photo by Talbotcox.com 4:07:55 1st
Swim 27:42 (10th)
Bike 2:18:50 (2nd)
Run 1:18:07 (1st)
I arrived in Galveston on Wednesday, leaving home some 30 hours earlier. Also on Wednesday. Coming from our hot and humid summer I chose Texas as my first US race to make sure I had nice warm conditions. The first couple days were a bit chilly but pleasant enough. However at some point around lunch time on Friday, somebody flicked a switch and the temperature dropped from 20C to about -120C. Ok, maybe more like 5-10C, but once you're in single digits, accompanied by 40kph winds and rain, it might as well be a 100 below. The cold weather stayed right through to race day. It was freezing.
photo by Talbotcox.com The day before the race, officials advised us it would a non-wetsuit swim. That guy making the call probably just flew in from Iceland, so who could blame him. But luckily on race morning, a regular human retested conditions and changed it to a wetsuit-legal swim. Phew. I was picturing last years IM Frankfurt conditions all over again in my head. I stood on the jetty in my wetty and socks, the wind cutting right through my Roka suit, my hands and feet numb, getting that semi-comfortable sleepy feeling people talk about before they die of hypothermia. I looked down at the water (while the event volunteers diligently chipped away at the layer of ice on top), praying it'd be warmer in than out. The time finally came to jump in. I stepped out of my socks, leaving them stuck frozen to the timber boards, and made the plunge into the water. It jolted my fading brain function straight back to reality and I was pleasantly surprised, the water temp wasn't too bad. My arms and neck were tense from the shivering and I was struggling to find motivation to warm up properly, but for a moment I had a slight relief that I just might possibly make it through the day.
photo by Tom Pennington Race start was now 1 minute away. As I sculled on the start line I finally got a flicker of that excited/nervous feeling you get leading into a race. Unusually late to get that sensation kick in for me. Better late than never. When the gun went off I started out without any serious flurry. My starts are usually a frantic thrashing of arms and legs to will myself to keep up with the field. Usually it has the opposite effect and it's where I typically lose most my time in the swim leg. Today however, I kept relaxed and took it easy at the start. Maybe because I was in a different frame of mind pre-race today. I'm not sure why, but there was no urgency. After about a minute I was still getting kicked and beaten up. Most of the girls are usually long gone up ahead by now. I was stoked to get a little thump here and there. About 400m into the race I was still in the group. That gave me confidence. This swim was turning out pretty good so far, and yet I'm not really fully invested in swimming hard this morning. Interesting.
photo by Talbotcox.com By the end of the swim I was still in the main pack and I was happy with how it went. Relaxed, no stress, the opposite to most of my swims. I exited the water with Rinny right behind. We're usually pretty close out of the water. I wondered if she was as happy with her swim too. I thought of giving her a high-five running up the ramp out of the water, "look at us go Rinny, we're in the main pack". The leader was 3mins ahead and there were two others 2min ahead of our group. Most of our group were pretty quick to get on their bikes and clear out of T1. I took the time to put socks on and I had planned to put on a vest but no-one else did and I was warm after the swim so I left it behind thinking they all knew what they were doing. As soon as I jumped on my bike I felt the freezing wind and wished I'd taken the time to put that vest on. Heather and Rinny were just up ahead now and seemed to be taking it easy, winding out onto the main section of the course. I stayed back thinking I should build into it once I get some warm blood in my legs. It turns out I don't think it would've mattered at all. It was freezing and I was feeling it. My quads were frozen, my fingers were numb, it felt like I had ice down my chest, deep in my lungs, and I had that brain freeze with the cold wind getting up under my helmet.
photo by Scott Flathouse Once we were out onto the main highway, the course was 40k straight, flat, following the coastline, with a big tail wind. You never know it's a big tailwind till you turn around. As the k's ticked down, my core temp did too. There was never a point where I thought I was starting to warm up. Shivering and tensing up I knew I'd be burning more calories than normal so I tried getting nutrition in. The first 20k I was able to get some liquid calories in, but after that my fingers were useless. I would've had as much luck trying to pull the bottle out of the frame with my foot - in cleats. At 45k we turned around and headed straight back. Gail force. Icy. Tunnel vision. Arctic suffering. I'd always pictured Texas as hot. Not today. Except maybe for that guy visiting from Iceland.
photo by Tom Pennington I eventually rolled back in to T2 after being out in the elements way too long. Kim was now 3mins up the road, Heather was right behind me and Rinny was about a min back. I didn't know how I'd feel getting off the bike with everything so numb. And I didn't know how I'd tolerate the lack of nutrition, knowing I would've burnt extra calories from shivering. I figured at least I'd get the jump on Heather in transition as I already had my socks on from T1. Unfortunately my fingers still had the dexterity of a hoof. Have you ever seen a horse undo a helmet clasp. No. Me neither. I ran over to the nearest volunteer for help. Of course my lips and face didn't work either as they were frozen. Luckily this volunteer must work with special people like me all the time. She knew what I needed and she made it happen. I owe a big thank you to that volunteer, without her, my Plan B was to run 21k with my helmet on. I guess that might've got me a little more media attention. As you'd expect, getting running shoes on was a mission too. My fingers were no help so I just kept jamming my foot into the shoe until it looked like it was kinda on. At least my eyes were working. I couldn't tell you if it 'felt' like it was on. The first 3k I still wasn't 100% convinced I had my shoes on the right feet. It just didn't feel right with the numb stubs attached the end of my legs. I eventually caught back up to Heather and tucked in behind her 6-foot-11 frame until I thawed out. After 3k, I started to feel more normal again. Blood was returning to all the extremities and I started to feel good so I made the pass to move into second place.
photo by Talbotcox.com The run course was really enjoyable. It was three laps winding in and around the water park with several hairpin turns. You could regularly see your competitors, there were spectators all over the entire course and there was no long straight stretches so it kept it interesting. I felt really good running. Possibly because I was returning to life after my earlier 'out-of-body-cryotherapy experience'. I passed Kim around 10k to take the lead. Heather and Rinny looked to be running strong behind me so I couldn't back it off. I was extending my lead every time I saw them but not because they were slowing down at all. They looked good. It wasn't until 1.5k to go that I knew I should win it from here. I was able to shut it down a little, take it all in and enjoy the excitement of the last k.
photo by Talbotcox.com I was stoked to take the win against a strong field of women and in conditions that really hurt me most. I didn't die. Well, actually it's hard to say for few brief periods there I'm not entirely sure. But as they say, what doesn't kill you... Congrats and thank you to Rinny and Heather for the top-quality racing. And congrats also to Kim for hanging tough, finishing 4th, after a smoking bike leg. The only thing I saw smoking in that weather.
A big thank you to Ironman for looking after me during this race and a the biggest thank you goes to my good friends Roberto & Jeannine for running me all over the place and welcoming me in to their home for a few weeks while I prepare for the full Ironman coming up soon in Texas.
A big thank you to Ironman for looking after me during this race and a the biggest thank you goes to my good friends Roberto & Jeannine for running me all over the place and welcoming me in to their home for a few weeks while I prepare for the full Ironman coming up soon in Texas.
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