2017 Ironman Arizona

Swim: 2.4 miles in open water
Bike ride: 112 miles
Run: 26.2 mile marathon

The 2017 race was to be my fifth Ironman distance triathlon since I started racing triathlons in the 1980s. After 25 years out of the sport, I got the bug back and decided to train for an Ironman.

Luckily I managed to get registered for the Ironman Arizona race. It sold out in only a few minutes!

I had two other friends who also registered: Yong Park and John Lim. Both of them were Ironman rookies. All of us were in the 50-54 age group. Yong and I expected a time between eleven and twelve hours, John about fourteen hours.

I had fantasies of qualifying for Kona. However, I knew this would require a sub ten-hour time. Though I train seriously and can suffer more than anyone, I knew I was not born with the genetics to accomplish this.

Yong and I have always been competitive with each other. It was unclear who would be faster in this event. A fine runner, Yong recently ran a marathon in less than three hours! He is a slower swimmer, however, so we thought our overall times would be similar.

The race was to take place November 19 so we would have the summer to train.

Training

Cycling

I spent the first six months of 2017 exclusively cycling. Traditionally, this is my weakest event. Luckily it is my favorite one! I habitually ride 100+ miles per week year-round. Living in Southern California makes this easy. In the winter, you just trade your sunglasses for long sleeves.

In the spring I rode the Belgian Waffle Ride, which I highly recommend. I was proud to have finished this for the third time. I felt it gave me a good cycling base on which to start the triathlon training.

Having a full-time job, it was challenging to get the adequate miles in. I find that riding indoors on rollers is a more efficient way to train. I did about 80 percent of my cycling training indoors. I set up my rollers in the garage facing my computer and large TV. I would run Zwift on the computer and watch bike racing on TV simultaneously. I must have watched the entire 2017 Tour de France. I used two giant turbine fans to cool me down. The indoor workouts would give me about 800 kilojoules of work per hour. An outdoor ride would get me only about 500 kJ per hour. My goal would be 1200 kJ per day. I did a few competitive Zwift events. Usually, I got dropped from the group after about thirty minutes even averaging 300 Watts. This was discouraging, but I chalked it up to the “weight doping” that happens on Zwift.

After the rides, I would analyze my power and heart rate data, trying to identifying my weaknesses and maximal potential.

I always use a power meter and heart rate monitor for training and racing. I only used rollers, not a fixed-wheel trainer. The rollers train your pedal stroke to be smooth and economical. In fact, if you use a “potato masher” pedal stroke, you end up on the floor.

In September I took a few days off work to do a few outdoor rides on my time-trial bike. I found it painful to spend more than two hours or so in the aero position. Aero bars have been ubiquitous in triathlon since the early 1990s. However, I tend to ride and race only on a traditional road bike. The aero position certainly takes some getting used to.

Slowly the position started to feel better, and I did several 85 mile rides using aero bars. The San Gabriel River Trail seemed to be the safest place to practice the technique.

I felt ready for the cycling portion by early November.

Running

I started running in July. Running tends to hurt my knees if I overdo it, so I started slowly and ramped up the mileage. I used to be a fairly decent runner, but I found my knees hurt if I ran more than 10 miles. I managed to race the Mount Baldy Run to the Top in September. After this, I slowly increased the mileage. I felt it was important to run on flat roads, however, I live in the hills. Flat roads are nonexistent in my neighborhood, so I end up walking a lot on the climbs and descents.

I did about three 20-mile runs during the fall. I sometimes trained with my son who is on the high school cross-country team. This was a lot of fun and broke up some of the monotony.

My weekly mileage was only about 30-35. I felt I needed more running but did not want to push it given my knee issues. I foresaw issues later on in the race but decided to cross that bridge when I came to it.

Swimming

Having a competitive swimming background, I was not too concerned about this portion. I had not swum for two years until about late September. I hit it pretty hard, trying to go to the pool at least three times per week for about an hour. I would typically freestyle a mile or so, then do a series of IM repeats. This seemed adequate, and I felt ready to go in the water.

Race weekend

The three of us had rented a house from Thursday to Monday. I arrived on Thursday, as I wanted to relax a bit before the big day. I got the lay of the land, rode the Beeline Highway, and ran some of the marathon portions of the bike path on Thursday and Friday. The course looked great, and I could not wait to get going!

I checked in on Thursday and attended the athletes briefing. I received transition bags and became acquainted with the transition area. The logistics seemed pretty simple. The staff organized everything very well considering there were about 3,000 athletes.

Yong and John came on Friday with their wives in tow. I had come alone, my wife not being very interested in the event. She had prepared some excellent meals for me which I brought along in a cooler. Having a house with a full kitchen was a huge advantage for me. I detest restaurant food, especially before a big race. Yong and John ate at restaurants.

On Saturday we went to the transition area to drop off our bikes and transition bags. This process was quick and easy. Yong and John chose to do the practice swim while I just lounged around.

There were crowds of competitors at the expo. They appeared very fit, and the atmosphere could be intimidating. There were multiple tents with vendors selling expensive carbon fibre gadgets.

Entering the gigantic transition area, we saw that most of the bicycles were extremely high end. I would estimate the majority of the bikes cost north of $10,000. This fizzled the notion that my bike was pretty trick. The only comparable technology I had was the new Sram Etap electronic groupset, coupled with my beloved power meter.

We were all back home and in bed by 8 on Saturday night.

Race Day

Swim

All three of us awoke around 4 and arrived at transition about 5:15. Parking was no problem. I borrowed a pump and topped off my tires, put my computer and bottles on the bike. My clothing was simple: I chose to wear a “tri suit” the entire day. The weather was looking great with temps in the 80s expected.

I crammed into my wetsuit and headed to the start corral.

The swim start was staggered with self-seeding. I jumped into the water in the 1:15 group.

Though the water appeared disgusting, once I was in I realized it was not too bad. I settled into my usual lazy freestyle and looked for some feet to follow.

I found that my arms were feeling constricted. I think my wetsuit is too small for me. I thought maybe the trisuit was also making it harder to swim.

I didn’t care but just worked my way around the rectangular course. The course was very easy to follow, all the buoys were visible. The swim is really a blur to me.

There was some body contact, but nothing too distressing. Having played water polo, I quite enjoy these aquatic scrums.

One unfortunate person I came across was a backstroker. For some reason, he had decided to start with the one-hour group. He had made a big mistake. He got pummeled as my group smashed our way over him. He would be lucky to complete the swim without a broken nose.

When I walked up the stairs I staggered a bit. My legs seemed a little paralyzed due to just floating along for over an hour. Most triathletes do not kick very much, knowing their legs would be soon be called upon for bigger business.

Swim time: 1:14:58

Swim data file

T1

The wetsuit strippers pulled off my suit, and I ran to pick up my bike bag. We were herded into a changing tent and sat down on chairs. I dried off and put on socks, bike shoes, and helmet. I lathered myself with my own sunblock and took off. My least favorite part of T1 was having a guy next to me stick his bare butt crack in my face. I wish he had pointed it in a different direction.

I ran out and found my bike and headed out on the course.

Bike

The bike course is three loops of nice well-paved roads. The highlight of the course seemed to be the Beeline Highway, about 10 miles each way. The course out was into a block headwind. This was frustrating, and my average speed at the turnaround was a disturbing 16 mph. Worries about this evaporated on the return back to Tempe. We had a strong tailwind, and I would be riding between 23-30 mph on this section.

The course was crowded with other athletes, and this presented dangers at times. Some of them were weaving around, especially at the aid stations. The aid stations were very precarious, and water bottles were skittering across the road. I saw an accident at an aid station. Someone dropped a bottle onto his front tire, and he flipped over and took someone else out as well. I rode right past the carnage. Both of them seemed intact enough to continue.

On the eastbound section of Beeline, there were marshals on Harleys tooling by the cyclists. I knew they were looking for drafting violations. In many instances, the sheer volume of competitors made drafting inevitable. Not wanting to get popped for a time penalty, I kept craning my neck around to look for the motorcycles. A helmet mirror (much maligned by road cyclists) may have come in handy here.

I passed a lot of people on the second and third laps who were miles behind me. Surprisingly, I saw numerous morbidly obese people in the race. I have not seen this in other races I have done.

I was drinking Gatorade from the aid stations and had a bottle of naked juice with ice cubes in my bottle cage. I took a few salt tablets and ate a peanut butter sandwich from my pocket.

I am not as obsessed with race nutrition as most triathletes are. One could spend hundreds of dollars on various gels and salt concoctions. I always thought some cafeteria mayonnaise and mustard packets could do the same job.

On the third lap, I was getting tired and felt ready to get off the bike. I was also more than a little bored after five hours in the saddle. I saw my power numbers dropping, and it was getting harder to maintain aero position. I looked forward to the intersections and small rises when I would soft pedal and then get out of the saddle for a stretch.

The course had a few false flats, but it was generally a big chainring only ride. On the beeline descent, I longed for a 55 tooth chainring as I was spinning out my biggest gear.

My biggest fear on the bike ride was getting a flat. There were dozens of athletes frantically changing flats on the desert roadside.

I rolled into the transition area around 2:10 pm.

The sun was still high, and I was hoping to finish the race before dark.

Bike time: 5:47:11

Bike data file

T2

This was a routine process. I was very happy to be on my feet again. I took off my bike shoes and handed my bike to a volunteer who racked it for me. I ran in socks and picked up my run bag. My hat, shoes, and race number went on, and I trudged onto the run course.

Run

The run course is perfect. It consists of two loops basically around Town Lake on a multipurpose trail. Almost the entire course is lined with spectators cheering you on. There were large speakers blasting music and drunk people dancing around. One memorable area contained several intoxicated young men wearing Borat mankinis. Our race numbers had our first names on them. I kept hearing “keep going, Alec!” and such things.

One thing I could do without were the cowbells. I do not know why spectators think athletes are motivated by cowbells. I contemplated grabbing a few of them and throwing them into the lake.

I ran about the first 13 miles at 8:45 pace or so. I kept drinking at the aid stations without slowing down. I knew I was flirting with a sub 4-hour marathon. I thought this would have demonstrated some serious panache. Unfortunately, fairy tales do not always happen.

Around mile 13 my running started to deteriorate. It was not a bonk per se, just a profound fatigue. My pace unravelled slowly, going from 9 min pace to 10, then, unthinkably, 11. I knew my lack of deep running form was being exposed. Though I was running poorly towards the finish, I did not stop running ever.

Around mile 17, Yong and I crossed paths. He was heading out to the turnaround, and I was coming back. I calculated him to be about three miles behind me. He looked fantastic and appeared to be running very strongly. Having him catch me on the run would have been embarrassing. I kept my ear cocked backwards, listening for his trademark staccato footsteps. However, barring a complete collapse, I knew I had an unassailable lead.

Even though I was shuffling along the last few miles, I was constantly passing walkers. I came along one lady who sped up and ran next to me. She was quite chatty and wanted to tell me her whole life story. I was in a somewhat grumpy mood, so she was irritating me. This motivated me to pick up the pace. Soon she was in my rear-view mirror, no doubt nattering away to someone else.

The last mile was tough, and I could not wait to finish. I knew the finish line was like walking the red carpet at the Oscars with TV cameras, bright lights, and screaming fans. I wanted to look smart, so I zipped up my trisuit and tried to make myself presentable. I looked a fright as my trisuit was stained with salt, snot, and drool everywhere. It seemed most people either pretended to sprint across the line or were doing victory dances. Watching it on the website later, I looked terrible and could barely raise my arms.

Run time: 4:16:20

Run data file

Total Race time: 11:31:41

Aftermath

The volunteers gave me a medal and took off my timing chip. There was a crush of volunteers around me, and they brought me a chair and a space blanket. I supposed I looked unwell enough that they asked me if I wanted the medical tent. I declined and felt fine after a few minutes.

Then I went and looked for Yong finishing. I did not know if I had missed his finish, and I was getting cold. I went back to the transition area and collected my clothes, transition bags, and bike. There were hundreds of pizzas stacked up for us, but I wasn’t up to eating yet.

My phone was in my clothes and I synced my Garmin watch and head unit with Strava. Yong wasn’t answering his phone, so I packed up and left. I knew Yong and John’s wives were somewhere, but I could not find them.

It felt great to stand in the hot shower and wash off the day’s grime and body fluids.

Yong and John made it home around 11 pm. Yong’s time was 11:55:39, which he was happy with. His marathon was impressive: 4:02:12.

John finished at 14:25:24, far clear of the 17-hour time limit. He seemed satisfied with his race, especially given his busy profession as a surgeon.

I was overall very happy with my performance and the race itself. I found it to be very professional and organized. The city seemed completely consumed by the event which made it feel very special. The race app apparently worked well for my family and friends who were following me through the day.

Sometimes one tends to get depressed after a such a huge buildup and effort. On the contrary, I felt pumped up and eager to race another triathlon.

Following the race, I received an email giving me priority entrance to the 2018 event. Did I sign up?

You bet.

Alec Hull