Douglas Smith – IRONMAN Maryland – Saturday, October 1, 2016

IMMD Race Report Doug Smith (M 50 -54) Bike: 4:39:46 – T1 – 4:23 Run 3:46:58 total time: 8:30:58 – asterisk! AG 9th of 200-ish 94th Male, and Overall 102 of 1,890 finishers (2,580 were registered) I have to start by recommending Ironman Maryland for anyone who lives here – it's so valuable to be able to drive to the bike course in a few hours and get accustomed to staying in the aero position for hours and hours. It's a fast course because of that, so if cut-off times are a concern, it's a smart choice. I'd like to encourage everyone in the MMTC to do this race at least once – it's our home court race! It's so easy to get to and likely less expensive than any other full iron distance race destination. You can get some heat-acclimation training and a sense of the area by doing Eagleman. And I'd also like to encourage everyone to volunteer at this race to support our club's athletes – it's great having that MMTC aid station at the end of the bike – it's like a well-deserved reward to get that enormous boost from so many crazy friends at that point in the race. And all along the race course, you see everyone several times. Thank you to everyone who was supporting the event in person or from afar! Y'all know the swim was cancelled, and that that was the right call – the only call. (I wish all races were scheduled for Saturday with Sunday as an alternate date – maybe someday) With a lot of energy at hand from not having to swim, I pushed the first 90 or so minutes of the bike a bit too hard, mostly around zone 3.4 -3.8, but then settled into a nice sustainable Zone 2.9 for the remainder of the ride. I didn't stop at Special Needs, but at the next aid station, took my ziplock of premixed powder (Gatorade, one Nuun, about 700 calories of Dextrose powder, and 4 caffiene salt pills (Salt Stick brand) – first bottle was the same and I had consumed all of that) The "all liquids, all carbs" approach seems to work well for me. I did not finish that second bottle, so I probably didn't need that many calories for a century, so I'll adjust that down next time. I was waiting for the predicted showers, enjoying every mile I went without them, and got up out of the saddle several times to keep from getting too tight in the legs. Having started fairly early was good for me, as I only saw two incidents of small groups cooperating, and just said, "That's not 6 bike lengths" as I went by. The highlight of this fast flat century was definitely hitting the MMTC aid station at mile 90+! I hope you all heard my bell ring 4-times for M.M.T.C! (several times) – And Thank You to Lisa Steptoe for getting all the volunteers there, and Garrett Lash for being ready with a water bottle right when and where I needed it. Transition went pretty smoothly, pulled on the Zensa calf sleeves, changed to dry socks, grabbed my nutrition pack (with the Yost Rx- got the pain killer out), race belt, and headed out for the run. I normally change to a darker pair of shades for the run, but didn't need to today. Also, no hat, which had a ziplock bag to hold ice between aid stations, because it didn't seem that hot. One mistake was leaving on the 2nd pair of tri shorts I had slipped on for just a bit more pad on the bike – but that was the old pair that was starting to fall apart so I just dumped them in a trash can and kept on moving. I was surprised to hit the 1st mile at around 8:30, and the 2nd was under 8:00, so I told myself "Ok – don't go any faster"… and managed to maintain pretty much 7:50's for the next 10 or so miles. It was great to see Zach and Blake cruising nice and quick, and Nick Paul – and so many MMTCers cheering. Around 12, the 8:00 weren't so easy, and at roughly the half I decided that 8's for the 1st half and 8:30's for the 2nd half was a great interim goal time, and it would have still been a big PR. At mile 20 I was still on track for about a 3:35-3:40, but then it got really tough- as usual. Perhaps I had too much Red Bull, or the high-stepping through the flooded areas was making my heart race more than I thought, but at one point I wondered why I felt so bad, and noticed that my HR was at 170 – way too high to be sustainable, so I walked for about 15 seconds to get it back below 160. That was the pattern for the rest of race, walk the aid stations (10 to 15 sec) and then 3 or 4 other times I walked again for 10-15 seconds, and on my final splash through the flooded sections, the water was just too high to run through, so I walked a little there too. That water by the transition area was refreshingly cold, and it was tempting to sit in it for an ice-bath effect, but I opted against that deciding I might do that after the race. I alternated water, gatorade, cola on the run, and got another pain killer out of my special needs bag at mile 11 – rather than waiting for the next pass at mile 18, so it would have time to kick in. It was great to see everyone along the course, but as the effort got harder, my ability to respond was decreasing – Apologies if I said anything stupid to anyone, or called you by someone else's name! But, like everyone, I really appreciated every cheerand yell of "go MMTC!" And another special Thanks to Chrissy for catching me at the finish line, and staying with me until my pride subsided and my body demanded the wheel-chair! I often say this sport is all about overcoming whatever obstacles come up, and this day was no exception. Great job to all the finishers and Thanks again to all the volunteers.