Rishi's Homepage
Race information
- What? Ironman Italy
- When? Sept 18, 2022
- How far? 226km (3.8km swim, 180k cycle, 42.2k run)
- Website? https://www.ironman.com/im-emilia-romagna
Goals
| Goal | Description | Completed? |
|---|---|---|
| A | Finish | Yes |
| B | Sub 14hr | Yes |
| C | Get Nutrition Right | YES |
Race Preparation and Covid
Ah, covid! Last I raced was 2019 in Copenhagen. So, I was getting opportunity to race after 3 long years, no thanks to the covid.
In these 3 years, I’ve been consistent with my training. My bike and run have improved. Swim not so much, as very less access to the pool.- I was really looking forward to this race.
But early August, I got bad Covid. While fever and cough went in few days, intense fatigue lasted entire August.
I could barely do any workout in this duration.
This was a real bummer. I had been training well. For Ironman training, last 10 weeks are the peak training. Rather than sharpening my fitness, it took a deep dive.
I had to sit and re-think. It was clear I would not be able to pursue my goal of sub 12. I even considered not going to the race.
I spoke to few friends on the dilemma. And glad I did that. In very clear and direct words I was reminded that I’m fortunate to be able to go and race. I am not a professional athlete, but in this sport for fitness and fun. So I should let go of all the expectations and just go and enjoy.
My mom and I travelled to Italy on 3rd Sept : 2 weeks before the race. We utilized these 2 weeks in in training, sightseeing the beautiful country and relaxing. Those were most calm 2 weeks I had in the last few months.
Race Strategy
My race strategy was simple - go out and have fun. No expectation of timing, no self pressure of performance. I, of course, planned to push myself in the race. But I was not chasing a number.
Storm and Race Postponement
Ironman Italy was scheduled for 17th Sept 2022 and Ironman 70.3 next day - on 18th.
On 16th Sept, due to warning of big storm the next day, Ironman team decided to postpone the Full Distance Event to 18th Sept.
What a wise decision it turned out to be!
Rain started on 17th Morning, followed by storm. There was howling wind and speed was upwards of 80kmph. It continued on and off till 4pm.
Once it finished, we saw broken trees and other damages on the road. Everyone had this question - would the race happen? Will organizers have time to
Once storm finished, IM Team started working on possibility to host both 140.6 and 70.3 on 18th Sept. Transition area was extended, new bike racks were added. Facebook group was very active - all anxious athlete monitoring the situation on ground and updating on the group.
Finally at 6pm, it was announced that both full and 70.3 races will happen tomorrow. Bike were to be checked-in at 8pm.
I reached the check-in area at 7:30pm. Saw huuuuuuuuge line already formed. Apparently I was not the only one with brilliant idea of reaching early. 3000 athletes from Ironman and 3200 athletes from Ironman 70.3 have been waiting anxiously for this.
At around 9:30 pm, I was able to check-in my bike and rack Bike and Run bag. I filled air in the bike in the night itself.
Usually, when racing in hot weather, it is advisable to deflate the tires a bit as bike is out in heat.
But as the weather in Cervia (town which was hosting the event) was 20 degree, no risk of tires blowing due to heat.
All done, I reached back hotel, grabbed dinner and slept by 10:30pm. Tomorrow was going to be a big day.
Race Morning
The Race Day was finally here.
Race start was 7:30am, with transition area closing at 7am. My plan was to reach there by 6:30am.
At 5:15am, hearing the alarm hum, I woke up fresh. I managed to get a good 6+ hours of sleep. This is very rare - good sleep before the race. As I’ve detached myself from the result, I was in good place mentally. I was treating the day as a long training day only, so anxiety was low.
Hotel arranged the breakfast. I had 2 slices of bread with butter and one banana.
From hotel, I walked down to the transition area, just 700m away. It was a good decision to take hotel close to transition area. No early morning transport arrangements to be done.
Reaching the transition area, i checked cycle once more. All good, tire pressure was fine, bottles were in their place.
Swim [3.8km]
Moving out of the transition, I deposited street wear bag (change of clothes + phone) at the registration counter.
Zipping up the wetsuit, I moved to the holding area. After doing an easy warmup, I went to take short dip in the sea. The warm-up sea area was open to the athletes, which is always a good thing. A short dip in the water warms one up and also gives an idea of the water temperature. It was nice comfortable 21 degree.
Swim was a staggered start, with 7 athletes going in water every 5 seconds. I stood in 90 min queue. Met a fellow Indian/Punjabi Gagan. Chatting with him, we both moved towards the start line.
Crossing the starting mat, I walked towards the sea. Walked, as sea was shallow for first 100m. Or, so it was supposed to be, as per all the practice swims.
Entering the sea, the water level was suddenly deep. Within 20-30m, my feet started to float in the water. I was absolutely unprepared for this sudden increase in water level.
Recall that my swim training has been very minimal. On top of that, I do not have much of open water experience. So, somewhere I was anxious and was trying to enter the water calmly. This sudden increase of water level caught me by surprise. My goggles were also not fixed. Due to all this, I panicked and started to swim back towards the start line!!!
After few strokes in the reverse direction, my feet could touch the ground. From this point, starting mat was just 20 steps away. A thought did come to my mind - few more steps and all my panic could end. But I shook this off - I didn’t come all the way to here to get a DNF (Did Not Finish).
Some deep breaths, I calmed myself. I noticed a safety kayak about 200m away, in the water, I decided to take this as first target and swim till there. By this time, there was hardly any swimmer in the sight - all have gone long past. I started swimming slowly towards that Kayak. Reaching there, I waved at the guy. He came to me and I wasted no time grabbing the Kayak. First hurdle crossed. From that point, focus was to go from one sighting balloon to other.
All the initial panic costed me 20 min. So, my first 1900m came in 75 min. Way way slower than I would have expected. But still, I was sure I am not going to miss the swim cut-off. There was never a moment of doubt in that.
As swim progressed, my mind also calmed down and i started to swim with a good rhythm.
Accelerating in second part, second 1900m came in 42min and I finished the swim just under 1 hour 58 min.
Seeing mom at finish line was wonderful sight. I waved at her and rushed to T1.
Total Time: 1hr 58min
Total Swim done: 3800m (as per my Garmin)
Nutrition: 1 gel 15” before the start.
T1
The transition was a long one and I was still trying to recover from this long swim. I removed wetsuit (came out quickly as I had practiced this several times), wore my tri-top, helmet, gloves, glasses and went running to my bike. It was very disheartening to see that almost all cycles were gone.
The transition itself was very long, maybe a km or so from the swim exit to bike mount point.
Total Time: 15min
Cycle [180km]
My stomach was paining from all the sea water and swim struggle. I decided to go easy for first few km, before starting to push.
First 20km were in the city area, all deserted. I settled down on the bike, sipped some water, took first gel. I averaged an easy 27-28kmph speed. I was glad to see my HR came down and settled at 140-145 bpm range.
At 20km mark, the city road merged into a highway. This is where the main race started. I finally saw other athletes. This gave me a smile and a push. Settling in aero position, I started to cycle at a consistent pace of 32-33 kmph.
Time flew from 20km to 65km. There were many athletes on the course - both 140.6 and 70.3 athletes were there.
One thing that was very apparent was drafting - like big group of 20-30 riders in one peloton. It was crazy. Whenever a big group was crossing me, I would slow down so I don’t get drafting penalty (BTW I didn’t see a single person getting the penalty in the entire race).
At 65km mark, short climb came. This was about 2km in length and a steep gradient. I struggled to go to lower gear and had to stop. Once stopping, it was almost impossible to get up again in the steep incline. So I walked till next flat section. The climb goes for 700m, goes flat for another 500m and then again a climb of 1km or so. At second climb, I was jostled by a big cycling group and I came out again!! Another walk. I wasted so much time in all this.
After reaching the top, downhill was fast and scary. I was continuously on dropbar with hand on brake. The top speed reached 60kmph :)
Second loop was easy - again same consistent speed of 32-33. The climb again came at 130km mark and this time it was not easy. Covid had really hampered my muscular strength, I struggled big time on hill. Also I was monitoring the power generated. On hills, with the lowest gears also I was getting 350-400w. I didn’t want to push beyond that and blow my legs up. I ended up walking some part of the hill again!!
130-180km were breeze - consistent pace again. Good thing is my nutrition was like clockwork , so no energy dip
Total Time: 6hr 06min
Strava Link
Nutrition: 75gm carb per hour (2 gel + gatorade), 1 salt tab per hour, 100mg caffeine per hour. Executed as per the plan
T2
T2 was quick - I had one painkiller (Flexon) as plan (though it was not really hurting), one gel, applied a liberal dosage of Rash cream (great idea, it helped so much to keep rash away and legs feeling fresh)
Total Time: 9min
Nutrition: 1 gel + 1 painkiller
Run [42.2km]
From the first km mark, legs felt very good. First km came in 5:40, so I decided to slow up.
During my last Ironman, I walked a lot during second half of marathon. I was determined not to make the same mistake again. So I decided to run consistent and not too hard, even though I was feeling great.
Run was 4 loops, with each loop of 10.5km. The entire route is beautiful - it go through the town area and many people were cheering throughout the course. It is a completely flat route. .
After first km, I started run comfortable at 6:30pace, keeping an eye on HR which was steady 135bpm.
In first loop, I met another Indian Sandeep Kothari (recognized my fav running tee brand Athlos on him). He was walking. I tapped him on the back and asked him lets run together. He was doing 70.3 and was on his last loop. We chatted a bit and did the entire loop together. Thanks to the company, first loop was done in 68 min or so. 2 gels taken in this loop + 1/3 banana + dry fruits
Second loop was all alone, energy level was still good. I maintained the pace and finished 21km in 2 hours 26 min. So far, so good. This was the point I took second painkiller, again as a preventive measure. I have never felt this good in an ironman, so I was very happy right now. 2 gels taken in this loop - one caffeinated and one non caffeinated. I tried coke in this loop and felt pukish.
Third loop is where I was cautious. In Copenhagen, I started walking in third loop. Once you start to walk, it is difficult to run again. So here I was focused not to walk. Thankfully, energy level was GREAT. I continued to run and finished third loop at 6:40 pace.
Somewhere in this loop, my watch gave away (anyone wants to gift me a new watch?). From this point, I was relying on a clock in front of restaurant to calculate the time.
When fourth loop started, I was grinning. Not only I had not walked so far (other than aid stations), I was feeling awesome. I started to push a little now, not too much but again with a confidence that I am heading towards a comfortable finish.
At 35km mark, I met another Indian (Harshad), with same problem of dead watch. Like a blind man helping another blind man, I told him how much time is left. He was on his third loop and we calculated he has 2.5 hours to finish 12km. He was visibly happy on hearing that.
At 40km mark, I was literally jumping out of joy. I sprinted and did last 2km in 9 min!! Finally, I reached the read carpet and heard those words again
“From India, Rishi Sareen, you are an Ironman”.
End time: 4:42hr
Nutrition: 2 gels per hour + 1 banana total + gatorade on and off + water
Total Time: 13:16hr
Post Race
I was VERY HAPPY with the race. I raced this with no expectation but loved my performance in bike and run. Especially run. I DID NOT WALK the marathon. From last experience of Copenhagen and Kolhapur, this was a huge mental boost.
Few things went very right - I was well rested before the race, my nutrition was up to the mark and I had good practice in the bike. I also had moved to TT bike. Maybe that can explain why run legs were fresh after the bike.
What went good:
- Nutrition was spot on
- Good time spent in aero position in bike
- MAF helped running Zone 2
What needs work
-
Need to work to be comfortable in open water
-
More muscular strength needed for the bike hill work
Till next race, then!