Nutrition Breakdown
Pre-Race
3.5hrs prior to race start. 4 cups of apple sauce, 2 scoops of First Endurance Ultragen and some added salt.
Then had a bottle of water with a GU Electrolyte Brew tablet while in transition and about 100 calories of First Endurance Liquid Shot.
Cup of water coming out of the swim.
1st 3hrs on bike:
1 bottle of water every 3omin and 300calories of First Endurance EFS with added salt every hour.
2nd 3hrs on bike:
I used on course nutrition (Ironman Perform) because hot liquid nutrition is not good and I supplemented that with 300 calories of solid foods (2 servings of gu chomps and 1 honey stinger waffle). So, at minimum 1 bottle of ironman perform an hour plus one of the solids above and at least 1 bottle of water. This equated to 275calories an hour or so. I would have added salt to this but my extra salt was left in my bag. This lack of salt caused some cramping for the end of the bike and throughout the whole run. I got creative during the run to make due.
The Run:
I went out to get ironman perform 2 out of every 3 aid stations and supplement that with 100 calories of clif blocks and drank water at every aid station no matter what and most of the time two glasses. I went with margarita clif blocks as they have the most sodium. Knowing I was way behind on sodium heading onto the run I asked several people in the change tent and no one had any they would give up. So, at the first aid station they had pickles so I poured pickle juice into a cup and drank it. At two points during the race I found salt tabs in zip lock bags on the ground that had been dropped and I picked them up and used them. Maybe gross but may have saved my race.
Things to keep body temp down during the run. Used sponges at every aid station on my head and at least 4 times poured ice down my pants. This may sound weird but does wonders for cooling you off.
The Race
Swim:
It was by far the roughest swim I have ever done with a ton of contact from start to finish. I decided to wear a wetsuit and that was by far a great decision with how rough the swim got to be. It was a terrible decision for the huge chaffing/rash I got under both of my arms and on the back of my neck that bothered me all day. I went out to go sub 1:20 for the swim.
Final Time 1:17
Bike:
Well from the very beginning of the bike my ability to push power or my power meter was off big time compared to both heart rate and perceived effort. So, I ignored power for the most part and just raced by heart rate. The best part about this is I was going faster with less power. At mile 50 tendonitis in my knee struck and stayed with me throughout the entire race. At this point I knew I could bike through the pain but running was going to be terrible. Then at mile 70 or so to go with the tendonitis and the head wind one of my little toes I thought was going to fall off. It was killing me to put out pressure so I had to change my pedal stoke frequently to do my best to relieve pain. I had to make sure I kept my cadence lower so that I put less pressure on it. Now, I am extremely upset and wondering if I am even going to finish this thing. I have never ran over 15 miles in training and trying to do a marathon with a hurt knee and a hurt foot was not looking like a possibility. I of course persevered as I was making good time on the bike and close to 1mph over what I was guessing I would be at for the day.
I stopped twice on the bike once to pee as I could not do it on the bike and once to make sure my athlete tracker was working.
A special thanks to my buddy Eric who saw me several times on the back half of the bike and that really helped me get through the tough times.
Final Time 5:57 18.83mph
Run:
Well my goal on the run was to walk through aid stations and run between. Making sure I got all the nutrition I could and wanted to get in. Once I started running my knee was still hurting me so not good. Good thing was the pain in my toes was not. But I did have a lingering cramp warning the whole run in my hamstrings.
Like the bike I used heart rate for the run and ran as fast as my heart rate would let me. My first of 3 laps I think I pushed a little much but ran really well 8:48pace. The second lap felt like the hottest lap of the run and I was really struggling mentally and physically. I told myself I would keep the plan of running between aid stations at least through the 2nd lap and see where I am at. I saw my family (wife, son and parents) near the end of the second lap and that made a huge difference for the next couple of miles. Then right before the start of lap 3 I ran up on Jeremy and that helped me a ton as I had someone to run with for a good portion of that last lap. Then when Jeremy fell off dealing with stomach issues I knew I had a chance at going sub 12hrs and with that I picked up the pace. I at this point knew I did not really have to pay attention to HR any longer and just run. I still took my time at aid stations but my pace was anywhere from high 7’s to low 9’s at this point and I felt good. I was ready to be done. Those last couple of miles like on the bike felt like time was going the wrong way but I got through it and again beat my goal run time of 4:30 marathon. I could not believe that was even possible with the issues I was having but I showed more mental toughness in this race than I even knew I had. I think I learned something about myself during this race that I could not have learned doing anything else. I used to think that I was mentally weak but now I know that is not true.
Final Run Time 4:21 9:57/mile
Total Time 11:49:32
Final Thoughts:
This was by far the hardest thing I have ever done and I learned a lot about myself while doing it. I am stoked I broke my 12 hour goal in my first ironman with the training load that I had, but I have no desire to ever race ironman again. The race nor the training was fun. I enjoyed the camaraderie of ironman, the finish line and being able to point at the clock as it was under 12 hours but nothing that will bring me back to this race.
Things I noticed:
Most athletes had no idea about nutrition or did not pay attention to their nutrition plan.
A lot of athletes could not handle the temperature.
Lastly, most athletes bike too hard. You look at the results and I gained over 200 spots in the overall ranking on the run. So, that tells me 200 people that were ahead of me going onto the run probably biked to hard. I would say after looking at results 1/3 to ½ of the competition bike too hard to run well off the bike.
If anyone has specific questions or comments let me know: jeff@apexendurance.com
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