IMCHOO Race Report
Ironman Chattanooga was my third Ironman, after Wisconsin and Arizona. I was looking forward to the 2000 feet of climbing on the bike and the fast run course as described on the event website. But this feeling quickly turned to panic after doing a reconnaissance mission in June. The bike elevation more than doubled, and the run has some pretty serious hills too.
After finishing Racine 70.3 it was time to jump into Ironman Training with 10 weeks to go. Using Endurance Nation's Advanced Ironman plan, I was able to build my confidence back. I did feel a little pressure after going 9:50 in Arizona and I wasn't sure what kind of time I could pull off with all the hills.
I headed down to Chattanooga with two of my training partners Eric and Nicole on Thursday. In my opinion you can never have enough time the week of ironman. You are constantly finding things to do and probably over thinking everything.
Race morning I woke up at 4:00am and ate a cup of applesauce with almond butter and a banana. Drank 2 cups of coffee and a large Gatorade with a Gatorlyte. Checking Facebook and saw that the official water temp was 77. My heart sank, knowing I could not wear a wetsuit. Checking the TVA for the water current in the river showed it was at ZERO. It said that 2 generators would be needed at 6am and I kept my fingers crossed.
Nutrition: Bottle of Gatorade to the start, 1hr before the start I had a Powerbar. 15min before I took a Powerbar gel.
Swim: 54:11
By the time we made it down to the swim start, the line was a mile long of people sitting on the river walk, that we would be running on later that day. As the time grew closer, the current started to flow. I started feeling better about the swim. As I approached the start and walked down the dock realizing I just crossed the start mat. I jumped in and started to swim. My buddy Jeff was on my right and we stayed together for the length of the swim. My timer went off on my Garmin at 30min and we were already to the island. The first of three bridges was right in front of us. This was going to be a really fast swim for me! I came out of the water at 54min and took off down the sidewalk, up the ramp and into transition.
T1: 4:25
Bike: 5:24:13
Heading out on the bike I started having trouble with my Quarq power meter. For some reason it wasn’t paired. I tried several times on the way out of town to pair it, but I just kept picking up everyone else’s power meter. I decided it was worth the time to stop on the side of road and see if I could get it to pair and calibrate. This didn't work because every person in the race seemed to have a power meter that it wanted to pair with. I got back on the bike and continued to ride until the first water stop. I thought for some reason the battery died that I replaced earlier in the week. I had an extra in my bag and figured it would be worth my time to dig it out and replace it. This didn’t work. I was really starting to freak out. I didn’t know what to do. I thought my race had ended, really... I rode a little while longer and stopped again in a driveway. I ended up going up the driveway to get away from all the other bikes, so it would pair. NOTHING! I had to come with terms that I was going to have to ride without a power meter. This took a while. I had to talk myself out of this hole. My bike was still working, I just needed to ride conservatively to preserve my run. I ended up relying on my Garmin to tell me the current grade and my speed. The two things I haven't look at all year.
(Turns out the Quarq magnet that was epoxied to my frame came off)
I put my head down, rode and got my nutrition back on track. It took some time to catch up with my buddy Jeff, who passed me earlier while I was on the side of the road. I went back and forth with several other athletes that insisted on hammering up the hills and coasting down the backside, while I was going easy up and hammering down. The course was as hilly as I remember it, my Garmin ended up saying 5100ft of climbing.
Around mile 90 I caught up with one of my other training partners Nicole (Kona Qualifier) who was having a great race. I kept riding knowing that her husband/training partner Eric was up the road.
Coming off the bike I felt pretty good running into transition.
Nutrition: 2 Powerbars, 8 Powerbar gels, 2 bottles of Gatorade w/ Gatorlytes, 8 bottles of Powerbar Perform
T2: 1:57
Run: 3:32:23
The start of the run was up a half mile hill. I took it easy as I could, trying to find my legs and not cramp up. Putting in a 9:16 the first mile I dashed into the porta potty. Coming out my right leg locked up. Not a good sign. But within a minute or so, I started feeling pretty good. I was carrying a premixed Gatorade bottle with a Gatorlyte in it. My plan was not to stop at any aid station, to save time. About an hour into the run I had to make another pit stop before crossing the river.
Heading up Hixon for the north loop, was a challenge, but the crowds on the street helped motivate me up every one of the hills. On the way up I hi-fived my buddy Eric as he came down. Halfway through the run I was still feeling pretty good. I started picking people off one by one, looking for my AG. I wasn't sure what kind of position I was in, but I knew every person counted as a place in the AG.
It was nice to be back on the river walk, but it started to get a little congested with athletes on their first lap. I force fed myself one more gel and pretty much switch to coke and water. Cruising along, I was waiting for things to get tough. I started to think of all those long runs I did in training, and this was much easier, until I hit the hills for a second time. My pace dropped but my feet kept moving. I was under 10 hours and started calculating in my head what I needed to do to break 10. I squeezed every second out of the downhill section and gave it my best effort. The final stretch was all downhill and I was flying high with excitement. I gave it everything to the finish.
Nutrition: 1 bottle of Gatorade w/ Gatorlyte, Refilled bottle at aid stations with perform as needed, 3 Powerbar gels 2x caffeine, Coke/water at every aid station
Finish: 9:57:09
I ended up 19/403 in my age group and 99/2349 overall. Do I think... what if my power meter worked? How much time could I have taken off? Would I still have had a great run? Yes...
I'll take what I was given, and I am happy with my race. All my training paid off. I was in the best bike and run shape of my life. I have to give the biggest thanks to my family. My wife Julie, who put up with me for the last year and sacrificed so much to support me. She gave me all the time I needed to have successful workouts, cooking dinner, doing homework, shuttling the kids, taking care of the house. My kids, Chloe and Sophie, who probably only saw me at bed time. I could not have done this without you!
Comments
Awesome race! You killed the bike and run, despite several stops, and riding "blind" without your powermeter. Congratulations on a terrific result!
And I'm think we need to put little notes in the final week of the plans: change/charge your batteries and otherwise check all of your stuff!
For future reference if you upgrade your quarq with qalvin to the latest firmware it will sense the lack of magnet if it falls off and continue to give you estimated numbers.
I had issues with my Garmin not booting up on check in day but miracously it eventually did. I'm starting to think more and more that even with meticulous preparation, we should all prepare for the possiblity that computers, powermeters etc. MAY fail on race day. Great job managing it.