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Ironman Western Australia 2008 - Race Report
Posted December 9, 2008 07:58 PM
See photos of Ironman Western Australia 2008 in the gallery
Ironman Western Australia is nicknamed the "Fastest Ironman Race in the World" due to the fact that both the bike and run courses are almost completely flat. This seemed like an attractive option after racing at Ironman Lanzarote last year. That event has the dubious honour of being nicknamed the "World's Toughest Ironman Race"! However, as both Bob and I learned on Sunday, Dec 7th, the wind can be a big factor on a flat course and flat doesn't necessarily equal easy...
Lights went out at about 10:30pm on Saturday night and our alarms were set for 3:15am. After a fairly good sleep I woke at 2:46 and that was it for the night. Once Bob woke up we cracked a can of Ensure and starting taking in calories while we were still in bed so that we would have some "gas in the tank" at the start of the race. We headed down to the race site (about 6km away) at about 4:30am and joined a long queue of cars entering a parking lot a couple of blocks away from the race. What we didn't know was that this parking lot was for spectators and that there was a (free) competitor's parking lot even closer to the race. By the time we got to the head of the line to enter the parking lot the young woman at the entrance told us that parking was "by donation", however we had no money with us. Notwithstanding a long line of cars waiting behind us she was adamant that we could not park unless we paid and at this point we were a little frantic as the start of the race was only about an hour away. Thankfully a good Samaritan, walking from the lot to the race, overheard our dilemma and popped a couple of coins in the donation bin. He saved us from a complete early morning meltdown.
By the time we were body marked and had checked out our bikes, hit the porta potty line-up, put on our wetsuits and headed down with the crowd to the water the pro race was just about to start at 6am. This meant that our race was only 15 minutes away. The sun had risen only a few minutes before and the day was clear, with only a light cloud cover and a gentle breeze. We had a very short warm-up and then joined our "zone" in the water. IMWA has an excellent system of seeding the swimmers. When you register for the race you provide your estimated swim time. Then when you do race packet pickup a couple of days before the race you are given one of 4 coloured swim caps which indicates which zone you will be in. The white caps were quite a bit ahead treading water, the blue caps in front of us were chest deep, our group which had orange swim caps, was knee deep, and the yellow caps were on the beach. This made for a really controlled swim start and a very civilized swim. There was no bumping and bashing, at least where we were swimming, and there was quite a bit of clear water around us. Of course the race field was only about 1200 competitors, approx 1/2 the number of IMCanada, which contributed to a much less crowded course.
Bob and I swam close to each other for quite some time. We started quite far left of the group as we'd been told that most people try to swim close to the Busselton jetty and that it can get congested there. The first half of the swim seemed to pass in an instant and then it was around the end and heading back towards shore. We had been advised to swim a bit wide of the jetty and then head to shore, which would have the effect of cutting a portion of the doglegged course off. Unfortunately I swam a little too wide and found myself in open water. I thought it would not be possible to go off course in Busselton with the jetty to use as a point of reference the entire swim time, but I was wrong! By the time I closed the gap to the main group I had lost a little bit of time, I'm sure. The rest of the swim passed uneventfully and soon the shore came into view. We had seen huge schools of little fish during our practice swims before but no luck on race day. There were "stinger" jellyfish in the water and although we didn't have any problems several people showed up on the course with bandages after being stung. Close to the beach end of the jetty the swim course then heads left and over a couple of hundred meters to the official swim exit. Up onto the beach you run through a structure with about 12 overhead shower heads and also sprays coming from the side (much more sophisticated than the hanging overhead hoses in Kona!) Standing under the shower and yanking my wetsuit off I heard my name called and looked back to see Bob running up behind me. We had almost the same swim time, only about 30 seconds apart. We chatted under that generous shower heads while others passed us into T1 but we wanted to "enjoy the moment" together. It was brilliant!
T1 was fairly good though there's always room for improvement. The important thing was to make sure to be properly covered in sunscreen before heading out onto the bike. The bike course is made up of 3 loops of 60km each. The first segment of about 15kms takes you through an open reclaimed canal area before heading out to a forested area. At that point there's a left turn and approx 5kms before you reach a bike turnaround. You head back for 5km before continuing on for about 7.5 kms to another bike turnaround. Retracing that 7.5km you rejoin at the original point to head back for 15km. The final segment is approx 5km through town before you head out on the next lap to do it all again!
At the beginning of the first loop my knees were quite cold and stiff but after a while things loosened up and I was able to cycle a fairly strong pace. There were a lot of traffic circles on the route and each time I came out the other side of the circle I'd stand up and do 16 power stomps to ratchet up the speed before tucking back down into the aero position. It's possible to be aero literally 99% of the bike leg of the race so we knew that it was important to change around our position on a regular basis to avoid the lower back getting stiff and the same muscles being used in the legs continually. At the approach to the first turnaround in the first loop of the bike course I saw Bob coming the other direction approximately 1km ahead of me. Apparently he was quite amazed to see me so close! At that point my average kph was 28.3 so I worked hard for the next 40 km to bring it up as close to 30kph as I could. At the beginning of the second loop my average was 30.1kph. My goal for the race was to come as close to 6 hours on the bike as I could, as I knew that my run was not going to be pleasant no matter what I did given the way my training had been going during the fall. So I kept hammering away and at the second turnaround on the first loop I once again saw Bob a little over 1km ahead of me. Bob was also hoping, and on track, for a sub 6 hour bike ride.
Heading out onto the second loop I needed something out of my bento "pharmacy" box on the top tube of the bike. While rooting around with one hand, and trying to keep my eyes on the road, I heard something go plop behind me. Taking "inventory" of the bento box I realized that the container with Advil and salt tablets had been jettisoned. Impossible to stop and go back for it at the point as I was too far ahead. Luckily my sports drink and additional supplement in the drink has a high salt content, plus the temperature was only in the mid to high 20's so heat wasn't a particular issue that day. The lack of Advil did come back to haunt me a little later though.
On the second loop, at both bike turnaround points, I was able to spot Bob. I was falling back but only slightly. This was a great incentive to keep on hammering and do my best and by the end of the second loop my average kph was 29.9. I was stoked! While there are basically no spectators out on the course, except for the 5km section through town, the aid stations are approx every 10kms which was great. The winds began to gradually build by late morning and the third loop of the course was quite different than the other two until they were definitely a factor in our ability to complete a sub 6 ride. In the first couple of kms of the third loop I started to develop a side stitch which was quite intense while in the aero position, however I didn't want to break aero and cycle sitting up so I tried to manage the discomfort by not taking full breaths. Shallow breathing equalled somewhat anaerobic breathing which wasn't great and I really regretted not being able to pop an Advil or salt tablet which might have helped blunt the discomfort. At one point the clear top portion of the straw in my aero bottle flew off. Not thinking clearly (forgetting that I still had 1.5 bottles of extra sports drink in my down tubes) I stopped the bike and walked it back to look for the straw. After a couple of minutes, and being absolutely attacked by the dreadful flies, I gave up my search and started cycling again. A few minutes later, I realized that the straw had fallen backwards and lodged itself in the mesh on the top of my bento box. Extremely annoying!!
The side stitch continued to bother me. At the 5th of 6 bike turnaround points I was about 3 minutes back from Bob but by the time I hit the 6th I was 7 minutes down. Strangely enough, with about 20kms to go, the side stitch disappeared and I was able to breathe freely again and cycle strongly. The final 15kms were into a fairly strong headwind and were tough both physically and mentally, however by the time I rolled into T2 my average kph had only fallen to 29.2 (4 minutes back from Bob) so it was a really good bike ride for me. Both Bob and I realized that we were pushing beyond our limits and would greatly suffer on the run - but the possible glory of a sub 6 bike rationalized the suffering which was about to unfold on the run.
Trying something new this race I left my bike shoes clipped in to the cleats and in the final 200ms put my socked feet on top of the shoes and coasted in to the dismount line. Handing off my bike to the volunteer I started "running" towards the change tent and quickly realized that the marathon was going to be a sufferfest. I felt like I was taking baby steps and my breathing was really laboured. T2 was quite quick and I tried running for the first couple of minutes before realizing that if I stood any chance of salvaging the run I would need to walk for however long it took for my heart rate and breathing to settle down. I've done this a couple of times in the past and it usually takes about 20 minutes. About 2km into the run I felt a light tapping on my shoulder and then Bob calling hello to me. I could not have been any more surprised to realize that I was ahead of Bob on the marathon. I was gobsmacked (which is an incredibly perfect Aussie/British phrase). Apparently Bob had had a complete meltdown in T2 and had spent 15 minutes before he felt physically or mentally able to carry on. Unlike Ironman Canada where that last 20 kms of the bike course is downhill which allows the legs to recover somewhat before the marathon, Bob had hammered this bike course right up to the end in hopes of grasping that elusive sub 6 hr bike time.
Out on the marathon course we joked that maybe we'd walk the marathon together and come across the finish line holding hands, but in reality what both of us needed was to decompress and re-find the ability to run. We stayed together for 2 or 3kms chatting about the race up until that point, and then gave it the old college try to resume running. I don't think that my running speed was much faster than a power walk but mentally it felt much better. Bob continued to struggle on the first loop, but thankfully felt better and better as the kms passed. He was able to establish a good running rhythm by concentrating on running technique which substantially reduced the pain and increased his speed. However he learned his lesson on the bike and treated himself to generous aid station walks. As a result the 2nd loop was stronger and the 3rd loop was actually enjoyable which translated into a respectable finish time of 12:29.
I continued plodding on, cursing the 3 loop run course which starts at the race site and heads out for 5kms before heading back along the ocean and past the finish line 2kms before starting over again. Each loop was 14kms. Walking felt like a good option a number of times but the main overriding incentive to keep "running" was that the second you slowed down the incessant, annoying flies were all over your face. Running kept most of them off thankfully.
My quads started to feel stiff in the middle of the second loop - no outright cramping but definite fatigue setting in. At about the 25km point I spotted someone's tube of deep heating muscle cream lying in the grass at the side of the pathway - it was like a gift from the gods! I slathered my quads and popped the tube in my jersey pocket. Further along in the race my hamstrings started to let me know there were a little unhappy so I had one of the aid station volunteers slather the backs of my legs as well. Whether there was any real physical benefit I don't know, but physiologically I felt an overall improvement. Thankfully, my knees didn't bother me at all during the marathon and except for quite a few water blisters on my toes my feet felt fine as well.
It was quite hot on the run course, though nothing like the heat that we've experienced before in other race venues. Surprisingly the whole time we've been in Australia we've only had two days where we were really hot and overheating. The rest of the time we've been layering our clothing and wishing we'd brought more sweaters and long pants etc. Most unexpected.
Slowly, slowly the kms ticked over and the final countdown from 10km began. Closer and closer every step brought me to the finish line until I was at the final couple of kms. Past the finish line area one last time for the torturous 2km away from the race and then finally, finally(!), heading down the remaining 1km through the gathering crowds to the finish line entry chute. I didn't know if any of our friends or family back home would be watching the finish "live" on the internet but I decided to ham it up just in case and whooped my arms around a bit and waved at the camera as I crossed the finish line. I was done, the race was over. Nirvana. Amazingly, as Dec 1st marked the beginning of summer in Australia, it was still light out (and would be until well after 9pm). I crossed the line at 13:18 (7:48pm) my first IM finish in the daylight. Major goal completed!
I headed straight to the massage tent which was really well organized. First a volunteer washes your legs with warm water so that any salt etc is removed before the massage. Then it was onto the table for the most heavenly 1/2 hour leg massage. After leaving the massage area I reunited with Bob who had come looking for me inside. He had spent close to an hour at the finish line waiting to give me my finisher's medal not realizing that I had already finished. That would have been the icing on the cake for the day, but it didn't really matter as we were just so thrilled to have both completed the race. We headed to the food tent so that I could get some post-race food as Bob had already eaten. A first class spread of cooked food was available - not the normal cold slices of unappetizing pizza that are typically available at other races. It was terrific to have some solid, healthy food post race as I was absolutely starving by that point in the day.
Though we had been told that there were hot showers available at the race site we opted to pack up our gear and head home to get cleaned up there. Our intention had been to head back to the finish line closer to the end of the night, but once back at the rental house we started chatting and comparing notes with the other people sharing the house with us and ended up just staying put and heading to bed a little earlier than normal.
It was an amazing race. Certainly much tougher than either of us had anticipated, but sharing it together and seeing each other so many times throughout the day made it an incredible experience. Thankfully now, though, it is officially off-season!!
Race Stats:
SWIM
Bob 1:14:04 Carolyn 1:13:38
T1
Bob 06:13 Carolyn 06:50
BIKE
Bob 6:07:34 Carolyn 6:11:40
T2
Bob 15:11 Carolyn 07:57
RUN
Bob 4:46:27 Carolyn 5:37:58
OVERALL
Bob 12:29:29 19th place M55-59
Carolyn 13:18:03 4th place F 50-54
