Ironman Jacksonville Review

# Great guest include 2nd place male pro Chad Bykerk Jill Bartholomew and first timer Andrew Dremak

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

training peaks. But anyway, I'm happy to be here and talk about um this first time race. I want to hear first I'm gonna I'm gonna jump in with with Chad um who had an an incredible day 706. I mean I how in the world do you do that my friend? And I want to talk about the course and I want to talk about the event and every and what went on and what you guys liked and what you think could be fixed because you know every every first Iron Man race can have its difficulties. Chad how are you and congratulations I let him in already there you are yeah that's okay we've it's been we've been through a lot of that today um so um with me on on the podcast is uh Andrew Dramack did I say that right andrew did I say that right Draymack okay and coach Jill Bartholomew who is who is uh who's been coaching tracking track for a while and she is well yes I am um so chad I think first thing I want to do is I want to get your feedback on the course and congratulate you on what one in a uh 706 is just uh on un otherworldly um so you you must have enjoyed the course yeah you know it was it was a great course uh this was my tenth Iron Man so I've had a little bit of uh variety in terms of the courses that I've had the pleasure of doing thus far and to be blunt I mean I thought Jacksonville was going to be a faster course than it was um no it's certainly a fast course but I would kind of someone that's that's done you know like an Ironman Texas I think it was actually a harder harder day uh than than a Texas course I found even though the bike was was fairly flat and fast it was still very challenging and very exposed in the heat and then the wind brought itself some new challenges as well so uh all in all I thought the race was very dynamic a very honest course um you know across all three disciplines I started the swim up at the front and um you know was ironically was was not downriver for us.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

I mean uh I think we started with a bit of current going the opposite way. Um if anything you know uh we had neutral current or current swimming against us because I'm normally a 51 52 minute swimmer and uh swim a 55 there. So uh now if you got in the water later the current certainly started picking up and changing the other direction. So uh that was definitely hopefully a benefit for those entering the water a little bit later. But those that jumped in at 730 uh certainly did not reap the rewards of it you know being a downriver swim. I do think this did suit the the the guys competing for overall though because a lot of those guys seat themselves right in the front and ultimately gave me a kind of a leg up being a strong swimmer at least from an overall perspective and getting on the bike in a in a good position leading the race. So uh yeah I thought the swim was was challenging um it also wasn't a straight swim so we kind of had to navigate a little bit in terms of zigzagging and and sighting the buoys properly um which you know I I found pretty interesting there was there was a nice kind of uh rowing boat that was leading the the front swim so I I was kind of lucky enough hey I'm just gonna focus on them and site that but it it was certainly a little bit challenging and I'm curious to maybe hear uh for from some other athletes that started further back with that dynamic of the current pushing you down how that was with with sighting the buoys and making sure you're taking a good line to the buoys so overall I I I thought the the swim was very fair. The transition T1 was pretty straightforward but fairly lengthy run into T1. The bike um took a little bit you know in terms of just getting out of town but as soon as you cross over the bridge just a very straightforward bike course from someone that's riding you know over in Los Angeles I found the roads to be impeccable. I mean great road conditions all throughout Jacksonville. The asphalt was fast it was flat uh very good rolling resistance across the course but we had a we had a quite a big headwind going out and um you know that I think zapped a lot of people's energy in terms of once they actually started that that loop so the headwind was was fairly significant I think about 10 miles per hour nothing too bad but definitely slowed you down. And then once you got to that loop it it really started heating up and there was just no cloud cover out there. So I found it to be you know someone that's raced Kona twice now very very similar conditions to a Kona course in terms of the heat and so uh then then doing the the the double loop I found uh the first loop was very straightforward since I was kind of leading the race didn't have anyone to really um you know have to have to zigzag through or anything like that. Pedro and I were neck and neck we were just kind of riding you know together and uh then the second loop started and that's when you know I think there was a little bit of mayhem but it's pretty typical on a loop course you know you're you're passing other athletes but at times you know there were scars in the actual lane that we were riding so uh they were a little bit impeding our progress where hey maybe I'm going 28 miles an hour I need to slow down on the brakes make sure this car sees me pass it and then and then carry on. So there were a few instances like that um but I would say for someone that's used to riding through a ton of traffic in Los Angeles was very much the norm in terms of what I'm used to riding. I just wanted to make sure that those drivers saw me coming and that I was being safe and once I passed we were able to carry on our way. So uh it wasn't too bad. I think the police overall did a good way a good job of directing traffic. I think there's just a few nuances where cars were confused which lane they would be in and they weren't they should have been in the left lane when they were in the right lane. So um I'd say that was maybe the the one nuance uh with the bike course um and then as soon as we started kind of heading back on the second loop uh into town mile 80 that's where I could see Pedro was struggling a little bit um and I had a little bit of a descent coming down a freeway overpass so I put in a big effort to try to create a gap uh for Pedro and and uh lucky enough finally kind of snapped the line and and was able to do some damage riding home uh you know uh back into to T2. So overall it was a great bike course certainly not as fast. I was hoping to ride like a 415 there. I think ended up riding right around a 423. So still a very fast course uh but definitely very difficult in its own right and you know I find these flat courses challenging in different ways you're kind of just holding that aggressive arrow position all day where the only relief you got is when you're coming up those freeway overpasses and every time I hit one I was like oh yes I can finally pop out an arrow and relax a little bit. So I think that was certainly a challenge. And heading into the the run I mean I love the run course it was beautiful just out on the river walk. I I just want to say like the community of Jacksonville really impressed me in just terms of how they showed up for this race. It was uh a great showcase of just community support and spectator support out there. I was able to kind of get a gap uh when I started the run and knew I was you know had about a three and a half minute gap on Pedro which I knew how good of a a runner he was and so it was kind of like hey how how long can I fend him off or can I hold this the whole marathon so uh I I you know did a pretty good job I think through mile one through 20 and then the wheels started kind of falling off for me the last 10k with GI issues. Unfortunately I just had to finally pop inside a porta potty at you know mile 23 of the race and that's that's when uh he he came by so I was hoping once I cleared that I I could catch up but uh unfortunately when I stopped running uh to go to the use the restroom my uh my legs just locked up you know so um for the listeners sometimes in an Iron Man the best thing you can do is just keep moving um I think just sitting down for you know 45 60 seconds is all my body needed to completely just lock up and start cramping so at that point it was kind of damage control I was like hey maybe I can reel him in but I'm just gonna do my best to hang on and fight till the end. So hats off to Pedro I think he he raced an incredible race. It's uh you know uh I would say from a tactical execution point uh I didn't know he was a former professional but it doesn't surprise me I mean the guy was so tactical sitting in on the swim sitting in on the bike conserving his energy to just run an impeccable marathon in the heat so uh hats off to him I mean uh just a great racer great competitor great sportsman so all in all I I I love the course um you know I I I'm maybe interested in coming back next year depending on how things go I'm thinking about potentially taking my my pro card but USAT uh did change their qualification standard for US athletes this year so although I've qualified in the past I do need to punch my my ticket in terms of getting my license again and so that'll require uh definitely some some more uh superior race performances in in my near term well great i'm gonna i'm I'm gonna ask Jill and and and Andrew now both to to give their feedback from the amateur perspective age group coach and and it was Andrew's first Iron Man.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

So it'll be interesting to hear um uh overall and and what you all think they can do better next year what they did great obviously you love the course but what they did great and what you think they could fix for next year um I'd be really interested in hearing that so I'm gonna unmute you guys well at first Chad congratulations I remember you passing me on the run and I was like those two guys are smoking it and I remember one of you was asking the the guy on the bike what the gap was between you and the guy I think it was you between you and the guy in front of you and was very unhappy with the answer.

SPEAKER_03 10:56

So that that was that was my takeaway from from the race watching you go right past me. I thought it was a great race uh I've done Texas and I I totally agree with what Chad said like comparing it to Texas. Um I actually found it to be more challenging uh just with the heat and managing the heat it's like you go into Texas and like you expect a lot of things and the aid stations are actually closer there than they were they were 15 miles on this course at Texas they're 10. So like they're they're really prepared for it. And talking to the locals it sounded like the heat was unexpectedly hot and they weren't really quite prepared for it to be as bad as it was. I also started near the front I my start time was at 733 and I was expecting a nice current assist and my swim ended up being pretty much exactly the same as a normal I am swim. It was like 109. So like not in the slow camp not in the fast camp uh on that it it felt like for me about halfway through maybe it started picking up a little bit but at the beginning it felt like we were kind of swimming uphill a bit. Andrew I don't know when you started if you kind of felt the same. I heard that the later you started the more assist you got.

SPEAKER_01 12:18

So I was back and forth on if I wanted to wear a white suit or not and then being my first one I'm in no I think it's I I think it's interesting when you talk about the zigzag and I say you should you obviously have never become Lake Placid where you're going on everyone swimming on that line all the way around and and if if you if you're not a one fifteen or slower or or faster swimmer it's you get to just swim over the entire swim. It's pretty interesting so I'm I'm gonna ask you all all that question um I'm gonna go back I'll I'll start with you and Chad and and and if you follow up Andrew I I've been getting a a lot of messages from people on Jackson Jackson age age and and uh it's it seems that it it seems that um a lot of the age groupers weren't crazy about the traffic on the on the on the bike course and I'd like I'd like to hear you know it you always you always have to remember that it's different from the seven hour guy tie to the 16 hour guy guy right and and the whole race experience is different. And and so I'm kind of interested to hear what you now what you think you guys could fix or or suggest to fix that would just make the race even better than it was.

SPEAKER_03 16:02

So I saw I think I saw like four cars and I I ended up passing them. I didn't think it was a big deal but I could see like as the day got later um I think the expectation to go into any road race any cycling race of their the roads being a hundred percent closed I the only course I think I've ever raced on that was completely closed was Kona. Right. And even that's not completely closed the Queen K is like half open um what I saw was drivers not knowing how to behave around cyclists and being like very cautious. And I think that caution caused them to slow down because we're you know one lane each direction it's a double yellow road in your head as a driver you're like ah I can't pass because I'm supposed to treat the cyclist as another vehicle but the reality is like yeah you're allowed to pass bikes like you just have to do so safely. And that's what I didn't really see was like you know cars passing when they could have um and as a result you ended up having cyclists passing cars on their left which I think made the problem worse or people just getting very frustrated sitting behind the cars. It sounds like from the same same Facebook pages, right? It sounds like communication was the problem. And there's a lot of like finger pointing going on right now, I think but it it just sounds like people weren't aware it was happening. And like we saw that they sent out flyers to everyone along the route. So how that how that could be is a mystery but you know I think it's communication communication communication right in in events like this. And it's the first time they did it we we have to expect growing pains. And I I saw a lot of chat like locally of you know residents going back and forth like you know saying things like I was kind of against this because I sat in three hours of traffic but then I saw that $10 million entered our economy and like yeah bring it back next year please so I think there's there's a little bit of that like we were inconvenienced but now like they need to figure out like was the inconvenience worth it so I did almost see someone getting nicked almost nicked I was like one of the things we were we were talking about like earlier was um when you're on these courses it's like it's really easy to get like really like you know laser focused on what you're doing but you're still on a public road and there's still dangers and people still do stupid stuff and you still need to be defensive. Like accidents happen but you know some of some of what's out there is like if you're riding on cones you know we've all been on courses where bad people drive across the cones because people do stupid stuff. So like you still have to be defensive.

SPEAKER_01 20:04

Yeah you know I've done two first year um Ironman I lived in Boulder when when the town finally stopped fighting um Iron Man after 30 years and let them do a race there. And trust me the people in Boulder were not happy about it. You know Boulder Boulder has Boulder has some kind of triathlon or a race every weekend and they did not want Iron Man in there at all. And but I but finally Iron Man negotiated a contract with him and they had the race and I have to say you you you cannot believe how unsupported the town was of the uh of the event and and then the other one I did in North Carolina when they took it over from beach to battleship and just the opposite you know the streets of of of Wilmington were just you know lined with people all day because they were used to beach to battleship you know they'd had a race there. And it's um and unfortunately it happened the day after the hurricane and and um they had to cut the that cut the bike ride a little short but um I I just think yeah you know and everyone says people and we had we were talking earlier Jill everyone says to people in Placid a race I've done a couple of times and I put camps on up there every summer and the people downtown Lake Placid love the race because it is the largest revenue generating week of the year and that includes ski season. But when you get down the bottom of a keen descent you're down where there's no one making any money because no there's no there's no hotels down there, there's no restaurants down there and by the time you get out into J the the the crowd just gets a little bit angry and angry and then there's no one um and I think I think that's one thing that that that in my opinion um as athletes first of all I I totally agree with you guys when you you know you go into a race focused you know who who the heck cares what's going on with the town right you gotta go into race focused and your eyes have to be in front of you the entire time um I just think it's important for us um the weekly Leading up to the race and the days after the race when you stay in town, we that we do more to support the town. You know, it's uh I I know I see some people, and and again, I'm in class it every year for the race, and and I see some you know some people just not acting really well, you know, after the race is over. And uh that that that can upset people. It's uh and I think as a whole, you know, I always I always tell my athletes when you get done with the race, make sure they walk around town to thank the people in the stores that were supportive of the race. And um, because you know, you you you want to come back next year with a great attitude. Chad, anything you think you could fix?

SPEAKER_02 22:37

Yeah, you know, I do have a few thoughts. I mean, I think relative to Iron Man's start times, right? I thought we started maybe a little bit later uh than we could have, given hey, it is a hotter race, right? Uh now I I do realize some of the intricacies with that, having to shuttle everyone up, right? And then a little bit earlier of a start time. So perhaps easier said than done. The other thing Iron Man probably was thinking is looking at the tides and you know, making sure that it's it's not you know uh an upriver swim. So that that easily could have had something to do with it, but right, starting things a little bit earlier could help with some of that heat management. Um traffic control, I do think, right, could could always be a little bit improved, but overall, you know, I kind of had a similar experience with Coach Jill. I I ran into like two or three cars, you know, had to go by them wasn't too much of an issue in terms of them impeding my progress. Um but I was also lucky enough to have a police escort for you know 60% of the race. So um, you know, my perspective is probably going to be a little bit different than other people's. Uh, but yeah, you know, I think perhaps just making sure that those police are spread out a little bit more. I I found on all the major intersections, though, there was traffic control, they were stopping cars. So, you know, I did kind of feel safer making sure that I was keeping a steady speed through those intersections rather than being super defensive uh as I, you know, racing to win. So for me, yeah, that that does make a little bit of a difference whether to be on the gas or be a bit defensive. So I I felt like the the whole race had allowed me to kind of race aggressively, uh, but you're still always, you know uh slightly defensive, as Coach Schill said. Even in a close course, I think it's it's absolutely every rider should have their wits about you, should still have their head up, eyes on the road, because yeah, things can happen. And uh if you do have you know a quick last lapse in judgment or focus, uh unfortunately sometimes you know catastrophic things can can go awry. So yeah, I I fully uh align with Coach Jill on that remark. Um the other thing I did find interesting, and you know, I think this just being the inaugural race, I thought the volunteers were great, but maybe not as trained as volunteers in other races. So, for instance, every water bottle that I grabbed, nobody ran with me to hand that water bottle off. So, you know, just again, someone racing at the front of a race, I would slow down from 28 to 25 miles an hour to five to six to make sure I got that water because the first aid station, I dropped it. And so that was one thing. The other thing on the bike course, I want to say of probably all the waters I grabbed, 60 to 80 percent of them were lukewarm to hot. They weren't cold. So uh when you're trying to use that water to cool your body down or you're really overheating, uh, unfortunately, when it's the last water you grab and it's a hot one, it is what it is. Uh, but there were a few instances there where I was like, oh dang, like you know, if if this was cold, that would have been really nice. Uh, but again, these are small things. The other thing that I found interesting, um now and in Iron Man maybe just do this, you know, for the future for sanitary reasons, I'm not sure. But at every aid station on the run course, they had us getting our own ice. In the past, we've been given ice, volunteers have helped us distribute ice, so they're helping us pour that down our neck or heads. Uh, in this race, there was a bucket at the end of each aid station, and you had to go and scoop your own ice. So I don't think it was an issue because everyone's dealing with the same thing, so it makes the playing field level, but it does slow you down when every aid station, you know, I was taking 10 to 15 seconds to scoop ice because it was that hot you needed to do that. But it it was a nuance where of of the 10 Ironmans I've done, first one where I kind of seen it laid out that way. So I don't know in the future if if they can have uh you know cups of ice where volunteers are handing that to you, but um, you know, I didn't see as a big deal, but just something interesting. Um, outside of that, I think the course was really well organized, very well done. I don't know that I would have changed too much. Um, it is interesting because I know Iron Man previously had a you know a different bike course going the other way. So, you know, uh what was their reasoning for changing the bike course? Um, you know, maybe uh would traffic control be better the other way? Would would there be potentially more shade for athletes? Those sort of things I I don't know uh as not you know local to the area, but um you know, some things they can maybe look at. But personally, I I love the course. I thought the volunteers were great. I thought the community was great. So there's not anything that particularly jumps out at me. It's just more like, you know, how can we make sure that athletes are properly staying cool out there? Uh make sure that we're not getting maybe as many DNFs or right athletes having issues, you know, medically just being out in that hot sun as as long as we are.

SPEAKER_03 27:59

You know, I think yeah, I I heard the same thing that the uh the sheriffs were uh were like no, we're not doing that.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

Yeah, the uh the um and one thing I've always I've always found was family Iron Man that they fix things. You know, next year the things that we're we're a little unhappy with this year, or or maybe you know, we're a little distracting. Um they really look at it's it sounds to me like uh I I'm a volunteer captain up in class at every year. I'm one of the streetcar crossings, and I know that up there they have a a captain's meeting the day before the race, and then the captains meet with their people that day as well. So we're so all the volunteers are on the same page and they know exactly what to do. Um, and it sounds to me that that that probably is something that needs to happen down at Jacksonville, because I think I think proper hydration, getting ice to you the right way, getting the cup handed to you when you're coming along the run, all those things are very, very intrinsic to having a great race, and people not ending up dehydrated or falling off their bike because they had to bend over to grab something off the table or for someone who wasn't doing it. And and that's a learning experience, right? I would imagine people down in Jacksonville, um, you know, when you and I keep using Placid because it's such a great race, it's such an old-time race, but uh they probably, you know, the they probably just didn't didn't get all the training that they necessarily needed to have. You know, you go to Placid, and you know, there's people who who volunteer there, like like me, who volunteer there every year. And you know, they they know the course, they know what's going on, they know how to take care of the athletes. They're they're very endeared to making sure that they're all taken care of. And I think that's just a a a growth experience. You know, next year they'll get a little better, and then the next year they'll get a little bit better until you know everyone is fine is is finely tuned. What do you think, Jill?

SPEAKER_03 30:05

Uh you know, I I was thinking along very similar lines. Um the the two things that I pulled out. So the the IS is like I don't know if that's a age group versus a pro thing. I've seen it kind of go both ways. But on the bike course, I think at every ASTAISEM, I missed like the first of the five and dropped them before I caught one. And like most of the time you you catch the first one that's handed to you, right? Um the other thing I noted was like the mix on the precision. It seemed off. Um I've done a lot of European races and it tasted really weird uh compared to what I'm used to. So I think like there's some maybe newness of people not being experienced. I don't know if it's like them not talking to each other yet, or but maybe they just didn't know any better yet. I also heard with the uh uh my husband was a volunteer with the bike catchers, and it sounded like they had some confusion there too on the on what to do and how to get the bike to back to where it belongs. And there ended up being a few lost bikes that uh I saw online.

SPEAKER_01 31:18

Yeah, it's for volunteers today. There's like a there's like a whole hierarchy, there's a whole chain of command for for volunteers. You know, there's uh these two women that are like the presidents of the volunteer committee, and then and then below them there's like their assistants, and then below them there's like the captains, and then and then there's the people who are just out there, you know, volunteering. And I and I think it I think it it pays huge dividends, you know, all over that course because uh I I don't know if any of you have done Placid, but you know the bike course gets out there, you know, you and especially the new course you go out to do the farmlands when you get down into Jay, and and and if the the stuff isn't manned right or people aren't doing right, so I think someone can get can end up and either seriously hurt or um you know, losing a lot of time off the race.

SPEAKER_00 32:27

I wasn't a fan of that I wasn't a fan of those last two bridges though.

SPEAKER_03 32:32

See I that that one at like 110, I had in the back of my head, I'm like, there's gonna be people walking their bikes up that one.

SPEAKER_00 32:40

I saw it.

SPEAKER_03 32:41

Yeah, and I was like, I went super aggressive on gearing because it's a flat course. I usually do hilly courses, like okay, this would be my fourth or fifth time at Lake Classid, doing you know, happy valley in a couple weeks. And I'm like, oh, this is my second time doing a flat course because I I did Texas last year and it's like it's fast, but they're they're almost harder because you never stop pedaling, right?

SPEAKER_01 33:08

Exactly, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 33:10

Yeah, that that after so much flat, like the adjustment to jogging the bike up the hill is kind of like, oh, we have to actually like do some work now.

SPEAKER_01 33:19

Yeah, you have to generate generate your own power.

SPEAKER_03 33:23

Can we talk about the run course?

SPEAKER_01 33:28

Anyone else want to add anything? Chad? Um, I think I'm good if we want to jump to the run course. Thanks for coming on. I really appreciate it. Um, you you had a fantastic day. What else can what else can anyone say? Um, and uh I wish you great success. Where are you off to next?

SPEAKER_02 33:49

Uh I'm doing 70.3 Omaha. It's actually a quick turnaround in two and a half weeks. I uh have some family out in Nebraska. My dad grew up there, so for me it's just special another inaugural race. But uh yeah, Nebraska's near and dear to my heart, even though I'm a California boy. Uh I'm a big corn husker and big red fan, so gonna be really excited to go out there, spend some time with family in Lincoln, and then jet down to Omaha. So it should be fun.

SPEAKER_01 34:17

Well, I lived in Boulder for a long time, so I'm I'm I'm a buff fan, so we had to. So there's there's that difference, right? Um I can't, but it was always fun when Nebraska came into town. Okay, if any no one else has anything to say, I I really appreciate you all all being on the show. Um I'll get this recorded and get it posted. You want to talk about the run course?

SPEAKER_02 34:54

That was hard. Yeah, I I I agree, I agree.

SPEAKER_03 34:58

Yeah, I loved the loop at the back end. I'm like everywhere someone had a had a a hose out there, I'm like, here I am. It was so hot, it was like, you know, you you take every little you know opportunity to to celebrate and get cool. But yeah, I really I didn't appreciate until after the fact um how compact the run course actually was. Um like for those of us with spectators, it was a fantastic run.

SPEAKER_01 35:33

Anyone else? Anyone else?

SPEAKER_02 35:35

I agree with you. I thought the run was great in terms of just spectators, that out and back was was awesome um in terms of just getting cooling. Um there were so many spectators too that I kind of like knew after the first lap that just like continued to light a little bit of a fire under my butt. So, you know, that they you know, now that Iron Man prints your your name out on your bib and everything, they were they were really great and just calling me by name and cheering super loud and you know, spraying me with hoses. They were also always nice with like, do you want to get sprayed before spraying you? I'm like, please. Uh but yeah, it was it was fun. It kind of reminded me a little bit of Alihi Drive in Kona, where everyone's just like out there having a good time, spraying each other with water, trying to stay cool. So the opportunity to do that three times was really fun, and that was definitely the highlight of the run for sure.

SPEAKER_01 36:32

Yeah, I remember the first time I came out came out of the T2 and people were yelling, Go Jeff, and I was like, How the heck do you know who I am? Because I'd never looked at Lib. I thought I was special for about 200 yards. Alrighty, guys. Well, um, I'll have this I'll have this posted various places after it gets recorded and edited a little bit. And um, does anyone have any questions for me? Do what? I don't know. I it's good to have a first time roll. So so anyway, anyway, I'll post my website. My website is uh prs-fit.com. Um anyone ever has any questions, and especially on the Jacksonville page, if you're on the Jacksonville page, uh Chris Caplanis is a really, really good guy. He's a fellow coach, and we both add an in the Lake Placid page together. And we're the kind of we're the kind of coaches, if you ask us a question, we'll get you an answer. You know, that's not um you know, hire me or and or we'll answer you. We we're we're all about making sure that everyone's getting the great experience and the great knowledge base that they can get um so they can become great triathletes. Um, so anyway, that's it. Jill, it was a real pleasure meeting you. I'm so happy that you came on, Chad. A real pleasure meeting you. Andrew, I don't know so much. No, I'm just kidding. It was a pleasure meeting you as well. Um, I hope everyone has a great night. Again, thanks for being on. And uh as always, be healthy, train smart, and have fun.

SPEAKER_02 38:06

Thank you.