Brett Prince IM Boulder Race Report
This was my second IM and it was clear from early on that I was bringing a very different attitude to this race, than I brought to my first in 2012. While the increased comfort with the process was great for keeping my anxiety very low, it diminished my attention to detail which I believe came back to haunt me during the race itself.
We decided to make this race a vacation, in-part to acclimatize and in-part to take advantage of an opportunity to spend time in a gorgeous area of the country. I arrived in Colorado on Sunday (7 days before the race) and headed straight up to the mountains (8,900&rsquo
. On Monday I got a 5 mile run in, climbing to 9,000’ and felt pretty good. Monday night I went back down to Denver and returned to 8,900’ on Tuesday. We spent Wednesday and Thursday fishing and hiking, and just made it down to Boulder in time for team dinner (mistake #1, I didn’t get to check-in or Tri-Bike Transport on time). Friday, back to Boulder (1hr each way) to complete race admin; with repeat trip on Sat for bike drop.
No course recon for bike, run or swim. No excuse here, I just didn’t feel I needed to dedicate the time to it. In retrospect I don’t think this was an issue. The course was pretty straight-forward, however more time understanding the impact of the elevation and heat on power would have been beneficial.
Race day
Nutrition mistake #1, trying to down 700 calories at 2am really did not sit well, and I was stuffed when I tried to get in a few more calories as we left at 4am. I definitely should have practiced this along with my race rehearsals. Admin mistake #1 – staying in Denver. While I’m incredibly grateful to my in-laws for letting us stay with them, the extra travel time adding a challenge to the race morning that could have been avoided.
Thankfully, we found parking, dropped off special needs bags, got on the bus to the swim start, and got ready to get in the water just in time.
Despite absolutely perfect swim conditions and the really nice new SwimStart, I never really got into a rhythm in the swim. Again, more open water practice would have helped me swim straight. I tried to lengthen my strokes, but constantly searching to sight buoys and never feeling comfortable drafting hurt my efficiency.
Swim Goal: 1:15 (4000m in pool done at 1:18)
Actual: 1:24
T1 was a long travel, and despite the time I spent there, I was pretty efficient, although I made nutrition mistake #2 here. Somehow, I didn’t get my salt tablets into my jersey pocket, which left me short on sodium and I paid for this later.
The bike was really a nice ride, with great views. I generally felt like I kept my watts under control and didn’t see significant spikes for the first 95 miles. The long down hills allow from some great descents, and the climbs are generally very reasonable throughout the ride.
Special needs was a welcome site. I swapped nutrition bottles (triple concentrate Infinit),stretched my bike and took a piss. My only piss on the bike (and it turned out, of the day).
Somewhere at about miles 95 the sun and heat caught up with me, and I simply couldn’t hold my line or apply much effort to the pedals. The group I had been hanging around for miles just started to drift away from me, and around mile 99 I saw a tent with chairs and I stopped to get a few minutes of shade to cool off. Thankfully they had ice and after about 5 min, I was on my way again, planning to ease it into the bike finish. The final climbs weren’t all that bad and the downhill back into town was a welcome site.
Goal: 6:30
Actual: 6:30
If I had hydrated better and handled the heat, I would have greatly exceeded my goal without crushing myself on for the run. My PT head is still in transit back, so I can update critical stats soon.
T2: Again, a long walk after dismount (probably 3-4 min) and then a quick trip through the change tent. I was better here than at IMCDA in 2012, but could have been faster. Given how I felt, it was questionable whether or not my day was going to end in the tent, but I was committed to a finish, even if I walked 26.2.
The “run”
From the very first step, I knew I was in trouble. Breathing hurt. My sides were crampping. I saw my wife coming out of T1 and told her that I was likely headed for a marathon walk. The math, oh the math. I kept calculating, “if I walk at 17 min/mile, it will take 6 weeks to finish this race.” I’m pretty adept at figuring out how long a run will take at 8:00 min/mi, 8:15 min/mi, even 9 min/mi, and I tend to distract myself with these little math problems, but walking pace math was new to me,, and the answers were depressing. Just the time it was going to take to finish while walking was enough to get me to try and run. I was trying to run 60 sec and walk until my chest felt better. Slowly I was able to extend to 2-3 min of jogging. When I came back through the crowds in downtown, headed for the 3rd turnaround, Beth (my wife) and I talked briefly about what it would take for me to make the time cut-off. I was sure I could make it, if I could keep moving, but this was simply not an issue that I had considered in my race plan.
I made each aid station an experiment in nutrition. Trying to figure out what I could stomach, and what I needed. The cramping was awful, but it hurt to swallow anything. I was carrying a water bottle and continuously filling it up to keep water with me between air stations.
Around mile 12 the last female pro passed me (on mile 24 for her). I had seen her sitting on the side of the running path earlier, and this was enough to motivate me to run with her long enough to tell her how impressed I was that she stuck with it and didn’t give up, knowing that she was racing for pride.
Once I hit mile 13 I knew I was going to make it, if I kept moving forward (a mantra I repeated consistently). Somewhere around mile 16, I made my Iron-friend who I walked/ran with for the rest of the day. Thankfully, we willed each other along, especially around mile 20, when I hit my darkest moments. I just wanted to stop and be done, but I continued to force myself to walk, run, and not stop.
At some point, my Iron-friend and I tried to figure out if we could finish before dark. We couldn’t. By mile 23, we were running in the pitch dark. We ran the down hills. Walked most everything else. Just keep moving forward.
We turned off the path to take the last few turns for the finish and the reality of an Ironman finish struck. Suddenly, that last burst of energy came and I hit the line extremely proud of a well earned finish.
Goal 4:20
Actual: 6:09
Total race goal: 12:15
Actual race total: 14:21
This was definitely not the execution that I was planning on, and thus, not the results I expected. I made some critical mistakes that came back to haunt me.
1) Added administrative difficulty and added 45 min to the morning commute
2) I didn’t practice my morning nutrition. If I had, I would have chosen a different method of getting in my 1000 cal before the race
3) Attention to detail - I should have had my salt tablets on my bike and not in my T1 bag
4) Hydration. I planned on drinking 2 bottles an hour on the bike and didn’t approach that volume. I entered the run extremely dehydrated and never recovered. In fact, I urinated once the whole race, at the bike special needs.
On the upside, I had a great bike ride, hitting my goals and riding under control. I gutted-out a really long run. I didn’t quit in all the moments I wanted to, and I consistently pushed myself to run when I could. Time will tell if this is my last Ironman, but I am incredibly thankful to my wife, Beth, for her support of my training and racing and the many disruptions that it creates in our life.
Comments
My wife Virginia was standing on the run next to a woman who made the trip MA driving the whole way in just two days. Long way for an Ironman but it certainly was a picturesque destination. I don't know about you but I think I would do IM Boulder again.
From your report it sounds liked you have your arms around the details. Let's see what the team and the coaches have to offer to help us tune up for our next IM.
Take care.
Brett - Unfortunately we didn't get to meet as i was not able to make the thursday dinner due to work obligations. It for sure sounds like you know and understand what you need to do differently next time. Sometimes the hard lessons are the most impactful. I once forgot all my nutrition the morning of a 70.3 and i remember thinking, this sucks, but i know i will never let myself make this same mistake again. The good news is that everything you mention seems to be execution related and that is a much easier problem to solve than some mysterious nutritional issue. The good news is you dug deep and you found a way to get it done and that what matters. Congrats!
You finished. That's a real achievement considering your biggest learning: " I planned on drinking 2 bottles an hour on the bike and didn’t approach that volume. I entered the run extremely dehydrated and never recovered. In fact, I urinated once the whole race, at the bike special needs."