Kori's IMMT Race Report
I tried to not make this too much like a chic-lit novel, but let’s face it….I’m a chic. And I suck at the whole “Here’s my data!” thing. I’m sure someday soon I’ll get serious and put pictures and files and graphs and quotes in here, but for now I’m cramming this report in between meetings at work, so “someday” won’t be today. 
Leading up to the race:
We arrived in town on Thursday and hit up the EN dinner. Not much exciting happening, but I was extremely tired leading up to the race. Like, bone-weary tired from a lot of chaos at home between Southeast Michigan having flooded (Eric’s fire department was on over-drive with that), work being crazy, and our four-year-old and one of the three-year-old twins having bad colds. Once we got to Tremblant, I feel like all I did was sleep. 10 hours every night and two separate 3.5 hour naps. Very unlike me, since I usually can’t swing more than 6.5 hours a night despite my best efforts. Not much else interesting leading into race day.
Race Day:
Went to bed early the night before, got up and ate breakfast of a UCAN shake, banana, and a Powerbar. Stomach felt a little too full which seemed weird, but I also know nerves get to me.
Got to transition, made final set up prep for bike and bags, headed out to team pic and swim start with the hubby and the Ross’s. Fairly uneventful, which is good. I was ready to go, but felt tired.
Swim:
Did a short warm-up swim, because I still have panic issues in the water, and felt ready to go. Lined up on the beach pretty much in front of my wave and headed out when the horn sounded. There was a lot of contact in this swim. I do realize there’s always going to be, but this one almost felt worse? I did get one kick to the left goggle and one pretty hard breast-stroke kick to the ribs, but I just get telling myself to keep moving and let it go. I have to seriously do some Jedi mind trickery to not go into panic mode. I definitely burn through a lot of energy in the beginning of the swim. Even if I do a thousand triathlons, I’m still going to want to request my last rites before each swim. Just freaks me the hell out. If you see me before a race and wonder why I’m so nervous, it’s not the thought of doing an IM. It’s the thought of doing that swim. Regardless, I made it to the furthest buoy and headed back in. I had no clue what my swim time was, and I didn’t want to know. I usually come in between 1:17-1:20….but I also know that I swam 2-3 times a week this season as opposed to my usual once a week. Crazy what actually training for the swim can do. 1:13. Go figure. 
T1:
Got through T1 remarkably fast for me. A little too fast, since apparently my brain was still back in the lake. The night before the race everyone was talking about what to wear on the bike. Arm warmers? Plastic bags? Gloves? Ski parka? I put gloves and arm warmers in my T1 bag, but honestly I didn’t even think about the cold. I was so focused on moving quickly through T1 that I just grabbed bike shoes, helmet, Garmin watch, and off I went. UUUGGGHHHH. Mistake #1.
Bike:
Headed out on the bike and immediately started focusing on getting HR down from the swim. It went down pretty quickly, and I felt good. I wasn’t totally impressed with how narrow the course was in places, but you can always find something to complain about if you look hard enough. No big deal. I took it easy out to 117 and then started riding closer to goal watts. My FTP going into the race was 240. My goal Watts were between 170 and 175. I was having to hold back to stay there, but I knew it was a long day and patience pays off.
During one climb on 117, I dropped my chain for what would be the first of three times this happened. Not cool and no clue what happened. I know how to shift so that doesn’t happen, and I don’t normally have issues with it.
The first loop was uneventful except that having to hold back started to switch over to having to pay attention to keep my power up. I kept seeing my numbers too low (150-160) and kept telling myself to get on it. I knew from camp that 175 watts for that course should feel pretty easy for me. Not today. I also started getting some weird tightness/cramping in my stomach towards the end of loop 1, but I chalked it up to nerves or excitement and just kept going. Other than dropping my chain twice more (grrrrr), nothing eventful happened the rest of the bike. Except for a slightly immature hand gesture when the dudes who were drafting off of me FINALLY got red-carded on 117. Well done, boys. Draft off a chick with a butterfly on her tri shorts. Your man-card has officially been revoked. (OK, I feel better now.)
Stomach/side tightness persisted and got worse the rest of the bike and I had to force in the solid nutrition. I started out with two bottles of UCAN on my bike and then switched to perform when those were gone. I did this because a ton of sugary Perform makes me want to die the next day with stomach cramps. I also had a powerbar and a pack of Clif blocks on each loop of the bike. The solid nutrition gave me 800 calories, so I didn’t panic too bad that I’d only taken in 4 and a half bottles total. And, yes, I’m going back to 100% perform since I don’t think UCAN is a good idea for me on race day.
I also didn’t pee on the bike. Not because I didn’t have to go, but because….well…..I can’t. There’s an entire thread in the Women’s Forum on me trying to learn to pee on my bike. That thread was started 2 years ago. And trust me, this issue isn’t because I’m too proper to pee on my bike (I’ve peed in much MUCH more controversial places). It’s some odd mental thing. When I eventually get this, I’m probably going to see the heavens open up and angels start to sing. 
Total bike time: 5:38. My Garmin auto-paused when I stopped to fix my chain, and it shows a split of 5:35. Bummer. My power averaged out to 163 Watts. Way below what I should’ve done and far below any of my longest rides leading up to the race.
T2 was uneventful as well. Got in, got out, didn’t think of being cold/warm/etc. I guess I don’t think a whole lot in general. Just kinda go on auto-pilot….shoes on, visor on, grab baggie with gels, go.
Run:
I started the run having to pee BAD (duh) and with the pain in my side already. All of the porta potties were full in T2 (grrrrr) so I ran a mile with like the contents of Niagara Falls in my bladder. Not fun. Finally peed at the mile 1 mark. Hoped that would make the side cramp/pain/knife/gun-shot-wound/whatever go away. No dice. It only got worse. By mile 3, I was stopping to crouch over and push in on it (you know how that makes a cramp feel better sometimes?) but no luck. This is when mentally I joined the debate team against myself. I need to run a 4 hour marathon to go sub-11, and I totally thought this possible as Placid (harder run IMO) was a 4:12 on an injured leg last year, and I’m much more trained this year. So I decided to suck it up, not worry about where I stood in my AG, and just run as best I could. Well “as best I could” started to become me running with my hand pressed so hard into my side that my ribs were basically sitting on top of my third knuckle. I kept pausing to crouch down on the course to try and relieve it but every time I went upright again, it hurt like hell. I know everyone thinks it’s nutrition, and maybe it was, but my actual “gut” didn’t feel nauseous. I WANTED to drink/eat, but that pain was just obnoxious. Frustration grew. The weird thing is that I got the pain to go away for a few miles, and it shows in my splits, where I dropped easily (and comfortably) back into the 8’s. But then it came back with a vengeance. Around mile 16, I decided to walk for a bit to see if I could really relax, breathe easy, and make it go away. As soon as the running started again, it was there still. Bruce Thompson passed me during the last stretch back into town and gave me words of encouragement. I also saw Sue Chapman who looked amazing too! And of course JT (YEAH BABY!!!) who made me laugh…which hurt. Thanks JT. 
Eric caught me by the train station and basically said “Babe…..just walk. It’s OK.” At this point I was fighting back tears because I was pissed, frustrated, hurting, and WANTED to run. I did a little walk/jog back into town and saw my next victim, Chris Love. Poor guy. He saw me…jogged next to me….and had to endure my blubbering. But, what an amazing, amazing man. So supportive.
I made it back into town. The run down the hill of the finisher chute hurt like hell too, because the pounding intensified the pain. I made it across the line, though, and am glad I didn’t quit.
Total time: 11:20 and change.
Summary:
I’m not thrilled with how the race went for me, because I know I can do better. However, I’ve learned a few things since race day:
-Worrying about anything else other than my own race on race day and being insanely serious about this takes the fun out of it for me. I will always train hard, do epic/fun camps, and want to race, because I don’t know any differently. But, if I give it my best effort and race FOR ME, the rest will shake out. I started doing triathlon because it was fun. I’ve said this a million times, and I stand by it: the day it stops being fun is the day I stop doing it. I don’t want that day to be any time soon.
-I need to adapt to race day conditions. Just because I’m a mid-western gal and don a bikini in April as soon as the temp clears 50 doesn’t mean I can skip arm warmers when dudes 50 pounds heavier than me are wearing them. Blue lips in a finisher pic ain’t attractive. Even if they match my kit.
-I need to stick with the nutrition plan that I know has worked for me in the past.
-Buy a chain catcher. Or stop pissing off the bike gods.
-Swimming on a regular basis…..wait for it….actually makes you swim faster in a race! (I know, I know, you’re storing that golden nugget of advice away for future use.)
-I have hands-down the best Sherpa out there. And not just for me. I’m gonna brag for a second and boast about how awesome Eric was to EVERY person out there. Some guy dropped his nutrition out of his back pocket on the run, and Eric picked it up and chased the guy down and goes “HEY! You need this!”. Back in June, Eric gave my Body Glide that was in his backpack to someone who was chafing awfully bad on the run. He yells splits that he has to anyone he knows that needs them. He listens patiently to me crying about some stupid race and then is brave enough the next day to tell me to knock it off because once we get back home, Ironman goes bye-bye and whether I finished first or last doesn’t change who I am as a person, mom, career-woman, wife, friend, etc.
Post-race: I’m recovering well since I didn’t push my run to the limit, but am going through the whole medical care thing because the side pain is still there and my eyes swelled up like I’d gone a couple rounds with Mike Tyson, so we needed to see what was up with my blood-work.
I still love Ironman, even on bad days. And the good thing is that, bad day or good day, I’m sure I’ll always want to do another one. Eventually I’ll get it right. 
I’m still not entirely sure as to what caused this pain/cramp. It happened so early in the bike and never really went away, that I’m not totally convinced it was fuel-related. I think the cold played a role, but I need to knock this one around a bit to sort through it all….when I have time. The good thing is that my daily chaos….er, I mean, life…..doesn’t really have much to do with ironman at all, so moping about a messed up race gets to last exactly as long as it takes me to open the door at home, get tackled by three little people, and start packing lunches and laptop bags for the next morning.
I owe everyone in MT a huge thank you for being so supportive out there. Especially Tim Cronk and Heather Webber who took excellent care of my bike and me after the race and who are probably two of the best people to share a house with at any ironman! Thanks to all the EN crew, too. We have an amazing team and the results at IMMT for our team prove it! Congrats to all!!!
Comments
Who would have thought such an aggressive competitor would have such a terrific sense of humor? Loved your Race Report and congratulations on your determination on race day. You inspired me at the MT camp and again seeing you trying to pull away from those men on the bike. Take care and I hope the side pain is nothing and will be gone soon.
As far as you hating the sugary perform---have you tried Skratch? It's less intense and meant to be complimented with food. It does have less calories per serving, but starting with it and having another bottle or 2 in special needs may give you enough of a break from Perform to make it work for you.
You will put together the race you want, with a big smile on your face, having fun......I'd bet that one in Vegas. I second that you have a great Sherpa--always encouraging and he's a funny SOB too!
So sorry K that the day didn't work the way you wanted it to go. The F'n IronGods are fickle ( Ill be burning a calf later today to make up for that… ) but no one I've ever met has the heart and determination you do, and I think the IronGods would be pleased with your performance. You did really all that you could, there is nothing more to say. Solid swim (PR?!), solid bike , and you were in top 10 at the head of the Run still finishing 15th is significant. It was definitely setup for a big PR day and you were doing everything right, unfortunately somedays are just not yours. But you sound like you stayed focused and staying in your box all day is the challenge at your level. Thats the important part. It will pay dividends in the next one.
I'm not sure that your cramping was as much nutritive as bad luck/gas bubble / or muscle spasm; maybe contributed by holding it in too long but who knows. It may have been one of those things. As an idea you might consider dumping solids on the bike and trying gels and perform. I switched to gels and got rid of every stomach issue I ever had. Practice it, see if it helps.
Another IM under your belt -- way more than 99.9% of humans will ever say. The big one is coming your way, patience and discipline. Great Job. Rest and enjoy some max relax time now!
I have to go back for a full work-up on that tomorrow.
Docs in the house - what say you on anemia?
I'm not a doc, but it is an iron deficiency which in your case would decrease your ability to carry oxygen to your muscles and other tissue important for endurance exercise. I'm sure Al and probably others can weigh in with more specific info. It's not uncommon for young women such as yourself. As you know better than I, you have a regular blood loss and the combination of that and your extreme (by usual standards) exercise can cause this iron deficiency. I would hope you can overcome this with a diet more rich in iron. I have had some anemia myself over the years.
Here's a quote from an article I just pulled from the internet:
An iron deficiency will impair sports performance because oxygen isn't transported effectively to working muscles, which causes a build up of lactic acid. Symptoms of iron-deficiency anemia include muscle burning, shortness of breath during exercise, nausea, frequent infections, respiratory illnesses and a pale, washed-out appearance. Over 50 percent of female endurance athletes have depleted iron stores, which suggests dietary intervention may be necessary to prevent anemia
Once again, you offer a goal for my IM AZ...5:35/8 on the bike. I'm also after your 1:13 pn the swim.
If you havent been specifically supplementing iron in your diet ... natural or pills ... you've been a bad girl. Good thing is, it works.
The cramping, I have no clue...so dang many internal organs and connections in there which can send nasty signals to the brain.
I know your day will come, sooner rather than later.
On the cramping - no expert here, but do know that being cold on a bike burns up lots of energy and agree with Keith that could very well have been a cause. Agree that it doesn't sound like nutrition and I'm sure the iron deficiency doesn't help. Quick note on the Perform - don't count on it being at Ironman's next year. Got lucky and sat next to male race winner TJ Tollakson on my flight from Montreal to Chicago (really nice guy - had a great chat) and he advised (he's sponsored by Powerbar) that there contract is up and won't be making it any more.
Was great meeting you and Eric and enjoyed hanging out.... No worries on your race - everybody has one that doesn't go as they hoped - but your all down and you still PR'd...goes to show that all your training really did work - your best time yet and not even what you thought was a great race.... It will come - in the meantime, keep smiling and working on those Jedi tricks for the swim!!
great to meet you. and Eric is a keeper.
sorry for the day. I know how it goes. you are a quicker study then me though.
anemia. probably assume due to iron loss through period bleeding. vegan or vegetarian? I assume doc gave iron intake recommendations. ferrous gluconate or ferrous sulfate. around 325 mg. 2-3 times per day. can upset stomach and cause constipation, but you need it.
peeing on bike. I lose a fair bit of time on the bike because I pee a lot and it takes a while to let it all out. but I just try to relax and say never mind. I would seriously consider trying some mind techniques to get over this. try some visualizations with a sports counselor. hypnosis. etc. something along those lines. sounds funny but would be worth the investment.
your abdomen/flank/back pain. lots of possibilities as others have stated. personally I get kidney area pain if I don't pee for a while. and then I get spasms that can last a while. having a full bladder can also affect the GI system. and you should have doc rule out kidney stone.
I will try to chime back in sometie because I forgot a couple other thoughts I had.
I continue to strive to do what you do - find the fun in this iron thing. because it is fun, and continues to be fun, with the proper attitude and approach. don't despair on the KQ gerbil wheel because what will happen will happen. enjoy being fast and getting faster.
I am bummed to not have a late season iron to join you or other folks this year. but have a good rest of the season and congrats on your latest achievement.
All the best to u and your family
Nice report. Sorry you didn't grab all of the time out of the course you had hoped for, but damn - even without firing on all cylinders you are FAST and TOUGH! Watch out when you get the race you want (and you will soon) as you are capable of going deep into the 10 hr range soon... Keep up the good work, and congrats on another IM finish and a PR to boot!
Hey Kori,
Congrats on being a BAMF and soldiering on despite what you would consider a subpar day. BTW: I love your Chic-Lit novel – it’s perfect and provides us with great insight to your day!
I’m not a Dr. (nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn last night) but I wonder if you have you made any progress on your iron issue? I went through this a couple of years ago and there are a few threads with some good info I’ve referenced below. My ultimate resolution was a hysterectomy in 10/13 and continued iron supplementation. I continue to be tested quarterly - we endurance athletes are burning up a lot of RBCs! Some have to go as far as getting transfusions to get iron up to normal levels. And a caveat: even “normal” levels aren’t always normal so be armed with info when you talk to your doc!
Hope you’re enjoying a bit of recovery and keep us posted!
http://members.endurancenation.us/F...fault.aspx
http://members.endurancenation.us/F...fault.aspx
http://firstendurance.com/2013/03/1...els-arent/
Excerpt from ^^
Symptoms of iron deficiency may be mistaken for over-training syndrome (OTS). Previously, we have discussed OTS here: Cortisol and Overtraining The athlete may simply feel generalized fatigue and find no improvement (or decreasing) performance despite vigilance and attention to recovery, nutrition, and training plans. Assuming that bleeding such as from a colonic polyp or heavy menstruation have been ruled out, the mechanism for anemia in endurance athletes is not entirely clear. Foot strike hemolysis can occur in runners when repeated foot falls cause mechanical breakdown of red blood cells. Recent studies, however, have shown that this effect may be clinically insignificant.(1,2) Foot strike hemolysis also fails to explain why cyclists exhibit iron deficiency anemia with alarming frequency. Oxidative stress and inflammation caused by high volume and high intensity exercise have recently been proposed to cause alterations in the red blood cell membrane and subsequent hemolysis.(3,4) The cause of athletic induced anemia may just be the increased levels of oxidative metabolism seen in endurance athletes compared to sedentary individuals.
Iron deficiency anemia is diagnosed with blood tests. The tests necessary to make the diagnosis include a complete blood count (CBC) with differential, and an iron panel which includes: serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), iron saturation, and Ferritin. The range of normal is quite wide, and many times patients, and especially athletes, may be told their levels are normal, when in fact they are low. Here’s why: Normal values can vary between laboratories, and normal is a range of values clustered around a mean value for that particular lab. In other words there are a lot of results that are considered “normal” simply because they occur commonly. Many of the population tested have some sort of illness that may cause a low hematocrit. While the results for these patients might be considered normal, they are far from normal for a high performance athlete.
For example consider hematocrit (the volume percentage of blood that is made up of red blood cells). The normal range for hematocrit is 40-49% for men and 35-46% for women. Doctors are used to treating patients with medical conditions that cause their patients to have hematocrits in the anemic range. So when a doctor sees a 45 year old age group athlete who lives at 5000’ above sea level with a hematocrit of 39%, that athlete might be told their hematocrit—and therefore their iron level – is within the normal range. However, if the doctor digs a bit deeper and orders an iron panel, more information is uncovered. Let’s consider that same athlete with the following lab results:
Test
Value
Normal
Hemoglobin
13.2
13.3-16.7 g/dL
Hematocrit
39.7
40.0-49.6 %
Iron
68
65-175 mcg/dL
%Saturation
21.7
20-50%
TIBC
314
250-450 mcg/dL
Ferritin
153
5-244 ng/ml
You might look at those results and conclude that this hematocrit is normal and the iron panel is normal too. But it isn’t. Not for an otherwise healthy athlete who lives at 5000’ above sea level. Living and training at altitude should stimulate red blood cell production to the high end of the normal range. The values for hemoglobin and hematocrit are at the low end of the range. An Iron level of 68 is much closer to 65 than it is 175. If this athlete had been female, this same lab might have reported the low end of the range as 37mcg. Iron levels shouldn’t be lower in women, but they commonly are due to menstruation and child bearing. A woman’s iron stores can drop by as much as 25% with every child she bears. In the above example the low % saturation and the normal TIBC tell us that this athlete’s body has the capacity to deal more iron.
Ok, you say this athlete must just need a better diet and some iron supplements. Come to find out that this athlete has already been on supplements for the past 3 years and is still low on iron. The point here is that it takes years to improve total body iron stores with oral supplements, and may not even be possible at all. The body has a difficult time absorbing enough iron to keep up with the depletion caused by high volumes of intense exercise. Intravenous (IV) therapy is required to make any real, meaningful change. After IV iron treatment, this particular athlete’s hematocrit increased from 39.7% to 45% in just 6 weeks.
Congrats on gutting it out on a bad day. I've been there in gut hell. It is not fun. It is in fact, demoralizing that your body betrays you on the one day you've been working so hard to reach. But you will be better prepared next time, and the anemia issue is a big one and you will solve it.
I'm looking forward to seeing you kick ass at IMCHOO.
PS..thank your better half from me....he made me smile when I hurt on lap two requesting me to flip him off with my gimp finger.
Congratulations on gutting it out on a tough run. I love your competitive spirit. You were so close to the finish when I saw you, knew you had it in you to power it home and put that effer to bed! Great job!
And Bridget and I thank you and Eric for the nachos after!