Kane's IMChoo Race Report
I thought getting a race report out in less than a week was pretty timely, but evidently many of my teammates were way ahead of me. Also thought I would be tired of junk food by now, but that's not the case either. Just had a couple of donuts at work. Anyway, here it is - thanks again to everyone.
Background: First IM. Never done a 70.3, or Olympic distance tri before. Prior to the IM Choo training camp, the longest run of my life was 13.1 miles. Lack of experience – absolutely. Unprepared – with this team? Absolutely not. With the training plan/camp, coaches, fabulous marketing director, and the unlimited help from all you teammates, this was the most prepared I have been for any event of any distance
Swim (goal <2:20 – actual 1:03).<span> I decided from the beginning to wear a wetsuit. I am a poor swimmer, don’t own a swim skin thing, and water temps less than 80F are cold to me. If I overheat in the wetsuit it just means I was trying too hard. I jump in and immediately can’t even find the box to put my head in. For 200 / 300 meters I was worried about everything I couldn’t control (looking for the orange halfway buoys – nope not seeing them, not seeing any island or bridges, just a boat that looked really far away, why I am not feeling this rushing current, etc.) I swam over to a kayak, asked permission to hang on, and spent 15-20 seconds getting my head on straight. After that it was all good. Just put my head down and keep swimming. Soon enough there are some orange buoys,bridges to swim under, then the red buoy and out.
T1 – 6:27 – pretty uneventful. Got the wetsuit off easy and picked up my bag which only had my shoes in it. Trotted with bike and shoes in hand until the mount line and off we go.
Bike (goal 6:33 based on training camp ride – actual 6:18). Heart rate was over 160 coming out of T1, had to ride nice and easy until it came down. I can’t believe how accurate the coach’s description of what everyone else would be doing was. Folks were literally hammering up the overpass before we even got out of town. I could hear frames flexing and bottom brackets creaking on every hill. I got passed by hundreds of people. It was refreshing to see a few EN jerseys to help ensure me that I wasn’t doing this ride completely wrong. By halfway my average heart rate was 143, and I just kept the same effort level going for lap #2. On the second lap a lot less crowed and the crowd is literally going backwards now – the coaches are correct again. Finished the ride with an average HR of 142. Like others have mentioned, power a little low and HR a tad high compared to training, but oh well. Feel good getting off the bike. I have never peed on my bike before, but I lost count of how many times I peed on my bike this ride. It was about once every 10 miles.
T2 – 4:03 nothing special to report. Socks and shoes on, grab go bag and get moving – even if I am going slowly.
Run (goal 5:00, actual 5:10). Again, folks flying by me for the first few miles. I’m not sure if these are fast folks on lap #2 or folks just going too fast. I don’t let it bother me. HR was a little high on the first out section on the highway. This was the only time I felt the sun/heat on the day. I made sure too cool off and keep the pace nice and easy. Coming back on the riverwalk there was some shade and the heart rate was back to about 145. I actually heard 2 guys talking to each other, “I know the saying, hero on the bike, zero on the run, but I don’t think I over biked.” This was as they were walking at mile 6 – coaches correct again!! My HR was able to rise throughout the run even as my pace slowed. Ended with an average HR of 153 for the run with the last few miles being the highest of the day. Very motivational to see other EN athletes out on the run course. I also peed at least 4 times on the run course. Only nutritional issue on the day was drinking some cold/fizzy coke about mile 17-18. Half the coke I got towards the end of the race was warm and flat, but some cups were cold and fizzy. Had to make sure to swish the cold stuff around in my mouth before swallowing to let the bubbles get out before swallowing them.
Overall goal 13:00 plus or minus a few minutes, actual 12:41:58. Big thank you to everyone on the team. Pretty sure I would not have made it to the start line (much less the finish) without all the support. Super fun day, new friends made for sure. Looking forward to the out season, but not sure about another full any time soon. It may have to wait until the kids are a little more grown and my presence won’t be missed around the house so much. Thanks again to all of you.
Comments
Enjoy the junk and accomplishment of the day. You EARNED it IRONMAN!!!
Congrats and it's always valuable to gain confidence from the mistakes being made around you by other athletes!
"My HR was able to rise throughout the run even as my pace slowed. Ended with an average HR of 153 for the run with the last few miles being the highest of the day." Can I say I'm so jealous of those sentences??? That's the way to do it, man! Exactly like Coach Ps webinar on running by HR. So excited for you!
I am super excited that both of our races were executed as we planned. When I saw you on the bike course you were definitely in ninja execution mode. Unfortunately, I never saw you execute on the run because you stayed ahead of me the whole time.
Great result! Great year of training! and I'll let you know when we are signing up for the next one