Bob ’s IMMT Race Report – On the up side, I’ve got lots of room for improvement.
Bob ’s IMMT Race Report – On the up side, I’ve got lots of room for improvement.
Our coaches got me extremely fit for IMMT and filled with an abundance of useful IM racing strategies. I attended the IMMT camp with Patrick and took good notes at his 4 Keys Talk on Friday. I re-read them on Saturday evening and listened to Patrick’s recent podcast of the double Race Reports of rising EN star Jenn Edwards before I went to bed. I thought I was ready to rock-n-roll, EN style. But…
Final results:
Men 60-64
Swim – 1:11 AG 4
Bike—7:41 AG 41
Run—7:15 AG 45
Total: 16:26 AG 47/54
For me, and maybe others, writing a race report serves 2 primary functions.
First, it forces the person to think through her or his race afterwards in a detailed and honest way. That is, honest to himself or herself. As Polonius advised in Hamlet, “This above all: to thine own self be true.”
Second, unless every aspect went totally as planned or better, fellow EN teammates can provide some helpful suggestions for future improvement.
I was disappointed in my final time and splits, but not unhappy. I am 62, extremely fit, eating well, my weight is good, but most importantly my family is very proud of me. I have learned to look at the total picture.
Since January, I can honestly estimate I did 90% of the swim WKO’s, 85% of the bike WKO’s, and 70-75% of the runs. For the most part, I followed the specific zones, intervals, etc in the WKO’s I did to a T, or at least I tried to. Although this is my first year with EN, in terms of their “3 year plan,” I thought I was effectively in the 2nd year. Maybe equipment and training-wise I’m in year 2, but not racing. Yet.
Week leading up to race.
As per the IM plan, I rested the Sunday before the race, but then I deviated from the WKO schedule. I also rested on Monday, but my impression from Rich’s Intermediate IM Plan is that the race week WKO’s are to keep some people sane and not necessarily important for the upcoming race. The fitness is already there. On Tuesday, I did the Monday swim (felt great and swam fast) and rode about an hour with my wife to keep her in shape for the upcoming MS150 we’ve done since 1988. Not a hard bike on Tuesday at all. Then I did no more swimming, biking or running until the race. (Possible culprit?)
My wife and I drove up to MT from Cincinnati in 2 days arriving in time for me to register on Thursday and attend the EN dinner that night. Talk about an upbeat and friendly group!
I would say I rested well in those days in MT leading up to the race. I did not bother with recon’s since I had attended the camp in July.
Race Day
Did not really fall asleep until 11pm Saturday night and woke up as planned at 3:00am. We were "off campus." At that time I had 2 bananas, 10oz of vanilla soymilk with chocolate protein whey, a Powerbar, and 26oz of Gatorade. Did not have the BM I was hoping for then but did at about 6:00am. (Too much info?) Did the EN picture thing and got some mojo from the team at about 6:15 and went to the lac for 6:54 wave start.
The air was cold, so I decided not to warm up in the water. I thought it might be counterproductive if I got the shivers waiting in the cold air for the start. Even though I did not warm up, things got away from me a bit and I had to slide quickly up through the women and then my wave to start at the front. I expected to go 1:05-1:09 based on my 4 RR’s of 61’ twice (25 yd pool) and 64’ and 66’ (50 meter pool). I had a wetsuit with no sleeves, which upon reflection may have also been a problem.
At the start I was as aggressive as planned. However, before reaching the second buoy, I absolutely could not catch my breath. I tried to relax and slow up, but still could not breathe. I did not think I was having a panic attack, but it was unfamiliar and kind of scary. I swam to the young lady with a surfboard right next to that second buoy and asked her if I could just hold onto the board? Of course, she said yes. I think it took only about 20”-30" for me to calm down and catch my breath and I never had that breathing problem again during this swim. I got right back into a decent pace.
Usually, if I am going to swim in cold water, I will splash the cold water on my face and this will quickly get my body ready for the cold. As I said, I didn’t warm up, but I didn’t even simply reach down and bring up water to my face! I think I neglected to do this because of my lateness to the front of our wave and there beside me at the starting line was a man I had done an OLY with in Israel in 2009. I know I should have stayed in my box, but I hadn’t seen him for 5 years. After we exchanged pleasantries, off we went. Running for several yards, then diving in. (BTW, I am front and center in the orange cap start picture taken by Sean and shown in JT’s race report. The guy with no sleeves and no goggles.)
I started getting cramps in my legs just before the first turn, almost half way. Given that I have gotten leg cramps near the end in my last 3 cold water HIM’s, this could have been anticipated. By the 2nd turn and with a mile or so to go, the cramps varied from severe to annoying. Unfortunately, they were usually severe. I never stopped, as I knew I couldn’t stretch or kneed them. I just had to try and simultaneously maintain my stroke and cadence up front and relax my legs in the back. I was often pulling my toes up to try and stretch my calves. Not conducive to fast swimming, but the alternative of stopping was worse.
Because of my anticipated time, I would be passing a lot of men soon after the start. That was actually not much of a problem working my way through the crowd. I had swum and played water polo in college and for a few years after, so I am not upset in OWS's when someone swims into or over me or hits me. I know they are not doing it on purpose. (Which was definitely the case in water polo.)
I just kept swimming but when I got to the end, I could not stand up. If you look at Sean’s photos, you will see me grimacing in the water with an orange cap. Both legs were cramping big time. I think I fell down about 5 times. The volunteer in the water there was a small, older woman. Not what I needed. But she was all I had. I basically started to pull myself up by climbing up her legs with my hands until a man came over and lifted me up. I then sort of limped stiff legged to the strippers. They helped me down and up. Once I was on land and running to T1, the cramps never recurred. But I was cold. I wonder if the lack of sleeves for over an hour took blood away from my legs to service my arms, especially since from the beginning I was trying not to kick? If I do another cold-water race, I plan to rent or buy a full wetsuit.
T1
I am glad that morning I had added a long sleeve biking jersey to my T1 bag. I put that on and headed for my bike. Not the T-1 time I anticipated, but I was done with the swim and in my mind I was sort of 1/3 of the way to the finish. 11:53
Bike.
The #’s: NP 140w, TSS 243, IF 0.563, VI 1.11, HR 98, 14.5 mph
Had I been told that morning before the start that these would be my #’s, I would have assumed I would have to fix 3 flats. Without beating myself up, for me these #’s are disappointing.
My FTP is 248w. I was taking Al Truscott’s sage advice to go at least the first 75’ at 65%. That would be 161w. The plan then was to go up to 4 ½ hours on the bike at about 169w, then the last 1 ½ hours at 171w. I anticipated going between 6:05-6:25. Long story short, unless I was going uphill, I rarely got above 160w.
When I went down the first good hill on Montee Ryan, which was early on the ride, my front wheel was vibrating back and forth violently; I stopped to make sure the wheel, quick release, brake, etc were okay. They all were. I got back on and soon realized I was shivering so hard I was barely in control. Again, I calmed myself and control was no longer an issue. But I was still cold for a while. I think I was somewhat hypothermic initially on the bike, but I don’t think that explains the low wattage throughout.
I don’t know if this is related to the swim or the cold, but I could not take a deep breath on the bike. It felt like my lungs were full and I needed to burp. I also had a stabbing pain with a deep breath in the middle of the thoracic (mid) portion of my spine. Unfortunately, I cannot burp. When I was a kid my younger brother could burp to beat the band, but he couldn’t teach me to burp. My youngest son can burp very nicely upon request, but he hasn’t been able to help me there either. Literally, about 2 or 3 times a year I will suddenly burp. No warning, that’s it. So this feeling of fullness in my lungs and chest made it a bit difficult to drink and eat as much as I had planned and trained for. But again, I don’t think that was the reason for my consistently low watts. I was well hydrated before starting and peed on the bike at least 6 times. (Also had to stop the first loop at the beginning of the climb to Lac Superior to use the Port-o-let for a #2. Extra time, but also restful.)
My NP for the entire bike was 140w. My heart rate, which is ordinarily low when I train, only averaged 98 on the bike. I knew I was primarily burning fat for energy and was not as worried about the lack of calories I was ingesting. Even when I did the Big Protocol Day of 112 miles in 6:01 on a flat course, my avg HR was only 102. That training day my TSS was 266, IF 0.67, NP 165w and 18.6 mph. On race day, my HR was not at all high unless I was on the steeper hills going up to Lac Superior. At least I was executing the EN way and keeping my watts under 200, if possible.
Upon reflection, I think I should have been more aggressive on the bike, even in the first 75’. I made only modest efforts to get my watts up close to 161w and then was content to stay at the same low level throughout. It was not easy riding, but often not much more than JRA. Many times I looked down at my power meter and I was hitting watts which were only slightly above those I would normally have during the rest between our harder interval sets in training. Somewhat discouraging, but I told myself, “Do what you can do, but remember to save your legs for “Mile 18.” This may have held back me back. Putting on my honesty cap, I think I gave Mile 18 too much respect and did not respect my training self enough. I think I allowed myself to stay in a slow rut.
On the 2nd trip to and from Lac Superior, I felt superior to many around me. I saw 5 people walking their bikes up steep hills and others who were coasting on downhills when they should have been pedaling and aero. That gave me some measure of satisfaction. Not in their misery, but in my thinking that I was setting myself up for a decent run. It rained pretty hard on the way back from the last turnaround, but I didn’t mind the stinging on my face. I was looking forward to the run of my IM life.
T2
As expected, very sore and stiff running on the wet carpet to T2. Again, T2 was not as fast as rehearsed, but at least I was trying not to dilly dally. 6:05
Run.
A bit of background. IMMT was my 59th tri and 3rd IM. My first IM was in 1989 and second was in 1997. I am 62 and those IM’s were at ages 37 and 45, so I don’t know how relevant those times and splits are now. In ’89 I was 1:01 (non-wetsuit), 6:12, 5:36 for a total of 12:50. (T1&T2 were included in bike and run splits then, if you are scratching your head on the math.) In ’97, I was 1:00 (wetsuit), 6:25, 6:25. There was obviously a lot of shuffling and walking during those runs. Back then I trained at 7:00-7:30/mile, but did not have the benefit of RnP’s IM run race strategy.
I’ve had 3 knee surgeries since 2000, the most recent in January 2011 which then included micro fracture surgery and 2 months non-weight bearing. The relevance of this information is that I have been cautious in my running since 2011. Until 2013, I never ran 2 days in a row and usually ran beside a bike path on the softer ground. My knees really don’t bother me much now in training, but it was not unusual this season for me to skip a run, especially the day after a long’ish run, or the day of a long bike if the run wasn’t part of a brick. Since the surgery of 2011, I have increased the frequency and distances of my runs annually. But, since I joined EN last October, RnP increased my distance and speed in run WKO’s even more and I improved a lot. One of the surgeons told me in 2004, “The tread is starting to get a little thin.” That’s always been in the back of my mind, which is probably a good thing.
I hope this doesn’t sound like woe is me, but my more significant problem running is stenosis in my low back. This can cause pain into the outside and front of my left thigh. When I walk, stand and run slower (above about 9:15/mile) the pain usually starts. Since Raleigh 70.3 in June I have experimented and thought I found a partial solution. After the pain begins to border on unbearable, I stop and hold my left foot up to my right knee. This seems to open up the hole in my spine where the nerve roots at L4-5 and L3-4 exit the spinal cord, and those nerve roots quiet down. The openings/holes where the nerve roots exit the spine have become smaller as I’ve gotten older. That’s the stenosis.
In the run, I first stopped to assume the position at the 4km marker. I took 10” as planned. Long story short, as I continued at about 12’/ mile, I stopped for 15”, then 20”, then 30” per KM. I was trying to hold off walking, but was running now at only 13’/mile.
Dreams of sugarplums and a sub 13-hour day were a distant memory. At the 28km marker, I felt a little dizzy after doing my position thing and sat down at the next aid station for 5’. I drank 8oz of water and 8oz of Perform and ate a gel. At this point my goal was to make sure I finished. I was not really tired and unless I was trying to bank some time by shuffling at 14’/mile, my pulse was in the 80’s as I walked. I was almost proud of myself for being able to develop a faster walk. Almost as fast as that inspirational girl walking in her boot, whom I passed about 5 times with all my stoppages.
My dad, of blessed memory, always said, “Finish what you start and make sure you beat somebody.” I did. As consolation prizes, my finish is one of the scrolling photos on the official IMMT website. I am in the full EN kit and fortunately my final time is obscured. Also, at about 8:00 on the official video of this race, I run across the finish line and give Mike Reilly a high 5. (Form looks good and running pretty fast. Makes one think. 
)
Where do I go from here?
I am not sure if I will do another full IM, definitely not in 2015. I registered for 2015 Hawaii 70.3 before I did IMMT, but I'm still excited to prepare and race that HIM next May. The Olympic distance may actually suit me better, because the swim is more relevant, but I have a strong desire to go a good half. I have faith in Rich and Patrick and love the mojo and resources of Team EN. I think I need to race more other than my A and B tri’s. I need to enter some running races over the winter and do more short tri’s during the spring and summer. I believe if I can run under 9:00/mile in a HIM and OLY, I may be able to avoid the severe thigh pain and necessity for stoppage time.
Honesty cap back on: I think I need to get tougher in races. Looking at my WKO times, I see no good reason why my bike and run took so long. My swim should have been much better too, but if your goal is under 13 hours or maybe even under 12, going 16:22 vs. 16:26 is not worthy of discussion.
Thanks for reading my Race Report. And comments or suggestions are welcome. Congratulations to all EN’ers at IMMT. So many gave me encouragement during the bike and run and I tried to do the same.
Comments
Bob...Congrats on your finish. Many of the EN team were waiting for you to finish and we knew you could do it. Well done.
I do think you got cold on the swim and that impacted your effort for the rest of day. That cold water (65F) can suck the energy out of you so fast even if you are a strong swimmer like yourself. Clearly you were cold and shivering on the bike, and this makes it extemely difficult to put power to the pedals. Your body is using the energy to keep warm and fight the wind chill, not turn the pedals. Suggest you go with a full wetsuit next time even if the water is in the 70s.
Way to gut it out on the run. No other way to describe it. Just determination.
Best of luck on your recovery and future races.
Thanks so much, Bruce. Coming from a champ, your comments soften the harshness of the memory. All the best in Kona.
Also, you already noted the sleeveless wetsuit, lack of warm up or even water on the face, combined with the weather of the day, was leading to hypothermia. That may be the simple explanation for why your body couldn't respond the way you wanted it to as the bike progressed.
Olympic tris are, truthfully, a whole lot more fun than IMs. Given your swim you should enjoy good success with that approach. The over 60s I raced with at the USAT Nat'ls earlier this month were hard men going fast. A worthy competitive arena.
Al, thanks for taking your time to read my report carefully. And thanks for all the advice which I will definitely take to heart. I had a physical in January, but only the back and leg pain came up for special discussion. I will set up another appt and see where that takes me.
Both you and Bruce think the cold water and sleeveless wetsuit may have been a part of the culprit. Coming from 2 IM AG champs, I've got to believe that played a bigger part of my struggle on the bike. Your advice after reading my Race Plan to lower my initial watts for a longer period of time may have enabled me to ultimately finish.
I look forward to meeting you some day. Take care, Bob
Thanks, Rob. I've been admiring your terrific racing results from afar through the EN website and it was great to meet you after the 4 Keys Talk and then see you race in person.
Now as for the future, I wonder if you're really through with Ironman. You sound like a hardened competitor, and you clearly have a bit of a score to settle. This will gnaw at you I fear. So surely don't count out a revenge race. Perhaps sooner rather than later. Or maybe you wait until you age-up. In the meantime my main concern is that your problems on the run appear to be medically-related. So perhaps it may be possible to address that in the coming year or two and be able to make a go of it on the run.
@Matt, Thanks for your advice. I appreciate hearing from EN'rs like you who have displayed not just stellar biking and running ability, but race day execution as well. I hear what you say. A part of me hopes I'm not done with the IM distance and I do age up to 65 in 2016, so maybe ....
@Tim, it spoke volumes about you and your wife to travel to another country just to support your teammates. I am so glad my wife Jeannie and I were able to sit with you and Heather at the Spag.
It's funny, my youngest son was on his college Triathlon Club Team at Northwestern and they were sponsored by Blue Seventy. We're the same size and he suggested we share the cost of the discounted wetsuit. I said okay and he wanted a sleeveless one. Of course, the split was Dad 80% and kid 20%!! He's in grad school and doesn't have time to train or race so Dad gets possession for now. If I do another wetsuit legal race, I'll definitely be getting one with sleeves. I can foresee him eventually doing tri's, so Dad will undoubtedly let him borrow mine.
Thanks for your insights. Best of luck (if you need it) at Kona.
Bob the sage guys have all weighed in with much better technical advice than I could hope to provide you with. Wow man I'm just really feeling for you- trying to wind down from living it with you as I read along. Knew your end time from the tracker but non the less was pulling all the way as I read along.
I met you for the first time two weeks before and had two thoughts on riding off from that encounter, Hell of a nice guy, and the dedication to the EN training resulted in you being in great shape. All your stats attest to it too.
Does make me remember back in my marathon running days, I was really bumming after a particular sub par performance and a fellow running buddy said, "Joe thats the funny thing about a marathon, somedays you get the bear and somedays the bear gets you". That has always stuck with me, you train for months through all the highs and lows all in the hope that on that one day……. and so it is. I guess that is the personal intrigue which makes us lace them up for that shot.
Thanks much for your pre and post race reports, your honesty, transparency, and drive are an inspiration. God willing I'll add your spirit to my list of one things at that line in the sand at IMWI.
@Joe, thanks for the kind words. We all know we put a lot of eggs in one basket, but we're not training for a once in a lifetime event. It may turn out to be, but for most of us, its one in a number of races we hope to do down the line. So maybe we get to learn something about the process or ourselves and the next time is more rewarding.
Now that we've met, hopefully we can get together for a bike or run or 2 after the present tri season has concluded. It looks like Jeremy Behler may be lacing them back up next season. I think we could learn something training with him.
But for now, concentrate on your IM in Wisc. Best of luck and I will be following you on the tracker.
nice work. great tenacity.
yes to full wetsuit. if upper body restriction is a concern consider the two piece Desoto.
yes, as Al said, consider medical evaluation. I wonder if you had a mild case of pulmonary edema from the swim.
way to work the run as best possible.
Love to Bob, and yes I'm over the top with focus right now. If I had a boss at work he'd likely fire me this week based on my productivity. Yes I hear-tell Behler may be lacing up again soon. Cuss him most days as he is the dawg who talked me into going for these! Ought to give thought to signing up for the EN Blue Ridge camp with us next spring.
@Robin, thanks for your comments and congrats on a great IM. I plan to follow Al's advice and will mention the possibility of pulmonary edema. If you saw Chris Love's race report, you will a remarkable resemblance to our swims, other than me also having leg cramps. We both went sleeveless and didn't warm up. I'm not too old to learn. Take care and be safe.
It is number 16.
Have fun and success in Kona!
Congrats on finishing a VERY tough course in good circumstances. I'm so glad we met at CAMP! I've no doubt you'll have a great revenge race in the future. There may be quite a few of us back for more in 2016!
Agree with my brother and others - the cold water really impacted your overall day. Being cold on the bike where you are shivering takes tremendous energy out of you....get the wetsuit - (you can rent, but better to train in one) This will make a big difference....I think you've got another IM in you if you want - maybe a nice warm race!!
Congrats - way to get it done!!
@JT thanks. I actually looked on Tri-sports' website the other day and checked out their full wetsuit rental program. $65 for one week and they pay the postage. I wish I had done this, but Hey, I'm still young enough to learn. The more I think about it, I suspect over 30' of leg cramping took a bit out of my legs too. Warm water races may be a solution, but I don't necessarily want to limit my race choices.
I entered the 2015 Hawaii 70.3 before doing IMMT. My wife and I will be out there 2 weeks! No cold water worries. I think I'll do more kicking in my swim WKO's since I won't have the buoyancy of a wetsuit for my legs. Maybe this will help the cramping too.
BTW, I'm driving into Boulder today (Aug. 29). Our youngest son just started grad school at Naropa University in Wilderness Therapy. I'm going for Dad of the Week. 2-day drive in fully loaded van with a lot of his "stuff" from our home in Ohio. I brought my old Softride which I had converted into a single speed, so I can tool around Boulder. I was planning to be in town through Labor Day. My son informed my he has a lot of studying to do and may not be able to entertain me. If you are around and are available, may be we could get together? My cell is 513-910-2132. Either way, take care and thanks for taking the time to read my RR and make the helpful comments.
@Elizabeth. Good job yourself. I did see that photo of my finish. In fact, IMMT is using my photo as one of its scrolling photos on its website. Really fun to see that when I visit their website. Thanks and take care. BTW, I am considering doing Miami 70.3 in 2015. My mother lives in Pompano Beach.
@Trish. You're the greatest. Thanks so much for your positive mojo. I did get pretty lean this tri season, but needing sleeves didn't occur to me. I did the 1 hour swim at our camp, and felt comfortable. Bruce wrote that it was 65 degrees on race day.
I think the board in that little house by the lake said 68.5 when we did our camp swim. Someone had said before the race it was 68, so I didn't think anything of it. Although, I did not have a full wetsuit in MT anyway. 
But I might have warmed up. Who knows. You live and learn! 
Trish, I was so glad to meet you and spend all that time running with you. You're perpetually upbeat and friendly. After I told my wife about you, she was looking forward to meet you too. You came up at the Spag and warmly gave us both a hug.
I recall seeing you out on the run during the race and you were all business. Congrats. I feel confident that one day you'll get your KQ. Take care and thanks again.
@Elizabeth. Thanks for the invite to PR. Sounds fun, but that's too early in the season for me. I might not even be able to get outside on my bike that early up here in Ohio to train. Also, I am a volunteer swim coach with a YMCA team and that time is an imprtant part of season. Take care.
Thanks, Rob. Good to meet you @ 4 keys and nice race. See you in the forums and hopefully a future race.