Evan's IMLP 2015 RR
IMLP 2015
This was my first IM so aside from the plan and guidance from teammates, I didn't have much radar going into the clouds in terms of what to expect. I also kept my goals modest i.e. to finish, execute according to plan, and have a good first IM experience.
Pre-Race:
After the excitement of having to replace my bike two weeks before the race, by comparison, I had a very low stress race week. I used the checklists for packing which (pleasantly) helped off-load my brain; arrived in Lake Placid late Wednesday and grabbed the groceries I would need for the next few days.
I may have even lingered in the Oreo aisle.
Allegedly.
One lesson learned from accompanying the EN Sleeper Cell crew last year was how getting into town early can really make a difference - and it did again this year - everything race related felt relaxed. I breezed through the race admin on Thursday without having to wait in line; support crew arrived that night, and over the next couple days I was able to get in the pre-race swim / bike / run's at my leisure. Capped it off with the team dinner - I really do love our team, so many friendly and good-hearted folks! - and the set up of drinks at 5pm, (prepaid) dinner at 6pm made for a another relaxed evening.
The 4 Keys talk on Friday was a great refresher and chance to go over my race plan one more time. Saturday morning I indulged in a decadent pancake breakfast, then checked in the bike and gear bags. Spent most of the rest of the afternoon relaxing since I had already packed my BSN, RSN and morning clothes bags. The only worry I had at this point was that perhaps there must be something wrong with me - should I really be this calm the day before an IM? I drifted in and out of sleep, glancing expectantly at the clock every time I got up to go to the bathroom.
Race Morning:
I woke up 3:45 Sunday morning and had my normal race day breakfast at 4:00. Arrived at transition area on schedule for 5:00 and had a very smooth morning prep checking gear bags, setting up my bike. Gave me a chance to step back, breathe it all in and take those mental snapshots of the race morning experience. Team pic, hugs, "good luck's", and then a short warm-up swim before lining up in the corral. I felt dialed in and ready to go.
And there may have been dancing.
Allegedly.
There's that almost magical moment, that second or so right before the national anthem when the music is paused and the crowd becomes quiet; you're already strapped in to your mental cockpit, and that moment gives you a brief escape for quiet reflection. The goal I carried around with me the last year was to get to this moment feeling ready - not cocky - but just... ready. So, that feeling, that wave of gratitude I felt in that moment, thinking of the innumerable small acts of kindness I experienced along the way, the people that encouraged me, supported me, helped me get to that moment in time... well, that's something I'll be carrying with me for a long time.
And then the cannon went off.
Swim: 1:13xx
My swim was pretty much on plan. I lined up to the center-left and settled in to my relaxed pace and form. In order to keep from getting caught up in the excitement of the start, I tried to visualize being a whale swimming among a pod of dolphins - pretty sure that's what it might have looked like from shore, too. There was a bit of contact from time to time, and I occasionally had to correct to get away from the odd log jam, but otherwise the swim was uneventful. Between loops, took the gel that I had tucked into my wetsuit, back into the water to that familiar time warp feeling of 'this is taking forever yet is over in the blink of an eye'. A brief yet exciting visit to the strippers, and I was off and running to T1.
T1: 8:23
Not too bad, but still needs work. There was no single single time-suck, but it felt as though everything took longer than it should have. Not much seating available in the tent, but found a spot near the exit door where I could get set up; put on shoes, grabbed a volunteer to help me with arm coolers and spray on sunscreen. Without meaning to, the volunteer also coated my sunglasses with sunscreen, so I lost a minute getting the lenses clean. Grabbed my helmet and out the door. No volunteer available to grab my bike, but I had scoped out landmarks and didn't waste any time finding it on the rack. Would like to get this down to under 5 mins for the next race.
Bike: 6:17xx
The bike was on target with some adjustments from plan. I stayed squarely in my power zones while monitoring my HR. Right off the bat, I noticed my HR was 10-15 bpm higher than normal, certainly out of line with my PE and power output - something I had not experienced before. Concerned, I adjusted and reset my heart rate monitor (it's a Mio wristband, sometimes reads high if not positioned properly). No change. The only other possibility left in my mind was overheating; at 220lbs, I had planned on dealing with the inevitable heat issues as the day warmed up, but not this early. I'm guessing, but I think my body was trying to shed the retained heat from the swim.
I monitored my HR and when it was still reading high even after the descent into Keene*, I made the decision to drop my power targets by 20w and started the cooling protocol as soon as I was able to grab water bottles from the next aid station. Started dousing my head and body with water every 10-15 minuets. To anybody watching from the sidelines, I must have looked like a rain shower on wheels. But it seemed to work. Over the course of the first lap, my HR drifted back down to expected levels, even as the sun came out and things got steamy, and I cautiously nudged my output back up to my targets.
Other than that, I was feeling strong and steady and had a good ride, all things considered (stats: NP 202 (original target 217), IF .65, TSS 267), but the downside of this mini-drama was that I wasn't getting enough hydration in. I put an emphasis on proper hydration during training, so I was getting concerned when I hadn't peed by the end of loop one. I was maxing out my intake but I still felt as though I was playing catch up - I only peed once the entire ride - which concerned me going into the run as the day kept getting warmer.
* Descent into Keene - topped out at 56 mph - was surprised to see on Strava that that puts me in 4th for all time fastest descent, just .6 mph away from JW's record (holy cow!!). It does make me smile to see two EN'rs in the all time top 5, though.
T2: 5:45
Better than T1, but still room for improvement. Quick change of shoes, got a volunteer to help adjust/roll down my arm coolers to prevent chafing, and re-applied sunscreen. Volunteer (same dude?) managed to spray my sunglasses with sunscreen, again. My fault for not getting them out of the way. Will put more stuff in my Go Bag next time to save time.
Run: 5:22xx
Not a run for the record books. Based on the heat and knowing that I was going into the run under-hydrated, I was extremely conservative with my pace and immediately switched to Plan B (walk the steep pitches of the big hills to keep HR down). Loop 1 was ok, hit every aid station according to plan (douse the arm coolers, douse head and body, refill ice, gatorade, douse head and body again). I also followed the advice Coach P shouted at me from the run start to grab ice (thanks for that, btw). Every mile was a routine of moving the ice bag around and pouring the melt water over my head, punctuated by aid stations. Despite my best efforts, I could feel that I was still gradually overheating and dehydrating. As loop 2 progressed, I found I had to dig deeper and deeper just to keep running, until wammo - hit that dark place (right on schedule!) just before mile 18. I actually had to resist the temptation to kick the mile 18 marker into the ditch as I went by.
The next three miles or so was a suffer-fest of walk/runs. But I guess being on the ropes is not the same as being on the mat. At each aid station, I took in as much fuel as I could and tried to cool myself as much as possible (true story - an aid station volunteer asked if I wanted soap with that shower). These efforts started to pay off as the extra fuel started kicking in and I was able to start dropping the extra short walk breaks and get back into the groove. I wasn't going to shatter any speed records, but I was running steady again, and the feeling of bouncing back from those dark miles really helped my spirits. I was also lifted by the teammates I saw along the way, partly from words of encouragement as we passed, but more so from seeing what strong races everybody seemed to be having despite the tough conditions.
As I rounded into the oval, I glanced over my shoulder and saw there was only one person, right behind me. l stopped to hug and high-5 the support crew - which allowed the other runner to pass and have their finish - and also gave me the finishing chute all to myself. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect finish: Mike Reilly calling out my name as I crossed the line under the finish arch.
Perfect, just perfect.
Total time: 13:07:33
Reflection:
I know the RR is an opportunity to document and identify areas for improvement, so I've focused on that. All things considered, though, I had a fantastic first IM and hit the goals I had set for myself (be ready, finish in the daylight). It's no coincidence that I'm smiling in almost all the pictures from that day, and with the exception for a short time around mile 18, I felt strong and steady the whole way. I really couldn't ask for more.
Lessons Learned:
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You can't argue with physics: long-course tri favours the light. Heat retention, hydration, all of my concerns in these areas can be reduced by transitioning my body comp to be leaner and lighter.
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Support from family and teammates is invaluable. Plan accordingly and don't leave this to the last minute.
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The training really works. I mean, of course I was sore after the race, but my body didn't feel destroyed and I avoided injury - this is huge.
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Deal with retained heat and dehydration from the long swim right away. I think if I had identified the issued sooner, dialed back my output on the bike earlier, I would not have run the engine as hot or for as long at a higher HR during the bike. This will be the foundation for what I hope will be significant gains on the run.
Comments
Evan,
Glad I got to meet you and speak with you at CAMP. Hard to do that effectively at the race given everything going. You had a great day and executed very well all around in my opinion bro. No way I could muster up enough courage to ride a bike 56 mph down hill! I made need to borrow that third testicle sometime....... lol.
Congratulations on racing smart, adjusting as the day went on and moving it across the finish line with style!
SS
Congratulations Ironman! You had a great first IM! I think you nailed your execution plan, made smart decisions on the bike with your HR, was prepared for that dark place and bounced back on the run. Well done! Good luck with the next IM.
You did an awesome job managing your day. Seemed to be constantly aware of if something was a little bit off, to work on fixing it and not waiting for it to just go away. That consistency is king....even if you kept getting assistance the "King of Sunscreen"...LOL. Funny that the same dude did that both times.
It should be an example to a lot of others, and myself, that keeping things in the days leading up to the race as stress free as possible can pay huge dividends on race day.
Thank you for having such a calm demeanor out there, it really helped me when I saw you on the first loop of the run and I felt like I was melting. You had your plan of just trying to keep cool and you were moving along pretty well. It took a few more miles to sink into my head that everyone was dealing with it, and I needed to just mentally manage it a lot better.
Congratulations and good luck moving forward to IM Wisconsin.
John.