IMCDA 2013 Race report
The pre-box
I was nervous about being too cold in the water. I had actually chosen an older, thinner wetsuit because it was less of a hindrance to my stroke than my inherited Huub wetsuit that I had been swimming in. The idea was so swim as efficiently as I could so I could just get out of the water and move on with the day. Yes, I KNOW, this is outside my box and ultimately I just had to deal with whatever is. Race day turned out to be 61 degrees and just fine, so yes I may have wasted mental calories praying to mother nature, but it looks like my prayers were answered so... who knows.
Swim (1:22:56):
Execution
My goals were to start slow for the 1st 400, then swim as fast as I could maintain form, counting strokes. I counted 10 strokes and practiced my minimalist sighting.
The Box
The above was so far so good, until I got kicked in the chest by someone doing breast stroke (sigh). Then I started to get a bit panicky about all the trashing arms and legs. I felt like my precious race box got punched. So I moved to just the outside and settled back in. It was so very nice to not have the water taste like the ocean. 
But I digress.
1st lap was a hair under 40 mins, second lap was near 43 minutes! I was disappointed because I felt like I was struggling and maneuvering more on my first lap than on my second. I didn’t really feel slower, but I also was definitely on the outer edge of the crowd. I thought my head was still on my form… My Garmin read 2.6 miles. Did I really just swim too far away? Or is this just normal? It’s not really that big a deal, but there is something about 1:20 that just seems a tad sweeter. But out of the water and on to….
Transition
Volunteers are AAHHHMMazing. Love. Them. No problems. It was not my fastest ever but nowhere near my slowest.
The bike (6:36:09):
Execution
Just ride along for 60 minutes. Check. Was the envy of many peeps with my disposable tube sock arm warmers, especially for the stretch of roads that were still in the cool shade near 9am. After that, when we got out to the longer (rolling) loop of the course, at the forefront of my head was Rich saying not to power up the hills and coast down them, but aim for steady effort. So I settled into my little gears going up, keeping my breathing relaxed, almost yoga –like, and then WEEEE down the hills. 
Lap 1 of 2: I don’t really remember my time but I remember two things – I thought “wow, I’m doing great!!” and then, “oooooh crap, am I going too hard??” And then…
The box
Got punched again when my lovely BF, cheering along, meaning to be encouraging, said something to the effect of “making up time now.” 
To which I wanted to kick him. 
I do not need to explain to you peeps why. I wished Rich was there to box his ears. Thankfully I am stubborn and I said I am just going to do the exact same thing I did on the first lap.
Back to Executing:
Lap 2 was indeed more of the same of lap 1, but not quite as easy. I started pouring water on myself as the sun got brighter. I got caught in the same catch 22 thought process as the end of lap 1 – “hey that was good!” and “CRAP did I go too hard??” Although I didn’t know the precise number at the time, I had beaten my previous best bike time (at IMAZ) by just over 14 mins. We shall see (below)….
The run (5:28:44)
Execution:
I really struggled to find my rhythm for the first 6-8 miles. 
The route out of town had some rollys and some miles were like 10 min pace, which I knew I wasn’t going to sustain for 26.2 miles. So I bounced between too slow (13:00+) and too fast. And my stupid head was still afraid my bike was “too good.”
On nutrition: two things to sort out – why was I peeing at almost every other aid station??? 
I wasn’t feeling tummy sloshiness. I also ditched the scratch labs drink mix and clif gels in favor of gu only (plus water sips) because I had acquired some extra jet propulsion that I deemed unnecessary, even though I didn’t really feel stomach upset, persay.
After mile 8 I felt more comfortable that I had found my rhythm (11-ish/min miles). And ultimately, aside from the stupid pee stops, I felt very comfortable with it. And in fact, I was able to keep this pace steady for the rest of the race – right on through -
The line
For me, and at my last race (IMSG), came about mile 22-23ish. Which is where the one thing comes in.
The one thing
My one thing – I like to have a one thing but I have found that on the fly sometimes it changes. That day, my doubting head (too fast on the bike?) started to come back in a big bad way. There was absolutely no room for thoughts of any kind – because the only thoughts were doubts and doubt feels like nausea. But aching legs and muscles and joints are actually a refreshingly clear experience. So that is where I sat for the remainder of the race. I felt focused. I didn’t slow down. In a weird roundabout way I felt strength in my pain.
Summary
So my quandary is this – DID I go too fast on the bike if my run went the way it did? I don't feel like I went to hard up the hills, I feel like I may have gone too hard DOWN them.... On one hand I want to say no, I didn't go too fast, but on the other, it did impact my run start a bit. My gut feels like I went too fast on the bike and then “held it together” on the run. Did I just get lucky? guess I wanted to feel more in control throughout the entire run? I picked up 16 minutes on the bike – could I have picked up more than this on the run with a slower bike? I honestly have no idea. Maybe? After I found my rhythm, I really did feel ok after all… Where is that line where you can push yourself to do better and accept that? This is where the feedback is helpful!
Ultimately I was very happy with the way the race turned out. I made lots of little detailed notes for my next race, and completed the debrief sheet for my records too, although I pretty much just reproduced it here too, in novella form. Your feedback will help round out the experience… Thanks for listening!!!!
Comments
Julia - congratulations on your IM finish! I've been asking myself the same question you posed in terms of would your run have been faster with a slower bike. My feeling at least for me is quite possibly. The bike and the run at our race were in near ideal conditions and because of that i think we had a little wiggle room on the run to compensate for any bike mistakes. So in this case a slightly overcooked bike didn't cause a major meltdown on the run, but rather an inability to execute to ones potential or as you put it - just being able to hold it together.
That's my feeling, but it's very much an n=1 and i think the only way to know for sure is to experience some good days and bad days so you can really develop and understanding in terms of how your body reacts when you over push and when you don't. Another suggestion is to fire up a forum thread on this topic to get some insight from the really experienced folks on the team.
That's really the bottom line, isn't it?
To answer the question about how hard you biked, you gotta have some data to analyze (power, HR?), and relate to what you were able to do in training, specifically your second RR.
Would like to see where your numbers were on the bike and how your final run pacing relates to what your planned long run pace for that run. And way to keep your head in the box when you were told something about "making up time".
Thanks Al and John, for reminding me to check the numbers. My last race RR I had an average HR of 140 bpm, over a relatively flat, uninterrupted river trail, with a slight uphill near the turnaround. AT IMCDA, my average was 147 bpm, but there was much more in terms of rolling elevation changes. It kind of looks like my first lap I hovered around 143, and my second was around 153. My normal top of z1 is 143... and z2 is 143-163. So maybe that does answer my question - yes too hard on the bike, especially lap 2??
oh, and final run pacing - my last two miles were under 12 minutes, which I am actually really happy with. Although my average pace was 12:34, I feel like a some of that is due to all my pee stops, which were out of necessity, not just because I was tired and needed an excuse to stop. Which is another mystery... Yeah I should really post somewhere over on the main forums, eh?