Michael Q's IMMOO Race Report - DNF
to begin, this is very hard for me to write as I'm very disappointed with how my day ended. I made a very tough decision to pull out of the race after the bike due to some scary pain in my upper-right abdominal area. I've never quit any race and I'm still trying to come to terms with the feelings I've been carrying around for the past 2.5 days.
Wisconsin was everything you could ask for in a challenging race course but EN brought the mojo and the weather couldn't have been any better. The morning started off perfectly...I actually got 7 full hours of sleep leading into race morning which was a huge win based on traveling east 2 time zones. I woke up 5 mins before my 4AM alarm and did my usual peanut butter + banana bagel, cup of coffee, beet juice and sports drinks for the road. EVERYTHING went as planned and I was very relaxed getting my bike setup and meeting the team for the picture by swim start. The force was strong in the EN gang and the confidence was infectious. Ran into several old friends and time seemed to fly as we entered the water for the swim start.
I followed Rich S. into the water and we positioned ourselves just to the left of the ski jump. we floated around for about 10 mins until the cannon went off...and "the race was on"...This swim was rough...like a floating wresting match for 2 miles. my finger got sliced open on someone's un-fastened safety pin that unsafely secured their timing chip strap. I navigated my way through the first 500m and then found my stroke and got comfortable. I stayed very relaxed despite the many elbows, kicks, etc. that were virtually inescapable. The final turn home was when the traffic finally cleared and I was encouraged with my swim time of 1:14 (goal 1:12-1:15).
I felt fine jogging up the inside the helix to after getting my wetsuit stripped and everything was going plan. I caught a glimpse of my wife, parents and in-laws as I headed inside and got a huge rush...all good! Got into my bike bag, helmet on, socks on, shoes in hand and out the door. Grabbed my bike and was off down the helix safely. Bike traffic was a little heavy through the start but no worse than any other race. People seemed to be handling themselves well as the first few miles are very tricky with a sketchy bike path that has some very sharp turns and a ride through a parking lot before you really get on to any streets. This is the point where I began feeling tightness in my upper-right abdominal muscles.
I figured I'd developed a cramp and worked to get my heart rate down and just ride along as instructed by Coach Rich. I definitely eased up, ate a PowerBar and began drinking the GE I had on my bike. Then the pain started getting progressively worse after mile 30...Got up Barlow without any issues but continued to feel the abdominal pain intensify. Raised up out of my aero bars to do some stretching to see if I could work out the tightness but wasn't successful. By mile 60 deep breathing began to hurt...mind you I was riding an exceptionally easy race at this point...averaging 20 watts lower than my target trying to get things worked out. I stayed on my nutrition plan and continued to drink and carry on. through Mile 70, then 80...I had already peed 2 times and the tightness was just getting worse and worse....I've never felt this kind of pain during a race and began getting nervous when every crack on the old farm roads felt like i was getting stabbed. I kept telling myself that once I was off the bike and I could stretch out, get upright and everything would be fine. I really told myself that for about 5.5 hours, so you can imagine how long that bike ride felt.
Once I pulled in from the bike my bubble of hope had pretty much burst. I couldn't stand upright due to the severity of the pain. I walked into the change room and took a seat to see if just shutting down for a few minutes would change the sitch. A kind volunteer helped me to a chair, brought me some water and could obviously sense I was in some serious pain. He asked me several times if I was okay and I told him that I just needed a few minutes to try to stretch things out. Stretched but no success or signs of improvement. Determined to keep going, I put my shoes on, grabbed my go bag and made my way out the door and onto the run course. I was doing a very bad interpretation of the Walking Dead for about a tenth of a mile before I just couldn't take another step and felt that I needed some medical attention. Longer story short, my family was able to find me on the course and help me talk through making the ultimate decision to pull out and not risk any long-term damage.
This was truly heartbreaking for me but I know the ultimate rule that presides over all things we do for fun....and that's to make sure you take care of yourself by being smart and sometimes making a very tough call. I've now been checked out and the prognosis is an abdominal strain that really intensified on the bike due to the body position for six hours. The silver lining is that I still have a race on the schedule in 9 weeks (IM AZ) and will definitely focus on slaying some dragons and achieving some very high personal goals I'd already set for myself. It's time to move past IMMOO and focus on Arizona...much easier said than done but I thank God for looking after me and all the other athletes on Sunday and know I will get redemption in Wisconsin at some point...maybe next year
Comments
IMAZ better watch out!
This, Michael, is one of the most challenging things about IM. You can put in all the training time and prep and sometimes things outside your control go wrong. It sucks. I am sure it feels horrible when it happens. Ultimately, though it can and does even to those who are fully prepared. Look at Rinny last year in Kona! Every experience can be learned from and hopefully you can glean the positives from your day in Madison and bounce back even stronger at your next race.
Give yourself a few days of recover before going all in on Arizona. You will do great and get to that finish line.
See you in AZ
Michael,
You guys have heard me say it many times: all that anyone who's opinion you value cares about is (1) were you safe and (2) did you have fun / enjoy yourself. This is all just a game, Ironman will always be there, and there are no extra points for risking permanent injury. You did the right thing and now have ~9 weeks to build on your IM fitness, so there's that
Now - you have about 10 weekends to heal and get ready for AZ!
Well, RUQ pain @ that point in the race, start of the bike. I hope you get it figured out, cause that's not normal. Kicked during the swim? Bike fit? Pre-race nutrition? Some medical mystery?
Glad to hear your seeking a medical exam. Don't let your doctor shine you on. Although I am (was) a physician), I wouldn't presume to diagnose this problem. But the fact that it started very early on in the bike would make me think it may not be a simple muscle strain or injury. In addition to liver/Gall bladder, I'd also wonder about a pinched nerve in the mid thoracic spine, just for starters.
You are a fantastic addition to this team, always smiling and adding great value. Thank you for all that you do!
Al, your post was not only helpful but impeccably timely! I saw the doc yesterday who has treated many cyclists and swimmers over the years. After he poked around for a little while, he ruled out liver and appendix due to no signs of being sick with fever, jaundice symptoms, etc. I'm scheduled for an abdominal ultrasound today that will hopefully rule out gallbladder/ gall stones. The doc mentioned he felt it was nerve-related, so he did some dextrose injections after indicating this really helped treat this kind of pain in other athletes he's treated. Hopefully, that's the extent of it...physically, this is the best I've felt since Sunday so hopefully it doesn't get any more serious than some injections of sugar water into my abs