Niels Oomkes - You are an Ironman :-) 11:15:22 - 200TH place out of nearly 2400. What an awesome day! Walked into the water holding my wifes hand, said good luck, and off we went. Swim went well. Wearing wetsuit provides great buoyancy, so I actually never used my legs to kick. My hamstrings had been a little tender, so I did not want to cramp. And I figured I needed those legs for another 138.2 miles….. Nothing special from a time stand point, but about where I expected to be (1:21:48). The bike was much harder than anyone expected. 4500 ft. of elevation gain in the hot sun. To put that into perspective, its like 45 100 climbs every 2.5 miles or so, and it takes a lot mentally to keep simply spinning those punchy climbs to save your legs. My time of 5:44 is respectable. I thought I could have done better a bit better, but I kept telling myself to be patient, so I did not push it the first 56 miles...... A very wise decision as many athletes paid for it on the marathon! I always kind of joke, that its all about the run, but that is definitely how it played out for me. The first 6 miles I told myself to just jog it. Then focused on getting to 12 (hey, all of a sudden, I was about half way done.) Then I focused on getting to 18 because that is the critical turning point for many athletes. I managed to maintain my pace the entire race. I was shooting for a 9:00 minute pace, and I ended up with a 9:01. The run course is awesome, shaded, and the crowd support was over the top. I drank a ton, and put ice in my hat the entire race. My biggest time goal was for the run. I wanted to break 4:00 hrs., and made that with a 3:56:24. I got out of the water in 1137th place (so glad to be done with that swim). I passed 563 people on the bike, and 364 on the run to end up in 200th. VERY satisfied with the performance. Turns out I had the 75th fastest run time. Thanks to my wife, and some amazing friends for their support throughout training and the race.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 15:08:05 +0000
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