Race Report: Ironman Arizona

November 21, 2010: Ironman Arizona
from the perspective of me, the one who didn't race

I knew today was going to be a long day, so I tried to make sure we got to sleep early the night before. Skyler may have made it to bed early, but he was certainly up early too. I heard him get out of bed around 3:00am. My plan was to get up around 4:30am, but I was up at 4:00am. I got ready and walked out to the kitchen to find Skyler and Jaime (our host) talking. Did I mention what a great host she was? Skyler had my breakfast all ready for me. What a sweetheart!

We packed up the car and headed out towards Tempe. The weather forecast called for rain, but thousands of people were praying for sun. One of them was me. I wasn't looking forward to sitting soaking wet in a kayak for a few hours.

I dropped Skyler off near the race venue around 5:15 and said a quick good luck. It was at that moment that I regretted not being able to see him start the race. Oh well, too late for regrets. I drove over to the north east corner of the lake to meet the rest of the kayak volunteers. We listened to a short rundown of what would happen. I grabbed a kayak, life jacket, paddle, cliff bar, my backpack, and a whistle. I paddled into the lake around 6:15. It wasn't raining (yet), but the bottom of my kayak was soaking wet. The kayaks were designed to let in a little water on the bottom. Great, I was sitting in a giant puddle. Luckily I had a rain poncho with me, so I sat on that to combat the water. It was still pretty dark, but the sun started to come out right when the cannon went off.




I was positioned about 2/3 of the way down. The swim course was like a giant rectangle. My job was to keep the swimmers inside the buoys. The pros started at 6:45 and it wasn't long before they approached. This would be easy enough.




At 7:00 the rest of the 2800 racers began all at once. That's how most Ironman races work. As you can imagine, it was crazy! I heard references to spawning fish. My job became a lot tougher. The swimmers were swimming into the sun so it was hard to see. I had to guide lots of swimmers in the right direction.

I switched to the north side of the lake when it thinned out a little bit. About 50 minutes from the start of the race a friend who was also in a kayak came over to say something to me. At that moment someone shouted "Jaci!" It was our friend Donny! About 2 seconds later I heard someone yell "Elise!" It was Skyler! He had spotted me! I was so excited to see him! Of course I couldn't talk to him, but I was happy to see that he was making good time.





I didn't get to see Skyler exit the water and start his bike because I was still in the water. I finished by volunteer job after being the water for about 3 hours. I had to change my clothes because I was soaking wet. Not because of rain but because of the water puddle I had been sitting it.

Skyler Swim 1:15:56 (Goal 1:20:00) 4 minutes faster than planned!

Skyler T1 5:17 (Goal 5:00)

I drove closer to the transition areas because that's where the rest of the action happened. IMAZ is a very spectator-friendly race. The bike course was a three-loop course. The turn around point was right near the transition areas. I walked about 1/4 mile down the street so the crowd was thinned out a little bit. Within 10 minutes I saw Skyler coming down the street. I got my hefty camera out and attempted to take pictures at the same time as I was cheering for him. It wasn't easy. Most of the photos didn't even have Skyler in them. I had the jobs of photographer, support team, cheering squad, and family text updater all day.




Skyler turned around at the end of the street and I was able to see him again as he biked by. I know he heard me cheering this time because he waved to me. I checked his results through the Athlete Tracker online and saw that he was right on goal. He planned on doing 2 hours for each lap and he came in a little under 2 hours. I was a happy wife!




I had two hours to spare until I would see Skyler again, so I tried to take a nap. But then it started to rain, I mean pour! It poured rain for about 10 minutes. Not fun, especially when you're on a bike. Not fun when you're sitting on the street doing nothing either. Luckily I had a blanket in my backpack. I came prepared. A few minutes later I saw Chrissie Wellington (pro) fly by on her bike. She had just finished her second lap. Wow, she's fast!




When the time got closer, I walked down the street, closer to where the turn around was so I could hang out with Brandon's family. They had just seen him go by, but Skyler would be coming soon too. He should have been there about 2 hours after I saw him last, but that time came and went. He appeared about 10 minutes later than I expected. That's not a good sign.




Right as he made the turn-around he pulled his left foot out of his shoe and then put it back in. What did that mean? I had no idea, but I assumed it was why he was a little slower than planned.




Although there were about 10 of us cheering for him as he rode by, he didn't hear or see us this time. That makes me a little sad because I know how much support means to a racer.




Another two hours to hang out, so I decided to get a little run training done. There is a steep little mountain near the race venue so I did some hill repeats for about 40 minutes. I ran back to my car to change and it started pouring again. Oh those poor racers. I would be so bummed if I was racing that day. I've only ridden in the rain once and it was a little scary.

I knew Skyler would be finishing his bike soon, so I headed towards the transition area to see him come in. It was a zoo over there so I decided to head down the run path about 1/4 mile where the crowd thinned out again.

Skyler Bike 6:01:56 (Goal 6:00:00)

T2 4:19 (Goal 5:00)




I was so excited to see him running! He looked great! I attempted to take pictures of him while running next to him. I told him that he was doing great and was on pace to meet his goal. I asked him if something had been wrong with his bike shoe because I saw him take it off. He said he was draining a certain liquid out of his shoe, if you know what I mean. No time for bathroom breaks. Then he told me that he got a flat on his bike around mile 50. It took him about 6-7 minutes to change the flat. That's why his second lap time was off. Although I'm not glad he got a flat, I was happy to know that his slower time was due to a mechanical issue. And then he was off....just a marathon left to do. Not much at all.




Not long after I saw Skyler, I spotted Donny. He and Skyler had almost identical swim and bike times. He was looking pretty happy too!




The run course was a three-loop, figure-8 course, so I would be seeing Skyler a lot. I headed over to the finish line area to see Chrissie Wellington, just after she finished her race. What an animal! She finished top 10...overall! That's means she was 8th place overall. Only 7 men finished in front of her! Wow, amazing! She also broke the women's Ironman record for any Ironman race. And she did it with a smile.




By this time Skyler had finished his first run loop and had started on the second. I didn't have time to get back to the same spot that I saw him before, so I waited near the 12 mile mark with Jaime and her friend. We nearly missed him run by. I jogged along with him for a few seconds and knocked an old man over because I wasn't watching where I was going. Skyler said he wasn't feeling too well, despite his fast pace up to this point. Skyler ran down the bridge and under where we were standing. You can tell from this picture that he was struggling a little bit. I wasn't too worried because he was still making great time.




Jaime, her friend, and I headed over to my original viewing spot to wait for Skyler to come by again. We expected him to come by about 45 minutes later. We had a great time cheering on the other racers are they ran by. It was a getting a little cold though, especially since we were sitting by the water. We waited, and waited, and waited. The athlete tracker wouldn't post another split until he was 3 miles past where we were, so we didn't know if he had slowed down or what. We waited and waited, and it got darker and darker. Where is he? We started to get worried, but also hopeful that we had missed him as he ran by. But if that had happened, his run split would have posted online. It was nearly 45 minutes past the time he should have been here.

Finally! We spotted him! He was wearing a trash bag and shuffling his feet, not running super fast anymore. I quickly ran over to him. What happened? He smiled and said, "I hit a rough patch, but I'm ok now." He explained to me that shortly after we last saw him his stomach started hurting pretty bad. So bad to the point that he couldn't run anymore. He couldn't even walk. Mile 13 was almost 25 minutes! After he had been walking for a while, a woman (he called her an angel) ran up to him and asked what was wrong. He said he wished he could throw up so he would feel better. She told him he wouldn't, but pulled something out of her fuel belt. It was a Gas-X dissolvable strip. She told him to put it on his tongue and he would be running in no time. At this point he didn't even care what it was, but it was a miracle. 10 minutes later he was running again. Slowly his pace began to pick up again. When he ran by us, he was feeling so much better. His legs were moving and he felt ok.

I ran with Skyler for about a mile and then turned around to run back to another viewing spot that was about 1-1/2 miles away. I got there just in time to see him run by again. He was looking strong. I was so proud of him!





The last viewing spot would be the finish line. Brandon's family had a VIP bracelet that I used to get access to the finish line. I got my spot near the finish line so I could get a good shot of him coming through.

I quickly texted some family and friends to look for him in the next 15 minutes if they were watching online. At that exact moment I heard the words, "Skyler Wallace, you are an Ironman." I looked up and could see him coming down the finish chute. There were a bunch of people who slowed down right in front of him. Of course he caught up to them right as he crossed the finish line. So my finish line photo isn't great, but it does capture plenty of emotion. I don't know if he's ever finished a race with such an expression of happiness and relief before!




Skyler Run 4:41:03 (Goal 4:00:00)

Skyler Total Time 12:08:28 (Goal 11:30:00)






My husband is an Ironman! I couldn't have been more proud! He crossed the finish line, got a foil blanket, took a picture, and immediately went to the massage tent. I'm pretty sure he swindled himself into the longest post-race massage ever! He was in there for about 30 minutes, most people get 15.

I was a little worried that Skyler would be disappointed that he didn't meet his goal, but he said he was happy just to finish strong. That's a good point! Since the last point that I saw him (about mile 20) his pace got faster and faster and he finished with a faster pace than he started. It's good to know that his training worked and that some nutrition error caused his hiccup. I knew Skyler could still run faster after his fast bike.










After everyone said their congrats to Skyler and Brandon, we headed over to PF Chang's for dinner with Brandon's family. I was exhausted! All I wanted to do was go to sleep, but we didn't finish dinner until about 10:30. Skyler ate so much food! I was thrilled to see him eating and feeling great!

Of course all the boys talked about was where the next Ironman is going to be. Typical. BUT I'm not going to rule out joining them. I'll just have to wait and see what the future holds for me.

Congratulations Skyler! Your hard work paid off! You are an Ironman!!

You can read Skyler's perspective on the race here.