2022 Ironman Chattanooga - "Sydney Chinchana, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!!"

This race has been 3 years in the making. 

**Read THIS POST for the reason why I switched from a 100-miler to a half Ironman in 2020**

After submitting the tenure packet in September of last year (2021) and completing 2 half Ironman races, I knew I was ready to step up to the full Ironman distance. This is because 1) I hoped that by this time next year I would be tenured already and 2) I wanted to give myself a 40th birthday present. It's always been my life goal to do an Ironman as the distance sounds difficult and challenging. However, the training and the time commitment scared me. I had no bandwidth to self-coach or train for an Ironman while still working toward tenure. That's why I kept putting it off until I was pretty sure that my career was stable. 

One day in October of 2021 while I was grading papers and having an existential crisis I decided to bite the bullet and sign up for the Ironman Chattanooga in 2022. After reviewing and reading comments about different IM races within driving distance of Cleveland, I picked IM Chattanooga because 1) the swim was super beginner-friendly, 2) the elevation gain on the bike course was not too bad (the elevation gain for 116 miles was the same as CassadagaMan 56 miles bike course) and 3) it's in a city and my husband/sherpa would have something to do (aka bbq and beer) while waiting for me to finish the race. 

The summer training was quite bumpy as we traveled a lot and spent one month in Thailand. However, I managed to borrow a bike from a college friend to train in Thailand (in 90F degrees). The best decision that I made in this process was to hire a coach. B. made my life so much easier and adjusted the training based on how I felt, my stress level, and the time/resources that I had. 

After we came back to the US in late July, I was able to focus more on my training and was able to log in a couple of century rides and long swims. For the run, I did not try to run fast but I tried to run at a consistent, easy, slow pace like I would have done in an Ironman. 

Fast forward to the race week...

Two weeks leading up to the race was an insanely busy time for me. I had many meetings and committee work I had to attend in addition to teaching classes and trying to beat research deadlines. The race was on Sunday but there was no packet pick-up on Saturday so we left Cleveland for Chattanooga on Thursday morning. It took about 10+ hours to drive to Chattanooga and we got there around 6pm. Of course, we went directly to a BBQ restaurant :) 

Friday, I went for an easy ride (20 minutes) and a short run (10 minutes) per B's instruction. Then, we went to pick up the packet and attend the athlete briefing. Although I have read about IM transitions being different from other races, I was still unsure what to do. I also met J. who was there to do her #11 IM. She did this race last year and helped answer a lot of my questions regarding the logistics of the race. She also gave me some tricks and tips about racing an IM (Thanks, J.!). After the packet pick up, we went to a brewery for more beer and bbq (hehe). It's carb-loading time :P

Chattanooga is a very nice city that had never been on our radar. The downtown has been re-developed and so walkable. Our hotel was about 2 blocks from the IM start line + IM village where everything was at. There were many breweries and BBQ restaurants as well. We were pretty impressed with the city. 

Saturday, I had to do a mandatory bike check-in and drop off the bike and run gear bags. Then, we went to lunch and do some last-minute race shopping. B. recommended that I got some short swim in to stretch the muscles so we went to the Chickamauga dam day use area to practice the swim (I saw in the IM Chattanooga FB group that many people went there to practice the swim before the race). We met a couple of people that were there to practice the swim as well. Saturday night I was instructed to stay away from fiber and protein. So, we decided to order Thai noodles (of course, Chef P. was pretty unhappy with the taste) as it's the closest restaurant to our hotel that was still open. 

Before I went to bed, I saw a post in the FB group about someone's aero bar missing a cap and that could DQ the athlete. I had to take out a mirror from my handle bar so that left a small hole on the handle. So, I was panicking at 10pm. Then, someone said we could use duct tape to close the hole and that should be fine. I happened to have duct tape with me so I used that to wrap up the handle bar and close the hole on the race morning. Phew.

Race day recap

I woke up at 4am and had the usual breakfast (PB&J sandwich + Ensure). We arrived at the race venue around 5:30am where I checked the bike one last time and dropped off cold water bottles in the bike and run gear bags. It was expected to rain from 11am to 5pm (the majority of the bike time). After I checked everything, I got on the school bus to go to the swim start. The race logistics were pretty organized. They obviously knew what they were doing. The water temp on the race morning was 75.5F - which meant it was wetsuit legal!! (woo hoo)

Swim - 2.4 miles down the Tennessee river

After I got to the swim start, I saw so many people sitting or lying on the ground close to the porta potties. The swim did not start until 7:30am so we had about an hour of doing nothing. I gave my phone to P. so I had no way to contact other people. I sat with a group of athletes from C26 and they were chatting about other IM races that they did and it was fun to listen to their experiences. At the swim start, I seeded myself around 1 hr 20-1 hr 40 min finish group as that's the expected time I thought I would need to complete the swim. I was too anxious to talk to other people so I just stood there quietly and tried to take a deep breath. The swim was a rolling start so about 2-3 athletes jumped in the water at a time. I would say they organized it pretty well. My swim time started around 8am. Surprisingly, I did not panic at all. I was able to get into the rhythm pretty fast and start swimming imagining it was just another swim in Lake Medina with my swim friend, P. The current was pretty strong and I could feel myself flowing down the river. There were 3 buoy colors on the course - yellow, orange, and red. I don't know how these buoys were set up but we saw yellow buoys first, then orange, then the red buoy meant the swim finish. All I could think of was "one buoy at a time". I did not look at my watch as the pace did not really matter to me. I just wanted to finish and I had fun. I was surprised to see the red buoy coming up so fast and thought to myself "wait, it's already over?". After I exited the water, I looked at my watch and my swim time was 57 minutes!! (that's insanely fast) and I could not believe what I saw. 

The IM Chattanooga had wetsuit strippers whom I assumed were sent by God. After I came out of the water, I went to them. They told me to sit down and pulled the wetsuit out for me. I then walked/ran to pick up the bike bag and went to the changing tent. This was the first time I raced in an Ironman-brand race so I was not familiar with their transition system and it took me a while to process what was going on. I went into the women's changing tent and there were already volunteers there to help me. One volunteer approached me asking if I needed help. She took out all the bike gears, handed me the gel to eat, the towel to dry off my feet, and put my swim gears back in the bag. It was amazing... So, I gave her my "volunteer appreciation wristband" - it's a white wristband that athletes carry to give to their favorite volunteers. After I exited the tent, I used the porta potty and went to grab my bike. 

Bike - 116 miles of rolling hills in the rain

I started biking around 9am-ish. The IM Chatt course was 2 loops of rolling hills. Most of the course was in Georgia and we drove the bike and run course on Friday so I knew what to expect. I was told to take it easy in the first loop. So, I did. One thing I wanted to make sure I got right was the nutrition. I practiced the bike nutrition during the long bike rides and it worked for me. The bad thing about liquid nutrition was that I had to stop to refill and use the bathroom a couple of times. It was also raining and kinda chilly so I had to remind myself to keep drinking and get in enough calories per hour. 

The bike course was really fun. The first half was mostly uphill and the 2nd half was mostly downhill. I was kinda glad that it rained during the bike so it's not too hot for me. I did not have any trouble climbing the biggest hill around Mile 30ish as other people were afraid of. My training rides with the Cleveland Tri Club folks were a lot harder than that. As I started the 2nd loop, I knew I still had a lot left in me so I started pushing the pace while still making sure that I had something left for the marathon. What I like about triathlon is that it's mostly about how you strategically manage your energy among all 3 sports and not screw things up during the race. It requires both energy management and problem-solving skills, which I really love. 

The climb in the 2nd loop was a bit slower than the first as I was exhausted (Mile 60-70?) but once I passed the half-way point, it's literally downhill from there and it was a lot of fun. By that time, the rain had already stopped. I looked at the watch and did some math. I knew I would start the marathon around 4:30pm, which would give me 8 hours to finish the marathon. 

Transition 2 was super smooth as now I knew how things worked in the changing tent. I was able to cut down the transition time in half. 

Run - 26.2 miles of sufferfest 

I am not a strong runner and perhaps I will never be. Coming from an ultra marathon background has its pluses and minuses. I knew I could run long but I could not run fast. I was focusing on consistency and pacing strategy. I used the same strategy in the Ironman marathon. After I got out of T2 and started the marathon (with 8 hours to spare), I knew I could finish the race. Chattanooga run course was really hilly. Many people complained about how hilly it was but for me it did not really matter as I always walk up the hill anyway LOL At the start of the run, it was hot and humid so I had to use the walk/run strategy. My stomach also felt weird and I could not take in any solid calories or even a gel. I felt bloated and nauseous. The run course was 2 loops. The first 8 miles were flat but the last 5 miles were hilly. I did not feel good during the first 13 miles when it was still hot outside. So, I relied on Gatorade at the aid stations and some fruits for calories. After I passed the half way point and picked up my run special need bag, the temp started to cool down as it was getting dark. There were rarely people along the course so it was quiet, which I loved. Once it's completely dark, I put on the headlamp and started picking up the pace again. Everything around me was quiet and calm. It's just me and other runners who were also minding their own businesses. This reminded me of ultra running and I felt zen. All I could see was whatever the light from my headlamp showed. Around Mile 13, I felt better all the sudden as I started to release gas (oops...no TMI here). I drank warm chicken broth at Mile 14 aid station and kept trotting forward. At that point, everything felt "ultramarathon right" - it was dark, quiet, and peaceful. My body hurt just about right. It was weirdly satisfying actually. I jogged down Barton street (Mile 24) with a smile coz I knew I was heading to the finish line and my finish time was going to be faster than I expected. I kept repeating in my head "Sydney Chinchana, You are an Ironman!" as I had dreamt of this moment for so many years. 

The finish line experience was what I expected - the cheers, the smiles, the light, and the red carpet. I saw P. before I entered the red carpet and he was trying to take photos of me. I waved and smiled at him and crossed the finish line. Then, the announcer said

"SYDNEY CHINCHANA, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!!"

Yes, I am an Ironman/Ironwoman/IronProfessor/IronKnitter - whatever you want to call me :)

Overall, the race experience went super well for me. I smiled most of the time and I had a lot of fun even though some people said the rain made it miserable. The Ironman training was tough and time-consuming as I expected but it's also manageable (with help from a coach). Recovery-wise, it's easier than a 100-miler for sure. 

I don't know what is the next big goal for me yet but I will definitely need one. 

"Hi, my name is Sydney and I am addicted to endurance sports"