TrishM's IMMT Race Report
The lead up to this race was kind of a challenging one. I’d hit EVERY triathlon goal I had last year…Sub 12 IMAZ, Run the marathon only walking aids, podium at Steelhead 70.3 and a trip to 70.3 Worlds, an most of all, CONFIDENCE in my run. Throw in USAT All American for the first time, WTC All Wrold athlete, and it was a good year! I had a difficult surgery in December, and knew that my OS would not start in January. I had to be smart! I was a bit unmotivated, the course was hilly and I’d had such a great year. Fast forward to Blue Ridge Camp…I had a blast, made more EN friends, and did something fun and different on my bike. Fitness bump showed up in time for the Grand Rapids half where I was really close to a 70.3 pr, and got a tiny one on the run despite my *ahem* slightly larger self. 
Then on to camp in Mont Tremblant. This is where I got excited to race. The course, the peeps, the challenging bike. Yep…Excited! Learned a ton and was ready to nail my last RR, which I did. Two days later, on a TH run I had to walk it home. The Haus had me diagnosed with a posterior tibial strain, and advised me to NOT RUN. Not the easiest thing to do, but I was good and took a full week off and got ART. Then the Sunday before the race more bad news. My sister in law passed away unexpectedly. Stress levels for my hubby were through the roof, as he is the patriarch of his family. He usually doesn’t come to races with me,but was scheduled to come and sherpa (and party with our local Michigan crew of about 25 racers) so it was touch and go if he could come. In the end, we did all we could from Detroit, and I think the race actually helped de-stress him. Once we arrived, it was rain rain and more rain. The niggle of a cold I had in Detroit decided to become a full on chest cold. I did a recon ride in the rain (of course )Thursday, swam about a mile with our group from Detroit Friday and decided not to run. Too hilly and not worth jacking up my ankle. Saturday I had no voice. I was worried I’d have an asthma issue or difficulty breathing. 
On race day I rode with my power goals on my right aerobar, and TJ and GS for Dave’s sister on it on my left. A powerful reminder to make to most of the day, and be grateful for all our bodies do for us!
Race Day: I woke at 3:30 to eat applesauce, protein powder, banana and coffee, with a VOICE! About 475 calories. (need more…was belly hungry at the start of the swim) Got dressed, pottied, gathered bags and nutrition and left the condo with the gang by 5:10. Took the gondola to transition, got aired up, garmin on, nutrition on bike and took cover off horns. Lots of peeps about…Saw Brenda…she caught my frog voice from Saturday, and Kori too. We finally got walking to swim start with Cath, Dave, Brian, Corey, Dave Z, and Paul R. Got suited up, and made our way to the swim area and loosened up a bit, with hip swings and arm circles. Cath, Joanna, Terese and I were the last wave to go off at 7am. We saw Terese and smiled and sister and I waited for the start together holding hands. Boom! Fireworks and time to go!
The Swim: Time: 1:13:36 12 AG
Since this was a wave start instead of a mass start, it was a much calmer experience for me. I don’t mind the mass start (I enjoy the large draft, and think its worth the beat down), so this was a little different IM swim experience for me. I stayed true to my plan and swam to my abilities. It got a bit congested around the buoy’s, and then more so as I was passing a lot of slower swimmers from prior waves. The lake had some chop out on the back half of the swim, but nothing worse than our weekly 2 mile swims in Lake Erie. Overall, I’m happy with the swim. I didn’t lose focus since there were lot of people to navigate around in the second half, I stayed on a pretty straight line f(for me) with sighting the buoys, never got out of my normal breathing pattern, and for the first time in an IM swim, did NOT get a kick to my face that made me lift up my head and say F*CK!. Win.
Ti: Time: 9:50 This was a long Ti, and I knew that. BUT…I was told they’d have red carpet on the street all the way to transition, and they didn’t. Boooo! After getting stripped (love the wetsuit strippers at big races!!!) I hustled all the way to T1. I was hoping for an 8’ or better time, but I really didn’t haul butt cause of the street and my HR. I grabbed my bag, ran into the tent and got going. Because it was cold, I had a jersey, arm sleeves, gloves to put on. I dried off as well as I could knowing it was cold, got the arm sleeves on (unlike IMAZ, it was too hilly in this race to be rolling the sleeves up on the fly) and jersey on. Unfortunately I forgot my gloves on the seat next to me. Then I ran to Fiona in my shoes, grabbed her and hustled out to the mount line.
The Bike: Time: 6:44:20 22AG AVG HR 136 AVG P 127, NP 139, IF .68, TSS 308
So, it’s Fiona time…I was smart on the first section, eating and drinking to plan even though it was COLD…54 at the start. And I’d forgotten my gloves!!! Doh! Cold reddish hands for about an hour. I Stayed as low power wise as I could during the climbs out on the Montee Ryan, then on 117. Time seemed to be flying here… I used every aid to reload my fluids, and since I was having some gut cramping in the first hour I grabbed a water and a chocolate waffle to have options if I needed it. After an hour or so, the gut settled and was not an issue the rest of the race. Since I’ve been plagued with gut issues in my long course racing for about 4 years, this was glorious to me! I rode the 117 well, keeping my hr and watts in check, I was shooting for 140 AVG P on my 5 mile laps. I use the 500 as my whip, and usually I underperform in IM races. I seemed to be doing a bit better here, though still soft. I was ok with it though,as I knew what was coming!!! Riding into St. Joviet was cool, and a little bumpy.(I REALLY noticed the bumps on lap two with the finger!) I’d ridden it once at camp, but it was too busy and I didn’t notice road conditions. I did well and the legs felt as good as can be expected on those hills in the last 10k. I was spot on with my nutrition…drink every 10’, half a power bar every hour starting on the :30, salt stick at the top of the hour. Coming into the turn around I was fine…or so I thought. I took the turn wide…just lost my focus for a MOMENT! And boom…and not a good EN BOOM either…this boom was me hitting the *&^%&* fencing, jacking up my Di2 shifter cover on my right horn, bruising my right thigh, shoulder and dislocating my ring finger on my right hand. I tried to see if my shifters worked..I couldn’t hear over the noise of the spectators cheering riders, but I looked back and saw them shift. The volunteer wanted me to go to medical, but I said “ I don’t need fingers to run…I’m fine!” and I mounted the banged up Fiona and took off, pissed as all hell at myself. God, it was UGLY!!! I’d stopped once already at 46 to pee, then the crash. I knew I needed tylenol in SN, so I stopped there as well. Great volunteer helped me get it, and off I went. Then after the turn on 117 (all my MI buddies were griping about the headwind on lap 2 on the 117…I barely noticed…I was too into my stupid finger issue to notice!) my finger was kind of throbbing, so I stopped to speak to medical. No splints or medicine. Only tape. I didn’t want to limit my shifting by immobilizing my middle finger, so I went on. I should have peed, because I ended up stopping AGAIN on Lac Superior at about mile 92. I needed the tylenol I had in my salt container, hit the potty then off again, only to see one of my bestest buddies in the world, Handsome John on the side of the road, straddling his bike with his head on his aerobars. I stopped for my 6th and final time on the bike. He was toast…lack of nutrition bit him in the butt hard. I was out of my regular nutrition, but had the chocolate waffle in my jersey. He told me to go, I insisted he eat. He said he was about to get mean, and I went all Mom mode on him. I told him if he wanted me to go, EAT. He did eat most of the waffle and in a bit teenager defiance, dropped about a third on the ground. He promised to stay a bit longer so the caffeine and sugar could work, and I left him to finish out the ride. (he acknowledged he did not eat all he planned on Monday to me..and apologized for being so sassy…love that guy!)
T2: 6:04
I felt good enough to do my usual flying dismount, so I did. I saw my hubby and screamed that I’d broken my finger. I trotted into the tent got, my bag and went to the med girls. They took their time looking at my finger, asked me 3 times if I wanted to continue “Yes…I don’t need it to run!” , and began to buddy tape it up, as I was dragging on my socks and shoes with a little help from another volunteer. She switched my gel pouch to the left so I could get in it with my good hand, and I headed out, with my face wipes and extra gel in my hand. I had a 2’ T2 in IMAZ and was hoping for 3’ here, but yeah, not today!
The Run: Time: 4:42:37 20AG 10:47 pace, AVG HR 144 MAX HR 157
Having run the course on tired legs at camp, I knew what was in store, for one lap anyhow. I did NOT plan to have the ankle injury or finger issue however. I really had no firm goals for this run other than run by HR as I did in AZ, and RUN FROM AID TO AID if the ankle allowed. Now, I am not a born runner. I had no idea what this day would hold for me, but what I did know was that while I didn’t have a searing run goal in my head like last year, I did KNOW that I could run AID to AID, and that knowing, an unwillingness to settle for less was HUGE. I looked for my friends from MI, my EN teammates and grabbed all the mojo I could from them. I saw Coach P just hammering on the bike trail in complete beast mode, Koris hubby Eric cheering me on the run, encouraging me to flip him off was a great distraction on loop two, Bob and I going through SN’s together, running with my 26 year old first timer teammate Sara, seeing my “sister” and fellow EN’r Cathleen hammering the first loop and her first timer hubby Brian just having a total blast…and especially great was cheering from the Thompson brothers…both while turning in awesome performances! But best of all was the hug on loop two with Chris Love. We booth really needed that hug!!! Nutrition wise, I did as I planned. Perform at every aid, and a gel about every 2 or 3 miles salt tab one and hour. I brought power gels with me as the honey stinger stuff is HORRIBLE…soooo sweet. YUCK. I tried one serving of chews as I had used those in training, but ew. No. So I grabbed a handheld with 4 gels and my tylenol at SN’s. Saved the day I think.
I know as I approached mile 18 (by mile 14 or so, I was using that as my focus point!) my quads were very grumpy. Too bad…not walking! On that return trip into town, about mile 22? I was passed by a chica in my AG. Last year the same thing happened and my head was all “ oh no you didn’t!!!” and I passed her back. This year, my legs were just trashed and I didn’t have it in me to go get her. She earned it. I was running slower, the hills were very painful, and I saw an older guy with the sideways lean…I was almost done, and gave him my biogels. He was grateful. Then I though of Chris Love once again when running down (painfully) through the village…time to put this F*cker to BED! I saw my mechanic and his son and got high fives and took as many lefty high fives as I could get in the last bit of the run. Arms up over head and DONE!!!! I’d done it. Run aid to aid again. I had no idea I was only 10” slower per mile on this course vs IMAZ. I just knew I did what I could to the best of my abilities on the day. I passed 124 people on the run. I gained 2 spots in my ag on the run. So now I know…it wasn’t a fluke. I can run. I was VERY happy with this run. VERY HAPPY.
The Finish: I had two most excellent volunteers who babysat me, opened my drinks, got me to my photo, grabbed some poutine (my saying was I’d run for the poutine, even though I didn’t expect to eat it) and because I’d finally had a happy gut I ATE it, and hung with my local team captain and Pat Ward after he finished. Then I found my better half and he got me info my dry clothes and medical. The staff was great, they numbed me up and popped my finger back into place and put a soft cast on it. I did get weighed and was up 4 pounds from check in. Weird. So, at least I got my monies worth with the medical attention! Next time, I’d prefer to let someone else get their monies worth!
I really can’t say it enough, but I just love racing with my teammates and friends. Over 30 people from my local team, and tri community were there, as well as my EN peeps. It was AWESOME. I have learned so much in the HAUS, from our Coaches, to the wicked smart members. Mad props for everyone who shares their experiences so we can all benefit!!!
My hubby, who is NOT a fan of Tri life, and is my “sponsor” made his third race trip with me. I am SOOOO grateful for his being there. He drove the whole way from Detroit, dealt with any and all stressors, and his chill attitude relaxed me. He had plenty of fun zip lining, golfing and hanging with all the other Motor City Sherpas. Fingers crossed he makes the trip next fall with me to IMCHOO. We had a GREAT time post race with our buddies the Whites in Montreal, and I think if I ever come back to race here, he will definitely be of the party.
I’m looking forward to cheering EN’rs and local tri peeps out in IMCHOO this fall, and racing with everyone out there next year!
Comments
Congrats on a another great race....
Great work!
Trish...Wow!! What a rough day! I had no idea you overcame so much. I've busted my thumb too and I know that while I "could" continue riding and do a run, it would be not fun, a real chore. Great job.
With that run, I'd say your inner "natural born runner" did show herself. Well done.
Thanks for being so postive everytime i saw you during the trip. Look forward to seeing you again at other races.
Love you sister!! You were awesome out there. You are my Ironman hero again for 2014!
What a great report and congratulations on a fabulous year. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how you had bandaged fingers and no road rash from a crash. Good job dealing with that on a long tough ride.
It was so good to see you on the run. That hug was 'mahvelous'. I think WTC should consider making hugging someone on the run mandatory - either hug or take a 1 minute penalty!!
Trish - I love your report, especially going "Mom mode" on that poor guy @ the end of the bike. No sound of negativity in you at all, raring to go at the next one.