JA's IMFL race report
IMFL race report
Quick and dirty 40/4xx in M 45-49
11:20
1:18 swim, 5:25 bike, 4:29 run and 9 min in transition more or less
Pre race got up at 3. Had some coffee and butter and walked around a bit to wake up. Got down to transition early and got my bike set up. The EN rack was a cool perk even if it was at the furthest possible point between the tent and the bike out.
The water was 77 and change so I raced in my swim skin. I was on the fence about this decision. I knew that I would be slower without the wetsuit but I just didn't want to start at the very back of the race. 1:18 was more than 10 min slower than my RR swims and certainly my slowest IM swim ever. But I came out of the water in 81'st in my AG which is good for me on a relatively basis.
The waves seemed really big to me. Getting out was tough but it was coming back in that was really tough. Going out, you can see the waves coming and duck under them. Coming back in I got caught by surprise, flipped completely over and slammed into the sand pretty hard. I made mistake of checking my watch on they out of the water. Oh well. Swim is over on to the next part.
T1 was quick for me. I had my 1 piece en kit rolled down under my speed suit. By the time I got to my bag I had my speed suit down and my arms in the sleeves. By the time I got to the tent I had my helmet on (the only thing in my bike bag). I handed my swim skin, goggles, cap and bag to a volunteer and just kept going. So easy.
I should have called to a volunteer for my bike. Long barefoot run in transition. Got bike, glasses on and off to the mount line. I saw lots of bikes still racked which surprised me given my swim time. Tough swim for everyone I guess.
At the mount line coach r yelling to hurry up. Get on the bike. Get on the bike.
My goal on the bike was to spend the first box or 3 getting my hr down till I saw a 12x, then move on to goal watts of 163. Under no circumstances would I run my hr over 140. The Velcro strap on my left shoe came out while I was getting my foot in my shoe. I figured that I would just. Ride with it open and if it started to bug me I would fix it. I never bothered to fix it.
The bike course seemed crowded. But it was clear that the marshals were trying to keep the rules enforced. At one point I had a marshal ride up to me and tell me that I had gotten too close to the rid in front of me and that I had another 20 sec to complete my pass. I was really grateful for this as she could have just said nothing, waited and dinged me.
Nutrition went to plan. Had 360cal of skratch bites , 1280cal in a concentrated feed bottle of skratch and water from every aid station because my rear bottle carrier fell completely off about 20 min into the race. About 5800mg sodium in total over the 5:20.
One odd thing on the ride- I was peeing non stop. Seriously. Like 6 or so times. I kept drinking anyway as my stomach was tolerating it and it seemed like the right thing to do.
I made the decision not to go as hard as my training said that I was allowed to go. My intensity seemed hard enough and I was wary of trying to win the race before it even started.
I was ready to get off the bike by about mile 80. Not shelled. Just ready to do something different. I had not body glided properly and lets just say that parts of my body were not gliding anymore.
Ended up with an IF of .69 which I know my seem low but in the moment it felt right. I was intentionally not looking at the time of day or race time because it was clear that sub 11 was not in the cards. I had biked up to 48th but I didn't know it.
T2 was also really quick. Bike to volunteer. Bag. Run to tent. Dump bag. Had helmet glasses and bag to volunteer. Socks, shoes, visor, race number and go bag. Go. Both transitions were fast for me. I hope that I have leaned something that is repeatable here.
The run was hot and sticky. I got off the bike a little nervous. A couple of days prior I was on a little taper jog. I caught a toe on a big crack in the sidewalk and fell. Embarrassingly hard. By later that night I was limping badly on a right knee that didn't want weight put on it. I didn't talk about it. I didn't think about it. I just rolled the muscles around it and took ibuprofen and hoped for the best. By race morning I was walking fine.
My plan was to run by heart rate. I had done the same last year in Cozumel and I liked it. Kept my head out of times and paces and focused me on my body.
My heart rate didn't want to stay down. I did a lot of early walking trying to keep it to 145 for the first 6mi. By the time I got to coach p at the park, I had given myself permission to 147. His first question was what was my hr. His second was what was my hr on the bike. He then told me to slow down. I felt my knee a bit at this point and thought that my day might be over. But it passed and I actually didn't feel it again for the rest of the day.
We had rented a house on the run course and my fam camped out about 2mi from the park. So I got to see them a bunch. That was really great.
Run nutrition was water/gatoraid/water at every aid station. A gel every hour to supplement. I had salt sticks on the run too if I ever felt sloshy. I didn't. I only got the first 2 gels down. My stomach started souring at about the 1/2 way point. I kept drinking though. Water/Gatorade/water. Also kept filling my ziploc bag with ice. I really liked it on the back of my neck. Down the shorts worked too. At about mile 16 I switched to cola because it sounded good.
I had the same potty issue on the run. I went twice. While running. No one noticed.
I think that I went out too hard at the start of the run. Because I felt like I hit the crappy zone at about mile 16 instead of mile 20. I remember feeling ok at mile 16 because it was the last time got to see my family. I was able smile and give hugs but I do remember that it felt a bit tougher to muster the happy face.
Heading out to the turn around in the park I remember realizing that it was actually uphill. Funny what seems like a hill that far into a race. When I hit the turn around at the Paarl I told my legs it was time to go. Time to cruise down hill and head for home. All I did was pick back up to the low 10 min's. Then the cramps started. Luckily I had a flask of pickle juice that I picked up on the fly from run special needs. RSN at this race is very well placed on the purse and very well run. If you need something, they walkie talkie ahead and it is handed to you without breaking stride.
So pickle juice shut the cramps down but I knew that they would be back. The last handful of miles, the wheels were coming off. My stomach was closed for the evening. Feet hurt. Legs hurt. Side stitch had taken over my whole right side. Don't settle. Give the family something to be proud of. Give yourself something to be proud of. Make it to the next street sign. Pass one more person. Live to hear Mike Reilly mispronounce the town you are from. Keep going for the chubby kid that never got picked.
I ended up 40th in my AG. top 10%. I've never been in the top 20% at a full or a 1/2. 14min pr on a pretty tough day.
I for sure faded at the end. Regardless of what my heart rate was saying I needed to back it off a bit. I ran a 9:50 pace for the first hour and an 11:00 pace for the last hour. So I could have been tighter on my pacing. But it wasn't awful. I think if I had it to do over again I would have pushed more cal early on the run.
But really, I have nothing to complain about. This was a major step forward for me. From week one to the finish line. I trained better and raced better.
I need to talk to someone about all the peeing though. I was clearly getting fluid in and past my gut. But from there it seemed to just head straight through my kidneys and to my bladder.
I am 3 days into 14 days of no activity. Then it will be time to map out 2016.
Quick and dirty 40/4xx in M 45-49
11:20
1:18 swim, 5:25 bike, 4:29 run and 9 min in transition more or less
Pre race got up at 3. Had some coffee and butter and walked around a bit to wake up. Got down to transition early and got my bike set up. The EN rack was a cool perk even if it was at the furthest possible point between the tent and the bike out.
The water was 77 and change so I raced in my swim skin. I was on the fence about this decision. I knew that I would be slower without the wetsuit but I just didn't want to start at the very back of the race. 1:18 was more than 10 min slower than my RR swims and certainly my slowest IM swim ever. But I came out of the water in 81'st in my AG which is good for me on a relatively basis.
The waves seemed really big to me. Getting out was tough but it was coming back in that was really tough. Going out, you can see the waves coming and duck under them. Coming back in I got caught by surprise, flipped completely over and slammed into the sand pretty hard. I made mistake of checking my watch on they out of the water. Oh well. Swim is over on to the next part.
T1 was quick for me. I had my 1 piece en kit rolled down under my speed suit. By the time I got to my bag I had my speed suit down and my arms in the sleeves. By the time I got to the tent I had my helmet on (the only thing in my bike bag). I handed my swim skin, goggles, cap and bag to a volunteer and just kept going. So easy.
I should have called to a volunteer for my bike. Long barefoot run in transition. Got bike, glasses on and off to the mount line. I saw lots of bikes still racked which surprised me given my swim time. Tough swim for everyone I guess.
At the mount line coach r yelling to hurry up. Get on the bike. Get on the bike.
My goal on the bike was to spend the first box or 3 getting my hr down till I saw a 12x, then move on to goal watts of 163. Under no circumstances would I run my hr over 140. The Velcro strap on my left shoe came out while I was getting my foot in my shoe. I figured that I would just. Ride with it open and if it started to bug me I would fix it. I never bothered to fix it.
The bike course seemed crowded. But it was clear that the marshals were trying to keep the rules enforced. At one point I had a marshal ride up to me and tell me that I had gotten too close to the rid in front of me and that I had another 20 sec to complete my pass. I was really grateful for this as she could have just said nothing, waited and dinged me.
Nutrition went to plan. Had 360cal of skratch bites , 1280cal in a concentrated feed bottle of skratch and water from every aid station because my rear bottle carrier fell completely off about 20 min into the race. About 5800mg sodium in total over the 5:20.
One odd thing on the ride- I was peeing non stop. Seriously. Like 6 or so times. I kept drinking anyway as my stomach was tolerating it and it seemed like the right thing to do.
I made the decision not to go as hard as my training said that I was allowed to go. My intensity seemed hard enough and I was wary of trying to win the race before it even started.
I was ready to get off the bike by about mile 80. Not shelled. Just ready to do something different. I had not body glided properly and lets just say that parts of my body were not gliding anymore.
Ended up with an IF of .69 which I know my seem low but in the moment it felt right. I was intentionally not looking at the time of day or race time because it was clear that sub 11 was not in the cards. I had biked up to 48th but I didn't know it.
T2 was also really quick. Bike to volunteer. Bag. Run to tent. Dump bag. Had helmet glasses and bag to volunteer. Socks, shoes, visor, race number and go bag. Go. Both transitions were fast for me. I hope that I have leaned something that is repeatable here.
The run was hot and sticky. I got off the bike a little nervous. A couple of days prior I was on a little taper jog. I caught a toe on a big crack in the sidewalk and fell. Embarrassingly hard. By later that night I was limping badly on a right knee that didn't want weight put on it. I didn't talk about it. I didn't think about it. I just rolled the muscles around it and took ibuprofen and hoped for the best. By race morning I was walking fine.
My plan was to run by heart rate. I had done the same last year in Cozumel and I liked it. Kept my head out of times and paces and focused me on my body.
My heart rate didn't want to stay down. I did a lot of early walking trying to keep it to 145 for the first 6mi. By the time I got to coach p at the park, I had given myself permission to 147. His first question was what was my hr. His second was what was my hr on the bike. He then told me to slow down. I felt my knee a bit at this point and thought that my day might be over. But it passed and I actually didn't feel it again for the rest of the day.
We had rented a house on the run course and my fam camped out about 2mi from the park. So I got to see them a bunch. That was really great.
Run nutrition was water/gatoraid/water at every aid station. A gel every hour to supplement. I had salt sticks on the run too if I ever felt sloshy. I didn't. I only got the first 2 gels down. My stomach started souring at about the 1/2 way point. I kept drinking though. Water/Gatorade/water. Also kept filling my ziploc bag with ice. I really liked it on the back of my neck. Down the shorts worked too. At about mile 16 I switched to cola because it sounded good.
I had the same potty issue on the run. I went twice. While running. No one noticed.
I think that I went out too hard at the start of the run. Because I felt like I hit the crappy zone at about mile 16 instead of mile 20. I remember feeling ok at mile 16 because it was the last time got to see my family. I was able smile and give hugs but I do remember that it felt a bit tougher to muster the happy face.
Heading out to the turn around in the park I remember realizing that it was actually uphill. Funny what seems like a hill that far into a race. When I hit the turn around at the Paarl I told my legs it was time to go. Time to cruise down hill and head for home. All I did was pick back up to the low 10 min's. Then the cramps started. Luckily I had a flask of pickle juice that I picked up on the fly from run special needs. RSN at this race is very well placed on the purse and very well run. If you need something, they walkie talkie ahead and it is handed to you without breaking stride.
So pickle juice shut the cramps down but I knew that they would be back. The last handful of miles, the wheels were coming off. My stomach was closed for the evening. Feet hurt. Legs hurt. Side stitch had taken over my whole right side. Don't settle. Give the family something to be proud of. Give yourself something to be proud of. Make it to the next street sign. Pass one more person. Live to hear Mike Reilly mispronounce the town you are from. Keep going for the chubby kid that never got picked.
I ended up 40th in my AG. top 10%. I've never been in the top 20% at a full or a 1/2. 14min pr on a pretty tough day.
I for sure faded at the end. Regardless of what my heart rate was saying I needed to back it off a bit. I ran a 9:50 pace for the first hour and an 11:00 pace for the last hour. So I could have been tighter on my pacing. But it wasn't awful. I think if I had it to do over again I would have pushed more cal early on the run.
But really, I have nothing to complain about. This was a major step forward for me. From week one to the finish line. I trained better and raced better.
I need to talk to someone about all the peeing though. I was clearly getting fluid in and past my gut. But from there it seemed to just head straight through my kidneys and to my bladder.
I am 3 days into 14 days of no activity. Then it will be time to map out 2016.
0
Comments
Great report, even better race. Your day sounds a lot like mine. I got flipped by a wave, peed 5-7 times on the bike and 2x on the run and got the evil eye from Ms. Marshal. You got off the bike about 9 minutes after me, then put down a rock solid run. Like you, I planned to keep HR at/below 140 the first part of the run. I had to shuffle slowly between ice baths to keep it at 140, and I think that made the difference in the long run. At least for me.
Your finish placing is a testament to your training, smart planning and focused execution, was well earned and was certainly no fluke. If 100 of us 45-49 guys were in a room before the race, and the speaker asked the 10 fastest to stand up, you probably would have sat still. But guess what? You're standing now.
Congrats again. It was a blast sharing the experience with you. Can't wait to see the next JA chapter.
MR
Was really nice to be in the same race with you again - I looked for you all day but had a hard time finding you on the course. You must have been too far ahead!
Somebody once said "Work Works" and you showed no shortage of that during this last training cycle then backed it up with a Top 10%!
Now you and your body knows it can be done and knows what that feels like which makes you even more dangerous for 2016.
I don't care if you faded on the run, you got it done and you knocked it out of the park and can go after that improvement next year bro.
Sincere congratulations on a well earned kick ass performance!
SS
Outstanding! Sooooo cool to see you execute this one like a champ and get rewarded with a stellar performance. My guess about the fluid output, is that you were just very well hydrated to begin with. I have also found salt water swimming makes me go way more than fresh water swims, dont know why that would be. Its been awesome to see your hard work, progress and rewards over the past couple seasons, and IMFL was a cherry. Cant wait to see what come next! Good job. Rest well.
PR is always a sign of a good race. More work on the swim, steadier pacing on the bike and run, and sub 11 is in sight.