IMAZ race report (Finish time: 12:05:04)

Here we again. Every time I finish a race, I will write a report for me and anyone who might do the race.First thing first , always thanks for my family. They don’t see me most Saturday’s morning for few weeks before tapering especially long ride. That’s why I don’t like to do full Ironman because I know there are lots of time consuming on training. As my daughter is in middle school now, it’s harder to take some days off and take them with me anymore. Feel guilty to leave my family at home and go by myself, but it’s the best solution.

Travel

The race is Sunday so I left on Friday early morning. It was supposed to be 6 hours drive, but it ended up with 8 hours due to road closure. It did make me feel tired. Besides, my left calf somehow felt really sore and I was worried it won’t recover on race day. I iced and messaged for two days and was glad it went away on the race day morning.

Hotel

The hotels with walking distance is very expensive even it doesn’t allow me to use points to redeem so I stayed in Hyatt with 5 mins away drive which is not bad. The service was good and I was able to get the room on first floor which was very convenient. I can even order a pizza from their in-house kitchen after I came back from the race which was awesome.

Pre race day

Check in

Checkin was really smooth without any wait. I think there were not many athletes doing the race. Parking structure is next to expo, very easy.

Swim practice

There was a swim practice on sat morning which was really helpful to simulate the water temperature on race day. It was so cold that I couldn’t swim after I jumped in. I was back to normal after at least 5 mins.

Race day

Water temperature was 60.1F which was the lowest water temperature I swam so far. Since parking is so easy and close by T1 so I left hotel 5:10am.

Swim (1:25:09)

The swim course is one big loop. With walls and bridges, it’s very easy to do sighting. The only challenge was water temperature. It was 60.1F on the race day.

T1 (11:33)

At T1, athletes need to grab their bike gears and go to change tent to change. After done with changing, put all the swim gears into the bike bag then leave under bike rack. There were lots of people in the tent, hard to find a chair to sit down and change.

Bike (5:53:35)

The bike course is 3 loops. It’s up and down for 3 times. It’s not too hard, but it’s a different story when the headwinds come. As people describe, the winds are from every direction. I can feel the later, the stronger wind I got.

T2 (4:21)

Once athletes finish bike leg, volunteers will take bike so athletes won’t return to transition area. Athletes need to grab running gear and go to change tent to change and put all the bike gears to the running bag. After handing the bag over to volunteers, athletes will go straight to run.

Run (4:30:28)

The running course is 3 loops. It’s pretty flat mostly and few slight climbs, but really doable. Each aid station is close to each other so it’s easy to get support. Spectators and volunteers are very energetic to cheer you on. Very good for family support because they can see you many times. It does get colder when it gets late.

Post Race

Overall I like this race. The location, weather and volunteers are all great. I might come back one day.