R-A-EJ: 2nd One - Ironman Texas 2018

Here’s Daddy “hijacking” what started off as a blog to share Emma’s birth story, but which became a family blog of sorts. Our blogs were far and few over the years ever since we had Facebook to share our family’s experiences, and where we could control viewer access instead of putting them out in the open public like blogs do. So, our blogs are rather selective, including my training journeys and race experience, as a means of After-Action-Review, and also to share with friends who’re also on this self-discovery journey through sports.

And so, after a four-and-a-half-year hiatus from Ironman racing, I finally pulled the trigger on racing my second Ironman race. IM Western Australia in 2013 was a milestone in my journey of discovering my physical human limits, with an outcome that took me by surprise then. Personal and work commitments didn’t allow for the time needed for full Ironman race training. Or so I thought. I was apprehensive, and perhaps just lazy to go the distance. Fast forward into 2017, in a new age-group of 40-44 no less, I decided to give it a go again. Signed up for IM Texas 2018, that I did.

Apprehension

IM Texas was an early spring race, and that meant training through winter season. It was probably a good thing as it was good enough a reason to keep the training going and not get fat from gorging through the various holiday periods in the winter season. Being based in Virginia with winter temperatures ranging from -3 to 10 deg Celsius, regular training outdoors would not be an easy option. A tweak to the training concept was necessary. One that involved a drastic change from I was used to in the run-ride-training-conducive weather in tropical Singapore.

The other major concern was body acclimatisation to the race venue weather. Texas is generally hot and humid even in Spring (in the range of 27-33 deg Celsius), and definitely more so than cold Virginia (generally ranging 12-20 deg Celsius). I had not been able to nail down the cramps issue in my races, especially in hot humid races even though I grew up in hot humid Singapore. Training through winter was therefore a huge concern to me, as my body would definitely be not well acclimatised to the hot humid weather conditions, and I fear my nemesis – cramps – meeting me on race day.

I also went into the winter season with a niggling pain in my right foot that made running a little troublesome. I couldn’t run 15km without having the pain persisting for a week. I was worried. Would I be able to do any run training? Would it heal in time? I wasn’t sure. But I figured that if I wanted it to heal properly, it’ll need time. Time off from run training.

Training Tweaks

As with all things, we control what we can, and not get too anxious about the things we can’t control. So the weather bit took the back seat as I went on my training journey. In addition, work trips, and family trips, and time spent recovering from jetlag, meant some downtime from training. I might not be able to achieve my 10hr-a-week training volume that I typically managed for IMWA 2013. Making the limited training time count is therefore even more imperative. Another difference from my IMWA 2013 preparation, was that I had no build-up races from the time I signed up for IMTX 2018, to the race proper in Apr 2018. But such is the life of an age-grouper, with full-time job and family. We simply don’t have the luxury of training in the same manner as the full-time professional athletes.

The training concept was largely similar to how I trained for IMWA 2013. Get back the swim basics and some decent swim fitness. Build aerobic endurance and strength on the bike. Maintain run fitness when I felt that my right foot was ready. Target was to maintain the sub-12-hour timing that I achieved at IMWA 2013.

The large proportion of the time would be on bike training. I tried something new this round – train indoors on the trainer, train based on power and cadence. It’s also more efficient in terms of time. Hop on, train, hop off, without need to spend excessive time travelling between home and bike ride venues. And that meant I could do the trainer rides in the latter part of the evenings, or in the early dawn periods. For the two work trips back to Singapore in Jan and Mar 2018, I brought my bike back each time for longer training rides in Singapore, just to get a feel of how my winterised body coped with hot and humid conditions. Those rides in Singapore were my only training rides out on the road over the six months leading up to IMTX.

Swim plan was swim sets once a week, or hopefully twice a week. But for the most part, I was not diligent in sticking to this plan. Of the training hours put in, 8% was on swim. Swim training was therefore not progressive, and suffice to say, my swim remained the same (mediocre) level that it had always been.

Run was based on the readiness of my foot, and to get the run sessions to at least 15km, hopefully up to 21km, but no more than 25km. I only managed to start running proper in end Jan onwards. So I peppered my largely bike training routine with a few runs here and there. Not much of a run plan per se. The impromptu foray with the Rock n Roll Marathon in Washington DC in early March 2018, which I found out during a work trip, was the only long training run over the months.

Flexible. No fuss. Train by feel. Listen to my body. But it's probably not the most structured, and probably frowned upon by coaches out there.

Looking back over the 6 months (Nov 2017 to Apr 2018), I mustered 10-11 training hours per week on a few good weeks. For most other weeks that I was able to get the time or was in the right physical state to train, I managed 6-8 training hours per week. Over the entire training period, bike training made up 80% of my training, of which a good 92% was indoors on the trainer. Of the training hours put in, 8% was on swim. Run training made up 11% of my overall training. It was not a lot, but just enough to ensure base run fitness. More importantly, I did not get to the start line with an injured foot.

Training volume was less than what most coaches and sports science sites would have otherwise recommended. A far cry from the training volume I had prior to IMWA 2013. One just got to make do with what one had for time, and hopefully the training was more focused and of sufficient quality to see me through in the race.

Pre-Race

I tend to do races once. Other than the novelty new race courses bring, the lack of familiarity of the race courses helps to curb complacency. The main challenge in doing races fresh is not knowing how the race course well enough to strategise how to tackle them to meet target times, and to be able to do any risk assessment (particularly on the bike course) to ensure a safe race.

But thankfully there were ample social media groups with a huge community of past IMTX participants, and those racing alongside me in 2018. The energy in those groups was just incredible. Lots of information provided to address any queries about the race, from race-day weather patterns, to race course hazard spots, to water temperatures, to race logistics. That helped reduce any uncertainty anyone might have upfront. In the week prior to the race, this online community also helped to quell any nerves of the first-timers.

Through this group, I managed to get a short pre-race shake-out ride going, just to do some final check on the bike, and have a feel of the roads in the Woodlands, TX, and feel the hot Texan weather. IMTX had become an annual community event in The Woodlands. The Woodlands community was abuzz with excitement, and the whole place oozed with an awesome Texan hospitality. Everyone I met at the expo, or at the Woodlands area, were just nice to chat with. Even the shops had welcome signs to IMTX participants. Lululemon @ The Woodlands had their shop window overlaid with huge banners listing out all the names of IMTX 2018 participants.

2018-04-26 #IMTX

2018-04-26 Got a shake-out bike ride going, with Bob Merrill's kind hospitality in leading us folks out on the ride around the Woodlands.

2018-04-26 Tribike Transport was a great way to transport the bike and gear bag. Hassle free. No worries about the bike getting messed up by the TSA chaps had I packed it in a bike box for flight.

2018-04-26 Lululemon @ The Woodlands, TX - they covered their shop window with the names of all IMTX participants.

During race week, I stayed at my friend’s home at Katy, TX. My friend and his family were such blessed hosts, helping me out in every way they could with my logistics for the race. The immediate days prior to the race were occupied with the usual pre-race preparation. Registration, gear bags preparation, bike preparation, bike and gear bags check-in. There was a practice swim that the organisers scheduled on Fri morning, but I decided to give it a miss after I saw how nasty the water quality was, as I didn’t want to risk falling ill from a practice swim. The IMTX transition area was not like IMWA’s. Transition gear bags were placed in the open in designated T1 and T2 zones, and laid out in according to the bib numbers. They weren’t kept under the shade as was the case in IMWA where the T1 and T2 bags were hooked on racks in tents that were adjoined to the main changing tent. So that meant the Bike and Run gear bags would be under the hot sun in the day prior to race day, and nutrition stuff would be packed in on race-day morning instead. That’s meant more logistics preparation on race day proper.

2018-04-27 White Rabbit - Trusty steed since 2013.

The weather in The Woodlands, TX, was hot and humid as expected. The race day weather was expected to be warmer. Winds were expected too. Again, the weather would be beyond our control. Just go with the flow and adapt on the day itself.

Race day

Race day morning. Got up at 230am. Checked my nutrition bags for the bike and run. Ate my simple breakfast consisting of instant noodles and coffee. Then went on my way to the race site on an Uber car.

2018-04-28 My race morning comfort food - Instant noodles!

The never-ending logistics preparation continued at the race site. Set up nutrition bottles on the bike. Placed nutrition belt in the run gear bag. Took the opportunity to do a final check on the Bike and Run Gear bags. Then everyone took a 10min walk from transition area over to Northshore Park, where the swim start was. A frenzy of activity continued there. Final stop at the loo. Checked in Special Needs bags for both bike and run legs. Checked in the Morning Clothes bag. Finished a bottle of electrolyte through the pre-dawn activities. Put on the wetsuit, and by then, it was 10min to the Pros’ swim start. In a way, the whole chain of preparatory activities helped to take the mind off the race and prevented any pre-race nerves from getting into my head. Much like an airborne jump out from a plane. You don’t want to think too much. Just go and let the training drills take over.

2018-04-28 The dawn of a hot IMTX day

Swim – Slap Fest!

Swim was a point to point course in Lake Woodlands, starting from Northshore Park, ending at the Waterway canal near Town Green Park. Two-thirds of the swim course was in the lake itself, with the final one-third in the canal that ran into the Woodlands Waterway District area. Lake water visibility wasn’t much to rave about. It was not the nice clear sea waters that I experienced at Cebu (Philippines) and at Busselton (Western Australia). The water quality did not look inviting for a swim either. The canal water looked greenish, with the usual canal debris floating around. There was ample advice by the folks to avoid standing in the canal unless one wanted to risk getting cut by broken glass debris at the bottom of the canal. The lake in general was ok, so long as one did not think too much about what the duck would be doing while swimming in that lake. Many chaps did advise to not drink the lake water, as one might also take in some duck poo at the same time.

It was a rolling swim start, which was different from the mass swim start that I experienced in IMWA 2013. In the mass swim start format, I could position myself at the onset to be clear of the general swim crowd (e.g. way out on the edge of the crowd) to avoid the washing machine effect. This was not the case for rolling swim start. I was perennially surrounded by swimmers throughout the swim from start till end. The first 400m was painful. I could not find my space to get my rhythm going. I panicked. In my bid to catch my breath and quell my nerves, I flipped on my back and swam that way for quite a while. It was definitely a bad start to the long day ahead. At this rate, I might end up doing a 2hr swim! It could not and must not end there so prematurely! It took me another 5min or so before I got the swim going again, focusing on swim form to take my mind off the elbowing and slapping by the swimmers around me. It was a rude awakening. It had been a long while since I had an open water swim with such a constant crowd of estimated 10 swimmers in my immediate vicinity (front, back, left, right) throughout the entire swim. I was really thankful when I reached the canal, cos that meant the swim end was near. But the canal was another slap-fest. Everyone was clearly wanting to get out of the water faster too, so we were all like a bunch of sardines swimming and bumping into each other as we made our way towards the swim exit. The swim exit could not have come soon enough. Reaching the swim exit was like getting out of hellish waters, into heaven. I was glad I completed the swim despite the initial panic attack.

2018-04-28 Survived the slap-fest

Swim time 1hr 22min. I was surprised and thankful that I was pretty close to my target 1hr 20min despite the bad swim experience.

Out of the water. Took off the wetsuit with the much appreciated help from the volunteers. Ran through the gear bags area and shouted my number. Grabbed my bag from the volunteer and got into the changing tent. Changed. Drank some ginger tea to wash off the lake water taste. Ate a gel and ran out to get White Rabbit off the rack.

Bike – Party on the Hardy!

I loved the bike leg. Bike was after all my favourite among the three disciplines. Well, even if one didn’t pedal, one could still coast and move forward. That is if you’re not on an upslope. 😁

2018-04-28 Here we go

Bike course was an out-and-back course, with 2 big loops on the Hardy Toll Road. The only technical parts were in the winding and often bumpy roads through the residential areas in the initial 30km and the last 12km of the bike course. The Hardy Toll Road was largely flat, with inclines on the numerous overhead passes that peppered the route. There was no shade along the entire Hardy Toll Road. Weather got hot by mid morning, and was only getting hotter, hitting about 32deg Celsius by mid day. Humidity was 75% or more. Winds were out and about the open toll road. This would be a test to my less-than-acclimatised body. Nutrition and hydration would be key to get through the long 5-6 hours under the hot sun. Given my past races’ less than perfect nutrition experiences, I decided to not rely on the race hydration of Gatorade provided at the aid stations. I would have to be fully self-sufficient for my nutrition and hydration needs to control my electrolyte intake. So, I carried my own Hammer Perpeteum nutrition multi-hour bottle, and extra Precision Hydration powder satchets.

During the bike leg, sipping my 6-hour bottle of Hammer Perpeteum, and my bottle of electrolyte every 10min became part of the bike rhythm. One bottle of electrolyte every hour. I stopped 3 times at the aid stations that I went by at the 2^nd hour, 3rd hour and 4^th hour mark, to get a fresh bottle of water to mix my electrolyte. I made sure I had 2 bottles of electrolyte on the bike throughout the ride for the first 4 hours, and finished the bottles by the time I finished the bike leg. This seemed to work well. In the past, cramps would start to come in at the 90km mark. This time, cramps did not play punk with me. What an awesome feeling to be able to go through the 180km bike leg and run off the bike without cramps!

I went about the first loop conservatively. Kept to no more than 10s average power of 180W on the flats, and not exceeding 250W on the inclines, with cadence maintained at 70-75rpm. It took me no time to get into the rhythm once I got onto the Hardy Toll Road. There was some headwind throughout the loops on the Hardy Toll Road. Headwind on the southbound segments. Tailwind on the northbound segments. It was a good mix. Regardless headwind or tailwind, the inclines on the overhead passes would slow most of us into a spin anyway. It was a nice feeling to be spinning up the inclines, and getting past flashy bikes with disc wheels. 😁

2018-04-28 Happy camper on my 2 wheels

The second loop on the Hardy Toll Road was when the day was probably the hottest, with heat reflecting off the concrete road. Winds tortured every rider on the course. Forced myself to keep on the aero bars throughout to stay efficient in the face of the winds.

Fatigue crept in. Monotony threatened to kill the mind. So I sucked guava sweets, and ate my “happy food” - small packs of “bahkua” (bbq roast pork “jerky”). Sang worship songs along the long ride. Read the verses that some of the athletes had on their tri suits. One guy had “Zechariah 4:6” printed on his tri suit. Awesome! “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.” Indeed a timely verse as fatigue slowly crept in on the 2^nd loop.

2018-04-28 Found my comfort food for my on-the-bike lunch

That’s when training kicked in. Starting off conservatively paid off. Kept to the nutrition and hydration regime. Stuck to cadence and power range, with occasional increased power to get out of draft zone and get past riders. I didn’t feel bonked and was thankful to be able to keep to cadence and power range through the 2^nd loop.

It was a happy moment to get back into the residential area after getting off the Hardy Toll Road. Legs felt ok. No cramps. Body seemed to take the hot weather well at that juncture. The huge patches of salt streaks on my tri top and shorts were evidence of how much I perspired over the entire bike leg. But it was a happy bike leg. Dismounted the bike after 5hrs 23min. Well within the target 5hrs 45min bike time.

Handed White Rabbit to the volunteer and trotted my way through to the gear bag area. Another volunteer shouted my number, and another volunteer got the bag out, ready to hand it to me as I ran past en route to the changing tent. Awesome work by the volunteers!

Got to the loo for a quick pee before heading into the changing tent. Put on my run race belt, grabbed my handheld nutrition bottle. Put on my visor and shades and running shoes, and off I went. The battle against heat, and the mind began. I was bracing myself up for an onslaught of cramps on the run.

Run – Jive in the Heat

The run course was three loops of approximately 14km around the Lake Woodlands and Woodlands Waterway areas. By this time of the day, it was simply HOT! Clear blue skies meant no shade unless one was running through the short stretches of forested areas near Northshore Park. The loop would have been arduously long and painfully mental, if not for the support by the community and various tri clubs that peppered along the entire route. There were no shortage of cheers and entertainment to complement the awesome aid stations. I love the numerous Christian tri-clubs that set up encouragement signages at various spots. The chaps at Hippie Hollow, Team Catapult cheer spot, and the fun police crew at Moxie Bridge, were awesome! One just could not run past them without the heat-battered bodies feeling energised and getting smiles on the tired faces. They made the run fun!

2018-04-28 Sun was faithfully keeping us company throughout the race

As with the bike leg, I was fully self-sufficient for my nutrition and hydration needs on the run. So, I carried my own Hammer Perpeteum (pre-packed into hourly Ziploc bags), and Precision Hydration tablets. Hand-held nutrition bottle would be consumed every hour, and refilled with a new pack of Perpeteum mixed with water at the aid station.

The aid stations were well stocked with Gatorade, water and ice. I just needed the water and ice. Some aid stations had oranges which were a refreshing change from the bland tasting Pereteum. One aid station had watermelons! That was a life-saver. I would walk through the aid stations for my snack-fest! Snacking on oranges or watermelons or grapes, and getting my nutrition bottle mix refills done. That was the plan anyway, to run from aid station to aid station, where I would take walk breaks at the aid stations.

2018-04-28 Running through Team Catapult's cheer spot

There were just so much to take in during the run, that I didn’t look at the watch much. I was simply taking the race atmosphere in. It was probably a good thing, cos the watch stats would often mess my mind and make the run more arduous than it should. I left it to my legs to do the job, and I trusted them to. Just keep the legs moving. I probably miscalculated the time and distance in the end, but that was ok. I enjoyed the run, despite the fatigue. Surprisingly, the wall didn’t hit me. I supposed the nutrition and hydration regime worked. At the start of the final loop, I saw Ade! Thomas was there with Matthew and Brayden too! That was a great cheer for me, and a much-needed boost to kick off my final loop.

2018-04-28 Ade and Thomas giving the cheers as I finished off my 2nd loop

The run went on without much issues. Kept my legs running from aid station to aid station. Legs were fatigued from the long day out, but thankful that they didn’t cramp at all. The finish line came soon enough, and the crowd at the end point was really having a party! Ade was there again at the final turn into the finishing chute. I almost missed her if not for her shout and Thomas’ shouting my name.

That was it. After 4hr 38min on the run, the finish line was a few steps away! A little off the 4hr 30min target I had, but hey, I actually had fun in this hot run!

2018-04-28 Into the finishing chute

2^nd one in the bag

11hrs 42min after starting the race, the words are announced, “Roy Foo, from Singapore! You are an Ironman, Roy!” Similar words at the IMWA 2013 finish line. But this time, having Mike Reilly, the voice of Ironman no less, announce those words was a nice touch to a good race. Well within my 12hr target. Shaved off 13min from my IMWA 2013 timing. Alright, bike course was about 3km short, with the run course about 3km longer, but every race course will have its slight nuances for whatever reasons the organisers might have. So I'll take the IMTX outcome nonetheless. Thank God!

2018-04-28 Done!

2018-04-28 It is done! No 2 in the bag!

2018-04-28 A good race outcome.

2018-04-28 Here with my newfound fellow Singapore Army Officer, Henry Lee, who's here for his postgrad studies. We chanced upon each other through the IMTX 20xx facebook group. Strong officer, who did very well with a sub-12 performance for his maiden full Ironman race.

2018-04-28 No 2 done. It would have been a nice touch if the bibs had the flags of the countries we represented, just like the IM race bibs in the races in Asia-Pacific.

It had been a great training journey towards IMTX. It had a shorter lead up compared to the year-long preparation I had for IMWA 2013, but training quality made up for the reduced training volume. I also seemed to have my 4^th discipline of nutrition and hydration nailed down after years of trial and errors. Yes, lots of errorS that became invaluable lessons learnt about my own physical body.

IMTX is a great race venue. It being the Ironman North America Championship meant a sizeable list of professional triathletes. It was a great day out, getting lapped by the pros on the bike and run. I remembered the awesome speed at which Andrew Starykowicz (USA) zoomed by as I was on my first lap on the Hardy. He's fast! And he rode the fastest bike split that day at an average speed of 43.91kph, and set a Ironman bike record! I also got passed by many pros on the run, notably Melissa Hauschildt (AUS) who was on her final lap to the women's victory, and Meredith Kessler (USA), and the ever smiling Michelle Vesterby (DAN).

I’m thankful for the health that I’ve been blessed with. Endurance racing is one of my ways of celebrating life and health that God blessed us with. IMTX 2018 was also dedicated to Ade's granddad who recently passed on in Apr 2018, but not without living a full life to the age of 94, and being blessed with grandchildren and great grandchildren no less.

Thank God for strength, endurance, and patience to run this race in the manner that I did. Again, Ironman mantra says “Anything is Possible”. I’ll add on to quote what the Bible also says - that “With God, nothing will be impossible!”

2018 Memorial Hermann IRONMAN Texas - Day's recap