Ironman Choo Race Report Did I overhydrate?
It’s hard to sleep the night before Ironman, but I at least rested. The alarm went off at 4:00 but I was already up. I ate a bar and about ½ cup of applesauce. Greg and I were out the door by 4:30. Transition went smoothly as I pumped my tires, attached my power meter, and loaded my bike with fluids and nutrition. Then out to meet my team for a team picture, complete with hugs and words of encouragement.
Onto a bus we went to go to the swim start. Rumor had it that a log could make the distance in 1 hour 30 minutes. I was worried I would be slower than a log. I drank 20 oz of perform and 16 oz of water and took a gel prior to starting. The water temp was 77 degrees and I agonized over whether or not to wear a wetsuit. Finally I opted to wear it as I was not in the hunt for podium and swimming is my weakest sport. In the end this was the right choice for me. I did not get hot as some had feared. Reading Mark’s race report he said he got cold at the end of the swim, and I am sure I would have too.
I started right behind Amy, thinking I wouldn’t see her again as I thought she would swim faster than me. That first minute in the river is chaotic. I don’t mind the contact with other swimmers as I have done this enough to expect it. After a few hundred yards, I tried to calm myself and get into a rhythm. The river has a bend in it and my plan was to swim from buoy to buoy as straight as I could. Somehow, I managed to zig zag the course. By the time I got to the end, there were three bridges to go under. No one else complained but I felt like the current reversed under the bridges. I had to use a little power to escape the pull. When I got out of the water I looked at my watch. 1 hour 4 minutes. Are you kidding me? I was thrilled!
One note, my plan was to pee during the swim but for some reason I could not! Last year in Lake Placid the same thing happened, but I thought it was because the lake was so cold! The whole swim I kept trying. As soon as I exited the swim I started going! What a relief! We were told there would not be strippers for us, so I was surprised to see them. Unfortunately, I had to stop peeing. Not an easy task! With wetsuit in hand I climbed up the ramp into transition. I called my number out and someone handed me my bag. In the changing tent I opened my bag and immediately had a volunteer there to help. I gave her my pre made 3 x 5 card and had her read it so I wouldn’t miss anything. I dried off, put on shoes (no socks), helmet and sunglasses which immediately fogged up. Off they came and I carried them as I headed toward my bike. In this race, the volunteers did not get our bikes so I had to go to the rack and grab my bike. On to the mount line where I was saying one of our team mantras, “slow is smooth and smooth is fast” when all the sudden I saw Coach Rich, and he yelled, “Get on your bike Jodi!” I guess the Marine came out in him and he just couldn’t help it. I was more than obedient and I sped away with my heart rate a bit high!
Transition time: 6:40
The first 11 miles of the course are just getting out of down town Chattanooga. Rich predicted that everyone else would be flying up these steep little climbs burning their energy and he was right. I was passed by everyone. Everyone, except my teammate, Amy, who ended up getting out of the swim within a minute of me! We ended up having our entire bike ride almost together (no, I am not that EN person: we rode with 4 bike lengths between us) not because one of us was slacking, but because we truly are the same pace! I am so used to riding these 112 miles by myself playing all the mental games to keep me sharp. I can’t tell you how helpful it was to occasionally hear Amy give a word of encouragement. Because we had ridden the course so many times, we would remind each other of upcoming potholes!
At the Dollar General, per our plan, we were supposed to get into our zone and crank out the correct amount of power. The roads were crowded at this point and we were constantly being passed. This was good, as we knew the course and we knew some of these folks would come back to us on the second loop. But it also made it hard to ride consistently. That is when Amy told me her Garmin had failed and she was getting nothing. She sounded so calm, and said she would just ride by feel. I would have been frazzled.
For nutrition, I only had two bottles on my bike: my aero bottle and one other. I planned to drink 24 oz of the perform per hour. In addition I took in one gel and a salt tablet every hour. I spent months training my stomach to handle this much fluid as I knew it is the secret to success. The only hiccup was that the bottles from the aid station are 20 oz, and the aid stations are closer than one hour apart, so I had to do some creative math and realize that I wanted to drink my two bottles plus 6 more of the 20 oz bottles. I had some stickers on my bike, thanks to a talk with teammate Jamie, and I pulled one off whenever I threw out an empty bottle. This worked great.
The first loop went incredibly smooth. The bike special needs was so crazy I opted to skip it. As we climbed out of the little town of Chickamauga, again we were passed by people killing themselves to get up this 2.8 mile incline. We rode patiently as planned. As soon as the second loop began, I started seeing evidence of pain among those who rode too hard. I was able to ease by many riders, especially as they coasted down the descents and I kept my power constant by peddling. The rest of the ride was equally beautiful and great. I did stop for about 10 seconds just to stretch as Coach Rich suggested. I think it was well worth the break. I also had to pee constantly and did so on the bike! I actually went 8 times on the bike. I knew this was too much but I thought at least I am ahead of the game for the run.
As I came to bike dismount, Coach Rich was again there. Later he told me that he saw the “BFF halo” going between Amy and myself. I found Greg and gave him a much deserved kiss. Just seeing hi gives me a boost. I definitely rode the bike that I should. I had a lot left in me in the end.
BIKE TIME 6:50:21 Normalized Power 109, (goal was 100-110) avg speed 16.9 mph
I grabbed my run bag and headed into the tent. Again, my trusty 3 x 5 card was very handy as all the volunteers were busy. I got my helmet and shoes off, and got into running shoes and basically took off while trying to get my watch on. As I ran out, I was fumbling with the watch and started it a bit late.
Transition time: 5:10
The plan was to go slow the first 6 miles. In the first mile, we hit our first big hill, so slowing down became necessary.
In the months leading up to Ironman, I had run up to 18 miles, but not more. I also had run relatively flat courses and wasn’t sure whether or not I would run or walk up the major hills. Just prior to the event, I talked to my daughter, Alison, a freshman and a college cross country runner, who told me not to walk. I told her I had to walk thru the aid stations in order to get nutrition in. She conceded that, but no more. As I hit the first hill, I found a gear that I could deploy that allowed me to run up instead of walking. My heart rate did not spike so I decided to keep that plan for as long as I could.
As with every Ironman marathon, the problems begin on the run and are usually stomach related. I immediately felt very uncomfortable. To this point I had done everything as planned and my stomach felt so full of fluid. I began realizing that all my training had been done in the heat, something that we did not have at all on this day. I soldiered on and decided to try and drink at the aid stations. There was an aid station at every mile, so at the first one I took my cup with 4 oz of perform and squirted some of my salt solution in and chugged it. I made the solution out of 10 salt stick capsules in about 5 oz of water. I got it down but it almost came back. I realized that wasn’t going to work. As I moved on it began to rain. It wasn’t a hard rain and it wasn’t too cold. I was delighted as I now was urinating uncontrollably every ½ mile. I couldn’t believe how lucky we had been with the weather. It rained for about an hour. During that time I made it through more aid stations and decided not to drink for a few miles. By mile seven, I started feeling better. Soon I started across the bridge to the hilly neighborhood section. I began my previously developed shuffle up a hill that was very long. Many people were walking, and I have to admit some were walking just as fast as I was running. However, I did not want to disappoint Alison. In fact, I had a picture of her with a very serious scowl on her face taped to the back of my race number. Whenever I wanted to walk, I would take a glance at her. Uphill, then downhill, then uphill, then downhill, around a corner and yet another uphill. Unbelievably, I was still running. And now I was starting the second loop passing guys half my age and probably twice my speed (but not today!)who were now just walking not only uphill but downhill too. Yep I was starting to hurt, but I remembered another of Coach Rich’s words of wisdom, “The only way the hurt is gonna stop is to get to the finish line.” I could see about 10 people walking before I would see someone running. Yet I was still running. Looking at my watch I was only running 11:30 minute miles, but I was passing tons of bodies, so I kept it up.
At about mile 14, things started getting tough. I just wanted to get to mile 18 and honor my training self. I pushed pass mile 15, 16, 17 and finally got to 18. I decided to give it a try and I pushed faster. It was short lived but it was powerful. I did have a little left in the tank, but then I crossed the bridge and started the roller coaster again. Also, the daylight faded and it was dark…really dark. The aid stations were nothing short of life saving. I was back on 4 oz of perform per aid station, but gels were not an option for my stomach. I began drinking chicken broth and flat coke, two things that are always present at the end of a marathon. The coke seemed to help. Not sure about the broth, but I did not want to be short on salt so I drank it. Most of the houses along the course were having something similar to tailgate parties. All the guests were out in the streets telling you how great you looked and “you got this”. At the time you believe it and it really helps. It’s the closest thing to Rock Star I will ever experience.
Finally I was at mile 25 and on the footbridge across the Tennessee River. I passed a guy walking and he called my name. It was a friend from my home town, and I did my best to get him running again, but his day was done. He was walking it in. I had tried to get him to join EN and even to come to 4 keys, but I got the feeling he thought since he was faster and younger, he did not need to do what I was doing. Oh Well!
I heard Mike Riley call my name as I went through the finish chute. What a great feeling and I actually felt great! Rich was right there and I told him how awesome my race had gone.
RUN TIME: 5:09:37 (10 minute PR from IMLP)
TOTAL TIME: 13:16:40 (58 minute PR from IMLou 2009)
I am still baffled by the number of times I pee’d and I know I must have overhydrated. But I don’t know how to adjust for the lack of heat on the fly. It’s something I will have to work out. I also wonder if I was in danger of hyponatremia, but I don't see how since I took 7 salt tabs on the bike. My previous IMs, I did not take any salt. I had GI issues last year, but not this year. I think the salt saved me.
Comments
Some other more experienced folks will likely chime in as well, but I think once you have peed a couple of times on the bike, you can back off the fluid intake a bit, especially after 3-4+ times. Sounds like you adjusted well on the fly on the run and it worked out for you.
I'm doing IMChoo next year and looks like we're about the same for bike target watts so I have hope I'll finish in a reasonable amount of time. (Although you're a much faster runner than I am!)
Congrats!
[I am still baffled by the number of times I pee’d and I know I must have overhydrated. But I don’t know how to adjust for the lack of heat on the fly. It’s something I will have to work out. I also wonder if I was in danger of hyponatremia, but I don't see how since I took 7 salt tabs on the bike. My previous IMs, I did not take any salt. I had GI issues last year, but not this year. I think the salt saved me.]
How to adjust for heat on the fly? I try to keep it simple by setting my drink alert to 15min , if its cool and dry 1 mouthful , hot 2 mouthfuls , really hot and humid 3 mouthfuls, and then I drink when ever I want to.... I dont have any fixed amount that I shoot for but usually ends up being 16-24 oz per hour for me....For IMCHOO I was around 20oz per hr on the bike.... Most I have consumed for over 5hr was almost 30oz per hour at KONA... This is only half of what some people can drink!
Good news is you did not have any GI issues and you crushed IMCHOO with a 1hr PR..... Big Congrats to YOU!
It was great meeting you at camp and all the EN events race weekend.
Congrats on a great race and PR!