Chris Davis IMTX2015 Race Report
Direct Input Requested from EN’ers: Why did my legs seize up on the run?!?!
(Secondary input request, what do you do with a busted carbon bike frame?)
Bio Info:
Age: 38 (race age 39)
Weight: 187 lbs before the race, 183.5 lbs after the race (hint hint: This is probably tied to the answer to my big question about the run)
FTP: 201 Watts
Watts/KG: 2.4
Vdot: 34
Saturday:
Woke up at 3:30, and had actually slept really well. Leading up to the race I wasn't too nervous. I had my race plan, and knew there wasn't anything that worrying could do for me. Breakfast of Peanut Butter Sandwich and 24 oz of Gatorade Endurance
Sip on second bottle of Endurance throughout Transition set-up and ride to swim start. Got all my bodily functions out of the way pretty successfully, and was off to transition.
Christina drove me to transition, and waited for me while I got everything situated. I double checked my T1 and T2 bags, and made the game-time decision to clip my shoes into the bike instead of leaving them in the T1 bag. That turned out to be a great decision. But I always do my rides with shoes clipped in, and never take them off the pedals, so I’m used to putting them on on the fly.
Caught up with Eric Miller, and we walked with Christina from transition to swim start. The walk wasn't a problem, and I’d probably do it that way again, rather than try to get a ride.
Swim:
Estimated Swim Time of 1:40. Actual time 1:41:09.
I had planned to wear Lava Pants for the swim if water temp was above 76°F, but I made a game-time decision not to, because it was 81°F, and I had only swam in those Lava Pants a couple times. I was calm all week and all morning, but the second my toes hit the water on the rolling start, I could have sworn there were sharks, ninjas and flying monkeys with machine guns coming after me. I freaked out! That’s nothing new for me though. It took me a few minutes to pull it back together. After a quick conversation with myself (Self, what would Jesus do? He’d walk across the water, you cant do that. Ok, what would Coaches RnP do? They’d count strokes) I started counting strokes. Once I started counting strokes, I was into a rhythm and moving forward. I stayed far right of the pack and didn’t have much trouble with other swimmers. I started to get a few toe cramps about half way through, and my calf seized up on me in the canal, so I swam to the side, stood up (yes you can stand in the canal, but I wouldn’t recommend doing it) and got it stretched out. Finished swim without much incident. I think a guy at one point tried to swim over me, but I think I kicked him in the crotch, and he moved away from me (it wasn't a deliberate shot, just part of my normal kicking pattern, and he moved into the zone, so it happened). All in all, I felt very prepared for what I was going to experience. The swim is definitely my weakest event overall, and I was actually happy with the way it turned out.
T1: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
Goggles and swim cap off while running to bag.
Got bag, ran through tent without really stopping. The change tent was nasty. I wasn’t going to use it if I didn’t have to.
Put gel flasks into my jersey, helmet on, didn’t need to sit down anywhere since shoes were already on bike. There’s no reason for me to have a slow T1, but it was 5:36 because I took my time. Probably could have cut it in half if I weren’t second guessing myself on how simple it was. Got a quick kiss from Christina, and then off on the bike I went.
Bike:
Estimated bike time: 7:00 to 7:30. Actual time 7:01:02. NP: 99 watts, IF: 0.48, VI:1.14. Highly variable power numbers (need to learn to cycle smooth), but my overall NP seemed to be very conservative for a 201 FTP. I had actually planned to hover around 120 to 130 watts NP, but that just wasn’t comfortable, and I didn’t want to fry myself.
Bike Nutrition: Went pretty well according to plan. Prior to first aid station, 2 bottles of Endurance, thereafter, 1 bottle of Endurance between aid stations, 1 Honey Stinger Gel every 30 minutes, and one salt tab every 30 minutes. Total nutrition per hour of 440 calories and 1430 mg sodium. Peed 3 times.
The first 40 miles were quick as expected. I saw a few friends on the way out of town, and it totally lifted me up. My chain dropped off the bike around mile 40 or so, but I jumped off, got it put back on and kept going, thinking nothing more about it. It had happened a few times on practice rides when switching from the big chain ring to the small. Around Richards, we made that first jaunt to the south on Bayes Chapel Road, and the wind hit me for the first time. I knew the wind was going to be fierce like it was. Coach P had warned us about the wind, and I had the opportunity to ride the course before race-day, so the wind just wasn’t a surprise. We had a ton of car traffic right around Richards, which actually did surprise me a bit. But they weren’t trying to run me over for once, so that was a nice change. I stopped at special needs to apply some chamois cream, and then headed south into the wind. Again, it was windy, but no big deal. I think I dropped my chain a second time somewhere around mile 75. By the time I got to mile 80, my bike wouldn’t shift out of the small chain ring, and I noticed some slack in my front shifter. I was able to wave down a nice bike-tech guy on a scooter, and pulled off to get it looked at. He says that my front derailer had cracked/broken my carbon frame, and that he could put me in one chain ring and send me on my way. Ugh. I spent the next 30 miles wondering if my frame was going to disintegrate below me. Post race, I was able to see that it was actually where the cable comes out of the bike that had given way, not the derailer itself. Either way, it’s still a ruined frame, and I’m looking for options on what to do next with it. Riding in the small chain ring wasn’t bad that last 30 miles though. My power may have taken a bit of a hit, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because of how my run actually went. At about mile 100, it was time for another salt pill. But apparently, this salt pill wasn’t going to go down without a fight. He was a scrappy one, the William “Braveheart” Wallace of salt pills, and decided to pin himself firmly in my throat. After a few dry heaves and gags, my stomach was empty and William Wallace got his freedom and was lying on the side of the road with the former contents of my stomach. Shortly thereafter, I saw a bunch of family and friends again at different points, and they brought me out of my cracked-frame/empty stomach funk.
T2: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
Hand off bike
Grab bag, run through tent.
Dump bag on ground (outside of tent)
Wipe off feet with small towel
Put on socks and shoes.
Pack helmet in bag
Put on race belt with salt tabs already in pouch on race belt while running out of T2.
That’s verbatim from my plan, and exactly how it went. Again, a bit slow, and could be tightened up just by showing a bit of “hurry up.”
Run:
Run Estimated Time 5:15. Actual: 6:48:03. That’s where the wheels fell off, and where I need input on why.
Run Nutrition: 4 oz of Gatorade Endurance every aid station. 1 Gu every 30 minutes. 1 salt tab every other aid station.Total run nutrition of 333 calories and 1245 mg sodium every hour. I also started drinking the chicken broth in the middle of the second loop, and doubled up my salt tabs for the last lap.
I also made use of a zip-lock bag to put Ice in while running. Great Idea!!! I was able to put that bag in my shirt, hold it on my head (I wore a visor), hold it in my hands, dump it out and throw it in the back of my jersey. All kinds of goodness with one bag.
My plan was to run based on heart rate coming off the bike. I was at 124 BPM average on the bike, so I wanted to stick in the mid 120’s on the run. In actuality, my first 4 miles on the run were closer to 130 BPM. I kept dropping in a few walks between aid stations to try to bring HR back down a little. But every time I did that, it got harder to start running again. And eventually, my legs started to seize up. All in all, I walked about ¾ of the marathon, which I’m pretty unhappy about.
So the big question is: why did my legs seize up? I’ve got a theory, and I’d like input. I changed my nutrition plan up after my final race rehearsal due to feeling slightly nauseous after the run, and never had a chance to try it out. For the final race rehearsal, I was drinking 20 oz of Endurance every half hour, and 1 honey stinger every half hour, and 1 salt tab every half hour, 440 calories per hour, 1430 mg sodium every hour, and 40 oz fluid every hour. On race day, I switched to “4 oz of Endurance at every aid station” and “1 salt tab every other aid station.” I think this was my flaw. In addition to the overall PLANNED decrease in fluids, which was to fix the nausea, as I slowed down, it took longer to get from aid station to aid station, and I started to take in even less fluid per hour, which made things double-worse!! By the time I recognized it, and started to hit the chicken broth and even a little bit of extra Endurance here and there, it was too late, damage was done. Moral of the story, don’t try anything new on race day, and make your race rehearsals simulate exactly what you’ll see/do on race day. Also, to address the nausea issue, I should have kept the fluid intake, and maybe backed off on the GU, since it was a hard race, and the nausea was likely caused by excessive calories, not the fluid volume.
Once I started walking, I got a chance to talk to people and everyone complained about the heat, humidity and wind, especially on the bike. If you’re reading this, and considering IMTX 2016 or any year after that, realize this: THERE WILL BE HEAT, HUMIDITY AND WIND. Wrap your mind around it during your training, and learn to work with it, not be held back by it. If you can keep your mind off of it, it will not drag you down, like it does to the other 90% of the people out there. That really goes for any race I guess. Find out what “Flavor” that race has, and learn to like it.
Finish Line:
I got there, and there were high-fives and smiles to go around. I saw Christina and my son Harry, at the beginning of the chute, and so I ran over and gave them a kiss, and kept going down the line to give high fives. As I turned the last turn, I checked behind me to see if I was alone, and I was, so I kept celebrating. Ok, I celebrated too much cause a dude from the local tri club decided to sprint it out and beat me to the line. Good for him. I hope he’s sore today, and has bike chafe in some new undiscovered region. I enjoyed the last few minutes, and crossed the line with a smile. My catcher’s name was Frank and he is from Austin. I was able to throw my boys their hand signs.
Post race, I went to get my bike, and had to listen to the awful howling of Dave Matthews Band (who was playing that night at the Woodlands Pavilion) while checking out of transition. I think that was the single worst part of the day. Despite my run nutrition issue, and busted bike, I am very happy with the day, and looking forward to figuring out what’s next.
(Secondary input request, what do you do with a busted carbon bike frame?)
Bio Info:
Age: 38 (race age 39)
Weight: 187 lbs before the race, 183.5 lbs after the race (hint hint: This is probably tied to the answer to my big question about the run)
FTP: 201 Watts
Watts/KG: 2.4
Vdot: 34
Saturday:
Woke up at 3:30, and had actually slept really well. Leading up to the race I wasn't too nervous. I had my race plan, and knew there wasn't anything that worrying could do for me. Breakfast of Peanut Butter Sandwich and 24 oz of Gatorade Endurance
Sip on second bottle of Endurance throughout Transition set-up and ride to swim start. Got all my bodily functions out of the way pretty successfully, and was off to transition.
Christina drove me to transition, and waited for me while I got everything situated. I double checked my T1 and T2 bags, and made the game-time decision to clip my shoes into the bike instead of leaving them in the T1 bag. That turned out to be a great decision. But I always do my rides with shoes clipped in, and never take them off the pedals, so I’m used to putting them on on the fly.
Caught up with Eric Miller, and we walked with Christina from transition to swim start. The walk wasn't a problem, and I’d probably do it that way again, rather than try to get a ride.
Swim:
Estimated Swim Time of 1:40. Actual time 1:41:09.
I had planned to wear Lava Pants for the swim if water temp was above 76°F, but I made a game-time decision not to, because it was 81°F, and I had only swam in those Lava Pants a couple times. I was calm all week and all morning, but the second my toes hit the water on the rolling start, I could have sworn there were sharks, ninjas and flying monkeys with machine guns coming after me. I freaked out! That’s nothing new for me though. It took me a few minutes to pull it back together. After a quick conversation with myself (Self, what would Jesus do? He’d walk across the water, you cant do that. Ok, what would Coaches RnP do? They’d count strokes) I started counting strokes. Once I started counting strokes, I was into a rhythm and moving forward. I stayed far right of the pack and didn’t have much trouble with other swimmers. I started to get a few toe cramps about half way through, and my calf seized up on me in the canal, so I swam to the side, stood up (yes you can stand in the canal, but I wouldn’t recommend doing it) and got it stretched out. Finished swim without much incident. I think a guy at one point tried to swim over me, but I think I kicked him in the crotch, and he moved away from me (it wasn't a deliberate shot, just part of my normal kicking pattern, and he moved into the zone, so it happened). All in all, I felt very prepared for what I was going to experience. The swim is definitely my weakest event overall, and I was actually happy with the way it turned out.
T1: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
Goggles and swim cap off while running to bag.
Got bag, ran through tent without really stopping. The change tent was nasty. I wasn’t going to use it if I didn’t have to.
Put gel flasks into my jersey, helmet on, didn’t need to sit down anywhere since shoes were already on bike. There’s no reason for me to have a slow T1, but it was 5:36 because I took my time. Probably could have cut it in half if I weren’t second guessing myself on how simple it was. Got a quick kiss from Christina, and then off on the bike I went.
Bike:
Estimated bike time: 7:00 to 7:30. Actual time 7:01:02. NP: 99 watts, IF: 0.48, VI:1.14. Highly variable power numbers (need to learn to cycle smooth), but my overall NP seemed to be very conservative for a 201 FTP. I had actually planned to hover around 120 to 130 watts NP, but that just wasn’t comfortable, and I didn’t want to fry myself.
Bike Nutrition: Went pretty well according to plan. Prior to first aid station, 2 bottles of Endurance, thereafter, 1 bottle of Endurance between aid stations, 1 Honey Stinger Gel every 30 minutes, and one salt tab every 30 minutes. Total nutrition per hour of 440 calories and 1430 mg sodium. Peed 3 times.
The first 40 miles were quick as expected. I saw a few friends on the way out of town, and it totally lifted me up. My chain dropped off the bike around mile 40 or so, but I jumped off, got it put back on and kept going, thinking nothing more about it. It had happened a few times on practice rides when switching from the big chain ring to the small. Around Richards, we made that first jaunt to the south on Bayes Chapel Road, and the wind hit me for the first time. I knew the wind was going to be fierce like it was. Coach P had warned us about the wind, and I had the opportunity to ride the course before race-day, so the wind just wasn’t a surprise. We had a ton of car traffic right around Richards, which actually did surprise me a bit. But they weren’t trying to run me over for once, so that was a nice change. I stopped at special needs to apply some chamois cream, and then headed south into the wind. Again, it was windy, but no big deal. I think I dropped my chain a second time somewhere around mile 75. By the time I got to mile 80, my bike wouldn’t shift out of the small chain ring, and I noticed some slack in my front shifter. I was able to wave down a nice bike-tech guy on a scooter, and pulled off to get it looked at. He says that my front derailer had cracked/broken my carbon frame, and that he could put me in one chain ring and send me on my way. Ugh. I spent the next 30 miles wondering if my frame was going to disintegrate below me. Post race, I was able to see that it was actually where the cable comes out of the bike that had given way, not the derailer itself. Either way, it’s still a ruined frame, and I’m looking for options on what to do next with it. Riding in the small chain ring wasn’t bad that last 30 miles though. My power may have taken a bit of a hit, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise because of how my run actually went. At about mile 100, it was time for another salt pill. But apparently, this salt pill wasn’t going to go down without a fight. He was a scrappy one, the William “Braveheart” Wallace of salt pills, and decided to pin himself firmly in my throat. After a few dry heaves and gags, my stomach was empty and William Wallace got his freedom and was lying on the side of the road with the former contents of my stomach. Shortly thereafter, I saw a bunch of family and friends again at different points, and they brought me out of my cracked-frame/empty stomach funk.
T2: Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.
Hand off bike
Grab bag, run through tent.
Dump bag on ground (outside of tent)
Wipe off feet with small towel
Put on socks and shoes.
Pack helmet in bag
Put on race belt with salt tabs already in pouch on race belt while running out of T2.
That’s verbatim from my plan, and exactly how it went. Again, a bit slow, and could be tightened up just by showing a bit of “hurry up.”
Run:
Run Estimated Time 5:15. Actual: 6:48:03. That’s where the wheels fell off, and where I need input on why.
Run Nutrition: 4 oz of Gatorade Endurance every aid station. 1 Gu every 30 minutes. 1 salt tab every other aid station.Total run nutrition of 333 calories and 1245 mg sodium every hour. I also started drinking the chicken broth in the middle of the second loop, and doubled up my salt tabs for the last lap.
I also made use of a zip-lock bag to put Ice in while running. Great Idea!!! I was able to put that bag in my shirt, hold it on my head (I wore a visor), hold it in my hands, dump it out and throw it in the back of my jersey. All kinds of goodness with one bag.
My plan was to run based on heart rate coming off the bike. I was at 124 BPM average on the bike, so I wanted to stick in the mid 120’s on the run. In actuality, my first 4 miles on the run were closer to 130 BPM. I kept dropping in a few walks between aid stations to try to bring HR back down a little. But every time I did that, it got harder to start running again. And eventually, my legs started to seize up. All in all, I walked about ¾ of the marathon, which I’m pretty unhappy about.
So the big question is: why did my legs seize up? I’ve got a theory, and I’d like input. I changed my nutrition plan up after my final race rehearsal due to feeling slightly nauseous after the run, and never had a chance to try it out. For the final race rehearsal, I was drinking 20 oz of Endurance every half hour, and 1 honey stinger every half hour, and 1 salt tab every half hour, 440 calories per hour, 1430 mg sodium every hour, and 40 oz fluid every hour. On race day, I switched to “4 oz of Endurance at every aid station” and “1 salt tab every other aid station.” I think this was my flaw. In addition to the overall PLANNED decrease in fluids, which was to fix the nausea, as I slowed down, it took longer to get from aid station to aid station, and I started to take in even less fluid per hour, which made things double-worse!! By the time I recognized it, and started to hit the chicken broth and even a little bit of extra Endurance here and there, it was too late, damage was done. Moral of the story, don’t try anything new on race day, and make your race rehearsals simulate exactly what you’ll see/do on race day. Also, to address the nausea issue, I should have kept the fluid intake, and maybe backed off on the GU, since it was a hard race, and the nausea was likely caused by excessive calories, not the fluid volume.
Once I started walking, I got a chance to talk to people and everyone complained about the heat, humidity and wind, especially on the bike. If you’re reading this, and considering IMTX 2016 or any year after that, realize this: THERE WILL BE HEAT, HUMIDITY AND WIND. Wrap your mind around it during your training, and learn to work with it, not be held back by it. If you can keep your mind off of it, it will not drag you down, like it does to the other 90% of the people out there. That really goes for any race I guess. Find out what “Flavor” that race has, and learn to like it.
Finish Line:
I got there, and there were high-fives and smiles to go around. I saw Christina and my son Harry, at the beginning of the chute, and so I ran over and gave them a kiss, and kept going down the line to give high fives. As I turned the last turn, I checked behind me to see if I was alone, and I was, so I kept celebrating. Ok, I celebrated too much cause a dude from the local tri club decided to sprint it out and beat me to the line. Good for him. I hope he’s sore today, and has bike chafe in some new undiscovered region. I enjoyed the last few minutes, and crossed the line with a smile. My catcher’s name was Frank and he is from Austin. I was able to throw my boys their hand signs.
Post race, I went to get my bike, and had to listen to the awful howling of Dave Matthews Band (who was playing that night at the Woodlands Pavilion) while checking out of transition. I think that was the single worst part of the day. Despite my run nutrition issue, and busted bike, I am very happy with the day, and looking forward to figuring out what’s next.
0
Comments
Sorry about the bike... I've seen talk around here of guys sending their frames to Calfee in CA and getting fantastic results.
It was great to get to meet/race with you.... Also great to meet Christina and the kids.. Best of luck moving forward... keep in touch...E
We learn something new every race, right?!!
It was certainly more humid this year than last.
Great job out there!!!!
way to finish your first. good use of your mental fortitude.
sorry about the dave Mathews experience.
nice to meet you and the family (including your miracle boy).
yes try Calfee for the frame. and check your warranty and bike shop.
how many times did you pee on the bike? what did your pee look like on the bike or run? so I assume dehydration. maybe you should have drank more on the bike. the 48 oz per hour seemed to work for me at the same weight, but maybe you needed more. and yes you probably should have drunk more starting the run once you identified a problem.
can be hard to identify whether Gatorade or water is needed at a particular point in time. the concentration of stuff in your blood should be higher than the concentration of stuff in your stomach and gut so that absorption of fluids can happen. sometimes, when I get nausea, maybe from too much Gatorade and gels in the stomach, I switch to water with a salt capsule to help things. maybe, sometimes, free water is needed, but we all know to be careful with the potential hyponatremia thing (low sodium). one problem I have with Core Diet is pushing putting high concentrations of stuff in your stomach which doesn't make sense scientifically.
have a good rest. racing plans for the future ?
@Vic, I'm up for a couple sprints/oly's this year. Probably Marble Falls, and Towne Lake. Lets pick one and get it done man!
@ Tish, you're 100% right. We gotta learn from every race. It's a process.
Chris, welcome to the IM family!
Being out there that long and getting it finished makes you my hero! Just a damn long time to keep fighting!
I followed you and watched you consistently do the work over many weeks. You learned a lot and grew a lot during this first cycle and you did get it done at the end of the day!
The more you bike going forward the better your focus on holding watts and driving a lower VI will improve. Honestly, it takes a long time and several cycles to get good at this stuff. Your next training cycle and race will be that much better/faster given the experience you have gained to date.
On the run, again, it takes several cycles and a long time to learn to keep those legs moving after riding a bike 112 miles. Rob S. is a great example/master at this. During your next training cycle, look to hit all of the runs to build more durability for the big show. That means you're actually going to be running about 6 days a week once you get within 12 weeks of your race. That durability shows up on the back half of the marathon assuming your pacing and nutrition is on par.
Fantastic work Chris!
SS