Jordan Marchewka - IM Lou Race Report
Had a great day this past Sunday at IM Lou! Ran into a few issues, but felt great overall! This was my first IM and first year in triathlon so I was pretty happy with my 11:31 result.
Swim – 1:23 : I wasn’t really sure what to expect lining up for the swim. I arrived about 6:30 or so to the swim start and was what felt like to be a mile back in the line. Luckily I brought some extra layers to stay warm. Swimming is not my strong suit at all so I was a little nervous to start the swim. To back track a little bit, one year ago I was struggling to swim 50 yards and now I was about to swim 2.4 miles…it seemed unreal! I hopped in the water and was feeling good and had a good rhythm/breathing pattern going, looked at my watch about 15 minutes in and was averaging about 1:53 per 100 yards (which is good for me). However, about 20 minutes in I got kicked in the temple and it must have hit my goggles in a weak spot as they snapped immediately. I spent a few minutes at a kayak seeing if there was anything I could do to fix them but no luck. From then on, I figured I would basically try to swim with my eyes closed besides sighting every once in a while. I didn’t know if the water would irritate my eyes if I tried to open them every breath. This worked okay…but really messed up my rhythm for the last hour of the swim. Also, note to self for the future is to work on sighting! I have done an innumerable amount of pool swims but need to get in open water more. I ended up finishing the swim in 1:23 which considering the circumstances I was happy with.
T1 – 12:35: T1 did not go too much smoother than the swim! I got out of the water and the wetsuit strippers struggled to get off my wetsuit. I feel like I literally spent 2-3 minutes working with them to get it off. From there I ran to get my bike gear. This was going pretty smooth until I went to put on my helmet and my chin strap broke! Luckily I had some tape in my bag so I spent a minute or 2 trying to just fix the strap. Also, had to use the bathroom real quick so this made for a long T1.
Bike- 6:09: Started off feeling well on the bike. Stayed in the JRA range for about 30 minutes before I got into Z2. The big takeaways for me on the bike were 1) I need to learn how to pee on the bike…I literally wasted 10-15 minutes taking bathroom breaks. It was a little chilly on the bike to start so I feel like I just retained fluids instead of sweating them out. 2) I am a beginner cyclist so I need to work on my gearing and need to learn more about power. I just used “power zones” on my Garmin 910xt as I figured that would be easiest for me. 3) I did a lot of coasting down hills going about 35-40 mph…looking back I probably could of gained some time here by still cranking it out in Z2. Overall, my legs felt good on the bike (maybe because I was a little too conservative) but I wanted to set myself up for a good run.
T2 – 7:04: Slow but uneventful. Used the bathroom one last time and was pumped to finally get to the run.
Run – 3:39: The goal for the run was to start off at 8:30’s for 6 miles then 8:00s from there on out. The first mile was a little quick but I could just not slow myself down…hit about 810ish. Miles 2-6 felt pretty good and was hitting in the 820-830 range. After mile 6 I was feeling fine so I dialed it in to around an 8 min pace. I got a little ahead of myself and pushed the pace to about 745 around the half marathon point…not a smart move on my part but a good lesson learned going forward. After the half marathon point, I gradually slowed down to about an 8 min pace through mile 20 then the last 6 were pretty painful in the upper 9 min range. I am not sure if the last 6 were so rough because I never ran more than 18 in training or because of pushing the pace too early in the marathon. Either way, it will be something I will have to look into going forward.
If you have any suggestions on how I can improve going forward, I am open to any comments/advice. My next IM is LP next July. I think the biggest things for me are to continue to become more comfortable in the water and to spend more time in the saddle/advance my bike knowledge going forward.
Comments
You were dealt a few challenges that are always hard to manage, particularly in your first IM. Not sure what you could really do about the goggles, either they were defective or you just caught a bad break. Sounds like you managed this as well as you could.
On the bike...I'd really study up on training with power during the OS. Ranges are helpful, but to really dial in your race you should have a more granular power target and track vs. that. There's a lot of great resources in the Wiki on this.
On the wetsuit...did you apply body glide to your shoulders and ankles? If not I would try this as getting your wetsuit stripped should take no more than 10 -15 seconds at most.
You had a really good run despite some of the challenges...well done.
Look forward to tracking your progress next year!
Great job out there. That is a fantastic run for a marathon in an Ironman!! Work on that bike fitness and knowledge of Training and Racing with power in the out season like Jeremy mentioned above. Look through the information in the WIKI, and in the forums ,...some really outstanding information in there.
Enjoy your recovery and best of luck next year in Lake Placid.
In the wetsuit issue, 1x with Jeremy, body glide all over your shoulders and ankles, I use it also in the lower part of my byceps, where I have regular problems with the suit.
Ive been so impressed watching you train. Your mental toughness and positive attitude really is inspiring. The way you jumped right into EN, learned and executed. Couple things I did to not let all the WIKI info overwhelm you when you're about to "take it to the next level" is just break it up bit by bit. Focus on one thing, ask some WSM's (wicked smart members) and do what you've been doing so well, dive right in.
Thanks for posting your report. It was awesome watching you run past me. You were so fast on the run and looked very focused. It would have been great to touch base with you before the race and swap information and hopes. I find that talking with EN teammates helped me a lot before this race.
Someone told me that it is good to practice swimming without goggles for that very reason. I've never tried it, but your experience tells me it may not be a bad idea.
I use trislide like others said and that makes it very easy to slide off.
Amazing first race. You should be able to break 11 hours no problem with some work on swimming, speeding up your transitions, and learning to use power more effectively.
Congrat's on a excellent first IM Jordan! I haven't figured out how to pee on the bike yet either, a guy went by me Sunday in aero, slowed a bit, and let his pee loose with no seeming difficulty. As I passed him (he did slow down), I mentioned he must have sprang a leak! Keep up the good work!
"This was my first IM and first year in triathlon so I was pretty happy with my 11:31 result." And well you should be. 6:09 for a "beginner cyclist" followed by a sub 3:40 run is a great place to build from. You've got probably 5-10 minutes ready fall on the swim, and another 5-7 in transitions. Back that up with strong work in the OutSeason on the bike, and you'll find yourself close to the front of the pack in Lake Placid.