Ironman St. George Race Recap
May 1, 2010 at 11:00pm
Ok, I’ve now had about 4 and a half hours to let the race digest & here are some thoughts about the race & my training leading up to the race. This might be a little long, so read it if you want!!
For the first time, I hired a coach this year & attribute my great race on such a difficult course to Mitch Gold. Thanks Mitch! I remember talking to my friend Tim last year about hiring a coach & I remember him saying that I was ‘un-coachable’. For the most part, that’s true as I like to do things my own way, but I told myself that if I was going to pay for a coach this season, I’d do everything he told me. It took me a little getting used to running most miles at 8:30 – 8:45 instead of my normal 7:15 that I would have run…but it did teach me about heart rate training & knowing that I don’t necessarily need to do lots of runs at 7:15 when there was no way I was going to run 7:15s at IM St. George!! I also used a SRM Power Meter for the first time this season and once I figured out my power zones, I knew exactly what I could do during the race and it kept me from riding too hard at the beginning today.
Training for this race started shortly after I came off a 35 minute PR at IM Arizona last November. I took a few weeks off, and then got right into lots of easy running & biking. I felt great all season until the past few months or so. Not too sure if it had anything to do with all the traveling I was doing for work & personal, but I wasn’t ‘on’ for the past month. I wasn’t too confident going into today, but knew that I had put the miles in & was ready for a good race. Mitch assured me that if I stuck to my plan, I’d continue to move up throughout the day while people were blowing up on such a difficult course. That thinking sure did come true today…
Ok, onto the race… First of all, if you haven’t been to St. George, UT before, it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been…but there are NO flat areas in this city. I think the lake even had hills in it!!
Swim: 1:08:10
This was my 7th Ironman and my previous 5 swim times were between 1:06 and 1:08, so I wasn’t surprised with this time. I do think I actually swam a little faster today though. If anyone has ever done an Ironman before, you will understand how long the bathroom lines are in the morning. Needless to say, by the time I waited in line & got back out, they were already closing the transition area & I was running behind. As I put my wetsuit on & checked in my morning clothes bag, I headed over to the start. I was looking at my watch & it said 6:57. Perfect…still have 3 minutes before the gun goes off then all of a sudden BOOM…there goes the cannon & I’m still walking towards the water. I quickly made my way down to the water & jumped in. I guess this was kind of good since I didn’t have time to inch in the 57 degree water & whine about it! I dove right in and started swimming. I also enjoyed starting from the back since no one really passed me the whole time. Typically people are hitting, grabbing, kicking, pulling & lots of other things too…and that’s just the women!! Today, on the other hand, I was able to make my way through the crowd & felt comfortable…so I was happy with my 1:08.
T1: 6:35 – OUCH!!
I knew it was going to be cold out there today, so I took my time & made sure to put my gloves on & made the mistake of putting on arm ‘coolers’ instead of arm ‘warmers’. They still protected me from a little bit of the wind, but I probably would have been better off putting the thicker arm warmers on.
Bike: 6:16:31
This was my slowest bike split of all 7 Ironman races I’ve competed in. My last IM was in Arizona (flat course) & I rode a 5:11 with 4 stops. Needless to say, the winds were howling out there & the hills kept on coming. This is also where Mitch’s wisdom came into play. He assured me that people were going to over ride this course & blow up. The ride started out with about a 20 mile segment from the lake to the first of 2 loops. I took it easy on this part as there were some good climbs. Once I hit the first loop, I made a conscious effort to keep my power below my thresholds & rode conservatively. By the time I got to the second loop, I started passing all of the people that passed me early on…and not just slowly riding by them either. I was blowing by these people, which definitely gave me confidence in the rest of my race. I hit my nutrition right on today. Had about 6 gels, 10 Fig Newton’s, my normal Pay Day candy bar & a 5-hour Energy to keep my awake out there. I’m not totally happy with my 6:16, but with the weather conditions & the course, it wasn’t too bad. Not sure how the heck the winner rode a 4:40 though!!!
T2: 3:10
Not too much to talk about here. Dismounted my bike at the line & the girl behind me came in hot & ran right into me. Women drivers!! Got into T2, changed into my running shoes, grabbed my run nutrition & headed out.
Run: 3:59:43
I knew this run course was going to be insane today. We were either running UP or DOWN today…there were NO flat parts. I needed to keep my HR down for the first few miles & to be honest; I didn’t feel that great anyway, so that wasn’t an issue. The first 5 miles or so were all up hill & I walked a little bit of it. Sorry…I was tired! Once I got into my rhythm, I was able to run consistently for most of the rest of the race. As Mitch had mentioned, people were going to ride too hard & not save anything for the run. That’s the reason I went from 225th place off the bike to my overall finish of 157. I haven’t downloaded my Garmin information from the run yet, but I’ve heard there was about 4,000’ of climbing on the run. I came through the half marathon in about 1:57. Kind of cool that for the last quarter mile or so, I ran with the women’s winner, so the motorcycles were all around with the video cameras. If they televise the race, I should have some good camera time! The second loop was pretty uneventful. Kept passing lots of people and ended up running 2:02 for the second half. My nutrition on the run was a little scattered today. I had about 4 gels & another 5-hour Energy, but also had about 8-10 chocolate chip cookies, handfuls of pretzels, cups & cups of potato chips, some chicken broth, bananas…and whatever else they’d give me out there! I think I burned about 10,000 calories during the race, but probably ate all them back on the run! Based on the course conditions & how tired I already was, running pretty even on this course was a big win today!
Overall Time: 11:33:59
Except for my first Ironman, this was my slowest finish, but if you look at the last qualifying place at Arizona last November, it was about 9:25. I think the lowest qualifying time for today is going to be somewhere around 10:40. Yeah, I’d say this course was quite a bit tougher! Not too sure how many people are going to sign up for next year…I sure am NOT going to!! Larry, you still have my number, but I'll get you one of these days!! Maybe when you age up to the 55-59 age group!
It was fun seeing so many people I knew out there today. Seeing June & Susan all over the place on the bike & run course was great. Allison thanks for cheering me on at the run turn around too! There were also a ton of people from Tri-Scottsdale, Tribe, First Wave, Landis, OC Tri Club, Phoenix Tri Club & all my new friends from the Palm Springs group racing too, so there was always a familiar face around to keep me motivated.
I wanted to say thanks to everyone that has been training with me over the last 6 months or so. Tom & Christina have had to endure running SLOW mileage with me. Had some good rides up Mt. Baldy with Chris, Tom, Derek, Edward, Eben, Jeff and Mitch. A few good rides up to Idyllwild with Mitch, Chad, Lori, Dottie & Gil were great too. Those definitely helped me with the climbing today. Lots of other great training with Mindy, Coryn, Jason, Tom, Troy & Bill up at Wildflower…and Alyssa too for keeping us company!
What’s next?? NOTHING…lots of rest, beach time, kickball & time to regroup. Anyone up for some P90x workouts??
Thanks for reading…
-Eric
For the first time, I hired a coach this year & attribute my great race on such a difficult course to Mitch Gold. Thanks Mitch! I remember talking to my friend Tim last year about hiring a coach & I remember him saying that I was ‘un-coachable’. For the most part, that’s true as I like to do things my own way, but I told myself that if I was going to pay for a coach this season, I’d do everything he told me. It took me a little getting used to running most miles at 8:30 – 8:45 instead of my normal 7:15 that I would have run…but it did teach me about heart rate training & knowing that I don’t necessarily need to do lots of runs at 7:15 when there was no way I was going to run 7:15s at IM St. George!! I also used a SRM Power Meter for the first time this season and once I figured out my power zones, I knew exactly what I could do during the race and it kept me from riding too hard at the beginning today.
Training for this race started shortly after I came off a 35 minute PR at IM Arizona last November. I took a few weeks off, and then got right into lots of easy running & biking. I felt great all season until the past few months or so. Not too sure if it had anything to do with all the traveling I was doing for work & personal, but I wasn’t ‘on’ for the past month. I wasn’t too confident going into today, but knew that I had put the miles in & was ready for a good race. Mitch assured me that if I stuck to my plan, I’d continue to move up throughout the day while people were blowing up on such a difficult course. That thinking sure did come true today…
Ok, onto the race… First of all, if you haven’t been to St. George, UT before, it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been…but there are NO flat areas in this city. I think the lake even had hills in it!!
Swim: 1:08:10
This was my 7th Ironman and my previous 5 swim times were between 1:06 and 1:08, so I wasn’t surprised with this time. I do think I actually swam a little faster today though. If anyone has ever done an Ironman before, you will understand how long the bathroom lines are in the morning. Needless to say, by the time I waited in line & got back out, they were already closing the transition area & I was running behind. As I put my wetsuit on & checked in my morning clothes bag, I headed over to the start. I was looking at my watch & it said 6:57. Perfect…still have 3 minutes before the gun goes off then all of a sudden BOOM…there goes the cannon & I’m still walking towards the water. I quickly made my way down to the water & jumped in. I guess this was kind of good since I didn’t have time to inch in the 57 degree water & whine about it! I dove right in and started swimming. I also enjoyed starting from the back since no one really passed me the whole time. Typically people are hitting, grabbing, kicking, pulling & lots of other things too…and that’s just the women!! Today, on the other hand, I was able to make my way through the crowd & felt comfortable…so I was happy with my 1:08.
T1: 6:35 – OUCH!!
I knew it was going to be cold out there today, so I took my time & made sure to put my gloves on & made the mistake of putting on arm ‘coolers’ instead of arm ‘warmers’. They still protected me from a little bit of the wind, but I probably would have been better off putting the thicker arm warmers on.
Bike: 6:16:31
This was my slowest bike split of all 7 Ironman races I’ve competed in. My last IM was in Arizona (flat course) & I rode a 5:11 with 4 stops. Needless to say, the winds were howling out there & the hills kept on coming. This is also where Mitch’s wisdom came into play. He assured me that people were going to over ride this course & blow up. The ride started out with about a 20 mile segment from the lake to the first of 2 loops. I took it easy on this part as there were some good climbs. Once I hit the first loop, I made a conscious effort to keep my power below my thresholds & rode conservatively. By the time I got to the second loop, I started passing all of the people that passed me early on…and not just slowly riding by them either. I was blowing by these people, which definitely gave me confidence in the rest of my race. I hit my nutrition right on today. Had about 6 gels, 10 Fig Newton’s, my normal Pay Day candy bar & a 5-hour Energy to keep my awake out there. I’m not totally happy with my 6:16, but with the weather conditions & the course, it wasn’t too bad. Not sure how the heck the winner rode a 4:40 though!!!
T2: 3:10
Not too much to talk about here. Dismounted my bike at the line & the girl behind me came in hot & ran right into me. Women drivers!! Got into T2, changed into my running shoes, grabbed my run nutrition & headed out.
Run: 3:59:43
I knew this run course was going to be insane today. We were either running UP or DOWN today…there were NO flat parts. I needed to keep my HR down for the first few miles & to be honest; I didn’t feel that great anyway, so that wasn’t an issue. The first 5 miles or so were all up hill & I walked a little bit of it. Sorry…I was tired! Once I got into my rhythm, I was able to run consistently for most of the rest of the race. As Mitch had mentioned, people were going to ride too hard & not save anything for the run. That’s the reason I went from 225th place off the bike to my overall finish of 157. I haven’t downloaded my Garmin information from the run yet, but I’ve heard there was about 4,000’ of climbing on the run. I came through the half marathon in about 1:57. Kind of cool that for the last quarter mile or so, I ran with the women’s winner, so the motorcycles were all around with the video cameras. If they televise the race, I should have some good camera time! The second loop was pretty uneventful. Kept passing lots of people and ended up running 2:02 for the second half. My nutrition on the run was a little scattered today. I had about 4 gels & another 5-hour Energy, but also had about 8-10 chocolate chip cookies, handfuls of pretzels, cups & cups of potato chips, some chicken broth, bananas…and whatever else they’d give me out there! I think I burned about 10,000 calories during the race, but probably ate all them back on the run! Based on the course conditions & how tired I already was, running pretty even on this course was a big win today!
Overall Time: 11:33:59
Except for my first Ironman, this was my slowest finish, but if you look at the last qualifying place at Arizona last November, it was about 9:25. I think the lowest qualifying time for today is going to be somewhere around 10:40. Yeah, I’d say this course was quite a bit tougher! Not too sure how many people are going to sign up for next year…I sure am NOT going to!! Larry, you still have my number, but I'll get you one of these days!! Maybe when you age up to the 55-59 age group!
It was fun seeing so many people I knew out there today. Seeing June & Susan all over the place on the bike & run course was great. Allison thanks for cheering me on at the run turn around too! There were also a ton of people from Tri-Scottsdale, Tribe, First Wave, Landis, OC Tri Club, Phoenix Tri Club & all my new friends from the Palm Springs group racing too, so there was always a familiar face around to keep me motivated.
I wanted to say thanks to everyone that has been training with me over the last 6 months or so. Tom & Christina have had to endure running SLOW mileage with me. Had some good rides up Mt. Baldy with Chris, Tom, Derek, Edward, Eben, Jeff and Mitch. A few good rides up to Idyllwild with Mitch, Chad, Lori, Dottie & Gil were great too. Those definitely helped me with the climbing today. Lots of other great training with Mindy, Coryn, Jason, Tom, Troy & Bill up at Wildflower…and Alyssa too for keeping us company!
What’s next?? NOTHING…lots of rest, beach time, kickball & time to regroup. Anyone up for some P90x workouts??
Thanks for reading…
-Eric
