Iron Star 2006 is in the books, and I'm very pleased with the end results: Well . . . for all my moaning and worrying about a bad race, I actually ended up doing better than I had expected would. I did learn a few things about the longer distance races that I will share first. Then . . . on to the race report.

Update:
Official results are posted at Runner Triathlete News. I've updated the timing info below but for splits in all legs (including transitions), here's a summary:

Total: 5:29:59 (108th overall - top 18% / 22nd AG - top 23%)
Swim: 33:42 (94th overall)
T-1: 2:21
Bike: 2:45:31 (34th overall)
T-2: 1:14
Run: 2:07:13 (242nd overall)

Lessons Learned:

1. Don't neglect the nutrition on the run. I forgot to ingest a Gu on my regular schedule when I started the run. It didn't register until I hit mile 6 and my peripheral vision started to darken. I felt like I might actually faint. Then, it dawned on me that I needed calories, so I quickly downed a Gu and within 10 minutes, I was fine.

2. I need to learn how to run. As much as I wish it wasn't so, the longer course triathlons really are all about the run. While I met my run goal of at least 10:00 per mile, I really need to shave about a minute to a minute and a half off that pace to feel like I'm running "well."

3. Hammering the bike at any part of the ride (at least on a flat/rolling hill course) is not a good idea. I hammered up a couple of small hills and was exhausted after doing it. It took a lot of relaxation and easy spinning to get my legs/lungs back after doing that. Not a smart thing.

4. The last half mile of the run is simultaneously the longest and most exhilarating part of the race.

5. I need to drink more on the bike and not worry so much about stomach issues.

6. Endurolytes (electrolyte pills) are the best!

Okay . . . on with the race report (pictures from Lisa to follow when I download them):

Pre-Race Activities:
Lisa and I left Leander on Friday evening around 6:00 PM after work. We were staying with friends of Lisa's (Jennifer and Carlton and their baby, Sam) who happen to live not 3 miles from the Del Lago resort where the triathlon was being held. They are a really terrific and nice couple, and Sam is a simply adorable baby (3-4 months old). Carlton went out of his way to help me get prepared for the race, including driving us around the bike and run routes so I could check them out. Jennifer was a wonderful and gracious hostess and made us feel right at home. It was almost as if I'd known them forever! They are simply terrific people and I'm so glad I got to know them.

Anyway . . . we arrived at Jennifer and Carlton's house a little after 9:00 PM on Friday . . . said our pleasantries, got our stuff moved into the guest room, and had some time for chit chat and small talk before we just had to crash.

I got up at 7:45 AM to go ride a little bit of the bike course. I must say that that morning had me worried about race day. It was pretty cold 53 degrees, and even with my windbreaker, arm warmers, leg warmers, ear warmers, and shoe covers, I was pretty cold doing that ride. I only rode about 25 miles (10 or so of it on the actual bike course), but it seemed like an awful lot of "uphill." Then, when Carlton drove us around the whole thing, I got even more worried. There weren't a lot of real hills, but the whole ride seemed to be a general uphill ride. I was counting on having some long sustained (even if only moderate) downhill riding on the backside of the ride, but it didn't seem that way in the car.

The rest of Saturday was pretty easy. I went to pick up my packet and attend the course talk Q&A, and then Lisa and I took Jennifer and Carlton and Sam out to dinner. I got my carbo-loading in, and then it was home and in bed by 10:00 PM.

I was up at 5:00 AM and out of the house by 5:20 AM. I had some toast with peanut butter for carbs and protein, as well as a cup of coffee to get things moving and clear out my system so I wouldn't have bathroom issues during the race. I arrived at the resort at 5:25 AM and got through body marking pretty quickly (I was number 354, by the way). I got a decent spot on the bike rack and set up everything in transition.

Again, it was pretty chilly Sunday morning. The ground was cold and the water temperature was 70 degrees. I met up with a few Texas Iron folks and just chewed the fat until about 30 minutes before the 7:00 AM start time. At 6:30, I put on my wetsuit and headed to the water to do a very mild warm up.

At 7:00 AM, the gun sounded for the first wave and then I stepped up with my group for the 7:05 wave. Lisa managed to get there just before 7:00 AM. She wished me good luck and snapped a few pictures of me waiting for our start time. Here's one.



The Swim:
The swim went a bit better than I expected it would. My goal time was 35 minutes. I based that on the fact that I hadn't swum much over the past few months and that I swam a 29-minute one-mile swim at the Ironhead Olympic distance triathlon back in July. The swim start was a running beach start, so when the gun went off, we ran into the water and just started going. My swim actually went pretty well. I settled into a nice stroke, sighting every 20 strokes or so. I didn't try to push too hard in the first 300 meters like I normally do. I just settled in and swam. The group broke apart pretty quickly with the fast swimmers moving ahead right from the start. The rest of us strung out along the swim in a fairly long line. I was near the front of the line, a good 200 or so meters behind our leaders. We caught a few of the stragglers from the first group, and I didn't get passed by anybody from the group behind us until I was about 150 meters from the swim finish. I got out and staggered into transition. My swim time was 33:42 minutes, a little more than one minute faster than my goal time.

T-1:
They had wetsuit strippers near the swim exit, but I bypassed them because I was already half out of my suit when I got to them. I figured I'd lose more time lying down and trying to get up than I would if I just did it all myself. I managed to get most of my wetsuit off just as I got to my bike. I sat down and pulled my legs out and then went through my normal progression (plus nutrition). Since I was on the ground to take off the wetsuit, I just slipped my socks on first. I put my glasses and helmet on next, then grabbed my Gu's. I put two in each pocket in my shorts and then put a power bar in the fourth pocket. Then, I grabbed my bike and headed for the bike exit. T-1 time was 2:21. I can do better, but considering I had to take off my wetsuit and stuff a bunch of Gu's in my pockets, I'm pleased.

The Bike:
There are two main things I can say about the bike leg. First, it wasn't as "uphill" as I had originally thought it would be. There were definitely a bunch of gradual ascents, but the road undulated more than it seemed in the car, so we got some flats and gradual descents as well. Second, I must be stronger on the bike than I thought. My goal was to average between 20 mph and 21 mph, but I was up around 22 mph after the first 20 miles. I did lose a bit of that as the ride progressed due to the increasing number of gradual ascents and natural fatigue, but I didn't feel sore or tired despite pushing 22 mph. Normally, I would have thought that would fatigue me a lot more than it seemed to.

There were no real surprises on the bike. Per Steve's suggestion, I drank nothing but water for the first 30 minutes. I set my watch to repeat an alarm every 15 minutes to remind me to hydrate and/or take in calories. The first 15 minutes, I drank a good two swigs of water, but nothing else. At the 30-minute mark, I had a Gu and more water. At 45 minutes, I took a good swig of Gatorade. From then on, on the hour and half hour, I took in water and a Gu. On the quarter and three-quarter hours, I drank Gatorade. It seemed to work well for me. I had a Power Bar with me in case I needed to have something "filling" in my stomach, but I never used it. My stomach felt pretty good the whole ride.

One thing I like about the bike ride is that I tend to pass a lot of people on it. It's a good feeling to go zooming past guys on their $5000 bikes with $1200 disk wheels! I would estimate that I passed about 45-50 people on the bike. I was passed by about 10 or 11. At about mile 25 I passed by one of the Texas Iron participants (John) in the 30-34 age group. John and I usually share a lane in the swim workouts because we're about the same speed. He gave me some great encouragement. I would see him again several times on the run as we passed each other in opposite directions. Really good guy.

Although at about mile 40-45 I was ready to be off the bike, there were no momentous or eventful things on the bike. I cruised into transition well ahead of where I had expected to be. My bike computer read 21.3 mph for my average speed, and I learned later that I finished the bike leg in 2:45:31.

T-2:
Transition from bike to run was even smoother than swim to bike. I had no leg issues like I did at Ironhead, so I was able to get off the bike and run into the transition area at normal pace. I quickly dumped my empty Gu packets and picked up a couple of others. I forgot to grab my Enervit juice, but I doubt I would've used it anyway. Since I was out of my bike shoes before I got to the dismount line, it was no sweat to re-rack my bike, slip on my running shoes, visor, and race number and head out quickly. T-2 time was 1:14, pretty good for me.

The Run:
Well . . . these long course triathlons are truly about the run, and there's no doubt I need to get better. Given the paucity of my run training, I was shooting for 10:00 minute miles. That would give me a 2 hr. 11 minute run time . . . not good by any stretch, but certainly acceptable given my aversion to running this summer. As always, off the bike, my legs were like jello. My quadriceps were very tired from the bike ride, but my hamstrings felt good and refreshed. It took a couple of miles to get my quads back and used to running, but they did get there. The other thing I wasn't counting on was numbness in my left foot. I didn't feel numb on the bike, but for the first 3 miles of the run, my left foot was quite numb. It made my already awkward stumble-run that much more awkward. Add to that the fact that my back was sore for the first 4 miles, and I thought I was in serious trouble.

However, somewhere between the first and second aid stations, my back finally loosened up and the feeling returned to my left foot. I felt really good for the next few miles and picked up the pace to about 9 minute miles. Only one thing worried me during that stretch. At about Mile 6, my peripheral vision started to darken and I had a couple of instances where I thought I might pass out. I realized then that I hadn't had a Gu for over an hour. I downed one quickly and felt better in less than 10 minutes. Then, I cruised pretty well for a while longer. That's when it happened . . . I hit that wall. Right after Mile 8 or just before Mile 9, I just started feeling awful. No stomach issues, but just my legs just didn't want to move, and when they did, I felt like I wasn't going anywhere. My pace slowed considerably, and I was afraid I might actually not be able to make it without walking the rest of the way. However, I got to Mile 10 and told myself I had only a 5k left to do. That helped, and I kept shuffling along at a 10:00 or more per mile pace. I picked it up with about half a mile to go and crossed the finish line right about at 12:35 PM. Lisa has a good picture of me finishing. She snapped a picture of the finish clock that shows 5:34:56, so she got it about 3 seconds before I hit the finishers' timing mat. Here's the picture.



My final run split was 2:07:13, good for about a 9 minute, 43 second per mile split. That's better than I was shooting for, so I'm happy with it (at least for this race).

Wrap-up:
All in all, I liked the Iron Star triathlon. It was well-run with some great competition. I finished 22nd in my age group (out of 97 people). I was pleased with my time, and very pleased with how professional everything was. I may not do this race next year since Ironman Wisconsin is only about 5 weeks before it, but we'll see!

Thanks to the folks at Out-Loud Production who put on a great race, and especially to the volunteers and spectators. Their encouragement was fabulous and really helped me push forward on the run.

Now that my tri season is over, I think I'll take a break for a week and then talk to the Texas Iron folks about focusing my training a bit more on running for distance. Perhaps by IM Wisconsin next September, I'll have a better base for the full Ironman!

That is all! There will probably be fewer posts on this blog over the next several months, and most of those will focus on everyday life stuff rather than triathlon and my training regimen.

See you all next Spring for more triathlon!