IMOO Race Report Warning.. VERY long read! After all, it is a 140.6 mile race. The two weeks leading up to the race: I hurt my back picking up a frackn t- shirt. Then, I get sick the week of. Needless to say, because of these two events I wasn’t able to go into the event feeling 100%, but I was always going to attempt this race healthy or not. Friday: Arrive in Madison I arrived in Madison Friday around noon with Stacey. We went directly to athlete check in which we were greeted with no lines! Making our way through the check in process, this is when it really started to kick in for me. “Gosh, I’m really about to do this”. At the table I got my wristband at I was talking to the volunteer. I told him that this was my first attempt at an ironman and I asked him for tips. He suggested I stay wide at the swim (which I didn’t do) and take it easy on the bike (which I tried but failed at.. you’ll read later on what happened). Overall, the check in process went smoothly. After this, we decided to look around and do some shopping at the Ironman store, vendors and went to grab lunch so we could attend the course talk at 2pm. The course talk was a waste of time in my opinion, but at least we got to see Dell Finney and his soon to be Fiancé, Nicole! That evening we went to the Athlete dinner and met up with the rest of the Care peeps. Joe Barin, Arnez Nisperos, Edwin Gonzales, Linus C. Pagusara, Gaspar Zavala, and Andrew Greif. The rest of the CARE crew was coming Saturday. Saturday: Swim, Gear Check, and Bike Check. We woke up early that morning and I got a run in since I have not run for what seemed to be 1.5 weeks. My plantar fasciitis was acting up after my 17 mile run so I took a long rest from running to be ready for the marathon. I went to run for 10 minutes so I went out to Monona Terrace and watched the water. This moment helped me a lot. If you’ve known me for a while now you might know that I didn’t even make it out of the water at my first attempt at a 70.3 in Racine. Honestly, in the back of my mind I thought a similar result might happen this race. I’ve been working really hard with OWS but there was still that feeling of uncertainty. So I just stood there for 5 minutes and took the scene in. The water was great, the weather seemed like it was going to cooperate the next day as well. After the run Stacey, Linus, Eric, Ruth, Joe, and I went down to the lake for a swim. Still nervous about the swim I was eager to get in to test the waters. Arnez and Edwin were already in the water when we got there. After a few pictures we were in the lake! I decided to swim with Stacey and Joe around for a while. First we met up and floated around, then we decided to go to the ski ramp, then out to the first yellow buoy and back. Right away swim anxiety kicked in and I had to flip on my back to slow my breathing down. Stacey and Joe were rocking it. I eventually get out to the yellow buoy and float on our backs again. The lake was perfect and my confidence was building. Then as we swim back all of a sudden something is grabbing my foot and pulling.. was it the snake Carlo was talking about?? No it was Stacey. She decided to give me and Joe a quick lesson on what a mass start could feel like. Of course I returned the favor by pulling her foot and dunking her.. she took it like the iron woman she is. After the swim we checked our bikes and our gear bags. Then it was time to stay off our feet! Met up with the crew at Francesco’s for some pasta and pizza for lunch. Then later that day went to dinner with the whole CARE crew. Ok let’s get to race day. Race Morning: Woke up at 4am to Stacey jumping up and down yelling in excitement that it was time to do an ironman. I don’t know how she has so much energy sometimes but I wish I could have some of it. I took in 4 Ensure Plus for about 1,400 Cals. Put the gear on with extra body glide and DZ nuts to make sure there would not be chaffing that day, then we walked over to drop our special needs bags and to get to transition. Body marked, put the nutrition on the bike, calibrate PM, pumped the tires, and boom - time to wait. We met up with the CARE crew inside the terrace to relax and stretch out. In no time it was time to put on our wetsuits and walk down to swim start. We saw Ivy and she was so kind to take my bike pump. Then we saw Nat and Jim while we dropped off our morning gear bag. Now I don’t know if this is the usual but it took FOREVER to get into the water. The pros went off at 6:50am and we were still in line trying to get in the lake. I think I finally got in with Stacey at around 6:55. We swam out to the about position 3-4 in the middle. I laid on my back to concentrate my breathing and to calm my nerves, then before a knew it, it was time to go! Swim: Goal = 1:30 – 1:45 Actual = 1:39 Garmin File = none.. i didnt swim with my watch with fear that it would it knocked off in swim. I should just buy Vincents 800 lol. Right away I get punch and swam over. Then I notice someone doing the side crawl already.. wait he has no goggles.. wtf?! I see everyone around me, arms everywhere, and I feel.. comfortable lol for some reason I feel really good when there are others around me in the water. I decided to just put my head down and swim my swim, and it worked. I would latch on to someone’s feet every so often and sight every now and then. First turn.. I remembered to Moo!! I actually moo’d a lot because I was so happy to be there. I probably sounded like a drowning cow but that’s ok! After that turn I had issues finding the next buoy because of that sunrise but eventually found out. I wore shaded goggles and it was still a challenge. Turn 2 done and I find myself swimming on the buoy line. This was a long swim, so long that I was able to pee in my suit while swimming.. I know.. I impressed myself too! The long leg back was long. I passed some people treading water resting and some others were on their back. I am happy to say that I swam the whole entire time. I did notice that I was sensing a burning sensation on the back of my neck, I missed a spot with body glide. I sucked it up and kept swimming. Anyone else notice the buoys’ numbers were off? Last turn, so happy to see it. I get to swim out and hear my name being called. Yay I made it!!! Saw King, Jo, and Ian and Jim as well. I guess I was so excited and ran up the helix which is where I saw Dell. Smacked him in the ass and proceeded to T1. T1: Goal = Just get through Actual = 8:13. I call out my number and proceed to the tent. See Arnez getting help but what the heck.. no one wants to help me. F-it.. I found a spot next to Favis and dumped my gear out. He asks me if Stacey made it and I said I didn’t know.. Helmet, shades, extra tube, lube up my chamois, grab shoes and go! That jog from the changing area to the bike is long but I made it. There were a lot of bikes gone already but I didn’t care. I was out of the water! Bike: Goal= 6:30 – 7:00 Actual = 6:35 Garmin File = connect.garmin/activity/586241756 Well, I think this is where my game plan went wrong. You see, I based my goal power off of my long rides throughout the summer (220 ftp) and what I was capable of at that time. What I failed to realize is that I was sick and the same strength/endurance might not be there.. but I felt really good. Hit my numbers. The bike leg went really quickly since we trained on the course so many times this year. The course was really congested on the stick and I was thinking, how can I NOT get a drafting penalty?! Saw Joe on the stick and passed him.. but not to worry folks (betlog) he would come back strong on the run. Once we got to Verona it felt like another training ride, but well supported. I took the hills very conservatively. It was great seeing all the CARE crew at the aid stations and along the race course. Now Armand, your 808 front and my disc are a deadly combo because I was feeling great all day. The only people that seemed to pass me were the pros. Nutrition was straight on and I didn’t feel like I was behind on nutrition at all. Finally on lap two I catch up to Stacey. What a relief for her to see me.. she told me she was worrying about me so I was happy to take that stress from her. She was doing great! We ended up riding a couple miles together but we eventually separated. I knew she’d be ok and that I would see her on the run later. The rest of the loop it seemed to thin out more. I was riding alone and I was able to pee more often without shame. I told myself to take the stick home easy but I was still riding at my target power. It was then on the stick back that I started to feel the fatigue. I felt that muscle twitch in my quad. I said to myself.. oh great. This is going to be along marathon. T2: Goal = Just get through Actual = 5:41 Up the helix and dismount. Left shoes on bike for a flying dismount.. omg I couldn’t feel my toes! Call out number and someone got my bag this time.. yay!!! Enter changing tent and I have a volunteer too.. must be my lucky transition. I wasn’t feeling great as I got sick again on the bike but someone was kind enough to hand me some advil. Took some pills and felt better. Socks, shoes, bib belt, fuel belt, salt stick, and relube the chamois and go. I saw the bathroom and I said I might as well try to pee.. success! Jogged out of T2 Run..aka death march Goal = 4:00 – 4:30 Actual = 4:57 Garmin File = connect.garmin/activity/586241760 I really didn’t have a great build this year for my run and running after riding 112 miles is totally different. I missed some key workouts this summer that could of helped me with this but you live and learn! Right from the start .. cramp city in my quads hammys and calves. Not even at .5miles and I am stopped on the top of the capital stretching out. After a couple of moments and finding more salt stick capsules in my shoe lol and telling myself to suck it up.. I see Andy getting ready to start his second loop and I go down state street. I was so excited to see the CARE Corner because of my experience cheering the runners on last year, and my family was going to be there. Running down hill was no issue. The atmosphere was great and the beer and food smelled great too. I get to the CARE crew and the energy is perfect. DJ Deadmou5 was still setting up so I didn’t get any tunes but I did see my family.. almost lost it and cried there but kept on running. Turned the corner and more cramps. My solid 9 min pace was reduced to a walk quickly and I didn’t know what was wrong. Took another sip of my EFS and off I went again. At this point it was a slow 11-12 min jog, with some walks mixed in. Those hills throughout the university were rough and I walked all of those. As cool as the idea it is to run in the football stadium I hated it. The turf gave too much and my already tired legs had a hard time pushing off from it. Then I finally see Arnez as he turned around at State. I’m not going to lie, I wanted to catch you Arnez. Going down state I saw the CARE crew again.. it was a great surprise to see you there. I think it was Ivy, Pam, Nat, Jim, Jong, Erick, and others. I have the strength to speed up at state, turnaround, then speed back down to greet the CARE crew, but after that cramping again. It was around mile 8-10 where I started to go to a very dark place. I was unhappy with my run, not feeling well, and really thought at this point I wasn’t going to make it. I walked a lot, tried to jog, then walked more. Still trying to figure out what was wrong I decided to try to eat and maybe that will get me out of my funk. Bonk bars, chips, cookies.. omg the cookie tasted so good. SO GOOD that apparently I smeared the chocolate all over my face and no one told me. ☺ I really dont know if this helped but i felt better. I knew I was getting close to the CARE corner so I tried to jog again but nothing. I turn the corner and see the CARE crew and my family waiting for me. They spot me and I try to jog faster to see them but everything in my legs just cramped. I had to stop for a moment to recompose myself and told my legs please just make it to the corner so I can hug my family. So I was able to but at that point I thought I was done. My family along with the rest of the CARE family were all supportive. I decided to leave my fuel belt with Raffy since the EFS was not working for me and go on with the race trusting the nutrition on the course. At this point I wish I had a red bull in my special needs bag. I didn’t stop for SN, because nothing it in could help me at this point. And how about having to see the finish line at the turnaround.. evil! By mile 12 I decided to go for the coke and from this point on it was coke and water through the end of the marathon.. and it worked!!! Coke saved me.. or cola.. whatever it was. I was able to jog to each aid station, chug more coke and water, then on to the next aid station. The second loop seemed to go quicker because I broke the course up in thirds. Before I knew it I was getting close to mile 22 and I knew I was just a few miles away now. My motivation grew but at the back of my head I was thinking… where the heck was Joe Barin?! If you didn’t know, the guys were playfully betting between me and Joe for this race, and if you know me you know I don’t need a lot to motivate me as I am highly competitive. He was out of the water first, I was off the bike first, and well.. he looked better on the run. We passed each other a couple of times but the second loop I did not see him. So he was either ahead or way behind. Thankfully I never saw him. So the last couple of miles of the marathon I find myself really thinking about the journey. Since signing up, to when I started training, and the summer training days I had with all of my friends here. The lows, like my swimming struggles, to my highs.. Door County was my best race this season…I couldn’t believe that I was already in that race I talked about so much to everyone, and I was about to finish it. I see the CARE corner again and wow it was great to see everyone. Run up state.. man did that feel like it took forever this time around. I see John John before the finishers chute and this time I get to veer off to the right this time to finish. I really wanted to soak this moment in so I took my time. I look behind me and no one was there. I try to find my family but couldn’t so I start to interact with the crowd. Side to side I went then finally I see the carpet. I jump up with excitement.. “Jonathan Acosta from Addison IL, you did it! You are an ironman” then I somehow find the strength to jump again for Arnez’s pose. Boom.. and just like that. Done. Finish: 13:25 and some change. Am I happy with this? I finished and that is what I am happy about the most, but I already have that fire to improve. Would I change anything in my race plan? Probably not. Im happy to say I left it all out there. Sure i should I dropped my power but you learn and thats what will make me better. I believe had I been near 100% that run would have been a different story. I had the same race plan at Door County to push the bike and run, and I believed I could have done the same at IMOO. Going forward I plan to improve in all 3 phrases for next year so watch out. Secret race is set.☺
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 22:53:43 +0000