@Everybody- Thank You so much for the kind words..
@Jeremy- There will be NO KONA 2016 for me... Only ONE IM next year and I just signed up for IMMD, then headed to IMLOU for Heather.... Now why don't we plan on 2017 (my next AG) ? Hopefully our paths will cross before that... I think my goal will be to win the Transitions when I do go back...
@Matt- diagnose cause and lessons learned? Sadly the short answer is I don't know... I've gone over my IM data ... I've started 13 IM's and finished 12... I would classify 3 of them as BAD and 10 good... Training, taper, diet, race nutrition has been very similar thru all 13 IM's... The 3 bad were IMCOZ (dnf) and last 2 KONA's... Looking for common threads of the 3 bad IM's....They all had the same symptoms of some kind of stomach, lower abdomen, lower back, side stitch, cramp, unable to lower core body temp, RPE sky high......I've discussed this with the Doc twice and will revisit this year as well ... Commonalities were : 1. All no wetsuit saltwater swims.... But I have done very well at IMFL saltwater wetsuit swim twice. 2. All hot/humid/windy.... But I have done very well @ IMTX, IMLOU, 1st KONA, and Boston Marathon on some of the hottest races at those locations. 3. IMCOZ and the first bad KONA I had checked in on race day @ 117-118lbs causing many including you I believe to ask if I may have been too light... This year I checked in @ 121lbs KONA race day...
Not an easy game to figure out!
@Clark- thanks for T1 data.... yes please to excel file timcronk@gmail.com
@Paul- I have never had a muscle cramp... I do eat pickles, sauerkraut, mustard, vinegar and other things thought to "possibly" pre-vent cramping on a regular basis... In fact Heathers new thing is pouring the leftover pickle juice from a jar into our Jug of V8... actually very good...But have never had the need during a race... Those leg cramps I had were the closest I have come to anything resembling muscle cramps.... Having said all that drinking pickle juice in a race certainly isnt going to hurt me and I think I will actually try it @ IMAZ... After I try some over the next couple weekends :-)
@Paul...Several reasons... The Chesapeakeman was the first Iron Distance I ever really considered before coming to EN.... Its drivable for me around 9hrs ( I much prefer driving than flying to an event).... The time of year is perfect at the beginning of Oct (although I wish they left it in Sept).... Its flat and fast and even though everyone says those are for absolute wattage guys over high w/kg guys like me I have tended to do well on flat courses IMTX/IMFL... The flat and fast offers the potential for an IM PR for me, IMFL is my current PR at 9:39 and after 7 years of training I believe my peak speed is fast approaching that age ceiling...So I figure I have a couple more shots to set another IM PR being IMAZ and IMMD.... I told Heather even if I KQ at IMAZ , I won't do KONA in 2016 , so you can pick any IM you want and I'll do it with you.... She said OK IMLOU.... I said anything but IMLOU I have already done it twice and hate the fact they moved it to OCT... Which of course exactly the reason she wanted to , as she is smart enough to not do it in Aug.... So the plan is drive 9hrs to IMMD from NH , then 10hrs to IMLOU , then 15hrs home over the course of 2.5 weeks and we both have sherpa's... With any luck I can KQ IMMD next year in the top of the AG @ 54 and go to KONA racing in the 55.... Back up would be IMTX 2017 which again kinda sucks since they moved it into April!
Tim, sorry you didn't have the day you wanted. Way to stick it out and get the job done. Breaking 12 at Kona in those conditions is still pretty awesome! Thanks for always sharing your knowledge and raising the bar for the rest of us. It's definitely been a lot of fun following your training and racing this year. I foresee some revenge in AZ!
Comments
@Jeremy- There will be NO KONA 2016 for me... Only ONE IM next year and I just signed up for IMMD, then headed to IMLOU for Heather.... Now why don't we plan on 2017 (my next AG) ? Hopefully our paths will cross before that... I think my goal will be to win the Transitions when I do go back...
@Matt- diagnose cause and lessons learned? Sadly the short answer is I don't know... I've gone over my IM data ... I've started 13 IM's and finished 12... I would classify 3 of them as BAD and 10 good... Training, taper, diet, race nutrition has been very similar thru all 13 IM's... The 3 bad were IMCOZ (dnf) and last 2 KONA's... Looking for common threads of the 3 bad IM's....They all had the same symptoms of some kind of stomach, lower abdomen, lower back, side stitch, cramp, unable to lower core body temp, RPE sky high......I've discussed this with the Doc twice and will revisit this year as well ...
Commonalities were :
1. All no wetsuit saltwater swims.... But I have done very well at IMFL saltwater wetsuit swim twice.
2. All hot/humid/windy.... But I have done very well @ IMTX, IMLOU, 1st KONA, and Boston Marathon on some of the hottest races at those locations.
3. IMCOZ and the first bad KONA I had checked in on race day @ 117-118lbs causing many including you I believe to ask if I may have been too light... This year I checked in @ 121lbs KONA race day...
Not an easy game to figure out!
@Clark- thanks for T1 data.... yes please to excel file timcronk@gmail.com
@Paul- I have never had a muscle cramp... I do eat pickles, sauerkraut, mustard, vinegar and other things thought to "possibly" pre-vent cramping on a regular basis... In fact Heathers new thing is pouring the leftover pickle juice from a jar into our Jug of V8... actually very good...But have never had the need during a race... Those leg cramps I had were the closest I have come to anything resembling muscle cramps.... Having said all that drinking pickle juice in a race certainly isnt going to hurt me and I think I will actually try it @ IMAZ... After I try some over the next couple weekends :-)