Ironman St George...Check!
Edit: Wow, it took forever to get this out! Too busy at work, but I wrote the majority of this right after the race...
It has been almost a whole week since Ironman St George and I am feeling great! The whole weekend was a really great time and the race was fantastic. Everyone in St George was very nice and supportive through the race.
SWIM (1:08:05)
I had not done a lot of open water swimming nor had I swam in a big group of people before this race and boy was I in for a surprise. I had heard people were violent in the water but you don't really believe this until you get elbowed in the face while swallowing a gallon of water! I wanted to start in front of the pack so I made sure to get in line right when they were allowing people to do so. The water was a great temperature (about 62 degrees) with a full wetsuit. If the water was any warmer I would not have wanted a full wetsuit. When the gun went off I started swimming in the huge pack of people. Things went well for the first few minutes, then about 500 meters into it, I get elbowed in the eye and I had to come up and adjust my goggles. It was a madhouse out there. People on all sides trying to claim their ground. After the elbow to the face the swimming went smooth for a bit then after a couple buoy turns I got kicked in the face and again I had to get all the water out of my goggles and catch my breath. When I was about half a mile from finishing I was in a good rhythm when I ran into one of the surfboards. There were people on surfboards assisting people when they needed help. I didn't even see one and I ran right into her. It made the loudest sound ever and it kinda freaked me out. After this incident, I started sighting more and the rest of my swim was quite smooth. I was constantly swimming in a zig-zag motion so I swam much further than I wanted, but overall it was a great first race swim.
T1 (4:09)
I got out of the water and was feeling a little woozy. I had swallowed too much dirty water and I probably should have thrown up while I was swimming but I held it back so I wouldn't lose my breakfast. This always happens when I swim in open water because I swallow way too much of it. I ran right out of the water, had a wetsuit stripper help me pull off the bottom of my wetsuit and grabbed my transition bag. I didn't want to go in the change tent so I just sat on the carpet outside and threw on my shirt and shoes. The volunteer offered to put all my stuff away so I took him up on it and went to grab my bike. Before the bike area a lady put sun lotion on me and I dropped a glove. I didn't realize this until I was waiting for my bike to be retrieved. I ran back and was happy to find my glove on the ground. For a second, I thought I was going to have to ride the rest of the day with one glove. And again, I turned around and grabbed my bike to start the ride. I didn't put on my number belt very well and it fell off within 5 minutes of the bike so I was numberless the whole day. Good thing I didn't rub the number off my arm.
Bike (6:07:02)
The bike was a great time of hills and wind. I was happy to only experience the most windy time towards the end of the ride, but the whole course was full of hills! I was using a 12-25 rear cassette and I thought it was perfect. I spin a little slower than most people with an average cadence of about 70 and my cadence was quite a bit slower on the steep hills. At the aid stations I always switched out my drinks for new cold ones since it was warm out and I filled myself with bananas and goo's. I was passed by a couple people on the flats, I was never passed by anyone on the downhills, but I was passed by a lot of people on the uphills. I thought my training on hills was sufficient, but apparently it was not! For my next race, I will be training on more hills with a higher cadence. Overall, I really enjoyed the bike and by the end of the leg, I was really happy with where I was as far as time. It wasn't until the run that things started getting bad.
T2 (3:47)
This was nice and fast. Off the bike, pee (first of the day!), then sit and change. I was feeling pretty good until I actually tried to run...
Run (5:39:37)
I felt miserable on the run! My stomach was in naughts and I could never run at full or even close to full speed. It was ridiculously hot so I used the sponges at every aid station and tried to stay hydrated. I very much appreciated the people spraying water on me as it really helped cool me down.
I am not sure exactly why I had the stomach issues, but I really need to get these ironed out before the next Ironman. Overall, it was a great experience and I can't wait to do another one next year. Sorry I slacked on getting this post out and the end is not as detailed as I would like it to be, but work has been crazy busy and a lot of stuff has been going on. If I feel the need to update it and have some time in the near future, I will :-)
It has been almost a whole week since Ironman St George and I am feeling great! The whole weekend was a really great time and the race was fantastic. Everyone in St George was very nice and supportive through the race.
SWIM (1:08:05)
I had not done a lot of open water swimming nor had I swam in a big group of people before this race and boy was I in for a surprise. I had heard people were violent in the water but you don't really believe this until you get elbowed in the face while swallowing a gallon of water! I wanted to start in front of the pack so I made sure to get in line right when they were allowing people to do so. The water was a great temperature (about 62 degrees) with a full wetsuit. If the water was any warmer I would not have wanted a full wetsuit. When the gun went off I started swimming in the huge pack of people. Things went well for the first few minutes, then about 500 meters into it, I get elbowed in the eye and I had to come up and adjust my goggles. It was a madhouse out there. People on all sides trying to claim their ground. After the elbow to the face the swimming went smooth for a bit then after a couple buoy turns I got kicked in the face and again I had to get all the water out of my goggles and catch my breath. When I was about half a mile from finishing I was in a good rhythm when I ran into one of the surfboards. There were people on surfboards assisting people when they needed help. I didn't even see one and I ran right into her. It made the loudest sound ever and it kinda freaked me out. After this incident, I started sighting more and the rest of my swim was quite smooth. I was constantly swimming in a zig-zag motion so I swam much further than I wanted, but overall it was a great first race swim.
T1 (4:09)
I got out of the water and was feeling a little woozy. I had swallowed too much dirty water and I probably should have thrown up while I was swimming but I held it back so I wouldn't lose my breakfast. This always happens when I swim in open water because I swallow way too much of it. I ran right out of the water, had a wetsuit stripper help me pull off the bottom of my wetsuit and grabbed my transition bag. I didn't want to go in the change tent so I just sat on the carpet outside and threw on my shirt and shoes. The volunteer offered to put all my stuff away so I took him up on it and went to grab my bike. Before the bike area a lady put sun lotion on me and I dropped a glove. I didn't realize this until I was waiting for my bike to be retrieved. I ran back and was happy to find my glove on the ground. For a second, I thought I was going to have to ride the rest of the day with one glove. And again, I turned around and grabbed my bike to start the ride. I didn't put on my number belt very well and it fell off within 5 minutes of the bike so I was numberless the whole day. Good thing I didn't rub the number off my arm.
Bike (6:07:02)
The bike was a great time of hills and wind. I was happy to only experience the most windy time towards the end of the ride, but the whole course was full of hills! I was using a 12-25 rear cassette and I thought it was perfect. I spin a little slower than most people with an average cadence of about 70 and my cadence was quite a bit slower on the steep hills. At the aid stations I always switched out my drinks for new cold ones since it was warm out and I filled myself with bananas and goo's. I was passed by a couple people on the flats, I was never passed by anyone on the downhills, but I was passed by a lot of people on the uphills. I thought my training on hills was sufficient, but apparently it was not! For my next race, I will be training on more hills with a higher cadence. Overall, I really enjoyed the bike and by the end of the leg, I was really happy with where I was as far as time. It wasn't until the run that things started getting bad.
T2 (3:47)
This was nice and fast. Off the bike, pee (first of the day!), then sit and change. I was feeling pretty good until I actually tried to run...
Run (5:39:37)
I felt miserable on the run! My stomach was in naughts and I could never run at full or even close to full speed. It was ridiculously hot so I used the sponges at every aid station and tried to stay hydrated. I very much appreciated the people spraying water on me as it really helped cool me down.
I am not sure exactly why I had the stomach issues, but I really need to get these ironed out before the next Ironman. Overall, it was a great experience and I can't wait to do another one next year. Sorry I slacked on getting this post out and the end is not as detailed as I would like it to be, but work has been crazy busy and a lot of stuff has been going on. If I feel the need to update it and have some time in the near future, I will :-)
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