What a fantastic event! Definitely the best organized and most well run Ironman-brand race I've done. No surprise that it always sells out and sees a ton of people coming back year after year. I'd certainly like to do it again in 2024.
Race day started with a huge pancake breakfast the day before, and I do mean huge. Three giant pancakes topped with white chocolate mousse, shredded almonds, and dark chocolate ganache. Not sure this is what Mary, my former coach, had in mind when she gave me her famous day-before-race-day fueling advice (eat as many pancakes as you can....then have one more), but who cares. I was going to burn many thousands of calories the next day; some chocolate won't hurt. :)
Alarm went off at 4am, and I was already awake to silence it. Like most people, I don't sleep much the night before a big race. I wandered into the kitchen arounds 410 for a bowl of rice with soy sauce. I tried this as pre-race fuel in Salalah at the suggestion of my training partner, and it worked like a charm. Simple and easy to digest, extra salt from the soy sauce, and plenty of carbs to top off the tank. After any number of toilet breaks, I changed into my race kit for the day (Roka trisuit) and left for the race village shortly after 5. I had my favorite CW-X compression shorts in my Run bag in case the trisuit chafed too much during the bike, but barring that kind of catastrophe, I planned to wear the suit all day long.
I reached my bike in transition around 530 and had my first "oops" of the day when I realized I left the 1.5L bottle of water intended to fill top my hydration system in the fridge. Thankfully, I had a bottle of water in my bag to use to drink from before the swim and sacrificed that. I managed to snag a bottle from one of the local tri clubs on my way to the swim, so it all worked out in the end. There was not much to do in transition other than place nutrition bottles and helmet on the bike, start my bike computer and leave it on auto-pause (one less thing to have to remember when heading out for the bike leg), and check my tires. I wanted to ride with a lower pressure than normal because as we learned during our course recon a few days earlier, the road surface in some areas is fairly rough chipseal. Once that was done, I made one last trip to toilet and made my way over to the swim start. I put the lower half of my wetsuit on right outside transition because the weather was chilly - 60 degrees, 15-20 knot winds with gusts to 30, and solid cloud cover. Upon seeing hundreds of others shivering on the beach, I thought better of getting in the water for a few practice strokes. Popped a gel at 635, gun went off at 645, and I was in the water 5-6 minutes later.
The sea in Busselton was perfect - cool, clear, and flat. I saw a few people not wearing wetsuits, and I'm not sure why. The free speed is worth way more than the 1-2 minutes spent taking it off in transition, especially if you're able to get it down halfway before you get there. My plan for the swim was to go steady, not hard, and come in between 1:10-1:20. Starting close to the front of the race allowed me to find plenty of people to draft off of along the way, though I had to leave a few when they started to meander away from the rhumb line. A 3.8km swim is already long enough, no sense in making it longer. I threw down a gel during the Aussie exit in about the middle of the swim. Wasn't sure I really needed it, but it worked really well during the Oceanman Worlds back in October. I came out of the water in 1:14 and made my way into T1, including a climb up and down a temporary overpass across part of the run course. That wasn't much fun.
T1: my transition was pretty efficient. Once I got my wetsuit off, I dumped out my bag and followed my mental checklist: dry and wipe sand off feet. sock, shoe, sock shoe. Apply extra chamois cream. Sunglasses on. Stuff wetsuit into bag. Stuff goggles and cap into bag. Hand bag to very helpful volunteer. Sunscreen on arms and back of neck. Jog to bike. Took maybe 8 minutes from exit of the swim to crossing the line with my bike, a marked improvement over IMFL, and yet I didn't feel rushed or stressed to go any faster.
Remember that wind mentioned above? Well, I kinda forgot about it until the first time I dropped into aero. Holy shit, it was frightening! I popped back up immediately to settle my nerves and convince myself that while I'm not the best bike handler in the world, I am good enough to stay upright in these kind of conditions. (Morgan Freeman narrator voice: he would have that same mental conversation for the next 180km) The relentless wind made the bike course very difficult for me because there were not many places on course where I could settle into a groove and focus on being smooth. Every out and back section of the route was in some kind of crosswind, with only the last 10km into town on each of the two laps being a real tailwind. When we were riding along the shore, the wind was constant and somewhat manageable. When we were in the national forest, the trees would block much of the breeze. When a gap in the trees appeared, though, all hell broke loose as you got hit with a blast from the side and stiffened up to keep rolling in a straight line.
My nutrition on the bike was 14 scoops of Tailwind in a super-concentrated bottle. At 2 scoops per hour normally, I thought that would be plenty. My computer is set to remind me to feed every 20 minutes, and I stuck to that plan all day. Unfortunately, I ran out of Tailwind with about 65km to go and had to stop for a few minutes at an aid station to mix in some more. Most of it went in the bottle, but the wind blew some of the powder all over the bike, leaving it quite sticky for the rest of the leg. At the next aid station, I dumped water all over the bars to at least get them and my hands more comfortable.
My power target for the bike was 150 watts. The plan went out the window almost immediately due to the wind. I couldn't concentrate hard enough on the watts while trying to keep the bike steady and stable underneath me. That said, I was shocked to see my time after the first loop was 3:00 on an average power of 143. While it was far too early in the day to start in on the math to calculate my finishing time, knowing I was right on target for the 6-hour bike I wanted was a nice mental boost.
The second lap was just like the first, though I felt more at home in the wind because I was learning how to deal with it better as I went along. Nothing really hurt or was uncomfortable until somewhere after the fourth hour had elapsed. That's when my brain started arguing with itself over we have only two hours left vs. we still have two hours left. I suppose the one advantage of the wind is that it focused all of the tension and muscle stress into my upper back and neck, meaning I didn't have the opportunity to pay much attention to how my ass was hurting from being in the same position all day. There are no real breaks from aero position on this course. No hills, no inclines, no downhills, nothing at all to allow you to sit up and get a break. It's constant pedaling at roughly the same rpm all day long, and that gets pretty taxing. I made it through the second loop in 3:02, again better than expected especially considering the stop to refill the Tailwind. 6 hours and 2 minutes after I left, I was back in transition for T2.
T2 took about the same time as T1. It felt longer because part of T1 was the run up to the changing tent from the beach. I tried again to be as efficient as possible getting out of my cycling socks and shoes and into my running ones. Took one gel before I loaded my trisuit pockets with the other gels and fuel. Then came the hat followed by the suncream. Last was putting on the sunglasses and heading out. A quick cup of water and off I went, only a marathon left to go.
For the last hour or so on the bike, I couldn't wait to get off my bike and onto the run, and now it was finally here. This is where I know I can perform exactly as I want to, though in this case, I started a bit too fast. My strategy was to keep my HR in the 140-145 range for as long as possible without letting my pace drop off. First 3 miles were below 9:30/mile with my HR in the 145-146 range. I backed off slightly to make sure it didn't creep up any higher. The first loop of the four passed very quickly with pace in the 9:40s and HR steady at 145. The clouds and wind were still very present, which was a blessing. It was 75 when I started the run which is pretty warm. Had the full sun been out, it would've been a miserable marathon for all of us.
As much as I dislike looped courses, I found myself enjoying this one. Maybe because there were thousands of spectators along much of the course screaming and yelling and cheering words of support to all the athletes. Throw in a few DJs (one even taking requests) and people sitting out in front of their houses playing tunes ranging from rock to pop to Christmas Carols (enjoyable but not very motivational), and there were not many stretches where something wasn't happening. The surface on most of the course was excellent, although there were a few places on the road where the camber was severe. I felt my left hip ping every once in a while and made sure to keep to the center of the road when possible to avoid any potential issues.
The temperature cooled off slightly during the second lap, taking with my HR along with it. I averaged in the 9:40s again with my HR now 139-141. Two down, one to go, and I took my first peek at my watch. The first half took me ~2:08. I figured if I could hold that for the second half, I stood a pretty good chance of coming in under 12 hours. I even snuck glance at the total race time screen a little while later to see when it hit 10 hours of racing time, which happened with about 11.5 miles left. Some basic math told me I could run 11-minute miles and hit 12 right on the dot, not that I wanted to do that.
During the third loop, I really noticed how much salt I was losing. My black kit was now at least 50% white from the waist down. There was so much salt on my upper legs I could've used it instead of my BASE salt to keep my sodium levels up. I can't wait for the race photos to be released so I can see the progression from the first to the last lap. Maybe 1/4 mile from the end of the lap, Team Flying Dutchman all came together. Inalize caught me as she was finishing her race, and about 25 meters later, I caught Mirjam. I was in a groove at this point and gave her a "hi, looking good, bye bye," as I went past. Lap three complete with 9:50 miles and HR around 141/142.
I stopped caring about my HR during the fourth lap and ran by feel instead. Apparently I felt good because mile 21 came in at 9:19. As I made the u-turn at the short end of the course for the last time, I thanked the marshal for being out there all day (same woman had been standing in the same spot each time I went by) and told her I was sorry (not sorry) I wouldn't see her again. She laughed and got all her friends to join in a "last lap" celebration for me. The volunteers and supporters at this race went above and beyond the whole day. A little while later, I made hit the turnaround at the long end and took off for the finish a little over 2 miles away. Mile 25 - 9:25. Mile 26 - 9:26. I was smiling, pumping my fists, and enjoying every bit of the crowd support. Left turn for the finish, and then another left onto the red carpet. There was no one in front of me, and I made the most of the moment to fly down the chute in true Flying Dutchman fashion. And then I was done!! My second IM complete! I crushed my 12-hour goal with an 11:52!!!
The volunteer who caught me gave me my medal, my finisher towel, and asked if I was good. I looked kinda sideways at her, and she chuckled as she said "okay, you just raced and Ironman. Maybe good is not the right word." I assured her I felt fine as she walked me into the recovery tent, found me a cup of cold coke, and then went to get my street clothes bag for me. Have I mentioned enough how incredible the volunteers at this race are?
I'll save the post-race details for later and drop in a few bits about my fueling during the race instead. I ate and drank a ton, and thankfully my stomach never complained or revolted.
Swim - one gel before the start, one during the Aussie exit
Bike - 14 scoops of Tailwind, one additional pack at ~115km. One sip from the bottle every 20 minutes. Water when prompted by the bike computer or when thirsty.
Run - gel in T2. One gel every 40-45 minutes until I ran out, then one pack of Sport Beans at mile 22. Water at every aid station, usually two cups. Gatorade at every aid station. 3 licks of BASE salt every hour or when I could feel I needed it.
