Jeff Leslie IM Canada 2015 Race Report
This was my 2nd IM (IMTX 2014 – 11:56 (121/452 AG). VERY different course from IMTX though, and I knew the bike was going to be the new challenge. Weather exacerbated that relative weakness even more….
From race plan - Goals: Sub 12:30HRS (SWIM: 01:15:00 – T1: 6:00 – BIKE: 6:25:00 – T2: 05:00 – RUN 4:20:00– TOTAL:12:11:00)
Other goals: 1. finish in daylight. 2. Run the whole marathon. 3. Do not crash.
I accomplished goals 1 & 3 (and mostly #2).
Actual: Swim 1:17:57 (110/250 AG) – T1 10:11 – Bike 7:07:29 (135/250 AG) – T2 6:34 – Run 4:35:14 (105/250 AG). Total 13:17:25 (105/250 AG)
Pre-start – Weather was looking ominous. Beautiful Wed and Thur. Started raining on Friday and stayed cloudy/cool/rainy all the way through Monday except for some periods of sun/dry in afternoons. Sunday forecast was for upper 40’s at start with mid-60’s for high. Debated long and hard about how much clothing to wear for bike….I HATE being cold on the bike (or run for that matter). Decided that full EN jacket plus LSS and tri top would just be too much, so removed the sleeves from EN jacket and planned for tri top, LSS (dry fit) and EN vest with optional leg warmers in T1 bag as well. Wish I had realized that NONE OF THIS was waterproof! I love riding in the rain, but in South Texas it’s usually warm and rainy…not 40’s and raining. This was a HUGE mistake that cost me significant time and almost ended my day very early.
Nutrition per plan – big breakfast (pancakes and hash browns), big late lunch (spaghetti and bread), chicken noodle soup for dinner in room. The bike/bag check-in took much longer than I anticipated on Saturday and so I did not get to room as early as planned, but still rested and watched a couple of movies before lights out at 9:30ish. But could not fall asleep for another hour or two. Breakfast at 3:30 with ensure, banana, powerbar, mountain dew. Took shuttle to T1…smooth and easy.
Swim – found Dino (next to me in Transitions, 411 and 412) and met Dave Tallo. In water (67degrees, beginning to rain) with Dino just as pro women started. Was cool in water until the start, but nothing bad. Lined up closer to shore away from bouy line where it was less crowded. Talked with Dino until cannon. Lap 1 = lots of contact, but nothing unusual for a mass start. More contact near buoys, but the usual stuff. Got kicked in right goggle once really hard, but just readjusted it and KMF. Loop 2 much less contact. Tried to focus on form, no kicking, and finding open water 10 feet in front of me. Got on a woman’s hip for a while and actually “found some feet” a few times. This was the first swim I have done where I could actually see more than a few inches, making drafting actually possible. Kept running into feet when they would sight and slow though, so just gave up on that and tried to find open water just in front of me. First loop I was definitely swimming through more people than were swimming over me. Second loop seemed I had found my “pack” of similar speed swimmers. Not sure how I could do this differently, as I was only 3-4 people back of the start line at beginning. Stayed in the waist-deep water long enough to pee before exiting (tried to pee while swimming…could not get it going!).
T1 – Wetsuit strippers….why are they all wet? That’s weird. Did not realize until after race talking to my wife how hard it was raining during swim…and thus the wet wetsuit strippers! It was now raining pretty hard and was stupid cold. Grabbed bag, contemplated changing outside tent, but space was taken and wanted to get where warmer, so entered the steaming tent of naked/shivering MAMILs. No seats. Found a table with some space to balance on while changing. Dried off enough to get LSS on (help from volunteer) and EN vest. Definitely gonna put on those legs warmers (GREAT decision). Helmet/glasses/gloves/shoes on and exited after garnering volunteer to bag up WS and take bag. Walked bike to line (quite a distance, but raining and slick) and mounted without incident. While this is a long T1, donning clothes was worth every minute, it turned out. Sure, I could have done it a little faster, but more clothing = more time.
Bike – yikes. This was not pretty. Best summary (without explaining it in great detail, which is below if you are interested) is the following: temps started in mid-40’s. Raining (not pouring, but steady and more than a drizzle). Was wet (note the non-waterproof jacket reference previously) pretty quickly. VERY hilly course. Uphills were actually DESIRED while descents were now scorned. More speed = more colder. More speed on twisting unknown roads with active rain = more risk of crashing. Lots of people (not front of pack traffic, but MOP traffic) + wet = super dangerous. Husband and father of 5 children + not professional or even podium potential = limited risks I’m willing to take.
Ride details:
Descent (slight overall, but rolling) to Callaghan Rd (0-12mi)– got colder and colder and more miserable…but this is only 12 miles in! Climb to Ski jump….yeah, I’m feeling less cold and miserable. Why are the pros going 70mph (they sounded like missiles) down the other side of the road with nothing on but a tri top (many of them)? Are they from another planet (like Hoth)? I would like to slit open a ton-ton and warm up in it’s intestines now. Maybe a bear will attack me now…that wouldn’t be so bad! I was sooooo dreading the descent from the biathlon area. This is the most technical part of the ride and I had only ridden it once (in windy conditions when dry)…now it was raining and I am freezing. Descent was horrible. Every time I got up over 25-30mph I would start shivering violently. No way I could stay in aero bars (although it was ironically more stable) because I needed brakes in hand (still raining). Was almost frozen in bull horns, unable to move, except to shiver when speed increased. Just feathered my way gently down, giving up huge chunk of time I’m sure, riding brakes as much as I felt I needed to stay warm (hah!) and stop shivering. The shivering was so violent that my entire bike would wobble, leading to a vicious cycle of panic, increasing tension in arms/shoulders, more wobbling, etc. Tried to “calm down and relax”several times, telling myself this over and over and trying, but just could not stop shivering. By the bottom of the descent (mile 30) I stopped near aid station to check back brake (maybe it is rubbing/too close to wheel leading to some of the wobbling stuff?...nope…looked fine). A volunteer (from heaven I’m sure) came over to check on me (in the rain mind you) and brought me a clear plastic trash bag. She offered it for my torso, tearing a hole for my head and arms and tucking it in back vest pocket. I think this helped a TON and I kept it on until about mile 80. This may have saved my day. The shivering stopped and I was now able to ride only being cold and wet and moderately miserable. Without the shivering, I could manage the bike at least. Slight climb back to Whistler felt a little better, but then the descent to Pemberton was cold. Not quite as technical and was able to trust more speed on descents. Hit 45mph max at some point (and the rain was almost gone by now, roads still wet).
Pemberton flats (60-90) – this felt great. Finally able to go with steady effort and focus on watts. Sat on my goal watts of 154 and passed a ton of folks here. And finally wasn’t cold. VI on these sections (5mile laps) were all 1.01 or 1.02. Road was dry and light wind. Finally able to relax too.
Climb from Pemberton to Whistler – slow and slower. Tried to keep watts <180, even with cadence dropping to 50</span>’s on steeper stuff. Lots of yo-yo’ing with folks pushing up the climbs and coasting down the other side, while I tried to ride steady. This is where my w/kg of 3.1 really exposed me. My goal IF was 0.67. I was at 0.65 upon starting the climb from 90-110miles. That’s about what I expected and think that was right for me. With the frequent use of 3rd and 4th gear on the steeper sections, ended up with IF of 0.66. But, because I was on the bike for >7hrs (instead of 6:30ish) TSS was 303… VI was a horrid 1.12 for entire ride. One of my 5mile laps I turned in a VI of 1.5! Reviewing my file, the first 40-50 miles my VI was 1.25-1.4 for most of these sections of hills, cold, rain, shivering, etc. I know I was trying to manage my watts around 154-180 (depending on terrain), but I was off the gas so much to try to stay warm on descents (or not crash) that I rode very unsteadily. In retrospect of course, I wish I had been more disciplined, but at the time, I was just managing the hand dealt and trying to stay alive/intact/rubber down. I was frankly not as attentive to my power as to my body and safety, and it shows. Never ran out of gas or felt particularly tired/fatigued, other than being on the bike for over 7 hours. Pee’d on the bike 4 times. (this felt great ironically, as the warm urine pooled in my shoe and briefly warmed my frozen toes!...I even alternated sides to be fair to both feet!). Planned to drink 2 bottles/hr of Gatorade + squirt of gatorlyte, but probably only consumed ½ of that, which was fine on this day. I took in one extra gel to try to replace a few calories….fluids were fine.
T2 – Very happy to be off the bike and safe now. Disoriented and went to wrong side of bags…volunteer re-directed me! Into tent…plenty of chairs now! Wet stuff off, shoes/socks on, belt/hat/watch in hand and out. Usually I have to force myself to slow (a lot) to hit LRP+30”, but today only had to slow a smidge. That was not a good sign. First two miles legs felt like I had been riding for 7+hours, but then loosened up. Right foot was killing me and numb (kept looking down expecting to see a nail in it or something). Took off shoe, checked for rock/nail/etc….nothing obviously wrong. Finally about mile 5 it occurred to me that maybe that shoe was too tight? (although had not untied them in weeks), so I loosened shoestrings and within 5 minutes the pain/numbness was gone. I guess my R foot was swollen.?
Miles/pace/HR:
Lap #1 10:18.27 120
Lap #2 10:18.32 123
Lap #3 10:40 117
Lap #4 10:06.83 115
Lap #5 09:53.72 119
Lap #6 11:36.50 118
Lap #7 09:57.52 121
Lap #8 09:41.25 124
Lap #9 09:37.53 127
Lap #10 09:53.53 125
Lap #11 09:53.52 124
Lap #12 09:41.26 128
Lap #13 10:01.12 128
Lap #14 11:09.67 127
Lap #15 10:03.73 126
Lap #16 09:24.70 127
Lap #17 10:19.29 124
Lap #18 10:48.38 120
Lap #19 10:37.34 123
Lap #20 10:43.04 122
Lap #21 10:10.23 123
Lap #22 11:18.68 121
Lap #23 11:46.71 118
Lap #24 11:32.88 121
Lap #25 11:31.33 121
Lap #26 11:28.03 123
Most of the variance from start to mile 22 is terrain…no major issues. No port-o-potty visits, just running easy. At mile 18, like clockwork, it really started to hurt. Ankles, feet, knees, hip flexors…just really tired of running. Last 5 miles I “power-walked” most steeper uphills and a few other times for 30-60steps just to break up the pain. Dave Tallo passed me on first loop early (he was on 2nd loop of course) and had words of encouragement. Saw Bill Parry and Jason Brandt and Jeff Sullivan but not Dino. Started raining again during the second loop. Just tried to keep socks dry. Minor nausea/dry heaves once or twice on second loop, so switched to Pepsi and minimalized fluids and gels. Took a gel swig every 4 miles until mile 20 when I just couldn’t tolerate any more. The drive to finish without slowing down just was not there or not possible on this day. I knew I was slowing down but just could not muster whatever it takes to not slow down. I knew had “overbiked” and probably ruined my run with a high TSS (although I didn’t know a number or how badly I had boogered it) and was going to be >13hours. And so, the body overcame the mind and I was ok with that on this day. The finish becomes easy to hear as you get closer of course, and I could hear whoever was doing the PA stuff announcing over and over “…. YOU are and Ironman”…. But, I guess since this was not my first and I was so freaking tired that I just kept thinking in my mind, I really just want instead to hear these words: “Jeff Leslie….YOU can STOP RUNNING NOW”.!
Finish line: Got a kiss from Tiffany, got my medal, got that stupid foil thing that doesn’t do anything useful, and got some pizza. My incredible wife had been out in the cold/rain most of the morning, and then had turned in my bike/gear bags to TBT, collected my T1/T2 bags and led me to the room for the best warm shower ever (except when the hot water hit than unbeknownst to me huge saddle sore!).
Although this was ~80’ slower than IMTX, I am “satisfied” with my race. I was not as well trained as for IMTX (work, life, family) and knew this was the absolute worst race for my “lack of skill set” (w/kg ratio) but it was the best fit for my family/life from a timing standpoint. And, Whistler is absolutely the most beautiful place I have ever seen. My wife LOVED the trip, and she usually just goes with me merely to be a good supportive wife (but doesn’t really ENJOY these things). Not this time.
Lessons learned:
Swim – could have pushed a little harder on first loop to get out of the fray a little? Not sure this would help/work though….I sort of only have one speed!
Bike – better to be overdressed than underdressed. Thick/warm does not = waterproof. Cold + wet = need waterproof. Need to continue to improve my willingness to ride fast in traffic (cyclists). I have underperformed on the bike in a couple of HIMs and now this race partially due to fear of other folks doing unexpected things, rain, potholes, etc. I need to “race” a little more (while paying attention to watts of course). Need to improve w/kg and definitely get a 32 tooth cog for this course (I had a 30, but wished I had 40!). Practice descending in aero bars at higher speeds.
Run – mental (and physical) toughness to not slow down (but, honestly, I need some sort of attainable goal to do this).
Training – I underestimated the effect of Gatorade vs. Gatorade Endurance. I had a case of GE (purchased in bulk when the change was announced) and so I used it until the first race rehearsal. Found out in both RRs that my gut does not like it for hours at a time. Had to do something new on race day (squirting gatorlyte solution) into BTA bottle and run cups. Fortunately, it mostly worked. Need to train with EXACTLY what is offered on course.
I had planned for this to be my last race for many years (at least) as my kids enter high school/middle school and I have trouble finding time for workouts frequently. But, Whistler is so amazing that my wife and I are now contemplating coming back next year, bringing the whole family for a pre/post race vacation (mountain biking, hiking, ziplining, etc.). Gotta sleep on this a few times….
Thanks for reading this long report and for any feedback/constructive criticism. This is an incredible place for a race and I highly recommend it (but especially if your w/kg is higher than mine!).
Comments
Jeff, my IMTX brother, those are great pictures!
Holy Crap, no way I could have handled the combination of rain/cold at those temps the way you did. That is all about being mentally tough for a very long time. IMO, great performance across the board and still beating your goal by a lot!
I was thinking about you and the rest of the IMC gang during my race as well as contemplating what challenges you all must have been going through and how you were managing them. It left me no excuses on my end during the day.
How is recovery coming along this Thursday? Are you walking normal yet? Sleeping well?
Super congratulations on an incredibly well fought battle! Way to represent strong!
SS
way to survive and do it.
your bike was fine. with the conditions simple survival was the priority.
so i plan on coming back next year iwth trying to slay the 50 age group. hopefully see you back there.
we will bring all clothing options next year ! lots of waterproof stuff. but it can be hot too.
Well to get it done Jeff and great to see you out there. Yep, that was tough tough day and lots to be learned about gear. Funny how we dress for fides at home (at least I have some pissy weather to try it out on) but come race day we make different decisions. In any event, peeing in BOTH shoes is an absolute ninja move. I'm going to try to steal that though I may not have the "equipment" to do so - it certainly did feel good to warm up those toes. Cheers and well done!!!
DS
Great report. Congrats on finishing that thing. Reading it brought flashbacks to the horror that was IMoo '06. Finishing truly was an accomplishment in its own. Hope you recover well and sign up for a race that delivers conditions that allow you to showcase your fitness.
MR
Great racing with you. Our days sound very similar.... I called your name twice on the run. The final time was around mile 17-18. You were head out toward Green Lake. I think your missed me cause I was wearing a green pull-over over my EN kit. You looked very focused!
Congrats! We made it!
@ Dino (aka David)....yes, I was not looking for a green jacket! I was looking for you, especially with only a few of us racing this thing.
@ MR....thanks.
@ Doug....hoping to continue to work on the wife to get the nod to make it IMC 2016/Whistler family vacation. You will not regret choosing this race. Truly spectacular place. Bike course is no joke though! If I can go back, I will definitely be focusing on a better w/kg ratio...
@ Jenn...Thanks. As a urologist, an owner of a penis, and an amateur long-course triathlete, I think I am qualified to comment on the directional voiding strategy (not that it's going to be useful very often!).
It actually does not really matter which direction "it" is leaning/pointed....the pee goes down the leg one is standing on! YOU TOO can be an ambidextrous voider! Left foot cold?....stand on left foot and let it go!
@ TC. Thanks. I know you hate cold, but you would just destroy the field on this course. It's not usually cold though....and CdA is not usually hot....so they moved it to August right?
@ Robin...thanks for your support and advice along the way. Looking forward to seeing you in the 50-54AG next year. Your day is coming...
@ Scott....thanks. I don't think my next one (if I can manage another one) could be much worse!
@ SS....c'mon man...you eat nails for breakfast. You'd have been like the 42y/o Russian who won...."this is not cold....Russia is cold"! I thought of you and the LP folks before the race, but I'll be honest...after that....I was thinking of myself and a warm shower and that's about it!. I'm feeling surprisingly well. Not nearly as sore as last year (got a massage at Scandinave Spa on Monday which may have helped?). I think some of it is an extra year of volume/pounding/running. Sleeping....no problem with that! Thanks for always encouraging me.
@ Chris....man, I hear you. I was truly making decisions on the ride based primarily on the fact that I just cannot crash, get disabled, get died, etc. But....that's an easy decision to make when you have no chance to KQ or podium or win some money (pros going 70mph downhill in rain/suicidal conditions)!
these IMC reports are brutal. a year of prep to have the whole tone change in a couple of days due to weather. that's a hard reality check. And, at that point, it does revert back to ground zero....it's an endurance event. Time, going faster, is why we're here and we sometimes lose sight along the training journey that just finishing something epic like an IM in these conditions, hell, any conditions, shows a ton of grit.
Loved the pics and the report. Recover well.
A race like that will make everything else you do outdoors seem tame in the future. Simply finishing, even as a 10-11 minute rockstar, is a crowning achievement. Don't ever disparage it. Years from now, you'll be saying, "I was there when ..."
Jeff - Wow! Those must have been some crazy conditions...You are tougher than me! I can't stand the cold, especially riding in the cold and i don't know if i would have finished that bike course. I do hope you have more of these crazy IM races in you! I can relate to your situation. My wife tolerates my hobby, but by no means is an avid supporter. But if you found a place she really likes and wants to go back...that sounds like a green light to me! Congrats on finishing a tough, tough race!