An Epic Ironman St. George
Posted in Fun, Racing, Training by Tim HolaWhere I do I begin? The 2012 season has already dished up some of the hardest races I’ve done, and summer hasn’t even officially started yet. Last Saturday I completed my 20th Ironman distance race. It was the hardest Ironman race I’ve done, and it will never take place again.
Since doing Strongman Japan on April 15, I wanted to use that training and fitness to go into an Ironman race here in the US and it just so happened that Ironman St. George was just shy of three weeks after so I thought I’d attempt yet again an Ironman double. The Strongman Japan race is only 16 miles short of an Ironman distance, but since it had a full marathon, and that’s really the part that counts. Even though I went in with a very sore left Achilles tendon and some chest congestion that never shook off from Japan, the gamble worked and it was a pretty good day, but not without a fight between me and the elements of the Utah desert.
To make a long story short, the forecast called for 82 degrees, a slight wind of 9 mph, and relatively calm conditions. This was not the case. The gun went off for us age groupers at 7AM and I was very excited to start Ironman #20. As I walked down to the start I made my usual stop by the pro racks and said good luck to my friends racing including eventual race winner Ben Hoffman. At the water’s edge, I said a quick prayer and was on my way. About 10 minutes into the swim we took a 90 degree left turn, and that’s when it all happened.
As soon as we took that turn the wind picked up and the white caps started. About 500m later we took another turn and that’s when it really got bad. Have you ever seen those clips on The Discovery Channel of a US Coast Guard Helicopter dropping a rescue swimmer in the middle of an ocean? You know, when they are trying to swim through the downdraft of the turbine from the helicopter? That’s what it was like. Imagine that while fighting 4 ft. swells for about 45 min. just to try to see a buoy. I was in a group of swimmers that kind of just didn’t know where to go. I remember at one point a swimmer stopping and looking at me as if to say, “OK, so now what do we do?” It was actually fun for me since I always have been a swimmer, but for some of the other athletes behind me, I knew it was a safety issue. Turns out that about 200 athletes got pulled from the water. I managed to slug it out in 58 minutes and heard a slew of curse words from a bunch of people in the changing tent.
The bike was worse. The wind didn’t stop. Just ask pro and PowerBar athlete Uli Bromme – she wrote a great race report you can see here. Combine that with about 6,000ft. of climbing and that equals some very, very epic conditions. It was two loops and I’d say about 65-70% of the entire course was on some sort of incline. I never once thought about getting a certain time or bike split. It was survival and a mental game for me. Honestly I thought about all the people who were attempting their first Ironman that day, and how I was hoping that they all would make it, knowing full well that all 496 of them would not finish. It’s very easy to think selfishly in this sport, but after getting wind (no pun) of some of the stories of how some athletes toed the starting line and what they went through, it took me back a little. Like the guy who was up on stage at the carbo dinner telling Mike Rilley that he lost over 150 lbs during his training for the race. And here he was ready to give this Ironman thing a shot – truly amazing. I didn’t catch his name, but saw him before the race and told him he inspired me and thanked him for sharing his story.
During the 112 miles I did my very best and thought about all those great rides I’ve had and tried to put it all together once again.
My QR CD0.1 rigged up with the super fast Challenge Forte tires really came through. I finished the bike in 5:51. I really believe this sport is so mental.
The marathon was all in town and was 3 loops. Yes, still more hills. Since the city of St. George sits on a hill, we did out and backs on the city streets meaning we were either going up or down almost the whole time. I felt pretty good the whole run considering the race I did 3 weeks prior.
For the first time I used a pair of Compressport Calf Sleeves with Ultra Silicone which is supposed to ease the pressure on your Achilles Tendon. Those sleeves combined with PowerBar gels, water, sodium, positive thoughts, and a healthy dose of adrenalin that built up through out the day allowed me to finish in 10:14 as 16th overall and 3rd in the age group.
In the end, I qualified for Kona for the 14th year in a row – still very hard for me to comprehend and quite a milestone in my 17 year triathlon career.
Thanks of course to all my sponsors especially Timex, PowerBar, Native, Tri-Swim, QR, Challenge Tires, and to Compressport for the great calf sleeves. You guys are all great and truly make my races memorable.
Have fun and train safe,
Tim


















































