Dana's IMTX RR
It has been almost three weeks since I completed the IMTX but I did sit down the week after and write a race review. It is ok to stop reading at any time, but there are a few nuggets of wisdom that I want to share upfront, so maybe you could avoid my mistakes.
1.) Make time to ride outside, preferably on the roads or in the conditions that you will encounter come race day. I trained for the IM exclusively on a trainer. Clearly it can be done, but my bike experience was less than stellar and included a nasty wipe out just after special needs. Also, if you can- do the camp.
2.) Take ownership of your tools so you don’t handicap yourself come race day. I had vector petals that I helped install and used successfully in training. However, my husband set up my Garmin and maintained the upgrades etc. Come race week I was playing catch up trying to figure out how to make my screens show me my power readings. In the end I didn’t use my power meter at all.
Official Race Review: I had a thought when formulating this RR. If I were the Santa Clause of Ironman I would give all first time athletes 3 gifts. My first gift would be the volunteers who make the I M happen. This sounds cliché yet I was overwhelmed by their service and outpouring of positive energy. The Second thing I would give is the EN Team. What a fantastic experience all around made better; because, of the support and knowledge of some truly outstanding coaches and teammates. The third thing I would give is my cautionary tale. They are valuable lessons, but let me be the only one to have to learn them the hard way.
I am 5’11” and used 155 lbs. to calculate my race nutrition. On race day I was probably closer to 149 lbs. Thanks to travel and nervous belly. I road my Cannondale Super6 road bike outfitted with arrow bars. I had a 404 Zipp on the front and an 808 on the back. I used a speed fill torpedo on my arrow bars and 2 cages behind my seat. Along with that I had my emergency can of Coke for migraine intervention. Nutrition was GU which was in my bento box and Gatorade Endurance on course. This entire set up was NOT how I practiced on the trainer, therefore I had to acquaint myself with this new system come race day.
Goals: Finish the Ironman. Swim: 1:15, Bike: 6:00, Run: 5:30 or less.
Actual: Swim: 1:13, Bike: 6:47, Run or speed walk like you are Christmas shopping for 200 people on Christmas Eve: 5:41.
Pre-race training was complex due to where I live. This is part of the reason I chose to do an IM in the first place. I live in Nigeria Africa and it is expected that I take a security guard with me if I go outside. We also have a house in The Woodlands where it is very work out friendly. In The Woodlands it is easy to find people, programs, clubs, gyms or places to train. Logistics in Nigeria are complex and constantly challenging; which make it seem like it takes monumental amounts of motivation just to get out of bed. Even so, I know of at least 5 other athletes training for an Ironman in this area and they all make it work.
Race week was crazy as expected, so my scheduling and list making helped keep my anxiety down, which freed up some mental space. I chose to do a practice swim, not recommended, but I had a new wet suit I wanted to test out. I am a confident swimmer and have swam at least 3 other triathlons in Lake Woodlands. Still, I had a little freak out on the practice swim. This was good though; because, I got to work that out before race day. My primary goal for the practice swim was to decide if I should use my new wetsuit or not. I was more conflicted after the practice swim.
My bike stressed me out; because, I had to have it reassembled and tuned up. The shop did not seem very familiar with my vector petals. When I went to pick my bike up they locked up my watch trying to sink the petals to my Garmin. It was evening so I took my bike and watch home to unlock it, but had to return the next day to complete the set up. Let’s skip to the end of this story and let me say I was not happy with my prep for the bike.
My run training was mixed treadmill and outdoor runs on cobblestone, in the blazing sun and humidity of Nigeria. I swear by the outdoor run training, as it was more brutal than what I experienced come race day in TX.
Swim: Triathlon swims are my least favorite and do not represent true swim talent. That’s my story and I’m sticken’ to it. My swim, though I am happy with the time, was not good. I did choose to use my wet suit. It made me feel like a super hero (think Greatest American Hero), invincible, strong and protected. Problem is my left arm decided to take the day off so I kept swimming off to the right. Also, I was behind all the non-wetsuit swimmers who turned Lake Woodlands into a churning mess. I could not sight looking forward without dropping my hips and lifting my head and shoulders out of the water. This is bad for moving forward. Eventually, I relaxed into the swim and only checked my location off to the side while breathing. This locator approach and swimming with a dominant right stroke resulted in frequent excess yardage to get back on course. After I punched a few people in the face, got a full body grope or almost lost my watch due to excessive contact, I knew I was back in line. When it got quiet I knew I had swam off course again so I would repeat the correction. After watching some swim videos, I don’t think it was my left arm that quit; instead, I think my breathing technique pulled me off course. Tip: If you wear a wetsuit for your IM, when you come out of the water find a strong looking volunteer to be your wet suit stripper. My volunteer had my wetsuit off in one quick pull. I lay on the ground stunned for a moment before I realized what had just happened. Although, I guess anytime you take off your super suit there is a drag in our psyche when you realize you no longer have super human powers.
Bike: I was not sure what to expect for my bike numbers due to all my rides being on a trainer. This is where one would use their power meter. Great idea, but here is the catch. When I did all my rides on the trainer I would start my Garmin on the screen that read Indoor bike. At no time, prior to the race, did this occur to me. I was stressed and feeling frazzled when it came time for my pre race bike ride to test out everything. During that ride I took time to practice moving the bottles around from one cage to another and knew then that getting the bottle to and from the left rear cage was challenging. I checked my Garmin and was getting power readings but things were kind of screwy. I was behind schedule and had to get off my legs so even though things were not quite right I felt ok with what I had. It was a stress management decision to leave things as they were. I had to keep it simple; because, there was so much first time stuff happening for me on the bike. Come race day I monitored my time, speed, and cadence. Staying in the box and limiting the number of decisions you have to make per second is the goal. FAIL. Let me list all the new experiences and lessons.
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First time I wore the helmet
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First time I used those cages, first time behind my seat
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First time wore that jersey
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First time to ride without socks
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New to managing the frequency of shifting gears
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Using my left side as a ground or base for balance while my right hand managed bike operations
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First time using Gatorade Endurance
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First time for aid stations on a bike
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New to triathlons so drafting violations worry me
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First time to pee on the bike
I was undaunted; I kept in mind for the first 15 miles what was said in the 4 Keys talk earlier: to take it easy going out. So on a loop in my head was, “easy, bucket of chicken, ride all day long.” I took it easy at first and visualize what it would be like at the first aid station. I slowed when I saw it up ahead, sat up, filled my torpedo and drank the rest of the bottle. My torpedo was full, I was full and I had 2 empty bottles. When I got to the aid station I threw my 2 empty bottles to the side, pointed to a volunteer holding what I wanted and stated very clearly, “Gatorade.” Slipped that bottle in my right rear cage then pointed to another volunteer, called out, and took the second bottle. I was careful when entering and leaving the aid station and took my time putting the second bottle in the left rear cage. That was it. Man I was proud, so I celebrated by looking around and soaking up the experience. The bike was so much fun! I absolutely loved it because there were no red lights and no stopping at intersections. I was outside, the sun was bright and beautiful, there was a constant breeze, and it was magnificent. I had to remind myself that good bike splits and a poor run = Fail. The whole idea is to have something left in the tank in order to run, but I just wanted to push it on the bike. Fun fact, my torpedo was not staying secure and it was clacking obnoxiously the entire bike ride. Stealth mode was not operational this day.
..and then something scary happened around mile 40. A truck passed by and ran over a Co2 canister. When it did the canister shot out of the back right tire, passed me like a bullet and went off into the woods. It happened so fast. I saw a mess of white foam in the road. As my brain was trying to process what the white foam was, I heard the sound of the canister shooting through the woods. Moments later, it registered what had happened and how lucky I was not to get hit. That caused a heart rate spike and the celebration was over as my lower back began to ach. Using my left side for stability and my right arm for operations was taking its toll. It was about this time that my brain began to play tricks on me. It was trying to convince me that we were deep into the 80+ mile mark of the ride. It said, “I remember this road from the race recon. We must be close to the end.” Didn’t want to actually check my mileage or be realistic about my speed and time. I am a superhero remember, those values don’t apply to me. Of course I forgot that I took off my super suit and I really didn’t have super human power. Reality won out. Engage proper thinking, “Hey stupid, you haven’t even passed special needs. Hello, there is still a long way to go. Suck it up.” Ok, but where it special needs?
Another accomplishment, I learned how to pee on the bike. To pee on bike: look for proximity of competitors behind you, find a downhill, stand on left leg and relax. Relax…
There was so much I had already learned this day. Confidence was my companion and complacency my nemesis. It was after the big turn at Dacus. There was an aid station at the crest of the hill up ahead. My right rear bottle was full but my left rear bottle needed to be replaced. Knowing that my skill at reaching to my rear left was bad, I attempted it anyway without enough care. My balance was off, but I reacted by turning the wheel and overcorrected. Then it was gravity that entered the fray, but I would not go down gracefully as I tried to correct one last time. It was ugly. My body flew over the right side of the bike driving my handle bars and arrow bars toward the road. Momentum scraped me indignantly across the road on my right elbow, shoulder and hip coming to rest in the gravel. A competitor, who saw me go down, stopped and told me not to move. Thankfully, I was near an aid station as well as an intersection so several volunteers and a police officer came to help immediately. Also, thankfully I did not hit anyone else or cause someone else to wipe out. It was my expectation that someone would clean me up, maybe put some bandages on, a little first aid, but that was not the case. Not finding any broken bones or legitimate reason not to continue, I got back on the bike and carried on. My arrow bars were out of alignment, angled down toward the road instead of into the wind. Still it took me several miles before it occurred to me that I had a tool in my kit to fix them.
The upside to the accident was that the pain I felt in my elbow pressing heavily on the arrow bar distracted me from the wind, on the way back into town, which everybody else was talking about. Also, my back was aching viciously so the self talk was, “stay arrow, big smooth circles.” To say I was happy to get off the bike would be a grand understatement. Unfortunately, somewhere in that last leg of the bike the idea of running the marathon went out the window. It was an absolute, yet unconscious, decision. To this day I still disagree and struggle with it.
Run: I remember attempting to run. I also remember feeling painfully bloated. My serious intestinal discomfort probably stems from drinking through a straw for 6 hours and 40 minutes. During the early part of the run, I worried excessively that I would have the trots. So, attempts were made to go to the bathroom several times. Between potty breaks, I would shuffle as much as possible. It was not the heat or humidity that limited me, I don’t think. Truly, training on Banana Island was perfect for this run. We should have a camp in Nigeria for run training. My legs felt strong and capable, I felt I had energy in the tank. As it turns out running like you have to poo is a very bad feeling and does not make you go faster.
Lap 1 felt 3x longer than the consecutive 2. During lap 2 I experienced a migraine and thanks to training, I knew what to do. So I implemented my migraine mitigation plan (2 Excedrin migraine and a Coke) and only had to endure the visual impairment in the form of blind spots but never actually had the intense headache. Bonus! It did take longer than normal for my vision to clear up, so I walked the majority of this lap. Eventually, I regained clear sight and was able to shuffle more on lap 3. Somewhere near the end of lap 3 it occurred to me that even if I only have a few miles left to walk, I still have to walk to collect my things, and walk to the car. Oh well, at least by then I will be an Ironman.
Comments
Ironman is all about exploring your limits... and you sure did! Way to carry on... and like Doug said...You are extremely tough! It was nice to meet you and I wish you the best moving forward. Way to go Ironman!
you did the best you could do with the type of training you could do.
you kept going after the bike wipeout. most of us would not have.
despite all the difficulties (much more than most of us have to face) you are an Ironman. big congrats.
did you crop, by mistake, the end of the report? did you do a finish line dance?
take care. how much longer in Nigeria?
I'm looking at everything you went through, and yeah, first time stuff on race-day seems to have bitten you. I'll leave that alone, except to apologize for not following through on the pre-race ride that we all talked about. Given all your first time stuff, maybe that ride would have given you a chance to iron out some stuff and get a bit more input from the team. Sorry.
I'm betting that a speed suit would have been better for you on the swim as opposed to a wet suit. It would have allowed you to swim with a group that was more on par with your ability, and minimized the amount of passing you had to do. And it would have still given you your super-human abilities.
As far as the crash goes, I'm amazed at how you pulled it all back together. I think I would have tapped out at that point. Much respect!!
Bottle juggling. Did you really NEED to have the cages on the back? I didn't see your bike setup, but would it have been possible to take off the wing on the back, and just use cages on the frame, and your aero bottle? If you were using both cages on your frame, AND both cages on your wing, AND your aero bottle, it seems like you were carrying 5 bottles worth of fluid at any one time. Coming out of transition you could have had your aero filled, and a full bottle in one of your frame cages, and an empty frame cage to help you juggle bottles at aid stations. Since it's usually good to pound fluids early on the bike, maybe finish off both of those bottles before the first aid station, and come into that first aid station without any fluids, ditch the extra bottle, grab 2 bottles of gatorade, and tuck them in the cages, and fill the aero bottle after that first aid station. Doing this, minimizes the craziness of the aid station, and keeps you from having to reach backward to the wing at all.
If you find yourself on the trainer again, maybe change up your bike to match race-day setup with the bottles, and use that as much as possible. Maybe it doesnt get you 100% of the same experience, but at least it gives you some idea of what it feels like to make a given reach, or helps you to have some idea of what it feels like to put that bottle into a given cage.
Anyways, those are the things that stuck out to me. Your mental game is totally on point, and I really look forward to hearing about what your doing next.