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IM World Championship St. George - 26.2 mile run recap

  GEAR Karel: Shoes Nike Alphaflys,  SL-1x Roka Sunglasses Marni: Shoes New Balance FuelCell, Perfect cooling towel , SL-1x Roka Sunglasses (Shoes from Run In ) NUTRITION Karel: 10-ounce Nathan flask filled with NeverSecond C30 (Citrus) stored in kit pocket, carried packets of precision hydration 1500 and had 3 maurten gels (2 non-caffeine and 1 caffeine). Water/ice at aid stations. One sip of coke. Marni: 2 x 10 ounce flasks filled with NeverSecond C30 (Forest Berry), carried packets of C30 and NBS but didn’t refill. Sipped coke at aid stations throughout as needed + water/ice. Naked Running band.  Nathan 10 ounce flasks.    I knew the first two miles would be uncomfortable because I've raced on this course 3 times (70.3 distance). The first few miles are on a long slight gradual uphill. It's never fun running uphill to start a run but then again, we live on the bottom of a hill so we are accustomed to starting every brick run on a hill. Mentally, Karel...

IM World Championship St. George - 112 mile bike recap

  112 mile bike (~7200 feet elevation gain) Marni - 5:45.38, 2nd fastest AG time Karel - 5:28.50, 19th AG GEAR Bikes: Ventum  Karel – Lightweight autobahn disc, Alto CT 58 front, Bont 0H+ cycling shoes. Crank 165 (54/39 chainrings), Rudy Project Nytron road aero helmet. Marni – Boyd 60/90 tubeless with Schwalbe Pro one TT tires. Crank: 155 (53/39 chainrings), Endura D2Z Helmet Aeroswitch, Bont Riot TR+ tri shoes. NUTRITION: Karel – Started with: 1 bottle + 1.5 liters worth, each with NeverSecond C90 (360 calories). Picked up at special needs: 1.5 liters in a Smart Water Bottle of NBS Strawberry Lemonade Carbo-hydration (~400 calories for hydration system) and a bottle of NBS. Consumed 1 Supra bar (nibbled throughout). Water at each aid station for sipping and cooling. Total calories: ~1900 Total hydration: 152 ounces + water from aid stations Marni – Started with 1.2 liters + 2 bottles worth, each with Skratch Superfuel Raspberry (400 calories). Picked up at speci...

IM World Championship St. George - 2.4 mile swim recap

BEEP! 2.4 mile swim Marni: 59:58 (1st AG) Karel: 1:00.11 (11th AG) GEAR Wetsuit Marni - Women's maverick X2 (older model) Wetsuit Karel - Men's maverick MX wetsuit (max buoyancy) w/ Xterra Booties (worn under the wetsuit legs and covering the feet). Goggles Marni – Roka F2 Goggles Karel – Michael Phelps Xceed I ran into the water alongside several other ladies. I took a few strokes, settled into my rhythm and the water felt perfect. I was told it was 64 degrees (I’m thinking it was more like 62) but I never felt cold. Endorphins always warm me up! Before I knew it, I breathed to my right and then to my left and quickly realized I was swimming by myself. It was a strange feeling knowing that I was leading my wave – which also meant I was leading the race for the women. I enjoyed this special first-time moment. I had a lot of male athletes to swim through so this required a bit extra sighting and navigating to get through the swimmers in the previous male waves. I liked h...

IM World Championship St. George - Pre-Race Recap

On Thursday morning, we headed back to the lake for another opportunity to get more comfortable in the cold water. Whereas the water temp was around 58 degrees on Wednesday, it “warmed” up to 60 degrees on Thursday. We arrived around 8am and there was a line to get in the water (pick up a timing chip before entering) but it moved pretty quickly. I wanted to try swimming without my booties (I wore them on Wed) to see if I could tolerate the cold water on my feet. I feel better swimming without the booties but I also wanted to feel comfortable. Karel opted to wear his booties as his feet do not do well in cold water. It took me several minutes to get in as it felt like my feet were being chopped off from the cold water but eventually I just committed and started swimming. Although my face, feet and hands felt very cold to start, I felt more comfortable after around 300 yards. I swam two loops of the modified swim course (~900 yards per loop) and not only did I swim faster without the boo...

IM World Championship St. George - quick recap

  Three years ago, Karel registered for 2020 Ironman St. George (May). When the race got cancelled due to the pandemic, he transferred his entry to 2021 IM Coeur d'Alene. When he broke his hand mountain biking in May 2021, he was able to transfer his entry back to 2022 Ironman St. George (May). When it was announced that the 2022 Ironman St. George event would be the '2021' Ironman World Championship event, Karel was automatically entered into the World Championship event as a registered IM St. George athlete.  After finishing my 5th Ironman World Championship in Kona in 2019, I wasn't mentally ready to commit to preparing for a May Ironman. Instead, I was happy to support Karel on the sidelines in St. George. In July of 2021, I won my age group at IM Lake Placid. I let my slot roll down for the 2022 Ironman World Championship in Kona as I no longer have ambitions to race there. I'm honored and satisfied with my 5 Ironman World Championship finishes on that island. ...

Ironman World Championship Race Week Training

  After a good night of sleep on Monday, we had a good breakfast and got caught up on some work before loading up the rental SUV with our bikes and gear. We are staying in Washington (half way between downtown, where T2 and the finish is and Sand Hollow Lake, where the swim and T1 is) which makes it easy to get to various places on the course. We drove to Royal Oaks Park (on the run course) to start our ride. We like to do one last "longer" ride on race week to remind the body what it is preparing for and to keep the body in a routine. Although we are very familiar with the 70.3 bike course, the "Veyo" loop is new to us for this Ironman World Championship course. Karel had the course downloaded in his Garmin although the course was well-marked with tape arrows on the pavement. It was very windy to start our ride and we had NW winds for the majority of the loop - which made for a long ride. However, the scenery was incredible and the roads were quiet and peaceful.  W...