By Dr. Kevin Le, DPT | Physical Therapist & Endurance Coach at APEX PWR, Tigard, OR
Hey everyone!
It’s Kevin, your resident endurance athlete and physical therapist at APEX PWR.
I just got back from racing Ironman California in Sacramento on Sunday, October 19. I haven’t taken a whole week off of work during my 3+ years as a PT! And here I was, going on a “vacation” to, once again, make myself very very tired with another big race.
For those who don’t know, an Ironman consists of swimming 2.4 miles (a modest downriver current in Sacramento), biking 112 miles, and running a marathon–26.2 miles back to back. It’s a long day for sure.
This is my third time going to Ironman California. In 2022, I crashed and needed surgery for my collarbone. In 2023, I made poor pacing decisions and struggled in a torrential downpour during the run. 3rd time is the charm.
I felt great the few days before the race, relaxed and enjoying the California warmth. Here’s what the three days pre-race looked like.
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday
Here’s a highlight:
Up at 3:50am with the race start at 7am. I force down some oats and coffee. Nobody is ever hungry at four in the morning. We arrive at the transition area, where we keep all of our biking and running gear to change from sport to sport. I pump up my tires, put bottles on my bike, and check everything one last time before walking to the buses that take over 2500 athletes to the swim start.
Our bus hit a curb and blew a tire. 40 minutes before the start of the race, our bus was on the side of the road with 40 athletes not knowing what to do. A great start to the day!
Thankfully, an empty bus came to rescue us within 10 minutes. I arrived at the start line with just a few minutes to spare. Wetsuit, goggles, cap, and BOOM–the cannon fires. I was in the first 50 athletes to enter the water.
It’s still fairly dark as I swam my way downriver toward transition. I passed quite a few people in the water and felt comfortable until the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers. It was suddenly freezing.
I shook off the temperature change and continued to work. 47 minutes later, I climbed out of the river in 54th place with numb feet and ran through crowds of spectators to my bike. I had one of the faster swim-to-bike transitions and started the bike in 27th place.
Patience and pacing is the name of the game for the rest of the day. I mentally divided the two loop bike course into four sections–be patient and steady the first quarter heading south when winds are calm. Pick it up slightly in the second quarter with a slight tailwind heading north. Be strongest in the 3rd quarter heading back south into the stronger headwind. Relax slightly coming home north with a stronger tailwind and get ready to run. My goal was to take in 2300 calories (575g of carbs) and 4-5 liters of water.
Section 1 was relatively smooth sailing. I found myself in a group of four guys 5 miles into the bike, and they were riding too closely together for my comfort. It’s against rules to ride within 12 meters of another athlete, and I did not want to risk getting a penalty. I put in a surge once we turned onto a 3 mile section of extremely bumpy pavement, and I never saw them again. I rode the rest of section 1 solo with the next group of cyclists visible in the distance.
Section 2–a group of 5 caught up to me. They were working together legally–all spaced 12 meters apart. There is a slight advantage riding 12 meters behind another cyclist, as they break the air for you. I rode slightly harder than comfortable for 10 miles to stay with the group, but we made quick work of the rest of section 2.
Section 3–I let the group go, as they began to push harder than I wanted to. It’s always a gamble. Do I take the risk of pushing harder to stay with a group and ride faster or ride my own race but move a little slower? Patience, I said to myself. I rode most of section 3, into the wind, solo again, making sure to keep the power up to maintain my speed into the wind.
Section 4–was fast with the tailwind back into town. I’m getting tired, my back is aching. The bumpy sections of pavement are more jarring than ever. I made sure to finish all my calories and hydrate well before the run. I finished the bike in 4:30–24.8mph average and in 19th place. Thirteen minutes faster than last time!
It’s always a relief to get off the bike and stretch out the legs. The daunting task of the day lay ahead though, running 26.2 miles to the finish line. It’s also 80 degrees, much warmer than it has been in Portland for the past few weeks.
Patience. I started at an easyish effort. With only 18 athletes ahead of me, the course was silent. The only commotion came from the aid stations. The miles clicked away at roughly 7:10 per mile.
At mile 10, things start to get hard. My mind goes negative, not wanting to ever do another Ironman. At mile 16, I thought it’d be easier to quit and step off the course rather than deal with the feelings of defeat. Who cares about my racing anyway? My partner yelled at me, “harden the &@*# UP!” And so I did.
I didn’t give up. I kept looking for the next aid station. The next aid station. Where’s the next aid station? Splashing myself with ice water and drinking coke seemed to give me enough to get to the next aid station. My stomach was heavy trying to eat 400 calories an hour while running. My left hamstring is ready to seize, my left knee aches, my toenails are stinging. Don’t give up. Think about my friends and family supporting me on course.
Eventually, the last mile rolled around, and tears started to form in my eyes. 3:15:30–7:26/mile.
15th place overall, 8:41:30. 19 minutes faster than two years ago even with a much slower river current.
It’s been a dream or life goal to race the world championship in Hawaii. Unfortunately, with the new qualification system, I just missed out on a slot. I’m happy with the time and result, bummed that I didn’t qualify. I’m proud that I never gave up, executed my race fairly well, and didn’t slow drastically. What’s next, I’m not sure! But I’m taking a short break for now before deciding if I do another Ironman next year to try to qualify for the world champs in 2027.
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