IRONMAN Texas, Take Two: One Finish Line Was Not Enough!

I’m still not fast, I’m just stubborn and relentless!

Ten Days Out From IRONMAN Texas

I am ten days out from IRONMAN Texas, and my mind is a chaotic mess! I am pumped one second. I’m panicked the next. I’m questioning my life choices (nervous laugh – haha). The pre-race nerves are back. They are very real, and very loud! I was thinking about it recently, and with a few days to go, realized my training has been nowhere near perfect. I try to keep myself busy, knowing that the quiet times allow the classic doubts to creep in. What if… what if…. What if I don’t finish? What if I get injured? What if I don’t make the cutoffs? What if… the classic what if!

In the end though, I will show up because I’ve done this before (one year ago, to be exact). I know exactly how much it’s going to take to cross the finish line, and I’m ready and pumped to face the challenge head on again. In ten days, I will be lining up with thousands of other amazing athletes, and together we will take on 140.6 miles of Texas’ crazy heat, wind, and humidity on our path to IRONMAN glory.

I’m certainly not the fastest triathlete, and I’m definitely not the most prepared (ask my training plan…), but I’ve learned through the past year to embrace the fear, chaos, and adrenaline before the race, and to keep pushing through until I cross the finish line.

IRONMAN Texas, Round 2…. LETS GO!

Embracing The Challenge Once Again

Since I last raced a full IRONMAN (IM Texas, one year ago), I’ve overcome many personal mental barriers, including achieving a few personal bests that I had only once dreamed of. I ran my first ever sub-4 hour marathon (Berlin Marathon – WHAT. A. RACE.), finally nailed my first ever sub-50 minute 10k (still recovering from that one, heh), and on a last-minute whim, signed up for my second IRONMAN 70.3 in Galveston, TX. It’s all led to this moment.

I’m racing IRONMAN Texas again because I want to go back to the course that saw me cross my first ever IRONMAN red carpet. Last year, my goal was simply to finish the race. I didn’t really have a pace plan other than staying in a nice and steady Zone 2, and making sure I ate and hydrated frequently. This year, I’d like to really try and push in a few areas. I’m physically feeling – truthfully – the same as last year (maybe even a bit underprepared!), but mentally, I’m feeling better than ever. It will help as I lean into mental toughness when the race gets rough!

In this post I want to take you through an overview of the race, a recap of my imperfect training journey to get to the starting line, some of the pre-race emotions I’m feeling (and how I’ve been navigating them), and my race strategy as I look towards 140.6 miles of epicness. I also want to give you a glimpse into how I’m approaching my race day. I hope this helps triathlon newcomers and experts alike in seeing how ultimately we’re all probably experiencing the same emotions that come with training for and racing triathlons!

Race Breakdown – Swim, Bike, Run, RED CARPET

IRONMAN Texas is the IRONMAN North American Championship race, known for being a fast course with hot and humid weather, punctuated by Texas hospitality. This is a race where a whole bunch of professional triathletes race (personal highlight – being passed on the bike by none other than the best of the best last year! Haha it was awesome!) and one that sets the stage for the rest of the season.

The swim consists of 2.4 miles of a point-to-point (this means it’s from A to B, not a loop/lap) course in Lake Woodlands. I remember the canal finish feeling claustrophobic last year, so I’m mentally prepared for it this time!

The bike includes 112 miles of basically all open road! It’s two loops on Hardy Toll Road, which is flat, fast, and completely exposed to gnarly winds. It can also get pretty long (this is where I really leaned into the mental toughness part last year) since it’s essentially all straightaways. Last year the headwind when going towards Houston was brutal, so I’m preparing for it this year!

Last is the 26.2 mile marathon run (three loops) through The Woodlands. The crowd and supporter energy here is absolutely contagious. Hippie Hollow, a section of the run, was the highlight of it for myself last year. It was amazing!

All in all, the feeling I had – the vibe – of this course last year was nothing short of epic. It really felt like a celebration of grit and endurance! I remember volunteers yelling all the way through 10PM “You are SO CLOSE to being an IRONMAN!! DONT STOP!!”. To say that pushed me forward (when mentally, I was done six hours ago) is an understatement!

I can’t wait for race day again.

Training for IRONMAN Texas. It was real, it was messy, and I truly hope it will be enough!

I had a perfect training plan lined out. Eighteen weeks of progressively escalating volume and intensity. There were multiple recovery weeks spread out throughout the plan to ensure I properly absorbed training. I even added a few support races to the calendar to help me prep for this event. It was perfect!

Then, as usual, life happened. 

I look back at my Training Peaks calendar, and while I see tons of green (which means completed workouts as planned), I also see a lot of red (which, conversely, means I did NOT complete the workout as planned)! I missed long training rides, speed workouts, threshold swims, you name it. Between schoolwork (as I get closer to completing my second masters degree), parenting, being as present as possible for my family, work, sick days, injuries (my right foot is still iffy) and many more situations – I truly tried my best to show up and build consistency wherever I could.

While training was essentially a convoluted mess sometimes, we endured it! And that’s what matters! It’s not perfection. Again, it’s showing up and being consistent, building where you can.

As a quick side note – One thing I truly learned from this training plan and the last few training blocks is that training will never be perfect. It’s best to simply embrace the chaos, build where and what you can, and just keep going. Showing up is already half the battle.

So now, we’re ten days out. The anticipation and that pre-race buzz of doubts, fear, and excitement, is afoot! There are a few things keeping me up at night, mainly, “did I do enough?”. I realize I felt exactly the same way last year, and chalk it up to pre-race nerves that I know will always be present. At this point though, as they say, the hay is in the barn! I’m starting to focus more on simple movement with easy swims, 5k runs, and short speed rides. I’m also now fine-tuning my hydration and carb-loading plan for next week, and finalizing all my gear checks. Bike, helmet, shoes, race belt, etc – it all gets a final glance and tune up.

The Week Before Race Day

The week before a big A-Race, at least for me, is filled with what are called “taper tantrums” (love it!). It’s essentially when my system is out of sync because I’ve dialed down training volume and intensity quite a bit from it’s normal. Taper phase is also when I really start to feel little aches and pains that weren’t there before, leading down an anxious path of uncertainty (will my knee be ok in time for race day?!).

My favorite race-week tradition – leading up to my raceday ritual – is to begin visualizing every single part of the race. I start to see how my swim start will be, and remember that I always pace way too fast off the starting line. I make a mental note to remember this during the race and slow down to a Z2-Z3 swim (not a Z5!!) – basically, calm and sustainable pacing, not a full-on sprint! I then mentally review transition. First things first – Wetsuit off, goggles and swim cap off. Now and most importantly, helmet on first. Bike shoes – check. Hydration – check. Nutrition – check. Bike computer – check. Let’s roll. I now go over the bike ride, and visualize the last turnaround towards the run. Transition 2 now. Bike gear goes off, run gear goes on. Shoes – check. Race belt with bib – check. Hat – check. Sunglasses – check. Nutrition – check. Motivation because it’s the last segment and we’re almost to the finish line – check, check and mega check! This is it. I then visualize my favorite part of every single race – the last mile. I see myself jumping the finish line, hugging my family, and taking it all in. We did it again.

Then it’s – SNAP – back to reality!

We haven’t done it just yet, but it does bring me one step closer to that finish line.

Race Day Game Plan – My Strategy and Mindset

I always divide my triathlon race plan into its three disciplines, with a specific focus on characteristics of each sport.

Swim: My goal here is simple, keep my pool pace (or better), stay in Zone 2, breathe every four strokes, and don’t let technique fall off the wayside. Simply enjoy the water and finish the swim strong, relaxed, and ready for the bike. I’ve always enjoyed swimming with a wetsuit as I love the free buoyancy and speed it provides. I feel like a seal in water!

Bike: This is where it can get tricky for me personally, as there are 112 miles in this segment where everything can go perfectly, or everything can go wrong! I’ve cooked my legs (a way of saying I left them largely unusable for the next discipline) before during the bike, leading to very difficult runs. With that in mind, I know I will need to resist the urge to race early. I’m going to stick to my planned power output – 140 watts – and make a conscious effort to eat and drink my carbohydrate and electrolyte mix every 15 minutes. This is what has worked in training, and I don’t see why it wouldn’t work in race setting. I’ll stop if I need to on the aid stations, but not feel bad if I don’t and push on.

Run: It’s time to tie it all together now! I’m going to basically take on this discipline one aid station at a time. They’re typically one mile apart from each other, so I know that every mile will have an aid station stocked with nutrition and electrolytes if I need them. I’ll try to stick to an average pace of 11:30/mi or better throughout the run, even walking if and when I have to. Ultimately, it will be about moving forward – never stopping from moving forward.

Audibles: Unplanned things happen, and a perfectly perfect race day (in my experience) is rare. I think endurance is about managing and then adapting to thrive in the chaos of long hours and distances, not avoiding it. So, if anything does come up, I’ll take it as it comes and cross that bridge if and when we get there!

The IRONMAN Texas Red Carpet – This Is What It All Comes Down To

I still very vividly remember the last mile of my first IRONMAN last year. It was painful. It was euphoric. It was emotional. It was – really, all of the above. The last mile was accompanied by a flood of emotions that overwhelmed me. I thought of the hundreds of hours, the countless 4AM wake up calls, the late evening brick workouts, the weekend 5 hour rides followed by 2-hour runs – then doing my best to be present with family before jumping into school work. It all, everything, came down to this last mile. I had the biggest, largest smile on my face as I ran down the IRONMAN red carpet. I can still hear it “Ramses Gonzalez, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!” (I still get goosebumps, what an epic, epic feeling). In that one moment, everything that had lead to it, was absolutely and totally worth it. I’m ready for it again.

Finishing this race, at least for me, means proving to myself I can still do hard things, even with what life throws my way. I trained, showed up, and raced an IRONMAN while being a dad, husband, graduate student (with better grades than my college years to be honest!) and a full-time professional. It also shows my kids, my family, my friends, and hopefully other aspiring athletes what the power of consistency and simply showing up can do.

A Few Parting Thoughts

IRONMAN racing isn’t for pros or elites only. Honestly, with a willingness to train, show up, face fear and uncertainty, and keep moving forward, anyone can do it. Like the IRONMAN motto says, “anything is possible”. I truly believe it.

If you’re reading this post and wondering if you’re capable of finishing an IRONMAN yourself, allow me to be the first to tell you that the answer is YES! It’s not easy, and it’s not always pretty, but it’s absolutely possible.

After this race, I think I’ll take a month off to rest, with maybe a race or two sprinkled in for fun and to keep the body moving. For now though, my sights, efforts, and thoughts are all set on April 26th. I will line up at the swim start with all the nerves and emotions that come with a race like this. I’ve been here before, and I’ll be here again. No matter what, I’ll keep moving forward.

Thank You

As always, I truly appreciate you taking the time to read my blog posts. I hope this is helpful and informative in whatever stage of training or racing you find yourself in.

Let me know in the comments if you have any thoughts, questions, training struggles, or personal race goals. I’d truly love to hear them and talk about them too!

Fortitudine Vincimus

triathlon_ram