Background

Ironman Maryland (IMMD) was never a race I intended to do.  However, due to multiple Covid19 deferrals it is where I ended up.  IMMD was the second full distance race I completed in 2022 with IMWC St. George being the first in May.  This was the first full distance race I have traveled to alone and this was the furthest I have traveled from home since the pandemic began! 

Goals:  Since 2019 IMFL my goal has been to go Sub 10 in a full Ironman.  A long time ago I decided the best way to get there was a 1:10 swim, 5:05 bike, and 3:30 run.

Training and Preparation 

You could say I prepared for this race for years and that is the mindset I went in with.  At the end of 2021 I was not in a good place training wise, as I recently sold my house, got married, and moved across the state. I was still averaging 20 hours a week but felt really poorly while doing it.  I had recently quit with my 2nd coach and was excited to self coach.

Coming into 2022 I took a different mindset, I was going to do whatever I wanted and see what happened. My first event of the year was a half marathon race.  I was shooting  for a 1:26 but surprised myself with a 1:21:18.  The next race was my second ever open marathon, Cowtown Marathon on Feb 27th. My training for this had been not like you would expect for a traditional marathon build.  I was doing 4 runs a week and about 50 miles on average.  I was training over 20 hours a week mostly through cycling. I ended up breaking 3 hours with a time of 2:59:33.  This effort really took its toll on me as I had not trained with the high mileage necessary to handle the end of a marathon.  Around this time I was invited by Ironman to join IMWC St. George (~10 weeks notice). 

Next up with IM703TX in April.  I hobbled through the run but did a PB time of 4:27 for the 70.3.  Still dealing with marathon legs from Cowtown I turned my attention to St. George.  I had hardly ridden my TT bike and the last quality run I completed was in mid February.   St. George went well considering, I got 207th overall with a time of 10:31.  After this race I took 3 weeks off running and finally was able to shake my Cowtown injury. 

I then turned my attention to IMMD. I started training for IMMD on Friday June 3rd.  My plan was to do three blocks of training of 3 weeks with 1 week easier in between, then a short taper block.   Those weeks generally consisted of 1 hard bike, 1 hard run, 1 long bike, 1 long run and 3-4 swims. I will provide examples of some of the sessions below.  The overall volume of training I maintained was pretty high. I’ve found I respond very well to high volume. Many people have commented I train too much and they may be right but I simply do what feels good. Is it optimal? Who knows but it works!  During the first 2 blocks I was training with my friend Zach who was doing the final preparation for his first full IM race at IM Alaska.

Image: (avg training approx 26+ hours per week, max 29h27m, min 23h48 [taper week 2])

Some examples of workouts I did are shown below.  You can check my strava to see everything I did. https://www.strava.com/athletes/joshuagordon

The first block I did intervals on the run, 1k and 1mi repeats. On the bike mostly tempo and LT2 work.

 

 

 

 

 

In the 2nd block I focused more on my run.  I did the same workout 3 weeks in a row.  WU 1 hour, 30’ tempo, 10’ CD.  You can see the progression below.

 

Image: Run I did 3 weeks in a row (top-oldest to bottom-newest):

 

 

I kept some speed sessions as well

 

 

I was still riding hard and strong.

 

 

The final block I planned to be at altitude (5600ft+).  I traveled to Colorado to stay with my in-laws.  A few key sessions are listed below.  

Image: Over distance ride

Image: Long Runs with Tempo

 

Image: Race Sim Brick

 

 

You may be wondering if I ever swim.  YES!  I typically swim 3 days a week for an average of 10-12000 yards.  Starting in August I switched to 4 days a week and 12-15000 yards. While in Colorado I started open water swimming.  The sessions were easy 1 hour steady swims. I don’t have much to say about swimming as I don’t really enjoy it and just do it because I have to.  I pretty much stopped lap swimming in August and 14 of my last 15 swims have been OWS. 

After returning from Colorado, I took 1 week recovery and entered my final block, the taper block.  During this 2 week block I averaged 24 hours of training and did an OWS 8 times, mostly solo.  I did not do any long or hard runs. 

 

Race Day

Pre Race 

I slept particularly poorly the night before. Lights out by 830pm. Probably slept a few 90 min segments.  I was wide awake at 2am so I just got up.  In the two days prior I had eaten about 1750g of carbohydrates so I really had no appetite, nevertheless I kept eating. The hotel I stayed at was 45 min driving away so I left my hotel around 345am.  T1 opened at 5am.  I pumped my tires, filled my bottles, prepped everything and waited around for the start.

Swim 1:03:15

The water temp was wetsuit legal.  I lined up near the front of the 1:00 - 1:10 group. Based on my St George swim I figured I’d come in around 1:05 again.  All the talk online and in T1 was about jellyfish.  The day I arrived I did try to get stung on purpose by sticking my hand through a few off the pier near IM Village. Nothing really happened so I was not worried.  Every 15 minutes I got stung on my face during the swim. IT HURT but not that badly.  I never actually saw a jellyfish but felt them the whole time in my hands and feet. I got stung once inside my nose and I could feel them part way through the bike but it was not that bad for me.  The swim was 2 laps and I spent the entire lap swimming around people.  Very few people know how to sight properly so I was just swimming right over them and I am not even that fast! Avg HR 171 (97% LT2HR, 88%MHR), 1:29/100.

 

 

T1 

Onto the wetsuit strippers and into the change tent.  The bike-out was all grass, so I ran about 3 min in my bike shoes to my bike. I had a good rack position as an “All World Athlete”.

Bike 4:41:10

I knew based on my final practice ride on Friday it was going to be fast.  I had been averaging 15+ hours a week on the bike for 6 months straight leading into this.  I did a steep taper and only had ridden 2 hours this week prior to the race.  Even the final two weeks I kept my bike volume very high at 14 hrs/week.  Thus my legs felt strong. I had retired my road bike in June and only rode my TT bike and also had completed the 150 mile over distance ride in Colorado (23.6mph avg)  so I knew I would hold position even though IMMD is flat. 

I flew and kept flying.   I only got passed by 1 guy the entire ride. 11th fastest bike of the day. The best part is it felt easy!  I can and will go faster. All the training had paid off.  

I carried three 750ml bottles of nutrition on the bike. Each bottle contained 200g of carbs and 3g of sodium. I consumed all three plus some candy from my bento box.  (130g carbs + 3g sodium)/hour. I took 200mg caffeine at the start of the bike then every 1h45 (600mg total).

AVG HR 159 (90% LT2HR, 82% MHR)

AVG PWR 220, NP 224

AVG SPEED 23.84 mph

AVG CADENCE 68!!! LOL

 

 

T2

We racked our own bikes, I ran to get my run gear, legs felt good, no back issues or leg issues. Put on my shoes and run belt and off I went. I had no idea what place I was in and it didn’t really matter. 

Run 3:25:58

My plan was to run my own race and run 3:25.  In advising others I said “do not go out 15s faster than your goal pace.” I took my own advice.  Legs felt good but did not want to blow up or slow down drastically. In all 3 previous IM’s, I never had walked but usually I would slow down about 1 min per mile from the start to the end in a linear fashion, basically just bonking slowly the entire way. I was determined to not let it happen this time. 

I went through the 1st half in ~1:41:35 (7:46/mi) and the 2nd half in 1:44:20 (7:59/mi).  Not bad, not bad at all!   My legs felt good, my breathing was not labored and so I know I can run faster.  I had planned not to push it too hard because my goal was Sub 10.  I let a few guys pass me and stayed within myself. Very pleased with the execution here.  

I carried 6 PH30 gels and an energy flask with 75g CHO + 2g sodium.  I took 200mg of caffeine every 90min (400mg total).  I took water, ice, and redbull at almost every aid station (missed a few).  (88g carb + 1.1g sodium)/hour.

As I finished my final lap on the 3 lap run course, you run uphill for a bit then turn the corner and it’s all downhill.  This was the moment, the moment I had visualized, the moment I had trained hard for through the entire pandemic and beyond.  I saw the number on the clock and it was 9.  I sprinted for the line not knowing my exact time.  As I got closer I saw it was 9:19 and I had started ~ 1 min after the gun went off.   I finished 11th OA, 6th M35-39. 

I DID IT! I FINALLY F***ING DID IT!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

AVG HR 158 (89% LT2HR, 81% MHR)

AVG Pace: 7:51/mi

AVG POWER (stryd): 275w

 

 

 

Post Race

I got my medal, grabbed some water and left the finish line area and headed back to my car. I changed and dealt with my bike and bags.  I ended up taking over 10k steps after the race had finished just dealing with everything.  I finished up and drove 45min back to the hotel and got there around 8pm.  

Summary and Plans

IMMD was a worthwhile race. IM racing is never cheap nor easy but I had a day that I will never forget.  One week later I am still reveling in my achievement.  

I’v come up with some new goals to help me move forward and I’m looking forward to starting on them sometime very soon.

 

Gear 

• Garmin Forerunner 945

• DeSoto Wetsuit

• Canyon Speedmax 2019 Di2, 55T front ring

• Zipp 404 front, HED rear disc 

• Giro Aerohead

• Garmin Vector 3 Dual

• Garmin Edge 1030+

• Asics Meta Speed Edge+

• Lionel Sanders Headband