Noftsger's Blog: St George Race Report.....EPIC

Ironman St George Race Report

May 5, 2012

Thursday-This was our admin day due to not being able to get away from our jobs plus the kids missing and extra day of school. Lesson learned-you need to do your traveling and be there by Wednesday especially if you have not seen the course or know the area. When we first arrived to the airport we were told one of the flights were over sold and were asking for people to give up their seats for a $300.00 voucher. Well that was the first time durng the day I about lost it!!

Flights ended up being smooth and wonderful.

Stayed at the Clarion Suites which was about 2 miles from the Dixie Center where everything was happening. Very hard to walk to cause you had to cross a busy intersection.

Note T1 was ~ 20 miles from Hotel and T2/finish line was ~ 2 miles from Hotel.

So we got to our room after finding our way from the airport which is really in the middle of no where. Arrived at the room, rushed over to get checked in.

***Admin note-if you are looking for a bigger room the Clarion Suites is not the spot to stay. We had a double queen bed that comes with microwave,fridge,etc but minimal moving space.***

The check in process went smooth at the Dixie Center. Sweet swag bags that had Ironman St George embroided on it with all the other things put inside.

Then it was time to locate TriTransport and pick up my bike, wheel bag, and athlete bag. Once we found them I realized I had left my pedals in the room. So back we went to grab the pedals. I choose to utilize them cause they were cheaper then buying a bike bag and flying my bike. I have to tell you it was nice to get to your destination and your bike was sitting there all together just waiting for you to pick it up. If I had to put the bike back together something would go wrong. Trust me.

After that we had to meet with Aquaman(wetsuit dealer) cause the medium they sold me was letting to much water in. After talking with Mario we tried on a small and a much tighter and better fit. I have to tell you very very little water got in during the swim. The wet suit is a Aquaman Cell Gold. This is made of the exact material the "Freak" by TYR is made from but half the price. Five stars in my investments eyes.

We went and did our shopping at the Super Target and had to purchase a fan for extra noise in the room. My 15 yo boy loves to snore logs.

Met up with the Endurance Nation crew and families for Supper. I have to say that was the best meal of my stay in St. George. ****Admin Note**** Pasta Factory is a must!!!! Thanks for picking and sitting that up Patrick Hayden. Matter of fact my wife and children went back to the Pasta Factory and ate again Friday while dad enjoyed his Ensure and snacks.

Friday:

Met a few of our crew at the Bear Claw for coffee, breakfast, and to discuss the course. It is always fun to get everyone's thoughts and different views on the course and just racing in general. We could look down the road from here and actually see the finish line.

We got the bike out to Sand Hollow note after driving to Snow Canyon and asking where the bike check in was. The lady(park ranger in the brown hut) looked at me like WTF are you talking about. We then realized we were in the WAY wrong area. Again, thats why its important to arrive a day early if you don’t know the area. This area was beautiful though and she told us it was part of the bike course. The climbs and beauty were breath taking.

Okay so now we are at Sand Hollow and again the beauty of the landscape is just etched in my brain. Found the spot for white lightning and we were just outside the changing tent! Literally, I came out of the changing tent made a right hand turn and there she was waiting to be mounted. Then dropped off my T1 bag and it was right before entering the changing tent. Took a few pictures of the area and some of the kids and I.

We then decided to feel the water and that is where it stopped. 61 degree’s and yep that is what it felt like.

We then drove the back way to Veyo just to see what we were missing. Again it was a beautiful drive and a few hills. So just to let you know I did not swim nor did I drive the entire course and afterwards I have to tell you I am very glad it went down that way. What I didn't see was just waiting for me the following day. What we did notice though was the higher we got the cooler it got. This is somewhere I could honestly retire some day!!!!!!

My last big meal of the day on Friday was a large turkey breast/black forest ham from Subway. That night I had 2 Ensures that = 500 calories and a bunch of protein/Glutamine. I was sipping on gatorade for the day. I was back in my room with my feet up going through the course in my head by 2. My family calls it, “gatorade day”. They go shopping and search the city out.

Nutrition for Race Day

Mixed 2 four hour bottles of Infinit. I really really really wanted to be off my bike by 5:40 but knowing I had not ever rode up the side of the mountain and if the wind just happened to pick up I could be in trouble therefore made them for a few extra hours plus wanting the extra calories cause of the heat. GLAD I DID.

Note I use Infinit and that is 270 calories per hour. This is powder and is mixed with water. These are the two white bottles you see hanging off the back of my bike.
I also carried 4 packages of Roctane GU - these are 100 calories. Also include a blend of Amino Acids such as: Histidine, Leucine, Valine, Isoleucine, Ornithine Alpha Ketoglutarate, and my fav caffeine. Plan was to take one of these every hour on the hour
Then carried my small bottle of Coke which I was going to drink ~ mile 90.
In my Speedfil the white thing you see under my bike I was carrying 42 oz of water. Note I went through this 3 times so drank a total of 126 oz of water.
Total calorie intake on the bike was ~ 1800 calories

Nutrition on the run was to use whatever was on the course.

Saturday-

woke up at 0300 and took in another 500 of Ensure and a banana with peanut butter and a cup of coffee. Met Michael and we drove to a parking ramp near the finish line. Here we dropped off our special needs bags and boarded the bus that was taking out to Sleepy Hollow for the swim. ****Admin note***** so we had to drive ~ 2 miles from the Clarion Suites to the parking ramp, then walk 4-5 blocks to the buses which then drove ~ 20 miles to Sand Hollow.

Once out there things moved pretty quick. We were the first bus so I grabbed my bike and went right to the bike pump and took care of that. I rode both front and back tires at 120 psi. Note my front wheel was a Zipp 404 Firecrest and the back was a Enve with a wheel jacket from Wheelbuilders (note the wind was suppose to be no more than 8 mph). Tires were both Conti 4000- and they rode like a dream. Won’t race with anything else again. Tubes were whatever the bike dude put in. I have not changed my inner tubes for over a year. No joke.

Then snuggled into my wet suit and made my way down to the swim entry. Wanted to watch the Pro's start. Note they started at 0645.

SWIM: My goal was 1:15 or faster (Actual time: 1:30)

The pros went off at 0645 and then they started putting us in the water to get lined up. Once we were in the water noted the wind to really pick up but didn’t think much about it. I didn’t think the water was all that bad. 62 degree’s was the announced temp. My wet suit was an: Aquaman Cell Gold. I also had in silicone ear plugs and a neoprene cap. First few times I put my face in the water it was breath taking but that went away quick. Water was clear and you could see well ahead of you.

Note we were treading water for about 10 minutes before our race started.

Well 0700 and the cannon fired.....all hell broke loose...elbows, feet, body, fingers. About 100 yards in I took a good something to the mouth and it pissed me off but that is life of an soon to be ironman. Everything was going well as we swam the first 400 yards. We then made the first turn and holy hell broke loose again. We were swimming directly into the eye of a hurricane. The white caps were so high they were towering over our heads and the spray was hitting us very hard in the face. I had and have never seen anything like it. I seen participants screaming for help, grabbing onto kayaks and canoes. The peeps in the boats were throwing their rescue ropes and pulling 2-3 in at a time. I had to change my swim stroke up-I had to take high long strokes. I did this for about 10-15 strokes then would bob up like a killer whale trying to site. Trust me we were not sighting for the buoys cause they were all over the place. I was looking for bright green and pink head caps. Myself and three others were assisting each other and taking turns sighting. Once we made it around the rock and seen the finish chute we aimed and kept out sights on that baby. When we reached there my watch said we swam 2.68 miles and this was confirmed by one other person who actually had 2.71.

I swear to you that around 200 or more participants either quit or were pulled from the lake. Another x number did not make the time cut off.

Wet suit strippers were quick and to the point. My transition bag was handed to me and I was taken into the changing tent. I decided to strip down but naked, cause I just felt the need and put on a pair of my bibs that I had trained in. Made sure everything was on and ready. Went to the sunscreen peeps and got loaded. Note my wife had placed SCAPE on me already but I figured it was sunny and a burn is not what I wanted.

Lots of peeps vomiting in bags and bitching and complaining about the swim. One person was told the swim was canceled and therefore got into one of the boats. She was upset they would not allow her to move onto the bike portion of the race. I think we will hear more about this race in the future.

BIKE (Goal under 7 hours)

Entire workout:

Duration: 6:39:19

Work: 3813 kJ

TSS: 300.3 (intensity factor 0.674)

Norm Power: 172

VI: 1.08

Distance: 112.03 mi

Elevation Gain: 6660 ft

Elevation Loss: 6586 ft

Grade: 0.0 % (78 ft)

Min Max Avg

Power: 0 386 159 watts

Cadence: 30 231 83 rpm

Speed: 0 52.3 16.8 mph

Pace 1:09 0:00 3:35 min/mi

Hub Torque: 0 38 9 lb-in

Altitude: 2586 4535 3344 ft

Crank Torque: 0 919 164 lb-in

Temperature: 66.2 87.8 74.9 Fahrenheit

My goal watts were 182 which is .70 of my current FTP which is 260.

As soon as we headed out of Sand Hollow and I felt that wind I thought this was going to be a long ass hard day. I also knew I needed to pay attention to my bike handling cause I could feel the bike wanting to wonder all over.

Well just getting out of Sand Hollow is a climb and a climb and a climb.

I was suprised to see so many officials with their stop watches timing us when we were passing.....give me a break. With what they allowed to happen in the swim now this.

Well the bike was a lot of fun and I truly mean that. I was so happy I changed to the compact crank and had a 28-11.

The climb before the “wall” was actually a much harder climb for me. The “wall” was not so bad.

Once we made the turn and headed back into town man that was a blast. I hit 50 mph on several occasions and topped out at 52.

On the second loop it was fun to count the peeps I was picking off. All those that were standing out of their seats and thought they were kicking ass were now paying the price. It appeared several were DQ’d during the second loop of the course near the top of the wall. Note this course had 5 bike cut offs that we had to meet.

My nutrition was spot on and yes I drank that coke at mile 90. Ended up drinking 120 oz of water. 8 hours worth of Infinit so 2160 calories and two Roctane Gu’s.

Went smooth. Actually changed into a pair of running shorts. Made a bathroom stop and again was soaked in sunscreen.

RUN (Goal 4:15-4:20)

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/175951785

I used the heat index calculator and tried to follow it to a T. The first few miles I had a real hard time slowing down to a 9:50 mile and just couldn’t get there.

I ended up getting blisters on both feet but had duct tape in my special needs bag. So stopped and wrapped both feet. Note you pass your special needs bags 4 times but can only have it once. Well I needed it the first pass but didn’t need anything out of it after that. The run is nothing but up and down hills - well their streets. It was a triple loop. Loops mess with my head but tried to keep it real. Plenty of nutrition on the course. I had it all coke, perpel, water, banana’s, and a cookie. Noted the broth not to settle with me nor did the cookie. So I stuck with Perpel and water. Continually soaked my hat in water and dried to stay moist.

Just want sure when I would hit the wall and if I did it was at mile 22.

I am sure I could have pushed this run quite a bit harder but just didn’t know what to expect.

Coming down the chute and hearing my name was the best of all and there waiting on me was my family!!!! Very emotional finish on what was a very very hard and challenging day!!!!!!

Ironman St George is known as and truly is the HARDEST Ironman in the United States. This year they had a whopping 29% DNF (did not finish) rate compared to 19% last year.

Please see stats here:
http://www.runtri.com/2012/05/ironman-st-george-2012-results-analysis.html

YES, I HAD THE TIME OF MY LIFE!!!!!

Next up is Ironman Wisc......9/9.12......11 hours or better......COUNT ON IT!!!!

Carl Noftsger