Graham Pages Cotswold 226 IM report - 1hr 45PR
Hello everyone
In 2013 I completed Challenge Roth IM in 13h35m but had unfinished business with the marathon and so entered for my 2nd Iron Man this year. And I joined EN. This is the result of that:
Age 44, 157lb (same weight as at start of Nov outseason), FTP 225W, Vdot 48. No injuries coming into event
Overall Race SummaryThe Cotswold 226 IM was described as a flat IM in beautiful countryside with a big IM event feel. The reality was that the course was not flat (4,000ft of climbing) and I didn't get to see the countryside due to the remains of Hurricane Bertha hitting the UK. However I did have a fun day out, beating my expectations of the day and smashing my previous PR by 1hr 54 mins!!
Overall 51st (180 entrants), 12th in AGSwim: 1:07 (11 min PR)
Bike: 6:18 (17 min PR)
Run: 4:03 (1hr 27 PR)
Total time 11:40:59
12th in AG (40-44), 51st out of 180 starters
12th in AG (40-44), 51st out of 180 starters
Happy days (now I can walk again!) 
Detailed report
In 2013 I completed Challenge Roth IM in 13h35m (Swim: 1:18, Bike: 6:35, Run: 5:30). I followed the Fink "Be Iron Fit" plan with 2 objectives - 1) Get to the start line and 2) get to the finish line before the cut off of 15hrs. Despite being the fittest in my life I thought I was prepared for the enormity of the IM. How wrong I was.
Reflecting back on my race I identified 3 areas to work on which caused me to race sub-optimally:
Where was my speed coming from?
In-ability to run some / most of the marathon (Cramp caused me enjoy a 32km walk)
Lack of race execution and mental toughness
Joining EN I was a little concerned about the approach, but the great folks in The House forums kept my faith going forward though the NOS, GF, HIM and IM plans. I could see the improvements in my speed coming - a HIM PR a week after 2x 120 mile bike rides. Coming into Race day I'd completed my RR1 and RR2 bike rides with no drama, I'd changed my nutrition to include salt sticks, 350 cals of food per hr, and I knew how to ride the bike properly (or better)
Interestingly, unlike last year (when I lost the mojo 6 weeks before taper ) I had mojo wobbles (I don't want to do this any more) in the last 2 weeks. However, reading the forums and some straight talking from Coaches RnP told me that everyone was feeling this way, its normal. With my final 18 mile RR completed I knew that from the fitness side that I was ready.
Due to a planned family holiday / I had a 3 week taper in Italy, swimming most days and practising my run in the 90F temperatures. At this point I felt I was behind the curve as I hadn't actually swum the full 3.8km, but that was ticked off in pool in the 1st week.
The last thing to do was to work on the execution and mental toughness - I read / listened / watched the 4 keys materials until it and other EN materials were ingrained in my mind. Writing my race plan and posting it a week before the race was therapeutic as it helped to totally clear my mind of concerns - I knew EXACTLY what I would, no nights lying awake worrying about things! All I had to do on the last days of the holiday were swim a bit, enjoy the family and eat lots of pasta !
Drove 3hrs to registration on Saturday, had lunch in sunshine by the lake and carried out my recce of the swim start,exit, T1, T2 areas. Ensured that my liquid nutrition was topped up and spent the afternoon / evening on finalising my drop bags / run Go bags after a 15min pre-bike check.
Race day expectations were simple, based upon previous races.
Execute the plan; Focus on the process; do this and the time will take care of itself.
My expected times Based on RRs (understanding that RRs are stand alone events, so expect to be a little slower)
Swim: RR 1:30: Rce 1:30 (due to wetsuit!!)
Bike: 6:05: race 6:15
Run: 4:00: race 4:20
If all things go to plan then a well executed day will have me coming in under 12:30.
Up at 3:30, breakfast, loaded car and drove to swim start arriving, with 1hr 30 before start - plenty of time for getting everything ready before a 6am start. At 5:45 I lined up for the pre-race briefing by the swim start,
I had invested lot of time and effort in the preparation side and it worked - on the start line I felt very calm and focused (this is not my normal style), and chatting with a 7 time IM finisher who commented on how relaxed and smiley I was, unlike a lot of others who looked very scared and worried! I smiled again and reminded myself of the EN 90% rule about other people not knowing what they are doing...
10 minute warning and into the water which was a nice bath-like 19 degs. Did my warm-ups, face under water and seeded myself 3rd row from the front, hoping to catch the feet of a fast swimmer. Looked around an noticed that only about half the people were actually in the water, lots were still on the beach ! EN 90% rule again came to mind. Hooter went off and found some feet. Usual choppy bit around the 1st 2 boats, but no issues. Things then straightened out and found some feet and stuck with them, focusing on form, breathing and watching out for cramp twinges and enjoying the clear water, looking at the fishes and bottom of the lake (lots of limestone). Then the 1st ahhh moment.
Instead of a usual circular race track route the swim when around the 1st 2 turn boats (boats not boys) and then took a sharp inward turn towards the shore, then around another boat and then back out onto the circular route. Hmmm that wasnt mentioned in the waterside briefing. Nor was the number of laps that we had to do.
End of 1st lap, past the start again and the crowds (ok about 30 spectators under umbrellas). Stuck on the feet, until around a couple of faster swimmers came past, checked how I was feeling (ok, no cramping!) and I decided to jump on. Settled in, relaxed some more, definitely harder at this point sticking with these folk! Time to work, focus on form and started counting strokes. At this point round the last boat and back into the start straight - at which point I was unsure on how many laps we had to do - it certainly didn't feel like I was done so I thought its got to be 3 laps.... Ahhhhh panic. Lots of sighting and I saw people ahead of me being pulled out of the lake at the exit... they must be the fast swimmers I thought. Then I saw the kayaks blocking the swim route, pointing people to shore... I was done! Yanked out of the water by the helper and immediately cramped in my right hamstring. Held onto the side and a helper and stretched it out until it passed (felt like an eternity. Across the timing mat (walking slowly to get HR down), started removing wetsuit and hear my name and time being announced. Crikey that was a surprise!
Swim: expected 1:30: Actual: 1:08, 34st position
T1
Coming out of water into T1 in purposely walked to get the HR down. I took extra time in T1 to put socks, bike shoes and water protectors on and my water proof jacket as it was already raining. This is going to fun I thought!
Out of T1 in 5:47 (damn booty water protectors for and cold fingers) and onto the course.
Bike
The bike route was a 2x laps of 56 miles. Due to the back end of Hurricane Betty hitting the UK the race area was under a severe weather warning of high winds, flooding and thunderstorms with temperatures of around 60F.
Oh the joy of the stinging hail, splashing gleefully through the flooded roads and the endless delights of sodden feet, the only thing that would have made it even better would have been the howling gales the forecast had temptingly promised Twisted Evil.The rain was torrential of a biblical proportion, with 40 kph winds blowing you around. Seriously tough, the conditions were worst I have experienced on a race.
Due to the wet conditions I had a couple "Whoops there goes my nutrition" moments (bottles and food slipping out of hands), but I slowed down at the next aid station and doubled up on bottles so that I was fuelled again and started eating into the extra emergency food that I had in my back pockets. Peed around 10 times on bike, nicely washed off by the rain!
Execution
1st hr: 0.65IF 150W (people were passing me), ate and drank.
Miles 17-56: 0.70IF 160W.
Lap1 Averages: Duration 3:07:11, NP: 157W, VI 1.05,speed 18.0 mph, HR 143
Lap2
Remembering about getting to the Line I made a key decision at the end of the 1st loop to back off a little (150W vs 157W for lap 1). At this point I was mentally and physically tired due to battling the wind and rain conditions - this was really helped by not seeing anyone one ahead (or being passed) for the next 20 miles. I stuck my head down, got on with it, stayed in my process of doing the best I could at that time, eating, smiling ,singing to myself - anything to help pass the time and miles until I hit the "magic mile 80 mark"
After 4hrs blue sky was spotted but this was short lived and the rain started lashing down again after about 15 mins. But I kept on smiling and thanking all the marshals who had actually turned up to help us..
Started getting lower back pains after 4 hours so spent most of the rolling hills sitting up, taking time to stretch, relax, while keeping my watts in the expected zone - as a result I ended up playing cat and mouse with about 4 riders who had caught me - they passed me as I went uphill (slooowly), then I passed them as I hammered (on my Watt target) past them on the down-hills and flats. Miles 80 and 90 came and went and I continued to focus on the process, checking what i needed fuel wise, how I felt with the effort. Exerts from Coach RnP's podcasts rang in my ears "there only one time in an IM - the finish time", "it's not good killing the bike split then walking the run", "the race only starts at the line, everything else is a warm-up"... and I had to tell myself to be patient and disciplined (stuck on my water bottle) and "stop being a dick" on a couple of rollers (the RnP video of the guy standing on his pedals going up the hill and then swerving into the ditch!!)
I was disappointed by the guys on the bike taking tea/coffee and bacon sarnies around to the marshals who refused to pass me a hot cup of tea when I was on the bike (something about I may spill the hot contents!) - does this count as outside assistance??
Had some stomach sloshing feelings at around 5hrs so decided not to take on any more fluid (due to the number of times I'd already peed and knowing I had 500ml liquid in my run go bag). Made it to the end of the bike one piece.
Lap2 Averages: Duration 3:11:10, NP: 145W, VI 1.06,speed 17.2 mph, HR 145
So lap 2 was 4 mins slower than lap 1.
Bike Key decisions
1) Nutrition - at around 80 miles stomach was feeling sloshy so I decided to reduce liquid intake (due to the number of times I'd already peed), knowing that in my bike "go bag" I had 500ml of Infinit waiting for me
2) Pacing: - Reduce watt target for 2nd lap from 160W to 150W
Bike: Hoped for 6:30: Actual: 6:18:29
NP:151 Watts
AP:143 Wtts
VI: 1.06
IF 0.67
TSS: 284.9 
T2: 5min-ish
All my wet gear off - rain jacket, bike shoes, socks. Sat down, dried feet carefully and put on emergency pair of dry socks. No cramps I noticed..maybe to day will be a good day... Shoes on, picked up my go bag and headed to the portaloo for another wee (last of the day!)
Out of T2 in 53rd position
Run
The main course of the day. Left T2 with 4 people in pursuit of me while I ran stoopid slow, drinking my bottle of Infinit.
Then behold ! A beastly glowing orb in the sky broke though the luscious and thick cloud cover and started to dry everything up just as I stared on the run.
The run consisted of 4 mile out from T2 onto the run course followed by 4 laps of 6 miles (or 5.5 miles as I found out later). 2 Aid stations were posted towards the end of each loop. This meant that you'd pass the aid station, walk while grabbing nutrition, run again for a couple of minutes, turn around at the loop and then pass the aid station again (taking on more nutrition) and then run for 2 miles to the next aid station. Was clear on what I wanted at each aid station and how many steps I'd take.
Miles 1-6 were stupid slooow (but still too fast) at around 9:20 pace (target 9:30),while I counted people coming the other way to see how many were ahead of me... 51... ohhhh thats not bad!! Had about 10-15 people pass me within 1st 6 miles. I'll get them later I thought. More Blue sky was spotted although the sun was hiding behind a cloud !!
Pacing on the day was difficult due to the wooded covered run path for the 4 loops - one minute I was running at 10:30 pace, next time I looked 7:30 pace (which was definitely NOT possible).
Nutrition was on plan for the run nutrition - shot block every mile, cup of high5 at the aid stations. Made a "friend" who was not actually in the race and I chugged along with him chatting away at me. This helped pass the time and before I knew it I had 2 bands and was over half way. No cramps, pains, felt all good. Then BANG! At around mile 17-18 I started having gastric problems - lots of wind, which caused me to, stop to let out. I spent the next mile or so sounding like the Paul McCartney Frog band with all my burping.
Key Decision: I decided to stop taking the shot blocks and switched to 100% liquid nutrition at this point (Coke and gels).
Continued chugging along aiming just to get to Mile 18 and then I could REALLY start racing - Or Not! Through 18 and nothing in the tank for that last 10miles at 8min/mile pace. I had one gear, slow forward. Out came my motivational key words, The One Thing, and I got angry. The smile was now fixed on my face as a grimace. Still running, still going forward.
Hit the last loop (mile 20) with at 10:45 on the finishing line clock and for the 1st time in the day I calculated that at the current pacing I could finish in under 12hrs, with a 4:20 marathon.
Last bit, 6 miles, keep going at this pace I thought. At this point I was into the diminishing box scenario - I began to walk. Only 5 steps at time before starting up again, but that was it - mental dam had been broken. My body said its ok to walk I want to walk! My mind said no. I had to force myself just get to the next section of the run (300m / 200m / 100m) - I ended up in a rhythm of running for 0.09 of a mile and then walk 20 steps, then repeat. At least this would only be for 6 miles I told myself. By now the wind was directly in the face on 2 parts course, sucking the will to run. Past the last turn point, 3 miles to go, thanked all the marshalls for their support as I went past; Wind was now behind me wheeee - I'm going home.... slowly!! Then the magical moment I could hear the announcer, the music, the crowd and somewhere from inside I flew the last 500metre and crossed the line a very happy man, now a 2 time Iron Man!
Run: Hoped for 4:20: Actual: 4:03, 48th fastest time
Duration: 4:03:00
rTSS: 413.3 (0.948)
Distance: 24.257 mi
Elevation Gain/ decent: 663 ft
Av HR 139 bpm
Miles 1-6 (Target 09:30 min/mile) 6-12 12-18
09:23
09:23
09:25
09:23
09:20
09:22
Miles 7-12 (Target 09:00 min/mile)
08:57
09:06
09:54 (double feed station)
08:40
09:04
09:17
Miles 12-18 (Target 09:00 min/mile)
09:35
09:02
10:21 (double feed station)
09:39
11:02 (windy stomach time)
11:27 (windy stomach time)
Miles 19-24 (survive!!)
11:25
10:56
12:48 (double feed station)
11:04
11:31
10:11
02:06
I had the obligatory photo taken under the clock (11:41 it said) (do you think I am pleased ?? !! 
)and slumped onto a bench next the burger van and DJ
I checked my watch 24.2 miles it said. 2 miles short? Noooo. That can't be right. I checked my time 20mins faster than expected (as I was using the Garmin for pace). I checked my time - last 6 miles under an hr ?
Once I could walk again, I went and found the race organiser lurking around giving out the medals. He explained that the course had been officially measured (by hand no-less) and was the full 26.2 distance and that the overhanging trees on the wooded areas cause havoc with GPS devices. "Fine" I thought "that's the official word and in that case I'm sticking with it !!" Bank the 4:03 marathon.
So overall Total time 11:40:59; 12th in 40-44AG, 51st out of 180 starters. A PR by 1hr 54mins!! I have slain my marathon demons.
As I write this 2 weeks later reflecting back I feel I was blessed with having "a rare very good IM day out", despite the attempting drowning by the weather... I still have a broad grin and cannot believe what I have achieved.
All I can say is thank you to all of the Wicked Smart Members and Coaches R'nP for their support on the forums over the last year in helping me reach beyond my dreams. (oh and NOW I see the wiki post about racing in the wind and rain haha!)
So what's next... I believe that a sub-6hr bike followed by sub-4 hr run is within my grasp or a sub 11:30. However, not in 2015 due to agreed family commitments. So Roll on November Outseason - I can't wait to get started!
Graham
Comments
Masterful job, though, handling the bike leg in those conditions. I imagine your feet felt wetter cycling than during the swim?