EB IMChoo RR
Emily Brinkley - Ironman Chattanooga Race Report
FTP: 201
VDOT: 42
WEIGHT: 58 kg/129
TIME: ACTUAL:
Swim: 1:07:00 1:00:56
T1 – 00:04:00 00:4:45
BIKE: 5:59:00 6:14:20
T2 – 00:03:00 00:2:36
RUN: 4:29:00 4:36:59
Total: 11:42:00 11:59:36
Pre-race fun:
The Tuesday after my final race rehearsal, my Stages power meter decided to stop working. I immediately started looking at my options. We switched my road bike Stages out, tested it out, which also decided to not cooperate. My LBS jumped on the phone to Boulder, and Wednesday before the race I had a brand new, just built for me, Stages PM on my bike. I threw the bike on a trainer to make sure readings were correct before driving to Choo on Thursday.
Friday:
Crosby and I drove down to meet teammate John H to ride for an hour. It hadn’t rained in Chattanooga in over 2 months, and the moment we got to the city, it didn’t stop raining for 48 hours. We decided to bag the bike since it wasn’t worth taking a chance on getting injured that close to race day.
Saturday:
Ironkids was awesome. Afterwards we went out for our big breakfast before heading back to the hotel to grab our transition bags. Since I had yet to take my bike out and double check my readings (again, because it never stopped raining,) I was getting a bit worried about not knowing what would happen with my power on race day. Mike and I decided we would loop a few times around the hotel before heading to transition check in. The PM calibrated immediately and seemed to be reading fine. Checked everything in and headed back to hotel for movies, pretzels, fig newtons, and Perform.
Sunday:
Woke up at 3:00am and started eating. Grabbed the shuttle to Aquarium around 4:15. Got to transition and again, it had rained all night. I chose not to cover my bike the night before since I had not planned on it i.e. I forgot to bring bags before dropping my bike off. First thing I did was turn my Garmin on and calibrate. 874. Perfect. Set everything else up, headed for TeamEN pic, and jumped on the bus to swim with Morning Clothes Bag.
The swim line was crazy long. Luckily, we ran into a few local teammates who invited us to park it with them. The porta potty lines were insane. It took at least an hour and a half just to pee. 7:20 pro start cannon went off. Everyone started standing up and getting ready. The line began to move. I was impressed with the rolling start, (although it can play with your head when you start racing.) Pretty sure I was in the water about 7:36am.
Swim. (GOAL: 1:07:00 ACTUAL: 1:00:56)
Everyone was talking about the current. Will it be fast? Will they “turn down the flow?” I could have cared less. For me, the swim was the swim. Once I got going, I guess I was anticipating feeling a bit more of a push from the so called almighty current. Not so much. I felt like I was swimming backwards. It seemed like forever to get to the half way point, and I was swimming way too hard. Reminded myself to chill out. Head in box. Count stokes. I was also counting on not having to sight very often since all I had to do was swim in a straight line down a river until a red buoy. Yea, that was dumb. Pretty sure I lost a minute because of my poor lines. Almost swam right into a large red river tank thingy… and then found myself right outside of #8 yellow. I started on the far right if that is any indication how well I swam straight since the buoys were all on our left. Yellow went to orange which is when I decided to stop being stoopid and sight every 3-5 strokes. This helped, but the river got a bit choppy closer to the bridges and I was taking in mouth/nose fulls of water. Inhaled it once and had to stop and cough it out. Orange turned to red and it was a mad dash to the stairs.
I had no idea where I was timewise. Didn’t wear my watch, and thought I could figure it out based on time. It took me a while to settle into this swim, and I felt like I went a bit too hard.
T1: (GOAL: 00:04:00 ACTUAL: 00:4:45)
Decent run up to the bags. I thought the stairs would be a bit more hectic than they were. Started running up the ramp, unzipped swimskin, cap and goggles off. Grabbed my bag and ran into the tent. Turned down help from volunteer and went to the very last chair by the exit to get shoes, helmet and glasses on. Took about 10 steps out of the exit when I realized I had my swim skin on still… idiot. Luckily I knew where my bag was and since nobody helped me with anything, it was still where I left it. Shoes off, skin off, shoes back on, OUT. Grabbed my bike and ran to bike mount. I noticed my HR was about 156 at this point. VERY high for me. Like solid Z4.
Bike. (GOAL: 5:59:00 ACTUAL: 6:14:20)
With all the work I had put in this season in addition to riding this course twice at camp, I was ready. Headed out BOC zone I still noticed my HR NOT recovering. It took about 20 miles in until it was back down in the 1teens, where I normally am after my swim RR. Yet every time I would try to hit my target watts, my HR would jump up into the 130’s. Of course this made me think it was the new power meter, and I immediately did not trust it. I pulled over at about mile 10 to try and re-calibrate just incase. Same reading 874. I had Coach R in my head saying to watch those heartbeats since I would need them later on in the race. I decided to screw the PM reading, keep my HR in check and not allow it to go over 130, only using the PM when I climbed the hills. I also ate more than planned and stayed on top of my hydration to make sure it wasn’t high because of that. Launched my extra bottle of Gatorade Endurance right before the first aid station. Luckily it didn’t matter too much. I pee’d 6x on the bike… an artform I have yet to figure out. I’d get pissed (no pun) every time I had to pee because I’d have to stop pedalling to relax… also say outloud “waterfall, waterfall, waterfall” until I could finally go.
I know. I’m special.
Overall, I went into defense mode straight from the bat. I tried to be smart, reminding myself to wait for the run. Patience. It became a should versus could bike for me. A tad disappointed because right now bike is my strength, but my overall goal was to RUN WELL. Garmin file says I rode at .64 IF with a 1.04 VI -- Avg HR was 127 (10 beats higher than I’m used to seeing)
T2. (GOAL: 00:03:00 ACTUAL: 00:2:36)
Felt great running off the bike. My legs were there within minutes of running down the chute for my bag. Again, ran in the tent, refused any help, sat in the last chair and put socks and shoes on, grabbed GO bag, OUT. I had to pee… again. The line was too long so I kept going.
Run. (GOAL: 4:29:00 ACTUAL: 4:36:59)
In all of my long runs, I try to target 120’s for HR knowing I could let it sneak to 130’s later on. Tried to run SLOW for the first 6 miles. HR stayed in check, splits were 30+ sec off of what I was running in training. Finally broke down and pee'd at mile 4 in a porta pot. I have yet to master the other art form of running and peeing myself. I walked the aid stations, only counting 15 steps and started running. Ate a gel or block every 2 miles, drank GE every aid station until about mile 15.
Then I met my line.
BACK UP>>> This is only my 3rd marathon. One in IMTX, and one stand alone where I had no idea what the hell I was doing. In BOTH of these previous marathons I’ve had GI issues.
CONT…
Because of my past, I had a few demons floating around me about whether or not to eat anything else. I could tell I was crashing, my stomach was getting a bit queasy, and I was afraid if I ate another GU, I was done. I decided to start sipping coke, water, and use BASE salts. 2 licks at first. Still kept running though my splits were getting slower and HR was dropping. It became mile repeats at this point. Coke was making me sick, so after the 2nd time up the hill at Barton before the Country Club, (about mile 22) I forced myself to take another caffeinated GU with water. Those last two aid stations were more like 45 steps I think… But I was bound and determined to run that last hill up Barton, plus my kid was waiting at the finish for me so we could have cupcakes for his birthday!
So I ran. Kinda. Nevermind the tall dude walking the last hill faster than I was running it. My goal for the ENTIRE race was right there. RUN that hill. I knew I was homebound at the top. I could tell the GU was starting to help and I went into survival mode to the finish. When I made the turn to the finish line, some chicken head in my age group tried to pass me. RIght then and there my sprinter legs showed up and I was off to catch her. And I did.
Could have used those suckers at about mile 20.
Overall I am thrilled with my day. I still feel very green when it comes to endurance running; learning what my body is telling me, what I can handle, how much I can push. This race feels like a launching pad for my 2016 season. I’m more aware of what this distance takes and how to execute it properly. There was a fire lit inside of me when I crossed that finish line and I can’t wait to recover and get back to work.
Comments
Sub 12 and, more importantly, a break through race in terms of maturity!
Thanks for sharing that and congratulations on an awesome time/performance! Work Works EB!
SS
In all of our training, I knew this was the race that you had in you. You were much more confident with the EN style this time around, and you didn't let other groups or people sidetrack the way you trained. You had your head in the game for this one, and you got me out on many days when I didn't really feel like doing anything. Your determination and preparation showed on Sunday. Kudos on a great race on a challenging course!
EB,
So proud of you. Simply a fantastic accomplishment. I know you had plenty of doubts and worries a week out, but hopefully this result will help eliminate some of them and reinforce the fact that there's really no ceiling for you at this distance. HR is always high early on the bike, and bike watts are almost always a bit lower on race day (following a taper and a really hard one-hour effort in the water). From my perspective, your #1 priority for next year should be to build run durability and stay healthy. Like Choo, Louisville is an "easy" swim that should free up a little training time to hone your strength (riding in hills) and develop some serious run toughness. I would encourage you to reach out to P and build a plan that incorporates run durability, Blue Ridge, and (presumably) Raleigh and a few more races, leading to 'Ville next October. Even though that race doesn't suit me, I recognize the fact that I'll likely get Brinked and find myself swimming through the Ohio River sewage with you next fall.
MR