Thanks

It seems appropriate that on the weekend of Thanksgiving I should thank many of the people who were involved in helping me achieve my goal in Ironman Arizona. These are in no articular order.

SBR Sports Inc.

I was lucky enough to get sponsorship from SBR this year. They make excellent body and hair care products, TRISWIM, for removing chlorine as well as TRISLIDE which is an excellent spray on lubricant that is great for wetsuits as well as protection from chafing when running. They very generously provided my with product all year and I went through a LOT of it. But in the end my hair didn’t turn green and I didn’t have any chafing marks to show for all of my training! YAY!!! They recently released a new product called Dermasport. I have been using it  for a month now and I love it! Expect a review soon.

My Coach, Jen Mathe

I made the decision early in the year that I wanted to use a coach to help get me to my goal of having a successful Ironman. After looking at the options I decided on Jen. It was the best decision I made for this race. She developed a comprehensive plan that helped me achieve a time I never imagined I could. We worked together from February until race day and when I do this again there is no way I won’t use her again. She did an amazing job and I can’t say it enough! If you are interested in getting coaching services please look her up!

My Family

My kids and parents had to put up with a lot during the last year. My parents were an amazing support system to help with cooking meals and watching my kids so I could get some of the training hours in. My kids had many a night where I couldn’t have a long bedtime cuddle with them because I had to get on my bike or I was sweaty from just getting done.  There were many Saturday morning breakfasts I missed because I was running or swimming. I truly hope that they remember this one day and are inspired to do something like this as well.

My Virtual Family

I ended up with a very strong support group ranging from friends online thru Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sources. There was an amazing group on Facebook for Ironman Arizona 2014 and I expect we will all be in touch for years to come. It was amazing how much motivation I drew from that group, as well as my other friends all over the world that were cheering for me.

My Everything, Stuart

I have been so lucky to find someone who I can truly call my best friend to spend my life with. Stuart has been, hands down, the most supportive person when it comes to my goals (both fitness and personal). He did everything he could to support me. The list includes (but is not limited to), kicking me out of bed to go workout, cooking and cleaning for me, taking care of the house, entertaining the kids, dropping the kids off at school, listening to me when I got discouraged but not letting me give up, and most of all believing in me. He put his goals on the back burner this year so I could achieve mine. I want to be a better person because of him.

I could never have done this without the many place I found support. I am a very lucky person!

 

Ironman Arizona 2014 Race Pictures

I bought all my pictures this year. It was a good race and there were few good pictures. BUT I look crazy in the finishers photos! Oh well.

HA HA HA!!!

 

Ironman Arizona Gear Post

Swim

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stuart (@quadrathon)

I use a Synergy Endorphin wetsuit. I have had this wet suit for almost two years. It has had a TON of use over the last 6 months since I was open water swimming every week. Love this suit! It is VERY reasonably priced, extremely durable, and very comfortable. Easy on and off and fits well in my neck. Not too high or too low. I had newer goggles for the swim. I had been swimming all year in Tyr Next Pros which I really like. I decided to try the Special Ops 2.0 before the race to see if liked them. They fit my face well and worked perfect on my swim!

Bike

I ride a Cannondale Slice 5. She has been fully upgraded to all Ultegra components. I rode a 12/25 rear cassette. Nothing fancy but it gets the job done. I ride Ultegra wheels with Hutchinson Road Fusion Tubeless tires. I ended up replacing both tires within a month of the race. I had ZERO problems on race day. Many people had flats during the race. I lucked out and had no problems at all. I have the Giro Air Attack helmet which I love! I crashed in this helmet in August and it did the job! This helmet works great for me. Comfy and cool and the visor works great as well. My main water bottle was a Torhans Aero 30. I filled it up twice during the ride. Tri Kit is from Coeur Sports. I have written about their triathlon kit before but let me tell you again just how amazing it is! The seam free chamois design works great for me. I have NO issues with chafing or discomfort. Even for 112 miles! The kit was extremely comfortable on the run as well. You can easily wear it all day with no problems. I will never do another tri with out their gear. They have some new patterns coming out at the new year!

Run

I did not change any clothes. I just put on my running shoes and a visor. I am running in the Saucony Ride 7 right now. This is my third pair. They are a neutral shoes and work great for me. I used a SPI belt for my race bib as well as to hold some extra Cliff Shots. I have been using a SPI belt since 2011. They are awesome! For data capture I have a Garmin 920 XT. It worked great. I didn’t push the lap button very well when I came out of the water so I goofed that transition but other than that it was great!

Ironman Arizona 2014 Presentation

The Race

• 2.4 mile open water swim – 2:20 cut off

• 112 mile bike ride 5:30 PM cut off

• 26.2 mile (marathon) run

• 140.6 total miles – 17:00 total cutoff

• Tempe Arizona

The Swim

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stuart (@quadrathon)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stuart (@quadrathon)

The Bike

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Stuart (@quadrathon)

The Run

The Finish

 

The Proof

Shinny happy Triathlete

They are off!

Finally strung out.

SO happy to see Stuart!

Ironman Arizona 2014 Race Report – #IMAZ

After I completed St. George in 2012 I wrote my report the very next day.  It has taken me two days to get to it this time because I don’t want this race to be over. I have a feeling the post race blues are going to be bad this time… Anyway, on with the report! For those of you that just want the numbers I will give you those first. You can see my Garmin data for the day here. Here are my official splits from the race. Overall I am totally amazed with the day. I met my goals and I am so proud of the race!

The Swim

Swimming is one of my stronger disciplines so the only part about this that I was nervous for was being in the water with 2500+ others! I got in early so I could start up front. I was only about three people deep back from the start line. I was so happy to bump into a couple of fellow Tower 26 swimmers and felt like that was a very good omen for the day!. Canon went off and we were swimming. The first 5 minutes was very congested but then I had a really nice patch of open water. That didn’t last long. It varied on and off like that until the first left shoulder turn. After that it was smooth swimming. I felt good and just wanted to get it done. The water wasn’t too cold and even though you couldn’t see ANYTHING it wasn’t yucky tasting/smelling water. I made it to the dreaded steps and was out of the water! My best case goal was 1:05 but I knew with the extra people it would be somewhere between 1:05 and 1:10 so I was happy with the swim.

T1

I got my wetsuit stripped, ran for my bag and into the tent. The AMAZING volunteers helped me get sorted quickly and I was off to the bike without anything special to report. I did eat a Power Bar smoothie quickly in the tent and loaded myself up with my food.

The Bike

The course is a three loop out and back. It is relatively flat except for a stretch up the Beeline Hwy. The problem was the wind. There essentially was a head wind on the way out and a tail wind coming back. The splits below pretty much sum it up! Overall I was thrilled with this. Anything between 6:00 and 6:30  was a victory on the bike for me. I did get a drafting penalty and spent 6 minutes in the tent at the top of the turn around. People would pass you and then not keep moving. With the wind, passing was tough and I didn’t want to burn all my matches trying to get around people. I was too close and I won’t deny that; but I wasn’t drafting on purpose. Honestly I was so happy to have a chance to get off my bike for 6 minutes! I stopped two other times to fill up my water bottle. I am not that comfortable to do that while riding. I kept on top of my nutrition and water and just get pedaling! At some point during the bike I pushed a button on my watch that switched my view to the overall time. That actually was really helpful. There was nothing I could do about the conditions with the wind so I just rode at the effort I felt was right. I had done the training and I knew how I should be riding. I trusted that and just kept at it.

T2

I very happily got off the bike and gave her a kiss goodbye. Not a single bike issue for me! Thank you Win’s Wheels! I took off my shoes and ran for my bag. I handed both things to a volunteer and peed. Into the changing tent I went. The volunteer helped me get sorted and I was out as fast as I could.

The Run

The goal was to run at least a 10:00/mile pace and hopefully get a 4:15 overall in the end. I felt great. The first mile clicked off at 8:44ish and I knew I had to watch it and not over do it. I wanted to run every step and really wanted to shine at this point. I had a feeling I could do it after a really successful monster brick I had done in training. Usually I am a pretty chatty runner out there but I was not talking very much. Not because I was running too hard but because I was so focused on the goal. Up until now I had stopped worrying about the overall time for the day. I thought the wind and penalty may have squashed my sub 12 hour goal. I didn’t want to over do it early in the run because I was trying to race the clock. I wanted a smart and controlled race more than the time. I did notice that if I held the 10 minute pace I was very close to the 12 hour time but I wasn’t looking too closely early in the run. The miles were clicking off between 9 and 9:15 and I felt totally fine. Others around me were dripping with sweat and breathing heavy and I felt totally fine and 100% in control. I planned what I wanted before each aid station and yelled it out to the volunteers as soon as I  got there. I mostly drank water, Coke and Red Bull. I had a couple bananas, some Gu chomps, one Cliff Gel, and a Power Bar smoothie but it was mostly liquids during the run. The thought of solids was not working for me. The crowds were amazing! There is nothing better than hearing your name while you are running. It helps SO much! I had seen Stuart out on the bike a couple times but I finally got to see him up close on the run. He brought me a chapstick because I lost mine on the bike. Usually I would have talked to him but I was so focused on the run all I could get out was “thanks” and “I love you”. Our friends from Arizona Thomas and Laura were out there as well. I kept giving them stuff I didn’t need anymore like extra food and then my sunglasses. It was so great to see friendly faces out there. By the end of the first loop I finally looked at my time to start doing the math. I realized that if I held a 10 minute pace I would be coming in under 12 hours!!! That was the goal. Keep running like I was and get it done. I felt totally fine. I never hit the “wall” and the only dark moments were those running under the bridges…because they were dark! I didn’t walk  single step and I never stopped. It was amazing! I made it to the finishing chute and enjoyed my last few steps and crossed the line! It was close to a 5 hour PR over St. George! I was so excited! I got my medal, shirt, picture taken and went to find Stuart. I crumpled down on the grass and spewed out all the things I had wanted to tell him about during the day. He is always there to listen to me no matter how many times I tell him something! I have a few more posts to come regarding the race. I want to do one about the gear I used, a nutrition one, and of course a thank you one. Below are a few pictures from the day. Thanks again for going on this journey with me. Knowing there were people who were tracking and supporting me from afar really carried me through the race more than you can imagine!

Shinny happy Triathlete

Lined up ready to start

They are off!

Finally strung out.

I still need to get my head down!

A lot of ass grabbing!

There she is!

Command Central!

She is running!

SO happy to see Stuart!

The best part of the day!

I need to sit for a moment…

#IMAZ – 1 sleep to go (OMG it is here!)

Ok. This is it. One. Last. Sleep. First I need to say thank you for all of those that have followed me on this journey, either by choice or not. I am sure some of you may be tired of hearing about my training and obsessions over this race. You are almost done! (almost)

The day went well. I did a practice swim, bike, and run. Nothing major to report. The lake is a little colder than I thought but that is OK. I have chosen not to have any special needs bags on race day.  I think I can take all I need on the bike and run  and will be fine with me with the additional support on course. I am really trying to keep things simple.

I am ready to leave it all out there tomorrow. Swim hard, bike smart, and run my ass off! All the details on how to track me can be found here. You can also follow my Twitter and Instagram, @TriBeccaTO, and Stuart’s @Quadrathon. There should be lots of updates as the day goes on. Below are a  few more pictures from my day and then I am going to get my last sleep!

Funniest thing I saw today.

Every little bit of motivation helps!

#IMAZ – 2 sleeps to go!

I have many more pictures from today but once again I am blogging from my phone and it is late. I was on my feet a little bit more than I should have been but it was a great day. Amazingly, the expo was really calm and relaxed. I managed to find several people I was really looking forward to meeting and I even made some new friends as well. I will blog tomorrow in greater detail since I really need to take it easier tomorrow!

#IMAZ – 3 sleeps to go

I am finally driving out to Tempe as I type (Stuart is driving actually). It has been really fun to watch all of my fellow competitors arriving in Tempe today. Tomorrow we get to start playing triathlete all weekend!!!

This is a quick post because I am doing it from my phone. I just want to say that I am so lucky to get to do this this my best friend. Stuart has supported me in every way possible. He is my best friend and my love!

#IMAZ – How To Track Me

So maybe you have been following my journey as I train for Ironman Arizona and you want to follow the race as well. Well here is how you do it!

• I rented a GPS tracker so you can see every step of my bike and run. Just go here and look for Ironman Arizona. Find me (Rebecca Neumeier). You can also download an App for this site as well.
• The IronTrac App will let you see the data coming from my timing chip as I cross the mats. I think it costs $0.99. Make sure you understand that this app depends on the Ironman tracking system. If they are overloaded and having trouble reporting splits, this app will too.  To find me look me up by #1261.
• Go to Ironman.com and track me there. I can’t post a link to exactly the page because it won’t be up until Sunday. But here you can find me by number #1261. Once I get on the run it now gives you predicted finishing times as well. This is where you can watch the video feeds! The finish line camera is the best.

My time goals right now are:

1:05-1:10 for the swim

6:00-6:30 for the bike

4:15-4:30 for the run

I am hoping to finish between 11:30 and 12:30.

You can also follow my day  thru my Twitter handle @TriBeccaTO or thru Stuart’s @Quadrathon. The same handles apply to Instagram as well.