Satish 2016 IMMT Race Report or "how a plastic bag saved my race"
Its time to post a report for my first ever IM experience, at IMMT 2016. I still can't believe I did this race, it feels like it was someone else, but it is sinking in that it was me in those race pictures.
Overall time 10:45:17 24th 45-49 division
Short version: A plastic bag, some luck, good decisions, and a lot of EN knowledge saved my race.
Long Version: read on!
About me: I'm a radiologist (I used to be a medical doctor ha ha), 47 y.o. as of November. I have been doing triathlons since 2012 when I started a sprint race on a cross bike with knobby tires. I was a collegiate and club rower back in the day and followed that with some running to (try to) stay fit. Taught myself how to swim off and on since my early 20s. Did some recreational biking including a solo bike trip from Kingston, Ontario to Bar Harbor, Maine when I was 24. My first long course race (and with EN) was MT 70.3 in 2013 which was an awful experience due to making every nutrition and pacing mistake in the book. Since then I have done several 70.3 distance races, always with the main goal of not walking the run (except aid stations) and feeling good at the end.
Height 5'9.5, weight about 132-138 (have been working on body comp this year), FTP - unsure (I don't test often) probably about 250-260, vdot probably 50 or so.
Arrived on late tuesday afternoon after about 13 hours of travelling over two days by car. Was raining that day but got a short run in. over the next couple of days did a swim each morning and 1-1.5hrs bike which gave me the opportunity to ride the duplessis section 4 times and montee ryan out and back twice. On thursday after race registration, my family and I drove to Ottawa to see one of our favourite bands "the tragically hip" play their penultimate concert ever as the lead singer has terminal brain cancer. I was unsure how this was going to affect my prep for the race but in retrospect, getting out of Dodge and away from the IRONMAN HYPE was probably the best thing ever for me. Returned to tremblant on Friday afternoon in time for dinner with the team, where it was awesome to see Turby and Carol and Brenda again, and meet some other EN'ers for the first time- and put faces to names. Thanks Francis for organizing this!
Slept well Friday night dreaming about the concert the night before. Saturday checked my bike in around 2pm and just chilled all day. Was tired and went to bed at 830 and actually slept really well, not waking until my alarm went off at 3:30am. Was ready to go!
Usual applesauce breakfast at 3:30. Walked from hotel to body marking at 4:50am (about 10 minutes). Short wait for body markers - didn't realize until later that I should have skipped the first ones as there were many who were free further toward transition as well as some in the transition area itself. When I got to my bike I realized I had left my nutrition bottles at the hotel and immediately panicked. Had to refocus (got back in the box) and make sure I did what could do properly (pump up tires, set up computer), then headed back to the hotel for the 20 minute round trip to return with the bottles.
Put my wetsuit on to the waist at the hotel and walked to the start arriving at around 6:15 am, my start was 6:50. I knew rain was in the forecast and it was breezy and going to get windier, but it felt quite warm and humid.
Immediately got in the water and got a good 15-20 minute warmup after kissing my wife Carrie and hugging the kids goodbye. Felt pretty good, (although Carrie later told me my eyes totally had the 'deer in the headlights' thing going on).
Swim: goal- around 60 minutes. Actual 1:04:57, 21st in 45-49 division.
When I did the 70.3 here in 2013 I lined up in the middle of the pack and experienced a lot of contact in the first 200m and panicked so I was expecting the worst. I lined up at the front this time and had a nice chat with a fellow who pointed out my watch wasn't set right (Thanks!). At the cannon I took off as hard as I could and, this time, the first 200-300m was almost contact- free and I was thinking this is great! I was able to get on some feet and draft a bit. However very soon after that I met up with the stragglers of the earlier wave and then it was constant contact as I went through at least three groups of swimmers. Couldn't stay on anyone's feet who was faster than me. I realized that everyone tended to swim straight toward the buoys so I tried to either go out wide or on occasion go inside and found a bit of clear water briefly, at times.
Just tried to focus on trying to keep my stroke rate up, head down, and swim, although I sighted more often than usual as I was coming up on other swimmers so quickly.
The out section had a nice tailwind and was pretty calm. At the turn we suddenly felt the crosswind and there were giant swells (UP and DOWN and UP and DOWN). Although I don't tend toward seasickness- i still felt a bit queasy . Finally on the back stretch there was a pretty wicked headwind and some small whitecaps, but I wasn't swallowing much water. I think my higher turnover helped (I believe I averaged 34 cycles/minute or 68 spm). I knew there were 13 buoys on the way back but I lost count and was heading toward what I thought were the finishing flags when I realized it was a kayak- I had been blown in towards shore! quick correction and I was back on course, mad at myself for daydreaming and just focussed on picking up my turnover and technique and getting in to the beach! The water was warm, I was sweating in my wetsuit and didn't have to urinate during the swim (except in the warmup). Exited the water feeling pretty good. small stumble on the ramp, headed to the nearest wetsuit stripper, wetsuit came off like butter ( I had used copious amounts of trislide on my arms and legs). I didn't wait for them to haul me up to standing but jumped up and immediately felt a small twinge in my left high hamstring butt area. Filed this away and was wondering if it would be an issue later. Then goggles and cap came off and I jogged to T1- long run and I was passed by many but I didn't see the point of sprinting here.
T1: 6:42- jogged into the tent, grabbed my bag (marked with bright ribbon), and went to the end of the change area. Put my helmet on, bike gloves on, grabbed my shoes, stuffed some spare nutrition in my castelli top back pocket, stuffed wetsuit, cap,and goggles into the bag and handed to a volunteer then I was out. carried shoes to my bike, turned on my bike computer, and put on shoes while the bike was racked. Then clump clump clumped my way to the bike out, mounted and rode off without incident.
Bike: I feel I was capable of 5:20 or better. Actual 5:36:48, 27th division including a stop at special needs and a stop for a dropped chain at around km 40.
https://www.strava.com/activities/684536736
This was definitely a case of 'bike what you SHOULD not what you COULD'- which I repeated to myself at times during the ride. At least the second loop was a "SHOULD' ride. The first loop was all about survival. Overall TSS was about 233 which is ridiculously low- obviously left a lot on the table.
First 45 minutes felt really good, I made a point to go very easy out montee ryan and the first few climbs out 117 and was surprised by how quickly my HR settled. My plan was to keep things very easy 160w for the first hour then 170-180w for the next 2 hrs then 185-190w (NP) for the rest. After 45 minutes it started to rain off and on but the showers got heavier and heavier and the wind really picked up. I was happy I went with a zipp 404 for my front wheel as even it was a bit squirrelly at times and I think my usual 808 in front would have been unmanageable over that distance.
Felt really good up until the turnaround at km 34 when we started coming back into the head/cross wind. Immediately I started to get very cold especially on the descents and my HR was dropping below 100, to as low as 80 ( was expecting a HR of 125-130). I had not used a bike vest since I had raced in rainy but colder conditions 8 weeks prior without incident, however it became evident this was a big mistake. The previous race was shorter and much less windy, with fewer fast descents, and I had underestimated the cooling effect of the high winds and descending speeds today. By the time I got to St Jovite I was shivering pretty much non stop, couldn't get power or HR up and was starting to wonder what I could do to save this situation. I was hoping that maybe it would be a bit warmer on the duplessis section. At this point I felt I had a few options:
1) increase cadence to try to bring HR and core temp up a bit- seemed benign and immediately did this
2) eat more: I immediately started taking in some supplemental nutrition in the form of Cliff bloks and gels as I had read that nutrition needs can increase when you are cold- no Gi issues so this was ok.
3) work harder on uphills- ok to a point but danger was cooking my legs for the run
4) tuck and stay out of the wind on the down hills- dangerous due to the slippery conditions. Also my helmet visor was starting to fog up and I could only see out the tiny ventilation slits at the top.
As I was heading in on Montee Ryan it was so cold on the descents and I was starting to feel mentally foggy- there was no way I could head out on the second loop like this. I was so MAD- I think I said out loud ' I am not letting this ruin my race!' As I passed special needs on the other side of the road I was lamenting that all I had put in my bag was a tube and couple of CO2 canisters. A vest or jacket would have been awesome! Then it dawned on me I could use THE BAG! This became my plan. I did feel marginally better on duplessis and almost talked myself out of stopping (Hypothermia- stupidity?) but I forced myself to stop and asked for the bag, not the stuff. The guy said "You want THE BAG????"" and I said " YES GIVE ME THE BAG, I AM FREEZING". I emptied the stuff out of the bag and flattened it out and put it inside my jersey, and rode off.
Immediately I felt WARM (ish) and stopped shivering almost straight away. For the rest of the ride I felt like I had an armor plate that was protecting me and I felt fine. Also, miraculously, my visor fogging went away and I COULD SEE! I was able to get my target power back up to 170-180, then 180-190 and immediately started passing tons of very miserable looking people. I was genuinely wondering how they were going to run if they looked like that going up a hill on a bike. Although it was raining as much as ever and the wind was just as bad, I was feeling stronger and stronger with each minute. On the final trip up Duplessis I had to really reign myself in as I was spiking the power north of 300w and although my legs felt fine I knew this was generally a bad idea. I didn't want to think about the marathon but I knew it was coming. On my second descent of duplessis the race director was standing in the middle of the road telling everyone to slow down as apparently there had been a crash earlier. I could feel the slickness of the pavement and rode down on the horns with my hands near the brakes. Thankfully by now there wasn't much bike traffic to pass or passing me.
For the first hour of the bike my left hamstring twinged off and on but I didn't feel it again after that. My low back got a bit stiff the last hour or so so I stood on my pedals every once in a while which seemed to keep it at bay.
Nutrition on the bike: I started with three bottles ( one had 100-150 calories meant for the first hour of the ride, and the others about 250-300 calories each for the next two hours). I drank the first bottle very quickly so I picked up a gatorade at the first aid station. I basically picked up gatorades and/or water at each aid station to supplement my own bottles over the first 3 hours, sometimes guzzling as much as i could through the station and discarding. I finished my own bottles by the end of hour three and used only on course nutrition after that. I supplemented with the occasional cliff blok as well as a caffeinated gel at hour 4 and hour 5 (thanks Mike Roberts!). I estimate I took in about 1200-1500 calories, all liquid and 1000-1200mg Na/hr. every time I had finished half a bottle of gatorade or water I took a salt stick capsule. I was more concerned about enough hydration than calories ( needlessly- I think I urinated about 5 times at least on the bike!).
T2: 3:46. Tried to be as fast as possible but obviously need some work here. Struggled with pulling on my long calf length compression running socks. grabbed my go bag and took off. Almost forgot to take the plastic bag out of my shirt but pulled it out at the last minute and handed it to a volunteer as i went out the door, which got a few laughs. Saw Carrie and the kids on the way out- she looked more relieved that I was off the bike than I was! Stopped for a quick kiss then GO!
Run: goal under 4 hrs, no walking except aid stations. 3:53:04 including '2:30 in the portapotty , 24th division
https://www.strava.com/activities/684536666
I never thought I would be looking forward to running a marathon this much but I was sooooo glad to be off that bike! My legs felt a bit stiffer and heavier than I was expecting based on my long rides, and my run cadence was lower than usual for the first few km so I focussed on quick light steps. I was really unsure how my legs were going to hold up. My last open marathon was in may 2012 and was a disaster, again due to poor pacing and nutrition. I also had some injury issues off and on (couldn't run for two weeks in may 2016) so my longest run in the build was 1hr45 minutes. At the top of the first climb out of town someone was holding a sign that said 'trust the process' and I recalled how some of the olympic athletes on TV also talked about focussing on process rather than outcomes in interviews following their events. 'Trust the process' became a bit of a mantra for me, and every time I felt a slump I tried to pick up my cadence and think about form and feel. First 5k were uneventful, I tried to keep my HR 115-120 (bike average was 118)- I think I settled in around 5:30/km pace but I wasn't too worried about that. There was a chatty guy next to me at the beginning but I remembered 'no friends' and just moved on. I was surprised at how many people were going by in two's having long conversations. I was also surprised there were people already walking. At halves, I don't usually see this until the end.
At around the 6k mark it became clear I was going to need a bathroom break for #2. This has never happened to me before in any race, ever. I know from training runs trying to resist the urge rarely ends well, so I resolved to stop at the first free porta potty and went inside. As I approached I tried to mentally rehearse how I was going to get out my castelli top without spilling everything out of the pockets and then get my one piece suit down. Somehow I managed to do my business without soiling anything, exited the porta potty with my suit down to my waist and walked up the trail as I put my castelli top back on. Started running again and felt great.
My plan was to keep HR at around 120bpm for the first 10k, try to bring it to 125bpm from 10k to 32 k, then just go as hard as I could for the last 10k. I think I ran more or less according to plan. I didn't really pay much attention to km splits. Some were faster, some slower, but each one was 1km closer to the finish!
At around 15k my watch warned me battery was low. Immediately started to think about how to deal with a a dead battery since I rely on pace and HR. As I was running along I went into the watch menu and turned off bluetooth and Wifi (Should have done this at the start) and the battery warning went away- for now.
Coming back into town on the second loop I began to fret about the hills up ahead, but I remembered what coach Rich had posted about not thinking about what was past or future and just staying in the NOW. This really helped and got me back to the T1 where I saw Carrie and the kids. high fives for everyone and a kiss for Carrie (better for me than her as I was a sloppy mess apparently)- and back out for loop two. The next 2k were the hardest of the whole run for me, heading back out of the venue and up the hills. I saw Turby and we exchanged some kind words which was nice. I remember seeing a few other EN'ers out there, I think I saw Brad Marcus who looked good. I knew Francis was right behind me because I saw him after the turnarounds. If I had one regret from this race it would be not sharing more mojo out there but I very much had tunnel vision. I think they call this being in the zone.
I knew the wall or 'line' was looming at 30k or so and I was trying to keep it off for as long as possible. Surprisingly, the wall never came. I actually found the first 25 k were mentally the hardest and the last 10 were the easiest. Weird- but I was happy to take it.Unfortunately (or fortunately) the low battery warning came back at 25 k. I thought this meant I would have about an hour, so I planned out when I would take nutrition based on distance rather than time going forward. Ultimately the watch died at 29.5k and I was on my own after that so to speak. Instead of being worried about losing my watch metrics, I actually felt free, unencumbered from having to worry about pace and HR, and I could 'just' run. I resolved to try to maintain effort for another couple of km then just go as hard as I could for the last 10k, focussing on the process (high turnover, good arm swing, good body position) and nutrition. Nothing hurt, I was just a little tired- I could DO THIS.
At this point my box had shrunk to the distance between aid stations but I was feeling really good, passing literally 10s of people and no one was passing me. In most running races in my experience as I am pushing hard and struggling toward the finish there is always someone who flies by seemingly fresh and full of energy. Today I was that guy, somehow.
The Km's melted away as I was constantly assessing how I felt, focussing on form, and planning what I was going to grab at the next buffet. And then before I knew it I was at 38k- only 4K to go! I decided to treat this as 2k followed by 2k, knowing the last climb was going to be difficult, again. I got to the top of the hill by the swim start and as I was going down thought 'only one more hill' until I realized that WAS the top of the hill and I was nearly done. I have never felt so elated in a race in my life as I ran past the aid station at 41k then 42k and down the chute and am still tearing up now as I write this.
Nutrition on the run. Plan was to walk every aid station, 2 gatorades and 1 water. Initially I was walking about half the station, but by the end it was the whole length and maybe a bit more to the last garbage bin. I was well (over) hydrated and probably urinated 5 times or more on the run- which I did without stopping. When Ice was available I put some in my run saver bag even though I wasn't hot and it was strangely comforting just gripping it in my hand. I had planned to switch to coke and water after 30 k, but I began to feel lightheaded and low mood at 22-23 k so I switched to coke and water at 25 k and never went back to gatorade. I made sure to take 1 saltstick every 30 minutes, and on occasion I took 2 if my stomach felt funny or calves or something felt tight. My fingers started tingling at around 28 k so I took a piece of banana at the next two stations and it went away.
Thanks for reading this long report. I had a good day. I know all races won't be as good as this so I am happy that I was able to experience this one on such an epic day. It has been pointed out to me that I am a worrier and I can be negative so I resolved to STAY POSITIVE and no surprise, it worked. I might have to try to STAY POSITIVE more often!
Congratulations to all the other racers out there in these tough conditions. You are all rockstars in my opinion.
I couldn't have done this without everything I have learned here on EN- I spent the last month reading and re-reading race reports and the wiki, listening to race reports and webinars, and carefully considering everything Coach P and R and WSM like Tim Cronk, Dave Tallo, Mike Roberts, John Withrow, Al Truscott, and Nemo Brauch (and others!) have put on this site. Thanks to Turby and Carol and Bryan Davis for walking me through transition tent protocol at dinner! and Tim Cronk who I consider to be a mentor and a very good friend.
Comments
Well done, my friend. A hearty congrats on a tremendous first IM. You are now living proof that first-timers can immerse themselves in the EN Kool-Aid and then execute brilliantly on their first try. Great swim time for a wave start. A 5:36 on that course, in driving wind and rain, is remarkable. And then finish it off with a stellar run. Your run HR profile, at least through the first 18 miles (30 of those strange units you guys use), is a thing of beauty. On a more benign day, on a less challenging course, you would have been well under 10:30. Looking forward to your next chapter.
Was nice meeting you!
Well done Satish! You raced like a smart veteran, not a first timer in brutal conditions! Looking forward to seeing your future races and your times plummet!! Great seeing you guys up there. Rest up and be proud!
Well, that was a rousing success on a day which might have stumped someone less prepared or resourceful. I;d say you raced darn close to your capabilities, which is better than 95% of folks do on their first attempt.
Satish,
Nice job identifying a solution to the problem, completing a good 2nd half of the bike strong and overall great 1st IM race.
Thanks for the kudos everyone. I have since come back down to earth and my delusions of grandeur are subsiding. I feel there is lots I can do to improve and I am excited to have another go at an IRONMAN next year! I'm sure I will be back asking lots of questions between now and then!