Ironman New Orleans Race Report

Mardi Gras, Not the Race Finish, but Close

Just got back from what turned out to be the Ironman 69.1 New Orleans (the 1.2 mile swim was canceled due to high winds), my first race of the year and a good chance to judge my fitness so far.

I was looking forward to being in New Orleans again, having spent a year there in my late teens on an athletic scholarship at Tulane. That was just long enough ago to be more than  a bit sobering and for me not to disclose how long ago that was...but some things never change, and the Big Easy is just the same way I left it many years ago; drive thru daquiri's, take out drinks, gorgeous latin archetecture, jazz everywhere, parties, drunks on the sidewalk, strip bars, palm trees, lazy moorish courtyards,  18th century antiques, fantastic food (although a bit hard to find healthy choices pre-race and definitely the home of fried, fatty, spicy food and simple carbs; case in point, the waiter at Luke's assuring me there is no butter or cream in the grits and bingo, the grits arrive and they are cream of heart disease on a plate, but really, really good)...New Orleans is a fantastic combination of what is best and most profane about life, and a place that everyone who can should visit. It is probably not the best race destination for those prone to austerity or over-seriousness about anything.

beignetes: not your usual pre-race meal

We stayed downtown in what was a converted masonic hall, a beautiful old and quaint building.they played old style jazz in the elevators, which particularly tickled my daughter's fancy. we never felt unsafe. people were friendly and helpful. Favorites for this trip were: Luke's restaurant, the Food court at Riverwalk, the Royal Street cafe (which had a couch for my one year old daughter to laze about on while we had lunch and eclectic music played on the original juke box on the wall), Jackson Square, Rousse's Grocery, red wine in bed , the coffee at Antoine's and that fantastic combination of rich humidity, wind, fine spicy food, and just the right amount of garbage, cigarette smoke and stale alcohol in the air. Not your usual setting for a triathlon.

Stone Masonry in the Lobby of the Hilton St. Charles

The trip started with some stress making our flight and then my bike did not make it there with us. We spent 90 minutes in the airport entertaining my daughter (not actually that hard) waiting for the baggage person just to show up. In the end, the bike did come, 36 hours, and a few millimeters of diastolic pressure increase later ( air canada should apologize to my arteries). All of this made race prep alot more lax than usual. Two runs by feel alone (i kept forgetting to wear my watch, blame it on NOLA!), and a short bike ride. I suppose you count several miles of walking in the French Quarter carrying my daughter on my shoulders  as race warm up also... but that was to much fun. I really did not feel like I was at a race, and that was good in most ways.

the most inconvenient part of the race was the fact that transition was a 20 minute drive from downtown which made dropping and picking up the bike a pain, and also complicated getting to the race site in the morning. this would not stop me from going back though. 

Race day: everyone was talking about the water and how it would make us all vomit. well, race morning was windy windy windy and cold.  i caught a ride up to the race with a really nice couple from indianapoulos (thanks randy) and we were a little let down to be greeted by various athletes telling us the swim had been canceled.

what ensued was a long wait, several pees, a few short jogs, and a headache waiting for the time trial start of the now half ironman duathlon. lots of good tunes though. sabbath. free. zeppelin. squeeze. saw lots of pros also; dibens, bozzone, bockel, mckenzie, rhoads...kept things interesting.

Bike: a little cold at first. quickly warmed up. it was windy as hell. the course was quite beautiful to start, riding beside lake ponchartrain, which is more like an ocean in appearance. the scenery quickly gets quite ugly, industrial, even slummy, before heading onto a highway (yes, a dream of mine come true, biking on an actual freeway, past a derelict amusement park, cool).
the first half was full of brutal headwinds. the second half was like flying.  the course is mostly flat with several small bridges in the first part and at the end. not the most beautiful bike course. the roads are quite bumpy and not the best quality for most of the course. it was not swept and there were plenty of opportunities to flat, although i did not see too many people pulled over.  not the most rewarding for personal best times, given the wind this year. i put out my best watts ever at this distance but was still two minutes slower than my best bike time.

me on the pretty part of the bike

Run: what the bike lacks in terms of scenery, the run makes up for. it starts beside the lake and then meanders past million dollar homes, and beside a waterway before going into a long sojourn through audobon park.  i was running like hermes for the first 7k, my shoes were wings and then reality set in and i started to suffer a bit. no negative split here. i held on pretty strong with a couple brutal splits in the last 3rd, but still was able to PR for the distance in a half ironman...not bad.


there were plenty of aid stations along the way and they were all well stocked with sponges, water, gatorade, food, ice etc. there were also lots of people cheering most of the way.
the best part of the run was coming into the old city and turning a corner and there is the french quarter there in front of you. suddenly you are running past centuries old buildings on cobbly roads and there are hundred of people cheering you on, police on every corner, horses, jazz music, a melange of color, sound and excitement. definitely the most exciting finishing chute i have ever run.

high energy finishing chute

overall: a great experience. new orleans is loads of fun. it does take some discipline to remind yourself you are there to race and not to party! at least for me it did. the race was well organized. it was a bit inconvenient getting to the race site but other than that, everything went real smooth. expect high winds and so even though the course is mostly flat you may not get your best bike time. i would recommend this race to anyone. would i go back? yes...but there are so many other places to race!

 not a fanstastic day for me, but a solid first out fitness test. the least serious i have ever felt at a race, but the most fun i have had, and also a fair scoup of suffering on the run to remind me it was half ironman race. my best combined bike/run time, top 15% overall out of 2200 people and top 15% in my age group (which had over 300 men), so not too bad for a start to the year.

"LAISSEZ LES BON TEMPS ROULEZ"