Ironman Lake Placid Race Report - 2022/07/24 - My First Full Distance Ironman

        My journey to my first full distance Ironman has been a slow and steady build.  I began training for my first triathlon when I was 38.  I am 45 now and have completed 46 different events including triathlons of all distances (except full Ironman), duathlon, time trials, 5ks, 10ks, half marathons, trail running races, and other endurance activities such as fast packing and multi-day backpacking adventures.  I knew from the beginning that I was not going to rush into a full Ironman for several years as I wanted to build my body up to withstand the rigors of training and racing so that I can enjoy this lifestyle for many years to come.  This blog post is about the fulfillment of several goals that I set for myself from the beginning.  One was expected, the other was completely unexpected to be fulfilled. 

 

Training for the Race:

Following my Olympic race in the second week of May, we began the build in volume to support Eagleman 70.3 which was four weeks later.  This build included one 100-mile ride, 80-mile ride, and 15- and 16-mile runs.  I also averaged over ~10k yards swimming per week.  I had a partial taper into Eagleman and unfortunately, the race did not end up being the training day in which I hoped.  I ended up getting two flat tires on the bike and being stranded on the bike course for over three hours without support.  I ended up with a DNF and hitched a ride home with the race photographers as they were headed back to town after that last racers passed them. Therefore, race week ended up being a nice recovery week to prepare for the real work towards Lake Placid.

    Here is what the six weeks leading up to Lake Placid looked like in terms of volumes:

• Week 1 was essentially a reintroduction to training after Eagleman.
• Week 2 included a "bonk" on my Sunday long run which was a result of my nutrition plan and lack of recovery from my long ride on Saturday.  I learned a ton about my nutrition during that long ride that resulted in me not eating well afterwards and being trashed for what was supposed to be a 20- mile run on Sunday.  I still made it 18 miles but way under my goal paces.  However, the lessons learned were very valuable and I still built fitness.  
• Week 3 proved the lessons were learned and I executed a far better nutrition strategy that proved to be spot on!  I essentially tried to cram to many calories in during my ride the previous week leading to my gut not emptying.  I recalibrated my nutrition mix by reducing the amount of calories per hour and found the right balance.  This rebuilt my confidence!
• Week 4 it was clear the fatigue was mounting but week 5 started showing signs of strength returning by the end of the week.  
• Week 6 started with a work trip to Denver to kick-off taper week.  The trip ended with a very late flight home into Wednesday morning which was the same day we left for Lake Placid.   I was supposed to get a ride and a run OTB Wednesday morning before leaving, but that wasn't happening as I didn't get home until 3:30 AM and knew sleep was more important.

Traveling, Race Week Training, and Other Logistics:

We left home on Wednesday before the race around 11 AM.  Amazingly, the drive north was clear, and we had no significant traffic jams.  For a summer drive on I-95 North through Delaware, New Jersey, and New York without an incident, is AMAZING!  We arrived in Lake Placid around 7 PM and went straight into town to pick up the access code for the Airbnb from the realtor.  We picked up a pizza at Ere's Pizza and headed to the house for dinner.  

Our Airbnb was a little over a mile out of town off Military Rd.  It was absolutely stunning and perfect for our group.  It added so much value to the trip with its amenities, beds for all, bathrooms for each subgroup in the house, and room to relax!  I will definitely seek it out again if we ever go back.  It was walkable to town; however, we were always able to find parking either in town or off Station St which shortened the walk dramatically.  In fact, that is where we parked the car on race day as it was outside of all the street closures and was perfect!

        On Thursday, we headed out early to Mirror Lake so I could swim on the course as well as get some beach time!  Mirror Lake was a great meeting spot as well as a nice beach for our family to hang out on.  It did get crowded in the days leading up to the race, but it was still fairly easy to park, walk, and swim the course during the week leading up to the race.   After lunch, we headed out to do some sightseeing at White Face Mountain.  Unfortunately, when we arrived at the mountain, the gondola was shut down due to weather at the top of the mountain.  We circled back down the road to the High Falls Gorge for a short hike around the river overlooking an awesome water fall and nature viewing.  

        We ended up having lunch there as well and then ventured back to White Face Mountain.  The gondola had reopened, and we took the fifteen-minute ride to the top.  The views were awesome!

        On Friday, I had my first taper week ride with my friends Matt and Jillian where we followed the bike course in the reverse direction from Transition, Down the Three Bears to White Face Mountain along route 86.  We then rode back up the Three Bears to get a sense of our gearing and power needs to make the climbs on race day.  This was a huge confidence booster as I realized the Bears were not as scary as folks made them sound. 

        After lunch was the Kid's Dip and Dash and Fun Run.  Andrew participated in the Dip and Dash and Natalie did the one-mile fun run. This was Andrew's first multi-sport activity, and he seemed to enjoy it.  Natalie did a great job running the entire mile and was smiling ear to ear!   

        From there we headed to the Triclub Reception at the Olympic Ski Jumping Center.  This was an amazing experience.  They had live demonstrations of young Olympic hopefuls hocking themselves off the jump and gracefully flying down the hill!  The youngest jumpers were 11 years old with the best of the bunch only being 14 years old.

           

          After the reception, we headed back into town and attended the opening ceremony in Mid's Park.  We enjoyed another pizza from Ere's Pizza on a picnic blanket. I am sure glad we went to this ceremony as it really helped my family to recognize what was about to happen in the coming days and get into the Ironman vibe.  The stories of the athletes and hearing Mike Reilly speak built up a lot of excitement and buzz!   

        On Saturday, for my second ride of the week, I rode out alone from our Airbnb down Military Drive to the bike course on Route 73 towards the Keene Descent.  To my surprise, there was a lot more climbing in that direction than I anticipated so I was really happy to get that figured out ahead of race day.  I turned around at Mt. Van Hoevenberg and enjoyed the fast descents in the reverse direction to get a feel for the speed I would encounter descending into Keene.  Other than Monday at home and Tuesday while in Denver, I only had one pre-race run while in Lake Placid which was Saturday off the bike.  I ran down Military Rd back to Route 73 towards River Road which was part of the run course.  By this point in the morning, there were a lot of athletes doing their rides and runs for the morning.  

        After lunch, we tried to do some bike riding at Mount Von Hoevenberg.  Unfortunately, they wanted $10 per person to ride the trails there and we knew we would only be doing that for less than an hour, so we elected to do the Hillside Coaster.  The line was short but took quite a while to work through everyone in the queue.  However, it was not in vain because a few of my friends showed up after we finished and serenaded Tammy with "Happy Birthday"!  Saturday was also Tammy's birthday!  Ever since I met Tammy almost twenty years ago, I have been out of town on her birthday due to Trophy Weekend (the same reason my friends were in town for the race!).  They owed her big time so serenading her was the least they could do.  I had this planned all along with the fellas, but I didn't know it would end up happening here!  

After the coaster, we headed back to the house to prepare a birthday and pre-race meal for everyone at the house.  It was a great and relaxing evening for everyone!

    At some point during the week, someone in our group ate in several places around town including Lake Placid Brewery, The Pickled Pig, and Generations Tap & Grill.  We also had a really good dinner outside of town at the Big Slide Brewery & Public House which was near the Horse Show Grounds.  We definitely recommend all of these restaurants.     

It was finally time to get race ready and get all my bags set-up and packed. I read about a few tricks for gear bag labeling and identification and opted to take paint pens to draw my bib number in big bubble letters on the open space provided on the bag.  I then used black and yellow striped reflective tape to underline my bib number, so it was easily seen.  This worked out pretty well in transition for me!

• Bike Transition Bag - Helmet, shoes, gel for after swim, bottle with water and electrolytes for after swim, (2) 150 ml gel flasks for bike nutrition.  I had water in my BTA hydration set-up, water in a BTS bottle, salt tabs in my bento box, and (2) aero bottles on my down tube and seat tube for my nutrition.
• Run Transition Bag - Socks with powder and rolled up, shoes, hat, sunglasses, number belt, (2) 200 ml gel flasks for run nutrition, and salt tabs.
• Special Needs - Bike - Spare tube, CO2 cartridge, gel, and an extra contact lens in the bag.  
• Special Needs - Run - Pair of socks, gel, extra salt tabs, food options (Honey Stinger Waffle,  Dang Bar, and a Maurten Gel) and an extra contact lens in the bag.
• Morning Clothes Bag - Shirt, shorts, socks, hat, shoes, and towel

Pre-Race Goals:

1. Finish my first full Ironman

2. Sub 11-hours, 10:45 was my stretch goal

a. 1:02 - 1:05 Swim

b. 5:40 Bike

c. 3:40 - Sub 4-hour marathon

Race Morning:

Sleep actually came fairly easy for me the night before and I slept well until about 2 AM.  At that point, I was pretty much awake and tossed and turned a little bit until 3 AM.  I went ahead and got my shoes on to do my pre-race leg shakeout and warm-up so that I would have breakfast about 3 hours ahead of my expected start time.  It was a crystal-clear night with a bright moon so there was plenty of light to run without a headlamp.  I ran in the neighborhood across Military Road from our house which had minimal elevation change so it was nice for strides, drills, and short race pace intervals.  

I got back to the house and had my typical oatmeal mix with almond milk and coffee around 4 AM.  After breakfast, I double checked all my gear bags (again) and got my race kit on.  I applied ample body glide on my legs, under arms, and shoulders to minimize chaffing.  I did not apply it directly to my kit at the intersection of seams which ultimately led to chaffing happening there… good lesson learned.  We left the house a little after 5 AM to drive through the neighborhood to Station Road.  The road had not been blocked off yet, so we were able to get a great parking spot just down the street from Lisa G's Restaurant.  It was a short walk from there, up the hill into town to transition.  

While in transition we were thrown a curve ball as to where the morning clothes bags were to be left.  Rather than a drop off of morning clothes being by the swim start, they were to be left in transition.  This meant we had to strip down to our kit sooner than we anticipated and pack up there in transition rather than down by the lake.  I had brought a backpack as I always have a couple of last-minute things that I hand off to Dad, so I didn't have to leave as much in transition this time.  We were wrapped up in transition by 5:30 and made our way down to Mirror Lake.  

Mirror Lake was already packed with people and porta-potty lines were very long.  We opted to get in line and make sure we took care of our business rather than chance it later.  This proved smart but standing in line took almost all the time we expected to be warming up in the lake.  We quickly got our wetsuits on and made our way down to the warmup area despite the race organizers lining everyone up in the corrals.  

        We each got in about 100 strokes and climbed out of the water and shoved and pushed our way to the sub-1-hour lines.  I felt bad a few times barging our way through, but we really didn't want to be stuck as far back as we may have been forced if we were not so rude.  We timed it perfectly though because as we approached where we wanted to be in line, people were flowing into the water, and we only had a matter of seconds to wait before it was "go time!!"   There was barely any time to get my goggles on and seated correctly.  Unfortunately, this led to my right contact getting plucked out of my eye and fell out!  What a nuisance for the entire day!  

Swim: 1:03:28, 14th AG, 117th Male, 145th Overall

Right from the start, I knew getting close to the cable under the water would be difficult.  When I practiced the course, I tested how far left or right I could be and still see it.  I could essentially get about 10' away from it on either side and still see it in the corner of my eye.  At the opening ceremony, Mike Reilly said they actually cleaned the cable so it would be more visible.  I am sure glad I did this because this was a really crowded swim!  

I ended up being on the inside of the sighting buoys as that seemed to be the least congested on the first loop.  From the start to the turn, it was fairly uneventful, and I navigated around a lot of swimmers as well as worked with some others in the draft.  There was never really a pack in which to work, so I focused on swimming at MY pace.  It is true when they say you almost never have to sight during this swim because of the cable.  However…

I must have been in the zone because all of a sudden, I found myself swimming past the turn buoy completely!  I literally went fifteen yards by it before I realized there wasn't anyone swimming ahead of me!  Fortunately, I passed it on the outside somehow despite swimming on the inside line the entire way.  I turned and made my way to the second turn buoy.  Because of this, I was stuck on the outside of the cable on the way back in.  This wasn't terrible but it wasn't as tight of a line as I would have liked.  I was also able to get onto some feet for most of the way back and felt like I was holding a good pace. We made our way past the docks and turned right into the beach for the run to start the second loop.  I looked down at my watch and saw I was just over 30 minutes for the first loop so I knew I was right on track with my desired time.

The second loop was completely different than the first.  I thought the first loop was congested; this loop was a totally different animal!  We essentially were swimming into the backs of the folks who started much later.  I felt like I was bobbing and weaving the entire second loop.  Many times, I was forced to stop dead in my tracks from people doing breaststroke, backstroke, or stopped.  One time when I was stopped because of breaststroke swimmer, someone swam over top of me just to be stopped on top of me for the same reason I was stopped.  I stayed calm and just did what I could to find clean water and just go as steadily as I could.  

I managed the first turn buoy far better than the first loop and made my way around the second buoy and back to the inside line from the cable.  This line was relatively clear but still found I had to work both sides of the cable to get through all the traffic.  On the way in, I ran straight into someone swimming backstroke and when I stopped and looked up.  The guy yelled at me to give him room because he was a guide for another athlete… ok, sure, how was I supposed to know that!?  Anyway, the swim continued this way to the end, and I popped up to go under the finish banner.  

It was a pretty good run from the lake to transition.  Of all things I was most concerned for this race, it was this run to transition.  I have been battling plantar fasciitis in my right foot and there is nothing worse than walking barefoot, let alone running.  I wore a special x-brace on my foot to help support my arch for this run, but wouldn't you know it, during the swim someone's hand snagged it and pulled it down, so it was essentially worthless for the run.  Fortunately, the run was completely carpeted from the lake to transition so that helped me to tolerate gingerly jogging into transition.  

Overall, I was very happy with my swim as it was right on time with my expectation despite the traffic.  With all the zig zagging and stops on the second loop, I could have been considerably faster so from that point of view, I was elated with my performance.  No matter what they say about the need to sight during a swim, sighting is still a required skill as you need to navigate other swimmers and the course despite having a cable to show you the way.  I will never forget that!

Transition 1: 7:32

This was my first ever "bagged" transition.  Honestly, I didn't think to practice sitting down, removing everything from my bag, putting everything on, then repacking my bag with my swim gear and navigating transition this way… I wish I did as everything felt so foreign and slow!   I also really wish I packed a spare contact lens in my transition bags too, not just my special needs.  Duh!!  

    First, I grabbed a gel and squirted it in my mouth while I put my cycling shoes on.  I elected to wear my shoes rather than mount them to my bike because of my foot.  I am glad I did because it was a lot of running through transition.  Next, I squirted some electrolytes in my mouth before putting on my helmet.  After my helmet, I took another drink and put my gel flasks into the pocket of my kit.  Lastly, I took a deep breath to make sure I had everything and put my wetsuit, goggles, and cap into the bag.  I elected to fix my x-brace and wear it for the bike ride (more on this later).  I exited the tent and handed my bag to a volunteer and ran the loop to the bike entrance.  

    My bike was in row G and it felt like an eternity running nearly the entire length of transition to my row.  My bike was the last one on the rack against the perimeter fencing of transition which proved to be fairly awkward to remove my bike as I am used to grabbing it from the side the fence was on.  I had trouble lifting my bike off the rack as it felt "stuck" on my bottle holder on my seat.  I couldn't get around my bike to lift it from my seat like I normally do, and it took me more of an effort to push my bike up from the top tube to get it unstuck.  I only lost a few seconds here, but it was annoying!  I made it to the mounting point, took a few more steps to the outside and pass the crowd trying to mount their bikes right at the line and hopped on my bike as I clipped in.  

Bike: 5:39:12, 14th AG, 116th Male, 134th Overall

Immediately after mounting, the course makes a steep descent from transition down to Route 73.  As I made the left hand turn out of transition, I could see my family at the top of the hill cheering me!  What a burst of energy I felt, and I blew them a kiss as I rode by!

  

After getting on to Route 73, I knew all my friends who came to Lake Placid for Trophy Weekend would be at Lisa G's so I started scanning for them.   They had no idea what I looked like when I raced so as I approached them, I screamed out "Let's go Boys!!" and they immediately recognized me and started screaming.  Adrenalin boost #2!!  That was one of my favorite moments of the race!

From that point, I knew it was time to settle in and just plod my way along this course.  I remembered the climbing from my ride the day before and settled in quickly to a lower power than I planned to get my heart rate down and just build into the ride.  I took a moment and looked at my surroundings and just fell in love with this view!  I saw the photographer coming up and yelled out to him how amazing it was!  Gratitude flooded my soul in that moment!

I made my way to the Keene Descent and knew it was time to go and have fun.  I let loose on the descent and just barreled down the road as I passed tons of people.  It was definitely a rough road, so it took a ton of focus to make sure you didn't get thrown.  Halfway down my rear bottle ejected as there was a really rough patch after a bridge that rattled everything!  Ultimately, I don't know if it was the first or second lap of the course, but I maxed out at 51.7 mph going down the descent and it was quite a fun time!  I remember getting to the bottom and passing another rider smiling wide and saying, "That was fun!".   

As we entered the town of Keene, we made a left turn on to 9N.  This was the most amazing road to ride!  From the silky-smooth asphalt to the winding road along the river, to the steep hillsides and cliffs that lined the road, it was fantastic!  Not to mention, we had a tail wind and it just felt like we were flying.  It seemed every time I looked down, I was going over 28 mph and was hardly pedaling!  It was a blast!  I knew this was no time to hammer because we had the real teeth of this course coming on at the tail end of the loop and, oh yea, another loop to go!  

The course turned left onto 86 towards Wilmington for a short out and back and then back towards town.  The out and back section was another nice bit of road that had some rolling terrain and was tree-lined and cool.  As we headed out of Wilmington though, the teeth of the course showed up.  First was a stiff headwind channeling down through the mountains and in our face the entire climb back into town.  When we reached a break in the mountain lines, it would turn into a stiff cross wind that would make you wiggle a bit.  Otherwise, it was time to just put my head down and grind up the hills into town.  

I stayed ultra conservative and tried my best to stay within my target watts, in fact I was probably mostly about 10 watts below and focused on my heart rate.  I decided to never let my heart rate climb above mid-zone three for the entire climb and I actually averaged at the high end of zone two.  My ultimate goal was to finish this race and I did not want to blow it on this climb.  I have learned for the future now, when I come to actually "race" a full distance Ironman, I need to stay aggressive and not be so conservative.  But that was for a different day.

When I made it to the top of the Three Bears, I entered the out and back section that goes into town then back out.  This was a cool part of the race as there were a lot of spectators, and it was flat and fast.  The road was pretty rough and crowded with other cyclists, it took a bit of focus to negotiate this part of the course.  As I made my way back into town, I did my best to soak in the energy of the crowds and of course to hunt for my family.  I also debated whether it was worth it to stop at special needs to replace the contact lens that fell out.  Ultimately, I elected not to stop and just deal with the blurred vision in my right eye.  I am left eye dominant so I could handle the depth perception and vision I needed to ride safely.  However, it was annoying!

The road that ran past transition to the start of the second loop was a mess from construction on an adjacent building.  This was a really dangerous area and I heard there were several riders that took spills there.   I am not surprised, and I am fortunate to have gone through unscathed.  I eventually saw my family in the same place as before, at the top of the descent out of town near transition and once again blew them a kiss!    

The second loop was much like the first however the sun came out in full force, and it started getting hot!  At every aid station I focused on filling up my BTA hydration system and whatever little bit was left I dumped on myself to stay cool.  This worked really well, and I never felt like I was getting overheated.  I could tell that a lot of folks were beginning to suffer.  I did back-off again on my power output, but not too much and focused on getting to the end with my legs intact.  Similar to the first loop, I really watched my heart rate and fortunately, it was not drifting upwards and out of control.  

    As I was making my way to the final climbs, my right foot began to throb.  I figured it was from my x-brace and my feet probably started to swell in my shoes.  As I was making the climbs it was getting worse and I was really annoyed by it.  I was debating with myself the entire way whether I was going to wear it for the run or not.   It didn't take long in transition to rip that thing off and get immediate relief!!  Despite this, I was feeling really good as I made my way back into town and felt confident that I had executed well enough to give myself a chance to finish and maybe even run well off the bike!  

Overall, I rode very conservatively and lived up to the mantra I set for myself, "Patience".  Every time I wanted to push, I told myself to be patient and let the course come to me.  Ultimately, lap one took me 2:45:49 and lap two took 2:53:05.  I averaged 128 bpm which is a solid zone 2 heart rate for me.  I maxed at 153 bpm.  I averaged only 163W which is 2.4 W/kg.  My normalized power was just slightly higher at 2.56 W/kg.  My goal power was between 190 and 200W (2.79 - 2.94 W/kg).  If this was not my first ever full distance race, I might have tried to hold that, but ultimately my goal of making sure I finished this race was held intact by riding conservatively.

I learned that I have no need for the bottle behind the seat in my set-up.  There were enough aid stations that my BTA was never empty, and my hydration level was spot on (more on my nutrition plan later).   However, this may still be a course specific decision depending on the spacing of the aid stations.  I may also look for a new bottle cage that can hold the water bottles that Ironman hands out and I will just grab one at the first aid station to stow away. 

I used Best Bike Split to calculate my anticipated ride time with my target power output and it predicted a time of 5:27:48. This was my stretch goal for the race.  The time I had given my Dad before the race of when to expect me was 5:40… well, that was pretty much a self-fulfilling prophecy as I was thinking about that along the ride as I considered how conservative to remain.  This is the danger of setting a time expectation on yourself in a race, you may leave some effort out there.  Again, I am not disappointed at all as my number one goal was to finish this race.     

Transition 2: 6:17

What a treat to have bike catchers!  This was my first experience with their assistance and boy was that nice!  I continued to wear my cycling shoes to support my foot, but my right foot was really troubling me to the point that I was really slowly jogging through transition.  I navigated my way through the sea of bags and grabbed mine and ran straight to a porta-potty before going into the tent.  Having a long climb coming back to transition and then essentially having spectator lined streets from there into transition was not conducive to peeing on the bike.  I took my helmet and shoes off and immediately removed the x-brace from my foot.  The blood flowing back into my foot was delightful!  I got my shoes, hat, sunglasses, nutrition, and run belt out of the bag and put it all on.  In a brief period of delirium, I thought maybe I had put an extra contact lens in my transition bag, and I frantically looked around for it until I realized that it was in my special needs bag… lesson learned!  I packed up my bike gear and off I went out of the tent.  I was jazzed up to see my entire family right outside of transition as I turned right to head down Main Street!  

Run: 3:59:53, 10th AG, 90th Male, 112th Overall

I had made it to the run!  It is where all the rubber meets the road, right!?  As I turned down Main Street and headed towards Route 73, I heard Mike Reilly call out my name as he was set up in a tent adjacent to transition.  That was pretty cool.  

I went through my mental checklist of how I was feeling and prepared for the long run ahead.  The first part of the run course is straight down the steep hill from Main Street down to Station Street at Lisa G's.  I tried to remain within myself and not let my legs run away from me down the hill.  The good news at that point was my right foot felt great.  During my training leading up to the race, it would take about a mile for my foot to warm up where the thumb tack feeling of the fasciitis would subside.  I didn't have any of that this time, it was great from the start to the finish!  It was a complete miracle to not deal with that at all during the run.  God is great!!

I focused on staying in control and comfortable with my pace to start.  I never really looked at my watch but looking at the data afterwards, I did go a bit faster than I planned in the first 5k of the run, however I felt comfortable and didn't feel like I was pushing it.  The first half marathon felt smooth, and I was staying on top of hydration and electrolytes with my salt tabs.  I was carrying my nutrition in a 200ml flask of which I had another in my kit's rear pocket.  I took the approach to sip from it about every 15 minutes or so.  

I was chugging along the first loop and as I was getting to the turnaround point on River Road.   I was beginning to wonder how my friends Matt and Jillian were doing.  Matt is a great runner and typically closes races with fast run times so I figured he may be closing in on me.  When I reached the turnaround, I started a mental clock to see how far back he might be.  When I saw him, 14 minutes had passed since I turned around, so I figured I was pretty far ahead but still close enough for him to catch me, so it really helped to push me to "run scared" for a little while… a little competition is good!

After coming off River Road and heading back to town, there is a long steady climb of which I decided about halfway up to walk the rest and keep my heart rate down as I still had another half to run.  I also walked the really steep climb from Lisa G's back up to Main Street.  I am very happy I did as I believe this saved my run legs to stay relatively strong the rest of the way.  At mile 13, I decided to walk the aid station for the first time as it was still getting hot, and I wanted to get a good amount of water and ice to stay cool.  I continued this protocol for the remainder of the run.  However, I did lose discipline later on with moving swiftly through them so that was definitely something I would like to stay focused on in the future (if I can).  

Around mile 15 things started getting a little rough, but I wouldn't have said the wheels were falling off.  I simply started losing the desire to have anything from my gel flask and I had already passed special needs where I had some other choices squirreled away.  I stopped at the next aid station to grab a Maurten gel with caffeine and boy did that help big time.  I felt a nice rebound and continued with them as needed.   

Staying cool really began to be important and I was dumping ice in my hat and down my kit at every aid station.  I was mixing water and ice to get ice water in my gut as well.  I dealt with some side stitches about this point as well and I am not sure if it was the super cold water I was trying to drink or if I got behind on taking some electrolyte tabs and the water was sloshing around.  Ultimately, they subsided eventually.  The heat was noticeable, but it was not bothering me at all, I just wanted to stay on top of it.   

Heading back to the out and back on River Road was definitely long and lonely, it took a lot of mental focus.  I found myself walking on a few inclines into a head wind and trying to refocus on running to each aid station.  After the turn around, I was able to regather my fortitude to maintain exactly that approach.  Aside for the two large hills back into town, I stayed strong and only walked the remaining aid stations.

I reached the top of the hill onto Main Street and knew I was going to finish and that I was going to be really close to my goal of sub eleven hours.  That thought as well as seeing my family again at the turn away from transition to the out and back really lifted me to stay strong until the end.  

I reached the special needs bag area again and decided to forgo it as I was feeling fine, the gels were working, and I had already gotten this far with only one contact lens.  I made it to the turn around and began my run towards the finish line.  I distinctly recalling that I wanted to run from this point all the way to home, and boy did adrenalin kick in to allow me to do it.  I overheard a spectator saying, "He looks really strong."  I have no idea if they were saying that about me, but I took that compliment as mine!  LOL!  

As I entered the Oval and made my way around transition to the finishing chute, the emotion took over and I completely had tunnel vision.  I remember trying to look around and see if my family made it to a position to witness it, but I couldn’t see a thing. (Fortunately, they are in the background of the picture below).  The mix of emotions were overwhelming and before I knew it, I crossed the line as an Ironman!  

My pre-race goal was a sub-4- hour marathon off the bike.  My stretch goal was a 3:40 marathon.  My run was 3:59:53… just barely under 4 hours but I made it!  Did I have 19 minutes in me to get to 3:40, definitely not this day, but sub 3:50 might have been possible if I maintained discipline and focus in a few areas.  But heck, for my first ever straight marathon, I'll take it!  I averaged a 9:16 pace with my fastest mile being 7:35 and my slowest being 11:36 which was the section coming up from River Road and walking up the long hill to the Horse Show Grounds the second time.  Surprisingly the walk up Lisa G's was not my slowest.   Interestingly, I ran the last mile where adrenalin kicked in 7:50, so I clearly had something left in the tank.  

In hindsight, I am so happy with how I executed this run as it was so beyond my expectations despite being barely ahead of my goal time.  First, my foot did not fail me in the slightest.  Second, my nutrition plan was solid despite the taste aversion that occurred late in the run.  I had a plan B and practiced with Maurten gels so I knew it would be there in case it happened.   This saved the day.  Third, staying on top of my hydration and electrolytes were key and it really held everything together.  Lastly, I stayed strong mentally, refocused when I needed to, walking when I needed to, and remained confident in my approach without panicking.  I believe staying conservative and adjusting to the unexpected heat of the day also helped me prevail.      

Overall: 10:56:22, 10th AG, 90th Male, 112th Overall

Post Race:

After completely blowing by my family in the finishing chute, I was able to find them outside of transition near the bike return entrance.  I was able to give everyone a hug and asked for a few minutes to regroup back near the food and volunteers.  

I discovered the power of chicken broth!  Oh man did that taste good at the end, I think I had three bowls of it!  I also had a bottle of water but had no other appetite to eat anything yet.  I rapidly got really cold even though it wasn't really chilly.  Fortunately, they had those foil blankets that I wrapped up in.  

After about twenty minutes of sitting and drinking the broth and water, I made my way back to my family and coordinated a location to meet after grabbing my gear from transition.   I went to grab my bags and bike and met them outside of transition near the swim entrance.  I quickly put on a dry shirt and that helped me warm up a bit.  

I had learned that Matt and Jillian were struggling on the day and unfortunately may be several hours behind.  We decided to walk from transition back to the car by Lisa G's.  It was a bit of struggle walking down the steep hill off Main Street, but it was manageable.  I was not very sore, just very fatigued.  The thing that hurt the most on my body was my left heel where my timing chip had dug into my skin fairly deeply.  

Up until this point, I had not even seen my phone or tracker app to know how I placed so it was a complete additional surprise to see that I finished tenth in my age group.  Being my first ever full distance triathlon, I was elated with that placement.  However, there was no way I was thinking about a Kona slot.  When I got back to the house, I went straight upstairs to sit in an ice bath and text with my coach Sierra.  Ever since Timberman 70.3 last year, I swear by ice baths after races as I really think it prevents DOMS for me.  Other than a few minor sore muscles in the days following the race, I never had major DOMS and felt pretty good to walk around town.  Even after the eight- hour ride home on Tuesday, I was just a little stiff and not sore at all.  

    After my ice bath, I wanted to return to the finish line to help Matt and Jillian with their gear and return back to the house.  Fortunately, I was able to catch them both and celebrate Jillian's first Ironman finish as well!  They may not have had the race they had hoped for, but they were in good spirits and enjoyed the experience!

    Sierra was the first person to bring up slots for Kona.  I honestly didn't want to consider or think about it as I couldn't imagine it would happen after my first Ironman, let alone how I could manage it being only 10 weeks away!  It turned out that our age group was given 5 slots as it was the largest age group in the race.  Later in the evening, my friend Matt sat down and went through the participant list for Kona and looked for names in the top ten to see who already had taken a slot.  He also knew that the second-place guy was not going to take a slot.  To our surprise, the first-place guy did not already have a slot despite winning his age group several times the last two years, we guessed he was not going to take it.  So that meant seven people ahead of me for five slots, the chances that two folks would not take a slot were high and I might get one.  I was convinced at that point that I should go to the roll-down ceremony on Monday.  It wasn't until about 9 PM after the race that my appetite showed up and we started throwing back the food, it was pretty glutinous but satisfying too!

Monday morning rolled around, and we made our way to the Horse Show Grounds to the age group awards and slot ceremony.  The breakfast was ok, they had run out of food as they didn't anticipate so many people.  

It took over an hour for the age group awards to wrap up and the slot ceremony to begin.  We grabbed seats in the bleachers, fortunately under the tent because a downpour rolled in right around the point my age group was up.  The suspense was building, and it was extremely agonizing sitting there as names were called.  

The first and second place finishers did not take slots as expected.  Third and fourth did take slots.  Fifth and sixth place were no-shows.  Seventh and eighth took theirs, and ninth was another no-show… Mike Reilly called my name next!  I couldn't believe it!  My overarching triathlon goal was one step closer to becoming a reality!  I told Sierra when I first signed up with her when I was 39 years old, that I wanted to qualify and race Kona before the age of 50.  Kx50 has been my mantra and singular focus in my build to become a triathlete, and then to build to my first full Ironman.  I never dreamed I would get a slot in my first attempt!  Tammy met me in the rain after going to the tent to accept my slot and I had no words.  I gave her a big hug and cried on her shoulder… WE ARE GOING TO KONA!!!!

    

    That is a wrap on my first full Ironman!  My triathlon journey would not be possible without my amazing wife and family, my mother, my father, my friends, and my coach Sierra!  Everyone has contributed some form of encouragement, guidance, love, and grace to allow me to pursue this wild dream.  Thank you all from the bottom of my heart and soul!  

Nutrition Plan and Recipes:

Breakfast around 4 AM

1. 1/2 cup oatmeal

2. 1 scoop (35g) vanilla whey protein isolate

3. 1 tbsp peanut butter powder

4. 1 tbsp hulled hemp seeds

5. 1 tbsp chia seeds

6. 1 tbsp ground flax seed

7. 1 tbsp cinnamon

8. 1 Salt Stick electrolyte capsule

9. 1 cup almond milk

Pre-Race Shake approximately 45 mins before start

1. 50g corn starch

2. 1/2 scoop (17.5g) vanilla whey protein isolate

3. 3 scoops (9g) beta-alanine

4. 1 Salt Stick electrolyte capsule

5. 200mg caffeine

6. 1 tbsp peanut butter powder

7. 1 cup water

Post Swim in T1

1. (1) Maurten Gel 100

2. Water with (1) SIS Hydro Electrolyte Tab

Bike Nutrition

1. Water from BTA Storage every 5 minutes, refill at every aid station

2. (2) 500 ml aero bottles with liquid nutrition, sip on it every 15 minutes

a. 50g corn startch

b. (2) SIS Hydro electrolyte tabs

c. 3 scoops (9 g) beta-alanine

d. 3 scoops (9 g) lemon or mango powder for flavoring

e. 3 packets (3g) of Stevia

f. TdeltaS Ketone Ester Delta G - half bottle (~12.5g)

g. 500 ml of water

3. (1) 150 ml gel flasks, every 30 - 45 minutes up to 2 hours

a. (2) SIS Go Energy + Electrolyte Gels

b. (1) SIS Beta Fuel Gel

4. (1) 150 ml gel flasks, every 30 - 45 minutes to finish

a. (2) SIS Go Energy + Electrolyte Gels

b. (1) SIS Go Energy with Caffeine Gel

5. Salt Stick Electrolyte Fast Chews - 4 - 6 per hour

Run Nutrition

1. Water and ice from every aid station

2. (2) 200 ml gel flasks with same corn starch mix - A single batch split between the two flasks

a. Sip on it every mile or so

3. Salt Stick Electrolyte Fast Chews - Pop two in my mouth prior to reaching each aid station, so                 about every mile

4. When I reached a point of not wanting my nutrition around mile 15, I grabbed a Maurten gel                 with caffeine and had two more before finishing.