Ironman Triathlon

On June 26th 2011, I completed the Ironman Coeur d'Alene in 12h:14m: 42s (splits: 1:15:13/5:43:40/5:00:37). Ironman is a long distance triathlon that consists of 2.4miles open water swim, 112miles bike ride, and 26.2 miles run)

Part 0: Prelude.

I’m not any extraordinary athlete by any means. When I decided to compete in Ironman Court d’Alene 2011 I was 37 year old. I could swim, but not too well. My crawl-stroke was weak at best. I consider myself a cycling enthusiast who goes on longish rides, but I don’t think I ever road over 100 miles in one push. Finally, I’m not a big fan of running. Frankly, I dislike running since I have always been on a heavier side of a scale. Lastly, I have never competed in any kind of triathlon.

I strongly believe that you do not have to compete in a triathlon before competing in a long distance one like an Ironman. I also do not feel that you have to be a marathon runner or a race bicycles to successfully complete this long distance race. I think that a successful long distance triathlete must be tenacious and stubborn in one athletic pursuit to know that you can take physical and mental suffering for the duration of the race. For example, I am an avid mountaineer. Numerous climbs took me out to a limit of my physical and mental strengths. Many climbs prepared by physically when I had to keep going for twelve or sixteen hours in one push, or prepared by psychologically when I had to keep my focus on technically difficult and committed routes.

Setting a time goal to finish a race that I have never done before felt like a silly thing to do. When I signed up for the event, I wanted to be competitive with myself. I also had a couple of do not(s): do not take the race too seriously, do not cause myself a permanent injury, and finally keep my job, friends, and family. The best advice that I heard was: “Every mile, smile a little.”

Part I: Swim training

f you are not an experienced swimmer, hire a coach. In my first swimming lesson, I went from twitching uncontrollably in a pool (called swimming) to being able to swim twice faster with half the effort. Train in the same environment as the race. In my case it was cold and potentially choppy water. Training in early spring in Oregon, pretty much took care of both. With a friend we also practiced a little bit of “combat swimming” by forcing each other to get out of rhythm, by shoving and pushing each other. As you will read later, learning how to get back into swimming groove is a great skill to have especially when swimming with 2000 other people who are all running on a healthy mixture of adrenalin, excitement, and coffee. A couple of times we swam over each other and shoved each other with over-reaching strokes. Surprisingly, it was not as bad as I expected. The practice of swimming in a pack was a great experience. With every outing it was easier and easier to regain composure after swallowing some water with others splashing around.

For me the biggest problem was cold water. After the entire winter of swimming in heater pool, wetting into 50 degrees water was more than unpleasant. Hoping to warm up, I started to swim right the way, but soon my throat closed up, I could not take a breath, and I started to panic. Ten minutes later, I was glad to be out of the water.... The next time swimming outside, I took my time getting in. I did couple minutes of breathing into water, getting completely cooled down, and starting slow did the trick. Soon after I had no problems what so ever.

Part II: Bike training

The bike leg of the race is the longest, so I spent proportionally large amount of time on a bike. I took a close look at the course to see how much headwind and how many vertical feet of climbing the course has. I replicated these course characteristics during my weekly long rides.

I did a mixture of indoor trainer sessions and outside rides. Due to bad weather during winter months and being bored on long weekend rides, I did like the workouts on the stationary bike. It gave me a chance to stay warm, catch up on my readings, watch some TV etc. Most importantly I learned how to pace (the same goes for running). Although the course itself was through rolling hills, staying in a saddle at a consistent pace is a skill that has to be learned.

I think getting your bike adjusted and getting used to the aero-bars is very important. Changing your my riding position from an upright to an aero-tuck position took a bit of adjusting. My lower back and glutes were unhappy. I eventually had to start stretching after bike rides to loosen up and not hurt the next day.

Let's admit it, a lot of people who get into a new hobby get all the latest gear and then some. I was thinking about getting a new bike, since my old one was falling apart, but getting a “one-trick-pony” bike would not be a very smart decision. I'm glad I did not. First, it was hard not be intimidated by $5000+ bicycles, but once on the course it did not look like it mattered that much. On the downhills, I was slowly passed by the riders on the aerodynamic bikes, on the flats I caught up to them, and on the uphills I build a gap for the downhill ahead.

Part III: Run training

During the pre-climbing season or when I train for high altitude, I do a lot VO2-max training. For the triathlon it worked like a sea-saw: early in the training (after getting into some sort of running shape) I did a fare share VO2-max sessions that consisted running uphills, sprints, stairs etc. Later in the training schedule, I did decreased the number of these sessions and focused on getting increasing number of miles into my legs.

I know the physiological differences between training for speed vs. distance, but I was very much surprised how much of actual difference it really was. Several months after the race (after full recovery), I went on a mountain bike ride where a friend of my easily dropped me on the uphills and the lack of the VO2-max training really showed. On the other hand, I had plenty of energy during the for the entire length of the trail which was 30+ miles.

For my long runs, 2 hours and more, I had to make sure that I have proper hydration and nutrition onboard. I set my watch alarm to go off every 45 minutes, and regardless if I felt hungry or thirsty, I eat and drank something. It was very un-natural to drink and eat while running, so it took little bit of practice.

Part IV: Pre-race (24 hours)

It is time to carbo-load. For me, I had an early dinner that consisted of bunch of potatoes, veggies, and chicken for protein. Later that evening I kept snacking on some more carbs to top off my tank.

I believe that sleeping well before a long day is the key to success, and the nerves can get the best out of anyone. I made sure that I had a good night sleep the night before by having a dose of melatonin. It is a natural supplement that does not leave me drowsy, but if I ever feel that it is still in my system I simply open the curtains or get into bright light to get it out of my system. To test it, I did take the supplement before to make sure it would work for me.

Although coffee is a diuretic and might cause loss of fluids, some people advice against drinking it before the race. Since it is part of my daily routine, I had my daily cup with plenty of water to be fully hydrated for the race. Drinking coffee helped me not to get a headache, wake up, and “get moving”....

I did not have a specific plan for hydrating, I just stuck with my daily amounts and felt pretty well hydrated on the race day.

Part V: Race day

I went through the motions of pre-race activities: I dropped of my transition and emergency bags, topped off your bike tires since it was a lot cooler in the morning and the wheels had less pressure because of that. I made sure that I drank a large glass of water and an additional 100 ml of water every half an hour afterwards until I would have to use the bathroom.

I did not do anything different from what I did during my training. However good any of those gizmos looked at the pre-race expo, I restrained myself with altering any of my routine or equipment.

The best advice I got was not to race the person in front of me. Since there was 2000 people, there was always someone in front of me, and trying to catch up would be a sure recipe to tun out of steam before the race was over. I focused on consistently maintaining my training pace throughout the race.

Swimming: I avoided putting on my wet suit until I was about 2-3 minutes from the start since I overheat easily. I did wear two swim caps for extra warmth, and I made sure that my goggles went in-between the two so they would not get swiped off during the mass start. (Note: Each yellow dot in the picture on the right is a swim cap of one athlete.)

When the cannon went off, everyone gets into water standing up, but until you actually get to swim takes a while. The entire field of athletes has to stretch so everyone get to be horizontal, and only then I got to swim. This takes time, and for me being patient during the first five minutes was is difficult. As soon as I saw an opening in front of me, I started to swim with low stroke frequency with my feet kicking slowly but constantly. This was not only because I could not go any faster then everyone around me, but more importantly I did not want to get into a stampede. After all, it felt like like a spring salmon run and not like an organized swim. I simply went through my swimming motions so no-one could swim onto my back –literally. Once the field stretched, I was able to pick up my speed and finished the swimming leg in time that was very happy with.

Not sighting (looking forward to gauge the correct swimming direction) was not a problem. With over 2000 athletes swimming side-by-side, the same two laps, everyone swims in the same direction. The only time I had to get my head up and sight was when I was passing the big red turnaround buoys. Even then, I only knew that I was at the turnaround by the fact that everyone around me changed direction.

Bike: I love the Coeur d'Alene course – beautiful countryside, lakes, rolling hills. The race organizers are reworking the bike course for 2012 onward to make it less hilly, so any information I provide will be outdated. On my bike, I rode the portions of the course that looked either hilly or windy. The rest of the course, I drove to make sure there were no surprises.

Most of my attention during the bike ride was to eat and stay hydrated, because the marathon was still head of me. I unpacked half a dozen power bars (that I eat during my training rides) and put them into the little pouch on the top-tub. At the bike's mid-point I refilled it and by the end of the ride I consumed about to or so power bars, drank 2L of highly concentrated Gatorade, and 4L of plain water.

Run: I felt pretty good going into the run. As you read, the theme of the Race Day is to execute the plan to the last detail. The first 6 miles went by just fine, and I kept eating a packet of gu every 3 miles with about a cup of water. Then the everything went South. Only one thing that was different: the gu that was handed at the stations (although the same brand and type) contained caffeine. I had no idea. Caffeine being a diuretic plus heavy exertion does not equal pleasant experience. Basically, I had to visit the facility at ever or every second aid station...

Regardless of the situation, my original plan was to walk the aid stations so I drink enough water rather than spilling it all over the place. I have to say that I did stuck to my plan.

Part VI: Epilogue.

It was a great experience, and if anyone has a desire to complete in an Ironman you have my support and encouragement.

Would I do it again? Never say never, but as of right now, I do not have any plans to do it again. I came to this conclusion, not because I was hurting too much after the race, or for any other particular reasons. As an avid mountaineer competing in an Ironman is like climbing very tall peaks. Both activities are physically and mentally demanding, but most importantly they take very long time and patience. During a climbing trip, I would spend 20-30 days on a glacier acclimatizing, carrying loads of supplies ever so higher, being cut off from the rest of the civilization, for that one moment of standing on a summit, however short it might be. Training for an Ironman is equally solitary as climbing tall mountains. Meeting my training partner way before sunrise to get those eight hours in the saddle, before a short recovery run (short being 45 minutes to an hour). Or getting up extra early before work to fit my swim training in, and get the second training session of the day in on the way home from work (either running or biking). With this much time spent burning calories, the right diet and proper sleep is a must. That being said I spent the rest of the free time during the day either eating or heading to bed by 20:00.