IMFL 2012....Progress
I'll be pretty quick, but random.
Thursday: Driving down from ATL, had a terrible headache. Made it to Sharky's for the EN dinner and was in the middle of a conversation with Attila and Marianne when it hit....About that time that i got the point across to Sheri that we needed to go, and quickly, Rich and Patrick showed up. And they started talking. Damn. The one time you want to hear 'everything' and all I could think of was 'I gotta get outta here before I hurl on Rich's shoes'. 
As soon as they snapped the pic, we hit the car, made it to the hotel, and let the exorcism begin. God bless my wife for getting me thru that. 4 hr power nap and woke up like a new guy. Able to get all my crap ready for the next day without any probs.
Friday: smooth day before stuff, really enjoyed the 4 Keys Talk. big breakfast at IHOP, big lunch at Olive Garden, takeout spaghetti to the condo.
Saturday: 1 am- 3 ensures. 4 am- Jesse's applesauce breakfast. Pre Race stuff very routine. 2 powerbar gels and a bottle of perform between 6 and 7, plus tylenol es.
Swim: lined up wide right, very nervous, not anything better than an average swimmer, and that's in a lap pool. Now, I have no clue as to why I took swim instructions. I need Water Polo Lessons. There's no stretching and rolling and smooth and streamlined and, whatever. I felt like people were attacking me for the entire first lap and most the out on the second lap. When i wasn't swimming up on blockades of wetsuit, i had wetsuits swimming over me. And when that wasn't happening, I felt seasick. Refused to vomit, thinking that I would have a hard time getting back into the game. Finally, on the final turn home, I was confident that I would finish (!) the swim and I could get back to work on the bike. All swim goals out the window. No biggie. Not at The Line, just take it ez until The Line. 1:28. I'll take 8' slower than goal time over death every time.
T1: too slow, 8'. finding a spot, compressions, arm coolers, out the door.
Bike: goal watts 175, FTP 250. moved too quickly thru the JRA phase, pressured by that damn swim. 1 bottle of perform every 10miles, 1 powerbar gel every 30', 1 saltstick cap every hour. Pnorms for 30' intervals all fell between 155 and 165. Did get a drafting penalty. Karma. Very unintentional. Just bad luck when the gal rode up right as the athletes in front of me started soft pedalling. Did get my tongue stuck in the Perform RTD top when i tried to close it with my mouth. Dang top took a little chunk of my tongue out. The last hour was tough to get all the nutrition in. Stayed very aero, good VI, 5:26 with the dadgum 4:00 penalty.
T2: not much too mention, fuel belt with 2 perform flasks and some gels and saltstick caps. downed half a Red Bull.
Run: Gut Rot at mile 0.
Fell back on sips of coke immediately. Very hot, dumping ice and icewater into top at every opportunity. making bad decisions like taking arm coolers off. Running 9:45's to 10's for the first half and feeling OK despite the gut probs. But, I knew it wouldn't last. The second 13 almost got ugly. Still couldn't keep anything down. Just tried to minimize The Slow Down. I got lucky. It could've been alot worse. My 9:45's went to 11:30's and 11:45's but easily could've been 15's. I'm pretty sure that I did the mary on about 1/3 of a coke, ice chips, and a couple of orange bites. Not good at all. Having said that, I'm happy that I slowed down less than usual and I'm determined to figure this crap out. 4:41
Still, a 42 min PR and I'm very happy about that. Peeps can argue that it's flat and ez....whatever
. I'll build on it.
so glad my wife jumps into the volunteer gigs so that I can see her thru the day. she really is a great mojo booster!
big thanks to ALL the EN peeps out there. I know I would've mailed it in had I not seen you guys and gals at just the right times.
coaches were terrific. the whole weekend was a win. you guys even won over my wife. (Who, btw, just gave the go ahead for a full in 2013 if there's anything open!)
a great PR, sub 12 (11:50), but with plenty of room for improvement....I can sleep with that.
Comments
way to bring it home Chris!
Congrarts. I aspire to have your level of mental toughness for future races.
Awesome PR. Great mental toughness goes a long way. X2 on what Robin said.
HUGE congrats on the PR AND on getting the green light for 2013!
Sounds like a demanding, but successful race for you. Hitting 4:40, starting out @ 10 minute miles, on a quite warm day is a win on the run. You kept going, that's what it takes.
Thanks Everyone. Really appreciate the kind words and feedback.
I spent my first year just giggly to be a part of the team, the work, the strategies. I spent the second year moving in the right direction and making progress. Here comes the third year and I've already put the crosshairs on some weaknesses that I will address earlier, rather than later, in my prep and build for Wisc.
Great PR chris! Congrats!
Didn't know that one could get his tong stuck in the Perform bottle! Scarry