Thursday
Coming into St. George on the night of May 2nd
you could tell that the town was buzzing with the coming of Ironman. There were electronic street signs everywhere
alerting people of the traffic pattern changes and banners celebrating St.
George Ironman 70.3 hung from almost every lamppost. Stores had signs out welcoming the Ironman
athletes. The funny thing is that we
were arriving at the city at 10:30 pm.
Even then the transformation of St. George for the Ironman 70.3 was
evident. My heart gave a little flutter
as we drove into the city since that meant the event was ever closer to
becoming a reality. In a little more
than a day I would be jumping into 600 water in a reservoir that at last
year’s full Ironman had seen 40 mph wind gusts and horrendously large
waves. I kept thinking this was probably
not the safest bet to start my 2013 triathlon season but nevertheless there I
was. Bring it on.
The family and I got to Marsha’s house and she greeted us
with the enthusiasm that is typical of St. George residents who love their
marquee sporting events. Marsha had
volunteered for the famous St. George marathon for 20 years and she had also
been a volunteer at some of the past full Ironman triathlons. She loves everything about the St. George
endurance events and is very knowledgeable about the courses and the
venues. So when we got to her house she
peppered us with questions about our plans for the weekend and my preparations
for the race. She had saved all the
local newspaper stories about the Ironman and had them ready for us to
read. Marsha is definitely a big reason
I love to come to St. George for endurance events. She is the best host an athlete can hope
for. She has a wealth of information
about the venues that you couldn’t really pay for and she’s so excited for you
that you can bet she will be out there on the course to cheer you on come race
day. Marsha, thank you for your
hospitality, you’re awesome! After we got settled in we had a very comfortable
evening and I was even able to sleep in.
This felt especially great since I had a horrendous week at work where I
was putting in 13-hour days.
Friday
We got ready for the day very slowly and then took off to go
to the expo. I was very excited, not
only because it’s exciting to go to any expo for a large race but because this
was my first Ironman-branded race. Not
only that but this year’s Ironman St. George 70.3 also doubled as the Ironman 70.3
U.S. Championships and the field was full of the top athletes from all over the
world. So, I would for sure experience
some celebrity sightings at the expo.
Since the race was sold out it was a bit difficult finding a
parking spot but we eventually found one next to the T2 transition area. We were blown away by the number of bike
racks that were at T2. I realized that
about 2,700 athletes had registered but it was overwhelming to actually see
what that looked like in bike racks. We
would be going to T1 at Sand Hollow reservoir later in the day and I got
excited to see what that would look like with all the bikes racked.
We made our way around the St. George Tabernacle to the park
where the expo was set up. The first
sign that this would be a very cool experience was that as soon as we got to
the first booth Andy Potts was standing there talking to people. Andy Potts is the premiere American long-course
triathlete and the first American to finish the IM World Championship in Kona,
Hawaii in 2012. I started telling my
kids “That’s Andy Potts!” at which point they made it clear that I needed to
calm down and not embarrass them. We
then moved to the registration tent where I made a short line and literally
signed my life away. With the exception
of the Boston Marathon this was the most organized registration process for a
race that I have been a part of. They
definitely covered their bases. They gave
me my registration packet, my participant wrist band and then moved me to get
my bag, shirt and timing chip. The bag
was a very nice draw string bag but the shirt was pretty crappy. After checking the timing chip and receiving
my transition bags you were forced to exit right into the Ironman store. These people are definitely savvy about
making money out of the M-Dot brand.
Jolynne and the kids were already in the store. We were horrified at the prices of the
merchandise at the store. The participant
shirts that I wished we had received were selling for $35!!! For a t-shirt! Needless to say I didn’t buy anything at the
store but enjoyed checking everything out.
I needed a race belt because I forgot mine at home. An IM race belt was $12. I went over to the Inside Out Sports booth
and found one for $7. I bought the
Inside Out Sports belt.
After that we hung around the expo, which was actually
smaller than what I thought it would be.
I then saw Ben Hoffman, the 2012 IM St. George champion. It was cool to see the pros hanging out like
the rest of us. A little bit later on we
sat down and relaxed by a big and cool water fountain while we waited for the
mandatory athlete meeting. That meeting
was interesting but I didn’t learn a lot of new information. Later on we got lunch and the family dropped
me off so I could hear a pro athlete panel.
I was able to hear comments and advice from Andy Potts, Sebastian Kienle
(current IM 70.3 World Champion), Leanda Cave (current IM World Champion),
Kelly Williamson, Ben Hoffman, Heather Wuertle, Meredith Kessler (2012 IM St.
George champion), Jordan Rapp, and Andrew Starykowicsz. This was definitely a highlight of the
expo. I was able to get autographs from
Andy Potts and Meredith Kessler. I also
saw Craig Alexander (3-time IM World Champion) and Paula Newby-Fraser (8-time
IM World Champion) in person. Paula
Newby-Fraser is essentially the Michael Jordan of the sport of Triathlon.
Jolynne and the kids picked me up and we went back to
Marsha’s where the kids relaxed for a couple of hours while I got my bike and
race bags ready for drop off at Sand Hollow.
We then dropped off the kids at the movies. Interestingly enough they went to see Ironman
3. We made our way out to Sand Hollow
and when we got there the place was mobbed.
Sounds like everyone decided to show up at the same time. We parked illegally (only option, sorry) and
I took the bike out for a final spin and safety check. Everything seemed to be working in perfect
order and so I took my bike gear bag and my bike and made my way with Jolynne
to the T1 area. It was an impressive
sight to see about 2,000 bikes and gear all ready for action.
My transition spot was in the middle of everything and it
concerned me that I would have a hard time finding it coming out of the
water. Luckily my aisle ran right into a
gap in the row of port-a-potties that was close to the lake. So, coming out of the water I would just have
to run to the gap, take a left and keep going until I ran into my bike. After positioning myself I took a few
pictures and made my way out of T1.
Jolynne and I then made our way to the swim exit. Sand Hollow is a beautiful reservoir
surrounded by red rock and sporting a big old red rock island right in the
middle. What surprised me the most was
that it was so small. In all the
pictures I had seen it looked like the reservoir was huge but it is actually
only 1,300 acres. By comparison Lake
Powell at the UT/AZ border is 162.6 thousand acres. However, what it lacked in size it made up
for in beauty. The sand was red and cool
and the big rock island in the middle makes a beautiful centerpiece for the
landscape. After seeing the exit and
visualizing how that would be come race morning we made our way to the swim
entry area and I took off my shoes and stepped into the water. Holy cow that was cold! My feet hurt and they started to go numb
fairly quickly. It definitely felt colder
than Bear Lake and that was cold! I then
saw a young tiny woman swimming in her wetsuit so I concluded that if she can
do it so can I, ‘nuff said. But man was
that cold. The only saving grace was
that the swim course actually didn’t look too daunting at all. I crossed my fingers and hoped that we
wouldn’t have a repeat of 2012 where 40MPH wind gusts showed up and made the
swim horrendously difficult.
So, with a renewed respect for the challenge to come we got
back in the car and made our way back to St. George. We picked up the kids at the movies, picked
up some pizza and wings and went back to Marsha’s. The pizza and wings were awesome and hit the
spot just right. We conversed with
Marsha and made some final preparations and I went to bed around 10:20pm.
Race Day
Woke up at 4:00 am, which is actually about 30 minutes later
than when I had to wake up for the St. George Marathon so it felt a bit
luxurious to be getting up that late. I
actually slept very well for it being the night before a huge race. I very quietly put my kit on and got
ready. I went to the kitchen and ate a
quick breakfast of a PB Bagel and some Powerade (which I drank throughout the
morning). I also had some applesauce at
T1 when it was closer to race time. I
made a final check to make sure I had all my stuff and I woke up Jolynne. We left at 4:30 am for T2 where I dropped off
my run bag at my transition spot and then caught the bus up to Sand
Hollow. The temperature was actually a
bit chilly but very comfortable.
The bus to T1 was like every other bus ride to the start of
a marathon that I have done. The ride
felt very long and the bus is full of tension and anticipation. Incredibly I sat next to a guy from Riverton
(where I live) and we had nice conversation all the way to T1. The poor guy was doing this 70.3 as his first
Half Ironman and only his second triathlon.
I don’t think the poor guy really realized what he was in for. The 70.3 distance is no joke. I ended up laid out on a cot after my first
70.3 at Bear Lake last year. The buzz
about St. George is that it’s the one of the hardest if not THE hardest 70.3 in
the U.S. One look at the course tells
you that one better be ready for pain.
This was the thought going through my head as we arrived at Sand Hollow
reservoir.
We got to Sand Hollow sometime after 5:00 am and it was
still dark so no views of the water.
Luckily it wasn’t too windy or too cold.
I started making my way into T1 and was marked by one of the awesome
volunteers. My number for the race was
1730. It was very cool to go into the
transition area and walk right by all the pros in attendance. You would have thought it was a party the way
those guys were joking around and laughing.
The rest of everybody else was either cold, on their way to the
port-a-potties, or cowering in anticipation.
The place was completely abuzz with activity. People making final setup of their transition
areas, making final adjustments to their bikes, making sure tire pressure was
good, eating breakfast, checking nutrition supplies to take on the bike,
walking around and talking to others and lubing up with Body Glide and sun screen. I have never been to a race start with more
activity. There is so much to check and
so much that can go wrong in a race like this.
I actually saw quite a few people that I knew and it was fun
to converse with people and work out the butterflies. I made a pit stop at the port-a-potties,
which didn’t take long since they were pretty well stocked. After that I went to find Ian and David. Ian is Marsha’s son-in-law and David is her
son. These guys had survived last year’s
horrendous full IM. I found them and
they seemed to be in good spirits and ready to go. I also saw Jake who is my buddy Mark’s older
brother. This would be his first 70.3
and he looked like he was good to go.
Sometime after 6:15 am they started telling people they
needed to finish up and make their way out of T1. I put my wetsuit on and put Body Glide on my
neck hands and feet. I also added Body
Glide to the lower leg and arm sections of the suit so that it would come out
easier. I then made sure my bike bag had
all my bike transition stuff in it and that my morning bag had all the stuff I
didn’t need anymore (i.e. my jacket, my phone, etc.). I only put my suit up to my waist since I
wouldn’t be starting until 7:39 am.
As I was making my way out of T1 I ran into the Bullock
family. These guys used to be in our
stake and I used to run with Ryan and his dad Dean. It was kind of cool to talk to them because
Dean is in the middle of a campaign to win an inspirational entry for the
Ironman World Championships at Kona, Hawaii.
Dean was recently diagnosed with brain cancer and he has had major
surgery. The cancer is stage 4 so the
current diagnosis is that the cancer will kill him. However, Dean continues to train and he was
looking pretty good and pretty prepared.
It was cool to see most of his kids there ready to race with him as they
made their way to the swim start.
I handed in my morning bag and made my way to the swim start
where the pro-men had just barely started.
At this point the lake looked beautiful and very calm. The men were swimming at full throttle led by
who else but Andy Potts, one of the best swimmers in the sport. Experiencing that was definitely a neat
experience that I will remember fondly.
The beauty of the surroundings, the awe of us spectators and the
incredible display of human performance made for a memory that I will be hard
pressed to forget. It’s moments like
these when I receive a confirmation of why I love endurance sports. Big stakes endurance events like marathons
and long-distance triathlons are like candy to my soul.
Shortly after the male pros the women pros got in the
water. This is when I finally realized
that the start was a deep water start.
The women entered the water and they swam out to an area between two
yellow buoys that constituted the start line.
I thought that was genius because the swim out to the start line and the
wait prior to the start of my wave would be a great warm-up, which I was afraid
I would not have.
The gun went off and the women started. None of the women were identified pre-race as
being particularly stronger than the others on the swim so I had no idea who
was ahead. However, the women were much
more bunched up in a peloton fashion than the men. Later I would find out that Meredith Kessler
from the good old US of A got out of the water in 1st place.
They then announced that the age group waves would start in
a few minutes and that we needed line up with the volunteer holding a sign up
with our wave number and corresponding swim cap (bright yellow for me). I was part of wave 14 so I had a while to go
but I found the volunteer with the sign and I lined up with the rest of the
yellow-heads. Someone helped me zip my
wetsuit and then I waited. This point of
the race was a bit tense because there were quite a few guys around me that
looked like death warmed over. They were
anxious and wide-eyed like they were about to be brought up to the
guillotine. Luckily there were others
that were joking around and kept the mood light. The race organizers had really good and
really loud music going on so I focused on that and visualized the swim.
The Swim
I think what made people the most
nervous was that they probably didn’t know how they would do in 600
water. Sixty degrees is not that cold
for air temperature but when it comes to water temperature it might as well be
freezing. Luckily I had done two
triathlons the previous year where the water was approximately the same temperature
so I knew my body would adjust. However,
the first plunge is always painful. This
plunge was no exception. The water was VERY chilly. The face and hands felt
most of the sting but by the short swim to the start I was already acclimated
and excited to get started. This would be my first triathlon where I was
wearing a watch and timing my swim. This made for a slightly awkward fit of the
wrist at my wetsuit but nothing too terrible. However, when the gun went off I
sent a few seconds fiddling with the watch to turn the timer on which set me
back a few places in my age group.
The swim was beautiful. I was
glad I wore tinted goggles since the sun was right in my eyes for a while. The
water at Sand Hollow is very clear and I could see my fellow competitors around
me clearly. This made for a bump free swim, however there were so many people
that it made the swim a bit slow at times as I tried to get around people. My
form during the first half of the swim sucked because I was so nervous, this
being my first triathlon of the year and all. However, once the nerves calmed
down I really focused on my form and I started to pick up speed. Some people
were already breast-stroking and back-stroking by the halfway point and I felt
bad for them since that is clearly signs of struggle. The course was extremely
well marked and I had no trouble following it.
Where I ran into trouble was at
the last turn. For some reason I got a really bad cramp on my left calf and
from that point and to the finish (about 500 yards) I could not straighten out
my left foot. It felt like I was swimming with breaks on. I was afraid that the
cramp would be even worse when I stepped out of the water but once I did I felt
tension but not pain. I was good to go and I ran up the ramp. After I hit the
timing mat I checked my time and saw it said 41:58 and it disappointed me a bit
since I was shooting for sub 40 minutes. Then I got cheered up right away when
I saw that they had wetsuit strippers. The wetsuit came off superfast and I was
on my way to my bike. I felt good and was able to transition fairly quickly.
Note to self: don't spray sunscreen on my face. This sent me into a coughing
fit that lasted the whole queue out of T1. Once on the bike I was feeling good
and ready for what I thought would be the biggest challenge I would face that
day. Boy was I wrong.
The Bike
The course starts pretty flat but then it quickly goes into
a pretty steep hill as it winds its way behind Sand Hollow. This is where I could start feeling the heat
of the day. It was hot but it wasn’t
terrible yet. There were tons of people
on the course and it was pretty challenging to not run into anybody. It amazed me how many people I was with or
passing that had $10K or more bikes. I
figure if you’re going to be spending that much money on a bike then you
shouldn’t be getting beat by the dude riding a $1K aluminum road bike. People can do what they want with their money
but I don’t see the sense in spending money like that if you are not really all
that competitive within your age group.
I think I would like to have a TT bike but I am far from having a shot
at Kona so I will be sticking to the sub $5K budget even if I do go for an
upgrade.
The hills and descents were pretty massive. About 10 miles into it I was keeping a pretty
good pace (about 20MPH). It was at this
point that I saw Jolynne and the kids volunteering on the course and I waved to
them. I caught them by surprise and they
were scrambling to get a picture. After
that the course started a long hill as it made its way out of Hurricane. I saw
Marsha somewhere around mile 30 and she says I was talking to myself which
could very well be the case. The
half-iron distance makes people do nutty things.
One of the scariest situations I had was when we were
descending on a narrow neighborhood road.
The road really only had enough space for at most 2 people side-by-side
and people were lined up one right after the other, drafting be damned
apparently. Since it was a pretty steep
downhill we were keeping speeds over 30MPH.
The guy in front of me started getting all wobbly and looked like he was
going to go down. If he went down I was
screwed since I didn’t have enough room to get around him and we were going so
fast and were so close that I would have hit him. Luckily the guy regained control and tragedy
was averted.
The scariest situation on the bike happened at approximately
mile 50 as I was coming down US Route 18 and going about 35 MPH. Signs started warning us to slow down. I slowed down but apparently not enough
because I took a sharp right turn fast enough that I almost lose control. The bike was not taking the full turn as I
wanted it to and I started to freak out a bit.
Luckily I kept it under control, leaned into the turn and came out of
it. My heart was racing and I was
cursing myself for not slowing down more.
I think Heavenly Father was looking out for me on that one.
The most challenging part of the bike was the last two miles
of the Snow Canyon climb. I expected
this but it didn’t make it any less painful.
This came at mile 42 of the course, the sun was beating down and it was
very hot. At one point I went as slow as
4MPH!
Coming in on Diagonal Street was not as nice as it should
have been since the road is very rough and my butt was screaming the whole
time. I made it into T2 in 3 hours,
which was better than what I expected. I
did a lightning fast change in transition but then had to stop to pee! I should have been dehydrated but I guess I
did a pretty good job at keeping liquids in because I had to pee really
bad. That took about 30 seconds and I
was off on the run course. Marsha was at
the exit of T2 and gave me a cheer. At
that point I could only half smile.
The Run
The run course makes its way up from downtown St. George to
Diagonal Street and it was oh so painful.
My legs felt like lead lumps. The
climb up to Diagonal was a time to regroup and calm myself down. I eased my effort a bit and stretched out my
legs and my shoulders. That definitely
helped and by the time I was up at diagonal I was able to step up my pace a
bit. It was at that point that I saw
Jolynne and the kids and they gave me a cheer.
That definitely improved my spirits and allowed me to continue the
climb.
This course climbs for 6.5 miles and comes down for the
rest. The climb up to Red Hills Parkway
was OK but the grade at Red Hills was just brutal. I was doing 10 minute miles up that thing and
I felt lucky to be doing that. By the
time I got to Pioneer Park I was officially dead. I found it hard to keep running and I walked
many times. Once I got to the very top
of the elevation chart I thought I would be able to take full advantage of the
downhill to the turnaround but my body was really struggling. I was in that place where my muscles couldn’t
take the abuse anymore. I think
aerobically I was OK but my body was just really hurting and exhausted. Every step after that was a challenge. I remember thinking of the Pro’s that I saw
finishing as I was going up Diagonal and thinking to myself “how the heck could
these guys be finishing so strong after surviving this run course?!” It was just brutal.
I started making liberal use of the wet sponges they were
giving out on the course and sticking them on my singlet. That helped immensely. I got a second wind once I started making my
way down Red Hills Parkway and got excited to finish. Then came the insult to add to my many
injuries.
I thought that before we came into Diagonal we would have a
quick in and out into one of the streets on US 18 right before Diagonal. Well, that was right but that quick in and
out wasn’t so quick and it was uphill! This
got everyone around me (me included) in a pissy mood. The course felt long and it just seemed cruel
to add another hill to the course, especially at mile 11.5. I ended up walking part of the hill and then
I got to that point where I told myself that I just needed to finish this
thing. So I ran pretty much all of the
way after that. At the bottom of the out
and back I saw Ian and he had a big grin on his face. The guy is the type of racer that I
admire. Nothing brings him down.
When I got to the end of Diagonal I could see the finish
line at the bottom of the hill. This
gave me a huge adrenaline rush. It also
helped that the crowds were huge! I got
pumped and started running faster. I got
to the finishing chute and people were cheering me on and I was cheering right
back. And then I made it. My official finish time was 6:01:15. I missed my goal of under six by a bit over a
minute but quite frankly I felt good to have finished at all. The course was brutal but finishing felt
sweet. They gave me probably the best
finisher’s medal that I own and a really cool finisher’s hat.
I kept looking around for my family but I couldn’t find
them. I also couldn’t find the
food. I kept asking and they kept
telling me to keep walking. Come to find
out the food was all the way back at the expo.
It was an endurance event just to get to the food.
The post-race food was great. I got my food and I just plopped down on the
grass and ate. Jolynne and the kids
found me and they said that they saw me right at the finishing chute but that I
didn’t see them. I have no idea how I
missed them since I was looking for them.
It was awesome to see them and decompress with them. They had an enjoyable experience volunteering
for the race but they did have a lot of standing around doing nothing. We then did our post-race ritual and I got
them some ice cream goodies before we left the competitor’s area.
Wow, what an experience!
The race was so well put together and the crowds were incredible. I think every once in a while it’s OK to pay
a ridiculous amount to have this type of experience. The one thing this taught me is that the full
Ironman I’m doing in August is going to be nothing short of brutal. But of course, if it wasn’t hard it wouldn’t
be Ironman!
My Official Splits
Swim: 41:58
T1: 4:56
Bike: 3:03:42
T2: 3:50
Run: 2:06:49
Final: 6:01:15
AG Rank: 145
Overall Rank: 860
Men’s Winner: Brent McMahon from Canada in 3:51:10
Women’s Winner:
Meredith Kessler from USA in 4:17:11
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