Ironman Arizona 2011 race report

On Nov 20th 2011 I competed in Ironman Arizona 2011. I felt great on race morning. I felt certain I'd be able to go sub 13 hours, which has been a goal of mine since I 1st fell in love with triathlon in 2004.

The swim:
The water was 61 degrees, but it felt MUCH colder than that. I felt great at the beginning of the swim. By the time I made it to the half way point I was shaking uncontrollably and my arms weren't doing what I was trying to make them do. I made it to the half way point in 40 minutes. If I kept up that pace I'd finish the swim 20 minutes faster than my goal time, but I was concerned about my arms not working and my body shaking. This was my 76th multisport race and I'd never had anything like that happen before.

When I got about 3/4's of the way through the swim my body was shaking uncontrollably, I was reduced to a dog paddle, I couldn't get my arms to move more than 6 inches in an up and down movement, and I kept getting lost. Every few minutes a volunteer in a boat would tell me I needed to swim 90 degrees to the the right or left. On three separate occasions I was somehow swimming back to the turn around point, 180 degrees in the wrong direction.

The last 200 yards I was in trouble. My body was shaking so bad it was like I was having convulsions. My arms was no longer responding to my demands to swim. I kept sinking under the water. By that point there were 3 boats surrounding me, they kept telling me I had to stop going under the water or they were going to pull me out of the water & DNF me.

Somehow I made it to the end of the swim in 1 hour 53 minutes;-( The people on the docks had to pull me out of the water and pull me to a standing position. I couldn't stand on my own, and I could barely walk. On my way to the changing tent I couldn't jog in a straight line. I kept stumbling and running into the barriers. When I got into the changing tent I was shaking so badly I couldn't get my cycling shoes or helmet on. The volunteers had to help me stand up and virtually carry me next to a heater and wrap me in blankets to try and warm me up. Transition one took me 10 minutes;-(

The bike:
On the bike it took me over an hour before I stopped shaking, two hours before I could peddle half way decent. I was able to avoid trying to push myself too hard to make up for the time I'd lost in the swim and transition. I followed my race plan on the bike perfectly. By the 60 mile mark of the bike I felt normal again and biked well considering I was racing on an old slow and heavy road bike- my TT bike was destroyed in a an accident in September. I finished the bike in 7 hours 19 minutes, which was faster than I thought I be able to do on my tank of a bike.

The run:
I felt great as soon as I started running. I kept to my race plan of keeping in zone 2 for the 1st 11 miles and was able to keep a 9:06 average pace. I was ahead of my expected pace, and all my training showed I could keep a sub 10 minute per mile pace running in zone 2 easily. Once the sun set and the temperature started to drop I started to have problems with my body temperature. My body started shaking again. As the temperature continued to drop I got colder and I began to shake much worse. Eventually I couldn't make my hands move. Once my arms stopped responding to what I was trying to get them to do I stopped at a dog poop bag dispenser and grabbed some bags to wrap around my hands to try and warm them up. After an hour my of having the bags wrapped around my hands I was able to move my arms again rather than them hanging limp by my sides as I walked. On the last hour of the run my left leg began to have the same problem my arms did earlier. I had to partially drag it along behind me like Frankenstein's monster. It took me over 4 hours to walk the last 13 miles. My marathon time was a putrid 5 hours 56 minutes.

It was my worst Ironman finish time. 15 hours 20 minutes, but I never stopped moving froward. I never quit. I fought when others would have given up. I may not have figured out how to be a fast Iron distance triathlete yet, but I have determination. I separated my shoulder in 2005 for my 1st Iron attempt and couldn't race, DNS. In 2006 I didn't make the last bike cut off point & DNF'd my 2nd Iron attempt. I made a mistake with pre race nutrition in 2007 at my 3rd attempt and had to walk the entire marathon. This year I had hypothermia and was forced to walk the 2nd half of my marathon. I have enough fight in me for 3 people. I will try again. I'll break 13 hours. I am unstoppable, I am strengthened by God!

I got my body fat tested in Sept and the exercise physiologist told me not to lose any more weight or I'd start having problems with my training, racing, and my health. I was at 6.8 percent body fat and 181 pounds. One of the problem she told me I'd have if I had too low of body fat was I'd be unable to control my bodies core temperature. I'm certain that's what my problem was while racing Ironman Arizona2011. As ridiculous as it sounds, I got a case of hypothermia in Tempe Arizona. I dont want to gain weight to avoid this happening again. Instead I'll try and prevent my body from getting overly cold by buying a full sleeve wet suit and a neoprene cap. I'll also put jackets, gloves, and other cold weather gear in my run special needs bags. Hopefully that will prevent this from happening again.

I want to try another Ironman again as soon as possible, but I wont be registering for any more races until I get a new bike. Riding on that bike is not enjoyable, and there's no sense racing if I'm not having fun. I already paid for the Nutcracker triathlon that will be held in December in Rio Rancho. Since I paid for the Nutcracker triathlon already I'll race it, but outside of the Nutcracker I wont be racing again until I get a new bike.