IMAZ 2015 Race Report...Better late than never!

Wow…so It’s been a whole year since I raced IMAZ.  How on earth did that happen?? I honestly meant to write this up right after the race, but 2 days after the race, my immune system shut down and I was soooo sick.  I was out of commission the whole week after the race…then, well, life happened.   So in honor of my #tripletforlyfe Jenesse racing her first Ironman this weekend, I figured I’d finally put my race on paper!

I was lucky enough to take 2 whole weeks off for iMAZ, one week before and one after.  The whole fam (husband and 2 fur babies) road tripped it to Arizona, arriving on Wednesday after a pit stop at my dad’s house in SoCal for the night.  We rented a house on VRBO about 10 min. from the expo.  The house was perfect…close enough that it was easy to get to transition/check in/etc., but far enough away from the hubbub.  Hubby and I had a few days at the house to ourselves before my WHOLE FAMILY came into town!  My dad, brother (his birthday was on race day and I am super grateful he spent it in the pouring rain cheering me on) and nephew stayed with us, and my mom, step-dad, aunt, mom’s cousin and his wife had a condo practically across the street.  I used those first few days to preview the bike and run courses on my bike, check in at the expo, and generally stay off my feet.  In order to keep my mind off the monumental task ahead of me, I rekindled my love of jigsaw puzzles, which kept me super busy even after the race!

Team Coeur 2016.  LOVED seeing all these ladies out on the course!

On Friday, I met up with all of my Coeur Sports teammates who were racing– it was awesome to meet so many of them in real life and the support from these ladies was just amazing.  Aside from the normal pre-race tasks, the fam toured the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Scottsdale with the fam.  It was beautiful, interesting, and not even remotely triathlon related :) Then I left the family to deal with lunch plans and got a much needed massage. 

Leading up to the race, I am actually incredibly impressed with how relaxed I was.  I had complete trust in Coach Muddy and knew that I would finish the day, no matter what.  My training was solid, and I felt super strong.  My mom, on the other hand, was a hot mess!  She was sooooo nervous for me…I was the one that had to reassure her!  My mantra for the day was “first I’m going to swim, then I’m going to ride, then I’m going to run!”  That’s it. No overthinking it.  I definitely had some goal times in mind, but I knew that this was only my first Ironman and it was all about learning the distance. 

The day before the race, I got everything sorted into the necessary bags with literally everything labeled with exactly when/where I needed it.  I think I was most afraid of forgetting something!  I’d rather be over prepared than under prepared, but at the same time, didn’t want to overload my transition / special needs bags with the kitchen sink!  I’m happy to say I think I struck the perfect balance!  After bike check in, I spent some time in my recovery boots, watched the Kona broadcast for inspiration, and had my traditional pre-race dinner of Thai Basil Chicken with lots of white rice.  Then it was off to bed for a fitful night of sleep.  Even though I felt calm and relaxed about the race, the excited energy definitely kept me up much later than it should have!

Ready to go!  #muddylove

The Swim 1:13 (1:53/m, 16^th AG)

UGH!!! The swim was AWFUL!!! This was definitely the most aggressive / full contact swim I had ever been in!  This year was the first year of a rolling start, and you couldn’t get in the water beforehand.  I had swum 1:10 at the Vineman Aquabike race, and I felt like my swimming had been going well leading into the race.  I thought I had a 1:08 swim in me, so I lined up right before the 1:10 wave.  Well…the swim definitely didn’t go as planned!  First off, the water was freezing!  It definitely took my breath away and I ended up taking a few side strokes/doggie paddles to get used to the cold.  Once my head and face got used to the temperature, the water was bearable, but those first few minutes were quite the shocker.

The calm before the storm.

After that, I spent the next 2.4 miles basically in a washing machine.  Even though I had never raced an Ironman before, the Lake Tahoe 70.3 swim was on the same course at the same time as the full, so I thought I knew what to expect.  Wrong.  I was kicked, swum over, swum into, everything you can imagine.  I never really felt comfortable and didn’t keep a steady stroke for more than a few pulls before popping up to check my surroundings.  I never had a panic attack, it just didn’t feel comfortable and all of the jostling made me much more tired than I expected.

When I finally made it to shore, I realized that my watch had paused during the swim and I had no idea what my time was!  With the helpful wetsuit strippers, I was out and on my way to T1 super fast, and used that time to reset my watch.  Luckily it was back in action for the bike leg.


Gear: Coeur Team Kit, Roka Maverick Pro Wetsuit, Roka X1 goggles in Light Amber, Garmin Forerunner 920XT

T1 4:33

I was in such a hurry to get on my bike that I completely ran past my transition bag!  At IMAZ, they have a bunch of chairs set up right outside of the changing tents.  I wasn’t doing a full change in T1, so I just grabbed a chair, pulled on my Castelli aero top (already loaded with my extra nutrition) and cycling shoes, threw on my helmet, and ran off to meet up with PennytheP3.

The Bike 5:35.40 (20.02 mph, 5^th AG)

Oh what a day Penny and I had!!! Now the weather the day before the race was perfect – sunny, light breeze, in the 70s…on race day, mother nature decided to throw a wrench in the day and unleashed quite the downpour that got worse and worse throughout the day.  But I was LOVING it!!!!  

Thumbs up for Coach!

Honestly, I cannot even explain how much fun I had out on that bike course.  I was quite the fan of the three loop course – each loop was about the equivalent of Coach Muddy’s Wednesday night rides, so it was a really manageable way to breakdown the course.  I was lucky to be out of the water towards the front(ish) of the race and didn’t run into any congestion that I heard was common on the course.  I mainly rode by myself – there were a few guys that I leapfrogged with, and I passed apparently 11 girls in my age group towards the beginning of the ride, but was pretty much in my own little world. 


I always prefer cold weather to hot, and luckily adapted to the cold weather on the bike.  I saw lots of people pulled off to the side of the road, huddling in cars at aid stations, wrapped in the foil blankets…anything to warm up.  I was just super grateful that I wasn’t having those issues.

Since the course is 3 loops, you get to turnaround near the transition area 2x.  There are tons of spectators in this area, and that was where my whole cheer crew was hanging out.  They were super easy to spot because my mom made the greatest hot pink GoGo Gomez Support Crew shirts. 

Benny is quite apprehensive about the crazy lady (my mom!) with the cowbell!

It was an amazing boost to see and hear them all cheering me on!  And they were all HUGE troopers because it was a gigantic downpour during the whole bike portion of the race and they stuck it out on the sidewalks with no coverage, ringing cowbells and cheering everyone along.  They just rock!  And our third #tripletforlyfe Eileen completely surprised me out on the course!!! As I came back to transition at the end of the second loop, I yelled out “oh my God!!!!” I just couldn’t believe that Eileen had made it!  It was a complete surprise and made me feel pretty special. 

So surprised that Eileen made it!  #tripletforlyfe

Coach Muddy was also along that part of the course, asked how I was doing, and I couldn’t do much more than smile! The desert is not my favorite landscape to look at, but with the storm clouds on the horizon and the cacti popping up, I really made sure to appreciate the beauty that we were racing in.  I rode steady for the entire 5 hours and 35 minutes.  I knew I had passed a bunch of ladies right out of the gate, but I had no idea where I was in the field, but I didn’t really care.  Honestly, I had an absolute blast on the course.  I am quite aware that it is definitely not normal to want to keep riding at the end of a 112 mile ride!  All those climbs up and over the Santa Cruz Mountains definitely paid off because Arizona was pancake flat!


And the founder of Coeur Sports, Kebby, was also out and about along the bike course!  You know you are part of an AMAZING team when the actual owner is out at the races supporting her girls!

Gear: Coeur Team Kit, Castelli Aero top, Louis Garneau triathlon shoes, pink rudy aero helmet, Cervelo P3,Smith Pivlock Asana Sunglasses

Nutrition: Salty Balls, Cheese and Cracker packets, base rocket fuel – fueled like a champ.  And was super lucky my water bottles unfroze by the time I needed them at special needs!

T2: 2:45

Even though I wanted to keep riding, when I pulled into T2 with my brother and husband running along the chute so excited…again, I was nothing but smiles.  Since I was in the change tent pretty early, I had at least 3 amazing volunteers helping me out.  The got me changed and ready to go in no time.  I was excited to get out on the run course! 

The Run 4:46.09 (10:55/mi, 11^th AG)

The run started out well…I exited T2 with a smile, and my legs felt surprisingly good.  It felt much colder than it did on the bike, but not too cold that I was uncomfortable.  I saw Coach at about mile 2…told him I was feeling good but chilly, so he wanted me to start drinking chicken broth when they put it out at the aid stations to help myself warm up.  Through the first lap, I felt pretty good!  I was drinking my Base rocket fuel, eating my Gu, and just cruising along.  


https://www.facebook.com/geoffrey.gomez.904/videos/438019686408362/


Around mile 10 or so they started putting out the chicken broth, and I followed Coach’s instructions at the next 2 aid stations…BIG MISTAKE!  My Base rocket fuel was supplemented with Base Salt, which was a fantastic concoction for me during my training and at IMLT 70.3…but all of that was in the heat.  Since I was so cold, and not sweating out the same amount, my sodium levels were apparently very different than they were during training.  Adding the chicken broth meant that my body couldn’t process all the sodium and caused my stomach to hate me L.  Starting around mile 13, there is a VERY obvious drop in my mile splits.  I kept shuffling forward and at each aid station, I would try to take in some pretzels, bananas, water…anything but my rocket fuel or Gu.  Nothing seemed to help.  I passed my mom and aunt around mile 19, then Jenesse and Eileen around mile 20. 

Later they told me that they were super worried because I just looked like death! Finally I reached the last turnaround on the far side of the lake, around mile 21, and decided that I would have to make a pit stop in the porta-pottie.  And thank GOD!  I threw up every bit of liquid in my stomach.  So gross!  But as soon as I exited, I felt like a totally different person!  

My stomach settled itself down and my body could finally do what it wanted!  Even after all of that, my legs felt “fine”!  (Well, as fine as they can at mile 135 of the day).  I was bummed that my pace had slowed so much solely due to my stomach, but took comfort that my body was strong enough to still feel good at this point of the day.  At mile 22ish, I saw Jenesse, Eileen and my husband (for the first time on the run because he had the map upside down all day!!).  They were shocked at my miraculous recovery and to this day laugh at what I said – “I puked everything up and now I feel great!”  

Lifesaver! Crossing the finish line with Jeana #heartandcourage

So happy to cross that line!

At this point, it was dark, chilly, and I was tired!  Those last few miles felt oh so far, until I spotted another Coeur kit just ahead of me about a mile from the finish.  I was so relieved to find Jeana and she honestly pulled me through that last mile.  We ran in silence, side by side through that finish arch then collapsed into the best hug of the day!  My family was gathered at the finish and I was so glad to see them all.  Unfortunately, I spent the next 20-30 minutes getting rid of all the bile in my stomach near (but not in) the med tent before finally celebrating with my amazing support crew. 

Best Support Crew Around!  (Missing: Auntie Nan, Geoff and Ethan)

Overall Time: 11:42.15, 11^th AG

It was a very weird feeling after the race…I was super proud of completing the race, but since I never doubted that I would finish I didn’t really know how to process being done!  I knew that I had a lot left in me and was definitely frustrated that my stomach slowed my marathon down so much.  But that left me wanting more.  I knew that an Ironman wasn’t just a check mark on the bucket list, and I couldn’t wait to sign up for another one.  

Post-Race Breakfast with the Coeur ladies at Snooze!

After the race, my immune system decided that it was tired of working and I was laid up with an AWFUL cold/flu for about a week, which was a major bummer since I didn’t get to take advantage of eating all the thing. L  After I recovered, I took advantage of the off season, re-evaluated my 2016 plan and decided to take a year to finally do Crossfit and race some 70.3’s. A year later, my fire has been renewed and I am all lined up for Ironman Coeur D’Alene on August 27, 2017!

Good luck to everyone racing IMAZ this weekend – I will be all along the race course cheering my heart out!