Dana B's IMAZ Race Report..sorta

Dana Burns

First of all, I really do embrace the fact that I'm a goofball. IMAZ was my 6th Ironman and 3rd without knowing my time until I crossed the finish line.  Interestingly enough, the 3 without times were my best. Realizing this is not EN's philosophy I have a lot to learn and if I can set a goal and either achieve it or come close to it, I can only imagine how well I'll do managing my time/power/HR throughout the day.

Goals I set BEFORE life got in the way the last few months leading up to IMAZ, including missing camp week.

Swim: 1:20

T-1: 5:50

Bike 5:50 -6:00

T-2 4:00-4:50

Run: 4:20-4:30

Personally, I felt a lot of people seeded up above their swim ability and I kept getting donkey kicked by the green caps.  This was my first rolling starting and it didn't seem any different than mass.

Actual Swim: 1:18:04

Coming out of the water as I went over the timing mat, I hit the right button on my Garmin 920xt rather than the left button for T-1. Yep, that's right, I stopped my time!!!  I decided to switch over to bike mode so I would have an idea of my time as I really wanted to break 6 hours on the bike.

T-1 :6:38 Fiddling with Garmin 

I did not care for the 3 loops heading out, I felt it was hard to stay arrow.  This was mainly due to my previous bike fitter making an adjustment I didn't need and never have felt comfortable since.  I forced myself to eat 2 carmel salted Bonk Breakers, 1 1/2 Cliff Bloks and had 4 bottles of EG diluted with water. Because it was somewhat cold and the rain hit at 56 miles, I wasn't sweating and had to use the potra-potty.  It kills me I can't pee on the bike.  I know my nutrition was not good, however this was an issue the last few months leading up to the race where I wasn't eating enough.

Actual Bike: 5:58:15

T-2: 8:05 Ouch! In the porta-potty again switching Garmin over to run..wasted a lot of time doing this!

I felt something in my left calf at the beginning of the run so I popped a salt capsule and the pain seemed to go away.  It could have been there and I was just distracted by the pouring rain. I looked forward to every aid station and it's true what Coach R said, a few steps after each station, I was eager to fine the next. For the first 8 miles I managed to gulp down a Gu (7 1/2 first 8 miles) and took in either EG or water, usually mixing 50/50. About mile 13 I tried a little Coke until I hit 18 where I started sipping on chicken broth washing down with water. Again, I had to stop for a pee break ( NEVER) have I stopped for a porta potty on the run before!  Mile what was it.. 23-24 where painfully slow and I was waddling like a duck. Only other comment about the run course is my HOKA's are covered in mud. Ironman/mud run!

So for those of you that my have looked at my 12:00:21 time and wonder HOW or WHY I'd miss breaking 12:00 by 22 seconds..I had no idea!!

As batty as I appeared at the finish, I loved being greeted by Mariah and Coach Rich.  It was wonderful to meet more EN peeps.  A special thanks to everyone who encouraged me to enjoy my day. Our Captain Clark, thank you for all your help! I can't say I loved it, but I didn't hated it either.

 I felt so grateful to get up Monday morning and head home to begin my new job with an awesome company. 

Dana

 

Bruce Thompson

Dana...congrats on another IM finish!  Looks like you had a solid race (S, B, R) but you clearly could save some time in transitions.  Just a suggestions...you might want to practice transitions the weekend before your next race.  I load up my T1 and T2 bags (saved from a prior race) just the way I plan it will be in the race.  Then I'll do 3-4 practice T1s.  I put the bag on the ground, run up to it, run 20 yards to a bench or a chair, and get my stuff out and on, then start running.  When I think "Ok" got that, I practice T2 the same way.  I also time myself for each run thru.  This practice seems to help me do things smooth but quickly in the race since the routine is familiar. 

Another suggestion...peeing on the bike.  I had a hard time learning to do this too.  I finally figured out that I can only do it if I stand up out of the saddle. I guess it relives some "pressure".  So now I try to hold my pee until I'm going up a hill, when it is less costly aerodynamically, to stand.  Prior to the race I'll look at the course elevation map, and pick out some likely hills to pee. I've found that peeing going uphill helps me from spiking my watts too high on the hill since I'm occupied with the call of nature.  I also make sure I have a full bottle of water racked on the bike so I can rinse myself and the bike off a bit.  Finally, I don't wear any socks when riding the bike so they don't soak up the pee (saves time in T1 too). 

Hope this helps. Again, congrats on a successful race.

Clark Mitchell

Dana, congrats on a strong and well executed race where you managed to hit nearly every goal you set for yourself. Well done! FWIW, I've messed up the progression through multi-sport mode in each of my last two IM races. Guess we should practice that too...

It was great meeting and racing with you. Hopefully we'll race together again in the future.

Dana Burns

Thank you for your input Bruce! I love the idea of practicing transitions with actual IM transition bags. The pee thing is going to be more challenging but I am going to incorporate into my 2016 season, (or at least try).
I realize I blew it on transitions (mainly T2), like I mentioned it was mostly due to fiddling with Garmin since I stopped my time rather than hitting T1. Come to think of it, this is exactly what happened in St. George 70.3 this year, so obviously I need to practice with my Garmin in triathlon mode while training.
Also, someone mentioned I may want to sit in the grass while in T-2 putting my shoes and pee rather than in the porta potty. I actually tried this last weekend without any luck.

Dana

Dana Burns

Clark, as I mentioned in my response to Bruce's comments, I for sure need to practice using my Garmin while training in triathlon mode!
Thank you for being so supportive. You went above and beyond helping me last weekend. Hopefully we can race together again.

david ware

Dawn: congrats on a great race. As with anything, the more you practice the more comfortable it becomes. That applies to peeing on the bike, doing transitions, fiddling with watch, running off the bike, etc. when you can focus on the race without life getting in the way and work out some of these issues it will be amazing to see what you are capable of!

DANIEL MOLINA

Dana! Great job on another IM under your belt. You've received some good feed back and I just want to piggy back on what's I've already been said. Transitions and peeing on the bike equate to free time. Since my swim is my weakest leg, I think of T1 as an extension of my swim and I try squeezing every second to improve that split relative to the field. The other thing is when practicing your bike pee, make sure you have bottle with plain water to rinse yourself and leg right after. If you wait the worst part is trying to eliminate the smell from you shoes after your ride. That's one way to really upset you spouse and lose those valuable SAU's.

tim cronk

Dana, With all the "life" that got in the way I think your results show that you are a natural athlete. My only suggestion would be to swim without a watch since you get a split at the end of the day , get a bike specific computer turn it on in the AM , and run with watch also turned on the AM and ready to go when you get to it in T2.... This removes thinking and moving parts from your day.... Highly recommend manicure/pedicure with fast nail polish and doggie paw prints :-) Good luck at your new job I hope you really enjoy it!

Dana Burns

Thank you, Tim. I take that as a huge compliment coming from you! I had gone with the Garmin 920xt because I thought it would save me some money, however it appears getting a bike specific Garmin is the way to go. If it wasn't for IM rolling start swim, I could ask someone getting out of the water along side me what their swim time was (this is what I did last year for IMWI).

I'll be shopping for new tools to better track my performance over the Holidays.

The BEST advice of all is the manicure/pedicure with fast polish and doggie paw prints! This will be incorporated into all future race plans!

Dana

Al Truscott

"I really do embrace the fact that I'm a goofball. IMAZ was my 6th Ironman and 3rd without knowing my time until I crossed the finish line.  Interestingly enough, the 3 without times were my best. Realizing this is not EN's philosophy I have a lot to learn and if I can set a goal and either achieve it or come close to it, I can only imagine how well I'll do managing my time/power/HR throughout the day."

No, you're not a goofball. AS Tim points out, you accidentally hit on a very good way to race an Ironman. I learned the same way you did. My best times kept coming when for one reason or another, I did not have an overall time to work off of. So now I just rely on my onboard bike computer (which does not show my overall bike split on the primary screen) and my running watch (which shows current lap pace, HR, and cadence) to guide me thru the day. And, really, this supports the EN execution strategy which is to pay attention to process goals like HR, power, etc as distinct from mph or time guide you during the race.