Ironman New York Race Report
This may be the longest blog ever, but bare with me as this race was the accumulation of many months/years training & was by far the best/worst day of my life in sports. Before I go into the report I want to share info about how this race came about & the amount of detail & training I was putting in.
After coming off a huge high in my journey as a triathlete @ Syracuse 70.3 in June by qualifying for the 70.3 Worlds (My 6th Half Iron/2nd Full season as triathlete), I knew there was limited time for rest. My first Ironman was 8/11, this only gave me a solid 3 weeks after a short recovery to build up for raceday. I planned my 2012 season very differently than the previous two years beginning the season with an early season Half Ironman & mixing in an olympic race. This would judge early season fitness, hopefully bring confidence in my run/bike strength & I would go into Syracuse 70.3 ready to push the limits. This strategy had it's negatives though, I had gone 5 hard months of consistency week in and week out(15-18 hr weeks + full time job), in addition to a larger volume from November-Late February, which caused my body to break down & some workouts become hard to focus. It's always healthy to take a mid-season break for a week or two to clear your head, but I didn't plan well enough to factor one in.
Volume through August 20th, 2012:
Volume through August 20th, 2012:
| 2012 totals | ||
| Bike: | 169h 02m 16s - 3309.74 Mi | |
| Run: | 89h 23m 36s - 739.59 Mi | |
| Swim: | 52h 26m 17s - 166750 Yd | |
VS.
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The Ironman distance was a complete unknown for me. You can train as hard as anyone, but nothing prepares you fully for what you experience on raceday. Ironman raceday experience is like no other & part of success during the biggest endurance event on the planet is just showing up and finishing it. The odds are that something will go wrong on raceday, whether it be nutrition, flat tire, over exertion, you can bet that it's a total learning experience. I was excited to race, but also a bit nervous as the days drew closer to the race.
The Half Iron distance became my comfort where I was only biking for 2:30 minutes during a race, so once hour 3 rolled through on a long 6 hour training ride, I became a bit lost on my nutrition intake. The week leading up to IMNY was frusterating as I was having a hard time planning my race day nutrition, which only meant I wasn't prepared for the full race-day nutrition plan that was supposed to be already figured out in training.
Swimming I kept to 2 workouts per week on Tues/Thurs morning and got volumes up to 4500 meters per workout with mains sets including 6x500 or 3x800,2x400 or 3x 100,200 300 400 and speed days including 200 meter intervals. Weekly volume 7,000- 9,000 meters.
My run volume went from avg 30 miles in May/June to mid 40's in July per week. I had a couple 17 miles runs with my longest of 21 miles/2:31 minutes/7:13 pace on the New York Ironman course. On my long runs I kept Heart rate ranging from high 130's to begin, mid 140's for most of the run, & let it drift in the low 150's towards the last 4-5 miles. I would avg roughly 7:10-7:20 on these runs. I was extremely confident with my run preparation & there is nothing I could have done differently regarding workout structure. I practically lived on the imny run course for months prior to raceday, but I missed one important factor that would erase all those challenging workouts I put in, which I will get into later.
My volume from July training:
| July's totals: | ||
| Bike: | 38h 48m - 748.7 Mi | |
| Run: | 19h 32m 40s - 164.89 Mi | |
| Swim: | 11h 07m 21s - 36200 Yd | |
Raceday:
Wakeup: 2:30 a.m.- Pb and fruit sandwich with a shake consisting of supergreens, fish oil, vega protein, banana, blueberry, coconut oil. Supplement I take daily included Ubiquinol(heart health), astaxanthin (antioxidant), mercola MultiVitamins.
4:00 a.m.- 1 hour Ferry ride from Weehawken (About 1.5 miles from my apartment) to the race Transition area for last minute setup.
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| Uncle & I pre-race in Transition |
5:00 a.m. - 6:10 a.m.- Running around transition, waiting online 20 min for a bike pump, the tech support line was too long and I failed to fix back tire that was rubbing on my break. Got a last minute porto-potty break in, not realizing I would be seeing a lot more of it later on.
6:15 a.m. : Ferry to Swim Start: I was one of the last on the Ferry line since all the bike issues I was having, but managed to cut about 2,200 people & found a couple local guys Scotty Duprex & Julian Setain to roll with before the ferries departed.
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| Transition area Race Morning |
6:50 Pro Athlete start 7:00 Age Group Time Trial Start: The slow ferry ride to the swim start made the nerves/adrenaline flow as 4 Ferries (600 Athletes in each) got a first hand look on the whole swim course right before plunging into the Hudson. All of the age group athletes got a chance to see the Profesional swim start along with amputees, triathletes swimming without any legs or any with limb loss. This was an unbelievable sight & truly remarkable that these people can swim with no limbs & some athletes were even competing blind.
SWIM: 44:17
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| View of Swim Start as Athletes enter water |
As soon as the ferries docked to the swim barge all athletes then walked down a ramp & plunged into the Hudson to start their 140.6 mile Journey. As you may have heard, the huge news story days prior to the race was millions of Gallons of sewage spilled 20 miles north of the GWB in the Hudson River. The speculation was that the swim could potentially be cancelled, but luckily Ironman worked with the BPU & all the water testing drew positive results of the water being clean enough for the swim. The story was actually a huge help for Ironman, since every news channel was covering the sewage/Ironman swim story leading up to the race & your average joe watching t.v. at night was most likely informed about the race.
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| Pro Triathletes start as Age Groupers watch from Ferry |
I took a deep breathe prior to jumping off the barge, but once I jumped in I knew it would be a war! I began to warmup the arms the first 5 minutes and really focus on mechanics(I find it difficult to race without a 10 -15 min warmup swim so I used the first minutes as that warmup). I stayed towards the right of the buoys & focused on long strokes/pull since their was a strong current in our favor. I was in the 2nd ferry that unloaded and was thankfully suprised by the amount of room we had to swim, running into little congestion throughout the swim & navigating well if I needed to pass. I was cruising along the swim course flying past buoy markers, at one point I underestimated the current I smacked right into a large yellow buoy. The current was also pulling me out to the middle of the river, so I would often have to angle right.
Since I had never swam a 2.4 miler before I was swimming conservative, at a good pace, but made sure I wasn't over exerting myself. Another great factor was there were no turns on course, so sighting was easy & you never slowed momentum. I came out of the water & had a pretty good idea the swim times were going to be rediculously fast. Once I saw 44 minutes (16-18 min faster than a normal swim) I knew right away that the top age group guys would be well below 10 hours for the day. A 44 minute in a normal lake would be close to an Ironman record & the top pro broke the Ironman course record in 39-40 minutes. From exiting the water I walked to the changing tent & thought about sticking to my gameplan with sights set on a sub 10 hour Ironman & a top 10 age group finish.
BIKE: 5:36 Minutes
Considering there was no previous race times & I had little idea what would be a good time for the bike. I decided that a goal of 5:30 minutes was realistic, maybe a bit too conservative, in order to have a very good marathon run (sub 3:25) & that would put me well below 10 hours for the day. I could tell by the elevation that while the course wouldn't be flat, it didn't have any steep climbs, just a bunch or rollers. Training only a couple years on a bike I knew that the bike portion was also my weakest segment. So the idea of finishing strong & passing a bunch of people on the run, which was a strength was much more exciting than overasserting on the bike & not running up to my capability. I had also read countless articles on this specific subject to save your legs, as most people love to brag about their impressive ironman bike split only to walk the marathon. The bike was a 2 (54 mile loop) on the Palisades Parkway with a pretty steep couple miles of incline coming out of the transition area onto river road. I heard that it was the 1st or 2nd time the parkway ever closed, one time being on 9/11. The bike turned out to be pretty boring, first loop I went pretty slow and on the second loop the sun/humidity started to be felt since it was high 80's . I remained focused on nutrition and keeping my cadence well above 90 rpm. Some bike issues were getting me frusterated before the race even started with my brake rubbing my back zipp wheel the whole 112 miles & on the 2nd loop of the bike I had my chain come off 4 times. Not sure what the fix was, but more than anything it stopped some of my momemtum as I changed gears going up hills.
Garmin Race File: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/209547469
I had no doubt in my mind I had done everything to conserve energy & set myself up for success on the marathon. I also really wanted to enjoy the run & have a good time. My gameplan was to run at least sub 3:30 marathon, while passing as many people as possible that got the best of me on the bike. I wanted to make every one of them pay by going out too hard on the bike & to prove my run was legit. Here's where the race gets really interesting. People always talk about when things go wrong during an Ironman. I have read & heard horror stories of the worst case scenarios involving athletes going out too hard early in the race to only suffer during the run. That wouldn't happen to me today as I smartly conserved for over 6.5 hours. Little did I know that one of the most important aspects of an Ironman, Nutrition, I neglected for weeks leading up to the race. While I need to still break down what I did wrong, I think avoidance & lack of a solid plan led to one of the worst experiences of my life while running my first marathon. From experience, I knew there are points in a race where your mind plays games & tells you to stop or go slower, in which you need to somehow ignore or you can let it get the best of you. I was used to these elements & had strategies to get past them, but I was not used to dealing with a complete stomach shutdown.
Symptoms followed from what I remember:
Mile 1-4 - Pace around 7:57 min starting off and trending upward. About 45 seconds off of goal race pace of 7:20 & off my inital pace of 7:00-7:10. Once I reached flat ground at the top of the steep hill coming out of transition, my stomach immediately felt bloated. I used a fuelbelt that contained some concentrated gels, so I sipped from that & I had some water. (I had a couple gels during my long runs, but never concentrated 5 gels before) I usually ran with accelerade electrolyte, but had none on race day. My stomach still wasn't digesting and thats when I starting throwing up liquids in my mouth and out my nose around mile 4. My stomach felt like I just ate a huge meal! I kept drinking a little water/coke and was keeping cool throwing ice in my tri top. I was actually walking aid stations this early in the race hoping that I can ease the stomach. My heart rate was low, but was artificially spiking up as the ice I put in my top was raising it, so I just went off an easy run feel to start the first loop.
Mile-5-9: My bloated stomach turned to gas, which almost seemed a bit relief, but still couldn't find a way to feel better. At mile 9 or so was when it really hit me. Full on Diarehhea stomach shutdown. Just imagine your worst case of the runs and having to run 26 miles. By now I was contemplating how I would finish let alone get below an 8 minute mile. I refused to walk & knew I had to finish since all my family/friends were supporting me. Aid stations were running out of ice, which was the only thing that felt good & water/coke was getting warm. I heard other athletes talking and enjoying themselves, which made me really discouraged of how completely different my mind was.
Mile 9-16: At mile 13 (end of 2nd loop/Almost out of the park) I reached for my special needs bag only to find hot coca-cola and some hot water in my flasks(should've freezed them overnight). I had my fuelbelt still on with no fuel. At about that time I was less focused on nutrition & more focused on getting to the next porto-potty. After a 3rd portopotty break I made my trek out of the Palisades park, which was another mile or so. At this point I knew I was in the heart of suffering with more to go & I recollect being depressed without any control of my emotions. Meanwhile, the fans were unbelievable throughout the run & I even passed signs individually marked with GTC tri members names. Although, I really couldn't acknowledge the support & connect with the crowd, I think my body and spirit rose up a notch with hearing words of encouragement. My stomach was taking a toll on my body as I stumbled up the biggest hill on the course about 1 mile, heading my way up & down steep stairs and onto the upper level of the George Washington Bridge.
My heart rate through out the run was very low @ high 130's into the low 140's the first 16 miles, my legs weren't weak, but I couldn't focus on running smooth. The last 10 miles my heart rate was in the high 120's, which was far off of what I was expecting to be at around mid 140's to mid 150's going into the last miles. Each step I took for the next 10 miles was intense pain. In the photo crossing the GWB tongue out, body drained.
Mile 17- 24: I stopped at almost every potto-potty I could see & heading over the GWB. By this time, I didn't even acknowledge that all my nutrition I took in was coming out of me & I still felt too bloated to take in more fluids. This was a process that started to serverly dehydrate my system. Getting to the New York side was pretty awesome & I knew I was closer to my family at the Finish line, but looking at my watch I was now in 10 minute mile range and still continue stomach problems. Fans support got crazy on the NY side as the New Yorkers would not only cheer for you, but curse at you for motivation. I had clearly realized I wasn't even close to being a top finisher and not even close to a top 10 in my age. I was calculating in my head how long I had until finish 8 miles 10.5 min mile pace= 1:24minutes. I was thinking to myself on how I was going to take this pain for another hour plus run. I had no experience running an 11 minute mile so the last 7 miles were the slowest & most painful miles I have ever ran. My dreams of going sub 10 hours were crushed, but knew I had a chance for below 11 hours. I zombie jogged past all the hispanics in the new york parks as they were listening to music, bbq'ing, drinking etc. What a difference of worlds we were in and only a couple feet away from each other. I was just saying in mind head "These people have no f'in idea!", that's when I found the first new york porto-potty to sitdown in. The porto-potty experience got more difficult to get in and out of as the race went on. Sitting down and getting back up took it's tool and by the last few bathrooms I needed a full effort to stand up. I finally got so frustrated with carrying my fuel belt, so I left it in the bathroom about 5 miles from the finish knowing that I didn't have any drinks or nutrition on the belt anyway. I rolled up my tri top to relieve stomach pressure since the slightest bit of pressure was sensitive. Fan support was got even better heading into the last 5 miles.
MILES 22-24 were all zig zags in the park with some small hills. I hit up 1-2 more portopottys along the way, which were usually right before aid stations. I really had no shame at this point. People both fans and volunteers knew I was in bad shape blowing up each bathroom I came across, but I was in survival mode at this point.
Once I hit the mile 24 marker I knew I was close. I began to pick up the pace, which I think was around 9:30 or so going into the last mile. I soon began to hear the music and a crowd. Turning the corner there it was! The huge blue finish line with the Ironman Logo on it. I finally got a huge andrenaline rush, sprinted as hard as possible into the finish coral. I turned to the crowd on the left and saw my whole family while doing a back micheal jackson esk without the slide back walk. I have no idea where this energy came as I was so delirious, it was unexplainable. I slowly walked through the finish line with my hands raised wondering whether this was some sick dream or the real thing. Overall Time: 10:38 Age Group: 34/272 Overall: 167/2021
I never imagined that this day would turn out the way it did & even though it didn't go as planned I think the amount of suffering I endured made the finish much more enjoyable, truly appreciating all the other finishers & most importantly cherishing the family/friends that support me. It's one of those experience you need to endure to know how it feels & now I know why people walk around with that rediculous looking M dot on their calves. I haven't shed tears in a while, but I was an emotional wreck after. I couldn't hold it in if i tried.
Amazing Raceday Video By Ironman recapping the day
Amazing Raceday Video By Ironman recapping the day
Post Race:
My day unfortunately wasn't over yet & things began to get worse after running a torturous 4:10 min marathon. Soon after laying down for about 30 minutes, hugging every1 & letting them take pictures of me like I was some experiment, I felt stomach pains again. I usually don't have an appetite for hours after a race & especially didn't have an appetite after this one so I began to try and drink some gatorade.
I immediately got carried to another porto-potty located 1/4 mile from the finish. Sorry for the intense details, but it is here that I released everything I had in me. I completely drained myself of fluids continously for about 5-10 min. I came out about 10 minutes later with my mom and brother wondering what the heck i was doing in there & got help back to the finish area. I immediately became light headed & dizzy, shortness of breath, which is when I realized something was wrong and notified a volunteer.
They carried me to the med tent & sat me down on the stretcher bed. There were about 50 other athletes in the med tent, which looked something out of a war scene. I didn't realize the severity/trauma of what your body goes through and how many people would have issues after the race. I had about 2 nurses & a doctor around me. My temperature had dropped to about 91 degrees and I began shivering uncontrollably, which is when they put these tin foil blankets on me.
Between sipping on chicken broth(sodium) & focusing on breathing I was just trying to be patient & let the dizzyness subside. For another 30-1 hr or so the dizzyness didn't go away, which is when I started to really worry. All of these feelings brought me back to 2005 when I had a seizure on the last mile of a 18 mile race & was in the ICU for 4 days, where I suffered from extreme dehydration because of the heat and not hydrating properly. I'll save that story for another day, but I was extremely worried about what I was feeling and whether or not I would make it out of the tent alive..
I then got transferred to another bed and they hooked me up to and IV with 2 bags of fluid & gave me oxygen mask to facilitate better breathing. I had felt like my stomach was caving in & kept on asking the doctors to re-assure me I would make it out ok. At this point it was gettin dark outside, when the doctor told me I could take a third bag a fluid on the IV, but then if I still felt bad they would need to call an ambulance. Once I was done with the second bag and noticed pressure closing in my behind, & I started getting a strong urge to pee, which I hadn't felt all day! Anything different was a good sign & immediately went to the porto-potty, this time with a good feeling I didnt have to sit down! I started coming around and felt a little more in tune with my surrounding. I still never felt 100%, but finally took the walk outside to go home with my brother and mom about 3-4 hours after I finished. Im really fortunate to get to that med tent and honestly felt without that medical staff I wouldn't be here today. I find out later Gastro Distress is one of the leading causes of DNF( did not finish) in triathlons and especially Ironman Races. The winner Jordan Rapp, who raced a 8:10 had prior issues with the same problem I had, which caused him to drop out of an Ironman. That makes me feel somewhat better that it even happens to the best of them. If I ever commit to racing another Ironman I will come prepared & have every aspect of the race covered. I took about a week off after the race to rest/indulge in every type of food I possibly could. This included all the best; Lobster, fish tacos, sushi, pizza, Calamari, pasta, and so many more. I will train these next 10 days hard, detox from alcohol/food coma in preparation for the 70.3 World Championships in Lake Las Vegas 9/9/12, which is the distance I have been really dedicated to. It seems a bit too soon to be racing, but I hope to get a couple good workouts in before the race. The field of competitors are the best in the world, with a course is as hilly/hard as it gets. I will most likely stop racing this year after Vegas, but if I feel good I would love to come back for a 3rd year at MightyMan Half Ironman Montauk 9/30 & try to win it after placing 4th overall last year. That race is definitely a favorite of mine.
Thanks to Pearl Izumi for motivating me to train harder, CBT, & family/friends for their support. This truly was an unforgettable day!
Can't be Tamed
