Craig's IM Louisville RR - Rookie Adventure (Long)
IMKY 2013 Race Report
Prologue: IMKY was my first IM event and my 4th race ever. I started doing triathlons last June, a week before the PHLYTRI sprint. I would do that race, MarshMan Sprint (Sept '12), and PHLYTRI Olympic (June '13), and then Louisville. Before this I had never really rode, never ran, and didn't own a pair of goggles. I had originally bought an Off Season plan back in October, and then became a member of EN about a month later.
I think overall my training leading up to the IM was fairly consistent, but not great. I have to admit I made much larger strides during the OS than I did during my IM plan time. The area where I really struggled was the run. It wasn't fitness, but once I was off the treadmills and on the road, I fought nagging calf and shin issues. Turns out you need a decent running form before you start using those fancy tri running shoes. Short story long, my longest long run in training was 14 miles.
Pre-Race: I drove to Louisville from Philly on Tuesday 
I was supposed to stay the night half way…but totally forgot that. It was a surprise to me and the Galt House when I rolled in Tuesday night. Otherwise the rest of the pre-race days were mellow and to the plan. My wife came in Thursday. We did course recon - I was terrified of the out and back after driving it…but felt 100% better after actually doing it on the bike. Pre-race dinner with the team was a lot of fun, and great putting some faces to names. Athletes dinner was a wash, and the briefing was honestly horrible (except for meeting Kate)…seriously people PODCAST.
I would say the overall theme was waves of rookie dread in the AM, workout and burn off nervous energy, mellow and confident till bedtime…rinse and repeat.
I did "break" rules and do the Saturday swim…it didn't stop any sleep from happening, and as I stated above - I needed the morning release. I have struggled with panic in the start of the swim - which is odd seeing as I've been scuba diving since I was 13. This got me in the "murk", hearing the thrashing in the H2O, and in long run was good for me.
Race Day:
So I did the wake 3AM and pound 2 Naked Smoothies. I have a fairly consistent pre-race appointment with the port-o-potties, so this gave me plenty of time in the comfort of my room. I would say, for me, it was about 1/2 smoothie too much…as I burping raspberries for the first 1000M of the swim. Was able to get in a out of T with no issues - though next year I'm bringing my own pump. Then it was off to the swim line.
This was comical at best. That line had to go for miles…and then the line for the head went a mile in the other direction. People had lawn chairs and air mattresses. Luckily for me most of the people around me were pretty loose and jovial. One guy waiting with his friends as a coach. Looking back I was a ball of nerves until the gun went…then I couldn't stop smiling - pure mania had taken over…in a good way. Running down the dock there was nothing I could do, I was doing this - and that lifted all the weight of the morning.
Swim: 1:09:00 (2.7 Miles)
Really couldn't have asked for a better swim. Besides the guy behind me jumping on me and nailing my calf - it went w/o issue. Didn't give myself time to panic…just started going. A few collisions on the upstream leg…chaos trying to get around the turn, then smooth all the way down. A couple of off course moments, got zoned and forgot to sight. My wife, the coxswain, gave me a great piece of advice which was to find my line then use a landmark like the bridge piling or a water tower as my point. Made sighting super easy and a lot quicker than finding the buoys.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/370249336#
LL: Could have gone faster, had the tank. But honestly, nothing crazy, I just need to keep growing and refining as a swimmer.
T1: 12'
Wow…all that I read just could not describe the men's changing tent. Just, wow...chaos. Took my time (too much), leaned toward bike comfort over speed. I didn't realize until after the race how long I had actually taken.
LL: Get in and Get Out. Know that I'll be fine on the bike without all the pampering. Stop taking in the chaos around me.
Bike: 06:52:00
I had planned on going on the easy side of the zone spectrum on the ride…the lack of run prep just had me worried about the end. But this was slower than I planned - but more on that.
I had hydration issues in training, so I was super serious about getting liquid in. I was going through a bottle of Perform every 30' for the first couple of hours. A gel was on the 10's and a salt tab on the 30's. With the extra Perform I held off on my second gel. Hydration plan worked too well - I had to stop and pee 4 times- the first time was around 30 miles (?).
Riding was good for the lap and a half. Out and back went well, except for watching a guy eat it at 35 MPH, going the other way. First loop was good…felt a little funny on the back side..but another pee seemed to fix that. Was super pumped on Lap 2 - I was riding an IM! Then the stomach cramping came with about 30 miles or so to go. And there went the plan.
Perform and gels were like acid going into my stomach. Mix that with heat and my watts dropped on the way back in. It's a bit hazy but I know I didn't take in any real nutrition of that last 01:30:00. Hadn't ever had this happen so was a bit unprepared. Took water - but the "down hill" ride back was tough.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/370233390
LL: DeSoto 400 mile shorts are the bomb. Need 60 more watts in Year 2 muscle adaptation. Cardio is not the problem, need the punch so while I do hills the EN way i'm not going 6-8 miles an hour. Better cooling plan. Learn to pee while riding!@! Special needs is not a Spa, don't hang out for 10 minutes.
T2: 40' (yes 40')
Contrary to my normal reaction to adversity (ignore and steam roll)…I decided to check into medical about the cramping, and the numb face. I knew I couldn't run this way. They coated me in ice packs to bring my core temp down (supposed root of cramping). Started my new nutrition plan of water and pretzels. Once the major pain was gone, I laced up and headed out.
Run: 05:36:00
I knew leaving T2 I wasn't going to have to run I wanted…but improvise, adapt and overcome. Saw my wife on the way out and got a boost. Set a pace of 10:30, plus walking the stops. By a mile in my hands were numb - I remembered another RR and started drinking cola. It was HOT for the first 4 miles or so. But basically rinse and repeat, H2O, coke, pretzels, 2x the salt pills (was worried about all the H2O). Never really planned on coming down from the 10:30.
Made my way out and back. "F*&! Yeah longest run all year!" and was having no shin or calf issues at all. Made the turn back out. It was a trudge, plain and simple. Stomach cramping was there the whole time, but stopping wasn't gonna happen. Saw a dude fall like someone cut a marionettes strings - just pretended like it didn't happen. Got to mile 20 and then the lack of calories, et. al started catching up. And once I slowed down, getting back up to running speed just didn't work. The walking began.
Found out the spots on my sunglasses weren't on my sunglasses - doh! But kept on walking it in. Huge thanks to Dave…I tagged along on the way in together, and kept me going.
Final stretch - had to run. Bright lights, cheering, wife yelling along the barrier. And then I had done it. Total was 14:35:20.
LL: Gotta start building Outside running much earlier so I can bring it up. Hard conversion from Treadmill to road. Get my stride video critiqued. Actually see a doctor when in pain. Leave the Newtons to Crowie.
Epilogue: It wasn't the race I expected to have, but it's the one I had. Based on circumstance and conditions I had to reset my goals. And to me at least, that is IM racing. I'm taking a lot of positives away from this race, as well as lessons learned. I know I can pull in the bike, and the run can only improve. That said, I think 2014 will be about multiple 70.3 and Oly. I just want to race more, and not have the one red circle on the calendar. 2015 will be the next 140.6
PS. Tuesday AM after race SUCKED. I could barely walk.
Comments
It was great to read how you just dealt with the issues that went wrong for you.
I had a look at your bike file which shows some major reasons why your day was so long and tough.
I want to emphasise that I am not being critical but just wanted to give some suggestions.
First, your VI of 1.24 is waaay too high. You should be trying to get down to 1.05/1.06 at least. You appear to have spent over 70 mins at less than 20 watts, which is much too much coasting. Also, you spent almost 30 mins above 220 watts (I don't know what your FTP is but that is just brutal.
It looks like you could improve your riding steady skills by showing 3 sec watts, lap Pnorm and lap Pav (among other metrics). Then, press lap and by watching 3 sec watts, lap Pnorm and lap Pav, try and ensure that lap Pnorm is your target watts. Then after, say, 30 mins, press lap and start again.
The lap period doesn't need to be 30 mins (it could be 20 mins) but the period needs to be short enough so that you can adjust the lap Pnorm by regulating your effort.
I practice riding steady on Saturday's and Sunday's bike sessions.
Happy to elaborate
Cheers
Peter
@Peter - no worries at all. I hadn't loaded the file until last night so I hadn't seen my output. I would imagine my stopping repeatedly to pee added to my <20 watt time, but I definitely coasted, especially end of 2nd lap. Still a bit of brake rider on descents. I spent a lot of time on the trainer or riding a fairly flat (max 2% grade for short bursts) but long ride. So lots of time working hills is going to be a focus this OS. I <em>was targeting a much lower VI - using the 10sec avg probably hid the spikes a bit.