Here is a peek into my lead-up to Ironman Arizona. What went well, what didn’t, and how I felt before toeing the line…

Preparation

The build-up went very well overall. No sickness, no injuries, no major set-backs. It took longer than I had hoped for to recover from the STG marathon (5 weeks before the race) but I was able to get back into some decent training again after a week.

I like how we set up the year with two IMs four weeks apart in July/August – IM Nice + IM Mont Tremblant. That format seems to suit me. I felt ready for both but not in top shape for either. It tends to take me until late fall to really be in peak form. Summers are a bit trickier with the kids out of school. It was nice to have that week-long mid-season break after IMMT and then start the build for IMAZ.

I’d say I nailed most training sessions day after day and week after week. For all but a small handful I found joy in them and had fun. Aside from swimming, I did 98% of my bike and run training solo. Mostly, I don’t mind it. Sometimes, it gets old.

Biking – Consistent. Mostly outside, which was nice. I don’t love to ride where we live but St. George, an hour down the mountain, is much better. I think having some guys to ride with would be beneficial and could kick my biking up a notch. I was trying to practice staying aero for long periods of time but, honestly, it’s my weakness. With my high hamstring niggles and butt bursitis, I need to switch positions more often. This year, I have a good aero position but I am sure there is room for improvement still. I felt strong until the last 3 weeks before the race where it felt a bit harder to hit the numbers at times. Could’ve been the fact that I was about 4 pounds lighter than during the summer. I rode flat and boring courses in preparation but nothing compares to that ugly IMAZ course. I didn’t ride with average/current SPEED in mind and on display like I had originally wanted to. That was a mistake for this particular race with my goals in mind. I still need to work on translating power to speed!

Training ride to Kolob Reservoir

Training run in Zion NP

Swimming – Very consistent. My swim partner, Rich, stepped it up and really made a difference in my preparation. We swam well day after day and I was feeling good and confident in the water. I liked the workouts and weekly structure. I also enjoyed the Multisport Mastery swim challenge in November because being in the water daily helps me keep my feel for the water. I wanted one challenging speed and one challenging distance set per week and coach Liz delivered. I had no doubt that I could swim a decent speed and come out feeling fresh still.

Running – I felt ready. And confident in my marathon. For the first time ever. Run training went well. Before the marathon and once I recovered from the marathon. So I really only missed one good week of training due to it. I made peace with the long and hard runs like I had wanted to. Found a groove and – most of all – I didn’t have to force the pace as much as I did earlier in the year. It was challenging but it came easier. I am grateful for that. Of course, the pounds lost that make it harder to keep the power up on the bike, make it easier to run faster. Delicate balancing game.

Better with friends!

After the race…

… and before the race!

Pre-Race

Body – Aside from a few niggles (left high hamstring, left ankle), I felt fine and ready. Not sick as far as I could tell. Some stomach issues on Wednesday after the 6-hour drive to Flagstaff but (although unusual) I chalked it up to the long drive. In hindsight, I didn’t have quite my normal appetite over the next 3 days either but, again, nothing too unusual during taper. No major issues. The taper workouts went well. I hit the numbers quite well and kept my confidence.

Nutrition – I did the usual. Tried and true by now. I did feel more full than usual on less food on Saturday and quite bloated after a small dinner but wasn’t concerned. No major issues.

Taper – Maybe we didn’t quite nail this one. I know we replicated what worked for the other two earlier this year but it might have been a bit much for this one. I wasn’t in peak shape and probably a tad undertrained for Nice due to my Europe travels, so a short/small taper worked well for that one. Especially with IMMT around the corner. And then at IMMT, a short/small taper worked well again because I had just had a recovery break after Nice. I do think I carried more fatigue into IMAZ because I had a long and good build-up and was close to peak shape. I did feel a bit tired and run down on race week. Not much. Just a tad.

Mind – I thought I was in a good place. Like: Bring it on, I am ready! Ironman always deserves a lot of respect and I don’t think I was too confident. I had my doubts but I also knew that I had a lot of POTENTIAL for this race. I honestly thought that if things sort of went my way and my head was in the right place, I could do a 9:40. I still think I could have. That’s what I had trained for and I was ready to deliver. Or so I thought… Not sure where I went wrong. Too much pressure? Did I end up sabotaging my own race because of fear of success? I had this quote written down: “You will face your greatest opposition when are you closest to your biggest miracle.” – Shannon Adler. But when it came down to it, I succumbed to the opposition. Damnit. I promised myself I wouldn’t let myself fall apart and then I did just that.

Next up: Race Report.