Ironman St. George v1.0

Ironman St. George is known to be one of the toughest on the circuit and this year, and it's last year as a 140.6, it definitely lived up to the hype.  I say that only through what I've heard and read about it.  Since this was my first Ironman all I can say is it was challenging.  Also, Ben Hoffman crossed the finish line at 9 hrs 7 mins for the win, almost 27 minutes slower than his last years time for 4th place, which adds a little more perspective to the difficulty of the course. On a lighter note, St. George is amazing place to visit! From the scenery to the people it's one of the best places I've been for a race-cation.
The weather forecast of around 8 MPH for race day quickly went out the window about 5 minutes into the swim.  When we made the turn at the first buoy we went from swimming in a reservoir to the middle of the ocean.  There were huge swells that ended up taking about 300 people out of the race. I was able to keep calm but was loosing sight of the buoys. I knew the course and could still see other athletes so I kept pushing along. Swim time 1:19:51, position 325 overall.

As you can see, it was a bit rough out there.

T1 was a little longer than I would have liked it to be. I felt like I couldn't get it together. My goggles had leaked on the right side and I guess because of the water my vision was blurry. I'm sure this didn't help the situation. It's awesome having the help in the transition tent. Once on the bike and heading out of Sandy Hallow park I hit the head wind that we had to fight for about 80 miles of the ride. I had pre-rode and drove the course so I knew what was in store. My main concern was my heartrate, it was way too high. It was hanging around 150 bpm. I didn't feel like it was that high but wanted to save as much juice as I could for the run so getting it down became a main focus. My nutrition went great. I had 800 cal. of GU mix in a bottle that I would mix in my aero bottle with water from aid stations. Every 30 minutes I alternated gels and bars (GU gel and Bonk Breaker bars).  The ONLY positive to the headwind is when we did the switchback to head up "the wall" that headwind turned into a tailwind.  Don't get me wrong, the wall was challenging, but there are other climbs on the course leading up to the wall that are steeper.

The overlook while climbing "the wall"

With the climbs and headwinds I watched my average speed continuously drop. The only place I felt I could make up some time was on the descend back into town. My Garmin said I hit 55 mph, awesome!
 Heading back in to T2 we had one last hill, I think it was around mile 110, which my quads started cramping. I had forgot my BASE salt at T1. Luckily I had put extra in my T2 and run special needs, just had to make it there. My bike time was 6:56:52, position 357 overall.

Snow Canyon, the descent back to St. George

T2 went a little better. I popped two capsules of BASE electrolyte salt right when I got my bag. I bought "0" size pill capsules and filled them with BASE salt, which equals one serving. This worked perfectly! I would pop one every 30 minutes on the run and had absolutely no more problems with cramps, BOOM!!! I LOVE that stuff!

Ironically the run was the easiest...well, most normal part of the race. I had mentally prepared for it to be an all out war. At the first aid station I stuffed my TRI top with sponges and just kept them soaked with ice water throughout the run. I also had on arm sleeves which I kept wet. I think this played a huge part in my run survival. My 1st mile was an 8:35 pace. I didn't keep my hopes up for that pace. My nutrition plan was similar to that on the bike with the exception of bars; gel every 30 minutes. This worked for the first 2 hours. Just before that I also stopped drinking the Ironman perform, not a fan. I felt comfortable relying on my salt to keep my sodium and electrolytes up. I switched to bananas, a few pretzels, and a bag of chomps from then on.

 On the second loop of the three loop course I grabbed a Red Bull and the rest of my BASE salt out of my special needs bag. The Red Bull was great pick up! I could feel the legs starting to go, though. Everything else was still good, just the legs. I was now around a 10 minute/mile pace. It would be around mile 22 that I would begin the "Ironman shuffle." On my last lap I started with the cola. When I made the final turnaround at the end of Diagonal St. and saw mile marker 25 the excitement hit me. I ran the last 1.2 miles for an overall finish of 12:52:53, position 299 overall and 37 in my age group. It turned out to be everything I hoped it to be. I'm glad I got to do not only one of the hardest Ironman races but some of the toughest race conditions as well. I wanted to earn every second of that race and I feel like I did. A HUGE thanks to all the volunteers! They are the people who make this all possible and the ones at StG did an exceptional job! My brother was also a huge help in the whole experience. He helped me keep my head in the game the week before, get everything in order, take pictures, and all around great support.

Some new things I tried this race was arm cooler sleeves and calf compression sleeves.  I really like the arm sleeves.  I felt they provided great UV protection and on the run I soaked them with ice water to stay cool.  I liked the calf sleeves too.  I felt they gave me a little extra support.