Scott Giljum IMWI 2015 RR-I hope you have a comfortable seat!
Build Up
I started this year back in October of last. I asked Patrick what his thoughts were on
what I should do to basically make me the competitor I wanted to be. We came up with a plan, but it was largely
made up of the following: Run durability work, January Volume Camp, OS, bike
focus, IM training. First, for those
interested, the JVC was a great camp that certainly taught me a few things and
helped build my fitness as well as relationships within EN. I won’t go into all the numbers from this
structure, but just know that I ran and biked A LOT of miles in the past year. As I got into the IM build I also had a few
early wake up calls (Strava was calling them night rides I started so early) to make sure I could get
in the work before work. My fitness felt
good, though I was fatigued due to work load, so rest was a focus at the end.
Race
Week
I arrived in Madison on Wednesday night and did a
quick run to shake out the 5.5 hour drive.
Thursday I hung out, checked in, and then due to weather (at least from
what it looked like) I just drove the bike course with no riding on it. Later that day I did a quick half hour to
make sure the bike was in working order.
Friday I did a quick swim and felt really good. I went to the 4 keys to get locked in and
then a quick run before the big meals started.
Saturday I waited a while to check in my bags and bike and then
basically hung out with my family until it was time to go to sleep. I had not slept well all week, and that night
was no exception unfortunately.
Game Day
I woke up early for my applesauce, protein powder,
banana combo and then tried to lay back down.
In my RR I had been able to fall back asleep for a bit. Today it was not happening. I eventually got up, showered and applied
lube to various places to help prevent the wear of the day from being overly
painful. I woke my wife up and we headed
to transition. Once there I got marked,
added some beet mix to my run bag, and got my bike ready. I then headed to the team picture.
Swim-1:03.XX
(183 OA, 36 Div)
I wanted to get in early and warm up, but the
crowd slowly working its way into the water didn’t let that happen. I wasn’t going to let that bother me so I
worked on moving around my shoulders a bit in the water before the cannon went
off. I seeded myself near the front and
felt ready to go. Once the cannon went,
I tried to tuck in behind some feet, but I have to say I felt like I dealt with
a lot more contact this year than last.
It took some time to get settled in, and even when I did, I would find
another group that wanted to swim through me.
All in al,l the swim was pretty frustrating and before I exited the
water I was afraid I had put up a pretty bad time. Given where I wanted to be, it still was, but
it was pretty much in line with last year.
I was frustrated by that as I was looking for under an hour, but given
the rough go I had, I just took it and moved on. I did force myself to pee before I exited the
water (still pulling, but no kick) to save myself a quick need on the
bike. That I will continue as it helped
me settle in (more to come next).
T1-6:49
T1 was fairly uneventful. I found the biggest guys I could see, hit the
deck and they ripped off the wetsuit. I
ran up the helix and got my 920xt fired up (I did not use it on the swim). I noticed my HR was pretty high as I went up
the helix (around 150-155) so I knew to be careful there. In the change area, I just grabbed and put on
my lid and headed to the bike. I have
never gone with my shoes already clipped in, so this was new, but it worked out
just fine.
Bike-5:36.01
(120 OA, 28 Div), NP-192, AP-178, VI-1.078
As you can see in the numbers, my VI was way too
high. A few thoughts on that as we
go. First though, I got on the bike with
the intent of dropping my HR to around 120.
It proved to be pretty sticky at the start, so that was a
challenge. I had planned on the first
8-10 miles working it down and keeping it down.
Though it started slow, I did get it down. The second part of my plan was to drink the
two bottles of GE I put on my bike before the first aid station around mile
13. I also did that with no problem,
though it was key that it was part of the plan because I know if I had not
already thought that through I would have been happy to pedal along without
drinking much. I broke the bike up into
a few key parts with the stick first. My
main focus was on Whalen and not overcooking the hills there while still making
sure I took advantage of the downs. Over
that part of the course, my power was low and HR averaged 127. A tick high but given the low temps, I
thought it a gamble worth taking. I did
break the loop up into sections as well, and my power on avg for the first loop
was 183 with HR of 131, the second loop was avg 186 with HR of 133. The stick back home was avg 165 with HR of
132. So those are the numbers, but how
did I feel? I felt good and strong
through most of the ride but was certainly ready for the end when it came. I ate every 50 minutes and drank at least one
bottle of GE between every aid station.
I forced down two for the first two aid stations to make sure I was
overly hydrated at the start as that had been key to me to feeling strong
towards the end of my training rides. I
did go pee on the bike 4 times, fairly evenly spaced across the course with the
last one on the stick home so that I wouldn’t have to once I started running. Both my NP and AP were higher than I had truly
targeted, but the HR had basically settled in where I thought I would set up a
good run. I still need to work on the VI
to smooth things out, but this course proved difficult for me to do that with.
T2-3:40
I ran in with a slight cramp in my right foot
(this typically happens on the long rides for me so I wasn’t worried), sat
down, put on socks and shoes and started moving again. I ate a banana and drank the beet juice mix I
had stuck in my bag on the way out the door.
I put on my bib number and hat and was ready to go.
Run-3:45.44
(94 OA, 19 Div)
In getting ready for the race, I had thought about
using the run as a weapon to pull people back to me. To set that up I needed to ease in though, so
my target was to get my HR down again to 125-130 over the first 6 miles and
then let it climb to 130. I had thought
that would give me splits about 8-8:30 based on previous runs. As with the bike, I had a hard time getting
my HR to settle in over the first 6 but it finally did, though it seemed to be
happier at 130 than 125. My splits were
a bit slower, but factoring in 10 walking steps at each aid station, I will
call it about even. At mile six is
Observatory Hill. It always hurts. Going through it the first time, I could tell
I was not in that “running all day is going to feel awesome!” zone. I was shifting into stuff hurts and the only
way out of this is the finish line zone.
This could have been because I was racing more this year than in the
past, or it could have been because I went harder on the bike than I should
have, but either way, it was here and I needed to deal with it. The net of it all was that pushing up to 8:00
miles likely wasn’t going to happen, so I worked on maintaining and pushing
where I could. I eat a gel block every
mile, and based on past history I knew these would not be going down at some
point in the race. I think it was a bit
earlier this year than last, but by mile 15 I knew that was the last one of
those I would have. I also had been
thinking about having an answer to Observatory Hill on lap two. It hits right after mile 18, so after I
fought through it, I start trying to race with whatever I had left. It was at the next aid station I decided to
go with Coke as well as GE. While it
wasn’t quite the magical elixir I had heard it was for others, it did make me
feel at least a little bit better.
Unlike last year I did not have a person to hunt in those last few
miles. Instead I was just using
landmarks and not letting my mind go too dark.
I did use more than one thing along the way, but I will say the thing I
kept saying to myself was “I will not let my daughter see me screw this up!”,
as well as “putting up crappy last miles is completely unacceptable”, and the
like to keep the pegs pumping. I will
say I never really did feel good on the run but never fully thought about
stopping. I was able to hold right
around the 8:30 the whole time, which was stronger than previous efforts, but
not as strong as I thought I was capable of.
Overall-10:36.03
My swim was a few seconds slower than my PR, my
bike was a 26 minute PR and the run was a 9 minute PR. I was faster than last year (my previous PR)
by about 38 minutes. All in all I was
very happy with the results as a validation of the work put in. I was looking for a 10 handle and got it. I
finished in the top 100 OA and top 20 in my age group, both solid numbers. I still have some execution items to iron
out. I would like to continue to
emphasize run durability as it made me faster this year as well as gave me the
“stuff” I needed at the end of the run.
I need to work on the bike, from both a raw power perspective as well as
a better handler, etc.
Thank
you’s
I would be remiss to not give a number of thank
you’s after this adventure. First is to
my wife and daughter. The sacrifices
made by them to allow me to do as much as I do for my “hobby” is something I
can never pay back, though I will try my best.
My wife in particular may not fully understand the insanity that she
married, but tolerates more of it than any sane person should. My parents have come to every IM I have raced
in and their support is also incredible.
Thanks to Patrick and Rich for guiding me through another year. The knowledge of those two combined with many
of the EN folks I have learned from this year still blows me away.
What’s
Next
Next for me is I am going to Kona…for vacation, in
December. Jokes aside, that vacation
will be nice and I am still putting together the pieces of next year. Thanks for reading and any feedback would be
very much appreciated.
Comments
Came to compete! congrats on the big PR and enjoy that vacay.
Scott,Great job and a great day. Your family must be very proud!
That's a super job, 38 min improvement split between bike and run at that level of performance is something you can be very proud of. Take your well-deserved rest.
Scott, congrats on a fantastic race. It was great training with you at the JVC, following your work on Strava all year, then tracking your progress last weekend. Top 20 in your brutal AG and sub-11 at Moo are simply outstanding results. I think you're right to keep the focus on the bike going forward. You've got the S/R to compete at the top end, but it's that 4.1+ w/kg that will allow you to impose your will on 98% of the AG. As for your swim, you probably had the engine to go sub-60. If you've ever watched the Moo start from the top of the helix, it's amazing how many packs get formed very quickly, with a few going fast and straight; others going left, right or both; and even more that look like they're going nowhere. It was after watching a few of those mass starts from above when I realized I either had to get lucky with the pack that formed around me or form my own pack. Sounds easier said than done, and it's probably only realistic for those whose swim threshold speed is below 1:25/100yds. Assuming you have the speed and endurance (you do), I strongly believe that the key to a fast swim split is the tactics employed during those first 500-1,000 yards. For me, that means I must be in the front row within 20-30 yards of the start buoy, the only goal being to beat 3,000 people to that first buoy, then to the second. If you can survive to the third buoy, most of the overzealous folks will be gone, 3,000 others will be behind beating the crap out of each other, and you are likely to find yourself in a group of strong, steady, straight swimmers. From there, the swim gets quiet and really fun. If I start behind the front row or any wider, then my first 1,000 yards (at least) are almost certainly going to be dictated by others. Of course, it's just the swim, the warm-up to the real race.
Congrats again. Looking forward to seeing what you can do in '16.
Enjoy the down time and Hawaii....will be good to relax with the family. Drop me a line to let me know what you have on the cards for next year...would love to hear how you are doing and see you BREAK that 10.xx mark. ;-)