Tim Cronk 2013 IMMT 70.3
You simply cannot find a better race than this one. Location and course make this race. Having done the HIM and IM inaugural events in 2012 , I'm back for both this year. Next year the 70.3 Championship's will be held in Mont Tremblant in September so they will hosting 2 HIM's 2014. IMMT 140.6 will be an EN focus race next year and I highly recommend it.
There were 8 EN team members racing and a few spouses. Special thanks to Brenda and Steve for hooking us up , lunch and running the show. You guys rock.... Congrats to all those who raced Sunday!
Quick stats..... 2013 vs 2012 racing the M 50-54 AG
AG/OA 6th/154 vs 13th/168
Total 4:50:12 vs 4:54:12 4 minutes faster and PR
Swim 32:49 vs 32:05 44 seconds slower
T1 4:18 vs 4:46 28 seconds faster
Bike 2:33:55(NP195) vs 2:34:31(NP197) 36 seconds faster
T2 1:45 vs 1:51 6 seconds faster
Run 1:37:25 vs 1:40:59 3:34 minutes faster.
Arrived friday nice warm and sunny... Finally.... 45min bike 15 min run. Checked in. Picked up packet. Eat and feet up. Saturday AM rain, rain, rain, and more rain. Went for 15 min swim..... Waited for rain to end.... EN lunch at noon.... Rain never stopped... Brought bike to Transition at 4pm.... pretty sure it rained most of the night!
RaceDay.... low to mid 60's in the AM, high for the day was mid to high 70's , overcast , no wind , very humid all day.... But NO RAIN!
Its been 5 weeks since IMTX and 3 weeks since Quassy OLY . Just getting ready to start my build for IMMT in August. So while not totally ready for this HIM , confidence is high and I planned to race it all out.
Breakfast.... starbux coffee , cream of rice with hempseed , maple syrup, almond butter , and a piece of salted dark chocolate
Swim....Was in the second Wave after the Pro's with I think 156 starters in the M50-54 AG. Lined up middle front. Went out hard. Nice, clean , no contact, settled into a nice draft. Several times I tried to pass but couldnt so I thought I had a good pacer. Felt like I was swimming at race pace , nice straight, no contact all the way to the finish. Expected a really fast time and was a bit disappointed later in the day when I found out my split was slower than previous year.... Specially since all my recent OWS practice swims were quite a bit faster...Good news it was 24th out of 156 or top 15% vs 31 out of 166 or top 18% last year... So maybe the course was long??? pre-swim gel and perform 250calories
T1- is a very long way and you must hustle if you want that time.... hit the wetsuit strippers and run at least a 1/3 mile barefoot to T1... very happy to have picked up half a minute over last year
Bike-- They changed a couple sections on the bike course for the better over last year if that was even possible.... There is about 3 bumps on the whole course and most of the pavement is like glass and very fast . On paper (elevation profile) it looks so much harder than it really is. In real life it demands your respect (specially for the full) but there is no reason to fear this course. It pays dividends if you stay aero which you can do more than you think at first glance of the elevation profile. Goal watts was 200 or .85 of 235 FTP. Dialed in 200watts asap. First couple 5mile intervals ended up a little hot (usual) at 205 and I started to back it down some. Finally settle in just under 200 for the remainder. Was very nice being in the beginning wave and not have all those bikes in front of me , but I didnt get the benefit of all those slingshot passes. Winds were calm and the ride stayed fast. There are a few long steady climbs in the first 30 miles and then there are a bunch of short steep , stair step climbs in the last 15 miles... Other than that its all aerobars. I ended up at NP 195 , IF .827 , TSS 174. Nutritons was 48oz of perform , 4 margarita blocks , 540 calories.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/332242198
T2- Slow is fast, socks, shoes, grab watch , visor, flask , gone......
Run- Felt great coming off the bike. I ran last year at around 7:40pace and was shooting for 7:30 or better... After the first couple hills were out of the way, I dialed it up to just under 7:30 pace, just about RPE redline and held it there, about a mile in a 50 goes by me like I am standing still, shortly after that I pass a 53 , I said to him your not gonna try and catch that guy?, he says Dan No Way, never saw him again, shortly after that I got passed by another 53 and that was it... Held that placement for the remainder of the run... Had no idea what position I was really in but never let up.... pretty steady pace right on thru... around mile 12 I saw Heather coming the otherway (her mile 1) gave me time to wipe the snot/spit off my face and get a quick kiss! On the last hill back up thru the village I was slowly catching somebody AG unknown , I ran him down in the finish chute and then he raced me to the finish. I think he was 42 and a wave behind be so already in front of me but it was fun just the same! Nutrition on the run was 3 gels in a flask taken at 0,3,6,9 with water, perform at 1,2,4,5,7,8 , coke at 10, nothing at 11,12.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/332135481
Quick snack and run to the room for shower... Back to the finishline to watch most of the EN peeps finish... My Heather finished in 6:33 with an 11 minute PR ....My buddy Jim Soroka 66 successfully defended his IMMT championship title but missed breaking his own course record by a minute.... Great day!
Overall... very pleased with execution and performance.... Going to work on my RPE swim in a draft so I know I'm working hard enough. My Quassy swim was very similar and ended up being faster than I would have predicted. Hard to judge if your in a draft. The other thing I am considering is attempting a HIM run sockless, works well in OLY distance but have not tried it for a HIM yet.
Anybody doing the full this year or considering either for next year have any questions about the event ask away!
Comments
Congrats on another great race Tim!
Since you've been there multiple times now- any suggestions or recommendations for traveling to/from the race site? Any places you'd avoid or recommend?
Second - I'm glad I'm not in your age group!
Third - how was your race weight for this one compared to Texas and to your IMMT goal weight?
Oh- and I hear they have some sort of gravey cheese curd thing at the finish line?
@JW, Glenn , Sukhi , Kim thanks for the kind words...
@Robin... Love the race but comp is so high there.... those frenchies are fast (on one of the climbs a guy went by me for the 9th or 10th time and I said dont you just love the volunteers telling us to hammer the hills ? He looks at me and says... But I am french! ) ... You came pretty close last year though... Will see how the full goes, what other races get announced, and go from there.... I'm tempted to sign up for IMTX and just sit back to see how it goes , always have IMLOU for a back up, IMCOZ for that matter. Gotta see what Heather thinks after the full IMMT but the focus race is very attractive!
@ Paul... First- thankyou ... Second--- Ha I'll never forget you passing me in COZ my friend..... Third--- I raced around 123lb up about 5 from 118ish at Texas.... So I left a few minutes there I'm sure , havent been that disciplined and havent built up my volume again yet..... Plus I like to time it to the IM so I'm in a good spot 8 weeks out to concentrate on 1/4-1/2 lb a week.
Cheers,
Woody
As to weight loss plans, I say stick where you are...the last thing you want is to mess up your fall races by being chronically on the prowl for calories. When I lost weight a few years ago (remember, I was starting @ BF% of 5-6), I got back to within 3-4 lbs of my usual training weight. I did OK the first year like that, but I never could get those last few lbs back due to my racing schedule, and the next year's performances suffered. I finally gained those last lbs, over the three months following Kona, and this year looks and feels much better from a tolerance of training perspective.
Of course, YMMV, but I assume you are a naturally lean guy like me, and find it harder to gain than lose wt while doing IM training. Since that's about all you have planned, the next 5 months, be careful.
@Robin... Love the race but comp is so high there.... those frenchies are fast (on one of the climbs a guy went by me for the 9th or 10th time and I said dont you just love the volunteers telling us to hammer the hills ? He looks at me and says... But I am french! ) ... You came pretty close last year though... Will see how the full goes, what other races get announced, and go from there.... I'm tempted to sign up for IMTX and just sit back to see how it goes , always have IMLOU for a back up, IMCOZ for that matter. Gotta see what Heather thinks after the full IMMT but the focus race is very attractive!
-----------------------
Tim I wish I had your powers of recovery. Just getting back into the swing myself after Texas. Just had a benign echocardiogram so feel better about beating myself up for a while.
Tougher competitiion at Tremblant in your age group? Tremblant last year for me was my closest brush with Kona (7 minutes from a rolldown). Things will be even tougher now that the inaugural year done. "But I am French!" Cute.
Assuming I iron next year: Signed up for Texas. And then thinking about the rest of the year. Tremblant. Or Florida/Az/Coz.