IMCDA race report
Echoing what Hickman already stated, very grateful for the EN community and the wisdom imparted. Lotta life skills to be learned in this sport.
Lead up to race day: This was as much a family vacation as the end of a year of training/planning. I got in two quality short rides (without looking at power - first mistake), two swims, no runs, and no dietary indiscretions. Plenty of time at the pool, in shade, with gatorade. Weight down to 183.
Morning: Woke up @330 with a upper respiratory virus, no nasal passage, constant snot stream. Didn't know if I should take a decongestant or not, opted not to (second mistake). No fever, felt fine otherwise, and there was no freaking way I was not doing the race. Pancakes, coffee, gatorade.
Swim: Planned a 1:25-1:30 swim, lined up with 1:15 group. Finishing time 1:18. Not much to say here, nose opened up after about 20 minutes. I swam a line that suggests I have lost middle ear function, really need to address that issue.
T1: 7:17. IM are different than HIMs! Unsure how to do this quick with all the walking/ changing tent/ people shuffling about/ etc. Lots of room for improvement.
Bike: No power meter. Nada. No idea why. Nose decides to get back into the race, competing with colon for highest output over the next 6 hours. Planned result was truly unknown, but was planning for 7:15. Finished in 6:36. Watched my HR, tried to keep it at 145 or lower. Average HR for the course was 144. Could not keep HR below 150 on the uphills even in 28 gear, but crushed the downhills (except when slower folks stopped me). I noticed the temp was 95 prior at the start of second loop (10:21am), but I honestly could not feel the heat until the uphills - in no wind, could definitely feel heat rising. Interesting. Nutrition plan held up, as did hydration.
T2: 6:38. Tent was nasty humid. Literally dudes sitting around looking like they were fitting zombies. Hard to be motivated, I wanted to sit with them. Then comes a cooky-looking guy with a full sized backpack, no less than 75lbs of gear on the back, he plans to power walk the damn marathon. I decide to go now.
Run: Goal: finish. Finished in 5:40. First ever IM, first ever 26.2 run. I had no idea, basically, what "the wall" is really. Seeing delirious *young* people lying on the ground every few miles, ambulances frequenting the course, all punctuated by a dude who sounded as though Tony Soprano was working him nicely, didn't help. Nose quit early, losing the race to the colon, who never quit. My race plan held up until mile 19. I ran sparingly, walked too much, lots of negative self talk. Really felt I was letting down the team, the training self, etc. Achilles were so tight, sort-of afraid to start running again each time I walked. Decided to run the downhills at minimum. Then a cool Canadian fellow picked me up out of the cloud and got me going again around mile 23, probably saving me about 20 minutes.
Finish: Let me say this - I don't know who you people are who line the streets yelling/cheering at us trigeeks - but I love you. I could not help but to feel like Potts. Seriously, great feeling. Some camera guys sprints out to me just to ask me "what are you thinking right now". Of course I went to disneyland. The chute experience was great. If the announcer said I am an Ironman, I didn't hear it. Great family moment.
DS
Comments
Have a good rest. Desire to do more irons?
And lack of power allowed me to know that sustaining a 145 HR is possible for 6+ hours (previously in training I was aiming for slightly less). I would like to test myself more, to determine if I can sustain at higher HR on the run too.
YES, there will be more IMs! The principle downsides to this sport as I see it is 1) the training volume/time spent away from family, 2) the $ associated with gear, 3) fixing the time/money/energy on a single, unmovable day. I have already spent the money, so now it is a travel expense - easy to justify. The weekend was so overwhelmingly positive - kids want to be more active, Valerie wants to train now too - it seems that my secret goal of inspiring a few folks worked, at least for a short while, and now to push that energy into something renewable.
DS
Congratulations on overcoming such adversity!
You...are...an...IRONMAN!
CONGRATULATIONS!!
Doug, for your very first, you chose the very tough CdA course, on a 105F day, and finished. That's bada$$ stuff. If you ever do Florida or Arizona in 70F weather, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.
My Quarq is 0/2 at Ironmans. It's not a widely discussed topic outside of EN, but there is clearly electronic chaos when you put a thousand power meters and a couple thousand Garmins in a tight T1. When this happened to me in NZ, the Aussies and Kiwis were quick to point out that this problem - not unique to Quarq - is well known on that side of the world. The advice I got was take out the Quarq battery before dropping the bike off, install a new battery race morning, don't even think about turning on your Garmin until 2-3 miles onto the course, calibrate manually (spinning the crank backwards 4-5 times). I can't confirm that it works, but I can confirm that I'll be giving this a try at my next big race. Honing and practicing a power-based race plan, only to lose power on race day, blows.
Transitions are easy time to steal. Start by reducing the moving pieces to the bare minimum. For an IM in normal weather, my T1 bag contains a helmet. I'll try to have it out of my bag and on my head before I reach the tent, then all I do is find a volunteer, give him my wetsuit and goggles, and politely ask him if he'd stowe the gear for me. Then, off to my bike where my shoes, sunglasses and plenty of fuel are waiting for me. I set my T goal times by looking at what the top pros did the year before. At TX '14, I ended up beating the top 2 pros in T1 or T2 time (I can't remember) and I literally put 10 minutes into many fast guys in my AG just on transitions (to make up that 10 minutes on the run, they had to run nearly 25 seconds/mile faster --> that really puts it into perspective for me). I also take pictures the day before with my phone, mark my bags with bright tape, physically walk them, then visualize doing them while soaking wet, gasping for air, HR at 165.
You've come a very long way in a short period of time. It's clear you've bought into the EN greatness, paid attention to folks far smarter than me, and are poised to make greater progress in the near future.
Congrats on a truly great accomplishment.
Great report, and overcoming so many challenges to finish is a feat itself. 57 out of about 220 in our age group didn't even step a foot onto the run course! It was fun following your training along with mine and see in you succeed in your first IM! Congratulations; your family is undoubtable extremely proud of you, and it is great to see others inspired by your determination.
Mark
FWIW I've had a Quarq and a PowerTap crap out on me in long course racing without any prior issues. I guess I'll have to consider Mike's advice above!
I agree with all that has been said below.
IM is tough period, but to complete your first IM under those conditions is a testament to many things: Will to finish, solid training, adherence to EN execution protocol on race day and true grit!
Welcome to the family bro - you earned it! Rest......
SS
Nice job out there Doug! Never a great sign when your colon and snotty nose are in a race - really appreciate your "get 'r' dun" attitude! My PM didn't pick up after the first mile (Vector Pedals) but fortunately that has happened before and I was able to get off for 1' and reset them. That you went by RPE and HR is a testament to your determination and no excuses attitude! I'm betting the announcer said your name - Finisher Pix will probably sell you a video clip for an inordinate amount of money that will probably be worth it.
Congrats!
Whoa!!! YOU are an ironman. RTFO!
Doug - belated congratulations on the staying upright to the end. Ten years from now, people will still be talking about this race, and you can say "I finished that one!"