Ironman #3 is in the books!!! I started training for IM Texas in January with the hopes of qualifying for Kona, knowing that there would be extra slots since it was the North American championship race. Unlike my training for IM Cozumel last summer/fall, this time around I was MOTIVATED and CONSISTENT. I didn't skip workouts and although I had that dang achilles injury, I was feeling pretty fit heading into this race. I cut out all added oils and sugar 3 weeks prior to the race to ensure I'd be running clean and lean on fruit, vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, seeds, & of course Beet Performer Beet Juice! According to rigorous analyses of the finishing times of the women in my AG from the past 5 years performed by my training buddy/engineer/11-time Ironman finisher/7-time Kona qualifier/8:54 IM PR/Cam Loos, a sub 10:30 would probably put me in contention for Kona. It was a high goal but I believed it to be attainable.
We packed all imaginable tri gear into 1 car - with 2 sets of everything it was like Noah's ark of triathlon. We drove 10 hours to Texas and met up with some rockstars from NC - PA and super dad Lawrence Landrigan, pro triathlete Tim Nichols, and awesome sherpa/most supportive girlfriend ever, Barb Kornegay. It was fab hanging out with you guys and thank you Barb for all the cooking & cleaning you did for us!
The days prior to the race were all about those last minute workouts, the expo (loved seeing my Zoot peeps Mark, Jake, and Jill), practice swim (rubbed elbows with fellow high-octane vegans Kyle, Shannon, & Taylor), gear bags, and fine tuning the bikes. My bike was optimized to the MAX! Thank you Justin for letting me borrow your Enve 808 rear wheel with disc jacket - that thing looked sick and no doubt made me go faster. Other optimizations: Grand Prix 4000 IIs tires, latex tubes, and an aerodynamic water bottle for my seat tube. Trayvon was ready to roll.
The Swim - 2.4 miles - 1:12:18 (1:43/100 yds)
Surprise!!!!! The swim was non-westuit legal. A week prior to the race, word was that the lake temp was a delightful 69 degrees. Didn't think there was any way it would creep up over 76 degrees within a week, but expect the unexpected, it did! Sooo, this resulted in the purchase of a new Zoot speedsuit (YES, I had one packed in the ark, but its so old that wearing it probably increases drag - anyone in the market for a dragsuit speedsuit?). During the practice swim I swam up to a SUPer to fix my goggles and when I pulled myself up onto his board he exclaimed, "Whoa! I just saw all the water bead down your back like a duck!" Excellent - the new suit was performing well already!!!
On the day of the race Lawrence and I lined up near the front figuring we'd start together and take turns drafting off each other in the swim. I was only able to stay with him for about 100 yds d/t the pure chaos of the swim. The entire way to the first turn felt like a brawl - it was so rough, simply d/t being in and amongst so many other swimmers. Not sure why exactly, but it was a lot more physical compared to Cozumel and Chattanooga. When you make the final turn into the canal you still have over a half mile to go and I was mentally prepared for this. I was not prepared for the water to smell like someone had emptied all the porta potties into it. With about 300 yds left another swimmer passed me and as they did so, smiled and waved. Was I hallucinating from the permeating odor of sewage??? No! It turned out to be Cam who was the very last non-wetsuit swimmer in the water! haha
T1 - 4:27
The Bike - 112 miles - 5:51:33 (19.12 mph)
When I started the bike I didn't feel very good. I think this was b/c the swim took more out of me than I was expecting. I told myself that eventually I would settle in and start to feel good, which did happen after about 20 miles. It was a very windy day out there, eventually building to 15-20 mph. The meat of the course was a double out & back on a toll road. The pros were that there were no cars and no turns. The cons were that (to me) it was a boring course and there was a ripping headwind on the way back. I must have told myself "do not over bike" at least 100 times. I over biked in Cozumel and had nothing on the run - I did not want history to repeat itself.
I kept myself in check even though a lot of people passed me, including women in my AG. But I knew I had to stay within my limits and I while I was doing that on the final lap a pack of no joke about 30 triathletes caught up to me. This wasn't a legal paceline or even an illegal paceline. This was a PELOTON of riders all 4-5 inches off each others' wheels. They were easily going 2 mph faster than I was going solo. I was pretty pissed off. How can someone riding legally possibly compete with that?!?! And I never saw 1 person in the penalty tent all day. In fact, a draft marshall drove up from the opposite direction and put both arms up in the air to say "What are you all doing???" but no one left the peloton nor did anyone get a penalty. What do you do in that situation? Expend extra effort to stay ahead of the pack? Let everyone pass you? Try to "legally" draft off the back? Or just fall in with the group? I'm not sure what the right answer to this question is and would be interested to hear what others think. My nutrition was on point during the bike - I ate a Carb Boom gel or margarita shot blocks every 30 minutes and drank water plus electrolyte tablets. I was hoping that both my legs and stomach would feel good heading out onto the run.
The Run - 26.2 miles - 3:43:19 (8:31/mi)
The run was a bit of a question mark. I had to take a full month off of running during my training d/t the achilles injury. I supplemented with some water running and eventually worked back up to doing one 20-miler prior to the race, but was never able to resume speed work. Perhaps the worst thing about not running so much was the mental aspect - going from 0 miles/week to a marathon in 9 weeks was an intimidating prospect. My coach and others told me that no matter what I still had a solid running base, but it was hard to find solace in their words.
When I got off the bike, which I was soooo happy to do, it was a joyous moment when I realized that my legs felt good. I knew I'd be able to run today. I started off at about 7:55 pace and had to force myself to slow down. I figured that based on my training I'd be able to average between 8:30 to 9:00 miles for the marathon and I didn't want to start out too fast. It's the classic debate of do you A) bank time at the beginning of the marathon when you're feeling good knowing that you're likely to suffer in the later miles? or do you B) force yourself to stick to your goal pace and hope that you're able to stay consistent for the entire thing? Cam and I had discussed this and he is a big proponent of strategy B. I'm still not sure what I think, but I knew I didn't dare let myself run faster than 8:00 miles for the first loop. Turns out I averaged about 8:00 pace on the first loop, 8:30 pace on the second loop, and 9:00 pace on the third, thus putting me at my goal pace of 8:30 for the entire thing. And yes it got really damn hard. I kept hearing my friend say, "whoever walks least gets to Kona" and this kept me going. I wonder, would it have been easier if I had slowed to 8:30 from the beginning? Thoughts?
A word about this run course - it was AMAZING!!!!! As dull as the bike was, the run was equal in magnitude but in the complete opposite direction. Great job Brian for putting together a real winner. It started off by the river, wound through some neighborhoods, a few shaded sections of paths, and then the last 3 miles were the bomb diggity. Both sides of the river front were lined with thousands of spectators. Music was blasting and cheering was on in full force. You'd think that doing a 3-loop marathon would be a drag, but running through this section 3 times was something to look forward to! It had a lot of variety and was very well supported. It was my favorite IM run course so far (favorite bike course was Chattanooga & favorite swim was Cozumel).
Total Time - 10:56:22 (12th AG, 67th female, 349th overall finisher)
I felt elated to cross that finish line and hear the famous words, "Tara Martine, YOU ARE an IRONMAN!!!!!" I believe I executed the race as well as I could have and there's nothing that I would have changed about it on the day. I feel happy that I was able to put together a solid performance and I know that I have a strong fitness base that I will keep building on. Everyone says that getting to Kona takes 3-5 years of hard training. Well, I'm about 1.5 years into it now and am not planning on stopping. I will get to Kona. I have a lot of work cut out for me (especially on the bike - I have no clue how women in my AG managed to average 22-23 mph in those winds). However, I am really enjoying triathlon right now and if I didn't like doing the workouts and love going to races I wouldn't do it. I'm already plotting my next race, which I am thinking just might have to be Los Cabos.... :)
Congrats to all finishers and thanks to everyone who supports and encourages me!
