Simmons 2014 IMAZ Race Report
Goal was to finish and, with fingers crossed, go sub – 11:00
1:21 Swim (2 minute PR), 5:43 Bike, 4:10 Run (~10+ min PR) 11:24
Swim – no issues – lined up behind the front line halfway back in a reasonably open spot. Swam buoy to buoy the straightest I have swum in a full IM. Water was ~68 degrees and felt comfortable with my neoprene swim cap on. Winds began to make swells/waves, however, I swam through and floated along with the swells. It felt crowded for most of the swim but no real problems. I focused on staying level, staying straight, extending fully, touch and go, and trying to rotate along the way.
T1 swim exit ran uphill, found a great wet suit stripper, sat down on the ground and they pulled the suit off from the bottom. Stood up, ran to my gear bag, then in and through the tent to the other side where I dumped everything out on the ground and handed my wetsuit, goggles and swim cap to another volunteer to place in my bag. No issues in T1. Found my bike and off I went.
Bike – uphill and in a 20+ mph wind for 3 loops (112 miles) became a grind that favored those trained to hold steady watts with a power meter while staying low. I had 2 frozen bottles of my soup mix on the back of the bike with 2 PowerBars and gels upfront. That equated to ~500 cal/hr and 1,500 mg sodium /hr. Every 15 minutes I drank 12 ounces and used the water bottled hand ups to feed the front bottle combined with the mix. I peed 3 times on the bike without stopping. Somewhere between mile 85 and 90 my front tire went flat. Evidently, high winds were blowing thorns on to the road and many flat tires were resulting. I passed Bruce Thompson on the first loop repairing his flat. I also passed a man who crashed coming down the hill. He was laying on a stretcher in the middle of the road. I later learned he broke is clavicle, 4 ribs and bruised a lung.
Front tire was a tubular and I had no sealant, only Co2. No mechanic in sight. After riding 3 miles on the flat uphill and into the wind while passing people, I pulled over and gave it a shot of Co2 gas which lasted about 5 miles. I was at the turnaround at that point and asked for sealant or a mechanic but none was to be found. Somebody there found a pump and off I went for another 5 miles down the hill watching the tire nervously until I came upon a mechanic. Waited for him to finish with a prior rider and then got a shot of sealant and gas, this held up to the finish chute. I lost 20+ minutes on the bike during this fiasco. Mistake 1 was not carrying the sealant.
T2 – Volunteer grabbed my bike – but this is where mistake 2 was made – I forgot to unclip the watch from the speed fill on the bike. So bike went with the volunteer to the rack and ran to the run gear bag, got my stuff, put on my hat with go bag in mouth and realized I had no watch, no way to pace the run!! Ran back to bike rack and retrieved watch then on the way out of the chute began to put on race belt, ate a banana, sun glasses on, etc and I was off.
Run – Followed Al’s advice and pegged my HR at ~140 for the first 6 miles, which is close to where I exited the bike. That had me running a little faster that pace guidance but, I knew my vDOT going in was a little conservative anyway. Mile 3 – porta pottie visit, maybe mistake 3 of eating banana or something else……5 minutes…….thereafter, I stuck to the plan and ran steady allowing HR to go to ~146 through mile 13 and beyond. Drank 4 ounces of Perform each mile and 4-8 ounces of water. At mile 7 I started consuming 1 Caffeinated Clif Shot Blok every other mile over the next 12 miles. Began to spiral downward somewhere around 17 or 18 but managed that better than the past switching over to coke/water around mile 18 or 19…..It was getting dark, my lower legs, ankle and feet were really throbbing and in deep pain, I was feeling dark inside my mental state and very fatigued but, at the same time I was committed and remember wondering when my legs would just altogether stop……..”how long will they actually go feeling this way?” By the time I got to mile 22, still holding the pace, I remember re-committing to bury myself from there on in……….I have to give huge credit to the coaches, the veterans and the mentors who gave advice to me leading up to the race and backed that up by showing how to get it done. The plan has you running 6 days a week and I saw this as building durability along the way. If you’re doing all the bike work and able to hit those 6 days of running week after week, there is going to be some running durability come race day. That is, in my opinion, what allowed the legs to hold up, feeling that bad for that many miles combined with what the veterans and mentors had coached – “lay it all out there, bury yourself, believe”………Now, my run splits are not fast, but for me personally having gone through that and experienced it first hand, it was quite an education. I am grateful and well pleased with the outcome!
Did not get my sub 11:00 but did learn so much more during this race than the prior races and had a great time meeting, racing and learning from the rest of the crew. Already looking forward to 2015!
KMF man…….
Comments
Congratulations on a great race! Way to push through the pain and finish strong. I was hoping to see you out there but you passed run station 8 an hour before I got there. Get some rest and then get back on Strava to continue motivating me
Great RR. Congrats on a 10 minute PR & for pushing through the pain. I love the mental fortitude you showed...the simple refusal to quit...and the lessons you learned will served you well in your future races! I look forward to watching you lead out on the Strava feed & on the team! Great job!!
I was praying that I wouldn't get a flat on the last lap since the wind was already demoralizing enough. I lost count of the athletes on the shoulder fixing flats. The dude on the scooter with spare wheels looked like he was real busy helping stranded cyclists. Nice job to keep moving forward!
I wish we could have met up. I still owe you a beer for all of your support and encouragement. Hopefully, we'll get to do another race in the future so you can collect.
SS....great job. I so am so not surprised by your determination and stick-to-it-ness despite the flat. A flat is annoying enough, but then having to stop several times to add CO2....painful. Without that, I bet you'd have gone <11, as you'd have had that carrot to chase the last half of the marathon as you did the math on the fly. I too learned a little tire lesson the hard way recently. It's really amazing how many potential ways your day can potentially be ruined in a race that lasts all day and requires machinery (which inherently break, usually at the most inconvenient time....I don't know how many RRs I have read where a Garmin or PM malfunctions....for the first time ever!). The key, as we all know, is how you respond to the "challenge". Kudos. </p>
I too have benefited tremendously by all your constant and ever-positive encouragements (strava, IMTX forums, in-person in the Woodlands). You are a special dude....physically and certainly mentally. No one is more consistent or hard-working. Thank you.
Congrats on the swim PR and run PR. I know swimming is not your forte, but you are getting faster...no surprise, given your work ethic. Not everyone knows about your bum ankle....I don't know how you do it without a functioning tendon.
I really hope to race again with you someday soon. JL
Shaughn,
While not what you were expecting still some PR's on a difficult day in the wind. Great report showing the lessons learned and where you need to go to get through the run.
Gordon
Best part of my year was training/racing/learning with/from all of you. Looking forward to more of the same in 2015......hard to go wrong with friends like that!
SS
it was great chasing you on strava all year, and i look forward to more of that! I truly enjoyed getting to know you(and Anne) in person and only wish i had something left to go with you for the last 1.5 miles on Sunday. Congrats on a great race! Looking forward to more friendly competition and the honor of sharing the course with you in Lake Placid next July!
Thx Scott A.- need to find a way to ride with you sometime!
Thx Betsy - so glad I got to finally meet you on Monday! Best race captain ever! Damn strong performance on Sunday as well! Way to lead!
Thx Scott D. - Your intensity and energy was/is incredible! Love your personality and fight! Your place on the IMAZ team was very important this year and you gave a lot back to the team. For this reason I am really looking forward to IMLP with you! Keep leading!
SS
No doubt without that flat you go sub-11. I see how hard you train and I'm not surprised at all how you were able to fight through the darkness on the run and get that 10 minute PR, made even more significant by the tough ride you endured. Congratulations on another finish Ironman!
Awesome work and resilience. Despite all of the hard work, dedication, and planning towards optimizing race day, there are some things that remain out of our control. You handled mother nature, and mother f#!%ing mechanical like a vet, and played well the hand dealt to you. Advance IM problem solving on display. Take pride in your effort, and know that this is another building block towards even more great results.
Congrats!
Persistence rewarded with a run PR. I'm always amazed during an IM with (a) that I can actually run after my quads feel trashed by the bike, especially one requiring a lot of non-cyclng effort to fight thru the wind and (b) that I can actually run when my toes have turned to mush and my legs feel on the verge of cramping during the last hour. That's what honoring your training self is all about, what you reaped on race day from all the work which went before.
Great race...awesome job overcoming problems and set backs. You set a great example for how to deal with adversity in an IM, and in life.
It was great meeting you and racing with you. Thanks for all the Team Mojo you created for us leading up to the race. You helped keep me going at the end of a long season.