Chris's IMWI Race Report
IMWI Race Recap. Goal was 12:30 but back of my mind was really 13:30. Actual 13:34
Friday/Saturday
Had fun texting with the team – we had some laughs didn’t we. At least I did, haha!
Swim – Goal was 1:02. Actual was 1:07
I was a bit disappointed with my swim and it’s not because of my pace. My pace rocked at 1:25/100 yards, which would have had me at 59 minutes. I didn’t sight at all and swam away from the buoy lines just to the right of the main crowd. I thought I was swimming a straight line, but not the case – I swam 2.74 miles! Despite my long swim, I got out of the water feeling great.
Lessons learned: Next time, I’m swimming the buoy line and sighting
Bike – Goal was 6:15. Actual was 6:22
I executed the bike like a champ! The first 16 miles, nearly everyone passed me and I didn’t care one bit. I rode at 150 watts, which was a bit higher than my goal watts of 146. On the first loop, if I wasn’t looking in front of me, I was glued to my heart rate and my watts just keeping my watts under control at around 150. On the second loop, I kept the same pace, but didn’t have a laser focus on my watts as I figured I could let myself go a bit more. Tough to analyze the splits as Garmin Connect sucks – anyone know how to download? On the 16 miles back to town, I was flying and passing a ton of riders – that’s when I knew I executed well. My legs never hurt during the entire ride, but my upper body was killing me. Couldn’t wait to get off that bike! Dropped my chain 3x too
I ate 2 gels and have no idea how much I drank on the course, but I must have pee’d at least 10x, all while on the bike. BTW does anyone know how to get pee smell out of bike shoes – I’ve washed mine 2x and there still a bit of stank in those babies.
Run – Goal was 5:00 but really didn’t know. Actual was 5:49
I’m not the strongest runner, so I really wasn’t sure how long my run would take. However, my bigger goal was to not stop running. I didn’t make that goal, but nonetheless, I feel good about my run. For the first 19 miles, I was pretty consistent (at least for me) with pace and HR. In fact my HR was fine the entire marathon. I walked every aid station, taking mostly coke and red bull, and walked up the 2 “hills”. I started feeling really crappy around mile 17. I was in a lot of pain and a damn near threw up at the aid station between mile 19 and 20. At that point, I decided to start walking. At Mile 21, I walked/ran and around mile 22 I started walking and walked to mile 24. Oddly enough, I met up with a guy I knew. We walked together and it helped take my mind off how shitty I was feeling. Somewhere between mile 22 and 24 I took some Tylenol and drank mostly water and Gatorade, had a few grapes too. Started feeling normal again around mile 24. At this point, Lindsay ran up to me and got me motivated so I started running again. My running motivated my friend so he started running too – it was an all around feel good peeps! I ran with Lindsay for a bit and we did some chatting. At that point, I felt really good and said goodbye to her and forged ahead. Ran pretty much solo for the last 1.5 miles, which was nice as I got to take everything in. Saw Mariah right before the craziness of downtown, which was awesome – she is so amazing, what an attitude!
Crossed the finish line, but didn’t hear Mike R call out my name, which for some reason, it didn’t bother me. Saw Rich at the finish line, which was very cool, we shot the shit, took a few photos and then I ate some pizza – that pizza never tasted so good! I think I peed 3-4x during the whole marathon.
Lesson learned: The only take away is my running endurance. I think if I had ran more during training, I probably would not have stopped running. I ran 2-3x a week, but think 3-4x would have been the difference.
No Ironman for me next year – I like the every other year concept. My goal for next year are a few oly’s and halfs.
Really enjoyed the whole experience. Back in 2014 I didn’t participate in the forums much and this year I made an effort to do just that. It made a huge difference so I encourage everyone to participate more.
Comments
Way to push forward and get it done!
Any idea why your upper body was killing you on the bike, did that happen in training? As soon as possible after a race I soak my bike shoes 24 hours in a bucket with a solution of laundry detergent and ammonia, which has worked for me.
Shoes - wait for a really low humidity couple of days. Run them in the top rack of your dishwasher then leave them out somewhere well lit and indoors to dry out for a few days...
next year, stay away from IM is great, but stay in touch by doing a few sprints or OLYs... focus on building base level speed on the bike and the run, then build the "far" for IM the following year..
hope to see you at the races spreading more good fun!
Again, great having you there this weekend and look forward to racing with you in the future.
@ Jennifer - good point on the coke and red bull. Never really thought of that and that's a good takeaway
@ Trish - still don't know how to do a meme, and I'm OK with that, haha
@ Doug/Scott - I like the shoe ideas. I'll try the bucket first. Wifey would be pissed if I put them in the dishwasher......
Well done!
That's a pretty good day, for a guy who runs 2-3x a week.
Smelly shoes (check out your saddle as well)? Check this out: http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/91/Default.aspx?topic=Smelly+Saddle,+Shoes,+Wetsuit?
Thanks for the impromptu stand-up comedy routine on GroupMe. Outstanding!