Cath IMMD 2014 race report
Short version:
First IM, Finished 4th in AG F34-39
|
Swim: |
1:13 |
|
Bike |
5:26 |
|
Run |
4:06 |
|
Overall |
10:52 |
Very happy with the results, everything went smooth and as expected.
Long version:
Arrived in MD on Wed. after driving from NC. I realized a few minutes after arriving that I was missing one inner sole for my left bike shoes, so I started to freak out a bit as I though this was a really important component. After a few stop in running shoes stores, supermarket, etc. we couldn’t find a inner sole that had the same thickness that the one sole I still had! We ended up finding a local bike shop that a couple different options, but none were as thin and supple that the one I had. Eventually the guy explained me that my soles were really not supportive and that I was probably loosing a few watts because of that and he convinced me to buy the ones he had in the store. I wasn’t too sure it was a good idea to change that a couple of days before the race, but in the end, I think it helped a little.
Except that, all went smooth.
On Friday I ate an early lunch and after checking in the bike I went back to the hotel. I had 2 scoops of UCAN in ½ can of coconut milk for diner around 5.30 and went to bed around 9.30.
On Saturday I woke up first at 2am for 2 scoops of UCAN in ½ can of coconut milk and went back to bed. Got some more sleep in and woke up again at 4.30am for another scoop of UCAN in ½ can of coconut milk, plus coffee (I had stopped completely coffee and other caffeinated beverages 3 weeks prior).
Dressed up and headed to the race left the hotel around 5am.
We parked at the parking lot and used the shuttle to go to transition. For whatever reason the line to put air in the tires was huge… the announcer was counting down the time before the transition area would close, and I really started to stress as I only had 13 minutes left when my turn came to put air in my tires and I still had to place items in my transition bags, drop the special need bags, etc. so when the bike mechanic put 120 psi in my back tire instead of 110 (or at least it is what I think I saw on the pump) I decided to not say anything and risk it, maybe I just hadn’t read the gauge correctly…. Rushed back to put my bike in the rack, fill the speed fill and jogged to my run bag to place the nutrition bottle in its little cooler.
Head out of transition just in time and get ready for my swim. I saw Steve Culver, which was pretty cool as we had just swam together 2 days before (@7am to check the sun orientation and currents) and we almost had the same pace. Went in the water thinking I’d be able to stay with him but of course it didn’t happen.
Got kicked a few times during the swim but nothing too bad as we had a rolling start. Really didn’t want to get off course like I did in the past so the plan was to find a swimmer that was a little bit faster than me and position myself on his/her left hip. Never found someone that was a bit faster, only swimmers with the same pace… I guess I should have seeded myself more in the front. I decided to not pushed too hard and just stick to the person on my right. All in all the swim was uneventful, finished in 1:13, I was shooting for 1:05 or at least <1:10 but it was only 3 min slower and I didn’t have a watch for the swim anyways so I had no idea of my time. Heard a lot of people saying it was a slow swim.</p>
Took the top of the wetsuit off while running into T1, left swim cap and goggles in right sleeve, wetsuit stripper, run to the bag –knew exactly where it was and it had bright green duck tape all over it– then I started to take my helmet out of the bag… A volunteer yelled “you’ve got to go to the tent to change!!” oops… ran to the tent with my wetsuit under one arm, helmet in one hand and bag in the other. Just had to put on my helmet and Garmin, it made for a quick transition. I gave my wetsuit to a volunteer so she could put it back in the bag for me. Grabbed the bike shoes and start running to the bike. Bike shoes on and I’m out of T1 in 3:02. I think it went pretty smooth.
The bike course started with a lot of turns in town. I don’t like turns and I suck at it. I was thinking that my back tires was over inflated. So I took it super easy... I was supposed to take it easy anyways, right? Kept my head down and focus on my race. After ~1h my powermeter started to flash “FULL” every so often. I had forgotten to download the last rides... the memory was full 
The powermeter would still give me an instantaneous power but didn’t record more than the first our. Bummer. But it wasn't too bad as I still could see my power as I rode.
Nutrition went down without problem, which was a pleasant surprise. I usually have to force down nutrition and often don’t finish it. Here I even noticed that I was hungry! So I ate a little bit more about 1h before the end of the bike to get ready for the run. I guess biking in cooler temp (~65 to 75ºF vs the hot temperature in FL (~110 to 115ºF really made a difference on how I could handle the food). Didn’t need to take any of the extra salt tabs I carried with me. Not sure about how much I drank but peed at least 10 times on the bike so I guess it was enough.
My hydration plan called for only water on the ride ( I have another bottle with electrolytes, etc.). Missed a water bottle at one aid station and only could grab a Perform. Decided to use it instead of risking to run on empty to the next aid station. No problem with it, it was actually a nice change from water.
Also had made a few aerodynamic improvement that I hadn’t tried before the race and I think they really helped - dropped the baggy long sleeve T-shirt I train with and Bryan let me use his sleek, aero, EN jersey, thanks Bryan!! I changed the gator skin for race tires. I dropped the big saddlebag I had and tucked and taped 2 tubes and 1 CO2 canister under my saddle. Changed the huge non-aero bento box I had and changed it for a Xlab bento box. Of course I got a new aero-helmet. And I always train with a big camelbag with ½ gallon of water, which I didn’t need on race day.
All in all it made for a super bike split 5:26
T2 was very smooth too. In and out in 2:03. Loved the “Go Bag”.
During the entire run I was expecting to at some point hit "THE WALL". It never came. I told my self: "I feel pretty good actually".
Nutrition here too went down surprisingly easy. Switched to Coke after 2h30. Water at every aid station along with ice and sponges. I would take 2-4 cups of ice and would poor some in my bra and some in the back. After mile 13 I started to poor some ice in my shorts as I felt a tingling sensation in my hips flexors and rubbed the ice on the hip flexor until it melted. It felt really great!
Didn’t want to push too hard until mile 18 but then remembered the coaches saying that some ENers had a hard time around mile 22 – 23 so waited to push. Then @mile 24 it was hard to change gear and push… Retrospectively, I think I should have pushed harder starting at mile 18. I was just “afraid” to not hold it together until the end. I remembered John Withrow explaining he had to stop for 15min at mile 24 during one of his previous IM and I didn’t want this to happen… So I kept steady.
Run files:
All in all super happy with the race.
Improvement for next race:
- best area for improvement – the run. Will focus on that from now on. I need to be able to hold a 8:30.
- Actually COUNT 30 steps at the aid station to make sure I don’t loose too much time. Not sure if I’ll get all the things I want at the aid stations (ice, coke, sponges, water) in 30 sec though. Maybe less/no ice or sponges?
- Stay focus on the bike all the way to the end. I think I lost focus once we entered town again. I started to look around, look at the people cheering, “enjoy” the race instead of racing it.
- Seed myself more in front to jump on feet of faster swimmers.
- Need to know better my limits and not be afraid to push harder at the end of the run @mile 18. (Was never like super sore after the race and on Monday I was in DC - walked for ~3h and biked for ~1.5h => I should have pushed harder on race day).
- The plan was to have Michael on the course telling me in which position I was in. Not sure what happen but we didn’t see each other on the run, except just after T2 were he didn’t say anything about my position and I didn’t think about asking. I don’t know if I would have change anything, I guess we’ll see next race.
- Make sure to empty the memory of all my electronic gears AND put in new batteries - hadn't changed the batterie of my PowerTap hub since I got it (about 4 weeks before the race)... I stressed out during the entire race hoping the batterie wouldn't die in the middle of the race - it didn't but I could easily eliminate that stress.
Comments
p.s. in a race last year I actually FORGOT the insoles of my bike shoes. I took out the SuperFeet training ones but forgot to put in the Sidi ones that came with the shoes. I didn't even notice it until after the race. Lesson: bike shoes insoles are highly overrated!!!
WOW! You crushed it! Awesome race, and an absolutely amazing first IM result. I'm very impressed. Your metrics look great, with a very nice bike split. Your ability to keep your HR up on the run is very impressive!
Congratulations, and enjoy the afterglow!
Cath, you are well on your way towards bigger things in IM. You took just the right approach - show a little restraint on the run - and still had a swift result. Your lack of soreness and ability to bounce back right away indicates you had a lot left in the reserve. No worries about that in this race, but now you know where your limits might lie - a bit beyond what you pushed this time.
I'm going to the closet and removing my Sidi soles right now