Arizona Ironman - RACE DAY!

I was feeling great come race morning. Ate my breakfast and headed to the start. They had a great service where guys were pumping up tyres so I did that and started slathering on the 50+ suncream. I was feeling very relaxed and couldn’t wait to get out there!

The swim was in the Tempe town lake which was quite big, but the water was very brown from all the dust. It was impossible to see anything which caused some problems as you would swim on top of someone before you knew they were there. I paid the price when I did that and got a sharp kick in the ribs which winded me and made me suck in some rather yucky tasting water. It slowed me down but I stayed calm and kept going. About 10 mins later a rather enthusiastic guy managed to rip my goggles off despite them being under my swim cap! I had to stop because I was so scared of losing a contact lens which would have made racing very interesting indeed. All of these things added time and put a dent in my confidence. I didn’t enjoy the swim and it became about just getting to the end.

I got out, ran what seems to be miles through transition and did a full change into cycling gear. We had a nasty head wind on the way out that kept me at 20km/hr or below, but saw me cruising back in at 45-50km/hr on the return leg in places. It made it very difficult to know how I was going given I was expending so much energy on the way out. By the 3rd lap the wind had become a cross wind so I lost the advantage of having the tail wind to push me home. It was very disappointing to see so much drafting going on. At one stage I had a pack of 15 riders go past me. I can understand that it is tempting to jump onto the back of that and take shelter from the wind but personally I can’t do it. It is cheating and just because lots of people are doing it doesn’t make it right.

I was feeling pretty good on the ride but was losing a few minutes each lap so was dropping time off my target. I wasn’t worried about the run but it was in the back of my mind that my legs were going to have a tough time simply because you never stop pedalling on the bike because it is flat. On hilly courses at least the legs get a rest descending.

I wasn’t having any problems eating so stuck to my nutrition plan 100% of eating every 20 mins and was keeping hydrated. The 3rd lap was tough but I was pleased coming off the bike. I had a bit of a fumble getting off the bike so ended up with one shoe on and the other on the bike. That was minor compared to the stories I heard later of people crashing into the barriers, and others into the bike catchers! There were bike catchers who take your bike from you which really helps so my transition times were pretty fast.

I grabbed my run bag and was very lucky to have 2 volunteers helping me so was in and out in no time including a full change into run shorts and top. First lap of the 3 lap run was OK with only a couple of guys passing me. About halfway on the first lap the lead guy came past which kept it interesting. Towards the end of the first lap I had 2 pro women go past. It was hard not knowing what place I was in and starting the 2nd lap even harder to know if the women I was passing were on their 1st or 2nd lap. I started feeling sick on the 2nd lap and felt like I had a huge lump in my stomach. I had never experienced anything like it. The 4 immodium plus I had taken over the course of the day gave me the confidence to keep eating gels because I knew I was going to have to keep running to pull some places in.

I saw the Dutchman who told me I had a couple of girls up ahead which got me moving again. I was running the aid stations because I didn’t trust that if I stopped I could start again I was feeling so ill. I caught this woman and sat behind her for a couple of hundred metres summoning the strength to go past her when one of her supporters told her she was in 3rd place in her age group (40-45) and she put the hammer down. I went with her but could feel myself starting to redline so I pulled back and let her go. I was passing a lot of people despite how I was feeling and starting the 3rd lap I knew I was going to have to really pull it out of the bag.

There was a girl from my age group who caught me and went past me so quickly I just knew she was headed for home. I was still about 7km out and knew I wouldn’t be able to sustain that pace for that long. I am pleased to say her and the other woman mentioned above were the only non female pros who passed me on the run.

I had picked my point in my reccie run where I would start to hammer it home and it was around 5km out. I was passing so many people I would just focus on one and draw strength from them each time I went by. I had been racing for more than 10 hours by this stage, I was having to swallow back vomit because I was so sick and my mind was wandering thinking of the most random things. I was counting people, my steps, trees, anything just to stay focused on keeping speed and getting to that finish line.

That last stretch along the lake was awful. I just went for it telling myself that the faster I ran the sooner I would be home. Turning left to go up the chute was more of a relief than an amazing feeling I usually get from racing and I pushed the last 200m thinking that someone was going to pass me. I must have stopped my watch by accident during the race because I my watch said 10.40, but the clock said 10.52. I started to cry with sheer exhaustion, frustration and self pity because I wasn’t even close to the goal I had set myself. I was in top shape and yet had done a better time in Austria 5 months earlier.

The Dutchman was amazing and gave me a hug despite me stinking and being rather wet and sticky. I felt like a bit of a pratt when this woman came over to me and congratulated me saying what a great time I had achieved. It did make me stop crying and appreciate a lot of people were still out there and would love to have a 10.52 time.

I felt very agitated about the entire race in the days following and was quite emotional about it simply because I had invested so much in the 1 race and I really don’t know what went wrong. Everyone I talk to says that you have bad days, but why was my bad day on the most important race day of the year for me?

It has taken me some time to write about the race and to work through it and come out the other side with the lessons learnt. Doing 4 ironman races in 15 months is a lot to put your body through, but from that I have fantastic endurance. The thing that I have forgotten how to do is race at speed. So, 2009 is about the need for speed. I am not going to chase a Kona placing this year but instead focus on getting faster over shorter distance and then applying that to longer distance. I know I can be a better triathlete.

The lead up to Ironman Arizona

I collected the Dutchman’s bike and then The Dutchman from the airport Saturday night. We left early on Sunday and drove North from Pheonix through Flagstaff and onto Sedona. As we got up at 5am, as was the plan to get ready for an early start on race day, we got to the outskirts of Sedona around 10am. We went into a roadside diner and had a massive breakfast and then unpacked the bikes to head out and go for a ride.

It was undulating, but very pretty cycling along with the red rocks as a backdrop so it didn’t seem like much of an effort. On the way out we had seen a few wineries advertising wine tasting, so we decided to drop in and see what they had on offer. Now I am not sure this was a great idea given that I had been off the booze for quite some time with the exception on Fiona and Andrew’s wedding at the end of September so to now pour 8 ‘generous’ tasting glasses down my neck with a 30km ride home was not the smartest move. Made all the more difficult by the head wind we encountered. It was worth it. We were in there for ages chatting to everyone in there completely decked out in lycra so it was hard to miss us. Was kind of cute when the woman serving us said how much she loved Amsterdam when she went there but had never been to the Netherlands J

The Dutchman had booked us into this beautiful hotel with the most spectacular view in Sedona where we were staying for 2 nights. The first night we went for a beautiful dinner and had the most incredible steak I have ever eaten. It was melt in your mouth cooked perfectly. I am sure I ate my body weight in steak. That was the other thing, I was dropping weight at a steady rate despite eating the same amount (around 2500 – 3000 calories a day) but not training so much. I wasn’t paying too much attention to it at this stage but in hindsight I think I should have.

We went hiking up into the red rocks the next day and encountered a family of Javalinas! They are like small hairy pigs and were out foraging for their breakfast. We hiked quite a long way in so felt like we had earnt ourselves an afternoon by the pool. The pool had the same view as our room and no one there! We had the entire place to ourselves. The Dutchman turned up in these tight little lycra shorts which earnt him the nickname of Eurotrash for the rest of the day.

I went running the next morning along one of the trails whilst The Dutchman hit the road to cycle further north towards the Grand Canyon. I caught him after he had done some decent miles in temps of around 3-5 degrees. The valley he cycled up out of doesn’t get the sun and it was too early for the air to be warm. In places there was ice, but he survived and I took him to starbucks to thaw out.

Arriving at The Grand Canyon and seeing that view for the first time is breath taking. I was in absolute awe. I had flown over it, but standing on the edge looking down into it, I can’t even explain. We were booked into the El Tovar, the oldest and grandest of the hotels in Grand Canyon Village and it was like stepping back in time. We checked in and hit a road that had only been open for 3 days. It was like riding on silk, there wasn’t a bump in it. We rode out to Hermits Rest and I have to say riding in the altitude really takes it toll. A small slope all of sudden is a lot harder to maintain pace.

I took lots of pictures so it took us quite some time to cover the 13km out. We really went for it coming back and we were cruising at 45km hour on the return leg. I was feeling fitter and stronger than any other time in my life.

We watched the sunrise the next day and then jumped on a bus to go out to the path that leads into the Canyon to Skeleton Point which is a 5km hike in, but only halfway to the bottom. It was an easy hike because the path is so well maintained and wide enough you can pass people. We were stopping frequently to admire the view as the path wrapped around and you would get a different vista every 10 – 15 mins. It was very impressive.

We got to Skeleton Point and we were the only ones there which made it all the more special. As we were sitting there another group arrived and we could also see the mules coming up the path.

The hike is advertised as a 6 hour round trip, but we were back in 3 having given the mules a 30 min head start, we soon caught them and over took them in our power hiking back to the top. We caught the bus back and jumped on the bikes. This time we got to Hermits rest in record time and I was feeling fantastic so I upped the pace and really pushed it home. It is one of only 2 times out of the hundreds of rides we have done together where The Dutchman has had to hang onto me and just sit on my wheel. It gave me a great boost mentally knowing I was in such great shape I could even push the indestructible Dutchman almost to his limit.

We got up the next morning and drove to an eastern point in the Canyon to watch the sunrise and it is one of the most romantic moments ever. Sitting there snuggled up with the Dutchman (it was about –2 degrees) watching the sun climb its way over the rim and splash into the canyon. It was like a spotlight being shone on various parts of the canyon and made you focus on the individual points as they became illuminated. In the background we could see the mules making there first trek of the day into the Canyon, following the path we had taken the day before. I took some pictures, but it is almost impossible to capture the beauty and expanse. You can see the mules over the Dutchmans right shoulder in this pic here.

We drove back to Pheonix and went straight to registration where I picked up my very disappointing race pack and my Zipp wheels. The Dutchman had kindly arranged for a set of 404 Zipps to be waiting for me. I decided to go for a spin on them as I had been in the car all day and wanted to stretch my legs out. Against the Dutchmans advice to take a spare I headed out…..only to get a flat 6km out of town. Now what does a chick in lycra do? Well, you want in the same direction as the traffic carrying your bike on your shoulder of course J I was walking all of about 25 seconds and this guy pulled up. Turns out he was doing a reccie of the course and had a 4X4 to fit my bike in the back. He kindly gave me a lift back in exchange for some tips on the course.

We met up with James and Kaisa the next day and they hitched a ride with us so James could register and I could go return my Zipps that had quite a few cuts on the tyres hence the puncture. I have to say, this guy was fantastic. It wasn’t a problem to change them over and he totally understood that I wanted everything to be perfect leading into the race. It was in complete contrast to Tempe Bicycles who were rude and very unhelpful when we returned the Dutchman’s bike. There are plenty of places to hire a bike in Phoenix and I would recommend somewhere like Dominic’s cycles over Tempe bikes.

So the Dutchman was smart and left me to race prep on the Saturday. I had pre warned him that I wasn’t the best person to be around the day before a race so he went off and cycled the 50 odd km’s to the top of Mount Lemmon down near Tucson. I did some more transition training and got my bags ready and then hitched a ride with James and Kaisa to check everything in.

Now to say that Arizona Ironman smacked of making money is an understatement. I was already disappointed with the rubbish registration pack. When I checked into the hotel I got a welcome pack of energy gel, sunscreen, water, energy beans, lip balm and a lovely note welcoming IM athletes and their family and friends. What do you get for $550 with IM Arizona? A free number plate holder and a bag full of flyers. L

I went into transition, got my bike spot and then went to dump my bags. They couldn’t even stretch to get racks to put the bags on or a tarp to protect them from the 33 degree sun. Nope, you put your bags on the ground following the hand written signs. I was beginning to think I had turned up at some Mickey Mouse event.

Feeling pretty good I headed back to the hotel to eat more and chill out. I was reading Ellen Macarthurs autobiography which I was finding very inspiring, exactly what I needed. The Dutchman returned and we had a slight drama when we set the fire alarm off. Problem solved by ripping it out of the wall, throwing it into the hallway and demanding a change of room because of the smoke and some silly rule about not being allowed to open the windows. We got to bed and I had an ok-ish nights sleep.

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