Ironman AZ Race Report Pt. 1

Early morning load-in to the transition area.

My race could not have been executed more flawlessly, but at the end of the day I lost it on the run.

The swim started at daybreak. I situated at the very front right corner of the field. I choose the exact lines I needed to have a fast swim, generally had good luck finding feet to draft on, and came out of the water in a PR swim time. The only question is, Did I have too high a HR on the swim? I swam fast but it did not feel overly hard, but it may have been.

Transition was fast and I was out on the bike. I took my time initially and waited for my HR to come down. With three laps of out-and-back course, the first 17 miles was all headwind into a long, gradually steeper false-flat.

2000 calories taped to my bike, plus home-made aero drink system.

Realizing that the climb and headwinds had my HR too high, I really held back on the way back on the first lap. I had exactly what I wanted a 1:43 first lap. The second lap I spread my effort out a little smarter, and nailed the exact same split, then followed up with a third lap within one minute of the same. I couldn’t have been happier that the total bike was under 5:10, and exactly even splits! I had even taken in close to 2000 calories and 7 bottles of water. So good, I was locked and loaded for the run.

(continued below)