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 emphasis 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.
Comments
You had a very solid race Robin. My highlight was when you passed me during my 9 mile walk and we high fived... It was great to see you were having a great race and it brought a nice smile to my face in the midst of the dark march I was in. I would suggest more mental work during your training runs (getting out of your comfort zone) to push yourself that much more into what you know is possible. We can't control who shows up... Congrats on a great race!
thanks jess. good luck in your future development. see you in Hawaii someday.
thanks tim. i am looking forward to a nice rest and two familiar races next year. texas and tremblant. see you in Texas. i hope to see you get somewhat ahead of me on the bike. then hopefully see you again as i push my run. it is a shame that you are a mini-me otherwise I would legal draft you on the bike.
thanks bob. and I should be able to run faster. hope to maximize my potential there in 2014.
thanks yasko. nice to be intersecting with you around the world. thanks for giving me a run slingshot when i needed it.
thanks paul. with my nice downtime, i should be able to work my ass off.
though i don't have much ass. i think on both the bike and run, the issue may be more actualizing the potential. do the bike i have trained for and endure the 5 hours of moderate discomfort and trust i will have run legs afterwards. do the run i can do and go to the mental place needed and not talk myself out of doing what i can do. on the run, basically need to push it a bit more through the whole run. work my heart rate, pace, and perception protocol.
thanks Sukhi. i was bummed to have passed you knowing the race you had in you. But you live to strike another day. nice to meet you. I look forward to what you do in the future. yes on the mental stuff. over the last months, I have talked to a lot of folks about that. ENers. former ENers. our coaches. read and watched Dave Tallo;s mental sources. etc. on the bike for me, i think i just need to suck it up and trust the bike fitness. on the run, leaving time on the table. at whistler had the run gi issues. so had that justification at the time. though turns out i should/could have run faster regardless. i will work on some tough running workouts. have to balance with recovery needs. but maybe i will work a few of the long runs. i usually am holding back on my long run workouts. but I can throw some faster long runs and take the downstream 2-3 days a bit easier.
anyone, any thoughts on the run gi issues ??? do my thoughts seem accurate ??? solution ???
Hey Robin, great job and great meeting you and the gang. From what I have been hearing this is a course that a lot of us would do better on 2nd time around. Many race reports/coffee chats shared a common theme of slight-mod intimidation of that last 20mi/32k and many (I too) felt we held back a little too much because of that. On the flip side, I know many who biked similar times to other races (with little to no respect for the last 20mi) and can no longer speak of their great bike split (EN'rs know what I mean).
Whistler was a b-race for me this year, but I still looked at my numbers and the rankings as I slipped down overall considerably and lots likely due to the field as mentioned. However, I do have an additional observation. I consider my self a strong-steady power guy. On a course like Pecticton for example, last year, I came out of the water in like 1640th and then finished the bike in like 350th. Now I generally pass many-many folks cuz I suck at swimming, but the course has some serious distance of flatish road, lets call it 100k. Gives me lots of road/time to pass. Whistler on the other hand has tons of down, and though I went from like 1550 to 800 on the bike leg there is just not enough flat for me to pass more, most people are near same speed going down. Just my observation.
Cheers and best of luck next year.
GI issues definitely troubling, I'm A-Ok with stuff going wrong as long as I can learn from it and how to not let it happen again. Unfortunately, I don't have any answers / theories on this one, sounds like this was your normal nutrition approach which you have sufficient experience with so ideally should have been no surprises. No other big differences from other races? Feeling good before race, after?
Trevor. Knowing about the deep field soothes the ego some and gives some hope for the future. Maybe i'll see if the coaches have some insights on the run gi issue. Felt great leading up to the race. Only difference i can find, is the last 20 miles uphill and me feeling good during this. So maybe overworked it a bit much in the higher gears. Gi tract not able to handle things at a higher intensity then.