IM Louisville Race Report
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
IM Louisville 2014 Race Report
Kay Baker, #703, W45-49
Training: Overall my training went well. I was not eating enough, then
eating too much, but finally got that sorted out and was able to ride with
liquids only (for hydration and calories - infinit plus a scoop of perform for
taste). I continued to bring along a fig newton snack and GU chomps for
emergencies - which was good training for something that happened on the bike
course on race day - more on that later). I am a good swimmer already so
I sometimes only swam 2 x per week, but usually 3x because I like it. I
swim with a masters group but sometimes used my own lane to do the EN workouts.
Running was limited due to an old stress fracture - saw podiatrist and got an
orthotic. I was behind on the running and only did one 18 mile run (the 3 hour
day).
Pre-race: The week before the race I was in court prosecuting a child
molestation case so I was a little distracted but it was probably a good thing.
Unfortunately the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict and I will be trying
that a-hole again. We drove to Louisville on Friday morning (5 hours). I
was with my cyclist boyfriend and IM Louisville 2011 sister. They did
everything for me and it was great to have them there. The day before the race
I was actually concerned b/c I wasn't nervous. For several days before the race
I drank a lot of water with NUUN tablets. I was very hydrated (perhaps TOO
hydrated – see race day post re: potty stops).
Goal: My publically announced goal was to (a) finish, (b)
finish before the glow stick police forced me to wear one, and (c) finish smiling. Privately,
it was to beat 12 hours.
Race Day: Got to bed around 9pm, and woke up at 12:21AM. We were staying downtown and it was loud
outside from all the partyers at 4th street Live. Fortunately I am an early bird. I stayed in bed til 2am then got up to
stretch. I ate at 3:30 – PB sandwich, banana, and a bottle of infinit/perform. We
got to transition at 4:30am. Put bottles
on bike (one aero and three regular bottles of the infinit/perform combo). I still had a free cage which I used to pick
up water bottles at the aid station. Got in line after body marking and was
pretty close to the front (It only took about 3 minutes for me to get in the
water once it started).
Swim Goal: 60 minutes. Actual time: 52:07. 1st in my
AG.
I didn’t have any issues except I have three deep scratches on
my chest from logs I swam over - I look like I’ve had open heart surgery. I didn’t even notice until I was showering
AFTER the race and the water burned it. Given the sewage warning b/c of all the
rain Friday and Saturday I was a little worried, but so far it’s just a little swollen
and red.
Note to self: wearing two swim caps gives me a headache.
T1 Goal Time: 5 minutes. Actual Time: 7:56. I
swam in a regular swim suit so I changed to tri shorts and a tri top. This took up a lot of time.
Bike Goal: 18 mph avg. Actual: 17.7mph avg. Total time: 6:18:14.
10th in my AG.
My bike computer had me at 18.2 as an avg overall but the race
clock doesn’t stop when you do, so that explains the difference.
I had an aero bottle, one bottle in the seat tube and two behind
me.
I had to stop THREE times to pee, ONCE at special needs, ONCE to
put the chain back on, and ONCE to retrieve my aero bottle that rocketed off
the bike coming back on 1694,at the bottom of the hill from the aid
station. I have no idea how that
happened except that maybe it had been jarred a little loose from all the other
bumps and the one I hit head on just popped it out. After getting that one, I was good for
another 5-10 miles when I realized that one of my back bottles had also been
ejected but it must have rolled off the road down the ravine.
I slowed at every aid station and got at
least one water bottle (always picked the cute little kids and cheered them for
the hand offs – all successful - wore a glove on the right hand only for this purpose - and to wipe the snot off my face/nose).
I drank
one bottle of infinit/perform an hour plus ¾ to 1 full water bottle went in my
mouth or on the back of my neck. After losing the infinit/perform bottle, but
before I got to SN where I had three Ziplocs with more infinit/perform, I was
getting that low sugar tunnel vision so I popped a few GU Chomps down with
water. Always have spare food!!! You
just never know.
I had one salt stick capsule every hour.
I had no problems with the course from a physical standpoint,
but I think that might be b/c I live/ride in Chattanooga and our terrain is
similar. Instead of horses, though, we have dogs. Lots of them. And they like
to frolic and chase you.
T2 Goal Time: 5 minutes. Actual Time: 9:41. I think this one was
so long b/c again, I had to pee, so I ran thru the change tent, put my bag on a
chair, ran out to the portojohns, then back in.
I also had a full change of shorts. They also moved the dismount
line further away from the transition area so you had to run a good distance to
hand your bike off to then go get your run bag.
Again, if I get a better kit this will be faster.
Run Goal: 10 min/mile. Actual Time: 10:02/mile. Total time:
4:22:57. 7th place in AG.
I tried to start slow for the first 6 miles but did not execute
that very well. Was supposed to do 10:30 min/mile for first 6. Went 8:55 first mile (oops), then my splits
were 9:46, 10:02,9:50, 9:24, 10:17, 11:06, 10:37, 9:06 – those were
approximately every 3 mile averages.
I walked every aid station except the very first one which was right
out of the gate. I had taken a water from transition with me.
At the aid stations I got
a cup of water and a cup of ice. The water went on my neck and in my mouth. The
ice went in my mouth and down my tri top and in my hat.
At about mile 15 my
brain was saying “I think I’m tired of this game” so I added a 60 second long
stride walk (to help relieve some of the hamstring tightness I was feeling). I
did this for about 3-4 miles (in addition to the aid station stroll). Then for
the remainder of the race I only walked the aid stations.
At about mile 18 or 19
(and all these are complete guesses b/c by then I was just focused on finishing
) I still wasn’t feeling “right” so I tried the coke at the aid stations. I had
a few sips at each station.
I stopped at special needs for new socks, and some biofreeze for
my hamstrings.
Salt stick capsule every hour until about mile 15 or 16 then I
popped 2 b/c something wasn’t right. My avg pace had slowed to 11 min miles.
Carried my own GU gels (espresso love and chocolate peanut
butter). At the beginning I had one every 45 minutes. After Mile 18 or so, I couldn’t eat anything.
At mile 20 I was able to do some math, and realized my sub 12
hour goal was a possibility. I picked it up and made a few 9:15-9:45
min/miles. At mile 22 or 23 I checked
again, and realized I only needed 10 min miles to get under 12 hours. My last 3 miles were 9:06/mile.
Overall: 7th place in my age group (W45-49).
Post Race: The bottoms of my feet were killing me – in fact, the last 3
miles when I was running harder I thought I might break my feet bones, and
decided it would be worth it so I kept plugging away. My hamstrings were tight.
Other than those two issues, I felt great. I also gained 4 pounds (what’s that
all about?). The finish line in Louisville is pretty f’ing fabulous. I could
not, nor would not, have been able to perform so well if it had not been for my
boyfriend, Brian, and sister, Celeste.
Brian has helped me improve my biking and take care of the day to day
things while I’m out running or swimming, and Celeste helped with race strategy
since she’d done this one in 2011. We went to the Monday awards just to
experience it, and saw the official video. I made the video stretching before
the swim! We drove home Monday, and I went
to work Tuesday. I started another trial this morning (Wednesday) and will
finish it tomorrow – possession of methamphetamine. Here’s a tip: meth is bad.
Next races:
Nothing planned for rest of 2014 at this point, but there are a few local Olympics
and 70.3 distances that I am considering, just for fun.
April 2015: IM New Orleans 70.3
June 2015: REV3 in Williamsburg
July 2015: IM Lake Placid!!!
Room for Improvement:
Faster transition times: find a tri top/bottom combo that I can
swim/bike/run in, and maybe just change into a new top for the run to have something
dry. My tri top after the bike was SOAKING WET.
Work on bike in off season. It is definitely my weak event, as I
went from 1st out of the water, to 10th after the bike.
Finish figuring out my feet issues and get advice on the chronic hamstring problems.
Consider tri bike shoes and working on getting in/out of them
while they are on the cleat/pedals.
I was very pleased with my results and am grateful for the advice and comments I've gotten from this group. Now that I know what to work on I can ask more specific questions. For now, I'm going to take the next few weeks "off" and just swim and ride for fun. cheers! Kay
0
Comments
:-)
Most awesome lady!!! To bad we never were able to link up during the race. However, maybe we can get together and do some training for Placid since we are both going! I'm so excited to go to Placid and have different weather!
Mandy
very nice work. congrats.
with working the small things you could have been close to first. things like you identified like wearing the same outfit the whole day. swim skin. carrying two water bottles on the bike maximum - lots of weight to carry up hills. peeing on bike - must do this. t2 ziplock bag to grab everything and go. not changing socks during run - they get wet right away. etc.
I think you have the current fitness needed. just work the small things as above. aero bike setup aero bike position. etc.
"...Run Goal: 10 min/mile. Actual Time: 10:02/mile. Total time: 4:22:57…"
Sound like a VERY successful race, given the conditions of the day. With your swim and run, you have the hard parts of the IM covered. Getting better on the bike is quite possible, especially following an EN type strategy in the Out Season.
My calendar going forward looks like this: a REV3/Challenge race in South Carolina October 12, then a november century ride in the North Georgia mtns. 2015: HIM New Orleans in April, another REV3/Challenge in June, IM Lake Placid in July, HIM Princeton (think its going to be in September but no date yet).....we have lots of mountains near Chattanooga so I will be training hard for Lake Placid.
@Mandy I'm sorry we missed each other in Louisville. I will be in lake placid for the whol week before the race as a vacation week so lets try and figure out a meet up!!