After enjoying last week off from training it's time to start my Kona training. My race at Ironman Texas was quite successful for my first race at a full Ironman distance but it also pointed out several areas I need to improve upon. Most notably the back half of the marathon and my nutrition on the bike. Looks like I have many long BRICK sessions to come this summer. Can't wait to let it all begin.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Ironman Texas Race Recap
Well I can finally call myself an Ironman for real now. It feels good to have that monkey off my back now. I'll be honest and even as I waited in the water for the canyon to go off I had my doubts that my body would be able to deal with the 140.6 miles of racing to come. All of those fears went away though as soon as the race began. Having never been in a mass swim start that was quite an experience. Never have I seen so much body contact during a swim.
Once the swim spread out some over the course I was able to settle into a comfortable pace and was happy to see the clock just under 55 as I exited the water. T1 was uneventful apart from the fact that I ran down the wrong bike aisle at first. Oops, next time I guess I should remember where I left my bike. Out on the bike course the fans were great and it was amazing to see so much OutRival Racing support. Thanks largely to Corey Oliver and his brother posting signs all along the course for each OutRival athlete racing. Was very cool to see my name on a poster at mile 40. Plus the OutRival Viking Tribe was a nice sight - twice in fact on the course. I enjoyed all of the bike leg apart from the last ten miles coming back into the Woodlands which didn't seem to end. Every time we got back onto Woodlands Parkway we'd turn off for another little loop. I've never been happier to start running a marathon before, that was until about mile 13 when I wished I was back at mile 102 on the bike but more on that later.
T2 was quite hot as many people can attest to. Luckily I didn't notice my feet had burned from the hot pavement until after the race. The first loop of the run course went very well and I was a little behind pace but not too much considering the heat and humidity of the day, even got to see my swim coach Tim Floyd on the first lap and had a quick chat on the move about my swim. I began the second loop of the three loop run course and started to feel the heat and lack of cloud cover take its toll on my body. Systems just start to shut down after being on the move for over almost 7 hours and the smallest things, like missing a cup of water can be devastating. Mile 13 brought home reality and I went into disaster recovery mode, running from aid station to aid station and being forced to walk and take every cup I could. I was no longer think about the finish line but just the next cup of water about 1 mile ahead of me. Crossed the finish line at 9:49:40 and immediately collapsed in relief and from exhaustion. Luckily I was able to just hang on to 4th place in my age group (men's 25 - 29) and claim a spot to race in the Ironman World Championships in Kona this October. Overall my first Ironman experience was an amazing one and pretty successful but pointed out few areas I need to work on for the big one in October.
Thank you first and foremost to all the amazing volunteers out there on the course. Without all of you we would have just been 2000 people bobbing up and down in the water. Thank you to all of the spectators out on the course. It was amazing all the support I received from people I didn't even know. I also want to thank all of my sponsors who helped me train and get ready for the race. First my amazing coach Michelle LeBlanc with OutRival Racing, my swim coach Tim Floyd with the Magnolia Masters Team, and Bike Barn for getting my bike in race form. I also want to thank Klean for my nutrition.
Once the swim spread out some over the course I was able to settle into a comfortable pace and was happy to see the clock just under 55 as I exited the water. T1 was uneventful apart from the fact that I ran down the wrong bike aisle at first. Oops, next time I guess I should remember where I left my bike. Out on the bike course the fans were great and it was amazing to see so much OutRival Racing support. Thanks largely to Corey Oliver and his brother posting signs all along the course for each OutRival athlete racing. Was very cool to see my name on a poster at mile 40. Plus the OutRival Viking Tribe was a nice sight - twice in fact on the course. I enjoyed all of the bike leg apart from the last ten miles coming back into the Woodlands which didn't seem to end. Every time we got back onto Woodlands Parkway we'd turn off for another little loop. I've never been happier to start running a marathon before, that was until about mile 13 when I wished I was back at mile 102 on the bike but more on that later.
T2 was quite hot as many people can attest to. Luckily I didn't notice my feet had burned from the hot pavement until after the race. The first loop of the run course went very well and I was a little behind pace but not too much considering the heat and humidity of the day, even got to see my swim coach Tim Floyd on the first lap and had a quick chat on the move about my swim. I began the second loop of the three loop run course and started to feel the heat and lack of cloud cover take its toll on my body. Systems just start to shut down after being on the move for over almost 7 hours and the smallest things, like missing a cup of water can be devastating. Mile 13 brought home reality and I went into disaster recovery mode, running from aid station to aid station and being forced to walk and take every cup I could. I was no longer think about the finish line but just the next cup of water about 1 mile ahead of me. Crossed the finish line at 9:49:40 and immediately collapsed in relief and from exhaustion. Luckily I was able to just hang on to 4th place in my age group (men's 25 - 29) and claim a spot to race in the Ironman World Championships in Kona this October. Overall my first Ironman experience was an amazing one and pretty successful but pointed out few areas I need to work on for the big one in October.
Thank you first and foremost to all the amazing volunteers out there on the course. Without all of you we would have just been 2000 people bobbing up and down in the water. Thank you to all of the spectators out on the course. It was amazing all the support I received from people I didn't even know. I also want to thank all of my sponsors who helped me train and get ready for the race. First my amazing coach Michelle LeBlanc with OutRival Racing, my swim coach Tim Floyd with the Magnolia Masters Team, and Bike Barn for getting my bike in race form. I also want to thank Klean for my nutrition.
Monday, May 13, 2013
6 days till IMTX
Well I can't believe it is almost here but IMTX is just 6 days away. Training has been feeling really good and I can't wait to get to that starting line. Of course I'm sure I'll be thinking differently at mile 95 on the bike! Haha. I want to thank everyone that has helped me so much to get ready for this race. Couldn't have done it without all the support and help from my coaches and sponsors. Thank you to Tim Floyd and the Magnolia Masters Swim Team for helping me with my swim technique, thanks to Bike Barn for all the help with bike fits and keeping my bike rave ready, and most importantly thank you to my coach Michelle Leblanc and OutRival Racing. Everyone there is truly an inspiration. Hopefully I'll have a good result to show on Saturday.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)