robin sarner. iron texas. 2014.
Robin Sarner. Ironman Texas 2014. 6-6. 183 lbs. male. 48 yo
This was my tenth start and finish of an Ironman. Have been lucky. No big problems in the lead up to the race. Training tweaks with some higher intensities on the long bikes and runs. Have adjusted diet and added some supplements. No big bike week within 12 weeks of the race. Big tri week seemed to do me better.
Bike to race by Tribike. Love the lack of hassle. But the blankers will not be servicing the Pacific Northwest for Tremblant!
Mom, sister, niece came again to support my second Iron Texas.
Difficult race last year with getting dehydrated on the bike and just surviving to finish.
Swim.
Was training for swimskin so a bit bummed not to get to try my wetsuit-less fitness. Regardless, with wetsuit,needed to get back to around 60 minutes. Did 62+. Close enough. Not sure why most everyone swam near the buoy lines. On the way out to the first turn, the buoy lines were clearly crooked. The shortest distance was from the right front straight to the turn. This is what I did. Started with feet in mud. Open water. Only congestion was after the first turn. Maybe I can go faster working the draft. Maybe openwater suites my swim style. Not sure but hate the stress of bodies nearby. Need to do some wetsuit workouts before Tremblant. Definitely a much different feel.
T1
3:39 fine. Ran past bike. Went back to get it as thought it would be useful for the race. Everyone, please consider putting bike shoes on at mount line. Running in bike shoes is injury waiting to happen.
Bike.
First time on my newfangled aero bike. Previously I had done my racing on custom titanium Zinn travel coupled bike. Todd Kenyon (fitter) has me as short reach, tall stack guy. So got the lowest level Cannondale Slice. Great cheap bike. Wrenchable. Versatile. Check my Facebook page for the setup. Added Tririg front brake. Flo 90s. Disc cover. Changed front end to the ski extensions to get the hands up (more aero).
Goal 5+change. Actual was 5:20. 4 minute mechanical (rear bottle system fell off). 235 power goal. Actual 225. VI 1.04. With the issues not sure how the VI was even that good.
So my struggles this time seemed to be related to over-nutritioning. With a normal hot texas race, knew I had to drink a lot. My normal drink is 40 oz Perform per hour. For hot race, needed to do 60 oz per hour, at least initially (practiced a lot with the long bikes). But race day, most of the bike was pretty mild temp wise. So for the first couple hours was trying to drink the 3 bottles (versus 2 bottles for normal temp race). And doing the normal half Powerbar bar per half hour for first two hours (then move to gel every half hour). Normally drinking that much does no feel great GI wise so can be hard to tell what is normal urpiness and what is gi problem with gi system shutdown impending. After the first 1.5 hours, was not feeling great. Just generally logy. Poor attitude. Through maybe 65 miles (mechanical at 63 miles), was ready to pack it up. I typically have mental struggles in the middle of the iron bike but this was worse than normal. My power file for the second 28 miles seems to be in line with the issues with a lower power. Started throwing in some water and salt capsules and backing off the other stuff. Started to gradually feel better. My third 28 mile segment was 230 np. My last 28 miles was a bit weaker but acceptable for being the end. Still do not do a great job of staying aero the last half. Just need to do this. So anyhow, another lesson on nutrition and adjusting on the fly. And being careful not to over or under drink/eat. I have experienced all angles now and seem to have the solutions firmly in hand. Overall not a bad showing, especially with the course probably being slower this year. Unfortunately, I can’t afford to give up any time to get to the Kona thing. Shared the last few miles with Mike Roberts.
T2
4:01. Not sure what happened here. Not terrible but not great. I did take the time to thoroughly lube the whole of both feet with liquid Glide. Probably worth it as I got NO blisters.
Run.
Goal at least 3:25. Actual 3:24+. Started off feeling ok. Due to the apparent residual GI slowness, the typical Perform and gels were just not sitting well. I am not a salty sweater and normally do not use salt capsules in training and racing because they are not needed. Luckily I did have some in my bag. So, started alternating just water and salt capsules to calm things down. Seemed to work well over the course of the run And used the typical Coke at mile 18 and on.
So ran pretty well overall. Purposefully did not drive my heart rate to goal, for most of the run, because of the gi issue. Would I have blown up or had full gi shutdown if I had driven my pace and heart rate to plan? Hard to say. But, I think I did the best smart run I had in me that day.
Coach P well placed on the run and had useful nuggets of advice to give each lap. Great having him there. Nice visit after the race.
Family was well placed and was a highlight running by them each time. One of the enthusiastic teenagers cheering for all the EN folks was my niece.
Near the end of the run, almost took a wrong turn. Somehow I had talked myself into the fact that I didn’t need to go out to the turnaround point again. Luckily my sister was right there and pointed me in the right direction.
Had some nice company from Mike Roberts for the first couple miles. If memory serves, said hi to Emily and Michael Johnson sometime after the first loop.
And, a few hundred yards from the end, saw what seemed to be an EN emblem, on a diminutive frame, in the distance. Sprinted to catch him. Clasped hands for a couple moments. And then went on around. Thought of doing the joined hands across the finish line thing. But, as Tim Cronk said afterwards, it is a race. And maybe last time to beat him before being in the same age group. 
Tim has been very instrumental in my development over the last couple years. I hit him up for advice often. So anyhow, was able to scoot in under 3:25 for my best run ever.
Don’t think I have reached run capacity yet. Think I have at least another five minutes in me. Still have levels of darkness to reach into. The evening of and the day after the race I normally have significant leg swelling but did not this time. So maybe I had an appropriate amount of dehydration that helped for the fast run?
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My recovery after this race has been one of the quickest ever. Muscles felt good after the first day after. Maybe combo of undercooking still and better fitness. In these couple weeks after the race I have run and biked, very easy, more than ever before in the recovery phase, and I feel great.
Finishished in 9:55+. First time under 10 hours. Eighth in age M45-49. Highest ranking for me yet. Four went to Kona. Rolldown to eleven in the age group below. So not there yet but feeling good for Tremblant later this summer. I have been there before and can do what needs to be done there.
I do probably have a right rotator cuff tear. This has become clearer now (somehow swimming 2.4 miles is not healing). Will talk with the sports doc this week and see if I can do some temporizing rehab to get me through Tremblant.
Thanks to all on the Texas EN team for the support through all. Great group. We should get coach to leave the GroupMe thing going. I could continue my lameass dry jokes.
Comments
Robin...great report and of course a great race. It's sort of comforting to see that even a veteran of 10 IM still has some trouble from time to time figuring out what the body needs/can tolerate, and how hard to push to avoid the "blow up".
I appreciate all your advice the past few months. I appreciated most of your humor....just not ALL of it immediately!
Best of luck/skill in MT. I'll be following you electronically with high hopes for you and Kona.
JL
Congrats on PR with 1st sub 10hr IM and a PR on the run... YOU forgot to mention that your IM run is fast enough for a BQ even though its not an official BQ course (don't forget to send that in to Boston to see if they will accept it as a BQ)....
Going forward is fairly obvious for you.
Continue fine tuning that nutrition with a dynamic approach on race day for adapting to the changing conditions.
WORK WORK WORK that bike...The staying aero part is physical but its a mind over matter thing... Force yourself to stay aero no matter what and use the feedings as a reward to sit/stand/stretch/eat then back to work... Gotta find a way thru or around that mental struggle in the middle of the bike... Do you use any caffeine ? What time to you start? Maybe a small amount earlier on the bike ? I kinda have a slow drip approach with small amounts just to keep my mind focussed and alert until about 4hrs or 90 miles where I do a 100mg cliff espresso gel to finish the bike and get ready to run. I know I mentioned this before but since it rings so true and I keep seeing it in the results it bears repeating again and again... In the words of Coach P..... If you want to KQ you have to get off the bike in the top 10!
Then, unlock the run you know you have !
You work hard, its coming , don't let up!
Happy to hear how your feeling after IMTX.... Big Bummer about your possible rotator cuff! Hopefully that doesnt hold you back for IMMT.
IMUA
I knew you too were looking for a sub-5:10 bike, so when we met up around 100, I was so relieved to see you, as it was the first feedback that told me my rough bike ride may not be that bad after all and there was still reason for hope. Whereas you probably saw me and thought, crap, it's Roberts, this ride is worse than I thought.
To me the greatest thing about your result is that it was based on something far less than perfect. If you had nailed the bike and had run so well, how could you even think about where to improve? But the answer lies right before you - the bike. You work that nutrition and positionally train to stay aero, you will soon find yourself leaving T2 at around 6 hours, at which point you can unleash that run and reach new heights.
As for Kona, all you can do is control your input. We saw some AGs roll to 11, with ours not rolling a single spot. We saw some relatively slow times get tickets, whereas our AG was led by a newly-retired pro who went in the freakin' 8s. Nothing we can do about. Except keep plugging away, knowing that one day your number will be called. Looking forward to following your race at Tremblant.
Idea for your T2 @ IMMT.... I assume you Bike with NO socks and Run w/socks??? When I prepare my T1 and T2 stuff the day before IM Race Day I put a thin layer of glide on the inside of both bike and run shoes.... I then take my run socks , turn them inside out , apply a thin layer of glide to the inside of the sock, turn them back , prime them halfway inside out and insert into the top of the shoes.... You get your glide and no wasted time!!!
Robin,
Our team was both lucky and that much stronger to have you and your veteran performance this year.
I look at how tall you are and how well you executed given such a large frame and a few thoughts come to mind: Experience, hard work and superior mental toughness.
Being only 6'3" myself, you have taken all my excuses away for any slowness issues on the swim, bike, or run!
Enjoyed meeting you and loved watching you execute and lead. Just keep moving forward and we will all be celebrating your trip to KONA soon my friend!
IMUA!
thanks all.
Bruce. Yes I seem to be finally learning.
. Looking forward to Tremblant. Had a good race and visit with family in 2012. Missed the rolldown by 7 minutes. Great venue (though expensive). There is magic in Quebec.
Jeff. Thanks. Next times I will raise flags when humor is involved.
hope to race with you again.
Tim. Yes may try for the Boston thing. Did it last 10 years ago. Yes plan on adjusting nutrition and not sticking to pre-determined plan. I eventually learn.
Yes the bike is the thing. Tremblant should be easier in some ways with hills that warrant sitting up. So no excuse not to be aero there. I did a 5:30 there in 2012. Should be able to work that some with new bike, much more aero fit than last race there, lighter bike, etc. It is a "hilly" course but somehow a fast hilly course. I use bars for the first two hours. then caffeine gel every other gel. maybe will start caffeine earlier. 1/2 bar. gel. 1/2 bar. gel. etc. and the big slug of caffeine near the end of the bike is an idea though my last 1/2 hr bike is normally strong and run starts are good. and will do the sock/run transition thing. usually race in Desoto tribibs. next race plan to back up to the 400 mile bib shorts. anything to keep me comfortable on the bike (not that I have big perineum issues). and quickly strip to run shorts for the run. may help the run too allowing more of the running self to come out. upgrading helmet from giro attack to giro attack shield. even rimless glasses are a pain for head position. so the visor will allow me to relax neck more.
Mike Roberts. nice to mix it up with you. yes will work the transitions Hopefully I'll get to Kona before you catch me up. seriously.
Matt A. thanks. always appreciate your encouragement hope to race with you someday.
Shaughn Imua Man. Yes get your tall ass moving.
you have strong bike. work the swim lessons. work the run. you are there. Thanks much for running our show.
David L. thanks. Yes still have mental work to do. Have only had one race where going deeper might have gotten KQ. But one usually doesn't know the situation at any particular time during a race. So the motivation needs to be primarily internal. If coach, or anyone, is able to determine positions, during a race, and say this guy is ahead and you have X minutes to catch him, that would be icing. But, again, need to work the Dave Tallo internal stuff as the primary driving force.
Re rotator cuff - I've had to stop swimming the last two winters due to injuries to my right rotator cuff in 2012 and left one in 2013. But doing all the rehab exercises got me through the end of each season. However, the downtime is needed to really get it healed.
Re staying in the aerobars. I use a mental image of my arms superglued to the pads and if I come up all the skin is going to rip off. Seems to help.
Good luck at IMMT!!
Robin - Congratulations on your continued IM improvement, especially breaking through the 10 hour barrier. It sounds like you are not yet ready to abandon the journey; a few years ago, you were pondering just how much more you wanted to put yourself through for what was becoming frustrating to you. That frustration sounds like it's out of the picture now.
I think you;ve entered the realm where race execution, with a stronger bike (more specifically, a willingness to try and bike closer to the edge of the envelop, without fearing the consequences on the run,) is going to be the primary route for your future improvements. Your mention of the dark place on the run indicates a readiness to accept that quest. You are now officially a "bubble boy". Someday soon, you'll surprise yourself as you break through.
It does indeed look like you need 5-10 minutes - that's within your grasp. Don't quit yet.
paul. thanks.. maybe I will literally glue myself to the bike. shoulder improving with rest and p.t. work. doing things to open up my shoulder.
Michael. thanks. looking forward to the return to Tremblant
Albrecht Obi-Wan. No not giving up yet. Spirits pretty good despite the long haul. Though will probably give next year an ironman break regardless. will be the oldest in age group. I will be working it all at Tremblant. thanks for the ongoing support.