Ed Croucher's IMWI Race Report
I wanted to get this down while everything is still fresh. It is a little long.
TARGETS: ACTUALS:
SWIM: 1:05 – 1:10 SWIM: 1:14:13
T1: 7:00 T1: 6:50
BIKE: 5:45 – 5:50 Bike: 5:53:59
Targeting NP watts of 165 – 170 NP: 161 NP
T2: 3:30 T2: 4:52
RUN 3:50 – 3:59 Run: 4:31:05
I came into the race with less than the full training load I would have liked. The longest training ride I did this season was 70 miles. My longest runs were two 13.1 mile runs as part of the two ½ Iron races I did in June. My overall training was very consistent it just did not have many long workouts. I did not set out to race an Ironman on this kind of volume, but I tried to make the best of what I had available.
So, now I will move onto the race report. I came to Wisconsin on Wednesday. I had never been here before, but it is very similar to where I live in both terrain and climate. I met up with my friend Shaughn Simmons. On Thursday morning we headed down to Lake Monona for a short swim. I found the lake calm and easy to swim. We followed up the swim with a quick run. In the afternoon, I met up with Ed Eovino and did a 24 mile ride. The ride was the first/last 12 miles of the course. I realized I was going to heve to pay close attention to my watts or they were going to easily get away. I also notice the road quality left a little to be desired. Although the terrain was familiar, the constant bump, bump of the highway seams was not. I checked out the middle of the roadway and it was a little better than the sides. Friday, I repeated the swim & run with Shaughn. I was planning to ride with Ed in his car and preview the full bike course. However, after attending the 4 Keys presentation, there was not enough time before my wife arrived at the airport. Attending this 4 Keys was my 4th of 5 Ironman races. Coach Rich did an outstanding job. The presentation was smooth and I gained more course info. Not seeing the entire course did not bother me. I knew this was an Ironman and the course would be well marked. Saturday was bike prep and legs up. I executed that pretty well. Although, Ed Eovino clearly won that legs up competion. I am not sure if he posted it on strava, but he should have.
Sunday morning, I woke up early 3:50 a.m. and had my normal fruit /protein smoothie along with 2 cups of coffee. Shaughn and I calmly walked to the staging area. We dropped our bags, got body marking done and then checked our bikes. After that, we headed to the team photo. Before that, Scott Dinhofer heard that a tire on mike 544 had blown. That tire belonged to Shaughn Simmons. He went back up and changed it in time to join the picture. When the picture was done we all headed to the swim start. I wished everyone a great race and headed into the water to get my head ready for the day.
I did a good warm-up swim with a bunch of fast 100’s. I lined up about halfway between the ski jump and the buoy line. Initially, I had lots of room. As the start became closer that space disappeared. At one point, one of the other swimmers treading water kicked my toe. I remember that feeling and today when I looked at it, I see that my toe nail was tore back. When the canon went off, I put my head down and went to work. I swam the fastest 400 I think I have every done. The current produced by the “Fast” guys, was amazing. There was contact, but I was surprised at how little. I made it to the first turn in 9:10. The turn was where the contact really occurred. That first leg of the swim felt great. I didn’t sight very much and I really didn’t have to. There was a large body of swimmers keeping a great line. After the first turn the contact was steady. I tried to swim to the buoy line for some open water. I found the open water but I got a bit inside. I had to swim back to catch the second turn buoy. The contact at this turn was still pretty heavy and again I turned inside to find clear water. When I got to the first buoy on the long leg, I saw I was about fifteen yards inside. I moved back out to the course, but over corrected. After fixing that, I found the right line. I was swimming well all the way to the next turn. That turn went really easy. Not much contact. By this time, the crowd had thinned. I had only one more turn and then straight on to home. That is where I got lost. After turn 4, I veered left. I wasn’t too badly off course but then I started drifting. I had stopped sighting as often as I did during the long leg. I have drifted way off course to the right. I exited the water and never looked at my time. I knew I had swam a long way off course. In the end according to my Garmin, this was my longest Ironman swim but it was still my second fastest Ironman swim time.
I jogged onto shore and found a wet suit stripper. That went really fast and I was jogging up the helix. Once in T-1, I grabbed the wrong bag. I realized it in only a couple steps. I handed the bag to a volunteer and told her what I did. I grabbed my bag and went to the changing room. From then on, the transition went smooth. I was across the mount line and on my bike in 6:50. I beat my goal time.
On the bike I set right in to ride easy. I knew the first mile or so had lots of places to mess up the day. As I made it out onto the stick, Ed Eovino rode up to me. We said a few words and It seemed I was riding a little faster than him. I checked my watts and I was holding them where I planned. From mile 5 through mile 15, I rode at 155 watts and held a 1.03 VI. This was right where I wanted to ride. During that time, Scott Dinhofer rode passed me. He looked great. I did not try to chase. During the next 20 miles I held 168 Watts with a 1.04 VI. I felt good and the ride was going as I had hoped. The next 5 miles got away from me a bit. I averaged 208 watts NP. This was way outside where I wanted to be riding. During this section, I started up a small sharp climb and I dropped my chain. I pulled off to the left and quickly put it back on. However, when I tried to get back on, there was a wall of rides heading up. I didn’t want to cause and accident so I waited until a space appeared. When I tried to get back on, I was unable and I tipped over. I had to walk my bike up a few yards to where the hill was not so steep and then re-start. I tried to stay calm, but I definitely pushed too hard. I saw that I was in the 200 wat NP range as the lap refreshed the screen. I didn’t know this was only one of two bike incidents. Over the next 5 miles, I got things back under control. Then, at mile 49 while riding up Barlow, I wrecked. I was halfway up the climb when a rider in front of me decided to down shift and dropped his chain. Instead of pulling off the road, he just hit the brakes and stopped dead. There was nowhere for me to go but down. I went down on my left side hitting my knee and elbow. I got up and it was way too steep to try and remount so I ran up the hill. I backed of the watts after that point. I made it through the first lap and onto the special needs where I picked up my second half fuel. Shortly after that, I saw Scott Dinhofer again. To my surprise, he was passing me. He still looked really good and was still riding faster than me on the bike. A little while later, Ed Eovino caught up to me. I followed along and could see Ed for a few miles, but I did not chase. There were no more bike incidents even though shortly before the end there were several intersections that could have gone very bad. There was an intersection where the first loop and the second loop merge. On the second loop, you come into the left turn pretty fast. The volunteers controlling the intersection apparently did not see me and a couple other riders coming and wave a pickup truck through. I was leading the group and saw that happening. I got on the brakes and yelled for those following to stop. We all did and made it through. Throughout the ride, there were two things that were ever present. The poor rode conditions and the wind. A lot of the wind was in my face. You really had to stay down or pay a big price. My first 55.5 miles were 169 watts NP, 1.09 VI and 19.0 mph. The second 55.5 miles were 153 watts NP, 1.07 VI & 18.7 mph. I went through 6 bottles of fuel and didn’t pee.
T-2 went well. My legs were wobbly when I got off the bike, but that seemed to go away quickly. I grabbed the correct bag this time, went to the changing room and dumped it. I had calf sleeves, but opted not to put them on. My socks & Shoes went on quickly. I grabbed my go bag and started moving. I went right to the port-a-john. After not going at all on the bike, this took a while. When that was done, I went out for the run. I realized I had skipped the sun block before the bike and knew I would pay if I didn’t get some before the run.
A quick drink of water and I was running. When I got to the Capital building I looked at my pace. I was just under 9:00. Perfect I thought. When my watch beeped at mile one, I was at 8:07. Way too fast. I tried to hold back the charge. Over the next 5 miles I averaged 8:41/mile. This was still too fast. During this time, I saw Scott Dinhofer again. Over the next 5 miles I held a 9:08 pace, but I could feel my ability to keep it going slipping away. During those 5 miles, I had the first of two bathroom stops. After the turn at the Capital, I knew the second half was going to be a lot of work. During mile 14, I had a 2 minute bathroom break. I hoped that would get me going back towards the pace I hoped for but it was not going to happen. I averaged 11:03 for miles 15 through 26.2. I made it to the finish chute and headed in. I was soaking in the cheers and then I saw my wife! She looked amazing. I ran to her and intended to stop for a hug and kiss. My legs were not having any of that. I had no brakes and it was downhill. I managed a high five and finished the race. Coach Rich was at the finish and was a great support. He got me a blanket and helped me find my wife Elaine.
Throughout this race, I saw Coach Rich and Mariah on the sidelines cheering. Seeing my fellow members race with me gave me strength. In the final mile, Mariah saw me and jogged along with me giving me great encouragement. She sent me on the way for the last 3/10 ready to finish. My finish time was 11:50:59. This was my 5th Ironman and this race ranks 4th in finish time. This race rank 1st in my Race book. I really only hit one of my pre-race goals, finishing T-1 under 7 minutes. My overall bike watts were within my goal watts, but how I got them was not. I was twelve watts lower between the two 55.5 mile sections. T-2 was tolerable since I couldn’t pee while riding. My run was far from my goal. However, I ran all of the course with the exception of Observatory hill on the second time. I got to share this race with great friends and Most of all, my wife Elaine was there and is here.
Comments
Again, congrats on your race. I enjoyed reading your RR. Very impressive given your training volume! Glad the two bike incidents didn't ruin your day...you still had a great bike split. Way to keep you head in the game.
Frankly a phenomenal race performance for not being able to do any long rides/runs given your circumstances my friend!
You had a great day, raced smart and just checked off another full IM with a respectable time on a tough course!
No words!
Thanks for spending the weekend with me and making my race fantastic!
SS
Ed,
Sorry for the slow response (even though you got a text from me soon after the race). Just through smarts and execution, you did as well as you should have expected. We chatted several times leading up to the race that your volume was low and you just needed to execute. I think it was Week 18 when you were only able to get in a single 3,500m swim. Most people would love to have your race swim time on that volume. Under-trained on the bike, on that really tough course, with a mechanical and a wreck . . . again, pretty remarkable result. Even if I didn't tell you beforehand, I kinda suspected that the low volume would slow you down the latter half of the marathon, which is all that was. Still, sub-12 on that course, on that training, 27th in AG, is pretty spectacular. Congrats again. Hoping to race with you again soon.
Mike
Specially being able to run a marathon with the low volume is impressive.
Thank you all for the comments. I feel like I had a great race. I know I will never plan to race an Ironman on the kind of training I did for this one. This was my fifth Ironman and each race has been different. Even when you race the same course multiple times, the distance of this race always has some little surprise for you. Wisconsin is a great course that on the right day is ready for a great race time. Now on to the next race challenge. IMMT 2017.
Smart thinking. This was clearly a day when being part of EN was a key factor for you, with the on course and side-of-the-course support that entailed, as well as the before and after support. Keep smiling, and come back strong!
Great race! Impressive execution squeezing every bit of performance out of your fitness!
It was nice to finally meet you, after training for so long with you over cyberspace. Enjoy some downtime, and hopefully see you in IMMT '17 if not before!