JUAN VERGARA RACE REPORT IMLC 2014
JUAN VERGARA RACE REPORT IMLC 2014
"Executive Summary":
Having raced 70.3 for the past 2 years This was my first full distance . Finished 6th place in my AG (55-59). (169 overall) with a total time of 11:24:04
Thank you to my wonderful wife for her FULL an unconditional support throughout the journey, from the day I decided to register for my first IM, all the way to the days that followed the race (with honors for race week/day when she "ran" up and down Los Cabos wearing a cast on her injured left leg).
Thank you to the entire EN community. I received an incredible amount of guidance and support (all the way to a couple days before the race when mechanical bike issues demanded experienced advice).
Details and my analysis below if interested (please critique freely!!!!):
Why did I choose IM Los Cabos:
I had decided to begin my full distance journey at IM Brazil in May. However, just two days before registration was to open, I found out my daughter's high school graduation would happen on the Saturday before the race. So much for my initiation at home .... and most sad, so much for having WSM Al Truscott close by for my first IM !!! "It is what it is" so the priority became a very early season race in an attempt to carry my good form from 2013 into 2014 when I aged up. Further, I also wanted a flat bike/run race and a fun location. Los Cabos certainly met all that criteria (though the "flat" is up for discussion as described below).
Race Prep:
My last race in 2013 was Miami 70.3 Oct.27/13. From there I took a couple weeks TOTALLY off and began my IM cycle with 8 weeks of GF (advanced) and 12 weeks of IM race prep (advanced). Other than a few weeks of run jail due to injury, I executed 98% of the EN prescribed training sessions. Missed days where basically a couple of self imposed rest days when I thought it would do me better than poorly executed sessions.
Run Jail:
At the beginning of the training cycle, GF week 4, I injured my left leg (tendinitis), which also led to the discovery of a stress fracture. That being the case, I went through 4 weeks of intensive DWR and initiated recovery runs only on week 8 of the GF period. Back to regular run speed and intensity only by IM week 11 (or 8 weeks of run preparation). Not ideal but it is what it is and - as described below - I certainly can not blame the “limited run preparation” for my “poor running execution” on race day
Race Rehearsals and Race Plan:
I wrote detailed RR reports and Race Plan which you can find in the forums if interested (links below):
RR1 : http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/14690/Default.aspx
RR2 : http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/14856/Default.aspx
Race Plan : http://members.endurancenation.us/F...fault.aspx
LOGISTICS (Flight / Arrival / Hotel / Restaurants / LBS):
The Flight:
We flew Aeromexico from São Paulo (Brazil) via Mexico City (no direct flight) and everything was perfect with the flight and luggage. I was obviously most worried with my bike and gear bags making it safely through the Mexico City airport connection and into Los Cabos. Just perfect. Arrived Monday to allow sufficient time to adapt to the 4 hour time difference between São Paulo and Los Cabos.
Car Rental:
Although I had signed up for EST (Endurance Sports Travel) support, I'm "hard-headed" and decided to rent my own mini van for freedom to come and go as I please. Do not regret it and would do it again.
The Hotel:
Could only find one Los Cabos Race Report within EN and that was Michael Johnson's who had stayed at Cabo Azul Resort in San Jose del Cabo and recommended it. www.caboazulresort.com
Contacted Michael to double check and he spoke highly of the hotel. Immediately made a reservation and it was certainly a great choice: across the street from the LBS, two great restaurants, a great massage place, walking distance to T2 (half mile) and Registration (300 yards). Huge supermarket (MEGA) less than a mile away. Outstanding service and spacious villas with a fully equipped kitchen (plus great Margaritas at the pool for Monday recovery protocol!!!!).
The Restaurants:
Two great restaurants across the street from the hotel. Where we had almost all of our meals before the race:
LA GALERIA : http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g152516-d4023235-Reviews-La_Galeria-San_Jose_del_Cabo_Los_Cabos_Baja_California.html (they have Ironman specials all week).
LA FORCHETTA : http://m.opentable.com/restaurants/la-forchetta/107128?Rid=107128&restref=&ref= (the best Italian in town. Just perfect for Friday's big dinner).
Other great restaurants (not in San Jose del Cabo) I certainly recommend:
MARKET : http://www.jean-georges.com/restaur...os/market/ celebrated my wife’s birthday on Tuesday before the race. OUTSTANDING!!
EDITH’s: http://www.edithscabo.com a FANTASTIC Mexican food must on monday after the race.
The LBS in San Jose del Cabo :
Nicely set up but USELESS!!!! the store has a very limited product offering and the top mechanic had no clue how/where a Power Meter magnet needs to be placed on the bike (don't think he even knew what a magnet is for!!!!). They are very nice people though (as everybody and everywhere in Los Cabos by the way .... ). Bring down all your stuff, extras and have a back-up plan for emergency out of San Diego as was the case on EN's Eric Blackie who broke a ZIPP 404 during a practice run and had to fly it in from California.
EN TEAM:
And talking about EN team mates, there were 3 of us at IMLC.
Rich Stanbaugh, Eric Blackie and myself.
IM Week 20 on location:
Monday:
Travel day. Arrived in Los Cabos mid afternoon. Check in, mount bike, groceries, dinner and bed "early" (by then our biological clock is still on Brazil time therefore early was late).
Tuesday:
Drove the bike course from San Jose del Cabo to Cabo San Lucas and given it is a 3 loop course, saw all of it on that one drive out. Back to T2 location and out for a one hour ride on the course with my iron-wife following me with the van ( WU: 15' Easy, include 3-4 x 30 SpinUps.
MS: 4 x 8' (2') @ 75-80%/Zone2 to 3/Steady to Mod-Hard.
WD: 10' Easy.). Half way into the ride dropped my chain and off came the power meter magnet .... which fortunately I found on the road (though I did not have a clue where and how to put it back on) ..... completed my 60' ride on "perceived power" ..... always good to ride on "perceived power" right? ..... more on that later!!!
Back to the hotel, dropped the bike and out for a 30' run on the run course which went by the hotel (MS: 3 x 3' (1') @ z2/MP/Steady.). Back to the hotel the "magnet saga" begins at the LBS where you already know nothing was solved. Time to activate the EN ninjas!!!!! Sent messages to everybody (dashboard, personal messages, phone messages) and in good old EN style ..... everybody answered promptly and thoroughly ..... problem solved ..... Go out for a very quick 5' spin to check it is working properly .... and it is .... I am now a "PM magnet ninja"!!!!
Before dinner I decided to check out the 40 dollar sports massage in the "joint" across the street from the hotel.
Surprise surprise: the joint "look" on the outside did not reflect the very nice and clean massage rooms inside and certainly not the fantastic and high quality true sports massage (if you ever make it there make sure to ask for Veronica).
So long hotel's 140 dollar massage, hello Moon Light Spa for $40... I'll be back Friday and Monday (and I was!!!)
Wednesday:
run 30' as prescribed (MS: 3 x 3' (1') @ z2/MP/Steady. Remainder @ z1/LRP/Easy, just as you will run on race day. Finish with 4 to 6 stride repeats.
Coach Notes: Easy run with some sharpening efforts; don't work too hard!).
Thursday:
hooked up with the EST for a group morning swim at the race venue and a first look at T1 location (which is different from T2).
Noticed that the road from T1 mount to the freeway is a 500 meter uphill which we decide to ride and get the feel for when we went out for an easy 60' bike ride with the EST group (noted that mount must do so carefully and in the right low gear). Thursday afternoon in and out of registration very fast as planned.
Friday:
7am wetsuit swim with the EST group with the race course already marked with the turn buoys. Different from the Thursday swim (when the sea was calm), wind has picked up and swim is much more challenging (waves and current). Markers on land noted and back to the hotel. After breakfast it is time for the MOST CHALLENGING ASPECT OF YOUR FIRST IRONMAN: THE BAGS!!!! 101% concentration and focus on the check list!!!! KISS (keep it simple and stupid) but do not forget anything. Mark the bags John Withrow style to spot the "a mile away". Mission accomplished !!!!
Attend mandatory briefing early afternoon where most of my rookie questions are answered before I ask. The others (all T bags related at transition) are kindly answered afterwards. At the briefing I met EN team mate Rich Stanbaugh who had kindly carried new aero bar pads for me from the US (I listened to Coach P's video advice "new pads .... new bike"). Thank you Rich for that and for his comments on the early morning swim.
Friday evening we meet EN's Eric Blackie and his wife for BIG DINNER at LA FORCHETTA .... great food and most important great company and many stories from Erics's 30+ Ironmans experience.
Saturday:
sleep, eat, double check bags and bike in the morning, hydrate, rest, go to T1 to drop swim to bike bag (she does stand out when racked!!!), rack the bike (kiss here good nite), go to T2 to drop bike to run bag, back to hotel, hydrate, eat, rest and lights off at 8:30pm ..... will I sleep????
RACE DAY
3:30am - alarm wakes me up ...... slept much better than any other day in the week (full 7 hours!!!!).
Immediately initiate nutrition routine with apple sauce, whey, banana and Gatorade (which is what I will be drinking all day on course!!!!).
I have been marked the day before so before getting "dressed" I take a sunscreen and anti-chaff "bath" .... generously apply both (and I mean generously!!!!).
Being a wetsuit race I dress up fully including cool-wings and calf sleeves.
5:25am - arrive at T1 5 minutes before opening time (having already dropped special needs bags at the buses right by T1 entrance). Plenty of time to check the bike, pump the wheels (95), place bottles which I have frozen overnight (1 speedfill 1 down tube to skip first aid station), turn garmin on ..... leave T1 with plenty of time to slowly put on wetsuit, continue with pre-race nutrition protocol and relax ..... I'm actually more relaxed than I was in my 2013 70.3 races!!!! Truly relaxed.
6:35am - Mexican anthem ceremony begins for a 6:40 pro start ...... but ..... did anybody tell the military that they were supposed to perform the shorter version of the anthem????? 6:43 and the drums are still going strong ..... no lyrics thus far ..... maybe they will just go for the instrumental version ..... nope ..... singing begins and it does not look like the AG mass start will be at 7:00 per the schedule ..... finally the anthem ends (with a drums solo) and the pros are rushed into the water. By then I have forgotten about "schedule" and I'm just thinking "go to the front, in the middle, prepare for the first 400 ultimate fighting and focus on form and direction ..... form and direction .....
7:04 am (I was told) the AG mass start takes place and I enter the unknown territory of IM mass start ....
THE SWIM:
Actual : 01:06:18
Target : 01:12:00
Balance : 00:05:42
Despite the "mass-mess" I did manage to remain calm and find my rhythm at the first turn left (400 mt) ..... form-direction-form-direction .... that's all I think, that's all I do and I exit the water at 01:06:00 faster than 01:12:00 target. Went a bit of course on the last leg which I estimate costed a couple minutes. Room for improvement there.
Training Peaks file: http://tpks.ws/iXQ5
OFFICIAL SWIM SPLIT:
|
Split Name |
Distance |
Time |
Pace |
Race Time |
Overall |
Gender |
Category |
Time Of Day |
|
Swim |
2.4 miles |
01:06:18 |
1:43/100m |
01:06:18 |
278 |
226 |
10 |
08:07:02 |
T1:
Target : 00:03:30
Actual : 00:04:18
Accumulated Balance : 00:04:24
I did not have any reference for T times so I based my targets on last year's performance by the top five.
I just remained calm, thinking "slow is smooth and smooth is fast" and executed the fastest transitions of the AG. Few moving parts: 3 half power bars and one powergels flask into my singlet, number belt, glasses on and helmet on the fly from the tent to the bike. Shows where clipped on the pedals.
BIKE:
Target : 05:45:00
Actual : 05:51:00
Bike Balance : (00:06:00)
Having done an inspection ride on Thursday knew what to expect (uphill) out of T1. Had lowest gears on, mounted without rushing and started eating and drinking once I was pedaling comfortably uphill.
On to the highway and the fun begins ..... Written on my speed fill is PATIENCE .... DISCIPLINE .... 180/200 (which accounts for 65% and 72%).
At the top of my check list before leaving Brazil was to fully charge my Di2 and new battery on my power meter. So I did.
35 minutes into the bike, Gears are working just fine but watts seem "low" compared to RPE (but my heart rate is low ...... ???????).
Cutting a long story short, my watts readings went "bananas" (typical of low battery) and soon I simply have no watts on the screen .... ZERO!!!!
"Prepare for the unexpected" said many of those that made comments to my Race Plan within EN. Well, this was definitely unexpected and on I go with RPE for the rest of the bike. Watts readings eventually came back on a couple times and off again so I simply changed the screen to speed, cadence, HR and that was it.
Will never know if I left much on the table (or vice versa) but probably some day I can make any sense out of my file without power. Will study!!!
Nutrition was executed as planned (see race plan for details) with on course Garorade (top off speed fill at every station) + power bars, cliff blocks, power gels flasks and salt sticks.
Pee 3 times on the bike so I did hydrate well. Not purposely I slowed down a bit on the last portion of the bike but not knowing where I was on stress points decided not to push to get back a couple minutes. Net net I went into T2 2 minutes and 24 seconds behind schedule!!!! So far so good.
Training Peaks file: http://tpks.ws/CPHt
OFFICIAL BIKE SPLITS:
|
Split Name |
Distance |
Time |
Pace |
Race Time |
Overall |
Gender |
Category |
Time Of Day |
|
Bike 1 |
16.1 miles |
00:48:17 |
19.96 mph |
01:58:53 |
226 |
188 |
10 |
08:59:37 |
|
Bike 2 |
35.7 miles |
00:58:06 |
20.28 mph |
02:56:59 |
198 |
167 |
6 |
09:57:43 |
|
Bike 3 |
54.4 miles |
00:54:57 |
20.38 mph |
03:51:56 |
178 |
152 |
5 |
10:52:40 |
|
Bike 4 |
74 miles |
01:02:40 |
18.81 mph |
04:54:36 |
186 |
158 |
8 |
11:55:20 |
|
Bike 5 |
92.7 miles |
01:01:53 |
18.1 mph |
05:56:29 |
189 |
160 |
9 |
12:57:13 |
|
Bike 6 |
112 miles |
01:05:07 |
17.81 mph |
07:01:36 |
206 |
172 |
8 |
14:02:20 |
|
Bike |
112 miles |
05:51:00 |
19.15 mph |
07:01:36 |
206 |
172 |
8 |
14:02:20 |
T2:
Target : 00:02:30
Actual : 00:02:07
T2 Balance : 00:00:13
Smooth and fast I went out of the T2 tent carrying my ziplock bag and distributed the contents throughout my body (visor, belt, banana, salt sticks, cliff blocks).
RUN :
Target : 03:45:00 (avg pace 8:35)
Actual : 04:20:21
Run Balance : (00:35:21)
When finished "dressing up" on the go, my high HR alarm began beeping (168 versus 140 max target) ... had already made my first mistake running the first mile at 7:16 pace and walked a few steps between stations to bring HR down. It did go down very fast!!! back to running .... HR rapidly off limits again ..... same process a couple times ..... and then (I see now looking at the file) made my second serious mistake: try running pace for a while and allow the HR to fall into place without so many walking intervals. Eventually it did .... but I had run my second through fifth miles faster than average pace target to run a 3:45 marathon. I had made the most predictable and stupid of all mistakes and I just got slower and slower mile after mile (though still gaining a couple of positions in my AG). I had left the PATIENCE and DISCIPLINE stickers on my speed file when I should have stuck them on my sun glasses!!!!!! ….. I did hydrate very well (even had to stop and pee a couple times on the run); ate all my nutrition and that certainly played a key role in not having "the pleasure" of meeting "the line" .... but I messed up exactly where ABSOLUTELY EVERYBODY warned me to pace properly!!! Lesson learned !!!!.
Training Peaks file: http://tpks.ws/iQQS
OFFICIAL RUN SPLITS:
|
Split Name |
Distance |
Time |
Pace |
Race Time |
Overall |
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Comments
Congratulations Juan! A very well executed and patient race. It was smart to deal with your adversity on the bike the way you did. And now you know how difficult pacing first few miles of the run can be!
I am very happy for you to have had such a successful first IM!
Great Job!
My money is on you going under 11 in florida if your training goes well. Thanks for the travel tips as well!
You had a great race. Executing well on the bike with no Power is an amazing thing (especially on your first race). And yes, you ran too fast out of the gates, but your 4:20 run split for your first IM is nothing to be ashamed of. That is faster than my first 3 IM run splits and I was quite proud of those slower splits. Recover well and get ready for IMFL. You will crush that bike course and be really ready to run smart and fast.
I am betting that Los Cabos 2015 will be the last at that location so I'm strongly considering doing it before the opportunity is lost. I will be referring to your RR. BTW, did you just sign up for minimal support from EST? Typically, you book the room through them. And their mechanic is first rate...could have taken care of your PM situation easily. How far was your hotel from T1, T2 and the finish?
Enjoy some serious rest and recharge..can't wait to help you on your IMFL ASSAULT!
You made little mention of HR during the bike or the run. In the absence of watt, HR could have been very helpful to help you keep your effort up. The opposite is true on the run start ... Using HR to help you cool the effort, and then keep it up towards the end.
You sound real upbeat and looking forward to FL.
THANK YOU ALL for the encouraging words.
@Paul: Yes I did sign up for minimal support with EST as I had already booked my room when I found out they existed. Unfortunately their mechanic arrive on the afternoon of my magnet problem. Fortunately that forced me to learn how it work!!! The hotel is exactly 1 mile from T2 (walking distance) and 4 miles from T1 (with plenty bus service from official hotels back and forward and or EST vans). Closest official hotel to mine was just one block. Looking forward to meet at IMFL
@Al : in fact my HR dropped about 10bpm below target the 90' on the bike. Could have gone a bit harder but did not pay attention to HR at that point and was afraid of blowing it. Lesson learned, Tks.
I can help you to use the bike .gpx file from your Garmin to model your power during the race using Best Bike Split www.bestbikesplit.com
Give me a call or send me a message and I can walk you through the process.