2023 Ironman Texas Race Report
On April 22, 2023 I participated in my first Ironman race. I decided to do an Ironman because it was a completely new type of challenge. This wasn’t just about endurance. This was about learning new skills within a short period of time and testing those new skills under difficult conditions.
I already had experience with running after doing a few ultras. The swim and the bike were completely foreign to me. I first got into a pool to learn how to swim freestyle about 9 months ago. I could barely get across the pool at that point. About 9 months ago I also bought my first road bike and learned how to ride with cleats and gears. It was a tough learning process, but I managed to figure it out with a little hard work and consistency.
The Course
Ironman Texas takes places in the lively downtown area of Woodlands, Texas. The course is composed of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and 26.2 mile run. I chose this location due to the timing of the race. I am getting married in September 2023 so I did not want this conflicting with any wedding planning closer to the wedding day (it would be stress overload).
I also chose this location because it’s a beginner friendly course. The swim is in a lake so I don’t have to deal with chopping waves. The bike is fairly flat, but it comes with it’s own challenges such as strong head winds. The run is also flat and spectator friendly. No Ironman is easy, but I felt like I had a fair shot at this one.
Race Goals
Goal A: Finish the race
Goal B: Finish the race in less than 14 hours
Goal C: Finish the race in less than 13 hours
Expected Swim Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Expected Bike Time: 7 hours
Expected Run Time: 4 hour 30 minutes
Expected Total Time: 13-14 hours, including transition times
Race Morning
My alarm went off at 3:00 AM. I ate a packet of oatmeal and a banana. I consumed 900 mg of sodium through my drink because I knew it was going to be a hot day. The weather forecast called for a low of 53ºF and high of 80ºF with very sunny skies. I was mentally prepared for it to feel closer to 90ºF by mid-afternoon.
Rachel and I left the hotel at 4:45 AM and proceed to walk 1.4 miles to the transition area to finalize a few things for my race prep. Most of the race prep, such as check-in, athlete briefing, bag drop off, and bike drop off, was done in the previous days.
We left the transition area and walked another mile to the start of the swim. I got there early enough to relax and focus on the day ahead. As we approached our start time of 6:40 AM, I put on my wetsuit, cap, and goggles. I gave Rachel a kiss and made my way to the long line at the swim start.
The Swim - 01:24:40
I seeded myself around the 1:30 expected finish time. There were a lot of faster swimmers in front of me. We were being released into the water every five seconds in groups of four athletes. By the time I reached the start it was 7:15 AM.
I carefully observed how the other athletes entered the water and began their swim. I did not have the opportunity to do an open water swim in a lake during my training so this was completely new to me. If I were to fail in this race, then it would be during the swim.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and go. I made my way towards the water with two thoughts in my head. The first thought was to stay calm and treat the beginning of the swim as a warm up just like my coach recommended. The second thought was to not swallow water.
The water was fairly warm at 72 ºF and murky as expected. Within two minutes of swimming, I swallowed some water. Dang. I proceeded to focus on building a rhythm with my strokes and working into a relaxed and efficient form. I found a comfortable pace until I started to run into other people, who were swimming slower than me. Either they seeded themselves too fast or I was swimming too fast. I kept moving along at a comfortable pace until we hit the first turn.
The first turn at about 0.85 miles was under an arch, which created a bottle neck issue. I had to stop swimming several times so other swimmers could merge in front of me. Once I got through the arch, I found myself swimming with people matching my pace. A few times I would bump into somebody and slightly change direction only to bump into another person. I sped up to get ahead of the crowd and it was a smooth swim until I hit the canal section.
The last 0.85 miles was a section of the swim known as the “washing machine.” The canal was narrow so there were a lot of splashes and waves caused by the congestion of the swimmers. I did get my head pushed in the water and kicked a couple of times. I decided to pick up the pace here to get through this section and make my way out of the water. The cool thing was looking up and seeing people lined up right next to the canal. The cheering spectators definitely gave me an adrenaline boost.
I made my way to the swim exit. I went up the stairs with very wobbly legs, but the volunteers were there to assist me. They held my arms and zipped down my wet suit. Then I stumbled over to some other volunteers who helped me pull my tight wetsuit off. With my wetsuit, swim cap and goggles in my hands, I made my way over to transition in an awkward run walk combination.
Transition One - 00:10:23
I entered the large white tent to find a bunch of seats on muddy grounds. Some people were putting on their bike gear quickly while others were still regaining focus after the long swim. I took my time drying my feet and putting on my bike gear just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. I then sprayed sunscreen on my neck for the long sunny bike ride and boom. It felt like a hot knife slicing my neck. I had some really bad chaffing on my neck from the wetsuit. They looked like curling iron burns. I took a second to collect myself. I used the bathroom and then I grabbed my bike to start the longest part of the race.
The Bike - 06:34:31
I was so relieved that my legs came back to life after the swim. I did not want to be that person who has trouble getting on their bike and ends up toppling over. It’s not very Ironman-ish. I clipped in and pushed my pedals forward. And so, I began my longest ride ever.
There were a few objectives for the bike. The most important thing was to stick to my nutrition plan. This meant consuming my gels, waffles, hydration drinks and salt right on schedule. If I didn’t get this right, then it would destroy my run.
Also, I wanted to keep myself cool. At ever aid station, I planned to grab the first water bottle that was handed to me, empty it all over myself, and then toss the water bottle in the trash area all within a matter of seconds.
Lastly, I wanted to keep my upper body relaxed. During my long practice rides, the muscles around my left shoulder-blade would get really tight and result in sharp pains. This happened because my left hand did a lot of the bike stabilizing while my ride hand was dealing with the nutrition.
I divided the ride into four parts: 20 mile backroads, first 40 mile lap, second 40 mile lap, and the final 12 mile stretch.
The first 20 miles were along a parkway and some local roads. I thought of this as a warm up. I really enjoyed this part of the course because there were spectators along the road and shade from the trees. The sun was shining bright, which meant a higher possibility of overheating. A little shade went a long way.
The first 40 mile lap was a mix of pain and pleasure. The first 20 miles going south were full of head-winds and a few crosswinds. I was expecting this based on a few race reports from previous years. Luckily, the heads-winds were not terrible, but they definitely slowed me down. I made sure to pace myself. As I approached the turn around point at mile 20 of the ride, I was not happy because I knew I had to do that again. Luckily, the 20 miles going north were a lot more fun because of the tailwind. I felt like I was cruising. There were no complaints there!
The second 40 mile lap was tougher, but I also pushed harder. I had a lot of energy in reserve and I was staying on top of my nutrition. The legs were feeling great and the body was staying cool. Everything was according to plan. Then I started to see athletes on the side of the road with flat tires. This turned into my biggest worry. I kept a close eye on the road to avoid any potholes or bumps that could pop my tire. I also saw a two separate ambulances helping riders who crashed into each other. People were getting tired and it was getting dangerous. I wanted to get off the highway so I pushed harder on the way back north. I passed a lot of people towards the end of the second lap. My average speed going south against the winds was 14.5 mph and going north with the tailwind was 22 mph.
The last 12 mile section was an easy ride through the local streets. Once I reached mile 100 I started to get a little emotional. I survived the swim and was close to finishing the bike ride. I was doing this. I was actually doing this! I approached the end of the bike course and dismounted my bike. I spotted Rachel in the crowds. All I could manage to tell her was that my butt was numb and made my way to transition two.
Transition Two - 00:09:25
After leaving my bike with a volunteer and grabbing my run bag, I went back into the white tent to change. I put on my running shoes, hat, hand water bottle, running sunglasses, and sunscreen. I also ate some stomach medicine tablets because all the gels were starting to create a little bit of discomfort. I walked out of that tent ready to crush the marathon.
The Run - 03:50:39
The run was composed of three 8.5 mile laps. I went in with a plan to run for 9 minutes and walk for 1 minute. This would help my heart rate stay low and my body cool. That’s how I started the first lap. My legs felt strong so I held an 8:15-8:30 min/mi pace on the run portion of the intervals intervals. I was having a great time as you can see by the pictures. I knew the pain was coming, but I enjoyed this first faster lap. I finished the first lap with an 8:40 min/mi pace.
The second lap started to get a little tougher. It was getting hotter with temperatures in the low 80s. At each aid station (about 1 mile apart) I poured 2-3 cups of cold water on my body and stuffed ice under my hat to keep cool. I continued with my plan of consuming gels and salt until I felt my stomach talk back to me. I started to get abdominal cramps and knew if I ate more gels that I would get sick and vomit. I decided to pause the gels and try some food at the aid stations. I tried some chips, pretzels, and bananas. That held me well through the second lap.
By the beginning of the third lap, my legs finally started to feel heavy. Luckily, my old posterior tibial tendon injury was not bothering me at all. I was surprised my legs held up for this long. I had a rough lap ahead of me. I knew this was going to be painful. This was the challenge I was looking for.
On the last lap, I changed the intervals to 6 or 7 minute run and 1 minute walk. I also walked the aid stations and ran any slight downhills. I was pushing the limits on what my stomach could handle. If I ate too much, I would end up with stomach pain. If I ate too little, then I would run out of energy quickly. I saw this occur on separate occasions with other runners on the third lap. One man running a few yards in front of me stopped to violently puke on the side of the road. His stomach wasn’t happy. Another man collapsed near an aid station and got medical attention right away. He probably didn’t get enough calories and water in his body. I did not want to end up like those guys. I just listened to my body and ate when it asked me to.
In the last 4 miles, I decided to drink some Redbull to give me a boost (thanks for the tip Ryan). During this time I thought of all the work I did to get to this moment. I thought of Rachel at the finish line. I thought of my Ironman medal. My mind stayed occupied as the adrenaline pushed me forward. I ended up averaging an 8:20 pace in those last four miles. As I made the exit from the loop course towards the finish line, I felt nothing but joy.
The Finish Line - 12:09:36
I slowed down as I approached the finish line because I wanted to soak it all in. The crowds were cheering and clapping. Then I heard the announcer say, “Freddy Aguero, you are an Ironman.” I crossed the finish line feeling strong and with a big smile on my face. I knew all the hard training helped me get to this point. I successfully completed an Ironman race. I was also very happy with my final time, which was almost 2 hours less than my projected finish time. I could not have asked for a better first Ironman experience.
Post-race Recovery
Right after the finish line I was walking just fine. My legs were tired but I had no aches or pains. I met with Rachel and we walked over to Ironman Village with my bike to have it shipped back to New York. I used Tribike Transit for this service. They made it so easy! I highly recommend them. Another tent in the village had food and drinks waiting for the athletes. My stomach felt fine by then so I ate two slices of pizza and a chicken burrito. After that I was able to drive home with no issues.
The day after the race I got out of bed and felt like the Tin Man from Wizard of Oz. My legs were stiff, but no pain anywhere. I was especially concerned about my posterior tibial tendon being aggravated from the running, but that held up surprisingly well. I performed some hip mobility exercises to loosen me up.
Two days after the race I was feeling more fluid and mobile. However, the leg muscles felt more sore, but not bad at all. I have experienced worse soreness with tough leg weightlifting workouts.
Three days after the race the muscle soreness started to subside and the body felt good. However, I was dealing with two issues. First, I had a wetsuit burn on my neck. I did not realize that my wetsuit was rubbing against my neck for 1.5 hours. It left a nasty burn mark.
I was more concerned with the tip of my pointer finger on my left hand. It was numb. I think it was carpal tunnel from the long bike ride. I was using my left hand to stabilize the bike while I ate and drank with my left. It lasted for several months.
Important Thank You
I wanted to say a big thank you to Coach Ryan. I originally started this training with a program I found online. Ryan was giving me a lot of tips and helpful swim exercises tailored to my inexperienced position. He was such a great help that I decided to hire him as my coach. Without his guidance, I don’t think I would have crossed that finish line under 14 hours.
The volunteers at the event were amazing. Throughout my race report I mentioned how they helped me during the transitions and aid stations. It’s incredible that so many people are willing to volunteer their time to help others succeed. Thank you to all the volunteers!
A big thank you to all my family, friends and subscribers. You followed my training from the first swim in the pool to the moment I crossed the finish line. All the supportive messages along the way were greatly appreciated.
Lastly, a very special thank you to Rachel. She put up with a lot during my training. So much time was consumed, especially on the weekends. I had to go to bed early every night even if that meant leaving a party early. I was usually tired and recovering from my workouts so I wasn’t much fun in general. She also did a great job of tracking me around on race day. She did about 35,000 steps that day. Almost as much as me!