IRONMAN TEXAS 2011

My wife feels that she should let all the spouse's know what it is like and what to expect while your significant other is racing all day. She also points out pro's and con's of the race venue. Hope this helps.

IRONMAN TEXAS THE WOODLAND'S MAY 21, 2011

The inaugural Woodland’s Ironman Texas was a great experience. It was one of the toughest races I have done. Overall I was happy with my results. I did as well as I could on that day. I pushed myself close to my limits and know that body put out what it could. Now to focus on improving on those short comings.

I arrived on Wednesday night to avoid Houston traffic. Got up early had a good breakfast and went to athlete check-in. One thing I learned for last years Florida IM was that I was not about to wait in line for over an hour in the rain to check-in.  Check-in was quick and easy. Got a massage, went to buy groceries for race morning, and went back to the hotel for a nap. Had a great dinner at a salad bar near the hotel and went back to get my gear bags ready. I spent a little time on the river with the family then went to the “mandatory”-waste-of-time-meeting.  This race is a point-to-point swim to the transition area so I wanted to get a feel for how long the walk would take on race morning so I walked back to my hotel from the race meeting, which was on the way. I figured I would need 30 minutes to give me a little lead way. 

Practice swim

I wasn’t sure if I would use a wetsuit or not especially since I haven’t done any open water swims without it this year. I wanted to take a practice swim with it and decide if I would use a skin or wetsuit. 

Once I got in the water it was pleasantly cool. I swam 1 mile and didn’t get overheated. I decided I would be okay if I used a wetsuit since I had done swims with a wetsuit in warmer water than this. After my swim I went to the hotel for a final check on my bike before check it in along with my gear bags. 

Mandatory bike check in

Michele, Leia, and I walked to the transition area to turn in all my stuff. Once we got there I found my bike rack and thought it was a mistake. I couldn’t believe I was on the first rack nearest the bike out. I was really excited about not having to navigate all the bike traffic in transition. I racked my bike ( aka Precious, as my wife calls it), covered my aerodrink and walked over to turn in my gear bags. Made a last minute check to make sure I had everything in my bags and went over to check out the swim exit. The swim exit was made of stairs like the ones used in Kona. The run up was on a steep side walk but I don’t remember it being an issue on race day since it never entered my mind.

After gear check in I walked with the family to feed the fish and ducks. I think it was the highlight of Leia’s day. Then we walked around for an hour trying to find a way to get on the tour boat. Once we found the boat dock they said that they were closing up for the day because of the high winds. Bummer. We went to the mall next door for a late lunch. We ate and headed back to the hotel. We were all exhausted from the heat and humidity and I needed to get off my feet. We finally made it back and took a good nap. Got up and had pre-race dinner got my race bottles prepared. I tried to relax the rest of the evening. Houston has high grass pollen count that I am apparently allergic. I was congested all night and had a hard time breathing.  This only added to the usually pre-race jitters. Needless to say I was not that well rested but thankfully I have a 2 yr. old and I am used to being tired. I owe Leia a thank you for the sleep deprivation training.  

Race Morning

The transition area opened up at 4:30am and I wanted to get there early to allow for any mishaps and I could rest before the swim start. I have a tendency to wake up just before the alarm goes off. So I woke up at 2:50 in the morning.  I had my usual race day breakfast and coffee. I knew I would not be able to get back to sleep so I used a foam roller to work out any kinks I was feeling. Anyone who has done an Ironman knows that the last week of tapering you start to notice all kinds of little nagging pains that weren’t a big deal so you ignored them. On this morning was when they decided to show up in full force. I worked out all that I could and got dressed. Said bye, to the wife and walked to transition. 

I wanted to get to transition early just in case I needed any extra time. I arrived to transition at 4:15 and when I got  to transition there were about 10 people waiting to get in. So I waited with them, and waited, and waited. It was 4:40 and the timing mats weren’t working. No one was allowed to pass until they got the mats working. Finally, things were up and running. I found my bike, aired up my tires, and mounted my water bottles. Now off to the gear bags to put my run bottles in my run gear bag. I found out that they were not letting anyone in the area with gear bags. There were only 2 young ladies in charge of putting everyones supplies in their gear bags.  Everyone was yelling at the poor girls to let them in. The girl who was in charge eventually gave in and allowed 10 people at a time to go to their gear bags. I put my fuelbelt bottles in my bag and began to walk to the swim start for bodymarking. On the way there my plantar fascia began to ache. I remember thinking, “WHY NOW.”  I got to the swim area, got bodymarked, and found a bench to sit. I sat there for a minute took a deep breath and just took everything in. Two guys joined me on the bench and we helped each other into our wetsuits. I learned from the Galveston race to make sure I had enough calories and fluids to get me through the swim. I took a small ensure, gel, and water bottle this time. It was probably a little overkill but I wanted the option of at least having it on hand than not. I took a picture with Miranda Carafee who was standing behind me. That was pretty cool of her. I turned in my morning clothes and walked to the boat ramp. I took my gel just before entering the wetsuit corral. Upon entering the water I notice the temperature was significantly warmer than the previous day. I swam out to the middle of the lake and then toward the “Tyr” bridge. I felt pretty good. All my aches had dissolved away. I made my way toward the canoe that all the pro’s were holding onto. It was interesting to see that they didn’t want to expend any energy by treading water. Many of them were shivering and was beginning to sweat. The pro’s took off and I still had 10 minutes to wait. I saw a buddy that was volunteering on the kayak support. He wished me luck and as I turned back around I notice the athletes stretch across the entire lake about 3 or 4 deep. Then I looked to the boat ramp and Mike Riley was yelling at the 1 or 2 hundred athletes that were not even in the water yet. My thoughts were “this is going to be a tight and hectic swim”. It didn’t bother me that so many contenders were still on the ramp. Less traffic to contend with. The countdown began. 10,9,8,.. I told my buddy Robert, “have a good race. Let’s rock and roll.” The cannon went off and the first 50 meters were nice then I felt the pressure of a pack swarming around me. I picked up my pace so I would not get stampeded. The pace was very fast for me. I had to breathe almost every stroke but I was able to hold the pace. Then I caught an elbow to the left eye that knocked me a little silly. It took me a second to gather myself and realize what happened. It knocked my goggles loose so I drained them and put them back on and continued. I tried to catch the group I was with but after 20 meters my eye was hurting so bad a thought it might be bleeding. Nothing I can do about that now, so I kept going. I was amazed that so many people were going so fast. Even with my mishap I hit the halfway mark in 30.34. That is the fastest I have ever swam.  The second half was less hectic and I could find some clean water and swim my own race. Just as I was feeling relaxed I got a kick to the stomach. “I know the water is dirty but where are these people coming from.” This was a good time to drain the goggles again. I found someone who was just faster than I was so I drafted with him for a bit. Then I got tangled up with another swimmer and tweeked my shoulder. I entered the canal and drained my goggles one last time since it was only about 1000 meters to the finish. I can deal with water in the goggles until I finish. I picked up my pace and the harder I pulled the more my shoulder started to hurt. I knew I was favoring my shoulder because everytime I sighted I was way off course. At this point I could hear the announcer and the crowds but couldn’t see how far away I was from the final turn in to the exit. I got to the stairs and was so glad to be out of the water I almost forgot to take off my wetsuit. I grabbed some guy and told him to pull off my wetsuit and I made my way to the tent. I remember thinking my legs didn’t burn running up the ramp to the tent so I must have been really kicking towards the end of the swim. 

T1

My T1 time was not impressive. In my previous 2 IM races I didn’t have any problems changing clothes. I think that was because the last 2 races were cold. This time I was sweating heavily. My long sleeved skin shirt was sticking to me and I couldn’t get it on. I was stuck in an odd position for a second. I thought about not wearing it but at this point I was kind of committed to wearing because it would probably take longer to take it off. I got my jersey, socks, headsweat, sunglasses, and helmet on just as a guy sat next to me and decided to take a piss. I’m out of here. Dropped my bag off and sprinted to my bike with shoes in hand. I think waiting until I got to my bike to put on my shoes was the right call. The ground was saturated with water and who knows what else and I think mud would have gotten in my cleats. I was really covering some ground since I knew I was on the last rack. I beat the volunteers to my bike. I was happy to see my family rear my bike. I waved, told them I loved them, and see you in a little while.

Bike

  Took off out the gate and had a good mount. I saw Marco and Lorena. He almost scared me with his enthusiasm. I felt relaxed, heart rate was low, and I was cruising at 20 mph. All good signs.  I few guys passed me and I tried to keep up for a while before I realized that I still have 111 miles to go. Let em go, I said. I will catch them later. After crossing a huge gap on the bridge over the lake I felt something fall. I checked to see if my bottles were still there. Nothing. My bottle cage dropped and I had a hard time reaching my bottles. For the next few miles my mind was dominated by what I should do  about my bottles. I almost stopped to fix the cage then remembered I took out my multitool last night and left it on the table. That made my decision easier. Now I was just hoping I wouldn’t launch my bottles. I know I lost a lot of time fiddling with my bottles everytime I wanted a drink. Oh well, nothing I can do about that now. Mental note: next time tighten ALL your bolts. I felt really good during the first half but I knew I had a tailwind so I tried to hold back and save it for the return trip. Started to hit hills about the 40-50 miles mark. Nothing to big but they were harder than they should have been. I realized because of the bottle situation that I wasn’t drinking as much as I should have. I made a strong effort to drink up approx. every 3 minutes. I finally made it to turn to the turn around. We turned south right into a headwind. It was the right call to hold back earlier because I immediately started passing riders as if they were putting on the brakes. It felt really good to pass so many people so late in the ride. At about mile 60 I suddenly realized that I haven’t peed yet. I knew I was dehydrated because I normally would have already gone 2or 3 times by now. I drank more frequently and tried to make myself go. I came across two friendly guys that were about my speed so we chatted and helped push each other. My feet really began to hurt. This is strange this doesn’t usually happen on the bike. I decided to drop back and took my feet out of the pedals at about mile 90 to almost 100. I just wanted the bike to be over at this point so I put my shoes on pushed my pace to get it over with soon. I wanted to pee one last time before getting of the bike so I wouldn’t have to stop on the run. Nothing was happening. The last ten or so miles seemed like an eternity. I made the final turn and saw the transition area so I took my shoes off. 

T2

I had a good running dismount and was off to the tent. My feet were killing me. Changed my clothes started to head out and felt the urge to pee. I had to run back out the other side of the tent to find the port-a-potty. I know I lost time but at least it was a good sign that I could go. I finished my business and ran out transition.

Run

Without the wind on the bike cooling me off this is the first time I really noticed and felt the effects of the sun, heat, and humidity. I took a few endurlyte’s and tried to enjoy the feeling of not being on the bike. Time to see what I have in my legs. I didn’t feel too much fatigue in my legs but I think the heat was keeping my heartrate elevated so I slowed my pace a little to try and get it to drop. I thought if I could save some effort now it would pay off toward the end of the marathon.  Normally I would try and hold my pace. After the two aid stations passed and my heartrate was still elevated I decided I would walk the 3rd aid station. After taking in some water at aid station 3 I felt fresh. So I  picked up my pace and felt really good. Knees and quads started to ache toward the end of the first lap around mile 7. I thought to myself just finish this loop and I will she Michele and Leia at the start of lap 2 and that will help me keep going. Finished the first loop and I didn’t see my family. I thought maybe they are at another area we scoped out the day before so I kept running. I never saw them but luckily I saw many supporters from The Alamo Tri group from Trisition area. They were spread out along the course along with Marco and Lorena. They are a great group that I have gotten to know.  The motivation they provided was invaluable. Knowing that they were there watching and that I would see them again helped me keep moving. While finishing up the second lap I saw my family near the dancing water fountain. Leia’s eyes and face were beaming with joy from playing in the water. Seeing her face and talking to my wife provided a great jolt of motivation. I was told I had 1:40:00 to complete almost 10 more miles to go under 11 hours. I was highly motivated. I picked up my pace considerably over the next 3 miles. I think it was a little too fast for me at this point in the race. By the time I got to mile 21 I was fading and hurting pretty bad. I tried to keep at least a shuffle but ended up negotiating with myself. Okay lets walk for 50 steps and then lets get moving again. I knew from past races that if I didn’t set a limit to my walking and just mindlessly start walking that I would walk indefinitely. 50 steps felt like barely enough maybe next time I will walk for 100 steps but lets keep running until you can’t handle it anymore. My feet were killing me from the constant pressure of biking and running. I tried running on the grass but it didn’t really do much. I have noticed that when you are tired to the point of exhaustion and in pain you do thing that you wouldn’t normally do. I finally took of my shoes and walked in the grass for about 5 minutes. It felt better but I knew I couldn’t finish the race like this. I knew my hopes of going 11 hours were quickly fading. I thought I still might be able to make it if I kept running the rest of the way. It didn’t work out that way. I figured I would have to run just under 8 minute miles from here to the finish and since I was about a 10:30 average and in pain I knew it wasn’t going to happen. I made one more bargain with myself. I will take my shoes off one more time and walk to the end of this grass and then finish running at a respectful pace. Deal. Started running again and slowly picked up the tempo and felt good. I think I can finish at this pace. Slowly the aching knees and feet began to override everything. I started walking again. This was short lived. I saw my buddy Darrel going the other way. I realized how close I was to finishing so I started running again. Made the final turn around and picked up my pace. I was motivated to be passing people so late in the race. I picked up my pace again. I saw the final hill and wonder if I will have enough to run up it or if I should walk it. I started running up it and it didn’t feel bad so I ran faster and it felt even easier. I could here Mike Riley and the crowds and the pain started to melt away. I picked up my pace again and wondered how many more times I would be able to keep picking up my pace before I top out. I skipped the final aid station just like Macca and approached the final turn before going into the finishing chute. I saw Lorena running next to me. I thought I am not going as fast I felt I was so I gradually increased my tempo until I was at a full sprint. I figured lets just do this until I can’t do it and cramp up or I will cross the finish line. I never ran so fast at the end of a race and felt really good. Too bad I didn’t feel like this over the last 6 miles. Final time 12:27:00 and still daylight. I felt great. I accomplished three of my goals; finish, finish without getting hurt, and finish while the sun was still out. Despite some mishaps I still had my best race. A new PR. Even if I would have had a better swim and bike, which was possible, it still would not have made up for my horrible run. I had several break throughs 1) I finally nailed my nutrition, 2) learned not to swallow the lake water, and 3) learned that if I rode more than 95 miles once and run more than just one 16 mile long run that I might be able to break 10 hours.  Not too bad on my minimal training plan. For IM Texas,12 hours was all my body could do on this day.  Although it was slower than my goal time, I pushed my body to its limit and that is all I had on May 21, 2011 the day the world was supposed to end. 

IM spouse report

The Woodlands in May is ridiculously hot and humid so be prepared to sweat. The layout of the town center is great because you can walk to several places and keep the kids occupied. Leia and I skipped the swim start because we figured it would be hectic to get the baby down there by 7am. We went straight to the transition area to catch Roland, since he was at the end of the last rack we got a good place to wait for him to transition. After seeing him off we went to HEB to pick up some water and then to Target to kill some time before the mall opened. The mall opened at 10am, so we spent a good hour at the indoor play area on the 1st floor of the mall-free for little ones...yay! After that we went to the food court for lunch and she rode the carousel which is only $1 a ride. So we killed about 2 hours just playing at the mall, and the great thing was the free air conditioning. After the carousel we picked up lunch and went back to the hotel for a nap. Around 3pm we headed out to the dancing water fountain by the river which was a great spot to watch for Roland because the run is 3 loops and the kids can play in the fountain while you wait and they stay cool. Leia had a blast and almost 2 hours passed in no time. Around 5pm we headed over to the Market street and ate dinner at Cafe Express...I used the free wi-fi to check Roland’s splits on Leia’s Ipod. When I saw his last split show up I knew to head over to the finish. I only waited about 15 minutes for him to finish, which is pretty good timing. The finish area is incredibly tight so it was hard to navigate the stroller around...I would highly recommend a stroller or leash if you have a toddler because it’s too crowded and very easy to get separated from a little one. 

Overall, the Woodlands gets points for having the most things to do relatively close to the race venue. For once I had no problem keeping Leia occupied while we waited.

1-Dress the kids in a swim suit to take them to the dancing water fountain, and then bring a towel and change of clothes. There is a restroom to change older kids.. but I just wrapped Leia in a towel and changed her camp-style outside. Seriously the kids can spend hours in that fountain...fine with me, its free and it kept her cool...no complaining from her either!

2-I really wanted to rent the ‘my athlete tracker’ gps but I waited to long. If your spouse has never done an IM....get one! It will help you pinpoint where your spouse is so you can time when to go out and try to see them. I heard they are pretty accurate. If Roland does another IM I will definitely get one....but you have to have internet access on your phone to really get the best use out of it. 

3-There are 2 movie theaters within walking distance of the market street...great for older kids to keep them occupied during the long wait. For me it was pointless to try to take Leia to a movie since she won’t sit still. 

4- Bring or buy bread and have the kids feed the turtles, ducks, and fish in the river and at the lake. Leia had so much fun feeding the ‘fishies’ but keep your toddler close because I saw a girl go head first into the river.

5- I was disappointed they didn’t place encouragement signs along the run like the did in IM CDA and Fl....if I would have known I would have made my own. I saw a few homemade signs scattered about. Oh, and bring sidewalk chalk to write on the run path along the riverwalk. 

6-If you have a large group going...I would consider staking out a place along the run and set up a canopy for shade. I saw several groups do this and I thought that was cool...I don’t know if you have to ask for permission. 

Roland Moreno

BIB

AGE

STATE/COUNTRY

PROFESSION

1395

36

San Antonio TX USA

Teacher

SWIM

BIKE

RUN

OVERALL

RANK

DIV.POS.

1:24:23

5:45:48

5:00:41

12:27:18

636

116

LEG

DISTANCE

PACE

RANK

DIV.POS.

TOTAL SWIM

2.4 mi. (1:24:23)

2:13/100m

1014

173

BIKE SPLIT 1: 58 mi

58 mi (2:55:16)

19.86 mi/h

BIKE SPLIT 2: 112 mi

54 mi (2:50:32)

19.00 mi/h

TOTAL BIKE

112 mi (5:45:48)

19.43 mi/h

702

136

RUN SPLIT 1: 4.45 mi

4.45 mi (43:25)

9:45/mi

RUN SPLIT 2: 7.02 mi

2.57 mi (26:42)

10:23/mi

RUN SPLIT 3: 13.1 mi

6.08 mi (1:09:04)

11:21/mi

RUN SPLIT 4: 15.7 mi

2.6 mi (30:12)

11:36/mi

RUN SPLIT 5: 21.8 mi

6.1 mi (1:17:40)

12:43/mi

RUN SPLIT 6: 24.4 mi

2.6 mi (34:56)

13:26/mi

RUN SPLIT 7: 26.2 mi

1.8 mi (18:42)

10:23/mi

TOTAL RUN

26.2 mi (5:00:41)

11:28/mi

636

116

TRANSITION

TIME

T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE

8:45

T2: BIKE-TO-RUN

7:41