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IMCDA 2014 Race Report - Jud Deuling
IMCDA 2014 Race Report
Woke up at 3:30 and ate a full yogurt container of vanilla yogurt, an orange, blueberries, strawberries, and Harvest Granola. Started sipping Perform, but could not eat the peanut butter and jam sandwich.
We left house at 4:00 am, hit Starbucks drive through and found parking spot just up from gas station - about a 5 minute walk to site. I finished food, sipped drink and listened to music until 4:45 am and left for transition with my bags, but forgot the bike pump.
Body marking, bags, and drinks on bike completed no problem and borrowed a pump to fully inflate tires to 110 psi. Walked transition rehearsal to bags and went back to car to hang out with my wife.
At 5:35 am I went back to swim start and found a nice spot to watch pros. At 6:00 am I put on Bodyglide and wetsuit and started the trudge to swim start - was a bit surprised that I had to enter transition to get to start - adds a couple of extra minutes. Had a two minute warm up swim to get wet and seeded myself around 1:05-1:10.
The Swim - The rolling start moves very quickly and I was in the water fast. I noticed right away that I could not breathe both sides and had to breathe only to my right to get comfortable breaths and less water in my face. The wind was pretty fierce from early on and there were good waves all the way out. There was some discomfort and fear for the first five minutes and it did not help that I had someone frog kicked my face while they were sighting, but after the long way out to the first turn, I was comfortable enough. The return was much better and I was able to breathe bilaterally and get a better feel in the water. The second lap felt faster as I was more comfortable and I never felt I had to push. Heart rate never jumped and I felt ready for the bike.
Time: 1:06:44 - 27th in age group/239 overall
Transition #1 - I left the water at a walk and had a bit of trouble finding the zipper. Once found the top came off well and the strippers were superb. Stayed a little longer with the sunscreen folks on account of last year’s burn. Went into tent after an easy bag find. Put on the calf sleeves, vaselined the feet, rolled on socks - took time - should swim with calf sleeves next time. Put on shoes, helmet, and sunglasses and jogged to bike and mount line. I can be faster, but was focussing on smooth.
Time: 7:09
The Bike - I started the bike with soft feet and kept my heart rate between 120-126. Lots of people passed me and I felt like I could fly if I wanted to. I was only feeling cold for about 15 minutes, so I had enough clothes on. I used my new cassette (11-28) on the first hill and again had a lot of people pass me going up. I used the EN strategy of accelerating on the crest of the hill and flew past a bunch of the ones who had passed me earlier. This kept the rest of the day in perspective. I kept easy up the big hill and then raised the effort to my planned 133 bpm once I reached the top. I kept the effort steady and noticed that I only raised my heart rate more on the tops of the downhills to really take advantage of the down after any slow up. No problems doing this, but I did have trouble in the downhill no passing zones. I lost a lot of speed in each zone catching up to people and hitting the brakes. It would have been nice to keep the momentum. I ate a gel every 30 minutes, usually waiting for uphills and I drank regularly - in total 6 bottles of Perform, 4 of them had an extra scoop of CarboPro. No stomach issues, but I peed regularly somewhere around 8 times on the bike on downhills. Yes, it was gross, but I was already a mess. At the halfway mark I was at a 2:50-2:55 and I hoped that I could hold that even though it was slower than my race prep. The wind was even tougher in the second lap and I kept my focus on the long game, keeping my heart rate where it should be and damn the time. Even though there was a tailwind on the way back, it just did not seem enough to counteract the headwind on the way out. I had a good head space and just wanted to keep the legs decent for the run. I definitely pushed a bit more in the last 15 km of the bike, but did not blow the legs.
Time: 5:56:38 - 37 in age group/249 overall - avg heart rate 133 bpm!
Transition #2 - No trouble finding bag and was intent quickly. Changed my socks, but did not add any lube to the feet (error), put on race belt, shoes, and hat. Spent more time with the sunscreen girls and was on the road. Smooth and not much time to be made up here.
Time: 2:43
The Run - My body did not feel great, but it wanted to move faster than I allowed it to. I tried to keep a 9:10 pace for the first 60 min. and this was hard. I still stopped for 30 steps each aid station and took the first water to throw over my head and down my back, ice to throw down the front of my shorts and then one or two Perform cups to get calories and fluids in the body. No trouble starting off running again. My heart rate stayed within my prescribed range of 135-145 and I did not go over 150 even on the hills at mile 6. I ran light on the feet and enjoyed the cushiness of the Hokas. After 60 minutes, I had come down from the hills and thought about turning the speed up to 8:40/mile and put a bit more effort into the pace, but did not focus on keeping a strict adherence to the exact number. My heart rate was still good and at this point I turned my mind off the watch and went more by RPE and teased the body along as well as I could. I had no idea what my time was at the turn around and kept my mantras of “easy now” and “steady” for most of the rest of the run. I ate a gel every third station, but the flavours were gross fruity ones and had to really search for Vanilla and stash it in a pocket when I could find it. The temperatures were perfect for me and the wind was only a mild annoyance. I ran all of the hills in each lap and stayed on the pavement as there were no funny leg or foot issues. I also took a salt pill each hour and had kept them in a bag in pocket that I had grabbed at run transition. I felt good by mile 23 and was ready to up the effort a bit. The last mile was a big lie. That sucker was way longer! The run down Sherman was awesome and as I increased my pace, I felt the only twitch of a hamstring cramp. Fought that thing down and finished well going through the Line and right over to my wife’s arms on the side. I had executed the run plan well and felt incredibly happy with my experience over the day!
Time: 4:03:08 - 32 in age group/228 overall - avg heart rate 143 bpm - avg pace 9:16
Apres Race - I went immediately to the massage tent and booked in. I was too tired to enjoy the chocolate milk and there was no way my stomach was ready for pizza, so I lounged by the tent and chatted up EN buddy who came in 11:11, sorry I am terrible with names. Massage was great, grabbed a bit of food and hung out with Amanda on the grass. I convinced her to stay for the final finishers - totally worth it, even if I felt destroyed. Reminder to self - massage next day with Dwight and breakfast at the Garnet - oh yeah!
Total time - 11:16:22 - this is a 50 minute PR over my first IM and 82 minute improvement over last year on the same course! I kept all of the same equipment except for the new gearing to compare fitness over gear. Weather conditions kind of throws this off, but it gives me a rough idea.
Improvements/Lessons Learned
EN plans were dead on! Good support and great community to learn from!
I have to get faster on the bike. I expected to be faster (5:40?) from my race rehearsals. Is it those damn wheels and more expensive bikes? I am ready to work like a dog to get faster. Trainer road, here I come!
I ran with an avg of 143. I can put out more than that. I ran with calf sleeves for first time ever - awesome. My winter training on the treadmill was tough to measure - I need to figure out how to either test on the treadmill or find a better way to measure progress in the cold. I can train better this winter.
The swim was easy to keep at my other IM speeds with much less training - no worries here.
Fuel was all liquids and gels - keep this!
Temperature was good, must be prepared for hotter and nastier. Think about this for race prep.
Went to Tucson with buddies for a 6 day personal cycling camp. Huge motivation and confidence booster.
My wife gave an early approval nod for new gear (powermeter, wheels?) during the euphoria of the IM finish - do I go for it?
Get compression shorts for tri.
Check to see if Hokas come in a wider size - blood blisters on small toes.
I would like to race more often - can only do 1 IM/ year. Will look into doing more running races. No more bike races in the Yukon this year - maybe organize my own with friends?
Woke up at 3:30 and ate a full yogurt container of vanilla yogurt, an orange, blueberries, strawberries, and Harvest Granola. Started sipping Perform, but could not eat the peanut butter and jam sandwich.
We left house at 4:00 am, hit Starbucks drive through and found parking spot just up from gas station - about a 5 minute walk to site. I finished food, sipped drink and listened to music until 4:45 am and left for transition with my bags, but forgot the bike pump.
Body marking, bags, and drinks on bike completed no problem and borrowed a pump to fully inflate tires to 110 psi. Walked transition rehearsal to bags and went back to car to hang out with my wife.
At 5:35 am I went back to swim start and found a nice spot to watch pros. At 6:00 am I put on Bodyglide and wetsuit and started the trudge to swim start - was a bit surprised that I had to enter transition to get to start - adds a couple of extra minutes. Had a two minute warm up swim to get wet and seeded myself around 1:05-1:10.
The Swim - The rolling start moves very quickly and I was in the water fast. I noticed right away that I could not breathe both sides and had to breathe only to my right to get comfortable breaths and less water in my face. The wind was pretty fierce from early on and there were good waves all the way out. There was some discomfort and fear for the first five minutes and it did not help that I had someone frog kicked my face while they were sighting, but after the long way out to the first turn, I was comfortable enough. The return was much better and I was able to breathe bilaterally and get a better feel in the water. The second lap felt faster as I was more comfortable and I never felt I had to push. Heart rate never jumped and I felt ready for the bike.
Time: 1:06:44 - 27th in age group/239 overall
Transition #1 - I left the water at a walk and had a bit of trouble finding the zipper. Once found the top came off well and the strippers were superb. Stayed a little longer with the sunscreen folks on account of last year’s burn. Went into tent after an easy bag find. Put on the calf sleeves, vaselined the feet, rolled on socks - took time - should swim with calf sleeves next time. Put on shoes, helmet, and sunglasses and jogged to bike and mount line. I can be faster, but was focussing on smooth.
Time: 7:09
The Bike - I started the bike with soft feet and kept my heart rate between 120-126. Lots of people passed me and I felt like I could fly if I wanted to. I was only feeling cold for about 15 minutes, so I had enough clothes on. I used my new cassette (11-28) on the first hill and again had a lot of people pass me going up. I used the EN strategy of accelerating on the crest of the hill and flew past a bunch of the ones who had passed me earlier. This kept the rest of the day in perspective. I kept easy up the big hill and then raised the effort to my planned 133 bpm once I reached the top. I kept the effort steady and noticed that I only raised my heart rate more on the tops of the downhills to really take advantage of the down after any slow up. No problems doing this, but I did have trouble in the downhill no passing zones. I lost a lot of speed in each zone catching up to people and hitting the brakes. It would have been nice to keep the momentum. I ate a gel every 30 minutes, usually waiting for uphills and I drank regularly - in total 6 bottles of Perform, 4 of them had an extra scoop of CarboPro. No stomach issues, but I peed regularly somewhere around 8 times on the bike on downhills. Yes, it was gross, but I was already a mess. At the halfway mark I was at a 2:50-2:55 and I hoped that I could hold that even though it was slower than my race prep. The wind was even tougher in the second lap and I kept my focus on the long game, keeping my heart rate where it should be and damn the time. Even though there was a tailwind on the way back, it just did not seem enough to counteract the headwind on the way out. I had a good head space and just wanted to keep the legs decent for the run. I definitely pushed a bit more in the last 15 km of the bike, but did not blow the legs.
Time: 5:56:38 - 37 in age group/249 overall - avg heart rate 133 bpm!
Transition #2 - No trouble finding bag and was intent quickly. Changed my socks, but did not add any lube to the feet (error), put on race belt, shoes, and hat. Spent more time with the sunscreen girls and was on the road. Smooth and not much time to be made up here.
Time: 2:43
The Run - My body did not feel great, but it wanted to move faster than I allowed it to. I tried to keep a 9:10 pace for the first 60 min. and this was hard. I still stopped for 30 steps each aid station and took the first water to throw over my head and down my back, ice to throw down the front of my shorts and then one or two Perform cups to get calories and fluids in the body. No trouble starting off running again. My heart rate stayed within my prescribed range of 135-145 and I did not go over 150 even on the hills at mile 6. I ran light on the feet and enjoyed the cushiness of the Hokas. After 60 minutes, I had come down from the hills and thought about turning the speed up to 8:40/mile and put a bit more effort into the pace, but did not focus on keeping a strict adherence to the exact number. My heart rate was still good and at this point I turned my mind off the watch and went more by RPE and teased the body along as well as I could. I had no idea what my time was at the turn around and kept my mantras of “easy now” and “steady” for most of the rest of the run. I ate a gel every third station, but the flavours were gross fruity ones and had to really search for Vanilla and stash it in a pocket when I could find it. The temperatures were perfect for me and the wind was only a mild annoyance. I ran all of the hills in each lap and stayed on the pavement as there were no funny leg or foot issues. I also took a salt pill each hour and had kept them in a bag in pocket that I had grabbed at run transition. I felt good by mile 23 and was ready to up the effort a bit. The last mile was a big lie. That sucker was way longer! The run down Sherman was awesome and as I increased my pace, I felt the only twitch of a hamstring cramp. Fought that thing down and finished well going through the Line and right over to my wife’s arms on the side. I had executed the run plan well and felt incredibly happy with my experience over the day!
Time: 4:03:08 - 32 in age group/228 overall - avg heart rate 143 bpm - avg pace 9:16
Apres Race - I went immediately to the massage tent and booked in. I was too tired to enjoy the chocolate milk and there was no way my stomach was ready for pizza, so I lounged by the tent and chatted up EN buddy who came in 11:11, sorry I am terrible with names. Massage was great, grabbed a bit of food and hung out with Amanda on the grass. I convinced her to stay for the final finishers - totally worth it, even if I felt destroyed. Reminder to self - massage next day with Dwight and breakfast at the Garnet - oh yeah!
Total time - 11:16:22 - this is a 50 minute PR over my first IM and 82 minute improvement over last year on the same course! I kept all of the same equipment except for the new gearing to compare fitness over gear. Weather conditions kind of throws this off, but it gives me a rough idea.
Improvements/Lessons Learned
EN plans were dead on! Good support and great community to learn from!
I have to get faster on the bike. I expected to be faster (5:40?) from my race rehearsals. Is it those damn wheels and more expensive bikes? I am ready to work like a dog to get faster. Trainer road, here I come!
I ran with an avg of 143. I can put out more than that. I ran with calf sleeves for first time ever - awesome. My winter training on the treadmill was tough to measure - I need to figure out how to either test on the treadmill or find a better way to measure progress in the cold. I can train better this winter.
The swim was easy to keep at my other IM speeds with much less training - no worries here.
Fuel was all liquids and gels - keep this!
Temperature was good, must be prepared for hotter and nastier. Think about this for race prep.
Went to Tucson with buddies for a 6 day personal cycling camp. Huge motivation and confidence booster.
My wife gave an early approval nod for new gear (powermeter, wheels?) during the euphoria of the IM finish - do I go for it?
Get compression shorts for tri.
Check to see if Hokas come in a wider size - blood blisters on small toes.
I would like to race more often - can only do 1 IM/ year. Will look into doing more running races. No more bike races in the Yukon this year - maybe organize my own with friends?
Try a race morning meal not dairy based.
Thank you everyone who helped along the way!
Jud
0
Comments
"11:16:22 - this is a 50 minute PR over my first IM and 82 minute improvement over last year on the same course!" ---Yowza!
Sorry I didn't get to meet you; I wanted to hear tales from the Great White North. Thoughts on your lessons learned: your bike may have been close to 5:40 on a calmer day.Grab a power meter while you've got the go-ahead - makes racing and training much easier and more effective. Instead of compression shorts, consider Forza tri-bib from DeSoto, or similar. The compression goes up higher over the hips and also prevents low back sunburn. Shoes? I have often had problems with black toes; Kinvaras from Saucony have a cushy feel to them, with a low rise toe to heel, and only weigh 7+ ounces, with the bonus of a wide toe box. I did my last two stand alone marathons with no blood blisters, then wore a different shoe this race, and got four black toenails. I'm going back to the Kinvaras for long races!
Congrats on the PR and great talking to you after the race!
One note is that we don't recommend "accelerating" across the crest and into the downhill. Rather, all you're doing is taking that climbing effort and extending it -- making the climb a little longer -- over the crest and into the downhill. The effect is so dramatic, relative to other racers, because they will have shut it down so completely at the crest and into the downhill. So while they spike the watts at the entrance of the hill, begin to pay for it on the hill itself, then really shut it down at the top, you're not doing that. Your power applications is much more smooth across the entire hill (entrance, body, crest, downhill) and the result is a much faster net speed across the course.