2011 IM Arizona Recap

WOW! 2011 triathlon season has finally come to end. Really looking forward to some time off and have a proper winter here in Boise. Will be on the slopes boarding this year and a bit more skate skiing this year. A quick recap of the race......

Overall, I couldn't be more excited to finally have a good run. It has been quite a journey on the run for me over the last 9 IM's. At IM Coz last year, I ran 4:17, DNF'd St. George, ran 3:48 in IM Lou and capped off a 3:33 run at IM Arizona.

My swim was ok, didn't hurt nor help me, was a bit slower than expected. I still struggle a bit to find my stroke in a wetsuit. It is my fastest swim to date in a wetsuit, but a bit slower than I think I am capable of swimming. I'll keep working on that one, all in all a decent swim.



Onto the bike, early on I knew it wasn't going to be a stellar day. My swim was good enough that I knew there would be opportunity to jump on a few "trains" that would come rolling by which was the game plan. I really wanted to run well in Arizona. There were a few singles that came by early on and I just couldn't stay with them. I was pushing big watts for me, but they must have been drilling it! This was an odd situation for me to be in as typically I ride well in comparison to most of the field, but I didn't have a choice but to let them go. The first group of 4-5 guys came rolling by around mile 14 and this was the group I really wanted to roll with. I hopped on the back and I struggled to stay up as well. A few miles later, I was dropped again off the backside of this group. As we were nearing the first turn around on the highway, I decided I would bridge to "the group" one more time and see if I could hang. Maybe the legs were a bit stuffed and I was hoping they would come around. I gave'er one last try. I caught back up after rolling 33 mph to catch back up. Once again, I stayed there for a few miles and you guessed, spit out the back. The watts were there, but to no avail, I just wasn't able to stay up with them.

I immediately went to plan B for the bike. I put put my power/HR/time away in my pocket and was going to ride off feel for the rest of the day. For whatever reason, it just wasn't going to be my day on the bike. I rode quite a bit slower during the second loop. I have to admit, I was losing my head a bit. Coming into the 3rd loop, I had decided to quite after the bike, save my legs, and race in 2 weeks at the inaugural HITS race in Palm Springs, CA. Well, as this crazy sport of triathlon would have it, things came around with a lil help of caffeine. I got back to riding the way that I felt I should be riding on the 3rd lap and I mentally "got back in the game." I told myself that all I had to do was ride 5:15 and I would be ok. As luck would have it, I buzzed in just before that.



Out onto the run, I was super stoked to get off that freakin' bike. The worst was behind me now and I could focus on what I had come to do which was continue to improve my run. After all, it is the place where I have the most to gain. I pulled my watch back out and closely monitored my pace for the first 2 miles to make sure I didn't get too crazy on my pacing which has been an issue in the past. I opened up the first mile in 7:36, a bit fast for my liking, but I'll take it. 7:45 for the second, again, a bit "spicy," but again I'll take it. By this time, I felt my running legs were with me. I put my watch away again until mile 25 and ran completely off feel. There were two things that I kept telling myself. 1.) FEED THE MONSTER 2.) BE THE MASTER OF MY FATE and BE THE MASTER OF MY SOUL. (From the poem Invictus, see previous post). Through mile 17, I ran between 7:39 and 7:59. I had my first stopping cramp at 18. I managed this cramp for the next 3 miles and my paced slowed during those miles to 8:45-9:18. At mile 22, I slowly returned to pace and finished my last 1.2 miles at 7:33 pace. I finished the run in 3:33 and change, a huge PR for me.

There was so much more accomplished for me than the physical feats. Most importunely, I struggled back mentally to "stay in the game" even though I wasn't having the day that I typically would have on the bike. This has been a big step forward personally as I have not done well in the past when things weren't going the way as planned. If there is any piece of information that I could pass along, it would be, "Stay in the game." Ironman is a long day and it isn't going be easy. If you hang around long enough, your "machine" will eventually come around, it has proven itself in training.

I'll leave you with the second poem that Jeff had written on my other bottle. Now off for some recovery for the next 4 weeks and then slowly get back into things. IM Hawaii has continued to elude me, but I will one day wrestle with the "Lava Gods." They can't stay away much longer. In IM Coz and IM Lou, I had good swim/bikes and at IM Arizona I had the run I needed. Now just gotta get them together, just a matter of when!!!!

My first race of 2012 is Oceanside 70.3 in March and I'll be heading to Ironman Couer d'Alene in June. Until then.......

Stayin' in the game!
J

If by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!