SW Race Report -IMTX 2016
IMTX 2016 race report.
Overview:
I m not very good at these so thank you for reading as I flounder through. I started with EN in Late November of 2015 after seeing Rich & Patrick at IM Florida at a 4Keys talk. I had seen Rich back in 2014 at a similar talk. In between I had met a couple of athletes locally who had trained with EN and given it a big thumbs up. I thought after Florida I'd give it a go. My goal was to get more structure to my workouts and get stronger on the bike. The biggest obstacle for me in general is that I constantly had to balance my triathlon training with my desire & ability to maintain my position as a part -time fitness instructor. The goal being to build strength, complete triathlon workouts and still maintain enough energy and stamina to teach at the required levels 8-12 classes per week (varied). Overall this was really impossible as I cut corners on both the work and triathlon sides of things. But basically I did my best to manage workouts, marriage, kids, work, and staying non-injured.
Race Week Re-cap:
The week before the race I subbed out all but 3 of my classes (3 -45 min sports cardio classes). I was on the schedule for 9. My lowest number of classes taught in one week since IMFLA. It was a fantastic week off and I felt really good and rested. Nutritionally I felt awesome and adequately rested.
Arrived in the Woodlands on Thursday midday and took care of all logistical things timely. Highlight of the day would be dinner with The EN crew at the Black Walnut Cafe with Brian, Mark, Tom, Terra and Dawn & Julian Cass. I was super pumped because I loved feeling like part of The Team. Mojo super high and I was able to rest really well Thursday evening.
Friday went like clockwork working my schedule and staying on task. Did not do the practice swim but did scope out the buoy alignment when I dropped off bike in the T1. Since I swam the course last year I felt comfortable not swimming this year. Scoped out swim enter/exit. Looked easier to manage than last year. Nice lunch with my folks, quick grocery run and back to hotel.
Got back to hotel and promptly propped feet up. Later in afternoon rested poolside and stretched out arms with a couple easy very short drills. My typical pre-race meal is cheese pizza. Ok and a few too many Oreos but the carbs helped me fall asleep. Bed early but sleep erratic. Normal for ironman eve.
Race day:
3:30 am woke 1st cup of coffee and bagel
3:45 quick few minutes in hotel pool to loosen up arms and calm nerves.
4:10 showered /got dressed/filled water bottles/1st round of enduroltyes/sport legs/and 1 Aleve (only pain med I take entire day-does not cause me upset stomach). Ate some more powdered donuts because those are my favorite race day food. If I die on the course at least I know I've had my two favorite foods the last 24 hours (cheese pizza & powdered donuts).
5:20 picked up Jimmy & Terra.
Transition took pics /said hello to friends.
Set up liquids on bike.
Potty
Put on wetsuit. Get in line.
Swim -
The water was wetsuit legal and since I have back issues when I swim I chose to wear it. Same as last year.
I seeded myself in the very back because I get a little nervous in the swim. Nola 70.3 had been scary getting kicked in the face so I wanted to avoid contact as much as possible. This served me very well as I was able to get in an awesome bilateral 1-2-3 strokes then breath pattern fairly quickly. Water was mild but comfortable. I just took it one buoy at a time. Counting strokes. Turning belly button to opposite shorelines. I felt my basic form was as good as it could be. I get zero help from my kick. I don't know what the deal is but my legs just spaz out. Definitely something to work on.
About half way through swim at the turn I felt my back really start to tighten and nag. I did a few back arch stretches and kept going. Heart rate felt steady and I felt good overall. After the turn I hit more swim "traffic" and now was slowly passing folks. I tell ya....THAT was a crazy feeling for me. I kind of smiled to myself. ?? I felt good so the second half of swim I tried to focus on a solid pull and just a bit faster turnover. Pulled me in to T1 with a 1:32:34. I know I've got work to do with form but that was almost a full 4 minute improvement from last year (1:36:24). Not huge inprovement but some. I felt more comfortable with the overall swim this year, less frantic, calmer state throughout, and moving quicker out of the water towards bike. ??????
I'll take it!!
T1 5:32. (Last year-6:40)
Came out of water very happy. Stopped for EN gang sign exiting water. I'm a goofball. Had a good laugh w/camera man. Nice trot to T1 and very smooth transition except there was no volunteer to help. Thought that was slightly odd. Took time to reapply body glide since it was gonna be a super hot day. Drank some water. Took in enduroltyes and sports leg tablets. Sunglasses. Helmet. Shoes. Sunscreen. Go.
Bike
Overall average: 17:88
Last year: 17:11
Started the bike, easy gear, happy HR, and looked down. Mph 0.
My computer sensor wasn't registering. Could not believe my eyes. Second year in a row. Last year same thing. I must be cursed in TX. Rode blind the whole race. Just listening to HR and feeling my way through the effort. I'm not very good with turns so I wonder if that potentially slowed me down any. Felt really good the first 40 miles but the sun and wind came out and I knew I had to be a bit more reserved. I slowed and tried to just be steady. Started on the bike with a bottle in a cage and speed fill with my "mix" of Gatorade/sodium/monster/nuun up front. It's a weird concoction but it seems to work for me. I took in a VI gel every 40-45 minutes or so and poured water on myself every aid station. Drank often. Got slowed down by some traffic a few times. The only time I got super irritated on the bike was when some chick was an obnoxious flask and tried to go around the traffic by cutting the rest of us off. I almost struck a match to catch up with her but I somehow manage to let it go. I think I did yell something at her like "it's just a game and not worth getting hit". Then I remembered I had an EN jersey on and I'd better just shut up. (?? Sorry I lost my cool. I hate it though when cavalier athletes put lives in danger.) The rest of the ride I was pleased that I kept a great attitude. Singing my spin class songs to myself and staying mentally occupied by thanking the hundreds of volunteers. Was feeling decent and thought I was making good time but started to cramp like all of a sudden the last 5 miles. It was so out of the blue...I was coasting and I just locked up in my left quad. I though right away....eat!! So I ate my last gel. And I was like crap. With all the turns in the front half I don't think I ate as often as I should have but I ate on schedule everything was gone. Uggg. I just tried to relax and keep my legs moving. Made it to dismount line with difficulty but kept going. All I could think was get food in my belly ASAP. Overall I was most please that my splits were super consistent and stronger across the entire bike. Last year I dropped power significantly after the first 40 miles. This year it dropped but not near as much. Still the bike is where I think I can continue to improve.
T2. 6:17 (last year 7:50)
Standard routine: dump bag. Change shorts. Reapply triglide. Put on clean socks & shoes. Grab ziplock and go. I really had fumble fingers and knew I had to eat. I found that spare gu and headed out.
Run 4:50:59 (last year 4:53:45).
Ok, so it looks like improvement but I felt disappointed. I was running extremely well in the NOV OS and was pleased with my run durability. I felt like my solid half Mary in the NOLA 70.3 in April was a big boost. My mental execution unraveled a bit midway but got back on course.
First loop: Had my intervals planned. I knew the heat would make the first bit tough but had taken my last few supplements on schedule. I had my empty plastic Gatorade bottle for dumping water on my head. Dang it was HOT!! That first little dirt hill bang both legs seized up with cramps. Was like oh dang. At the aid station around corner at top ate whatever I could and walked legs out. A few miles in legs started to settle. I knew once the clouds came in it would cool down. Rain started and it was like....AWESOME game on!! I loved running in the rain !! Pace picked up significantly. Saw my parents on the river walk. Awesome !! (my mom shaking that cowbell like crazy!!) What a boost!! I was getting in a groove!! HR in a good z2-2.5. Legs had relaxed a good bit. Got around a ways into the second loop and BAM ....freaking bottleneck in the trails (after the lightening and rain had actually subsided). It scared me at first because it reminded me of the 2013 Boston Marathon when we got to mile 25.7 and hit a huge bottleneck and couldn't finish due to the bombing. My first gut feeling was runner down or a huge problem. I was a bit shaken. But then word quickly spread it was a lightening delay. Most of us were a bit baffled because the rain had stopped and there was no lightening where we were. (It has mostly passed). Here we all are standing /sitting completely still, cramped quarters on the trail, confused and with each minute growing ancy. Some folks laughing it off as "par for this event". I tried to stretch/keep calm. I don't know if it was the unexpectedness of it all and feeling like my great rhythm had just been kicked out from underneath me but I felt so out of my box. Then I got really pissed because several woman were making forward progress and working their way through the crowd to get ahead. I tried to focus. I put my head down. "don't worry about it....this race might be over anyway" but then there were these two ladies who were so freakin LOUD !! Just INVADING my box!! Talking as if they'd never run a race before, sounding like a flasking enquirer magazine trying to speculate what all was happening and just basically having no regard for other folks space. They were annoyingly loud. uggh!! I'm like just thinking please PLEASE shut up!! They were squeezing the life out of my last bit of mojo!! I covered my ears, buried my head on my knees and tried to think of my gameplan if the race happened to be called off completely or what to do if we could keep going. Seemed like forever we waited. But evidently it wasn't that long.
About 25 minutes later we did get to resume but it was a clusterflask. Running slow (walking) until we could get out of the woods. Still walk/jogging slow until getting to the ritzy neighborhood. Hundreds of runners bogging the road down. It took me a couple of miles and I finally got my head back and legs back in the game somewhat. My heart rate was stupid low and legs just tight tight tight. Working my intervals helped but I definitely felt sluggish. I ate and drank according to my usually graze plan. No GI distress at all. Just feeling stuck. But by mile 20 I also realized I had pain in the ball of my left foot. I guess with all the water maybe a blister had formed (I was correct ). So the last 6 miles were pretty tough. Seeing my folks helped me get around the waterway and I just tried to stay as steady as I could and stay in my box of things I could control. I forced smiles to help trick my brain. I guess it helped because by the last mile I was indeed happy to have finished and was moving great the last bit. I don't know what my "real time" was because I forgot to stop my watch during the break. I don't think the "adjustment" accurately reflects my work but now I'm ok with it all. Definitely had hoped for a better run but I'm ok now with it considering all the factors. HR steady /low most of run.
Final time: 11:54:11
Which if you add back the 17 miles we lost on the bike who knows what that might have been but I estimate closer to 13:00 hours or so. (Last year 13:17:23).
Overall Positives:
-relaxed swim with improvement of balance in the water and better fitness (steadier HR) heading into the bike.
-much steadier output of speed on the bike with good control of HR. Good attitude in general.
--inprovement in efficiency in both transitions
-- figuring a way to get back control of mental game. Not letting negative mental thoughts totally derail the back half of the run.
Areas that need work:
-swim speed. Probably need to get someone to look at my form. There must be a glitch somewhere. I feel like I just can't go any faster. Action plan: I've officially signed up for a Masters swimming league. Hope to swim with them and get my stroke looked at by the instructor.
-bike. More time on bike. I had several life things that I put before race rehearsal or cut long rides short. My grandfather passing and me getting stomach bug didn't help. Need to manage my schedule & time better to get these in. Action plan: print the next few months training calendar out and coordinate with my family the long workout days that I can totally just drop everything and get the long stuff in.
-run. First I just mentally need to give myself a break. I know how to get my marathon done. I think maybe the heat in the day affected me a lot. Haven't had loads of time to run in the heat. Will be doing that this summer. I love running.
-nutrition-need to revisit my calorie intake & eating plan on the bike. Just was not enough this time around.
That's about it!! Thanks Team EN.
??
Overview:
I m not very good at these so thank you for reading as I flounder through. I started with EN in Late November of 2015 after seeing Rich & Patrick at IM Florida at a 4Keys talk. I had seen Rich back in 2014 at a similar talk. In between I had met a couple of athletes locally who had trained with EN and given it a big thumbs up. I thought after Florida I'd give it a go. My goal was to get more structure to my workouts and get stronger on the bike. The biggest obstacle for me in general is that I constantly had to balance my triathlon training with my desire & ability to maintain my position as a part -time fitness instructor. The goal being to build strength, complete triathlon workouts and still maintain enough energy and stamina to teach at the required levels 8-12 classes per week (varied). Overall this was really impossible as I cut corners on both the work and triathlon sides of things. But basically I did my best to manage workouts, marriage, kids, work, and staying non-injured.
Race Week Re-cap:
The week before the race I subbed out all but 3 of my classes (3 -45 min sports cardio classes). I was on the schedule for 9. My lowest number of classes taught in one week since IMFLA. It was a fantastic week off and I felt really good and rested. Nutritionally I felt awesome and adequately rested.
Arrived in the Woodlands on Thursday midday and took care of all logistical things timely. Highlight of the day would be dinner with The EN crew at the Black Walnut Cafe with Brian, Mark, Tom, Terra and Dawn & Julian Cass. I was super pumped because I loved feeling like part of The Team. Mojo super high and I was able to rest really well Thursday evening.
Friday went like clockwork working my schedule and staying on task. Did not do the practice swim but did scope out the buoy alignment when I dropped off bike in the T1. Since I swam the course last year I felt comfortable not swimming this year. Scoped out swim enter/exit. Looked easier to manage than last year. Nice lunch with my folks, quick grocery run and back to hotel.
Got back to hotel and promptly propped feet up. Later in afternoon rested poolside and stretched out arms with a couple easy very short drills. My typical pre-race meal is cheese pizza. Ok and a few too many Oreos but the carbs helped me fall asleep. Bed early but sleep erratic. Normal for ironman eve.
Race day:
3:30 am woke 1st cup of coffee and bagel
3:45 quick few minutes in hotel pool to loosen up arms and calm nerves.
4:10 showered /got dressed/filled water bottles/1st round of enduroltyes/sport legs/and 1 Aleve (only pain med I take entire day-does not cause me upset stomach). Ate some more powdered donuts because those are my favorite race day food. If I die on the course at least I know I've had my two favorite foods the last 24 hours (cheese pizza & powdered donuts).
5:20 picked up Jimmy & Terra.
Transition took pics /said hello to friends.
Set up liquids on bike.
Potty
Put on wetsuit. Get in line.
Swim -
The water was wetsuit legal and since I have back issues when I swim I chose to wear it. Same as last year.
I seeded myself in the very back because I get a little nervous in the swim. Nola 70.3 had been scary getting kicked in the face so I wanted to avoid contact as much as possible. This served me very well as I was able to get in an awesome bilateral 1-2-3 strokes then breath pattern fairly quickly. Water was mild but comfortable. I just took it one buoy at a time. Counting strokes. Turning belly button to opposite shorelines. I felt my basic form was as good as it could be. I get zero help from my kick. I don't know what the deal is but my legs just spaz out. Definitely something to work on.
About half way through swim at the turn I felt my back really start to tighten and nag. I did a few back arch stretches and kept going. Heart rate felt steady and I felt good overall. After the turn I hit more swim "traffic" and now was slowly passing folks. I tell ya....THAT was a crazy feeling for me. I kind of smiled to myself. ?? I felt good so the second half of swim I tried to focus on a solid pull and just a bit faster turnover. Pulled me in to T1 with a 1:32:34. I know I've got work to do with form but that was almost a full 4 minute improvement from last year (1:36:24). Not huge inprovement but some. I felt more comfortable with the overall swim this year, less frantic, calmer state throughout, and moving quicker out of the water towards bike. ??????
I'll take it!!
T1 5:32. (Last year-6:40)
Came out of water very happy. Stopped for EN gang sign exiting water. I'm a goofball. Had a good laugh w/camera man. Nice trot to T1 and very smooth transition except there was no volunteer to help. Thought that was slightly odd. Took time to reapply body glide since it was gonna be a super hot day. Drank some water. Took in enduroltyes and sports leg tablets. Sunglasses. Helmet. Shoes. Sunscreen. Go.
Bike
Overall average: 17:88
Last year: 17:11
Started the bike, easy gear, happy HR, and looked down. Mph 0.
My computer sensor wasn't registering. Could not believe my eyes. Second year in a row. Last year same thing. I must be cursed in TX. Rode blind the whole race. Just listening to HR and feeling my way through the effort. I'm not very good with turns so I wonder if that potentially slowed me down any. Felt really good the first 40 miles but the sun and wind came out and I knew I had to be a bit more reserved. I slowed and tried to just be steady. Started on the bike with a bottle in a cage and speed fill with my "mix" of Gatorade/sodium/monster/nuun up front. It's a weird concoction but it seems to work for me. I took in a VI gel every 40-45 minutes or so and poured water on myself every aid station. Drank often. Got slowed down by some traffic a few times. The only time I got super irritated on the bike was when some chick was an obnoxious flask and tried to go around the traffic by cutting the rest of us off. I almost struck a match to catch up with her but I somehow manage to let it go. I think I did yell something at her like "it's just a game and not worth getting hit". Then I remembered I had an EN jersey on and I'd better just shut up. (?? Sorry I lost my cool. I hate it though when cavalier athletes put lives in danger.) The rest of the ride I was pleased that I kept a great attitude. Singing my spin class songs to myself and staying mentally occupied by thanking the hundreds of volunteers. Was feeling decent and thought I was making good time but started to cramp like all of a sudden the last 5 miles. It was so out of the blue...I was coasting and I just locked up in my left quad. I though right away....eat!! So I ate my last gel. And I was like crap. With all the turns in the front half I don't think I ate as often as I should have but I ate on schedule everything was gone. Uggg. I just tried to relax and keep my legs moving. Made it to dismount line with difficulty but kept going. All I could think was get food in my belly ASAP. Overall I was most please that my splits were super consistent and stronger across the entire bike. Last year I dropped power significantly after the first 40 miles. This year it dropped but not near as much. Still the bike is where I think I can continue to improve.
T2. 6:17 (last year 7:50)
Standard routine: dump bag. Change shorts. Reapply triglide. Put on clean socks & shoes. Grab ziplock and go. I really had fumble fingers and knew I had to eat. I found that spare gu and headed out.
Run 4:50:59 (last year 4:53:45).
Ok, so it looks like improvement but I felt disappointed. I was running extremely well in the NOV OS and was pleased with my run durability. I felt like my solid half Mary in the NOLA 70.3 in April was a big boost. My mental execution unraveled a bit midway but got back on course.
First loop: Had my intervals planned. I knew the heat would make the first bit tough but had taken my last few supplements on schedule. I had my empty plastic Gatorade bottle for dumping water on my head. Dang it was HOT!! That first little dirt hill bang both legs seized up with cramps. Was like oh dang. At the aid station around corner at top ate whatever I could and walked legs out. A few miles in legs started to settle. I knew once the clouds came in it would cool down. Rain started and it was like....AWESOME game on!! I loved running in the rain !! Pace picked up significantly. Saw my parents on the river walk. Awesome !! (my mom shaking that cowbell like crazy!!) What a boost!! I was getting in a groove!! HR in a good z2-2.5. Legs had relaxed a good bit. Got around a ways into the second loop and BAM ....freaking bottleneck in the trails (after the lightening and rain had actually subsided). It scared me at first because it reminded me of the 2013 Boston Marathon when we got to mile 25.7 and hit a huge bottleneck and couldn't finish due to the bombing. My first gut feeling was runner down or a huge problem. I was a bit shaken. But then word quickly spread it was a lightening delay. Most of us were a bit baffled because the rain had stopped and there was no lightening where we were. (It has mostly passed). Here we all are standing /sitting completely still, cramped quarters on the trail, confused and with each minute growing ancy. Some folks laughing it off as "par for this event". I tried to stretch/keep calm. I don't know if it was the unexpectedness of it all and feeling like my great rhythm had just been kicked out from underneath me but I felt so out of my box. Then I got really pissed because several woman were making forward progress and working their way through the crowd to get ahead. I tried to focus. I put my head down. "don't worry about it....this race might be over anyway" but then there were these two ladies who were so freakin LOUD !! Just INVADING my box!! Talking as if they'd never run a race before, sounding like a flasking enquirer magazine trying to speculate what all was happening and just basically having no regard for other folks space. They were annoyingly loud. uggh!! I'm like just thinking please PLEASE shut up!! They were squeezing the life out of my last bit of mojo!! I covered my ears, buried my head on my knees and tried to think of my gameplan if the race happened to be called off completely or what to do if we could keep going. Seemed like forever we waited. But evidently it wasn't that long.
About 25 minutes later we did get to resume but it was a clusterflask. Running slow (walking) until we could get out of the woods. Still walk/jogging slow until getting to the ritzy neighborhood. Hundreds of runners bogging the road down. It took me a couple of miles and I finally got my head back and legs back in the game somewhat. My heart rate was stupid low and legs just tight tight tight. Working my intervals helped but I definitely felt sluggish. I ate and drank according to my usually graze plan. No GI distress at all. Just feeling stuck. But by mile 20 I also realized I had pain in the ball of my left foot. I guess with all the water maybe a blister had formed (I was correct ). So the last 6 miles were pretty tough. Seeing my folks helped me get around the waterway and I just tried to stay as steady as I could and stay in my box of things I could control. I forced smiles to help trick my brain. I guess it helped because by the last mile I was indeed happy to have finished and was moving great the last bit. I don't know what my "real time" was because I forgot to stop my watch during the break. I don't think the "adjustment" accurately reflects my work but now I'm ok with it all. Definitely had hoped for a better run but I'm ok now with it considering all the factors. HR steady /low most of run.
Final time: 11:54:11
Which if you add back the 17 miles we lost on the bike who knows what that might have been but I estimate closer to 13:00 hours or so. (Last year 13:17:23).
Overall Positives:
-relaxed swim with improvement of balance in the water and better fitness (steadier HR) heading into the bike.
-much steadier output of speed on the bike with good control of HR. Good attitude in general.
--inprovement in efficiency in both transitions
-- figuring a way to get back control of mental game. Not letting negative mental thoughts totally derail the back half of the run.
Areas that need work:
-swim speed. Probably need to get someone to look at my form. There must be a glitch somewhere. I feel like I just can't go any faster. Action plan: I've officially signed up for a Masters swimming league. Hope to swim with them and get my stroke looked at by the instructor.
-bike. More time on bike. I had several life things that I put before race rehearsal or cut long rides short. My grandfather passing and me getting stomach bug didn't help. Need to manage my schedule & time better to get these in. Action plan: print the next few months training calendar out and coordinate with my family the long workout days that I can totally just drop everything and get the long stuff in.
-run. First I just mentally need to give myself a break. I know how to get my marathon done. I think maybe the heat in the day affected me a lot. Haven't had loads of time to run in the heat. Will be doing that this summer. I love running.
-nutrition-need to revisit my calorie intake & eating plan on the bike. Just was not enough this time around.
That's about it!! Thanks Team EN.
??
0
Comments
Thanks for the support and the ride to the start race morning. I hope to race with you again some day. It just won't be @ the woodlands...
nice work working through the pieces of the day.
sucks the run stoppage thing and the way it was handled. I would not have tolerated that.
tune up some things and you got an easy hour off your time.
good luck in the future.