Brett Tatum- IMWI Race Report
Ironman Wisconsin Race Report
11:13:52 (30th M25-19)
Sunday, September 13th
I woke up at 3:30, ate my breakfast of an omelet, 2 pieces
of sourdough bread with almond butter, and coffee, got in my race kit and
headed to Monona Terrace. We arrived at T1 right as they opened up at 5:00. By
5:30, I had dropped off my special needs bags, checked my bike, air up my tires
and was headed down to the swim start. All in all it was a very low stress
morning. I had time to get a 10 minute jog in to get loose. I met the team at
6:30 for the picture, got in my wetsuit and headed for the water.
Swim- 1:11:24 (61st AG)
https://www.strava.com/activities/407163944
I got in the water around 6:40 which meant I had to tread
water for 20 minutes. It seemed like they had quite a time getting everyone in
the water on time. I made my way to the left of the ski ramp and positioned myself
about halfway between the ramp and the inside buoys in the second row. It was a
relatively open area and the couple guys around me were looking to swim between
1:10-1:15. The gun went off right at 7:00 and the chaos began. It was a very
rough race from the very start. By far the most combative swim I’ve been a part
of. It wasn’t until the last quarter of the swim that I was able to find some
room for a sustained period of time. Overall, I felt like I stayed on course
outside of the last 400 yards when I didn’t not take a great path into the
finish. Given the tough conditions, I was happy with my time. I maintained a
consistent pace the entire race (1:35/100yd).
T1- 5:55
The run up the Helix was no big deal and the volunteers were
very helpful. I felt like this transition went as good as possible. I had my
shoes on the bike and that allowed me to move through much quicker than those
around me.
Bike- 5:53:49 (41st AG)
https://www.strava.com/activities/407164155
The bike started without much excitement. It was an easy
trip out of town, but everyone was going out with a bang. I knew not to follow
suit, but definitely got sucked in a bit. My watts were not crazy high but I
was about 5w higher than I wanted to be over the first 20 miles (149np). At
mile 20, I really did not feel great. Through about mile 60, my legs hurt, and
I was under my watts target of 155w, only hitting 152w for this period.
Mentally it was tough as I continued to get passed on every hill. I was doing
my best to keep watts low on the ups and hammer the downs. Around mile 60,
things started to turn around. My legs came back around and I felt strong. I
started holding around 155-165w at minimal RPE. At this point, I also starting
seeing a lot of people who passed me early and that helped a ton mentally. From
mile 60 to 100, I continued to get stronger (162w average) and started passing
people in bunches. I felt great and had to force myself to hold back at times.
Miles 100-112 were no big deal as I eased off the watts and focused on getting
ready for the run.
Nutrition on the bike went as planned outside of less fluids
due to the cooler weather. I averaged about 24oz of GE every 45min, a Pocket
Fuel every 30 miles (5 total), and a salt tab every 45 min. I didn’t experience
any GI issues and felt ready for the run.
T2- 3:53
T2 wasn’t as flawless as T1, as I left my Garmin on my bike
and lost my sunglass. One of the volunteers ran bake to my bike and got the
Garmin. That was a lifesaver.
Run- 3:58:51 (30th AG)
https://www.strava.com/activities/407163980
To start the run, my legs were not in a good place. They
were very heavy. I tried fighting through it while keeping my HR low (140bpm
target). Around mile 2 my feet started to go numb. This has happened to me
before and is very frustrating and painful. I hit a porta-potty at mile 2.5 to
“take care of business.” This 1min stopped really helped as my body seemed to
relax afterwards. I was still having trouble with my feet until mile 4.5 when I
was able to get some salt. This along with coke seemed to do the trick to get
blood flow back to them. My nutrition consisted of coke and water at every aid
station and the BASE salts throughout the run. Through mile 8, my pace was 8:48
and HR averaged 142bpm. Overall, my legs felt pretty good until mile 10 when I
started experiencing some pain in my right lower hamstring. It wasn’t
unbearable but definitely painful. For the entire run, I kept my HR around 140.
As the day drug on, it never started to climb and at points late in the race
fell all the way to 135bpm. While my legs and body overall felt good, I could
not find the motivation to pick up the pace. I started to slow slightly from
the beginning to the end, but not drastic. My pace from miles 8-18 was 8:55.
Based on my HR and my RPE, I should have picked up the pace, but I didn’t have
the mental desire to go there. I kept my HR around 140bpm and averaged pace
slowed to 9:42 from miles 18-26. I was disappointed with this run due to my
mental weakness. I didn’t have my one thing to battle through the discomfort.
Conclusion-
I was shooting for top 20 in my AG and a sub 10:30. Given
these goals, I was disappointed. This was my second IM with IM Canada 2014
being my first. With over a year of additional training, I was hoping for a more
noticeable improvement. I PR’d by a little under 1 min from Canada and finished
much lower in my AG. With that being said, I still had a great time. I just wasn’t
willing to dig deep and dive into the pain cave. And that is reflected in my
results. I’m planning on taking all of 2016 off from IM and focus on 70.3 to
get stronger and faster. I look forward to getting back into fulls in 2017.
Comments
Brett,
Nothing weak about a 11:13 finish on a tough course.
A sub- 4 hour marathon after a solid swim and bike is Ironman stuff and requires not only a solid fitness base but a lot of mental strength to pull that off.
Taking some time off is usually a smart thing to allow for a well deserved break, perspective and growth.
Maybe that's not the performance you had in your mind, but setting tall goals is not bad thing either as they usually stretch us.
Congrats on a well executed number 2 Ironman!
SS