IM WI RR [better late than never]
IMWI Race Report
Trip to Madison: Drove down on Friday with my buddy Rob, his wife Robin, and his son Owen. Have to say I never would have made it as far as I did in training and had such a good experience without making this journey with someone. Rob is a great guy and a training mad-man. We stayed at the Courtyard in Middleton. My logic here was that I missed getting into the Hilton and I have tons of Marriott points. I told myself being 8 mi away was good as I didn't want to be at the IM village getting nervous and looking at how fit everyone else is. In reality, it worked out fine but would have been nice to be right downtown. All of the trips back and forth, especially with gear, were a bit of a drag. Also, had I been at the Hilton I would have watched the final finishers [after a loooooong shower].
Check in, bag packing, bike drop, etc all went slick. It was fun to be there, the weather was great, and after agony of the taper [I hate tapering] it was awesome just to be doing something! I love the whole scene - getting my Ironman wristband, swag bag, pre-race IM dinner, and talking with my buds. I kept trying to take it all in, and remembering that the weekend was my reward for all of the hard work I had put into this journey. I felt fit and ready to race, confident in my training, and well prepared with my race plan.
My posse arrived on Saturday afternoon. Ann and my 2 girls [Emily 10 and Olivia 7], Sis in Law Sara, Mom, Dad, and sister Katy. It was so awesome to see everyone! I was so excited to share this weekend and this sport that I love with them. I also knew how much I would enjoy seeing them on the course. My buddy Nate and his wife Tonia arrived late so I wasn't able to see them until race day.
I laid down at about 9pm but I honestly don't think I fell asleep all night long. My heart rate was low and I didn't feel nervous or anxious. I had gotten extra sleep the previous couple of nights and knew that I might not sleep well Saturday. I just tried to relax and visualize the next day in my mind. My alarm had been set for 330am so that I could eat my pre-race breakfast, but I got up at 315 with no alarm and ate it. I laid back down until 430 and then it was time to dress and meet Rob. Ann got up to kiss me and take a couple of pictures. She didn't sleep much either and I am glad my girls did.
Race day: Rob and I got dropped off [thanks Robin and Owen!] near the start at about 530am. Body marking, final bike check, final bag check, and then I was in the men's change room at 630 to put my wetsuit on. I met Rob and team EN at the bottom of the stairs for a picture and final good-byes. Ann and I had decided that it would be too difficult for her to find me at the start line, so I had no plans to meet my family in the morning. I got in the lake about 20 min before the gun went off and did some light swimming. I lined up just to the left of a ski ramp, which put me in about the middle of the field. Based on watching video of races from previous years, I thought this would be a good spot between the 'swim elite' who were on my left and the people who seeded themselves further away on my right.
Swim: When the gun went off I was expecting a lot of contact. I never received the really hard whack that I was worried about. A few elbows and lots of hands on my legs and feet - nothing extreme. The first and second turns [the course is a large rectangle] were very crowded. My plan was to try to relax as much as possible, focus on my form, and draft as best I could. The long backstretch after turn 2 did spread out some, but I struggled to get comfortable and find a groove. I always felt like I was working, and I found that between the sun [at my 2 o'clock] and the chop from all the swimmers it was very hard to see the buoy line. In training, I had swam enough that 2.4 miles in 75 min or so was quite easy for me. However, this was way different. I made the decision that when another swimmer was crowding me, I would try to conserve energy and fall in behind them. I kept looking for the final turn and it seemed to take a long time to get to it. Once I turned for shore, the final 600 meters [10 min] flew by and I was done. When I stood up I was thrilled to see my time of 70 min, but I had worked harder than I had planned on for sure. I got my wetsuit peeled off and ran to transition. T1 in Madison is awesome! Running thru the crowd with everyone cheering is crazy. I was high-fiving kids and smiling the whole time. You really feel like a rock star. There was so much excitement and energy - it was just what I needed after a hard swim.
Bike: My plan for the ride was to be very conservative to set myself up for the marathon. In my last half-ironman I had a fairly major mechanical issue on the bike and while I had tried to put it out of my mind it was haunting me [my left cleat fell off of my shoe 25 miles in leaving me to bike 30 miles only clipped into one pedal]. I know in my head it is a fruitless and pessimistic waste of energy to worry, but I had a hard time getting confident on the bike. What if I crash/flat/bonk/etc? With so much preparation being into this race I wanted to finish so badly.
Race plan for the first 45-50 minutes was to ride very easy and to start taking in fluids and sodium. I let a lot of people pass me which is hard for me to do. There was a guy riding down the ramp out of the parking lot with a sandwich in his mouth - really? Mile 0.1 of the bike, super crowded and tight, and you are eating your PB&J? Even though I was riding easy I didn't feel like my legs were under me. I kept telling myself that I would settle in and start feeling stronger but that feeling was slow in coming. I rode the first 16 miles this way, and was mentally ready to start riding a little harder at the top of Valley Road, but I still felt tired in my legs. I started wondering if I had swam too hard and if I would be able to make it 112 miles. I was doing a lot of positive self-talk at this point. It was the IM version of "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!"
It must have worked because by half way into the ride I felt awesome! When I got back to Verona [mile 56] I had kept up with my fluid/salt/food plan, I had peed twice, and most importantly I felt like I could race. I knew I had another 56 miles in me and I could still get off the bike and run. I set out to enjoy the 2nd half of the bike at my goal effort [conservative]. The wind picked up on the 2nd lap but I was feeling great and riding a lot better.
What you hear about the Madison bike course is all about how hilly it is. Since I had trained for hills and knew how to ride them [easy gear to spare your legs], I actually found myself enjoying those parts of the course. I rode up to Mt Horeb with JT from Endurance Nation. I loved seeing the crowds and the signs on the 3 hills on the North part of the loop. The best fans were the dudes with speedos and suspenders on Old Sauk Pass, and my favorite signs were "my wife went by 15 min ago" and "I trained for 6 months to stand here and hold this sign". I was jazzed as I made the last climb on Midtown Rd as I know the course is a net downhill back to Madison from there. On my training rides I had started to get a sore neck and shoulders from being down in my aerobars looking upward at the road. Not today! I kept checking myself - drinking enough? eating? taking my salt? watching my heart rate? could you get off the bike right now and run a marathon? Check! I had stuck to plan and was cruising. I had hoped at this point in the ride to still be strong and to pass some of the folks who had gone by me earlier. Just before coming to Verona and turning for home I started to feel bloated. I must have overdone it on hydrating - I had peed five times on the 2nd loop which seems like a lot of whiz. I tried to just keep rolling but the bloating started turning into a minor side cramp. Not cool. I made the decision to back off on my effort level in hopes of rolling into T2 able to run. I stopped drinking and took extra salt on the last 15 miles back to town, hoping that my gut would clear.
Run: When I got back to town I felt great again. This is either because I went easy the last 20 miles or because I was just happy to get off of my bike. I saw my friends, wife, parents, and kids at the bike dismount and I was so happy! After T2 I was up and running quickly, feeling great. The plan for the first six miles was to run very very easy, which I found hard to do. I kept checking my GPS watch and forcing myself to slow down. It was warm but not hot and I was given enough ice and sponges to keep cool. At about mile five I did something that I will never do again. I peed while running. I find it no problem to do this on my bike [in races only - long races only], and had been told by other Ironmen to 'just go' on the run as well. I must be doing it wrong as it just filled up my shoes with whiz - gross. I felt great thru the first 13.1 miles and was right on my plan, and on target for about a 4 hr marathon. I saw Rob near the turn-around - he was at mile 13.5 and I was at 12.5. He looked great and I was so happy that his day was going well also. I had not seen him all day until this point but had been praying that he was racing strong and feeling well. I wanted to run with him but just couldn't bridge the gap. When I turned around I could see the finish line and the clock - it said 9:50. I stopped at my run special needs at got more salt tabs and changed socks [goodbye socks full of whiz, sorry volunteer lady who picked them up for me!]
I knew that the second half of the marathon would determine how I felt about my Ironman. My goals at the start had been to 1] Finish, 2] Finish feeling well, and 3] Run the run. I still felt well but at this point but in order to hold my pace I started breaking the remaining work ahead of me into sections that were manageable. I had 2 10K runs left and I had three possible goals to shoot for. One was to close the gap to Rob, two was to run a 4 hour marathon, and 3 was to finish the IM under 12 hours. I was going to attempt to run 9 minute miles to the 20 mile mark and then if I had anything left to try to drop down to 'long run pace' which is 8:24 per mile for the last 10k. I knew this was a stretch but if I could do this I would make goals #2 and #3. Catching Rob and running in with him wasn't gonna happen unless he slowed down - which I didn't want but anything can happen at this point in the race.
I was able to keep my goal pace for miles 13-20. I stopped to pee once, and also walked up Observatory hill, which I had planned to do anyway. These cost me a couple of minutes but I was still moving forward. I just kept focusing on seeing my 'fans' at the mile 19 turn around. That is a really high energy section and I knew it would give me a boost. I was so happy to get to them! It was just as I had visualized it during all of my training: I was toast and my legs were killing me, but I was high fiving the crowd and my family was there to cheer me in. You want to stop and walk but at the same time in a weird way you want to keep pushing thru the pain because you know that if it didn't hurt, it wouldn't feel like such an accomplishment. If this was easy then it wouldn't be epic. If it didn't take all that you have, plus a little more, then it wouldn't be as satisfying.
With 10k to go I tried to quicken my pace. I felt like went all in but I could hardly hold 8:50 pace. I was really working hard. At mile 21 I looked at my watch and saw that I was 3:15 into the marathon with 5.2 miles to go. Even if I could run 9 min per mile the 4 hr marathon was out of reach. I knew that Rob was still a mile ahead of me and I wouldn't reach him. It was hard to let those two goals go but I knew realistically they were gone. I was now just running one mile at a time, trying to stay running and knowing that if I did I could be under 12 hours for the day. At mile 23 I made a deal with myself to get to mile 24. At mile 24 I saw my friend Paula, who ran with me for a couple hundred yards. She was so encouraging and told me "keep running and you are under 12 hours"! I was so happy. I had been walking at each aid station so I could drink enough fluids, but decided that I couldn't stop and walk again or I wouldn't resume running. My calves were cramped and my quads felt like somebody was beating them with sticks. Every step hurt so bad. Then at mile 24.5 something miraculous happened. I could hear the finish line. I could see the lights. I knew there was a party 15 minutes up the road from me and that I was invited. It is amazing what a lift I got when I knew I was going to finish. I ran by somebody that was throwing up, and I ran by dozens of people who were walking. I noticed people running the other direction [for their 2nd lap] had glow sticks on - handed out to those who will finish in the dark. I was in a group of about 6 guys. We ran by a woman who yelled "come on Ironmen - who is about to finish this race"? I was the only one who responded, and realized that the guys with me were on their first lap. There is no pain in that final mile! When I turned the final corner and saw the finish my feet were no longer touching the ground. I heard Mike Reilly call my name and I declare me an Ironman in 11:53:02.
Questions for the team:
Is it possible to prepare for the swim? Is 'never got comfortable' typical?
I peed 7x on the bike. Obviously drank too much, but listening to the Core diet seminar drinking every 10 min was recommended. What to do?
I was bloated for the last hour of the bike: too much liquid, not enough sodium, too many calories? I ate 300 cal/hr just as I had in training and I was NEVER bloated like that in training.
The team guidance for run pacing is 'long run pace' + 30 sec for 6 miles, then long run pace after. I averaged 9:21 pace while my LRP is 8:24 [my VDOT is 51]. Typical for first IM?
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Comments
Your Vdot of 51, I assume was from a 5 km TT?
If so, then a reasonable IM run pace is somewhere in the 75% to 80% of your TP — where 75% is around 9 min/mile and 80% is around EP.
EN suggests that you do a HM to check how your 5 km TT Vdot translates to longer distances — peeps often subtract some Vdot points (3 or 4, say) from their 5 km Vdot when planing their long course run (51-4=47 which gives an EP of around 9 mins/mile).
The other thing to keep in mind, these run paces assume a flat course and low temperature — warmer temperatures and hills (and wind) all slow you down.
Some peeps (not many) have a higher Vdot at a HM than their 5 km TT (eg Matt Ancona), but most have to scale down their 5 km Vdot for long course running.
First off what a great race! You controlled the race, not sure who taught you but they must know something about IM. And that "rob" guy sounds like a beast! Haha.
I followed the core diet rule as well, drinking every 10 minutes but after my 3rd time peeing I dialed it back because the goal is to pee twice on the bike. I ended up peeing 4x.
I did my 5k tt on a track. It's flat and usually I tested in the early a.m. So in my RR I realized I was not going to be able to run my LRP because when running +30 seconds slower then LRP my heart rate was already higher then I wanted it to be. I was to run at 910 first 6miles but before the race I knew 930 was a better time.(LRP was 843). I felt like that worked great for me because my last 6 of the marathon were 855 pace. The one main thing that determined my pace was my HR. Zone 2 starts at 132 for me and I never went above 135 on my run for the first 19 or 20 miles. I didn't do any calculations but with my experience from training I just had to except it.
I do think our 2.4 mile open water swims every Friday helped us tremendously but not sure how you can prepare for that race start. My heart rate for the first 16 miles of the bike was high but my legs and RPE felt fine. I too forced myself to dial way back until my HR was in easy easy zone 1.
Sub 12 baby sub 12.
One thing that helped me with the mass start of an IM was doing the Madison Open Water swim (MOS) in August last year. It's not as many people, but still a decent amount. It's also the same weekend as the second RR, so it's nice to just do the full RR starting with the 2.4 mile swim. Very common thing for people to do that day.
Also, I pee on the run. I wear Zoots that have drainage holes which seem to help. If I have any urge to pee whatsoever and then pour water over my head, I can't stop from peeing. I finally learned how to do it on the bike on the first RR for IMWI last year.
Great race Aaron and Rob... I must have just missed you at the finish line since I came in just behind you at 11:58.
2x what Daniela said about the Madison Open Water Swim race. It had about 300 swimmers in the race, so enough that it is crowded at the the start, but then it thins out. I did it this past summer as part of RR #2. Swam 2.4 miles then did 2 loops on the bike course. Next day 2 more loops + 6 mile run.
I think a lot of people have issues with the swim, but 70 minutes is a great time. Wouldn't fret about that.
Definitely drank too much. Nutrition spot on, just too much fluid sounds like.
As for the run, certainly not bad for a first time IM. After 3 IM's, I think experience really does play a role in IM run execution. Don't beat yourself up about slowing down, it's nearly impossible to not slow down on the last 10K. I think the more reasonable and realistic goal for the run is to run as close to your potential as possible in the first 20 miles, then in the last 10K to slow down as little as possible. The coaches don't entirely support the concept of "banking minutes" (running faster than your goal pace early on) because it doesn't make a difference how many minutes you "bank" by going 30"-1' faster per mile in the first 10 or so miles if you are walking at mile 18 and beyond. But I believe that if you continue running beyond mile 18 (except for maybe aid station walking), then "banking" 15-30 seconds per mile in the first 16-20 miles, if done carefully without undue exertion, can get you the time needed to finish around your goal (or expected) time. It's also a huge mental boost at mile 130.4 to be able to tell yourself, "self, I have 6 miles left, and can actually run 1 minute per mile slower than I have all day and still beat my goal". Talk about feeling like you can cruise it in.
Congratulations.
Aaron - wow, that was a classic,successful Ironman Marathon, on your first try. What you describe experiencing in the last third of the run is what happens to us all, no matter how we've paced or what our experience is. The trick is, to do just what you did ... keep on going, ignoring those screaming signals (the guys pounding on your thighs with clubs, the bulldogs biting into your calves, etc.) you're getting from your legs and your brain telling you to stop, slow down, do something. You had a better race, in terms of pacing and persistence, then 90% of the people out there, I bet. Congratulations.