Toddman's IMKS 70.3 Report

tdicus

This is a little late, but finally done!

Ironman Kansas 70.3 – June 8, 2014

Lawrence, Kansas

 Race Report – Todd Dicus

 2014 was my fourth time competing in this race.  Lawrence is convenient (45 minutes from home), and IMKS 70.3 has a hilly but fair bike course.  Strong winds are normal and can lead to choppy water.  However, this year brought the best IMKS weather ever.  Skies were overcast, the opening temperature was in the 60’s and the wind was more manageable than usual.   I felt good about this race, as I’ve been healthy, like the EN training program, and was doing my first race since acquiring a power meter.  This year also marks my ascension into the 60-64 age group.

 Swim

 The swim has always – and remains – my weakest discipline by far.  (My technique stinks even after many years of private lessons from a long line of coaches.)  I have no problem covering the distance; it is just slow! In the past, two glaring problems were (i) too much gliding and therefore losing my momentum, and (ii) not sighting often enough and therefore veering way off course.  This year I kept my stroke turnover higher and sighted more often, and the focus paid off (modestly).  I felt good the entire swim and stayed straight.  My finish time (46:39) was still on the slow side, but about six minutes faster than my IMKS historical average.

 Bike

 I spend much of the bike passing faster swimmers.  That keeps me engaged and upbeat, but I also have to stay disciplined enough not to go overboard on my effort.  I liked racing with a power meter (Garmin Vector), but I am still learning how to manage some consistency when dealing with hills and wind. 

 Another change for this year has been paying more attention to my cadence.  Last year I let my average slip into the upper 60’s/lower 70’s, which translated to fried legs during Ironman Wisconsin.  By maintaining the right power at a cadence in the lower to middle 80’s kept my legs feeling fresh while also maintain a strong pace. 

 I felt good at the end of the bike.  2:52:32, 19.47 mph average pace.  This was 31 seconds off of my fastest bike time at IMKS five years ago.

 Run

 The run course is two loops and includes a fairly challenging ½ mile hill, but otherwise is mostly flat (through camp grounds).  I started off strong, but near the end of the first loop I started slowing down.  The temperature was climbing and I noticed the heat, even though I had been pouring water on my head from the start of the run.

My finish time (2:14:04) was considerably slower than I’d hoped.  That result has been the focus of my post-race analysis.  Based on the truism that “There’s no such thing as a bad run after a good bike,” I’ve wondered whether I should have managed my bike differently, especially on the hills near the end of the bike course.  That is a possibility, although my bike numbers don’t reflect significant mistakes.  But for now I will focus on smart training as I move into full Ironman training in preparation for Wisconsin in September. 

 Overall I am happy with my finish time:  6:00:17.  While it was 16 minutes off of my PR for a 70.3, it was my fastest IMKS finish by six minutes.  I only wish I could have gone 18 seconds faster and gone sub-6!

Mike Roberts

Hey Todd, nice report. Good race. I would be interested to know what your VI was on the pretty hilly KS course. If it was a little high, that could explain your run. And that VI is one of the things you should definitely focus on before Moo. Flattening the Wisconsin course is essential, as I'm pretty sure it's killed more run dreams than any other NA IM. Unlike Canada and LP, which have long climbs that are like big roundhouse punches that everyone sees coming, Moo quietly jabs you about 300 times. It certainly clobbered me and turned my "run" into a 4:26 walkathon. Wish I had known about EN back then.

William Jenks

Todd- I've done KS 3 or 4 times now, but not this year. I've had good races and very good ones there but have been lucky enough not to bomb out. (One time it was SUPER hot, so the time was about 15 min slow, but that was pretty reasonable I think). Relevant to Mike's comment, I manage to ride the course with 1.04-1.05 VI with a 2:45ish bike split...so I'm in your neighborhood, not some super-biker. My best run came on a race where I went at a little lower average power that I had made up for with a little more aero fit...same time with lower wattage. That was the only time I've genuinely run that hill both times.

I have done WI twice - and neither time perfectly for sure - but I agree completely that getting the VI down as low as is reasonable is going to be important for that course.

Headwind is the "easy" one to master on power. Just keep your head down and pedal and keep an eye on the power meter while ignoring the speedometer. The hills take a bit more practice. :-)

MattAaronson

Nice race. I've done KS twice, including in 2012 when it was a record-setting hot day in Lawrence. I think training yourself to go with a mid-80's cadence was probably a great call since mashing up the hills in the 60's is never great for the subsequent run. When considering your disappointment on the run I will pile on to the others and ask about your VI and IF...to be honest it's a bit suspect to set a bike PR at a really different elevated cadence and not have 'overbiked' just a little...

If you don't train and race with power I'll suggest you may want to start before IMWI. The cost to enter the power game is a LOT lower than it was even a few years ago (I just bought a wireless powertap on ebay for $375). If your run was undermined by high VI and/or IF then you should be very careful.

Best of luck!!

tdicus

Thanks to all for the feedback.  I have a Garmin Vector and am still learning the ropes of training/racing with power.  The numbers at my race at IMKS 70.3 might be a little unreliable, as I was having some intermittent lapse with the 910 going to auto pause even when moving.  (I've since done a hard reset with my 910 and things seem to be working well.)  The figures I got show IF of .767 and a VI of 1.17 (ugh!).  I would welcome the $.02 worth of thoughts that any of you might have.  Thanks!

Todd