.  The swim is a 2.4 mile swim, out and back.  You swim out about 1.2 miles turn left for 100 yds or so and turn left again and head back 1.2 miles to the swim exit.  My strategy was to keep the wall of the lake (to my right) within sight.  I figured if I had a problem during the swim I could swim to the wall and all would be ok.  I know it sounds crazy but the fact I could see that wall for the first part of the swim was very calming.  It allowed me to just keep moving forward and eventually I started to relax and breathe.  Since I was near the back anyway I never had more than a few people swimming near me.  I just kept moving forward and eventually reached the turn for the swim.  Once I made that turn and started heading back I knew I could finish.  We were swimming between two bridges that crossed over the lake.  On the way back I kept looking at the bridge I needed to swim under to get to the swim exit.  I was also starting to shiver a bit.  I could tell my body was getting cold because even though were are moving forward swimming I was starting to get cold.  It is an odd feeling.  I only had about a 1/2 mile to go when I started to feel the cold so I just kept moving forward.  That was my mantra on the swim, keep moving forward.  As I approached the end of the swim things got much more crowded.  We needed to make a left turn for the last 200yds to the finish and that was the most crowded part of the swim for me.

At this point I was still shivering but could see the swim exit steps and was swimming as fast as I could to get the heck out of the water.  The way this swim exit worked you actually had to be pulled up onto the ladder out of the water to be able to stand and climb out.  As I was approaching the ladder I was looking for the exit with the biggest guy standing there.  I had been in the water for an hour and forty five minutes so it takes a few seconds to get your balance when you get out.  So I was looking for big guy to haul my big butt out of the water.  It took two attempts but I did get up on the ladder and stood up and almost fell back into the water.  Once I got off the swim exit steps the first person I saw was Nancy Hill smiling.  Thanks again Nancy for not allowing the fear to overcome me!

Well I did not have the fastest swim in the world but my goal was 1:45 and I was out in about 1:46.  I was just thrilled it was over.  This was the most mentally challenging swim I have ever done.  I really did not think I could get in that water and stay calm.  I could  now get onto the bike, warm up and continue this race.

THE BIKE

Well after the swim the bike should be a piece of cake, right?  Well sort of.  The bike is three loops of about 37 miles each.  You leave downtown Tempe and make your way out to a 19 mile out and back that has a gradual uphill on the way out and a gradual downhill on the way back.  If the winds do not shift too much it could be a great ride.  The first loop was pretty uneventful.  We had ridden one loop of the course a couple of days before so we were familiar with what to expect.  But as on any race day, you cannot always prepare for the wind.  My goal was to finish the 112 mile bike as close to 6 hours as possible. 

On the first loop the wind was not too bad.  There was a bit of a head wind on the way to the 19 mile out and back.  On the gradual down hill back there was a nice tailwind which made for some fast points on the return leg.  At about 10 miles my bike computer totally failed.  A note to racers out there.  If you train using cadence or speed, prepare yourself if the computer fails.  Without any cadence or speed indicators I could only look at my heart rate and time.  I decided to just watch my heart rate and make the best of it.  I made my way back into town and was feeling pretty good.  I made the turn around with the crazy crowds and signs and actually heard Mike Reilly announce my name as I made the turn.  Pretty cool to see!  My first loop was about 2:15 minutes.  Slower than I had hoped but still ok.

On my second loop I started to feel a bit light headed an nauseous.  I don't know if I drank some of the not so clear lake water or what, but I was not felling the greatest.  There was also more of a headwind now.  I was just staying in my aero position with my head down and kept peddling.  Like the swim, I just wanted to keep moving forward.  It was also getting warmer.  Even though I did not have a speed indicator I knew I was slowing down from my first lap.  I had stopped at a couple of aid stations to fill my water bottles and to take on some food.  The few minutes of break time really helped.  I wasn't feeling the best and the extra time and food was good for me.  It felt like we were riding into the wind on the entire 2nd loop.  I drank about 6 water bottles on that second loop and had eaten a lot and I was starting to feel much better.  I finished the 2nd loop in about 2:25.  Still slower than I had hoped but ok.  At this point I decided to abandon any time goals I had set for the finish.  I had one loop to go and had almost 4 hours to finish the bike before the cutoff time.

The third loop was pretty uneventful.  Since I was not pushing for any specific time I was going to try and enjoy this last loop.  It again felt like the wind was in our face the entire loop.  I kept a nice steady pace and kept moving forward.  It felt much warmer on this loop and I could feel the heat on my back.  At this point the race course was not crowded as all.  I was able to take in in some of the sights of Arizona.  I was trying to take it in as much as possible.  As I came back to town on that last loop I knew unless there was a major problem I could finish in under 17 hours. Total time on the bike was just over 7 hours.

THE RUN

Now I am no runner so to call this a 26.2 mile run is a bit misleading.  My goal was to finish in the allotted time and make all the time cutoffs to continue.  During Ironman Florida in 2009 I got major blisters on my feet which made it very painful to run.  So my strategy going into this run was to make sure I kept my feet dry.  So as I transitioned from the bike to run I changed just about everything and put on dry socks. 

The run consists of three loops of about 8.5 miles around Tempe Town Lake.  It is a pretty nice run as you pass by the finish area on the first two laps and there is a huge crowd cheering you on.  I set on my first loop determined to run as much as I could.  I started out running for three minutes then walking for one minute.  I did this for the first 2 miles or so. At around mile two I saw Jeffrey Lancaster approaching on his second run loop.  (It was great to see a familiar face even if it was Jeff's).  I was felling pretty good at this point.  Jeff and I stayed together for a bit running and walking until he was ready to move on.  Jeff was having a good race and he was going to keep running.  I kept my run/walk plan in place until about mile 6 when I felt the blister on the bottom of my left foot.  It was starting to get painful to run so I found myself walking more.  Around this time Michael Marvin and Theresa SanLorenzo came past me.  They both looked great and were having great races.  They would both finish their first Ironman!  I also saw Bill Fader about this time and he was really moving.  Bill had a great race and became an Ironman with a sub 13 hour race time.

I was only walking at this point as the blister made it difficult to run.  I finished my first lap and came upon Ashley Halsey and Nancy Hill at the start of the 2nd loop.  I was glad to see them and they encouraged me to keep it up!  I continued walking the second loop of the run.  At this point most of the other racers are also walking and you see the same people around you.  It can be pretty lonely out on the race course at times and it is very peaceful.  There were a lot of people walking around me but we were all quiet.  I think we were all doing the math in our head to see if we could make it to the finish.  Toward the end of the second loop Ron Bowman caught up to me.  Ron and I walked for a bit.  I gave him some salt pills but he was able to run and went on ahead of me. 

I needed to make the start of the third loop by 10PM or they would not let you continue.  I made my start of the third loop at about 9PM giving myself three hours to go about 8.5 miles.  I knew I was going to finish!  I started talking with another racer, Randy.  Randy was 52 and this was his first Ironman.  He had 17 family and friends waiting for him at the finish.  He lived in Tempe only about a 1/2 mile from the race venue.  Randy had a GPS watch and for the next several miles we kept calculating our time and speed.  We were getting closer to the finish.  Randy was not doing very well so I decided to keep walking with him.  The last three miles he kept thanking me for staying with him because he "needed someone to push him to the finish".  I was glad to stay with him and I needed his help just as much.  I knew I was going to finish and I was calm but excited. 

As were getting to the finish I told Randy to go ahead of me and finish.  This was his first IM and  I was happy to let him go ahead of me.  He could not run so as we got to the turn for the finish, about 200 yds to go, I started to jog ahead.  One thing I was determined to do was to cross the finish line running.  I was unable to run across the line in Florida so I was going to finish running in Arizona.  My blister had finally popped so for that last 200 yds I was going to run! I took off on that last turn off the main running loop and headed up hill.  Yes the last 200 yds or so were up hill.  It seemed like a mountain to me.  You can now hear the crowd roaring, the music playing and see the bright lights.  I was having trouble running up the last hill so one of the volunteers grabbed my are and told me "to get up to the finish" where Mike Rowe would call my name.  I thought to myself Mike Rowe is here?  I thought his name was Mike Reilly.  Anyway, I made the final turn for the finish line chute and the crowd was amazing!  The video online does not convey how loud the finish area was.  People were screaming and banging the barriers, it was crazy!  There is nothing like the finish line at an Ironman race.  Truly unbelievable!  I had the last 50 yds of finish line all to myself and it was was awesome.  I heard Mike Reilly call my name (even though he mispronounced it) and YOU ARE AN IRONMAN.  I put my arms in the air and was thrilled to be finished.  I actually made the Ironman Arizona highlight video (at 9:21 of the video, here is a link to the video 2012 Ironman Arizona Race day video) with my arms raised.  At the finish line I saw Sandy Grovesner and Jeffrey Lancaster and told Jeffrey her was going to need to push me in a wheel chair in the airport. Thanks for being there guys!

At the finish line the "catchers" are there to make sure you are ok and they hand you your finisher shirt, hat and medal.  They then take your picture and you are officially done.  I found out a few minutes later that the person that put the medal around my neck was the women's race winner.  Pretty cool that the race winner would come back at 11PM and greet the last finishers.  All I wanted to do now was eat.  So I headed off to the food area and had some pizza. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

This was my third attempt at an Ironman and my second finish.  After a DNF in Wisconsin in 2011, a very busy year in 2012, and the breathing problems I have been working through, I am thrilled I finished.  I was only able to complete 75% of my training schedule. With life, work and kids it is just not possible for me to train 20 hours a week.  I tried to make the best use of my time with the goal to finish.  My finish time ultimately was not important.  I over came my severe anxiety over the swim and finished!  Even though it was the slowest race I have ever done it was the most fun and rewarding.