Pre-race
Three months prior to the race I decided I needed something big to help push me off the couch, so I signed up for IMSG (thinking it should be big enough, yeah it was and then some). The family road trip stopped in St. George a week & a half pre-race for a few days. Swam in the infamous cold Sand-Hollow, where the front gate said it was 64 F but the water felt much colder closer to 60 F (15 C). Water was really clear and a great sight with the blue splashing up against the red rock. Ran ¼ of the run route (one way 10k) in the heat of the day 25 C to experience the hills, yes they are ugly (and all of the 2.6 times elevation climb I expected coming from IMC to IMSG) but so far both the swim & run seem doable.
The next day I biked the 80k loop once, this is where the confidence started to waver. What should have been a ~3h ride turned into 4, the hills were like steps but with false flats after the climbs, then a relentless wind that robbed me of all downhill rest. Hit a 14% grade to climb only ~1k, survived it, then a 3.5k long climb called the wall (17% grade), this hurt, but I survived only to crest into a head wind that punished me to no end. Now I did do my homework but looking at maps, elevation gain/loss and reports of previous riders told me I would be dealing with 30% more climbing on the bike in IMSG compared to IMC, now it was becoming a reality as to how much more this means, add in strong winds that change mid-day making it a true riding into the wind the whole time can be a reality. I was a bit shaken, doing the math and figuring that if race day were like this I might not make the bike cut-off. The following week I go back to the lake to do another swim, only to see the IMSG pole signs torn to shreds by the wind, then I see the 1 ½ foot white caps, I go in anyway, ice-cream headache was instant, water was way colder. I could barely swim 15 minutes as breathing and sighting was impossible, so I swam enough to know I could finish the swim, but was likely not going to like it. On shore I was chatting with a few others preparing and one guy produced his own thermometer and it showed the water at 56 F (not the 62 the entry booth was displaying).
To recap, super cold swim expected to rob me of strength for the start of the bike, super hard bike & run, lots of wind and only 3 months of training, most of which was indoors. My saving grace was the realistic race goals I had to: 1. Finish, 2. Not hurt myself and 3. Get myself off the couch.
The Race
4:30 am get up; get to special needs bag drop and then need to board a bus out to the swim. On the bus some young girls (early 20’s) were talking 90 miles a minute and drinking Rockstar, so not good for getting mentally prepared, but they were clearly nervous. I was so glad to be off the bus, got ready and see Cindy by the fence of transition (spectators had to take a different bus to T1). My bike was directly across from the men’s change tent so no hunting expected. I find out later that the tent design also provided some entertainment for those that were waiting after the swim as the flaps for the tent and changing habits offered some interesting (peep-show) entertainment.
Swim - They called us to the water, I went straight in and swam the 100 meters to the deep water start, was near the front and spent the time getting my face wet to calm the ice-cream effect. Water was calm and back to 62 F, very doable. I look to shore and there is a stream of swim caps that are not entering the water, waiting for the last second or stuck behind lemmings afraid to enter the water, then bang the canon goes, we’re off. Sucks to be those in line, but oh-well might have been their plan? Swim was a bit rough between swimmers but after 1600m I broke to the inside (with 10 feet) of the markers and had nice water. Since the swim course markers never went in before the race and pre-swimming was less than enjoyable, I failed to set sighting markers. The swim markers were not as nice as the ones I was accustomed to for GWN or IMC, they were hard to differentiate from the swimmers. First leg was fine, second leg was hard, into the sun but short, third leg was 1800m nothing really on the horizon to sight either, last leg to shore was fine but I had to re-enter the masses and they were still a bit pushy, I think the cold water was getting to the swimmers. I hit shore and transition went smoothly, I saw 1:15 on my watch, later I also see that I swam 450m extra, not sure where, but maybe the route was a bit long.
T1 - Took my time and made sure I didn’t miss sun screen this time (a step I did miss in IMC), later Cindy tells me I stopped for a massage and manicure instead of sun screening. They were slow & thorough, getting my arms, legs, neck, chest, hands, nose, cheeks, ears … I have a lot of body and these were the screeners that got a lot of free entertainment outside the change tents. 6 m 31s transition, so OK the rub down (uh I mean screening) didn’t take that long.
Bike - Stayed calm took the first portion easy, everything seemed good wind wasn’t too bad 20km to town, average speed was putting me in a happy place, Ok Swim check, bike might not be as bad as my pre-ride. I hit the 80k loop that I have to do twice, not bad, 30, 40, 50k all is good, then the heat went up over 30 C as I hit the hills, and I dropped a bit of speed to avoid exploding later in the day. This is the point I changed my race plan to listen to my body to try to keep the #1&2 race goals achievable. Stayed slow & steady up the hills, heart rate did spike, but luckily the wind was not yet as bad as last time so I could rest on the false flats and few descents. Started the second lap and had moderate confidence on finishing the bike, then a wind advisory was issued (easily hitting 35km/h plus gusts). It was getting harder on some parts but it helped in others. Leading up to The Wall was nice but then doing a 17% climb into a headwind at 34 C was brutal. I recall passing 8 bikers that had passed me earlier trying to hide in the shade, hanging their head on there bars stopped or laying on the side of the road, clearly done for the day. I have never seen so many ambulances busy around a course, lights on, and people to help. Like any race I asked myself many times, ‘Can I go faster?’, often the answer was yes, but I qualified it with a question ‘Should I?’, the answer was no. Finally get up to the top of the climb at 4700ft (again) and am greeted to a wind that robbed me of 10-15km/h compared to the first lap, no free speed, I actually still had work to do even with the 1850ft descent to T2. Added to this not riding outside enough made holding my head up hard at the 140k mark onward. This all said and done I had a 7h 33m bike glad to have the chance to add to the time needed for the run as I knew I would need it.
T2 – Slower than T1, I stopped for another sun screen massage, and had poorly tied my run bag making getting into it tough. Hey 8m 49s was lightning compared to some of the 31, 41 or 52 minute transitions others took (OK so these people still beat me on the race so maybe I should have gone out for a nice diner or had a nap, then started running might have helped).
Run - Happy to be off the bike, actually feeling not too bad (for the first 200m), then I hit the first hill and in the heat and the dry wind I realized I was going to overheat very quickly and likely not recover. Started grabbing 3-4 sponges at each aid station, and then from both sides of the road (aid stations for those on the returning leg) it was strange, soaking the hat, shirt, shorts, bandana carrying sponges and water nothing was working. I would be bone dry before the next station. I guess strong winds, 34 C and 19% humidity does that to you (oh while shuffling through a marathon). The race video has I guy comparing the run to going through a hair dryer, likely the best descriptor I can think of. Some of us did try running down the hills (if you call a death shuffle running). Here again I focused on listening to my body and it was a totally different experience. I could go faster and at times did. It was not the body complaining about the effort but just balance of fluids, fuel, and heat that made the decision. People were dropping like flies, again lots of emergency vehicle traffic and racers just stopped, finding shade or losing the will/ability to continue. The run route goes through a tortoise reserve; they told us the ‘Turtles get right of way. Runners can't touch them but they can jump over them’. I thought they were kidding, but instead all the racers were like turtles so I tried to not touch them and only had to jump over one. I along with everyone else out there in my lap was simply unable to run up any hill, walking was a huge accomplishment at this point of the day. The times I did push a bit harder something would complain, like gut cramps, head-ache, overheat/dry-out or foot blisters, I found I was able to adjust and address each of these (except the blisters) but it made for a very long 6h 18m run/walk through a red-rock super heated oven.
Really happy to see my family cheering and thanks to Cindy for braving the route to catch me more than once. I know the heat & hills you had to overcome to do this, and she was ‘Dried out like beef jerky.’ Many thanks to, Kelvin for the race wheels, Sarah for fixing my almost broken parts (and poking me with needles, still determining is this was for fixing me or her entertainment), Angie for doing such a great job helping me get there, Alfred (yes … Alfred) for putting me on to the amazing ice bandana, I thought of you lots in the run and how you saved my life out there without even knowing, all the Iron Girl harem you don’t realize that helping at your race was the best thing to help me stay calm & prepare for my race, and most of all my lovely girls (Ashton, Ariane & Cindy) for their support and encouragement through the training and the race.
I would definitely recommend IMSG to anyone that likes a challenge and has race goals that are realistic (no matter how awful I make it sound above). It was hard and I accept that only 3 months of training was, umm, stupid … or at least short. I realize that if at any time in this race I chose to use a time/speed/pace/place goal I would have blown up and likely lost accomplishing any goals that I had for this race. Will I go back? Yes, I hope to decide this with at least 4 months notice next time ;-) (I know how hard 3 months was for Angie to build programs for me). Is this harder than IMC? Definitely yes, but I think so many things can change race to race that this race could be great one year and punish the entire field the next. The fact that they had 20% DNF ratio which is worse than 2010 (~13% I think) was surprising. IMSG definitely taught me renewed and greater respect for the IM distance as nothing is a given.
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