by Damon » Thu Sep 23, 2010 11:40 am Anyway, I had lots of confidence going into IMMOO 2010. I have never been so calm for Ironman that it actually worried me a bit. Preparation in the days leading up to the race seemed to come and go without trouble. Packing my transition bags was the least stressful it’s ever been (thankfully!). I had far fewer items in my bags than I have in past races. That is a nice bonus as well. That said, I think in future races I’ll rely more on the on-course offerings rather than the stuff I’ve packed for myself. It just makes sense and there’s less to worry about really. Well, without further dudes, onto the show…
Race morning was a 3:30 wake up which never feels good no matter how pumped you are for a race. Still, the pre-race routine kicked into full gear and Ashley and I were out the door and heading to the Monona Terrace at 4:40. Bike set-up went quickly and I got to see some buddies in transition. Bathroom line… ugh. Too bad so many people know about the downstairs bathrooms at the convention center now. I should have just used a Porta-jon. But it was nice to sit in the convention center pre-race and talk about random stuff with about 8 other DI teammates.
Heading to the swim start is almost always a source of anxiety for me. It just takes so long to get in the damn water. Why can’t these people move any faster and get out of the way?! Well, I finally got into the water with about 5 minutes to spare. I only had time for a few strokes so I tried to do some water “jumps” and get my arms ready for the swim. The sun coming up on a cloud-free day made for an absolutely beautiful morning and I was ready to race. My usual starting area appeared to be a bit more crowded than usual and people were really eager to nudge up those extra couple feet. The canon went off and I didn’t get that usual “whoa, I can’t believe the race is here” feeling. I actually said to myself, “time to go, let’s do this thing. You’re ready.” It was nice to have that sense of calm… for about 5 seconds. After that, someone turned on the washing machine and life became quite turbulent for a few minutes. Constant sighting is just not fun but you have no choice when there are people all around and no one seems able to swim in a straight line. And where are all these FEET coming from?! So the opening stretch was full contact as usual but it seemed odd that it was so rough as I was pretty wide to begin. Very different than in 2009 when I had smooth sailing almost the entire swim! I took the first few turns pretty wide to avoid all the “MOOers” and felt decent on the back stretch. This was my first opportunity to lengthen my stroke and get in a groove. The chance to get into a groove was intermittent throughout the swim. I have to say that this was a rough swim and I heard no differently from anyone else. Still, it didn’t seem to take too long and I did exit the water in 1:03:56. This was a few minutes slower than I had planned on but I’ll take it given that I just didn’t feel strong and couldn’t get into much of a rhythm. And it’s not like those extra few minutes would make or break my race. So out of the water, then to the strippers, and up the helix. Man does it suck to run up that thing after an hour swim. As if I wasn’t winded already. But it really is nice to have the fans cheering you on all the way up and into the convention center for T1.
Into the terrace I go, grab my T1 bag, then to the changing room. Man, I love having a personal attendant for these races!! Decided to forgo the arm warmers, put on my helmet and sunglasses, grabbed my bike shoes and headed out the door. Running on that concrete did not feel too good on my bare feet but I think running in cycling shoes ALL THE WAY across the parking ramp would have been worse… I was nearly all the way to the other helix. I reached my bike, put on my shoes, crossed the mount line, and I was off for a 112 mile ride. T1 was relatively “quick” for Wisconsin at 5:17.
The bike was largely uneventful actually and that is not a bad thing. I was able to pass quite a few people on the way to Verona. This is always a slightly tense time because I worry that I’m going out too hard even though I feel like I’m taking it easy. Not 5 miles into the ride I dropped a water bottle, my only water bottle. I would have to wait til mile 12 to get another one. Poop, now I’ve got to eat some liquid shot and wash it down with Infinit?! Not a good way to start I thought, especially when I wanted to hydrate a LOT today. Nothing to do but keep going… stopping to pick up the bottle wasn’t even a choice but I did feel bad about leaving it there. And I had to stick to my nutrition plan. Drink Infinit every 5 minutes followed by water. Drink water in the intervals as often as possible. I felt like I was always drinking fluids but I never had to pee… I guess I need to take bigger sips of water. Well, the first lap went by quite smoothly and I felt great. Pace was right on track and I hoped to pick it up a bit for lap 2. It was AWESOME to have my family and others’ families at Timber Lane. That really makes a difference on both laps (especially the second)! The wind picked up on the second lap and I was starting to feel less than awesome. The Infinit is making me burp and puke a little. I think I’ll have the protein removed for next year… I’m not sure I need it anyway as it’s already so low. Back to Mount Horeb the second time was probably the hardest part of the whole ride. Had to push but didn’t want to push too hard and go in the red. Finally hit the “hills” a second time, felt much worse, but kept about the same pace as the first loop. Getting into Verona the second time was amazing as I knew that my journey was almost over and I had less than 20 miles left and it was with the wind at my back. Except for a couple hills on Waylan, I had a great pace on the return leg. Overall, I even split the bike course which I’m happy about (only thing better is to negative split it but oh well) and crossed the timing mat with a 5:24:57. Again, I had hoped for better but you take what you’re given. I think I undercut the water again… somehow. One other thing may have made a slight difference but I’ll talk about that later.
What a great feeling it is to make it through the bike, feel good, and not have any mechanical problems! I was determined to make T2 quick so I sped through it as fast as possible. Just grabbed my liquid shot flasks and visor and threw on my shoes… those speed laces I got (with the little knobs) are awesome! Ran out of the terrace, had a quick pee break (finally), got some sunscreen applied to my dome, shoulders and arms and started the marathon. T2 time was awesome at 2:51, especially with the extra stops.
Running up toward the square wasn’t as bad as I remembered this time around. I thought I was going at a pretty conservative pace but mile 1 was a 7:25. I got a little scared and thought I better slow down. So I did and that may have been a stupid idea. My pace crept into the mid 8’s and stayed there for the first half marathon (1:50 so not terrible). I was able to hold off Joe Gambles and beat him to the turn-around point (granted, he was finishing the race!) which I was happy with . Small victories, right?! I stopped to see what the race clock read (8:36 for pros, 8:26 for age groupers) and I thought, “Ok, I can definitely get a PR if I just stay on track.” Up until this point I had run the whole marathon which was my number 1 goal… RUN THE WHOLE DAMN THING. No walking aid stations, no walking hills (which were removed anyway). Well, I DID end up walking and I do not regret it one bit. Between mile 1 and 2, I walked with Ashley because she was having some bad cramps. She did not want me to walk but I thought it might help. I think her spirits were raised a bit by the time I began to walk again. So although it cost me some time it was well worth it. I had to know she was ok and I knew she wouldn’t give up. For the remainder of lap 2 my pace was a bit faster than lap 1. I knew it was time to pick it up a bit and really focus on taking in WATER, staying cool, and taking in calories. I felt tired the whole time but just keep looking slightly ahead and moving forward. I loved seeing nearly ALL my teammates on the run course. Granted I didn’t really give a full wave or say anything comprehensible, I think they knew I was happy to see them. At least I hope so! Mile 18 came and I saw the Endurance Nation guys (hilarious) and I knew the race had begun (you’ve read the articles). Now I really just tried to stay fluid and I picked up the pace slightly. At mile 20 I decided it was ok to begin the countdown. Just a 10k to go? Ok, but it’s not going to be a record-setting 10k. It’s going to be a suffer-fest 10k where I try to block out all thoughts except for “step, step calories, step, step, water, step, ice down pants, step, sponge on head, step, step.” I really was running on fumes for the last 10k and was hoping I’d have enough left to coast into the finish. I had taken nearly 200 calories per hour but I just don’t think it was sufficient. I think the real problem was I needed more glucose for my brain. Lesson learned! Seeing Bricki at the mile 2 aid station was great and this would be the last time for the day. They were awesome out there. When I finally made the right turn onto Dayton and approached the mile 1 aid station I was just thinking about how close I was. But dammit that last mile is LONG. Turning onto State St was awesome, especially when I saw some DI fans along the way. They were SO LOUD it was awesome. Really helped to push me along on the mostly-uphill finish. The drama wasn’t over though and the second I stepped onto the capitol square my left hamstring tightened up and I couldn’t straighten my leg. So I must have looked a bit strange running for a minute while trying to loosen it up. I just thought, “There’s NO WAY I’m walking to the finish no matter how much this hurts.” Well, I got it to loosen up while running and made it around the square to the finish chute. Left onto the straight-away and I think I may have smiled my biggest smile of the day. Once I passed the lap-1 turnaround the crowd really got LOUD as they knew I was finishing. It was awesome. As someone else decided to sprint past me I thought I would enjoy it and high five some people in the crowd. I basically even-split the marathon and finished it in 3:55:23. Overall time was 10:32:21, a 22 minute improvement on 2009.
It’s amazing how you can tell your body, “just run these last 6.2 miles and then you can rest.” And it’s amazing just how literally your body takes what you say. Not more than 6 feet after the finish line I collapsed into the catchers’ arms and felt like a rag doll. This was by far the most drained I have ever been after a race. I wanted nothing to do with sweets and everything to do with salty foods. Two cups of chicken broth had me feeling much improved. Then some pizza (and later some fish and chips with extra salt!). I had neglected to take ANY salt stick out on the course even though I had it with me on the bike AND run. Big mistake and I think it would have helped me out quite a bit. It just didn’t seem warm enough to warrant the extra sodium… another lesson learned. Take the damn pills!
All in all, I was happy with the race. It was only the second time I’d put together a complete race (in my opinion) with the first being the 2009 IMMOO. My preparation was great, my training was close to great, and my race execution was pretty good. There will be some minor changes for next year’s race in Canada but I learned some important things this year and took away several positives. Although the off-season is still young, I’m getting eager to begin working towards another PR next year!
Damon
