IMLT - 141.2*
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What a tremendous experience – I love this sport!
This was my first IM (I did two 70.3s earlier this year). I was somewhat overwhelmed before the race, trying to get a good plan, trying to remember all the things that probably will come naturally on my second, third, ... IM. Saturday, as I packed my bags, my "box" was at its smallest. It took me about 4 hours to get the bags packed and organized because the act of packing made me think about and become nervous about the race, and at that point, the race was outside my box.
By the time Sunday morning came around, I felt awesome. I had slept about 3 hours (more than I expected... I managed about 9 hours sleep on Friday in anticipation of insomnia Saturday). I was confident. I had worked out every detail about how to attack this race… nearly.
As has been reported, race day was cold. The day before, was worse though, so I was encouraged not to have snow and rain. The water was cold and there was no way I was going to do a swim warmup... not because of the water temp, but because I did not want to freeze between the warmup and the race start.
I guess none of us really knew what to expect Sunday as we were standing in the dark waiting on the sun to rise - I for one was really happy to see the sun after the Saturday weather and took that as a good omen.
The rolling wave start into the water was fantastic – everyone got in fast with none of the mayhem that I've heard about with mass starts. Once in the water, there was so much fog on the water that I couldn't find the first marker – so I followed some feet, and as we moved away from shore, it was easier to see. I was a little slower than I wanted – 1:28:50 – I should have gone in a faster wave, but the swim was in the books.
T1 – Wet suit strippers worked great. I went to grab my transition bag, yelled out my number and someone handed me the bag. Into the warming tent trying to find any space to change in the nakedfest – impossible – so went outside and opened the bag. Not my bag! They had given me the wrong one and I didn't catch it! An attendant changed the bag for me – 17-minute transition. Yikes! (I checked later - thank goodness the bag confusion was with someone who was far enough behind me on the swim they apparently weren't impacted - their T1 time was about 7 minutes).
I had put a small insulated cup of chicken broth in my T1 bag with the notion that warming the core would help keep the fingers and toes warm... this was a brilliant plan. I had also stuffed by shoes with hand warmers so they were toasty when I put them on. My final "trick" was to put toe warmers between my shoes and the toe caps so that they continued to heat as I rode. Later, when I was warn, I could pull the warmers out from under the toe caps while I rode.
As soon as I left on the bike, I could feel something wrong with my rear tire. Thump, thump, thump... I hoped to make it to one of the steep climbs before it blew so that I could rest while changing and while everyone else was going 5-6 mph up the hill. Of course it blew on the fast part of the course between Squaw and Truckee. Of course it was the rear tire. My spare tube did not have a long enough valve stem to reach through the Zipp 404s, even with the extender. Luckily, I remembered the extender on the front wheel was much longer, so I used it on the rear and all was good. 300 people passed me while I was changing it. Yikes! Flat tire - outside my box. Fix it and get on with it. This is Ironman.
I knew I had some time to make up but was still conservative… until I got lost. There was a roundabout that wasn't marked very well right after we turned into the Martis section and the volunteer directing traffic must have been heeding the call of nature… because no one was there. I followed the bike in front of me (and several bikes followed me) until a car told us we were off course and had to turn around. 1.6 miles extra! Right after that I saw a sign that read 140.6 because 140.7 is insane... Outside the box... right?
I "upgraded" my plan and hammered the rest of my bike and passed 743 people, maintaining speeds over 50 mph on the descents. The bad news was that my TSS was about 330... In fairness - I have no idea what my TSS was, because I am relatively new to riding with power and I am not confident that my FTP is accurate. Each threshold test shoes an improvement that I believe is related to me learning how to pedal more efficiently, and that the 235 W that I used for planning is underestimated. During the ride, I saw the TSS climbing and knew that I was going to be over budget. I compensated by being extremely disciplined on the climbs on the second lap... stayed sitting, lowered the cadence as needed to make sure power did not spike, focused on being as aero as possible and finished the bike. With the flat, the many bio breaks on the first lap and going walkabout in Martis, bike was 7:25:45 and in the books.
I nailed T2 with a 4:29 and was off for the run.
My plan was to run 9:30 per mile on the marathon. Because I was so "over budget" on energy spent during the bike, I let myself settle in at something around 10 minutes. It was slower than plan, but felt comfortable and I was focused on making it to "the line." I walked 30-40 steps each aid station and forced myself to remain disciplined on calorie intake. I was more than sick of Perform and switched to a combo of water/chicken broth. Added coke during the second half of the run. That worked out.
Passed another 311 people. 4:38:56 – in the books.
13:55:30 - not a time to write home about, but I'll take it.
I'm an Ironman!
Lessons:
- The swim booties were essential - not so much in the cold water (feet get numb anyway), but more so in the icy sand before the race. There were also a ton of rocks that I didn't worry about stepping on with the protection of the booties.
- The hand / toe warmers that I stuffed in my shoes so they would be toasty when I put them on were also great.
- The thermos of chicken soup that I put in T1 bag really helped warm my core after the swim.
- NEW TIRES AND TUBES BEFORE EACH RACE!
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Things are going to go wrong in a race like this. When they do - forget about it and focus on what can be done. Just keep moving forward both physically and mentally.
I joined the EN community in late July, and wasn't able to fully embrace the training plan so close to IMLT... but the knowledge that all of you have shared in the forums, wiki, etc. helped me tremendously.
Thank you!
Rich
Comments
Passing over 300 people on the run is what it's all about.
Great job, rest up.
In those conditions, it sounds like everyone had a very difficult day. Sounds like you made a good call on the run to slow down a little and be comfortable.
I really like the idea of the hand warmers for the bike shoes.
Yeah, Rich, for a newbie you had two great ideas: the boot warmers and the chicken soup in T1. People in the past have used "snap open" cold packs to cool off on hot days; you just flipped that - must be a skier?
Dont worry about the TSS - any time we go longer than about 6:15 on the bike, the IF becomes the critical number, not the TSS.
Your run must have been nice and steady, a tribute to controlled race execution.
It was skiing memories that made me focus on getting on the 'right side of the warming curve' from the start... seems like if you let yourself get cold skiing, you are miserable and tired all day. I tried to make sure that I was in good shape leaving T1 so that all I had to do was maintain.
In retrospect - that worked out pretty well.
Run was very steady with the exception of about 6 miles around the half way point... not sure why those splits were slow. Probably just drifting focus. The last 8-9 miles were negative splits. Only problem was trying to negotiate the dark and get around folks walking side-by-side on the run path... I think IMLT needs a better lighting solution next year.