Bill Lowe IMCDA Race Report
Hi folks, here is my IMCDA Race Report, great racing with all of you, and thanks to everyone for their input over the last 6 months, I feel it truly helped me on my first IM, and I am so grateful to all of you. Thanks! I will probably be off line from EN for a while, but might see you for 2016!!! Good luck to all that are racing w/o a break, and if you are taking a break, have a great year!
Bill Lowe Race Report
Ironman Coeur d’Alene, 6/29/2014
Summary: Although temps were ideal, conditions presented high winds which played havoc on the swim and bike. Over 500 racers out of 2700 DNF/DNS (Did not finish or show). Thanks to coaching and team input, I ran a smart first race I felt, I held back on the bike, did not try to overcome winds, and was therefore able to run the entire marathon at the end, finishing in 13:28 overall time, 59 out of 150 in my age group. Obtained my first goal of becoming an Ironman! But missed my goal of breaking 12 hours. I am very happy with my first time result given the conditions.
Swim: Ran into Coach pre wetsuit and he told me to chug my gaterade, which I did. Wow, white caps, it felt like 20 mph wind in our face on out leg. I struggled on the out leg, could not get good rhythm and had to keep stopping to sight. Choppy water was really really hard to swim in. Return leg on first lap was downwind and much easier, which gave me comfort that if I could do out leg one more time, I would be rewarded with easier return to the beach. Had one calf cramp on 2nd out leg, but swam thru it, no more issues which I was happy with. I had done 35 min half IM swim recently in good conditions with energy left, so felt I could do that speed for full 2.4, but this was not to be in these conditions. Swam 39 lap 1 and then 42 lap 2, so roughly 122, and this is where I started to think my 12 hour goal was already in jeopardy. Had good exit, first time using wetsuit strippers, this was great. My TA time was 8 min, but included 2 min pee, so not horrible.
Bike: Started out really slow on lake loop like we were told, stayed aero entire bike ride. Goal was to keep heart rate at 125, my z2 is 120 to 140. Was doing 130-135, could not get it lower…headed into hill section, HR went up but was able to keep 140 or lower on first hills, and started to think, ride your “should” ride, your “C” race on bike, don’t kill the bike and sacrifice the run like I did on my last half IM. I was able to get my avg HR down to 134, I just could not ride slower, but this was pretty close to my training so I was not horribly off. Peed 3 times on the bike leg, using portapoties, one of which at the TA at the end. Was focused on HR, but was watching avg MPH I admit, I knew I would have good read on what I was going to do at end of first lap, and I was 2mph lower than what I expected, but again, I stayed relatively smart, did not try to pick it up, stayed focused on HR, ended up with 17mph avg on bike, where I thought I would do 19 since did 19.6 on similar course training. So between the wind, and being smarter and managing to HR, I ended up with a 6:37 bike which is way higher than what I thought I would do, but that’s ok. Drank two bottles of perform per hour, picked up one new one at each aid station. Two Powerbar Peanut Butter over bike course nibbling from my bento box, 1 salt tab per hour, one Gu per hour, and I took one partial banana to mix it up.
Run: Started out trying to run slow, a little faster than LRP of 9:48, but it was 30-35 degrees cooler than where I trained in AZ, so felt I could run a little faster. Did pretty good on first lap, walking 30 seconds every aid station, two perform cups per station and a sip of either coke, red bull or water. I was doing 60-70 oz per hour in AZ, so was shooting for 50 oz per hour in these lower temps. Pee’d about 4 times on the run, and these were major pee’s…so might have been drinking a little too much, had no post race leg twinges, etc…only one rear top leg pull during hill descent, but no more, so I know I was not low on hydration which is where I wanted to err. Ran hill both times, was feeling good on run, but my times in hind sight started slowing down to 14 min miles, I swore I was seeing some 12 mph paces and then I would pick it up, so not sure how I got so slow on second lap. I never had my “box” shrink below thinking about next aid station, I felt pretty good the entire run to mile 24 or so, and only then did I catch my self with my knee or hip feeling like it was not stable, but I was very surprised I never hit the wall, never felt I had to walk. I passed a lot of walkers, this gave me confidence. Net net, 5:12 on the run, which I think I could have and should have done better. I attribute this to losing some focus, so I own this.
Finish: Enjoyed the heck out of the finish, felt pretty good walking back, took their extra photos, walked to massage tent but wait was 35 min so I passed, walked to food area, got a chocolate milk, found a chair and sat down. Saw my friend and fellow EN member Jason Brandt and family on other side of fence, but barely got a half wave off, started to see black and white, had that feeling I was going down so tried to get to ground, but guess I passed out on the way down. Jason had noticed and shouted to someone to break my fall which several racers sitting next to me did, thanks to all on that! Woke up to race medics, they told me I was out for 30 seconds. Got a free ride on the stretcher to the medical tent, after some perform, and chicken broth that really hit the spot, my color was back, probably 20-30 minutes in tent, but I walked out. I was hydrated, no palpitations, so had plenty of electrolites, not sure what happened, but all good now except I scared my family a little.
Final comments: Very happy with first IM performance on tough course and tough conditions, stayed smart and conservative on bike, ran entire marathon which I am proud of. Felt I could have done better on run, no wind effect there, feel I should have done 4:45 at the worst there, so maybe 30 min better. I also pee’d almost 10 times on the course, 2 min a pee stop, that’s 20 min! So some opportunities, I think those two could have put me closer to 12:30. Hey, that’s what experience teaches us. Great experience, great learnings, fun racing with EN folks, reading funny signs, aweseome community and volunteers, and I am an Ironman!!!
Comments
I suspect you'll be doing some local races with Robert. And we've signed up to volunteer at IMAZ which leaves open the possibility of a 2015 IMAZ on your home course which is flat and fast. In the mean time, enjoy the well deserved break from racing.
Bill - Strong work, my friend. This was a race where simply finishing is a great achievement. Light headedness after an IM, even in the face of good hydration, is not that uncommon for us OFs. Others have found that continuing to walk for a good 10 minutes or more afterwards helps the body's control systems re-adjust to the lower effort level required of the cardiovascular system. maybe sitting around for 30+ minutes waiting for a massage was part of the issue. Next time, after the finish, just keep walking/moving upright for at least 10 minutes. Eating a bunch of food right after also seems to bother some of us - too much blood goes to start absorbing the food our body craves, leaving not enough to perfuse our brains!
Also, you might want to post this RR in the Race Report section of the Community forums, where you'll get more visibility than here in the CDA section.
Thanks Jason and Al! Just back in AZ now and am really excited to have this first race under the belt and have such a great experience and with family present. Al, I appreciate your thoughts on walking more after the race, etc...will remember that if I do another. I also want to thank you Al as I think you were the one that helped bring me down closer to where I needed to be on the bike in terms of relative heart rate vs max, this really made me hold back on bike in the face of the winds and this allowed me to run the entire marathon, although slower than I wanted at the end, but I was passing people walking and that was a great feeling. So sincerely, thanks for your persistance in commenting on this thread. I will be offline for a while, but maybe back for 2015, we'll see, in the meantime, best of luck racing and in life, I appreciated getting to know you and everyone! I hope everyone had a safe return home.
Bill