Kate's IMLOU race report (long, sorry!)
IM LOUISVILLE 2013 RACE REPORT
TRAINING WITH ENDURANCE NATION
When I signed up for IMLOU in 2011 and was looking around for coaching options, a friend from my tri club mentioned EN. I looked briefly into it, but discarded the option, because I was quite set on having an individual coach (that’s a subject for a separate forum post). But I kept on hearing good things about EN, so when it came time to figure out a plan for 2013, I signed up for the free membership trial. I think it is Coach R who says “people join for the training plans, but stay for the forums”. Tru Dat.
My season plan had me starting the 2012 NOS, then jump into the HIM plan and then into the IM plan. Some of you already know this, but to briefly recap my experience: I enjoyed the NOS, although I was pretty fried at the end, and struggled mightily through HIM training. Fatigue carried over from the NOS, the long/cold/dark winter, and not having enough understanding of the plans/confidence to make smart adjustments led me to train myself into a wall during HIM. It was brutal. And while I made some late adjustments with the help of Coach P and the team, I figured this all out too late to save my HIM race. That being said, it was a good learning experience. After my HIM in mid-May, I made the difficult decision to skip out of Quassy 70.3 to get some extra rest before IM training started. And boy, was that a good decision...
When I dropped into the IM plan, it was like a switch had been flipped. The struggles of getting through training, managing workouts, fatigue, self-doubt, making the best decisions for me ... all that just kind of went away. I was calm, relaxed, and just focused on executing my workouts. That’s not to say I didn’t have setbacks. I caught a cold early on that threw me out of commission for a week. There was the occasional equipment malfunction (I have gotten VERY good at changing tubes/tires...), frustration about not getting any faster/stronger per FTP and vDOT testing, and work was absolutely brutal this year, which meant many early mornings and late nights plus higher than usual stress. That in turn meant that 1) some workouts had to be cut short; 2) Nutrition/body comp was a problem. Too much eating on the fly, and yes, too many stress-induced chocolate binges. As a result, my body comp going into this race was not what I wanted it to be. I was ironically 2 lbs lighter than 2 years ago, but muscle mass was down, and body fat was up 5%.
All that being said, things calmed down considerably 3-4 weeks before the race, allowing me to finish training on a high note and then execute a really good taper, probably one of my best ever. I was tired as hell as it started, and it took me a while to recover from all the hard work, but I got plenty of sleep, rest and zen and was well-fueled, rested and relaxed as I headed to Louisville on Thursday morning. Whatever challenges I’d encounter on race day, they would not be based on fatigue. Additionally, I spent a lot of time refining my nutrition and execution plans, and my mental plan for the race. I’ve never felt so well prepared for a race!
RACE PREP
My flight to Louisville left on Thursday morning. To get a direct flight, I had to get up at o-dark-thirty, and in hindsight, I probably should have taken the Wednesday PM flight, but it is what it is. All went smooth. I checked into the hotel (SpringHill Suites), registered, picked up my bike from TBT and did a easy 90-minute ride to loosen the legs (critical - it gave me a sense of how easy/hard to go on the first 10 miles, as well as experience a strong headwind on the way back) and acclimate to the heat. All in all, a pretty busy admin day, and in the afternoon, I was a bit tired. I decided to skip the team dinner 
, and rested up the remainder of the day doing little things, such as marking my transition bags...
Friday was a mellow day. I did the dinner in the evening and stayed for the athletes’ briefing. I thought it was a waste of time. 99% of the info relayed was in the athletes’ guide, and the other 1% while interesting (# of buoys, Perform flavor...) was not critical. And all this in a cold room late in the evening, ehhh 
. Then again, it was nice to meet some EN teammates!
While Coach R didn’t speak too fondly of the Saturday AM practice swim due to associated admin effort, I went on Saturday morning, because at Louisville, they don’t let you jump in the water before the swim start on race day. I wanted to get a ‘feel’ for the water and the temp (80.1 on Saturday), so I did an easy 15min jaunt. Totally worth it.
With Craig D'Angelo after practice swim
IM LOU 2013
Day started early w/ 2 AM applesauce breakfast. Went down smooth. Unfortunately, not down far enough.... I don’t know if/what impact this had on my performance, but come racetime, I was constipated from two days of carboloading (Sat AM: granola, lunch: pasta with meat sauce, dinner: chicken breast w/ veggies. Sunday AM; granola, lunch: pasta with meat sauce, dinner: chicken breast w/ applesauce and nuts). This didn’t bother me on the swim, but I felt pretty ‘heavy’ in the gut during the bike. Actually, now that I think about it, there was probably 3-4 days of food sitting in my gut on race day...
SWIM
Got to the TA early (yeay, no popped tires 
) and headed directly to the swim start. Tough to say how far back I was, but the line moved quickly, and I was in the water around 7:15ish. This was one of the calmest and least ‘combative’ OWS I’ve ever had . Even the swim out the channel (900m) was relatively open, and the water calm. A bit of headwind in the 400m after the island to the first turnaround, but nothing major After the turnaround, it was smooth sailing. Although I did struggle some w/ sighting issues. I was in such a comfortable groove that I didn’t want to ‘interrupt‘ it with sighting... First, I swam directly into a buoy 
, and then I was swimmingly merrily along, wondering where all my fellow athletes were ... only to realize I was half-way to Indiana... That extended my total swim distance to 2.61 miles and probably cost me 2-3 minutes. However, I was pleased to execute a decent swim without expending too much energy and rolled on out.
T1
Smooth, calm, executed according to plan.
BIKE
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/365309292#.UhuQJ_VdNks.email
My plan was to ride the first 30 minutes @ 65-69% of FTP, then go to 69-72% and back off again for the last 45 minutes will to 65-69%. That translated into IF between .69 and .71. During my RRs it was between .72 and .74.
In the end, my data shows an IF of .68. TSS was 338. The TSS chicklet chart in the Long Course execution doesn’t go above 6:30, but that brief also recommends IF .69-70, so I’m not sure what to make of the TSS in this context. During my RRs, TSS was 339 (IF of .74) and 317 (IF of .71). VI was 1.09 (yikes!), but there was 5,000 feet of climbing, and I don’t think the delta is based on massive power surges (I focused very much on not spiking my power), but rather on not pushing hard enough on the downhills. That’s attributable to the crowded course, and me coasting more on downhills than I normally do as I was trying to pee (worked in training, but not at LOU, so I eventually stopped at an aid station), as well as massive saddle discomfort beginning about half-way through... I wanted to focus on pushing the downhills and clearly didn’t do it.
Temps started at 72 and climbed into the mid 90s. Humidity was only about 69%. Not bad. I doused myself heavily with water at each aid station, and I felt that really helped keep my core temp down. Even though I felt fairly full (see comment about under-performing applesauce above...), I executed my nutrition plan and stayed on target fuel-wise. I added some liquids/calories towards the end since I ended up riding longer than I had planned. (Revised nutrition plan showing plan vs actuals is attached below).
Physically, this was a fairly easy ride. However, this was probably the least pleasant bike ride of the year. It started out well, even the first descent on the out and back that I had been so apprehensive about. I remember thinking to myself ‘o, this wasn’t so bad, maybe I can go a bit harder on the way back’. Well, that thought lasted about two seconds ... as I came around the corner on the next uphill, there was an athlete laying in the middle of the road, not moving. He was receiving medical attention, but it was a scary sight, and people were flying by like crazy in both directions. Definitely caused me to lose focus, mojo and concentration, and it took me a while to get it back - if I ever did. I tried to refocus, and was careful not to overcook it, but now I was getting bored ... and frustrated, as I began to calculate my bike split based on where I was on the course and realized I’d be out there 7+ hours. Add to that some severe saddle discomfort after 3-4 hours that I never experienced during my long rides, and I wasn’t really having a good time... That being said, I finally got it done, and grinned inside, as I thought I’d set myself up for a good run. Plus, I didn’t crash, flat, have any technicals, or drop my chain (saw that happen to lots of studdly-looking guys on massively expensive-looking bikes).
T2
Smooth, calm, executed according to plan (except for the line at the portajohn, but that was a good stretch break).
Run
Plan was to run the first 6 miles at 11 minutes (I did 10:45s in my RRs), then drop into 10:30s and at mile 20, see what I could do.
I ran by RPE, without looking at my watch. In actuality, I started at 11:45; 12:27; 12:13; 12:49, 12:45. I held that until about miles 14, then started to slow down more. My planned 30 sec walk breaks at the aid station were probably closer to twice that, because it took a while to get through my routine of sponge, Perform, water to douse and ice for my hands. Still, I don’t understand why I started that slow. I felt I could run faster, and was definitely and consciously holding back, but I didn’t realize it was that much.
I was pretty excited about the run 
. I had a good plan and was looking forward to executing like a ninja. The FTP training runs, in particular, gave me a good confidence boost. Plus, I felt really strong coming off the bike. Things went reasonably well until mile 11, when my left knee started to bother me and my hip flexors got super tight. My breaks at the aid stations were getting longer, but I was still managing to run inbetween. Until about mile 17 when I was running maybe half-miles with walk breaks that were getting longer and longer. I was mad and frustrated -- the one concern I’d had about the training plan was having only two 2:30 runs as the longest runs, and it appeared my fears were being confirmed. My body was just not accepting the pounding... I tried refueling, stretching, drawing on my mojo, one thing and mental prep, but to no avail, the body just wouldn’t go. I unfortunately don’t know what my HR splits are since my HRM cr*pped out on me, but I didn’t feel like I was in cardio trouble, nor where my legs hurting that much, so it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact cause. WTH? I held back all day on the bike for this?? How can this be??? It was beyond frustrating, but it’s pretty much how I ended the run. Not the high note I was hoping for. At all. 
FINAL THOUGHTS
So where does this leave me? I’m not sure. This was my second IM, and yet I still don’t feel like an IM finisher, because I have yet to swim/bike/run a complete race. I thought I was really prepared to execute well, but something didn’t work. Was it fitness or execution? I had a solid execution plan, based on my fitness, but I couldn’t execute. Did I overestimate my fitness? I used the RRs and training runs as guide to my execution plan, so where did I go off? It was hot, but I’d trained in the heat and didn’t feel like I was struggling against the temps.
I’m beginning to think that I’m not ready for IM, and should probably put IM on hiatus for a few years until I push my FTP and vDOT numbers up -- if I ever do. This was supposed to be my highlight of the year. I did all the hard work and felt very well prepared physically and mentally and for the first time, with a really solid execution plan, and yet when all’s said and done, I have to consider this race a failure. Was my fitness that far off? I trained so hard/well, why didn’t it show up on race day? Was my execution that poor? I don’t know. Plenty of questions leading into the off-season. I’m signed up for Philly marathon in November, and had hoped to build on my IM run fitness, but now I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.
That being said, I highly recommend boogie-boarding in the ocean as post-race recovery
Comments
1. Nice to meet you in the Ville (albeit very very briefly) as you walked by in the swim line. I was zoning to my music and really didn't pick up on what was going on around me at that point.
2. If feeling great about overall race execution and results were the only thing that made you an Ironman, after 5 finishes, I wouldn't be one. Regardless of how well or poorly you think you did, you finished upright and were able to make it through the day and its challenges. You are, in no doubt, a Ironman.
3. I have discovered that IMHO, no matter how well any training program (EN or otherwise) is executed or how well we execute during key training events (race rehearsals, B/C races, other events), there is absolutely NOTHING that can prepare us to execute an Ironman with ease. Its an entirely unique beast that must be conquered new each time.
4. I have sworn off Ironman forever after races on two separate occasions. After the last time I tried, my wife laid down the law and told me that I was not allowed to even bring up future participation for at least a week after an event. Sometimes some perspective and time is a good thing.
At the end of the day, be proud of your results and the fact that most people either can't or won't ever do anything close to what you accomplished last Sunday in the Ville. As triathletes, we often only measure ourselves by other people and their results and not our own personal journey and experience. Only you can answer the question of if you still find joy in the training and racing, but trust me when I say you are not alone in sometimes finding dissatisfaction at the end of a tough day. However, often that dissatisfaction slowly fades when you start to look at the bigger picture and the accomplishment that is the result of a year/years/a lifetime spent enjoying this and other crazy challenges! As one of our coaches is fond of saying, at the end of the day, its only a game.
Good luck, hope you see you out and about, and maybe you'll join some of the rest of us one day for a local event
First off, congratulations on toughing-out a day that didn't go as you would have liked.
That really demonstrates your metal six-pack.
An Ironman would be way easier if we all went as well as our training has been going — don't forget it is a very long day (even for the pros) and lots of things can cause problems.
I have had a quick look at your bike file: your Np and VI for each hour are listed: 1st hour 119 watts/1.03, 2nd hour 125 watts/1.15, 3rd hour 125 watts/1.12, 4th hour 122 watts/1.13, 5th hour 120 watts/1.11, 6th hour 120 watts/1.09, 7th hour 121 watts/1.07.
OK, your Np for each hour was quite even (range is 119 to 125), which is good — meaning your target Np was probably correct for your fitness.
Just a minor point here about execution here is to emphasise that JRA should ideally be for the first 60 to 90 mins of an IM bike — an IF of 0.65 makes sense for the JRA section — I note that your JRA period was 30 mins and your JRA Np was 117 watts — IMO, this should have been lower (114 watts?) and longer.
The second point you should look at is your very high VIs for every hour except the first one. The reason for this is for you to work out as I don't know the course, but you really shouldn't have a VI above about 1.05/1.07. I do note that you had over 40 mins at less than 20 watts, which suggests a lot of coasting (almost certainly too much coasting).
Thirdly, you had over 12 mins above your FTP — again, I don't know the course and whether you had to do that to avoid falling over on steep hills — that said, if it was because of steep hills (given your watts/kg), then you need more gears. I run a compact 50/34 9 speed and will use an 11/30 at IM Australia as there is a longish hill greater than a 15% grad.
Fourthly, I note that your average cadence for the whole ride was 72 — I know we have discussed this before but IMO this may also be an issue with the run off the bike.
To summarise, your high VI certainly made it much too tough for you to run up to the pace suggested by EN guidelines — so I congratulate you again for toughing out a very difficult day.
A final thought is about your run pace target — I don't know what your Vdot is (measured at 13.1 miles). Peeps that don't have a Vdot at a half mary and/or a lot of IM race experience are advised to subtract 2 Vdot points from their 5 km Vdot to determine an appropriate run target for an IM run.
Happy to discuss this and any thing else you wanted.
Cheers
Peter
Sorry didn't get a chance to meet you, but know that you were not the only one who suffered on the run. This was my 3rd IM and like you, even though I'd trained in the heat, it was really hot and tough out there - harder than my other 2 IM's by a mile. And trust me - you are an IM Finisher - most people can't even come close to what you did - and there were lots of people that day who DNF'd - but you were not one of them.
Ok - so the race didn't go as well as you planned or hoped... Don't get discouraged - as the other said there can be lot's of reasons for it and you'll figure it out.... know that the same thing happens to the pro's all the time. Keep in mind that you had the guts to be on the start line and let it all hang out....that get's my respect.
So take some time to reflect and be proud of that finishers medal. You earned it!!
I was a spectator IMLOU this year. I was amazed with all the racers who finished in the terrible 90 + degree heat! You were one of the fortunate who crossed the finish line. Bravo. Well done.
Frank
Kate when you were out there suffering during IM Lou, I was out there suffering during IMC in Whistler. You are an IM Finisher! Take that in. I had to walk 9 miles of the marathon because of extreme pain and I've taken pride in that I crossed the finish line, just like you! It is through challenge that we change and without change we perish! You have some great feedback regarding execution and training variables can be changed with volume and intensity. More time doesn't necessarily mean better training... Keep your head high and know that if it was easy, everyone would do it!
Thanks for the feedback, everybody! I’ve give the whole experience a lot of thought over the past week or so, and am feeling somewhat better about the whole thing ... though I do recognize that I have A LOT of work to do if (when?!) I go for IM #3...
@ Roy: Thanks. It’s been great going through the NOS and this racing season with you! MY LITTLE PONY rules
@ Peter - thanks for analysis of my file. I’m officially naming you Coach #3
. Low VI for the first and last hour are attrituable to the pancake flat first/last 12 miles, so no surprise there. It’s all the hills inbetween that mess me up, and you’re right, definitely too much coasting (I was in quite a bit of discomfort...), though I take some comfort in the fact that I didn't bust over my FTP all THAT much (12 mins during a 7:12 ride...). Regarding the low cadence, I don’t know, like you said, we’ve talked about it before, but it’s just what I’m comfortable with. Maybe I’ll play with cadence during the next OS and see what it feels like. Btw, I ride a 50/34 compact and a 11/28 in the back. I don’t remember my vdot off the top of my head right now, but I’ll go back and check how much I should have adjusted the times by taking 2 points off. Thanks!
@ JT - congrats!
@ Frank - thanks for being out there. I’m constantly amazed and race spectators. It seems so much harder than actually racing!!
@ Sukhi - congrats on pushing through. Glad I wasn’t the only one struggling out there! I was worried I’d get my “EN card” taken away from me for poor execution
.
Thanks again for all the feedback. It's really valuable!