Tim Cronk IMFL 2013 Race Report
IMFL was # 8 IM... Racing in the M 50-54 AG... Vdot 51 , FTP 230 @ 119lbs for a 4.2 w/kg .
Results KONA Qualified with a 9:39:51 for 2nd place out of 247 in AG and 129th out of 2891 Overall ....Swim of 1:03:59 was a 2min PR... T1 of 4:10 was a course PR...Bike of 4:55:39 was a 7 min PR (also a IM bike power PR of NP 174 this matches my first FTP test 3 years ago) ...T2 of 2:35 was a course PR... Run of 3:33:38 was a 19 min PR....(a secret wish is to one day BQ at an IM run this time was 3:38 away)
Raceweek was hectic to say the least... Heather and I sold a house, moved, and traveled to FL mon-weds. Thursday was pick up bikes at TBT , 27 min bike ride and 16 min run...EN dinner was awesome... Friday we played in the waves with wetsuits on but didn't swim in the angry ocean, bike and bag drop off late in the day after the line of storms came thru yep long line everyone had the same idea.
Swim... Goal 1:05 or less.... Actual 1:03:59 with a 31min 1st loop and 33min 2nd loop...14th place in AG... Lined up in the 1:00-1:10 corral which was the second one in from buoy line and upfront... Cannon goes off and I promptly got elbowed in the face before I even got feet wet... The guys turns to me and apologizes and I mumbled something like its ok its about to get worse... People were a little tentative entering the water with the big breakers we had coming in... I was fairly aggressive and was swimming rather quickly... There was a second set of breakers due to the sand bar and then it was just huge swells but nice water. Fair amount of contact for both loops , several full on shoulder grap and pulls and a couple people actually appeared to sit up and take a swing at me WTF? The disappointing part of the swim was the murky water . We were really looking forward to that nice crystal clear water we had in 2011 to watch the fish and rays.
T1... Goal was top 5 in AG... Actual time 4:10..... Looks like fastest in AG at least out of the top 10 finishers.... Out of water , run past all the people laying in the sand for wetsuit strippers, pull upper suit off while running, grab bag, enter tent, hand bag to volunteer, pull suit down over waist, sit , pulled suit off legs while volunteer dumps bag, picked up my shoes in left hand, glasses in mouth, helmet in right hand, exit tent, helmet and glasses go on while running to bike, shoes go on at bike, grab bike and run to mount line.
Bike...Goal was low 5hr on NP170-172watts... Actual time 4:55:39 on AP 172 , NP 174 , VI 1.01 , IF .756 , TSS 281...tied for 2nd place AG bike split... Stumbled at the mount as I almost ran into somebody... Got going 3 quick pedals... sit up breathe and relax... Heard Coach P yell...Time to go to work.. Settled into goal watts almost immediately... Found it very difficult to ride steady watts in the first 60 miles due to the passing and jostling of positions... You can see the noise in the power file where I was making small as possible power spikes to pass and then lots of coasting and trying to fall back if the group was too big to pass etc. After mile 60 I had plenty of room to ride clean and steady and its obvious in the power file. On the bumpy out and back section right after SN I had a guy that just had to come out of his box and pull up along side of me and scold me for not pointing out a water bottle on the road that he almost hit. I almost came out of my box to say well if you weren't sucking my wheel you would have seen it... Instead I said thank you very much for the lesson... I realize its good practice to point those things out but ya gotta understand this road sucks so bad there were bottles , flat kits, co2 cartridges everywhere and I was just hanging on for dear life at 23mph avoiding stuff the best I could... At mile 107 I passed none other than Rinny the Womans World Champ! Quick hello and finished up my ride nice and strong to the very end with my highest 5 mile power 105-110miles. Took my feet out of my shoes to prepare to dismount (this was a first).
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/399126740
T2...Goal was top 5....Actual time was 2:35 and I believe the fastest in AG again just compared to the top 10 finishers... wish you could sort via transitions... Hand bike to volunteer, helmet and glasses off, run grab bag, John and Jess Withrow screaming at me, into tent , sit , dump bag, socks and shoes on, watch and bag of gels in mouth, race belt in hand, exit tent while putting on race belt, keep moving put on watch, start watch, open bag, glasses on, gel flask in top, saltstick and extra gel in pockets.
Run.....Goal was sub 3:51 with hopes of sub 3:45 (pace 8:30-40)... Actual 3:33:38 (8:09 pace) for 2nd fast AG run....I dont know where it came from...My best was a 3:52 with 8:51 pace at IMMT... Thought I had a good chance to get a PR with the cool dry conditions we had but never in a million years a 3:33... My LRP is 8:24??? Anyway I started out too fast like I always do but this time it was off the charts fast around 7:30's, I worked hard at slowing and got down to around 8's...Finally started to see some low 8's... Around mile 4 I just committed to that pace no matter what and just held it.... Conditions were perfect not hot enough to need ice and water for cooling so I still stopped at the aid stations but they were shorter and just to eat and drink and get those short breaks in... At mile 3.5 here comes Rinny hello boys as she goes by just so effortlessly... Held my pace as steady as I could and just let the RPE build, yes the first few miles felt stupid slow and the last few miles felt like a 5K... Somewhere at the halfway point and EN guy in the crowd yells at me that I am in 3rd place by a minute and a half. Who was that? Passed Rinny again at mile 19 while she was walking on the run... She was just validating her KONA slot for next year and was seen walking eating chips talking to spectators.. Saw Coach P 3 times , at the last one 20 mile point he say you know what to do, now go get what you came here for! At my mile 22.5 and Heathers mile 3.5 our paths crossed and I got my kiss. She looked so good and immediately asked if I was ok? LOL I didnt look so good! Quick chuckle yep I'm hurting... I was so focussed on my pace and the pain I forgot about my one thing! It wasnt dark, it didnt hurt that bad, but it was the cumulative effort of the day... I was done and the wheels were defintely starting to come off with a pretty good fade in the last 3 miles.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/399123846
This is a repost from my IMFL RacePlan....
Bottomline... The entire race is going to be largely based on RPE.... The KONA/IMFL double so close is a huge unknown.... I'm preparing myself to dance that fine line of could vs should ,being just slightly uncomfortable all day and then entering that "risk zone" looking for that perfect balance to maximize what I have. That is what this race plan is all about trying to get myself into that mental game . Finding the edge of that envelope I'll call the risk zone could go either way. No matter what, I will learn something and be happy with the outcome.... When the pain is gone I may even say I enjoyed it.... Like one of my favorite EN athletes is fond of saying I'm lucky to be racing this IM!
What I learned is we are always capable of so much more than we think we are... The mental game is huge... Yes we need fitness and we need execution but ya gotta believe and ya gotta risk it.... I will say I was uncomfortable right from that first punch on the beach until I crossed the finishline... In the middle of my run I was thinking I don't know if I can pysche myself up to this type of mental game again? But that too recovers and a few days later here I am thinking yep I could do that again.
This is another repost from my IMFL Race Plan
Misc..... My Heather is racing IMFL as her 3rd IM.... Hoping to see her on the run course for a kiss ! 7IM's started w/6 IM's finished this has become a ritual!
As you read our paths crossed and we stopped for our kiss.... She race IMFL 2011 as her first with a 15:12 , this summer IMMT 16:16 and a very rough day for her... She came back with a 14:03 on Saturday for a 1:09:00 PR...Needless to say Happy! As usual I couldnt be more proud .
IMFL is a great race and venue.... People and athletes very friendly (except in the swim)... I got more hello's and nod's from fellow athletes in my 2 mile run on thursday than I did the entire 12 days I spent in KONA..... Looking forward to KONA in 2014 and I'm bringing Roy Ezell's My little Pony T-shirt to try and mellow those people out a little... KONA will be the reverse of what I did this year coming 2 weeks after IM Chattanooga ... SO I will race CHAT and coast KONA!
Special thanks to Coach P out on the course, The Withrows, Gen Machette, Paul Hough, for volunteering, the EN guy who told me my place ,and all the other EN people spectating, racing , watching , and supporting!
Comments
Truly awesome seeing what you have done, you are truly my inspiration of what is possible. Looking forward to hopefully hooking up in Tucson, but definitely back in NH in July!
What can I say about a perfect race. Relish it, brother. It must have been a great feeling, as if you were just along for the ride, and someone else was driving the boat, those miles 3-23 on the run, eh? Then he handed you the wheel, and you hung on for dear life.
BTW, no way your VDOT is still 51.
Congrats sir!
Tim. Congrats. You are an amazing athlete. You always looked so strong on the run. Nice to meet you in person. I'm sure our paths will cross again. Enjoy Kona again. Smile and talk to everyone at Kona.....It will drive them crazy! (inside joke).
You still in for texas? Would be interested to hear what you will use for inspriation as kq already done.
@ Steve H.... Not sure what happened to that other guy? Maybe they had him in the wrong AG?
@ Rachel .. looking forward to Chattanooga... We'll get a good group online training this summer!
@ Scott... thanks .... yes I think our paths will cross sometime in 2014
@ Al... thanks again for everything ... IM sent to you !
@ Jimmy... thanks...I caught you comment on the Dashboard about transsitions so my step by step execution of Transitions was just for you! Glad you saw it.
@ Paul... thank you and nice talking to you... be watching Coz and the father and son team will have fun at IMFL 2014
@Mike J.... nice to finally have met you.... will do at KONA! let race again sometime!
@Robin... thanks double me LOL never gets old.... Yes for IMTX I'm gonna use you for my motivation.... Going for the Podium @ IMTX .... Got a great group forming for Texas this year and very much looking forward to it... But for now NOTHING!
@Rian... Yes the decision was made early but found that nice balanced steady pace... Its never easy but a flat course and good temps made it easier to figure out.
@Bruce and David... thank you so much you guys! really appreciate it..
@ Matt... looks like KONA will be a coasting race for me again being only 2 weeks after IMCHOO... but we'll see how we feel after racing all out at IMCHOO... at least next year after KONA I have nothing on the table so I might as well leave it there!
@Mark Roberts... thanks for giving me my position ... it helped me keep the pace!
WOW Tim! Speechless… You had the perfect race… the race we all dream about. The one where only a few special souls actually get to experience. Congratulations! You are an enormous inspiration and class act. Enjoy the afterglow.