johnhirsch.org

David sent me this email and I thought it was something I should share with you all, he did a lot of things right and really set himself up for a GREAT first ironman… 

Hi John – below is my race report – some light reading for the CREW.

Thanks!

Dave Brand

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Race Report

Pre – race – 4am wakeup to eat my 2 PB & Js (only could eat one and a half), banana and first cup of coffee (yay caffeine!) in two weeks.  I took down a bottle perpetuem as well as a bottle of water before catching a 5am shuttle from my hotel (Hyatt Place – 1.5 miles from the race site and a great hotel) to get to transition.  At transition I put my bottles on my bike, took a few laps at the porta-potties and drank some more water.

Swim – IMAZ is an in water start – 6:50 for the pros (i.e. not me) and 7am for the age groupers.  We hopped in the 63 degree water at 6:45am or so.  The 10-15 minutes of treading water wasn’t too bad actually.  Per Coach John Hirsch’s direction, I made my way to the inside “pole” position and got ready for the cannon.  Amazing nervous feeling after the national anthem was sung anticipating the start.  Boom!  We were off.  Surprisingly, there was a lot of room.  I didn’t get swum over as much as I anticipated.  I had to fight off a few wandering swimmers but not bad at all.

The swim is one 2.4 mile rectangle.  The outbound portion had a bit for a tailwind which helped with the current.  Naturally, the inbound portion had a bit of a headwind and current working against us.  I swam a 34:45 at Montauk half so I figured I could go between 1:10 – 1:15 at IMAZ.  I came out of the water in 1:08 and was naturally, very happy.

Transition 1 – It was about a quarter mile run from the swim exit, through the bag pick up and to the change tents.  It took about 5 minutes until I put on my bike stuff grabbed my bike and hit the road.

Bike – The bike course is a 3 lap course (37 miles, 37 miles, 38 miles) which winds itself from Tempe through some local roads and onto the Beeline Highway.  IMAZ was originally held in April but due to high heat and high winds, NA Sports moved it to November.  There was a good headwind on the outbound portion of the ride (slightly uphill as well).  Per John’s direction, I took it a beat or two slower than I could in order to conserve for the later miles and for the run.  I originally in the 53 ring in the front but changed to the 39 and spun more.

I reached the turnaround (mile 18 or so) and was excited to have the wind at my back and downhill road ahead of me.  I averaged around 18-19 mph on the outbound and picked it up to 22-23 on the inbound for an average first lap of 21 mphs or so for lap one.  Lap two, the wind picked up a bit which made the outbound portion a bit tougher.  I stuck to my plan and spun it out until the turnaround.  The favorable tailwind I was hoping to have on the way back dissipated a bit but still was able to keep my overall mph over 20.  Lap three was similar to lap two.

My splits were about 1:46 (37 miles); 1:53 (37 miles) and 1:51 (38 miles) for a total 5:31 or so – average mph of 20.3.  I probably had a bit more in me on the bike but given the run is my weakest leg, I thought it best to save some juice for the marathon.

Transition 2 – I came in feeling pretty good off of the bike.  Into transition to change into my shoes and off to the run course.

Run – The IMAZ run course is a 3 loop course that makes a figure 8 over two bridges and through transition around Tempe Town lake.  It is a super viewer friendly course.  Lap one I started off with sub 9 minute miles which was a bit faster then I should have probably come out but I felt good so I kept with it.

Lap two was a struggle.  It got hot and I was definitely struggling.  Midway through lap two, around mile 12 or so I decided to walk an aid station and gather myself for a couple of minutes.  After walking a bit, a fan said “Lets go Terrier” (referring to my Terrier Tri outfit – my local club in NYC).  I responded saying I was just gathering myself to which the fan responded, “ok, start running.”  And run I did.  I am not exactly sure why this set me off but from this point on, I was on.  That little kick in the ass got me refocused and in the zone.

At this point is when I started to do the math.  I knew that if I kept under 9:30-10 minute/miles I could break 11 hours.  I walked probably 4-5 more aid stations in order to get enough fuel for the race.  For those of you who have not done an Ironman, they offer a variety of food and drinks at the aid station including coke and pretzels.  Without a doubt, coke, water and pretzels got me through the race.  I didn’t touch gatorade or have any bars or gels on the run.  All coke baby.  Indeed, I began taking a cup of coke from one volunteer, pouring it into a second cup then chugging it.  It was awesome, seriously.

I got to the 40k mark around the 10:45 mark.  At this point I knew I had it.  I picked up the pace and headed for home expecting to see the 25 mile marker and then the final couple of turns.  Somehow I missed the marker and started to get very nervous that I was farther from the finish then I actually was.  I kept on the gas because I was seriously afraid that I was going to miss 11 hours.  I made the final turn and was in the chute.  I did it!!!  The clock read 10:55 which was a complete shock to me.

Pre ironman training (think 1 – 2 years ago) I though I could go sub 11 but when training started, I scaled it back to 11:30.  I then scaled it back to sub 12 because I didn’t know how the run would go.  To go sub 11 was a dream.

Thanks goes out to my biggest fan, support, and cheerleader – my wife Jessie.  Without her love and support this would have never happened.  Thanks also must go out to coach John who I say put a challenging training plan together that we got done together.  At times I wondered if I was over doing it but I guess the results speak for themselves.  Also, thanks to my family, my teammates on Terrier Tri and all my friends.

Dave Brand