Ironman Arizona November 23, 2008 Race report David Parker The running on empty report.

 

Personally felt pretty good till a week prior and I think the dust from T-fire initiated enough to get a sinus infection so that by Thursday morning my feet hit the floor in the morning and I got up and told Jake I was going to find a doctor,  did, and got some antibiotics.  By race morning I thought if I make it out of the water I should be OK.

 

The venue was pretty cool because of the proximity to ASU and the area itself.  The swim venue had brown water and you can’t see your hand extended or people around so I think it was a bit easier to hit and be hit by others or I even nicked a kayak and grazed one of the bridge footings towards the end.  The swim was a single loop out and back and it was in fairly flat and calm towards the sun rise and back to bridge. I did it a buoy at a time and started with a cough drop between my cheek and gums.

 

I got out of the water with the masses and the tent was too small and although they said they turned back volunteers, the tents needed more.

 

The bike course of three loops were out and back with a long slight up then back.  The winds were favorable on the return and I was glad I rented race wheels and bought a new cog set with an 11 toother and I used it a lot with a lot of long rides in tuck it was well supported with a lot of theme aid stations.  Four sinus pills and eight cough drops in the special needs bag.

 

The transition zone had people standing looking for something to do, but were not as helpful as other races. I really appreciate Gonzo in Kona more so now.  A little motivation when you just want to lay down and nap is great.

 

The run had some modifications from previous races there.  The  run was a modified figure eight around the local parks surrounding the swim lake.  Outside of bridge crossings most of it is on park grounds and a lot of it was cement sidewalk.  I lasted well through six, after 10 it was power walks mixed in when legs cramped and the last 5 went well.  It never got too hot, and in the loop to get a cheer from family and Josh, Karen, Craig was cool.  It was also cool to get passed by Pro’s and get a good feel for the differences.  Weather never got too hot, or cold before I got off, but I did get chilled later. Two sinus pills and four cough drops in the special needs bag, didn’t use all I put in bags, but the cough drops may be a keeper.  I had a voice that evening and not the usual sore throat the next day

 

High points:  Bike course is fast, run I pretty flat.   For family and friends the “hot spots“ were easy to get too and see.

 

Low points:

 

Color of water

Transition help was undermanned or untrained.  All but 1 Aid stations on run were blasting music or had some yahoo on a microphone so you could not here what the volunteers were yelling and I stopped or stepped back a couple of times to get what I needed.

Also 10 hours in, 2 aid stations ran out of Vaseline

 

They made a good decision to move this race to November the weather and winds were favorable.  I would definitely recommend this for a first over Silverman after talking with Andrew.