First time with a race report, for myself thought good to put it on paper after a crazy and disappointing weekend.
**Build up **
My year was built around this as my ‘A’ race. I raced 5 1/2 Ironman’s over the year trying to get back from a year off and a knee injury that kept me off running all winter. I was nowhere near my previous pr run times in any of them, but first year with a power meter, all the racing really helped me nail the bike pacing to set up a solid run. I had solid race at 70.3 Augusta aside from falling off mid run with some hydration issues, but felt on track. Then came the first speed bump. 4 weeks out I tweaked my knee somehow while swimming. That knocked me out running for 10 days it what was supposed to be my last big push, including a race sim workout. I ended up being able to ride through and got a 30 mile week of easy running in pre-taper so thought I could still salvage a solid race. I also used it as an opportunity to spend a lot of time in the pool. My swim was feeling stronger than ever leading up the race (major disappointment to follow).
Race Week
Speed bump #2, on the 11 hr drive down to Panama City Wednesday, I felt something funny in my ear that reminded me of several previous ear infections…ok I thought, probably nothing. Actually went away, made it down to pcb, unpacked, went to bed early, figure I’m fine. 11pm, wake up to horrible ear pain….can’t sleep with it, and of course all urgent care’s closed. Long story short, 2+ hours later after ER and pharmacy, back in bed with middle and outer ear infection. Doc said should be fine to race, just might not feel great and won’t get better as fast, but 3 days for drugs to work. Aside from that, pre-race was fine, stayed at Shores of Panama right on the beach, amazing view, great pool, nice condo, walking distance to start, only a little more expensive than the dump host hotel (highly recommend for anyone doing it next year).
Race Day
Up at 3 am, usually pre-race routine, head down to transition at 4:30 for final setup, then short walk back to the hotel to relax before the start. I knew it was going to be cold and windy, but water looked great so excited to get started. Walked back down to the start a little after 6, everything progressing as normal. Everyone on the beach ready to start, the call for all the pro’s to enter the chute at 6:40, then everyone knows what come’s next…announcer comes over the mike with an “important announcement.” He didn’t even have to say it, I already knew what came next. The hush was amazing, I think everyone else did too. I won’t go too far into it, it’s been beat to death already, but this was obviously hugely disappointing. I consider myself a strong swimmer, and especially with the lack of running leading up, I was counting on the swim to be somewhat competitive. Also picked this race as one of the last mass start races around. Now what…well now the race plan’s somewhat out the window. They make the announcement for time trial start by bib number, and mine, 2117, meaning a 9:25 start time. After up at 3am, not really ideal.
Bike
The couple hours I had to wait was probably good, gave me time to process and just say, screw it, race your race. I decided to just hit my bike/run plan as if the swim happened, and get through it. Wind was obviously brutal, 20+ steady with stronger gusts. Wind out of NNW meant headwind first 25 miles, crosswinds for a while, then mostly tailwind home from mile 80. Starting towards the back, I was mostly just passing steady all day, but the course was surprisingly spread out. I hardly saw any “draft packs,” but after talking to others and reading some other reports, sounds like they were all just ahead of me…penalty tents also fairly quiet. Plan was roughly 180 watts for the ride and heart rate cap of 135. Works out to roughly 65%, but especially with knee issues wanted to hit the run as fresh as possible. Ended up riding 178ap, 182np, average hr 132.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/625279629
**Run **
Hopped off the bike and felt pretty good. I was disappointed with the time, expected about 5-10 minutes faster on that power based on bestbikesplit, which is usually pretty accurate, but I wasn’t overly concerned. Plan was keep hr under 140 and hover at 8 min pace for the first 13 or so, then reassess. Felt great for the first 6 miles out with mostly tailwind. 8 min pace feeling easy and nutrition right on. Mile 7 was the first hint of knee pain coming back. From there, really tried to focus on high cadence, low impact, hope it doesn’t get worse. Actually came and went for a while. Felt pretty good on the second lap, and after the turnaround 2nd lap and 6 miles to go felt like I could finish strong. Picked up the pace for a mile or two, then the knee finally said enough…mile 22 and knee just wanted nothing to do with impact. Good news at least I felt good otherwise so I managed a speedwalk for the last 4 miles. Finally made it to the finish and had to stick with the speedwalk for the chute, wanted to at least jog, but wasn’t happening.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/625282951
Post Race
Lot’s of mixed emotions after, but after a few days to let things settle happy I stuck it out and salvaged something from the day. Not a true “Ironman,” but that was a tough day with tough conditions and anyone that got through should still consider it one. Do feel even worse for all the first timers out there that have to look for 138.2 stickers. Won’t race to sign up for another Ironman, but I’m sure that wasn’t my last.
