John Sakelaris IMLP race report
IMLP race report
My wife and I arrived Thursday afternoon after flying from Chicago
to Hartford and driving 4.5 hours to Lake Placid. Thursday evening was just unpacking the bike
and dinner. Friday morning was a
practice swim with the group where I got to meet Shaughn,
Steve, Ed and others. Registration was
next then the 4 keys talk which I enjoyed a lot. I have never been to LP before nor have I
ever cycled a descent like Keene so I had to experience that before the
race. I met up with Shaughn and Ed and
got some good advice and off I went. I
also wanted to experience the climb out of town as I don’t get a lot of sustain
climbs in Northwest Indiana. I pretty
much rode the brakes down to Keene to be sure I felt comfortable controlling my
speed. It started raining the last part
of the decent and it was quite cool. I
was shivering by the time I finished. My
wife met me at the café and we had a nice lunch.
Saturday was bike check and just hanging around. Got to bed fairly early and had a decent
night sleep. I was up around 4am had a cliff bar and banana and some coffee. My wife dropped me off near the swim
start. Ate another cliff bar around 5:30
and got ready for a warm up swim.
Everything was feeling good. I
seem to be more nervous in the days leading into the race because I worry about
getting everything in order but once that’s done I settle down pretty
well. I seeded myself between the 60’ and 70’ for
the swim.
Swim: estimated
finish between 1:05 and 1:10. Actual
finish 1:07:42.
The flow into the lake was quicker than I was
expecting. I settled in wide to the
right and just found my comfortable pace.
It seems like the first turnaround takes the longest. No issues sighting
or staying on course however my wet suit was rubbing my neck raw.
T1: 7:23.
I really need to work on that! I took too much time getting socks, arm
warmers and vest on. I don’t do well in
cold so I felt I needed the extra clothing.
Bike: estimated finish was 6 hours. Actual finish 6:11:46.
I am a super conservative cyclist. I fear crashing so I just tell myself it will
cost me a lot more time if I wreck versus riding safely. I made it through the hay bale area without a
problem and settled into a JRA pace. I
took Keene at a faster pace than my trial run but still stayed out of the bars
and feathered the brakes when necessary.
It was game on the flatter section.
My attention was focused on my power target and I felt I executed that
well. The ride from Jay to Wilmington
was interesting. Again the focus was strictly on spinning and keeping my power
within my target. Same for the climb
back to LP. I feel I executed the bike
really well. Looking at my splits I did
the first and second loop in EXACTLY the same time…. to the second. I looked at my watch and thought to myself
with a solid run a PR was definitely in order.
However, I think my hydration and nutrition execution was off….
T2: 4:07
I really need to work on that.
Run: estimated finish 4:05 to 4:15. actual 4:56:46
I went to the bathroom for the first time at the start of
the run. The run out of town was ok, my
pace a little faster than I wanted but it was downhill so I did not worry too
much about it. I was careful to keep my
effort steady on the up hills. I was
taking gator-aide every aid station and some water. Gels every 3rs station or so. Somewhere before the first turnaround my side
stiches began. I have had these before
at Louisville but I usually can get over them by slowing down and putting my
hands on my head. They really were getting
me on the uphills so I found myself walking up nearly every hill and running
the flats and downhills. It seems my
breaths were too shallow as my heart rate was rising. I’ve got to figure out what brings them on
and then have a plan to eliminate them or deal with them.
Finish: estimated
time 11:30. Actual time 12:27:40
When I crossed I got some help to a chair and had two
bottles of water. My stomach was killing
me so I did not eat any food at that time.
My wife helped me with my gear and bike and we went back to the room to
clean up. We went to eat at Lisa G’s (did
anyone else think the music was way too load there). I ordered a beer and a
steak sandwich. Took a small sip of the
beer and went to the bathroom to puke water.
I left my wife there and went back to the room to rest. About an hour later I ate a bag of chips with
water and felt better. Woke up around
1am and ate the rest of my dinner. I was
finally hungry. The slowest of my five IM’s but I can’t complain. It is a great challenging course and I would
like to give it another shot someday. We stayed in town until Tuesday so Monday
was a great day to eat and enjoy the town.
We drove up to Whiteface Mountain park and enjoyed the beautiful views.
Comments
John, I really enjoyed meeting you on Friday.
Great swim, smart bike and tough run bro! I am not sure what your pacing fitness is, your vDot or your HR exiting the bike, but side stitches could mean you are running outside of the box and just need to slow it down for them to settle a bit. This being number 5, you are somewhat experienced by now. Way to get that thing done regardless and gut it out. It did get very warm and those of us that did not hydrate sufficiently paid that price. Additionally, 85 degrees and no cloud cover can take a toll on most pacing targets.
How are your legs coming along today?
Look forward to following your future posts on Strava!
Congratulations IM!
SS
Shaughn, my legs feel fine. Heck I walked half the run hahah.. I'm going to do a local sprint this Saturday at the lake I train at for the social fun of it. I'll take it easy. I think I'm going to do the USAT Nationals at Milwaukee next weekend too. what the heck, summer and the race season is too short. Congrats on a very fine finish and race for you. you are a tough dude. I am happy to have met you and look forward to sharing experiences in the future. rock on my brother.
John - Good job toughing it out on the run. Side stitches can be brutal sometimes. The trick I've used for several decades and seems to work most of the time, has to do with 'flexing' your diaphragm. I was trying to describe when we met at the restaurant but not sure if I was being clear. Once the stitches begin, try adding an extra forceful exhale at the end of each normal exhale by using the diaphragm to quickly puff air out before your next normal inhale. The rhythmic flexing helps to dissipate the diaphragm spasms.
Was great meeting you and spending some time talking about the course.
Here are a couple of Pics Carole took of you and Ed...
Impressive swim/bike. Those side stitches sound like diaphragmatic irritation - the shallow breaths and all. But I don't know the cure or prevention. Although what I do when it happens is press in on my abdomen just below my ribs - that seems to provide some support to the diaphragm and helps ease them away. I suspect you would not have felt any worse if you had run (slowly) up the hills. But still, it sounds like you're already on to the next IM challenge.