IMLP ‘16 Complete!

13:03:14, Not a PR for me but I wasn’t anticipating one, I cut back on training this year compared to last. Still only ~6 minutes slower, not too bad (12:57:37 in ‘15).

Swim (01:15:26)
The swim went well, it was foggy the first lap so it was crowded on the rope. Definitely more contact this year than last year, I took a pretty hard hit to the back of the head and two to the face. It thinned out quite a bit by the second lap and I was able to just swim.

Bike (06:15:16)
The bike didn’t go great for me. For some reason I couldn’t take in the liquid I needed, stomach just felt full of liquid the whole time. I drank WAY less on the bike this year than last, setting me behind on hydration. It was definitely hotter overall on the bike, I read it may have peaked at a higher temp last year during the bike but it was hot with full sun for both laps this year - last year it was cloudy and cool for the first lap. It seemed windy, not terrible but enough to be annoying on the Ausable out and back, I was definitely slower through this part compared to last year. I PR’d all the descents (51.7mph top speed according to my Garmin), and most the climbs though.

Run (5:14:33)
Left transition keeping a 10:30 pace as planned, which I had hoped to maintain. Didn’t happen, started cramping above both knees at mile 3 or 4, had to keep stoping to stretch every 1-2 miles to stop them from really seizing up. At mile 12 or so I stopped and gave Ari a kiss and to tell Cindy that I’d finish but was cramping badly… really just trying to warn her that I’d likely be walking the next 13 miles so not to worry if she saw some really slow miles. After mile 14 though the cramping subsided some, I think I was starting to catch up on hydration, I was drinking quite a bit at each aide station. They also brought out the chicken broth early (I never saw it on the course last year) I think because of the heat, that seemed to help as well. It was enough that I was able to jog the rest of it and didn’t end up doing too much worst than last year. Last year I felt OK for the first last and cramped up on the second, this year it was the opposite!

Finish
Nothings quite like your first Ironman finish but this one was made extra special with Cindy managing to finagle her way (or more accurately some friends finagling Cindy) into the finishers shoot. She got to put the medal around my neck!

Thanks to everyone who trained with me, went up to support me and of course Arianna (Beeba), Brian (Bud) and especially my wife Cindy who has put up with it all for another year LOVE YOU…. even if you do remind me on a daily basis how I’m “retiring” from Ironman distance races for an often-argued-amount of time =). I have several witnesses that overheard her say I could return to IMLP in ‘18 but she’s already backpedalling on that one.

On to Ironman Mont Tremblant (IMMT) August 21st!