Ironman St. George 2022

Long race report warning!!! I will not feel bad at all if no one reads this, it’s mostly for me to look back on and see the things that I did right, wrong, and make the improvements and changes for next time.

Race Day Morning

SUPER early – hurry up and wait – 3:00am alarm clock Saturday morning. Standard Blueberry bagel with peanut butter and a banana. Tried to use the restroom, no luck, insides were all tied up in nervous knots thinking about what was coming.

Drove with the parents to the convention center for shuttle #1 @ 4:00 amto take us to the finish area before taking shuttle #2 up to the swim start @ 4:15. I’ve historically not given myself enough time to get things prepped before races so it was a good thing that I was forced to have an excessive amount of time prior to starting my wave @ 7:05. Took the better part of a half hour to bus up to the swim area, had some nervous/excited chatter between some bus mates.

Was still pretty dark despite the floodlights at the lake, but grabbed the bike first and got in line to pump up the tires, made sure the gears were dropped, assembled the bike food bag (where I didn’t quite cut the Picky bar wrappers correctly and made it more difficult to open on the fly), and got the hydration bottles set up for the start. Got in line early to beat the rush for the Port’a’poops and had success, then just tried to relax and stretch as people slowly started lining up for each wave.

The gun went off @ 6:15 for the Pro men’s start and really started up my nerves. Just about as perfect a morning as you could ask for. A bit of breeze, sun coming up over the mountains, water temp just at 60*F.

Was Ironman #6 for that Xterra wetsuit, on it’s last legs but still in pretty good condition. There were a handful of waves in front of me since this race was seeded by age group instead of overall time. Made it a bit more tricky to make your way through the field, but it was a one lap swim so at least there wasn’t going to be a lot of extra traffic.

Somehow my parents found me in all the commotion and were able to stay with me for a few minutes before I stretched out and put the wetsuit on. Made sure to eat a small Skratch bar and Jel with some fluids before I headed over to the swim start. Our wave was starting just as the pro men leaders were coming out of the water, just under 50 minutes. Before I knew it, I was next in line, ran in the water and got to work.

Swim – 1:04:36: Overall rank after the swim was #360! Average Swim was 1:10 for my age group.

Somehow the water had actually warmed up a few degrees at Sand Hollow Lake from my practice swim the day before, still a chilly but refreshing 60*.

Some people were wearing neoprene caps and a few booties which had me worried, but once I got going it wasn’t nearly cold enough to be a problem thanks to the wetsuit and some personal “insulation”.

The Swim course was just 4 turns and 1 lap. Found a good rhythm to start and locked it in. Could barely see for the first leg with the sun being directly in my line of sight as well as my goggles fogging up right off the bat. I just tried to follow the splashing and feet since I couldn’t see the buoys if I wanted to.

It took a few seconds to clear the goggles and was set for the rest of the swim. I am fortunate in the swim to be able to pick my way and advance through the field.

There wasn’t too much congestion with starting 10 athletes every 10 seconds, but just enough to have to swim for the openings. I did end up with a bit of wetsuit chafing on my neck, but I focused on rolling through strokes to limit the amount of rubbing and it wasn’t too bad.

Swimming was much more enjoyable after the first turn being partially sheltered by the mountain from the sun.

My Garmin watch was set up to notify time and pace every 500 yards and I was very surprised on where I was overall, right around 1:31/100yd and I even had a few segments that were faster. That’s pool swimming with wall push offs pace for me!

I made sure I wasn’t going to spend too much energy in the water but I’m pretty sure I got an assist on the way back in on the last leg from the wind that was starting to pick up. Got out of the water in record time for me. Was greeted by a pair of wonderful wetsuit strippers whom I keep forgetting to tip, and began the long run through transition.

T1 – 10:15

Took my time getting my bearings and made sure I had grabbed everything I needed from my bag. Dried off quickly and put spray sunscreen on, (I definitely missed some spots).

Dropped off the wet bike bag, and took a quick pee break since I couldn’t manage to go on the swim. Ran with my bike shoes in hand to the bike rack, put them on, and then jogged the shorter distance with the bike to the mount line for the fun/chaos to really begin.

Bike – 6:38:22: Overall rank after the bike was #1017. Average Bike split was 6:19 for my age group.

Felt really good to start the bike. Wasn’t too cold, or windy (to start). Saw my parents just out of the bike chute and they were encouraging as I was heading out of the lake. Dad snapped some good pictures too.

The first 30 miles of the course was a fast out and back route before going around the northside of Sand Hollow Lake. I got my first taste of some crosswinds while descending around 35mph and was not comfortable at all.

I was experiencing what felt like speed wobbles where the bike would wiggle back and front any time I got around that 35-40mph range, and the crosswinds playing with my front end certainly did not help. I’m not a great descender by any stretch, but this made the bike leg that much more nerve racking.

Everything on the bike checked out the day before, and on the few training rides I had done in some pretty heavy winds in Michigan. Had me wondering if my FLO wheels were out of true or balanced. Would later find out, diagnosed and fixed by Village Bike in Jenison when I got it back from TriBike Transport, that I had a shot / loose headset bearing. Could have been a VERY BAD day.

Had a plan before I got on the bike to take it conservative and slow if needed, and this was just another layer. With this also being my worst of the 3 disciplines, I really had to focus on my ride, not get over-excited and burn all my matches too early.

Somehow made it without any catastrophes, although I heard some horror stories from a few athletes with those unpredictable crosswinds after the race. I may have lost some time on the downhills, but the tradeoff was getting to finish the race.

I had actually gotten to see and ride the course before on the FulGaz virtual platform which was pretty cool, although there is a big difference between sitting on a bike trainer in your basement with no fan for 6:30, and actually being on the course in the elements.

The bike course itself was gorgeous and unlike anything I’ve seen before with the red rocks and mountains, just amazing. Even though there was 7000+ elevation, the difficulties here were the crosswinds, the heat toward the end of the bike, and the big 20 mile climbs through Gunlock starting at mile 60 and the steeper Snow Canyon pass around mile 90 to really get your legs going.

Overall I felt really strong on the climbs, passing lots of people on the inclines throughout the day, not so much on the flats or downhills. Working with Kari and Stuart Coaching as my coach this year had definitely prepared me for tackling this course.

Game plan was just as it always is, one pedal stroke or turn or hill after the other, one mile at a time. Nutrition plan was to eat a Picky bar and try to drink a bottle of fluids about every hour. I switched back and forth between Nunn tabs with caffeine and non-caffeinated as well as a bottle of Gatorade Orange Endurance that was a good variation towards the end of the bike. Also supplemented with some Base Salt throughout the day.

After clearing Sand Hollow Lake, there were some pretty significant hills heading back into the downtown area. Biked right by my hotel around mile 44 where my parents had timed it perfectly and were shouting encouragingly at me from the shade of a giant Shimano support trailer at the edge of the parking lot after recently finishing a late breakfast. 

Flew through the north side of town through the area with a giant DIXIE sign like the Hollywood one in California, and started to get into the major climbing portion of the course. The long Gunlock loop was a pretty gradual climb all the way up with a few short downhills and a really punchy section around mile 75 they called The Wall, a switchback towards the end of the loop.

No clown sightings on the course like in Wisconsin, but there was someone with a giant unicorn inflatable pool toy running up the top of the hill with us. Really surprised me how much I had climbed when I looked over the edge.

Got to the top, passed the Veyo Volcano, and braced myself for the 10 mile descent back into town for the second loop. The views were gorgeous, but I was more focused on getting down in one piece, sitting up with hands on the brakes the whole way. Little discouraging when people were blowing by me like I was standing still, but I’ll take 40mph and in one piece at the bottom of the hill any day.

Went through the town and around the roundabout to head up Snow Canyon pass. Here we were sheltered from the wind with the mountains on both sides and it was super quiet.

Everyone was focused on the road ahead of them and the toughest and last climb of the day. I could literally hear the clicking of gears and the sound of carbon wheels rolling echoing off the side of the canyon.

The 8 mile climb was probably my favorite of the day and the steepest section was of course the last mile. Just kept the legs moving and looking around at the scenery.

Once passing the guard shack signaling the top of the climb, I had one more harrowing 10 mile descent back down the hill and into town. The winds had picked up even more, and I was literally losing feeling in my hands from gripping the headset coming down by the end of the ride. The crosswinds just wanted to take my front wheel with it while descending. All I was telling myself was “Just get down”.

Crowds of spectators started appearing along the side of the road the closer we got to downtown. Started to see people out on the run course and heard loudspeakers and music playing.

FINALLY made it into the transition chute and had a wonderful bike catcher grab my bike from me. I have never wanted off that bike more in my life. Legs were definitely a bit wobbly dismounting and it took me a second to find my balance before handing over the bike. I wasn’t completely exhausted after the bike but it did take a few minutes for my running legs to come back to me

T2 – 12:55

Grabbed my bag and sat down on a chair just trying to get my heart rate down, cool off, and take a quick break. Wiped down my feet and made sure my socks fit snug before throwing on my Hoka shoes and grabbing some sunscreen before heading out of the tent for the run. Again, definitely missed a few spots for sunscreen coverage. My parents saw me again running out of the tent and onto the course. Probably looked a little worse than I had earlier in the day, but I was still trying to smile and still moving forward.

Got some feedback from my coach Kari through a text to my Mom who told me to try and cool down my body temperature with a wet towel and eat some ice chips. I remember Dad shouting “How are you feeling?” and all I responded with was “I’ve got 26 miles left to go!”.

Run – 4:47:32: Overall Rank after the Run was #960. Average Run split was 4:49 for my age group.

There were 2 significant gradual climbs for each lap of the two lap course. First climb was the first 2.5 miles out of transition, and the second was from miles 6 to 10 on the way back into town, both consistently around the 3% to 4% grade.

I had no idea what had happened with the Pro races to that point, but I did see Heather Jackson and Ben Hoffman coming in as I was heading out on the first few miles which was pretty cool. They were finishing and I was just starting, they were all just absolute machines out there.

I was holding around 9:30 pace going uphill for the first few miles and then got some “free speed” going back down hill around a 9 minute pace to the turn around point in the park.

At one of the early aid stations there was a volunteer handing out some ice-freeze push-pops, the only ones on the course so he must have brought them himself. He asked if I wanted one, I laughed and said YES! Then I said hold on for a second while I tried to take off my volunteer bracelet I had grabbed out of my run bag to give to him as a thank you. He was wondering for a second if I wanted a second push-pop, but then laughed as I handed him the bracelet.

At the bottom of the hill in the park aid station around mile 6, I took a quick poo break and was set for the rest of the day.

There were plenty of spectators out on the course cheering on any and all athletes. There were at least 4 wonderful residents that had gotten their garden hoses out and were having just as much or more fun than we were spraying down people who wanted a cool down as they ran by their houses.

On the return trip back up the hills, I really started to have the day’s work hit me and had to slow down significantly to make sure I could keep moving forward. Kept to the nutrition and hydration plan as best as possible throughout the run, although the heat was making me nauseous to eat much of anything.

Walking through the aid stations, a quick lick of the Base salts, then grabbing water at first, a mouthful of Gatorade Endurance Yellow, sometimes some banana or grapes, and then some ice chips or a water cup down the back on the way out. I tried to eat ice chips whenever I could, but the cold ice in my stomach almost made me feel sick with the drastic temperature change, almost like a brain freeze in my stomach. They didn’t have any wet towels out on the course, so I just made sure to chew smaller pieces of ice and still cool off with the water cups.

Ran around the giant World Championship M-Dot with all 3 discipline logos at the traffic circle just in front of the finish line to head out on the 2nd loop. My parents said they were yelling at me as I came around, but I don’t remember hearing them. I was just focused on staying moving forward.

This second lap was a serious grind the whole way. They should have changed the Hoka slogan from “Time to Fly” to “Time to Shuffle”. I was doing everything I could to stay “running” but going up the hill for the second lap was exhausting and I ended up turning it into a power walk just to move forward and recover.

Even more mentally discouraging was that I couldn’t even jog down the hill to the park and power walked most of the way.

The only thing I remember holding onto at the time was that I’ve come so far already, focus on what was in front of you and don’t try to keep pace with everyone else. Don’t be jealous of where other people are in their race since you are where someone else wants to be at that moment in time, and you are now where you wanted to be earlier.

I asked one of the 4000+ wonderful volunteers at an aid station at the bottom of the hill in the park if they had any sunscreen and they did. I had gotten blitzed on the back of both legs, hands and neck, probably washed off from all the water I was throwing down my kit. Damage had already been done at that point, but it was cooling at least and was a barrier against the sun that felt like it had been following me all day.

Continued power walking till I made it out of the park with some shade and felt a bit better. I have never seen so many people walking on a course before. There were probably at least 10 or more athletes on that last section alone that I saw on the side of the road getting medical attention or fluids after pushing their bodies further than was physically possible.

This course was no joke. I don’t always have the most positive inner dialogue, and in some very not nice words to get myself in gear, I told myself that I didn’t come 1800 miles to St George and put all this work down to walk the F-ing marathon and somehow found the energy to pick up the pace.

I don’t know where it came from but I was able to “power shuffle” my way the rest of the course and most importantly up those hills. I just kept focusing on the next runner, and the next, finally passing some of the people that had overtaken me earlier in the run and even some that I recognized flying by me on the bike.

I was doing some mental race math, which is always sketchy at best, trying to figure out what my times were going to be and realized that I still had a chance at getting under a 5-hour marathon and a 13-hour finish if I got my butt in gear NOW.

Doesn’t seem like much, but I went from walking around 14-15 min miles to coming up the hill at a 12 min pace. All I had left was just the return trip, and I already had done that once.

Finally crested the hill coming back into town with probably my 4th second wind of the day and gradually picked up the pace seeing more and more spectators, hearing the music from the finish line, and realizing I only had roughly a 5K to go!

Mile 24 was around 9:30, mile 25 was around 8:50, and somehow that last mile was under 8:30. Absolutely flew down the o-so-short finishing chute, honestly astounded at what I just accomplished and that I had actually finished that crazy course. Paul Kaye called me coming down the finishing chute and I loved every minute of it.

Finish – 12:53:37 – 96th out of 175 (M 30-34) / 809th out of 1832 (M) / 960th out of 2294 overall. Athletes – 2899 / DNF – 623 / DNS – 461 / DQ – 17

This was one of the most difficult races I have been a part of and I still can’t believe I finished as well as I did. Was really happy with the way I was able to finish strong and pull myself out of that dark hole at the end.

I was even more nervous than I normally am the day before the race, almost dreading it, just because I knew how much of a grinder it was going to be and not knowing how I’d stack up against the rest of the field. I tend to get in my own head and over analyze everything way too much, thinking I didn’t belong in a World Championship race and I don’t know what I’m doing.

I don’t give myself nearly enough credit a lot of times and I need to focus on the positive and acknowledge how far I’ve come. There’s always the opportunity to be better, or wish you could do something different, but at the end of the day, it’s always about being better than you were the day before, whether you are racing, training, or going through life. I can’t say how thankful I was for the opportunity to race in St George and the physical capacity to be able to compete in an event like this.

I’ve had a lot of setbacks the last few years, along with everyone else, and this was certainly a bright spot. Who knows if a World Championship race in Kona will be in the future, I’ve got a massive amount of work to do to get there. If not, this was a wonderful experience and something I can hold onto and build on for a long time.

Personal Takeaways from Ironman St. George World Championships

• Do better with nutrition and hydration on the bike. Maybe train with Gatorade Endurance if that is what they are having on the course so I don’t have to worry about what I’m drinking and can supplement it with other things as needed.
• Get my bike to a shop at some point before a big event. Right now it’s difficult with appointments going out a month or more, but it could be a dealbreaker on race day.
• Hammer the bike in training more than anything else and somehow find time in my schedule to get outside during the day and find some hills to climb/descend. I will be fine in the swim, and having those extra legs on the bike should help with the run.
• Try to find something that works for nutrition on the run that doesn’t wreck my stomach after a long day, was probably why I crashed so hard there on the 3rd leg of the run.

Big thanks to Stuart Coaching for getting me prepared enough to toe the line and crush the course, Team Apex Multisport for all the support and for the sweet new white kit design with Vie 13, my friends and family who encouraged me along the way, and my parents for coming out to Utah to share it with me.

I’ve got the Grand Rapids Tri 70.3 on June 12th, and then in a serious FOMO moment signed up to give it another go at Ironman Alaska on August 7th.

Smile or you’re doing it wrong!