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.

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

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