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Steve Boer's Rev 3 Quassy Race Report
I don't normally do these, but feel like i should, especially since this is my first year racing with EN, under the encouragement of John Withrow. Hopefully these race reports can help provide more personal feedback and insight into what I need to do in order to get the results I need. I know that first and foremost - training consistency is the answer. While I was a rockstar during the OS, I've come up with excuse after excuse and never got into a groove post NovOS. If it hadn't been for the excellent foundation built during the OS (and then assaulted with a sledgehammer afterwards), there's no way I would have made it through quassy alive. Just the fact that I managed to equal my time from two years ago is a miracle, and a disappointment at the same time.
Last year I DNF'd at IMLP, and do NOT plan on having a repeat at IMMT. This is the reason why I'm putting this out there. I NEED to go into this next 10 weeks with the same fervor as I went into the NOS.
Last year I DNF'd at IMLP, and do NOT plan on having a repeat at IMMT. This is the reason why I'm putting this out there. I NEED to go into this next 10 weeks with the same fervor as I went into the NOS.
Pre-race:
To this day, I still do not live by a checklist for race day preps. I lay everything out, and visualize/walk through the race from start to finish (much to my wife's delight). She unknowingly video'd me doing my walkthrough and threatened to post to FB, but much to my delight, she did not. Everything packed up and ready to go, I made the uneventful 75 minute drive from home to Quassy. Checked in for the race and met Pavol who was already done, and then headed to the hotel to relax before dinner. Unlike last year when the hotel took my reservation for a room with two beds, but had difficulty KEEPING the reservation (no, I absolutely refused for anything less - I was NOT sharing a bed with my sister), this years reservation was kept without issue. One of my co-workers had arrived early and had already checked us in, which meant that I didnt have mingle in the lobby with the wedding party. After getting settled in the room, headed out for my pre-race carb loading, same as always. Bowl of pasta, couple slices of pizza, and a couple of beers. Got to bed at the super early hour (for me) of 10, and slept non-stop until the alarm went off at 4:55.
Race day:
Woke up and had my normal breakfast of two cans of ensure. I've found that this works for me, as I get digestive cramps really easily when swimming, and this is a no-fuss way to choke down 700 calories in 2 minutes and avoid GI issues. Got dressed, messed up my race tats (forgot to peel the plastic off my hand and leg numbers, so only had the arm markings). Somehow, I always have issues with number tats. Last year at quassy, they managed to give me two different numbers for my arms, which I didnt even realize until I saw my number sunburn pictures 2 days after the race. The year before at quassy , I applied my numbers upside down. At least I'm consistent.
The benefit to staying at the race hotel, is it's only a 7 minute drive to the race site. That is, with no traffic. Despite knowing the back road that cuts through to the park, for whatever reason, I took the main road, and paid the price. To the tune of an extra 20 minutes of sitting in stop-and-go traffic waiting to get into the parking lot. I finally made it in, setup my transition, and headed down towards the water.
The previous night at dinner, the discussion was of course....peeing on the swim, peeing on the bike, peeing on the run. You get the point. I've never had issues with going to the bathroom on the bike, but have NEVER had to pee during the swim. It's not an aversion to peeing in the wetsuit, as when I used to scuba dive, that was the norm. It was more of a technique issue - even as a kid, you knew if i was peeing in the pool, as I would be instantly frozen in place for the duration, and just cant do it while swimming
Tip: How to pee in the pool and NOT get caught
For whatever reason, today was the day that I HAD to pee. Except the swim hadnt even started yet. I'd had the brief warmup, and was now standing on the beach. Thinking to myself "Oh crap....I have to pee. But I'm standing on the beach......in the middle of The Star Spangled Banner...."
Swim:
Tip: How to pee in the pool and NOT get caught
For whatever reason, today was the day that I HAD to pee. Except the swim hadnt even started yet. I'd had the brief warmup, and was now standing on the beach. Thinking to myself "Oh crap....I have to pee. But I'm standing on the beach......in the middle of The Star Spangled Banner...."
Swim:
Target: 40-45
Actual: 44:10
5 minutes after the national anthem, and we're off on the swim . Despite having NOT peed, the urge is gone. Thankfully. It was an uneventful swim start, and within a couple of minutes, I'd found my rhythm and was on my way. Until we hit the first buoy, and instantly *WHAM* Blinded by the light. Had a couple of stops on the back stretch to try and sight, but to no avail. I just go lemming and follow the masses, hopefully they're headed to the same place as I am. By the time we make it to the 2nd turn, i'm cruising along, but seeing the rainbow of swim caps interspersed around me. The good thing about making the 2nd turn, we're no longer swimming directly into the sun. The bad thing about making the 2nd turn, I've never learned bilateral breathing, so with every breath on my left side, I'm once again blinded by the light. Eventually, made it to within 100y of the end when *BLAMMO*. That was a kick to franks and beans from another swimmer - I'm still not certain how he got that angle, but he did. Finished off the swim, exited the water, took a look at my watch and discovered that I was on the slow side of my swim, but still within the window.
T1:
T1:
unlike everybody else SPRINTING to their spot in transition, I took my time to compose myself and get my legs back under me. No problems in transition, I was just slow
Bike:
Target: np 170-175 (time unknown)
Actual: np 170 avg 156 VI: 1.118 3:45:45
Actual: np 170 avg 156 VI: 1.118 3:45:45
Despite having had a power meter for some time, it had always been more of an expensive cateye computer that gave me interesting numbers to look at after the fact. I never raced according to power before this race. I went into the race targeting a 170-175w NP, and was determined to take it easy up the hills. The first 7-8 miles of the bike is downhill, with the exception of one climb. I still am not able to carry power on the downhills, and not for lack of effort. I blame that on gravity, as at 205 lbs, I spin out very quickly and easily. I'd set my garmin 800 to auto-lap every 2.5 miles, displaying my 3 second average, lap NP, last lap NP. Once we got past the initial downhills, I settled in, but was still consistently overshooting my 170-175 target, no matter how easy I tried taking the uphills, my power would immediately shoot up. In retrospect, I purchased a new bike over the winter, and had neglected one thing: no, my brakes weren't rubbing, my fit wasn't wrong, my crankset. On my old P2, it came stock with a compact 50/34. My new cd0.1 came stock with a compact crankset....in 52/38? Yes, I've already spent the money to put a 50/34 on, but that'll be for another race, not today. I continued pedaling along, never really struggling on the bike (like last year when I was even MORE undertrained - you're seeing my problem now). Nutrition on the bike, I went with a pure liquid, using infinit concentrate, 8 scoops. Every aid station I'd refill my aero bottle using concentrate, topping off with water, using the rest of the water for a rolling shower. This actually worked out well for me, only complaint is that I need to tweak my aero bottle setup, as the bottle is a bit too far back for comfortable drinking while still being able to see the road. I stayed on top of my hydration, having to evacuate at roughly miles 15/30/45. One of the highlights of the day - rolling along mid-stream when a guy on a road bike pulls up next to me and says "I think you're bottle's leaking". I just smile and carry on. Towards the tail end of the ride, I start to lose my puny watts, and see my race NP drifting lower and lower from 174, to 173, before finally making its way down to 170.
T2:
As soon as I hit the dismount line and went to step over the top tube on the bike I was immediately hit with cramps alternating between my quads and my hamstrings. This has been a habitual problem for me on longer races, still not certain if it's a salt thing, hydration, muscle fatigue, etc.. Make my way to my spot in transition, and sit down for my transition. In years past I'd always raced sockless, even for half iron's, but this year I've not made the transition to running sockless. I tried one short run in my Hoka's without socks, and started to get blisters after just 2.5 miles. I sit down, get my shoes on, grab my flask of napalm (which is now about 90 degrees and very refreshing), and head out on the run.
Run:
Target: survival
Target: survival
This being my 3rd year racing quassy, I always knew how tough this run course is. But I should be fine - I just raced American Zofingen 2 weeks ago, that was 5/29/5, with 1000' of climbing on each run loop, never mind the 2900' of climbing on the bike loop. I start off on my run, and realize quickly that I'm going what is likely too fast for me, so I slow it down. My first mile clicks off at 9:44, I back it off some more. My 2nd mile 10:02. That's more like it. if i can hold on to 10 minute miles, I can PR and go sub 7 for the first time ever. Mile 3, a bit slower, at this point, i've decided that I'm going to walk the top of the miles, and the aid stations. 30 steps for each of them. And then the hills start..... some say "The hills are alive with the sound of music". I say the von trapp family is WRONG. The hills are alive with the blood of the devil, and at quassy, the blood is coursing through my veins. I have fond memories of 2012, when they had a sign on the first BIG hill saying "You're almost there". A quarter of a mile later, they had a Nelson Muntz sign that simply said "HA HA". Back to the present day, i'm on the hills. and i'm walking the hills. I'm not cramping, i'm just a mental wuss, and am unable to continue to push myself. in spite the metronome clipped to my visor, I just cant bring myself to stick to 87spm. I carry on, one step in front of the other. At one point on that first hill, a woman runs past me, and theres a guy on a mountain bike wearing jeans. I comment "I hope you don't pee yourself on the bike wearing that". I keep going, running when I can, and walking when I can't. By the time we hit the out and back towards the lake, the sun is starting to roast me, and I eagerly await each aid station. Each time taking a couple sips of water, dumping a cup of water on my head, and a cup of ice in my tri top every chance I get. By the time i'm to mile 7 or 8, my stomach is in full revolt. It's hard as a rock. I burp, hoping that i'll get something more, but nothing. I reset the metronome down to 85spm, and follow that with a bit more success, but I'm still doing quite a bit of walking. We start to hit some of the downhills, and I run a bit more, walking less, up until the point that we get to the last 5k. The last out and back, plus the last hills are killing me, still only mentally. I finally get to the last turn to head towards the finish line, and there was a woman there who started running it with me and another woman. "You've got this, you're almost there", the woman just in front of me says back "I love your voice, keep talking". At this point, i'm just wanting to make it to the finish. I give it the last bit that I can, the last quarter mile running as fast as i can (not very fast), a grimace upon my face, my calves yelling at me with every step I take. I cross the line, and am glad to be done with the day. I head over to the EN tent, and chat for a few with Keith Wick who also did Amzof. I head over towards the med tent and met up with a bunch of other EN peeps, taking full advantage of the ice baths that were setup just outside.
At the end of the day, i almost EXACTLY matched my time from 2012
2012: 00:44:28 3:46:38 2:36:09 total 7:12:08
2014: 00:44:10 3:45:45 2:37:01 total 7:14:01
and just for comparison, last years train wreck
2013: 00:41:20 4:00:31 3:05:35 total 7:52:31
At the end of the day, i almost EXACTLY matched my time from 2012
2012: 00:44:28 3:46:38 2:36:09 total 7:12:08
2014: 00:44:10 3:45:45 2:37:01 total 7:14:01
and just for comparison, last years train wreck
2013: 00:41:20 4:00:31 3:05:35 total 7:52:31
It's now not even 48 hours post-race, and while I may not have gotten exactly the results I wanted, It gave me a good idea of where I stand, and what I need to do to make it to the finish line (this time inside the chute) on August 17th. Despite the less than stellar training leading up to quassy, I can honestly say that this was my best race ever, and that I'm experiencing less hurt today than any race I can remember. This is likely the result of training, execution and recovery. The ice bath afterwards, as well as massage the morning after the race, and i'm ready to get back into things. I'm going to take it somewhat easy for the rest of this week, then the real work begins.
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Comments
Now that the rah rah is over, here's the tough love part:
1) lose 15 lbs. You cannot go into IMMT at 205 lbs. Whatever your lowest weight was in the last 9 months, you better be there on race day.
2) stop F'ing around and hit your workouts. Don't slack on your FTP work and do your dam long rides. Your running was coming along nicely, if you lose the weight and put I the miles, you will be glad that you did on August 17th.
3) no more drinking until you have an Ironman finisher medal. How bad do you want this?
4) lost some weight.
5) don't miss any more workouts
6) get your mojo back man, I have money riding on you...
7) get fired up because you're going to kick some major ass I the next 2.5 months.
8) your VI should be lower. Work on that. But part of the problem on that hard azz Quassy course is your FTP is too low, or more specifically your W/Kg is too low for those hills. See numbers 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 above to help with that.
9) you need to suffer a little more on your long rides and runs. It sounds like your mental state was a limiter here more than your fitness...
Love you man! Now get to work!
Good luck at IMMT, and following Johns strict orders.
I'm pretty sure JW will keep you on the straight and narrow from now to IMMT!
checked my actual weight day before quassy:
Saturday, May 31 at 6:28AM 202.2 lbs
Today at 7:07AM 196.4 lbs
The drastic change is eliminating "casual carbs" (bread, rice, pasta, candy, ice cream, beer, etc). I've been very good for the first few days with hitting my workouts. Wasn't able to get my long bike in today (or tomorrow), since i'm working, but will do my saturday/sunday on either monday/tuesday or tuesday/wednesday (haven't decided which yet).
Last year I went into IMLP untrained. I wish I could say undertrained, but that would be giving myself WAY too much credit. Last year for placid I targeted a 90 minute swim, I came in at 95. This was with placid being 1) my first swim since quassy, and 2) my longest swim ever (by about .9 miles). This year, I'm on the right track, as I've already swam more after quassy than I did last year (swim count - 1 so far).
I'm not going to flood this with daily updates, but I will be giving myself a weekly saturday status update, to force myself to be honest, in regards to how my training is progressing.