IMLP Race Report - Jim Daley
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This was about a good a race as I could have imagined. I was hoping to break six hours on the bike, and 12 hours overall, and managed to hit both of those goals. Also, thanks to EN, the race execution went perfect.
The weather was great for racing. There was a shower during the swim which wet the roads for the descent to Keene on the first lap slowing things down a bit. Then it was cloudy the rest of the day, with temps in the low 70's and a little humid with dew points in the low 60's. The roads did dry out for most of the day.
Nutrition
I used the race fueling plan from Core Diet and that worked great. Started carbo loading two days out. Race day morning I was up at 3:15 and into 4.5 cups of apple sauce by 3:30. I also had a powerbar, a banana, a gel, and one scoop of protein powder before the race start. And a cup of coffee - Not Core Diet approved but I had decided not to try and kick the coffee habit before the race as recommended by the Core Diet people. That's just too much to ask! On the bike I was eating every 25 minutes, and it was either a half powerbar or a gel and two Cliff Bloks. I also took in about 8 bottles of Perform (to be honest I lost count). And I grabbed a banana from the aid stations about halfway through. On the run it was 4 oz perform and one Cliff Blok every mile at the aid stations. This went great up until about halfway through the run when my stomach started to cramp up in a bad way, which sucked because I felt great otherwise. Coach P. saved the day when I luckily saw him a short distance down the road and he said to switch to coke and back off the pace a little. That worked great - it was amazing how well the coke settled my stomach. I tossed my remaining Clif Bloks in the trash since I knew I did not want to risk eating them and there was no sense carrying them. For the rest of the race any stomach pain I had faded when I drank coke at the aid stations - I could not wait to get to the next aid stations to get more! I was getting coke and ice at the aid stations, and pouring the coke over ice. Amazingly good during the late stages of an Ironman!!! As to why my stomach started to cramp up I don't know. Stomach cramping was a major issue on the run for me at IMLP 2011 and I need to figure that out. My leading theory is just taking in too much liquid too fast on the run. I think I chugged down too much perform (a whole, full cup or more) at some of the aid stations early on due to thirst and that was the likely culprit.
Swim - Out of the water with Andy Potts
The swim was pretty uneventful. This was the first year that they did not have a mass start, and it went pretty well. I was in the water in less than 5 minutes (seeded myself at 1:15). There were some congested areas due to slow, improperly seeded swimmers mucking things up, and I managed to get my goggles kicked off twice, but not too bad overall. Near the end of the first lap some really fast dude swam by me right before we got out of the water. I was thinking "man that guy seeded himself wrong - how far back did he start?". Turned out it was Andy Potts - he went left, and I went right to start my second loop! I've been searching for a photo of me coming out of the water with Potts... I ended up with a swim time of about 1:18 - a little slower than expected. A friend of mine was told by an Ironman contact that the course was about 50 meters long per lap - so 100 meters long overall. If true then that would put me right about where expected with an average of 1:48 sec/100y.
Bike
Overall I felt very good on the bike. Stats follow. I manually divided up sections as best I could in Training Peaks since I never bothered to use the split button on my Garmin after first time into Keene, so some of the math may not be perfect:
Overall:
Time - 5:56
TSS - 262 (Target was 286)
IF - .67
NP - 200 (Target was 210)
VI = 1.07
Speed = 18.8
Cadence = 84
Loop 1:
Time - 2:55
IF - .67
NP - 200
VI = 1.07
Speed = 19.0
Loop 2:
Time - 2:57
IF - .67
NP - 200
VI = 1.06
Speed = 18.8
Loop 1 not counting the Lake Placid to Keene section:
Time - 2:14
IF - .68
NP - 204
VI = 1.03
Speed = 18.5
Loop 1 not counting the Lake Placid to Keene section:
Time - 2:15
IF - .66
NP - 203
VI = 1.04
Speed = 18.3
So I undershot my target FTP by quite a bit, and fell short of where was planning in total TSS. Since I hit my target bike split, and I am a poor runner, I guess this was not a bad thing.
However I pretty much even split lap one and two. A little slower on lap 2 as the wind picked up a little, but but both laps had an NP = 200, and a slightly lower VI on the second loop. If I take out the Lack Placid to Keene section on both loops, then my NP was 203-204 - closer to the 210 target, and VI was 1.04 or less. That long descent messes up the numbers I think, and I am not sure going harder for the rest of the course to make up for it so you hit your target NP would be a good move to make.
Finally, the peak 1 hour for power was on the climb back to town on the fist loop (NP = 208, average power 205, and VI = 1.01). But for the same section on the second loop, NP was 209, average power 204, and VI of 1.02. So essentially the same effort, slightly more variable (a bit more coasting/stretching at end of ride). Very happy with that! I don't think I could have paced it any better.
Run
I felt pretty good the whole way (for an Ironman run, which I guess never feels really "good"). First loop was about 2:12, and second about 2:13 (again - manually breaking it up in Training Peaks - not exact). Overall pace was 9:57 min/mile, including walk breaks. 9:49 min/mile for first loop, and 10:04 for second loop.
Was trying to keep HR no higher than the 150 ballpark for most of the race. When I did that I felt good. Loop one average HR was 147, on loop 2 it was 158 (was peaking from time to time), and overall it was 153. Walking the aid stations helped keep it down, as did "strategic" walking on the steeper hills, as well as just a walk break on the second loop when I saw my HR was in the 170's.
On the second loop it just hurts to keep moving. I definately had that hit by a truck feeling. What worked for me was just the black and white rule that I would not walk (unless planned - as above). Focussing on good form, slow and steady at about 9:45 - 10:00 min/mile pacing, seemed to get me through the rough patches and I would feel good again.
Finished feeling great This was my second IM - the first being Lake Placid in 2011. I managed to take about 55 minutes of my time compared to 2011. I was shooting to break 12 hours, and knew everything had to go pretty much perfectly to do that, and it did. As the coaches and everyone else say - it is amazing how many people you will pass on the bike and run later in the race.
If anyone has an Ironman coming up and is still reading - trust the plans - they work. And trust the execution strategy, and be ready on race day ready to focus on sticking to your plan all day. Patience and discipline!
The weather was great for racing. There was a shower during the swim which wet the roads for the descent to Keene on the first lap slowing things down a bit. Then it was cloudy the rest of the day, with temps in the low 70's and a little humid with dew points in the low 60's. The roads did dry out for most of the day.
Nutrition
I used the race fueling plan from Core Diet and that worked great. Started carbo loading two days out. Race day morning I was up at 3:15 and into 4.5 cups of apple sauce by 3:30. I also had a powerbar, a banana, a gel, and one scoop of protein powder before the race start. And a cup of coffee - Not Core Diet approved but I had decided not to try and kick the coffee habit before the race as recommended by the Core Diet people. That's just too much to ask! On the bike I was eating every 25 minutes, and it was either a half powerbar or a gel and two Cliff Bloks. I also took in about 8 bottles of Perform (to be honest I lost count). And I grabbed a banana from the aid stations about halfway through. On the run it was 4 oz perform and one Cliff Blok every mile at the aid stations. This went great up until about halfway through the run when my stomach started to cramp up in a bad way, which sucked because I felt great otherwise. Coach P. saved the day when I luckily saw him a short distance down the road and he said to switch to coke and back off the pace a little. That worked great - it was amazing how well the coke settled my stomach. I tossed my remaining Clif Bloks in the trash since I knew I did not want to risk eating them and there was no sense carrying them. For the rest of the race any stomach pain I had faded when I drank coke at the aid stations - I could not wait to get to the next aid stations to get more! I was getting coke and ice at the aid stations, and pouring the coke over ice. Amazingly good during the late stages of an Ironman!!! As to why my stomach started to cramp up I don't know. Stomach cramping was a major issue on the run for me at IMLP 2011 and I need to figure that out. My leading theory is just taking in too much liquid too fast on the run. I think I chugged down too much perform (a whole, full cup or more) at some of the aid stations early on due to thirst and that was the likely culprit.
Swim - Out of the water with Andy Potts
The swim was pretty uneventful. This was the first year that they did not have a mass start, and it went pretty well. I was in the water in less than 5 minutes (seeded myself at 1:15). There were some congested areas due to slow, improperly seeded swimmers mucking things up, and I managed to get my goggles kicked off twice, but not too bad overall. Near the end of the first lap some really fast dude swam by me right before we got out of the water. I was thinking "man that guy seeded himself wrong - how far back did he start?". Turned out it was Andy Potts - he went left, and I went right to start my second loop! I've been searching for a photo of me coming out of the water with Potts... I ended up with a swim time of about 1:18 - a little slower than expected. A friend of mine was told by an Ironman contact that the course was about 50 meters long per lap - so 100 meters long overall. If true then that would put me right about where expected with an average of 1:48 sec/100y.
Bike
Overall I felt very good on the bike. Stats follow. I manually divided up sections as best I could in Training Peaks since I never bothered to use the split button on my Garmin after first time into Keene, so some of the math may not be perfect:
Overall:
Time - 5:56
TSS - 262 (Target was 286)
IF - .67
NP - 200 (Target was 210)
VI = 1.07
Speed = 18.8
Cadence = 84
Loop 1:
Time - 2:55
IF - .67
NP - 200
VI = 1.07
Speed = 19.0
Loop 2:
Time - 2:57
IF - .67
NP - 200
VI = 1.06
Speed = 18.8
Loop 1 not counting the Lake Placid to Keene section:
Time - 2:14
IF - .68
NP - 204
VI = 1.03
Speed = 18.5
Loop 1 not counting the Lake Placid to Keene section:
Time - 2:15
IF - .66
NP - 203
VI = 1.04
Speed = 18.3
So I undershot my target FTP by quite a bit, and fell short of where was planning in total TSS. Since I hit my target bike split, and I am a poor runner, I guess this was not a bad thing.
However I pretty much even split lap one and two. A little slower on lap 2 as the wind picked up a little, but but both laps had an NP = 200, and a slightly lower VI on the second loop. If I take out the Lack Placid to Keene section on both loops, then my NP was 203-204 - closer to the 210 target, and VI was 1.04 or less. That long descent messes up the numbers I think, and I am not sure going harder for the rest of the course to make up for it so you hit your target NP would be a good move to make.
Finally, the peak 1 hour for power was on the climb back to town on the fist loop (NP = 208, average power 205, and VI = 1.01). But for the same section on the second loop, NP was 209, average power 204, and VI of 1.02. So essentially the same effort, slightly more variable (a bit more coasting/stretching at end of ride). Very happy with that! I don't think I could have paced it any better.
Run
I felt pretty good the whole way (for an Ironman run, which I guess never feels really "good"). First loop was about 2:12, and second about 2:13 (again - manually breaking it up in Training Peaks - not exact). Overall pace was 9:57 min/mile, including walk breaks. 9:49 min/mile for first loop, and 10:04 for second loop.
Was trying to keep HR no higher than the 150 ballpark for most of the race. When I did that I felt good. Loop one average HR was 147, on loop 2 it was 158 (was peaking from time to time), and overall it was 153. Walking the aid stations helped keep it down, as did "strategic" walking on the steeper hills, as well as just a walk break on the second loop when I saw my HR was in the 170's.
On the second loop it just hurts to keep moving. I definately had that hit by a truck feeling. What worked for me was just the black and white rule that I would not walk (unless planned - as above). Focussing on good form, slow and steady at about 9:45 - 10:00 min/mile pacing, seemed to get me through the rough patches and I would feel good again.
Finished feeling great This was my second IM - the first being Lake Placid in 2011. I managed to take about 55 minutes of my time compared to 2011. I was shooting to break 12 hours, and knew everything had to go pretty much perfectly to do that, and it did. As the coaches and everyone else say - it is amazing how many people you will pass on the bike and run later in the race.
If anyone has an Ironman coming up and is still reading - trust the plans - they work. And trust the execution strategy, and be ready on race day ready to focus on sticking to your plan all day. Patience and discipline!
0
Comments
Good luck with the rest of your year....starting with some rest.
Congrats on a great race and finish!
Congrats on the solid finish...
awesome Mr Daley, a pleasure to race with you this year! The hanging out at the pub wasnt too bad either :-)