Hey Gang,
For any of you who were tracking the race Sunday, you probably know the outcome as I did not finish.
The conditions were brutal out there and I've never seen so many people dropping out of a race before (although this was my first Ironman, and only my second 'official' triathlon).
The temps peaked in the mid-90's (maybe hotter in the desert portions, or so it felt), and throw in some insane winds, and you've got problems. The problem with my ride, and the bike I'm on, is I can't get aero enough so I'm like a sail when I fight wind. At times I was going 8mph spinning at 90rpm, so that'll drain you quick with the heat and wind. In contrast, I was hitting speeds of 30mph when riding with the wind, so you can see what those conditions are capable of.
Most of the people I knew racing dropped out before the run. The medical tents were overflowing, and it was just a colossal mess. I truly feel, if I could have cut through the wind more efficiently, I would have finished the race. I felt fine coming off the bike after 75 miles, but I missed the 3rd loop cutoff by about 10 minutes. My nutrition plan was dead on. I wasn't dehydrated. My HR was right in zones 2 and 3 for most of the ride (except out of transition I was pushing 160 from the excitement of it all). I had to stop for a few minutes about 20 miles into the ride as I blew a flat (1 of 2), but I was able to get my HR down from the swim at that point so it was a good thing.
The swim went really well, as I came out of the water at 1 hour and 41 minutes over 2.5 miles. I was able to improve my pace by 10 seconds per 100 meters (roughly 2:33 per 100) compared to my last triathlon of 2:44 per 100 meters. That's a big improvement as the Ironman distance is 3862 meters, whereas the Olympic distance is 1500 meters (for my non-tri readers, if any). So I felt really strong on the swim.
My stats on the bike for the last triathlon averaged 17.5 mph, which is what I wanted to hit on the Ironman, but alas the conditions were too brutal and it took its toll.
So in short, the November 2008 race is sold out, but I can compete in the Nov 2009 race if I so choose. I'm not sure if I want to at this point, but I'll take a couple of days to think it over. For now, I'll stick to 1/2 Ironman distance races and Olympic triathlons, and after Nov 2008 I'll see if I want to sign up for some more hurtin'.
Thanks for all your support leading up to the race. Maybe we'll do it again in '09.
I'll write up an official race report soon, but just wanted to throw out an update for anyone reading...
-Mike