Ironman CdA Race Report- Somedays You're The Bug, Somedays You're The Windshield
I struggled with the idea of having to write this race report after a less than stellar Ironman CdA. I didn't want to relive the mistakes that I made and didn't really want to hear about what I SHOULD have done. I figured I would just let it go and forget about it. But then I figured there are athletes here that could learn just as much from my mistakes as you can learn from Jenn Edwards or Jason Brandts expert execution. As I sat here compiling the race data I found that execution may not have been my undoing after all. It would appear that I may have underperformed on the bike which should have resulted in a good run. So here are the details.
We were staying with my son in Spokane which is 40 min away from the venue. This was nice as I could get away from the hype but bad as I was in town everyday and had to make that drive one or two times per day. Thursday morning I rode the first out and back by the lake which is the first portion of the bike, just to make sure the bike was in proper working order. I had done my camp week on the course 4 weeks earlier so I didn't need to familiarize myself with the Hwy 95 portion of the course. I went to packet pickup and to the merchandise tent. At that point we were going to return to Spokane to chill out for the rest of the day until the team dinner that evening. Upon returning to the house, we found my sons dog had destroyed all of my piles of gear that had been set out for the bags. All my nutrition, all my bottles including the aero bottle, goggles, running hat, socks, wetsuit (brand new Helix), everything was torn apart. The wetsuit was salvaged but everything else had to be found and repurchased. So instead of relaxing for the rest of the day we spent it running around Spokane buying equipment. $300 later all was right and we enjoyed telling the story at the team dinner.
Skip to Race day...
Swim: The morning of the race was windy and the lake was rough with a 15-20 mph wind blowing straight into the shore. I seeded myself in the 1:00-1:15 group hoping for a 1:09 swim. I ended up with a 1:13:43 as the leg out was much slower than expected. The swim smart start was a great addition and made for a relatively uneventful swim. When the chop and waves were at their worst I settled in by counting strokes and finding my rhythm.
SWIM DETAILS | Division Rank: 76
| Split Name | Distance | Split Time | Race Time | Pace | Division Rank | Gender Rank | Overall Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 2.4 mi | 01:13:43 | 01:13:43 | 01:54/100m | 76 | 450 | 544 |
T1: Found a wetsuit stripper, then to the T1 bags and made my way to the tent. Shoes and helmet on and ran to the bike. Allwent smooth. 4:38.
Bike: This where I thought I had screwed the pooch on this day. But going through my Garmin data I just don't see where I over achieved. I had a target NP of 180w (.65IF) for the first 60 minutes and then wanted to settle into a 190w (.69IF) for the remainder. This should have resulted in a 6:00:00 bike split based on my RR on the course.
1st Leg- Out and back along the lake- NP- 180, AP- 171, VI- 1.05, Cad- 98
2nd Leg- Hwy 95 Going Out- NP- 190, AP- 182, VI- 1.04, Cad- 95
3rd Leg- Hwy 95 Back In- NP- 175, AP- 182, VI- 1.12, Cad- 97 (High VI due to coasting down hills)
4th Leg- Out and back along the lake- NP- 175, AP- 162, VI- 1.08, Cad- 96
5th Leg- Hwy 95 Going Out- NP- 180, AP- 171, VI- 1.05, Cad- 91
6th Leg- Hwy 95 Back In- NP- 163, AP- 132, VI- 1.23, Cad- 92
Overall- NP- 178, AP- 164, VI- 1.09, Cad- 94, TSS- 271, KJ- 3989
I drank a bottle of perform every aid station and a GU and Bar every hour for a total calorie intake of about 2400 calories on the bike. I stopped to pee once at mile 35 and then again in T2. I had no GI issues but was rather uncomfortable on the saddle for the last 2-2.5 hours which effected my VI in leg 6 when I had to constantly reposition myself.
Based on the NP of the bike I should have had a great run. I had tested my FTP at 278 four weeks prior to the race so it should be accurate. I made a conservative race plan at .69 IF and then underperformed to that. Maybe it just wasn't my day.
BIKE DETAILS | Division Rank: 115
| Split Name | Distance | Split Time | Race Time | Pace | Division Rank | Gender Rank | Overall Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 112 mi | 06:45:49 | 08:04:10 | 16.56 mph | 115 | 625 | 733 |
T2: Everything went smooth the transition to run. I peed at the in tent urinal and changed into dry clean running shorts, expecting to make up some time lost on the bike. 5:04.
Run: I have a proven 50 Vdot but downgraded that to a 48 for the final build to this race and planned my race off of that lower Vdot. The first 6 miles I was targeting a 9:00-9:15 pace but ended up ranging from 8:41- 9:15 with an average pace of 8:55. Slowed a bit as I climbed the hill at mile 5.5. Mikles 6-18 I wanted to target 8:45 miles. The return trip back to town was good, I felt OKit but kept slowing down and settled into a 9:30 pace until mile 14. I started to feel my heart pounding hard in my chest, my pulse wasn't elevated (140 HB) but I could feel my heart beating. I started to look for medical to get my BP checked but found no medical support at any of the aid stations. As I passed my family in town I stopped to let them know the chest problems I was having and to expect me to slow down the second half. I started to walk/run on the way back out of town slowing to a 12:00 minute pace. I kept that pace until mile 24 where I shortened my walking segments to get it over with. I really didn't want to 13:00:00. My previous slowest Ironman was 12:52:xx in Canada with a broken collarbone and no training for the previous 5 weeks. So I HAD to beat that time.
RUN DETAILS | Division Rank: 94
| Split Name | Distance | Split Time | Race Time | Pace | Division Rank | Gender Rank | Overall Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 26.2 mi | 04:27:25 | 12:36:39 | 10:12/mi | 94 | 520 | 626 |
Finished in a total time of 12:36:39- Not sure what went wrong...somedays your the bug somedays your the windshield, on this day I felt like the bug.
Comments
I haven't done anything this week, just tried to get my head screwed back on straight and decided this morning to do an angry ride. Wasn't sure what to expect, I figured if I got 30 minutes out and felt like crap I would turn around and ride home. Instead I went 40 miles in two hours with 1200 feet of gain at a .892 IF and still felt strong at the end. Guess I didn't leave it ALL out in CdA. I will probably jump back into ironman plan and just scale it back for another week.
As for your bike, to reach overall target watts I think required more during the outbound stretch of 95 as coming back was going to be under watts given the downhill, with the wind and spinning out. Looks like that may have been the opportunity but that also contributes to a higher VI. I also find that I don't need the full 60 minutes before I step it up to target watts and rather use my HR and feel as a trigger to step it up. So if you had rode a 191W with a VI of say 1.05 for this course that would have brought your average watts to 182 or about 11% more than you did which probably got you closer to the bike split you wanted. Again, the winds really were a challenge and had everyone adjusting on the fly.
Based on your Angry ride today and sentiment from the race report, you are determined to exact your revenge on the next IM. Don't be hard on yourself, did you see how many younger, "fitter" athletes struggled on this course, your performance was very respectable. I'm up for riding foothills trail with you if you are ever wanting a riding partner.
Hey Steve,
So bummed you didn't have the race you wanted – didn't the race Gods know it was your birthday?!? I don’t see anything obvious either and wish I did so I could be of some help outside of the VI being a tad high. Perhaps different gearing would have enabled you to push the descents a bit? I know we aren't an apples-to-apples comparison but I only had 3’ of cadence under 50 and less than 1’ at zero with a 52/36. Of course we don’t have the whole picture of how your training went, etc. but I’m betting that was all to plan as well.
Also, thank you for posting your RR even though it wasn't what you’d hoped. These are the ones we learn from if only to learn we’re human! I agree – get yourself to a doc to get checked out re: your heart. Better safe than sorry.
And finally, THANK YOU for being the race captain. You did a great job and it’s a thankless one!
I’m glad to know ya and look forward to following your future adventures!
I had my blood pressure checked immediately after finishing and it was normal. I believe the cause of the irregular heart beat was I mistakenly took a cup of red bull at aid station 1 and drnk it before realizing it really was red bull. About 2 miles later is when I first started to feel something was off. Never again with the red bull.
Steve...thanks for posting your RR, even though it hurt to do so. I read it a few days ago, thought about it hard at the time, and couldn't even find any constructive criticism to add....thus the delayed response! Glad to see that some really smart vets didn't really see much either. I usually have some comments....agree that this was just weird for you. Sorry. I think your title for your RR is spot on!
I pulled out of IMMD after about a month post-IMTX as I was still weak (weaker than usual, to be more accurate), had no motivation to retrain for another in the heat of south Texas, and so that is an impressive angry ride you just did! I hope you nail IMMD and get your revenge....this time you will be the windshield.
Having only done one IM, and having a better day than I could have imagined, I'm almost fearful of the next....I may be the bug next time.
Steve - You know the drill - you've checked nutrition, small 10-15 segments of excessive watts on the first loop (have you isolated the two climbs out of town to see the IF on each of them), and mojo on the second half of the run. If you've found nothing in those common areas to explain what happened, then investigating the chest issues (heart beating "hard") might be fruitful. Getting assessed for cardiac arrhythmia might be a thing to check off to make sure its not a problem.
Love the bug/windshield analogy. I felt like a bug too!
Congrats on finishing, not all races will be a PR ( as I too learned this time around).
Keep your chin up and revenge will be yours!