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Ironman Arizona - Triathlon


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Tempe, Arizona
United States
World Triathlon Corporation
Total Time = 10h 56m 11s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 22/346
Pre-race routine:

This race was more of an experiment than a race. I have done many HIMs but was always concerned about nutrition on the full Ironman as I am a diabetic (not using insulin) so my ability to take on carbs is very limited.

While you can test some things in training you have to do the 10 to 12 hour thing to see what really happens, so I did, but in a very conservative way

There was no time goal and while I didn't want to DNF I belived I had a 50/50 chance so there wasn't that much stress going in, although a full on bonk is not a fun thing


Swim
  • 1h 08m 49s
  • 4224 yards
  • 01m 38s / 100 yards
Comments:

Most enjoyable swim ever. Almost no contact and it felt super easy the whole way.

I have upped my distance per swim practice and this made a big difference (I think)

My HR for the swim (my Garmin gets that) was above normal. Not sure why because I really took it easy, but in hindsight something was going on that day.

What would you do differently?:

Nothing. I am sure more effort would have gained me a minute or two but not sure what the cost would have been later in the race
Transition 1
  • 00m
Comments:

The wetsuit peelers pressed my watch button which screwed u my bike splits...but nothing tragic

I took the time to dry off with a towel and put on top. I swam with my tri shorts but no top under wetsuit. I was concerned it would be chilly at 8AM and didn't want a wet top on
What would you do differently?:

Maybe hustle a bit more. I took it super easy. A little jogging was probably necessary.
Bike
  • 5h 30m 46s
  • 112 miles
  • 20.32 mile/hr
Comments:

Biked slightly below target power, but HR was a little higher than it should have been. So I rode half way between my HR target and power target

I was a little dizzy on the bike and was afraid my glucose levels may be off. So I stopped at special needs pulled out my glucose meter but it wouldn't power on. So I continued and stopped at the med tent. By the time they got a glucose meter I had lost a few minutes but I got the number and it was fine

I know my aero was good. I was screaming past people on the tailwind/downhill portion. There are a few guys I saw on every loop. They would pass me on the headwind and I would catch them on the tail wind. I was pretty happy with my setup and thing I did to the bike.

I drank 5 bottles of UCAN (2 scoops per bottle) so 800 calories on the bike

edit : in the 10 weeks of this training period I focused on longer rides all in aero and one intensity session per week. So I slowly built the long bike week over week with my longest ride being 5h, all in aero on the computrainer. The "intensity sessions" were mostly 7min VO2max sessions doing hill climbs on the mountain. something like 6x(6 to7)min at about 107ish% FTP.


What would you do differently?:

I'd say have a backup glucose meter but that is getting a little too much
Transition 2
  • 07m 10s
Comments:

I changed into my run gear, change jersey and shorts. Put on socks and off I went to the med tent to get tested again. This time their glucose meter failed and by the time they found one working I had lost a few minutes
What would you do differently?:

Not much
Run
  • 4h 03m 37s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 09m 18s  min/mile
Comments:

The legs felt incredibly wobbly for the first half mile but it soon settled in. By about 1 mile I was running a decent pace, probably a bit over 8min/mile. I ran with one lady where the pace felt very comfortable alhough HR was a few beats above target. In hindsight this was a mistake and I should have backed off slightly.

First half of the course I was doing a 27min run/3min walk stratgey and it worked great. I was pretty confident I would run sub 4 without effort

Stopped at med tent at half way, all was within range

2nd half I was starting to feel I was really low on energy so decided to back off and take the occasional walk. I was afraid I was bonkng.

But the bonk was in my head. Walking should be postponed as much as possible because you end up walking more and more frequently. Never for long but I was at a point I would run 1min, walk 1min towards the end.

With about 2 miles to go a guy was cramping really bad. I stopped and offered him some "hotshot", a sample they gave us at checking and I know of by reputation for a quick fix for cramping. About 300 feet after givving it to him and being on my way, my calf started to cramp. I said to myself "Karma" will get you through it and sure enough, the twicthes went away. I believe it'a all in the mind and the mind is pretty messed up at this point.

My run training didn't really change much for this build. Most running was a bit below what I usually run at and I stuck pretty close to my typical run week. I ran 6times per week and built my longest runs to about 2h20. I have a tendency to have achilles problems but this round I think the slightly slower pace helped a lot. If I were to do it again I would probably up my weekly mileage by about 10%.


What would you do differently?:

Stick to my HR plan and just slow down rather than walk.

I know I could have taken a good 10minutes off the run and if I ever do another full I'll put more time into run prep. Despite what some like to think the run is the easiest place to make up time. You don't need a big FTP you just need to pace properly with the FTP you have, optimize your use of watts and minimize the time walk and run the right pace from the start. IMO,
Post race
Warm down:

Went through the chute and off to the med tent for one last glucose measurement.

The whole "you are an Ironman" was cool but I would not define it as "life changing" as some have.

I am glad to have done it, and maybe will do another but only if it's with a buddy and a "fun" trip.

Halfs are more fun IMO

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of experience for sure. This being my first, I had no idea what to expect so I went super duper conservative.

My failing glucose meter, the med tents failing meter, stopping at med tents does take away valuable time. I would prefer to spend those 10 or so minutes elsewhere

The diabetes and assocoated nutrition is probably not as bad as the unknown of what would happen. Total nutrition 7 bottles x 160 calories = 1102 calories under 11 hours = 100 calories per hour. That and about 10 cups of water.

People eat WAY too much on a IM


Event comments:

I'm writing this report the day after, 100% recovered, no pain, very mild stiffness so I know a left a little too much on the table. But that's ok, it's a learning process.

I am starving however. I think I shocked my body with the low calories.




Last updated: 2016-11-21 12:00 AM
Swimming
01:08:49 | 4224 yards | 01m 38s / 100yards
Age Group: 28/346
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
Suit: Xterra
Course: rectangle, with very short sides
Start type: Dive Plus:
Water temp: 0F / 0C Current: Low
200M Perf. Good Remainder: Good
Breathing: Good Drafting: Below average
Waves: Good Navigation: Good
Rounding: Good
T1
Time: 00:00
Performance: Average
Cap removal: Good Helmet on/
Suit off:
Wetsuit stuck? Run with bike:
Jump on bike:
Getting up to speed:
Biking
05:30:46 | 112 miles | 20.32 mile/hr
Age Group: 0/346
Overall: 0/
Performance:
3 loops Each loop was 30km out with a strong headwind and a slight climb, back was a tail wind with slight descent. On the last loop the wind turned and it was headwin both ways
Wind: Strong
Course:
Road: Smooth Dry Cadence:
Turns: Cornering:
Gear changes: Hills:
Race pace: Drinks:
T2
Time: 07:10
Overall:
Riding w/ feet on shoes Good
Jumping off bike Good
Running with bike Good
Racking bike
Shoe and helmet removal
Running
04:03:37 | 26.2 miles | 09m 18s  min/mile
Age Group: 22/346
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
2 loops up and down both sdies of the Tempe Reserve
Course:
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized?
Events on-time?
Lots of volunteers?
Plenty of drinks?
Post race activities:
Race evaluation [1-5]

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2016-11-21 6:58 PM

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Subject: Ironman Arizona


2016-11-21 7:48 PM
in reply to: #5205627

Master
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, California
Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona

Nice work!  I agree about your running comments.  I'm not a fast runner but I did well in New Zealand when I spent the winter running 6x per week.  And also in Barcelona when I had the summer off from work and could just focus 100% on training.  Other races I paid the price when I didn't ramp up enough miles per week.

As for nutrition, I generally go about 250cal/hr on the bike, less if it's really hot weather.  Stomach issues because of too many calories are much harder for me to deal with than catching up if I feel behind.

2016-11-22 6:24 AM
in reply to: 0

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Veteran
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50010010010010025
South Windsor, CT
Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona
Congratulations on a very great race Marc! For you, nutrition is so critically important but you managed calories very well and repeatedly checked to make sure you were OK and I was glad to read that you were. First IM is always a learning experience but to finish 'easily' and taxed so little is simply amazing.

I am so impressed by your times! Just superb all the way around. Holding pace on the run late is the downfall of so many doing IM and that was a non-issue with you, as was ticking off 112 efficient, aero bike miles.

I wish I had known you were racing. I was tracking my friend Mike Finney all day, who like you, had a stellar race.

I suspect you would be able to make adjustments to get more calories into you, if you truly felt you needed them to hold higher power/pace, but if long course is not for you then why bother? I have tons of patients with congenital heart disease or acquired cad/valve disease etc who do triathlon of all distances but only a few are NIDDM. I've taken care of a few with IDDM who were sprinters or CC runners but again no long course triathletes with DM so I cannot be of specific help to you, sorry.

I had asked Fred about UCAN previously-do you mix 2 feed bottles and carry the rest with you and use something (water) to mix on the course at the aid stations? Have you ever tried to up your goal calories per hour, just practice trying to get as much in to you to see what your GI tract can hold then back off some? I ask for you but also for me..I agree with your comment about people eating too much in general for IM, but remember you are specifically trained for low calories and others are not.

Tell me your experience with Hotshots. I do not know anyone with personal experience with this.

Anyway, super great race! How lucky to not be sore after IM.
(I had cramps so badly during Austin that I couldn't walk for 3 days-wrecked my quads by continuing to run on them to try to finish well-what a mistake.)



Edited by dtoce 2016-11-22 6:35 AM
2016-11-22 6:42 AM
in reply to: dtoce

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Extreme Veteran
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5000500100100
Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona
Originally posted by dtoce

Congratulations on a very great race Marc! For you, nutrition is so critically important but you managed calories very well and repeatedly checked to make sure you were OK and I was glad to read that you were. First IM is always a learning experience but to finish 'easily' and taxed to little is simply amazing.

I am so impressed by your times! Just superb all the way around. Holding pace on the run late is the downfall of so many doing IM and that was a non-issue with you, as was ticking off 112 efficient, aero bike miles.

I wish I had known you were racing. I was tracking my friend Mike Finney all day, who like you, had a stellar race.

I suspect you would be able to make adjustments to get more calories into you, if you truly felt you needed them to hold higher power/pace, but if long course is not for you then why bother? I have tons of patients with congenital heart disease or acquired cad/valve disease etc who do triathlon of all distances but only a few are NIDDM. I've taken care of a few with IDDM who were sprinters or CC runners but again no long course triathletes with DM so I cannot be of specific help to you, sorry.

I had asked Fred about UCAN previously-do you mix 2 feed bottles and carry the rest with you and use something (water) to mix on the course at the aid stations? Have you ever tried to up your goal calories per hour, just practice trying to get as much in to you to see what your GI tract can hold then back off some? I ask for you but also for me..I agree with your comment about people eating too much in general for IM, but remember you are specifically trained for low calories and others are not.

Anyway, super great race! How lucky to not be sore after IM.
(I had cramps so badly during Austin that I couldn't walk for 3 days-wrecked my quads by continuing to run on them to try to finish well-what a mistake.)




thanks Dale,

It seems I can push up my calories a bit and will probably try to do so. If I picked up the pace a little I would probably need to.

For the UCAN I had 6 premixed bottles, 3 on the bike, 3 in special needs bag. I used 5 of them total. I never drank water on the bike but did hose myself down with some water now and then. Each bottle also had a salt stick in it for good luck.

On the run I had a fuel belt with the little flasks with pre-mixed UCAN. I had replacement flasks in my run special needs bag. So I had 8 flasks total and drank 6. In the future I will try UCAN bars so just get rid of some weight.

I know I am a fat burner.
I know UCAN delivers carbs in a very steady way so I don't get glucose spikes
What isn't clear to me is if UCAN also improves the fat burning process because the math still doesn't add up that I should be able to do this thing :-)

2016-11-22 8:34 AM
in reply to: marcag

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Veteran
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South Windsor, CT
Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona
Originally posted by marcag


thanks Dale,

It seems I can push up my calories a bit and will probably try to do so. If I picked up the pace a little I would probably need to.

For the UCAN I had 6 premixed bottles, 3 on the bike, 3 in special needs bag. I used 5 of them total. I never drank water on the bike but did hose myself down with some water now and then. Each bottle also had a salt stick in it for good luck.

On the run I had a fuel belt with the little flasks with pre-mixed UCAN. I had replacement flasks in my run special needs bag. So I had 8 flasks total and drank 6. In the future I will try UCAN bars so just get rid of some weight.

I know I am a fat burner.
I know UCAN delivers carbs in a very steady way so I don't get glucose spikes
What isn't clear to me is if UCAN also improves the fat burning process because the math still doesn't add up that I should be able to do this thing :-)




Have you ever had metabolic testing? I did and know my 'fat burning' heart rate vs higher paces and where it changes so I can train to 'fat burn', which can help a bit. More important for a guy like you but you likely can hold a higher percentage of fat burn into higher heart rates because of your diet/training.

Thanks for the info on UCAN. What flavor do you prefer? (I know there is individual choice here, but I'm curious)

How about the Hot Shots?
2016-11-22 8:50 AM
in reply to: dtoce

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Master
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Overland Park, KS
Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona
Damn good race Dale! Very well executed all the way around.


2016-11-22 8:54 AM
in reply to: reecealan

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Veteran
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South Windsor, CT
Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona
Originally posted by reecealan

Damn good race Dale! Very well executed all the way around.


Reece-
Marc crushed IMAZ, not me. (I plodded through IMLP this year but my friend Mike Finney did this race and finished pretty close to Marc).

Props go to THE MAN, the power mentor, the machine=Marc!!
2016-11-22 9:00 AM
in reply to: dtoce

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Master
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Overland Park, KS
Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona
D'Oh! That's what happens when you read with an iPhone 5!

I mean, damn good race Marq!
2016-11-22 9:11 AM
in reply to: 0

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Extreme Veteran
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Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona
Originally posted by dtoce

Have you ever had metabolic testing? I did and know my 'fat burning' heart rate vs higher paces and where it changes so I can train to 'fat burn', which can help a bit. More important for a guy like you but you likely can hold a higher percentage of fat burn into higher heart rates because of your diet/training.

Thanks for the info on UCAN. What flavor do you prefer? (I know there is individual choice here, but I'm curious)

How about the Hot Shots?


Yes I have. Back in 2010 when I did my first HIM I had no idea if I could do it. I was in Clermont for a training camp and the NTC had a testing facility so I went in. My fat burning was really good. This is mostly due to diet. People speculate in all kinds of ways of how to achieve high fat burning, but I am a 100% believer it is diet related. I eat a LCHF diet because of the diabetes and in turn this creates a more efficient fat burning mechanism.

For a person that wants to do long course, may have GI issues or a tendency to bonk, they should look into this.

Now there are many many pros and cons of LCHF and I am in no way saying it's THE way to go for a normal person. It may be, but there are downsides as well. But for a diabetic like me it's almost the only way. I time my carbs with my excercise because thats when I am most insulin sensitive. For example I cannot take any carbs in the morning : 0. So my breakfast plan ion race day is to find an IHOP and have eggs and sausage very early in the morning. This race I was at IHOP at 3AM with the college crowd coming back from the bars. It was actualy fun, they did one of those "mannequin challenges" and I was the only person over 25 in the place.

Edited by marcag 2016-11-22 9:27 AM
2016-11-23 10:23 AM
in reply to: #5205627

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1502
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Katy, Texas
Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona
Great race Marc. I just did Florida and we finished within 19 seconds of each other. Twinsies!!

Anyway, I did the same thing as you on the run in Texas last year and went with what was comfortable and ended up doing a 50/50 run/walk by the end. This year at Florida, I set a predetermined HR limit that I would not exceed miles 0-22 and stuck to it. It felt like I was barely moving at first and was really hard not to speed up to what felt "comfortable" but luckily the scars from IMTX were enough to remind me why. It ended up working really well and my run splits were dead even across the board. I walked all the aid stations, but ran the last 4 miles straight without walking with little issue. If you do another one, I'd highly recommend it.

I'm doing Florida next year if you're interested. It certainly is a "fun" destination!
2016-11-23 3:19 PM
in reply to: 0

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Subject: RE: Ironman Arizona
Originally posted by 3mar

Great race Marc. I just did Florida and we finished within 19 seconds of each other. Twinsies!!

Anyway, I did the same thing as you on the run in Texas last year and went with what was comfortable and ended up doing a 50/50 run/walk by the end. This year at Florida, I set a predetermined HR limit that I would not exceed miles 0-22 and stuck to it. It felt like I was barely moving at first and was really hard not to speed up to what felt "comfortable" but luckily the scars from IMTX were enough to remind me why. It ended up working really well and my run splits were dead even across the board. I walked all the aid stations, but ran the last 4 miles straight without walking with little issue. If you do another one, I'd highly recommend it.

I'm doing Florida next year if you're interested. It certainly is a "fun" destination!


I looked at the stats and I spent 42min walking and in the med tent
3h20 running 2h14in Z2, and 9min in Z3 and the rest in z1. I have a z0 for walking.

Some excess pace was pace booty related. Fond memories

Edited by marcag 2016-11-23 3:19 PM


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