robin sarner. canada whistler 2013. poop it up.
Robin sarner. Ironman Canada whistler 2013.
Male. 181 lbs. 6-6. 47 years old.
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Swim: |
1:06:06 |
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T1. 5 |
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Bike: |
5:41:04 |
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T2. 3 |
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Run: |
3:32:33 |
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Overall: |
10:28:02 |
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32nd age. Slots outright to 13. Rolldown to 16th. Me off this by 19 minutes.
Bike NP 223. VI 1.07. tss 257
Went to Canada feeling good and great. Good and cheap accommodations in Whistler. Easier to find housing that is closer to the race action then say Tremblant. Overall a nice mellow set up and logistics. T1 is some miles from the rest of the action but easy to get there using one’s bike (2 mile bike path ride). Enjoyed the team dinner and the official dinner (coupon to local restaurants).
Morning of race fine.
Swim. Started front and to the right. Clear water the whole way. Slow time for me. Why? Maybe less of a swim workout emphasize in the lead up. And swimming a bit wide on purpose. Got ahead of everyone right from the start, in my area. Mellow swim. Maybe I relaxed too much.
T1. Ok. I put more layers on then most. Enjoyed my disposable coat for the first 30 miles.
Bike. I thought that closer to 5:30 then 6:00 would be a reasonable expectation. So did that. I practiced on the course three weeks previous. But, due to the car dangerousness of the highway part, really hard to get a good sense of the course before race day. Undercooked the middle part of the course to save some for the last long climb. So I probably sold myself short. No reason I can’t do a smart sub 5:30 on this course. Unique experience: I felt really good the last 20 miles with the killer climb. Passed some numbers of folks I think. Why:: I think due to sticking to my cool weather nutrition plan::: two bottles Perform per hour and 200 calories per hour of gels or bars. Will be looking for some feedback on my run bit though. See below. Should I have skipped the last feed or half bottle due to the needed higher heart rate on the last long climb (and my subsequent run gi issues)??? My average heart rate for the bike 138 (pretty good for me) and just a couple beats higher for the last climb though.
T2 ok.
Run: Started off feeling the typical fair for 2-3 miles. Then pretty good. Then really not too bad through the typical landmarks: miles 13 and 16 and 18 and 20 and 20+. Running off combo of pace and heartrate. I still have more room to get more out of myself especially during the first 2/3 of the run. Need to push more through the discomfort and work the heart rate goal even more. Need to trust that I am not going to die at mile 16-20. I had two 3:29 runs last year. And I should be able to get my ass closer to 3:20. But, new thing this race, apparent gi issues. Plan on the run is 4 oz Perform every station. Gel every three miles x 3-4. Then gel every four miles. Then at mile 16-18 and after, whatever works (perform, coke, etc.). Pretty nauseous starting out at the first aide station. Held off my first gel until mile 4 or 5. No actual vomiting but near. Brain justification to slow down a bit to let the gut rest a bit (probably a good move. But at the end still had some in the tank so should have pushed it regardless?). Somewhere near the middle of the run, gave up on trying gels. Still tried to do some Perform as tolerated. Peed lots during the bike as per what works best for me. Peed twice on the run. So hydration was fine. I think electrolytes were fine because I am not a salty sweater, have never had sodium problems, minimal water drinking, etc. Shortly after starting Coke at somewhere after 18-20 miles, had the sudden urgency to poop. Was envisioning missing kona due to poop break. Regardless, stopped around mile 22-23 in a john to have a 3 minute diarrhea blow out. Had too good a time in the last 6.4 km. Finished my typical too strong. A week out I feel too good.
Good race. Nice EN folks. Great venue. Enjoyed being up there with wife (Lisa Watson. She wasn’t sure she was up to finishing her fifth iron (family, life, training issues), but she had by far her strongest bike and a solid finish). Pretty stacked field in my age group.
So, questions to you all. The gi issues on the run with nausea, inability to take in my normal amount of nutrition, and the eventual diarrhea. General gi shut down ??? Started on the last 20 hill miles of the bike and I should have backed off the nutrition ??? Only solution was to slow down on the run and ease off the consumption ??? In Texas, dehydration on the bike. Needed to drink more Perform on the bike. Canada, issue at the other end of the nutrition spectrum I assume ??? Cool races last year with CDA and Tremblant did the same nutrition with no problems on bike and strong runs. Difference the 20 miles of climbing to finish the bike in Canada ??? Kept to my goal climbing watts though.
So again Kona disappointed. But this may be my strongest race when accounting for the bike course and the run gi issues, despite the worse ranking. Live and learn even more. Going back to familiar courses next year and looking forward to that.