Inaugural Ironman Alaska 2022

This was my FOMO race and a second destination racecation of the year. I had signed up the week it was up for preorder thinking, when else would I have a good excuse to go to Juneau.

There were somewhere around 1200-1400 people initially registered for the race, it sold out a week after it went public, and around 850 made it to the starting line. Logistically getting there and getting organized was just as nerve-racking for me as the race and there were obstacles for athletes around every turn.

The city and people of Juneau generously helped out as much as they could and it really made the event the success it was. Accommodations sold out very quickly, people offered up rooms or homes to athletes who couldn’t find space. No rental cars were really available, people offered rides and assistance, and their cars for rent on Turo, and Ironman put together shuttles for the week.

Alaska Air sent out an email less than 3 weeks before the race saying there might not be enough cargo space for people to bring bikes on the plane, the local bike shop bent over backward as a shipping point and helped athletes find ferry and cargo space, and the CEO of Alaska Air who has done several Ironmans rerouted cargo to make space on the few available flights.

Then there was the weather aspect of preparing for the race. Juneau is a rainforest so it rains at least 50% of the time, every month. Trying to pack for every condition, cold, wet, warm, and dry made me feel like I was bringing the kitchen sink to be prepared.

My dad and I flew from Detroit to Seattle and then up to Juneau on Alaska Air. We went on a helicopter excursion on easily the best day of the week and walked around on the Herbert glacier (had initially planned to go dogsledding, but they closed the camp the day before due to wet weather). We hiked around the Mendenhall Glacier and parts of the course after the event. Had a great time exploring all the shops in downtown Juneau and finding all the good places to eat. This can’t possibly capture how much fun I had. I would go back and do it all again if I could.

*Rambling Race Report*

Race Morning – Alarm went off at 3:15 and I had been up and down all night, just nervous. Grabbed a quick breakfast of a blueberry bagel with crunchy peanut butter and a banana. Tried to use the restroom but it was a no-go. Plan was to drive to Thunder Mountain High School earlier to give me as much time as I needed without being rushed.

The shuttle system they had worked well and it only took about 10 minutes to get to the transition area. My dad who was assisting as my Sherpa and cheer squad was able to come with me on the bus and follow me to the swim start.

We weren’t allowed to put any nutrition out on the bikes or in the transition bags due to the local wildlife, so I took this time to set up my hydration and food as well as pump my tires to 90psi since I had neglected to do it the day before in the rain.

None of the stickers were staying on the bags from all the rain, so it’s always a good idea to mark them up good with a sharpie beforehand, yay for feeling prepared. I also had taken some plastic cups and had them upside down to cover the bag openings from getting wet from all the rain overnight. After putting everything where it needed to be, for some reason I loosely knotted the bags back closed again which would come back and bite me later.

Found the portapoops and had some success. Changed out of my morning warmups, put on my borrowed Zoot thermal booties and my Xterra wetsuit and headed down to the boat dock.

Shortly Mike Riley came over the loudspeaker with a decision from the race officials to cut the swim down in half to a 1.2 mile swim and pushed back the start time to 6:30 so the bike course would be prepared when we arrived. The water temp had dropped a few degrees to 56° from 2 straight days of rain and the air temperature was at least in the lower 50s. We had gotten lucky so far that morning and the rain had stopped at least for the time being, so at least we weren’t all soaked and waiting around.

Pushing back the start dampened the excitement a bit, but they cranked the music to restart the atmosphere and I tried to focus on what I had to do.

Didn’t zip up the wetsuit till the last few minutes because I was concerned about warming up too much before hopping in the cold water and going into panic attack mode, which had happened during my first triathlon. Mike Riley walked up the starting ramp through the lined up swimmers and was highfiving racers, I came close to getting another one from him like I did in Wisconsin, but was a bit too far away.

A local group from Juneau sang the national anthem in a 3-part harmony that broke the tension, the cannon went off and the race was on.

Swim – 35:35 (*half distance swim)

I knew it was going to be freezing from my practice swim on Thursday and just needed to breathe and relax. Took a few steps down the boat ramp and then dove in to rip off the bandaid and get submerged quickly. Getting in the water still took my breath away and took a few minutes before I stopped shallow panic breathing but it went much better after the initial shock wore off. Thermal booties were definitely a good decision and the wetsuit worked wonders. The only things cold were my hands and face.

Took a quick moment to defog my goggles early on so that I could take in Auke Lake as much as possible. With the swim being 1 lap instead of 2, I made sure to look around and take in the heavily wooded scenery. Initially, I was disappointed that the swim had been shortened, mostly to have a shot at posting my best 140.6 finish, but it was definitely the right decision for the day. I wouldn’t be staying in the water for half the time that some swimmers needed the full amount of time to make the 2hr 20-minute cutoff, and I can’t imagine staying in that cold bath for that long, wouldn’t be safe.

Aside from the Polar Plunge events I did in Minnesota, this was definitely the coldest water I’ve been in for any period of time.

I seeded myself in the middle of the 1-1:10 pack and had passed a handful of people, a bit of a good moral boost first thing and there was plenty of open water to swim in. Since we weren’t swimming directly parallel with the shoreline I drifted off the buoy line a bit once or twice before getting back on track. For not the last time of the day, I found myself looking way too far forward for what was coming and told myself to BE HERE, focus on what you’re doing now and what is going on around you, take it all in.

I wasn’t super fatigued finishing the swim but I could tell that my pull wasn’t working as well as it had been to start. My swim pace for my half distance is pretty similar to my full distance pace, I don’t currently have another gear so just tried to stay consistent. Had a mental block of peeing in my wetsuit, or probably it was just because it was cold. Powered through the last shortened leg and got out of the water on the side of a small boat dock.

T1 – 19:04 (longest transition ever…lol)

Was helped out of the water by two volunteers in full wetsuits. Everyone had a difficult time regaining their feet once we got back on land. Not sure how I would have fared if that swim portion had been another full lap. Had a short climb to a clearing where the wetsuit strippers were stationed and pulled off my watch so it didn’t get snagged on the suit. Instead, it got stuck in the sleeve along with my hand balled up in a fist holding the watch. I had to let it go like a dog letting go of a bone to get my hand out of the suit. Awkwardly dug the watch out of the suit on the almost half-mile jog up to the transition area (just shorter than the new Grand Rapids Tri transition). Not all of it was carpeted, so again I was really glad I had the neoprene booties instead of running barefoot on bumpy concrete which brought some choice words from some fellow swimmers.

Grabbed my bike bag, took a quick pee break and headed into the too small changing tent. Maybe it would have been more spaced out if we had swam the full distance, but all the chairs were already full and it was packed. Found a spot at the back near a pole I could lean on to support myself.

Couldn’t get my fingers to work at untying the knot in my bag which felt like it took forever and finally dumped all my stuff out that was kept dry by some ziplock bags. I had decided to do a complete kit change to get out of the wet tri suit and put on my cycling kit. Had been going back and forth about what to wear for the race, what the weather was going to be like, was I going to be overdressed, underdressed and have to stop from hypothermia, but I ended up getting it close to right for the day. I had some arm warmers I bought in the middle of summer for this event, some long socks, half finger gloves (probably could have gone full finger) and an Apex vest I borrowed from a teammate. It was still gray and rain was coming soon so I brought my backup clear bike glasses. One thing I would have done differently was to bring either shoe covers, or switch to a different style bike shoe other than my Lake Tri shoes that have mesh covering most of the shoe. They drained water really well, but my feet were just wet all day. Nothing new on race day. My dad caught a quick picture of me coming out of the bike rack area before heading out north on Glacier Highway from the University of Alaska Southeast to the turnaround at the literal end of the road.

Bike – 6:25:43

Started a consistent light rain just as I was heading out of town. The first few miles were full of supporters and locals, but there was a surprising amount of people out on the rest of the course, in front of their houses to see the crazies on bikes, or drove out there to cheer. Every so often there would be breaks in the trees and it would open up into this gorgeous view of the snowcap mountains in the distance or the channel leading out to the ocean. The route wasn’t very technical, almost a straight out and back along the coast, but there were some fun sweeping turns and some gradual consistent rolling climbs. Didn’t look like much for elevation, but there was around 5500ft out there.

Around mile 8 I saw a black bear standing on its hind legs in a small clearing less than 20ft away on the other side of a drainage/runoff creek! He was looking back and forth at the road and bikers, probably very confused about everything in front of him and then he disappeared. Plenty of others said they saw some bears, or eagles at points along the route.

The regular roads were absolutely perfect for most of the course aside from some tree debris from the last 2 days of rain. Lots of people with flats which might have been pinch flats or just riding through junk. About 8 miles to the turnaround we hit some partially packed chipseal that had recently been laid down. I should be used to it living in Michigan, but it absolutely sucked the energy out of my legs and you could feel the extra rolling resistance. I wasn’t that comfortable riding in aero on this surface, feeling like I was going to slip forward in the wet weather, so I rode most of the way with my hands out wide on the hoods. The quarter distance turnaround point for the 2 loop course was close to the end of the road, Glacier Highway just ends and turns into a logging area / trailhead. Had to deal with the toughest weather conditions of the day coming back on this stretch, a tough headwind and the rain really started coming down. Was definitely one of those moments you question your life decisions as I simultaneously though “HEY! I’m in F-ing ALASKA, BE HERE!”

Got another mental boost from seeing more riders on the out-and-back course and after getting off the chipseal, I felt like I was flying again. Got to the point where I was really enjoying the conditions even with it raining. Felt myself slowing for the 2nd lap, but still felt in control and pushing just enough. The sun tried to come out for the last half of the bike, peaking through the rainclouds. My fingers weren’t working so well from it being cold and gripping the handlebars for a period of time and I struggled trying to get 2 or 3 Picky bars out of the wrapper to eat something even after I had precut them for an easy open. I’m sure I looked like a crazy person trying to get food out of a wrapper without being able to grip anything. Once I got off the chipseal section for the last time I tried to take in the views and spin the legs as much as I could. Came in through town and made sure to take it easy on the pavement with some of the sharp turns coming back into campus and a roundabout. Last thing I needed was to wipe out at the very end of the ride. Passed off my bike to a volunteer and hobbled off towards T2. Ended up coming close to staying at my target metrics overall for the bike section so I was happy with that (197W Average / 219 NP).

T2 – 14:36

Another long transition due to fingers not working properly. Once I got the bag open I wiped off as much mud and dirt as I could from my legs and cleaned off my feet. Got to wear my newer (all white and somehow they stayed that way) Hoka Carbon X2 running shoes for the 2nd race and first marathon, felt really good. Made another quick kit change to my dry Apex race suit and decided to keep the arm warmers on for the run. As soon as I started out of the tent it started raining pretty hard for a few miles, so it really didn’t matter that I had changed, but it felt good to get out of the grimy bike gear. The cool rain and temp would definitely help for the marathon run coming up.

Run – 3:54:21

Got another boost from the spectators around transition cheering everyone forward. I got overexcited coming out to the main road and completely missed the clearly marked arrows on the road that showed the run course in the wide bike lane on the side of the road and almost ran up the sidewalk. Laughed it off and kept moving. Coming off the bike out of transition was the best I’ve felt starting the run, probably ever. In the past, I’ve only felt good for the few miles, or not at all. The first bit of the run started off downhill, so that helped getting my legs moving, but I ended up running around 8 minute miles for almost half of the run! Was a bit nervous of the pace, not wanting to blow up, but one benefit of the conditions was that I was not going to overheat. In my head I was thinking that even though the swim didn’t quite go as planned, and was slower than I had wanted to be on the bike, there was no reason not to go for it and have my best run yet.

Stayed on my aid station plan of drinking some Gatorade Endurance and walking for a few seconds as well as taking a Maurten Gel every 3-4 miles. The first loop did feel kind of lonely except for one 2 mile out and back section early on in the loop running past a gun range where you were around more runners. This section also had the steepest climb of the course. Did my best to shuffle up the climb and keep moving to the turnaround point. Had to stop at an aid station around mile 8 for a quick bathroom break, there wasn’t another stop through the Mendenhall Forest trail for another few miles and I wasn’t sure I was going to make it that far, all systems clear.

Ran through some pretty cool covered trails, over a bridge for the Mendenhall River before adding some mileage around the local high school, then heading back towards the highway, and finally a gradual climb up Glacier Highway back to the University. Started to lose some power here going uphill, the climb back to the university wasn’t steep but it was consistent and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hold on to that pace. Backed it off and tried to hold around a 9 minute pace when I wasn’t going uphill.

Ran back through the University within spitting distance of the finish line, so close, but 13 miles away. Got another boost from the crowd and my Dad who had been there all day shouting as I went by. Kept doing the mental math the whole way, wanting to break 4 hours but also not wanting to crash. I wanted to make sure I knew what pace I needed to hold if things started to fall apart. I started to lose power on the climb out to the gun range and decided it was best to walk up the hill and save what I could. Was all a mental game after that, pushing myself to keep moving. Tried to distract myself with the surroundings and focus on where I was and check off those mile instead of what I was feeling.

Running through the covered trails was one of the cooler parts of the course, but you did have to watch your footing since the tree roots had warped sections of the pavement, and I really didn’t want to faceplant. Was able to get a good Finisherpix shot running through the Fireweed covered field with the mountains in the back in the last few miles. Finally out on the main road all I had left was to run 2 miles uphill, and at the end of the race that was one of the hardest segments. Got some added boost knowing how far I’d come that day and was so close to the finish. Was able to power shuffle / jog up the hill and run by the lake. Flew up that last quick climb into campus and onto the red carpet with no runners around me. Mike Riley called me a 7x Ironman as I crossed the finish line.

Finish – 11:29:19 / 10th of 61 in M30-34 / 61st of 499 M / 75th of 725 overall

I still can’t believe I was out there and finished an Ironman in Alaska, so cool!

Easily was my best showing at an Ironman race, and was on pace for at least a 10 minute PR if my swim pace was around the same for the full distance, even after spending over a half hour in transition time. Could have potentially come close to breaking the 12 hour barrier.

Could really improve those transitions with a few easy adjustments, but this time I was more focused on getting out of the wet gear. Was very happy with the race overall and pretty ecstatic with the top 10 age group finish. Probably wouldn’t have pulled that off with a larger field, but I’ll take it.

Was most happy with the run and how I stayed consistent almost the whole way. According to Training Peaks and Strava, that was my 3rd best Marathon time ever. Definitely need to continue to focus on improving my bike pacing and power. Sounds like a good winter project.

Took me at least a half hour after I finished to recover and calm down once I sat down in the food tent before I felt like I was ok and could eat something. They had chicken broth and some locally made beef stew that really did the trick. Stayed to watch some of the other finishers come through for about another hour before we headed back to the hotel.

Had a wonderful time out there in Juneau and the race was just the icing on the cake. I think next year’s race will be in much better shape mostly in part to the huge support of the locals and the 1400 volunteers that came out for the racers. This was definitely a destination race and with as much local encouragement as we had made it that much more special. Ironman has a 3 year contract with the city, but if the next few races are anything like this one was, it will be a great race for a long time.

The top 2 tri clubs out on the course that day was from Juneau and another Alaska club. Juneau had a TON of athletes in the top categories which was great to see along with support from the rest of the racers.

Found out after the race at the celebration breakfast the next morning that if you were a part of the Ironman Priority Registration list for Alaska 2023, you were treated to my mugshot coming out of Auke Lake the day before, so cool! I saw the photographer on the boat ramp when I was finishing up my practice swim that Thursday and I apologized to him at the time because I thought I was getting in his shot of the lake and was trying to get out of the way.

A big thanks to my family and friends who supported me along the way, my Dad for putting up with my shenanigans and helping me out on race day, Stuart Coaching for getting me ready for my second destination race of the year, and Team Apex Multisport.

Not sure what’s next for 2023, but I’ve got some fun events coming in September for the Reeds Lake Sprint Tri and the Dirty Mitten Olympic Tri I’m excited for.

Smile or you’re doing it wrong!