Ironman Arizona 2014

The Field

This was a one-shot race to qualify for Kona. If I didn't qualify, I wasn't going to try again for 2015. That focus sharpened everything.

Usually at an Ironman there's one or two really fast guys, then it drops off. Not here. I had identified nine serious contenders in M35-39, all capable of sub-9 on this course. Kevin Coady, my coach, had gone sub-9 at Arizona before. Scott Iott and Steve Johnson were both sub-3 marathon runners in an Ironman. Adam Zucco had dominated 70.3 racing. Trevor Glavin was a machine of consistency with multiple low-9 finishes. Li Moore, my teammate, had beaten me twice that year over 70.3, and this was his iron-distance debut.

Five of the top six age groupers overall would come from M35-39. There were four Kona slots.

Five Weeks After Kona

Coming in with only five weeks between Kona and IMAZ, I wasn't sure what recovery would look like. The basic structure was: race Kona, recover, build, short one-week taper, IMAZ.

I determine recovery by doing low-HR time trials, measuring pace vs heart rate on the run and power vs heart rate on the bike. I need to see around 7:00–7:15 per mile at 145 bpm running, and 260W at 134 bpm on the bike. It took about ten days after Kona to hit those numbers.

The three-week build was low volume: no runs over 12 miles, most bike rides two hours or less. My CTL going into IMAZ was 113 versus 140 going into Kona. But I felt good.

Race Morning

I got up at 4am and made a major change to my pre-race breakfast: high fat with very slow-release carbs. IsoPure protein, coconut milk, three servings of UCAN superstarch, and gluten-free pancakes with butter and peanut butter. About 800 calories.

At 5am my taxi arrived. The roads were closed so I got dropped on the north side of the Mill Street bridge, where there were five port-a-potties with absolutely nobody around. Sometimes the logistics work out.

I checked my tires (105 PSI rear, 95 front), put my bottles on, checked brakes for rubbing. Everything was good.

Swim: 59 Minutes

Mission accomplished. I'd been working on a sub-60 swim for over a year. I started right, swam a tangent line instead of following the buoys, and had zero contact the entire way out. After the turnaround I kept right while everyone else went left, found my teammate Snickers on the way back, and came out ten seconds ahead of him.

I came out of the water and saw Kevin's bike still racked. Scott Iott's was gone. I just hoped it hadn't been gone for long.

The Chain

I got to the mount line, got on my bike, turned the pedals. I heard a strange grinding sound and then, snap. My chain was lying on the ground.

It's hard to describe the feeling when that happens. I thought my day was over.

A security volunteer named Rocky ran up and told me the Tribe Multisport mechanic was just up the road. I ran with my bike for several hundred yards. The mechanic had tools and a master link, and he set to work immediately.

I decided to eat a gel while standing there watching everyone ride past. Snickers was already gone. Andrew came next. Then I saw Kevin. Not only was I losing my swim advantage, but the guys at the front were getting away from me.

Since there was nothing I could do about it, I didn't really stress. Ironman is a long day, and anything can happen. I decided to do my best with what I could control.

Six and a half minutes later I was back on the bike. There was still a rubbing sound from the front derailleur, but I could ride and I could shift. That was enough.

Bike: 4:49

Mentally I was riding hard, trying to catch up lost time. I kept a steady but high effort all the way up the Beeline, catching my teammates again. My speed versus effort was solid, over 25 mph between 250 and 260 watts, which put any fears of lost watts to rest.

Lap 2 was tough. Slower riders were out, the wind picked up, and passing was dangerous. At one point a slower cyclist pulled out in front of me on the Beeline descent and I had to briefly swerve onto the yellow line. I'm not surprised there were crashes.

As I came back into town for lap 3, Kevin's wife Caroline shouted that I was 8 minutes back on the leaders. That was encouraging. I'd expected to be 15 minutes down with the chain delay.

Power dropped steadily each lap: 247W, 237W, 230W. Perceived exertion went up. But I was still in the hunt.

Run: 3:16

I started the run just in front of Scott Iott. My Garmin showed 6:30 pace, way too fast. I deliberately slowed to 7:30. Despite my best efforts, mile one was 7:07.

Caroline told me Trevor was leading, 8 minutes ahead. Scott ran past me at mile 2, running quite a bit faster. I thought he was going a bit hot, but he looked comfortable. I was feeling good enough to go with him, but I let him go. A 3:15 marathon was about as good as I was going to run, and anything faster would be poor pacing.

From that point I got everyone else out of my head. This was my race to execute.

I just focused on keeping the pace steady, holding it back and maintaining 7:30 as best I could. Even though it felt easy now, I knew it would feel a lot tougher on lap 2.

At mile 20, Caroline said Adam Zucco was 4 minutes ahead. I tried to push the pace, 15 to 30 seconds per mile to try to catch him. I gave it everything. Aid stations whirled by. I rationed my coke so I wouldn't have to stop again.

With three miles to go I managed a sub-7 mile but it hurt, so I backed off slightly. With a mile to go my legs were crying out for me to stop. I told myself I could rest them the whole winter. It was just seven minutes of pain to potentially make the difference between a Kona slot and going home empty-handed.

I ran up the finishing chute knowing I'd given everything for a finishing time of 9 hours 11 minutes. A 29-minute PR.

The Result

In the massage tent I found Trevor, Scott, and Steve, but no Adam. I found out he was actually behind me. I'd passed him somewhere in the last 10K without seeing him.

Steve Johnson won. Scott was a close second with a sub-3 marathon. Trevor third. Me fourth. Adam fifth, but he got a Christmas gift from Steve, who declined his Kona slot.

It was an honor to be on that podium. Casting my mind back to that moment when my chain broke. Remember, an Ironman is a long day. Anything can happen. Keep going and never give up.

This year I've not had a single PR, but I made up for that today with a 29-minute Ironman PR, a 4-minute swim PR, 6-minute bike PR, and a 1-minute run PR.