Rich's 2016 IMWI RR

Rich Stanbaugh

Stanbaugh – IMWI 2016 RR

Results

Swim:	1:15:24 PR	Previous Best: 1:16:00 (2015 CHOO)
T1	6:40
Bike	5:38:11
T2	3:19
Run	4:22:01 PR	Previous Best: 4:30:37 (2014 IMMT)
Overall	11:25:35 PR	Previous Best: 11:29:18 (2015 CHOO)
	AG 14th PR OA 244th PR	Previous Best: 42nd Previous Best: 368th

 

 

Link to IMWI Race Plan: Stanbaugh 2016 IMWI Race Plan

 

Taper

I wrapped up training with the Race Rehearsal weekend. I had made a couple mistakes with nutrition/hydration, learned a couple lessons and called it final. The build had been good and I was ready to recover and race.

 Strep was going through my office (my son caught it) so I started pumping Vitamin C and airborne. Also had antibiotics on hand. As luck would have it, my throat had first symptoms September 1. Started the antibiotics and kept pushing the antioxidants. By race day I felt pretty good. Still a little fatigued, but overall feeling good.

Pre-Race

Arrived Wednesday evening. Had an awesome week catching up with EN and Fraser teammates. My buddy Chris, who was supposed to race with me until being hit by a Prius while riding his bike (broken scapula), came to Madison to cheer. He is a fantastic guy and one of the most positive people I know… really helped set the tone for a fun race week. Went to 4 Keys and listened to Coach Rich drill “when in doubt, go slower” into our heads. Everything went smoothly all week. Saw a lot of friends. Had a lot of fun. Bought a new wet suit. I had bought an optimized chain from Ceramic Speed – they don’t sell the Dura Ace anymore and the one that I got kept dropping during course recon. I put last year’s race chain on rather than sticking with the new Ceramic Speed.

Race Morning

Very calm. Had breakfast with Anna and Chris – saw Teri, Stephanie and Scott and had some laughs while eating. Went to transition, set everything up with no problems. Was in the water left of the boat ramp with Michael Quinton and Scott Dinhofer about 10 minutes before the cannon started the race.

Swim

It started pretty smooth for a mass start. Being in the water is a lot better than mass start from the beach…less mayhem. I saw Michael Quinton a couple times, Saw Dinhofer once at the first turn and thought I must be doing OK because they are much better swimmers than me. IT was pretty physical from the first turn onwards for me. I just tried to stay straight and tried to keep my butt up. Got a little confused on the 4^th turn – couldn’t see the finish line. Found it. Finished. Didn’t see the time but it felt good. 1:15:24

T1

I caught Michael Q on the ramp and ran past Scott D as he was getting his bike. Thought the swim must have been OK. Ran bike to bike mount and a volunteer held it while I put shoes on.

Bike

HR monitor wasn’t working. I committed to riding the first 20 minutes or so stupid easy. Fooled around with admin stuff and finally got Garmin to grab HR after 20 minutes or so. HR was out of control. I normally start the bike in upper 120s/lower 130s bpm and finish race pace 100+ miles around 147 bpm. I was already bouncing between 148-152 bpm. Carried on trying to get it to drop until Valley Road. RPE was more than fine. At Valley Road I decided to race and see what happened. The race was flying by, RPE was awesome, power targets were awesome, nutrition was awesome… Around mile 58 something wasn’t awesome anymore. I’m not sure what it was… my legs were slightly tired? Stomach was a little sour? I realized that I had pee’d about 8 times on that first loop. HR was still running in 150s.

I channeled Coach Rich and backed off. I had ridden NP 192w to that point – I started pushing the sodium and rode NP 175w the rest of the bike. HR stayed in the 150s 9never dropped) and I was able to trick some speed out of the course. Ian Kurth passed my around mile 90 like I had a flat tire. The course was really empty on the stick back to T2. I kept hydrating and getting ready to run. 5:38:11, 260 TSS

T2

Nothing fancy – in and out. Ate a banana on the way through.

Run

It was hard to start. My run HR target is 142-145. Having just ridden nearly 6 hours at 150+ bpm, I knew the run was going to suck. Got moving, HR in 150s again. First mile at 8:48, channeled both coaches this time – slowed down to lower 9s and just tried to hold HR steady.

The wheels started coming off as I climbed back into the capital. Pace dropped to nearly 10 min/mi. Motor cycles for the leader passed me as I came to run special needs, stopped and cheered. Ran awhile longer and saw woman leader. Stopped and cheered again (stopping sounded awesome at this point). By this time, I was seeing a lot of people I knew on the run course. Just tried not to slow down, but HR was dropping. Too long above my LT1 and couldn’t fuel it anymore. Saw Pat Ward. Afraid he would catch me. Saw Anna – she looked awesome! Was scared to death Scott was going to pass me. Mariah and Coach R were all over the course sending huge mojo. Then it was done. Coach R met me at the finish line, spent time hanging out with Pat and Teri. My legs were (are) dead – too much time in wrong HR zone. 4:22:01 / 11:25:35

Going Forward

This race was a step forward for me. First healthy IM run ever. Fitness was good coming into the race. Made some decent decisions during the race.

This is not the best race I have in me… but it was the best race I had in me Sunday.

HR was a problem all day. I need to understand this – but so far I am on to two related causes:

1. Being sick had a lingering effect
2. I was wayyy over tapered. Being sick added to this, but I believe this isn’t the first time I have been over tapered coming into a race.

During the training season, I have my bet performances when I am slightly fatigued. A full two-week taper feels too long to me. Going into IMFL (seven weekends to train), I am going to consider how to have a more effective taper. For those that use Training Peak’s Performance Management Chart, I believe my best performances happen when my TSB is slightly negative.

Thanks for reading and I’ll appreciate any thoughts / guidance!

scott dinhofer

Over the top happy for you on this one. It's been great fun training together since really connecting at Al camp this year. Curious about the heart thing if you check in with a doc, but that is probably just an anomaly of the day. You looked strong everywhere I saw you, especially when you dropped me like a bad habit on the bike course. Congrats on a huge comeback race.. Looking to see how this comes together in FL & '17!

Brian Hagan

Rich,

Congratulations on an awesome race!  That swim was spectacular, especially considering your lack of swim volume.  I have no doubt that your heart rate was linked to your strep throat illness so close to the race.  The fact that you were still able to run a 4:22 marathon after your HR had been elevated for so long is very impressive.

I think SS started a good forum on TSB and tapering with lots of good feedback.  You may want to read through it if you have not already.  Although, when you get sick, training more is not going to be very productive IMO.

Congrats on a great race!  See you on the next scone ride!

Brian

  

 

 

Trish Marshall

WOW!!! So many PR's! CONGRATS! Like you my HR was high and stomach off. Unlike you, the only PR I got was 49.9 MPH on the start of loop 2!

I am super excited to cheer you on at IMFL Rich!!!! Recover hard and see you in FL!

donymo

Nice job beating your current-assisted swim time from IMChoo!

tim cronk

He's baaaaaaack! PR's on OA, swim, but most impressively the Run after your surgeries.... Agree you have a lot more left in you! Be smart between here and IMFL , careful with that next taper , SS just had a thread on it but I don't think it can be discussed too much.. Just like training its individual ... Re-read SS thread but start another discussion on it maybe closer to IMFL with your then current PMC numbers and thoughts???

JeremyBehler

What Tim said!   I expected you to have a breakthrough race.  You were super strong in Aspen 4 months ago, and you have put in SERIOUS work since then. 

Well done.  Look forward to seeing what you can do in a couple months!

JeremyBehler

What Tim said!   I expected you to have a breakthrough race.  You were super strong in Aspen 4 months ago, and you have put in SERIOUS work since then. 

Well done.  Look forward to seeing what you can do in a couple months!

Al Truscott

Good have your comeback race behind you, no? Getting the most out of yourself in an IM is a LOOOOONG process. Getting the balance between bike and run seems like it's next on the agenda. For FL, I;d suggest thinking about making a commitment to do whatever it takes on the bike so you can hold that pace you had during the first 10 miles or so in Wisconsin, for the whole way. A good place to practice that, what with the run being so flat and all. It may mean giving 5-10 minutes on the bike to get 15-20 on the run.

But really, after the major repair work you had done on your core, it must feel good to know you're gonna be better than before those surgeries.

Shaughn Simmons

Rich, you came into 2016 with a fire in your belly, piling up HUGE amounts of smart work week after week.  Enjoyed watching every minute of the evolution my friend.

Here is the TSB/CTL forum link: http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/21632/Default.aspx

Your swim PR on a very small amount of swim prep is phenomenal! I worked my ass off swimming this year a swam a minute slower that you did!!!!!!  BAM!

I think AL said it best on the bike / run future opportunities, however I would also just mention, you biked a 5:38 on a damn tough course and stilled pulled off a decent run.  Maybe it wasn't a negative split run, but you did get it done, you got the PR and you raced strong throughout!

Congratulations!

SS

drjohnson08

Rich, congratulations on the PR and overall really solid day! It’s awesome to see you come back from the injuries and surgeries you had even stronger than before and what looks like a lot more potential too! The PR is obviously great, but that improvement within the AG is amazing!

Really impressed with that swim time compared to CHOO, especially since you said you didn’t put in much time! I agree that the sickness probably impacted your HR. Any chance that you swam too hard and this affected your HR on the bike as well?

Keep working hard, looking forward to seeing what you do at FL!

Francis Picard

Wow! all those PR falling like rain!! Great results on the run.

Looking fwd to see the upcoming in the next weeks!

Michael Quinton

Rich, congrats on your PR...I'm so happy that you're through all the tough injuries and I think you put together an awesome race in WI! It was great getting to start the race with you and run along side (and eventually behind) you coming out of the water. I'm super impressed with your swim given your hatred for it, haha. Each time I saw you in the water you looked very smooth, which certainly was not easy with all the hand-to-hand combat going on out there. Saw you for a minute on the bike as you came whizzing by and I remember saying to myself "he's a man on a mission and looking super-strong"....Even though you weren't a "5:05" you posted a sick time on that monster bike course. Unfortunately, I didn't get to join you on the run but I can see improvement which is probably a function of being physically healthy and doing the long running sessions in the heat this summer. I know you'll figure the rest out as it comes to holding that solid pace you put down through the first half of the run, which will definitely put you even closer to the very top in your AG. You're a beast man and I can't wait to see how you apply what you learned in WI when you go destroy FL! Congrats to you, my friend!

Mariah Bridges

PR... thats whats up, Congrats. I know you're a very competitive person, but my only advice is continue to run your race. Keep your race in your box and focus on nothing else. I like seeing you say things like "i backed off, I adhered to the plan etc" but I know you don't like being passed. That state of mind, might free up some energy when cleared out, you never know! Watching you race is one of my favorite things, it's no secret I just adore you. Keep at it, you are a fantastic athlete. The way you continue to soak in knowledge is inspiring.

Rich Stanbaugh

First - thank you all for the words of encouragement and the ideas. The coaches give us great structure and guidance, but the support and knowledge from you guys really make the team work for me. And I HUGELY appreciate the mojo on race day.



I wrote this RR Tuesday night as a way to force my transition from WI to FL. Normally I like to think about them for a few days and let my perspective settle a little because my feelings on the race are still not settled so early. I'm a little more critical now about things that need to change in order to go faster.



There are a couple things that I really like about this race:

• Can't complain about PRing a swim after announcing that I intentionally ignored it until August
• I feel like I made good decisions while riding the bike. I waited until Valley Road, then I rode it at planned (190ish), I backed off significantly (175w) at the first hint of concern and stayed backed off all day. VI of 1.08 isn't what it seems. I had a 12/28 cassette with 50/34 chainrings, so I spun out at 32mph. When I look at VI for speeds less than 32mph, it was about 1.02 - 1.04. pedaling was very smooth all day.
• I felt that I made good nutrition decisions. Calories were good all day. Hydrating was good all day. When I peed too much on the bike, I added salt and fixed the problem.
• The results were an improvement. A stepping stone though, not a breakthrough.

Originally I wrote "This is not the best race I have in me… but it was the best race I had in me Sunday." Today, I don't feel very strongly about the second part of that statement.

• I believe that I could have had a better race Sunday if I would have set the run up better. I absolutely must get a run performance that matches what I am having on my practice runs. This was an improvement - but Florida needs to be a breakthrough.
• I believe that I was over tapered. The edge was gone. I felt flat leading into the race and on race morning and I did not adjust the plan and react to it. Being sick the week before forced the taper to be more extreme that it would have been - that was out of my control. What was in my control was the ability to recognize and react to feeling and make appropriate adjustments. In hindsight, I should had adjusted my plan leading into the race to be more conservative and further protected the run.
• I was 5 min from the top 10 and I know that I left 5 minutes on that course by letting myself get into a dark place too early while running. That can't happen anymore.

I'm working through what needs to happen over the next seven weekends building to Florida. Haven't done any workouts post race yet, but am itching to start. I will get moving this weekend. 

Some things I am considering:

1. Should I focus on my ability to run off the bike? Brick Runs? 
2. I would like to pay particular attention to tapering and will go back through previous races and workout history to see where I perform best. I am leaning towards a 1-week taper that lets TSB fall somewhere between 0 and -10 on race day.
3. I've had a ton of run volume this year - should I focus a little more on raising the intensity/speed on my fast day asI ramp back into FL?
4. I will probably switch Wednesday rides to the trainer for safety's sake (dark, busy roads). This season, these have typically been VO2 sessions /  intervals of 10min or less in one form or another. Not sure of the impact of doing these on the trainer.

 I love that this sport is always about improving and that there are always so many  things to improve upon!

Rich Stanbaugh

First - thank you all for the words of encouragement and the ideas. The coaches give us great structure and guidance, but the support and knowledge from you guys really make the team work for me. And I HUGELY appreciate the mojo on race day.



I wrote this RR Tuesday night as a way to force my transition from WI to FL. Normally I like to think about them for a few days and let my perspective settle a little because my feelings on the race are still not settled so early. I'm a little more critical now about things that need to change in order to go faster.



There are a couple things that I really like about this race:

• Can't complain about PRing a swim after announcing that I intentionally ignored it until August
• I feel like I made good decisions while riding the bike. I waited until Valley Road, then I rode it at planned (190ish), I backed off significantly (175w) at the first hint of concern and stayed backed off all day. VI of 1.08 isn't what it seems. I had a 12/28 cassette with 50/34 chainrings, so I spun out at 32mph. When I look at VI for speeds less than 32mph, it was about 1.02 - 1.04. pedaling was very smooth all day.
• I felt that I made good nutrition decisions. Calories were good all day. Hydrating was good all day. When I peed too much on the bike, I added salt and fixed the problem.
• The results were an improvement. A stepping stone though, not a breakthrough.

Originally I wrote "This is not the best race I have in me… but it was the best race I had in me Sunday." Today, I don't feel very strongly about the second part of that statement.

• I believe that I could have had a better race Sunday if I would have set the run up better. I absolutely must get a run performance that matches what I am having on my practice runs. This was an improvement - but Florida needs to be a breakthrough.
• I believe that I was over tapered. The edge was gone. I felt flat leading into the race and on race morning and I did not adjust the plan and react to it. Being sick the week before forced the taper to be more extreme that it would have been - that was out of my control. What was in my control was the ability to recognize and react to feeling and make appropriate adjustments. In hindsight, I should had adjusted my plan leading into the race to be more conservative and further protected the run.
• I was 5 min from the top 10 and I know that I left 5 minutes on that course by letting myself get into a dark place too early while running. That can't happen anymore.

I'm working through what needs to happen over the next seven weekends building to Florida. Haven't done any workouts post race yet, but am itching to start. I will get moving this weekend. 

Some things I am considering:

1. Should I focus on my ability to run off the bike? Brick Runs? 
2. I would like to pay particular attention to tapering and will go back through previous races and workout history to see where I perform best. I am leaning towards a 1-week taper that lets TSB fall somewhere between 0 and -10 on race day.
3. I've had a ton of run volume this year - should I focus a little more on raising the intensity/speed on my fast day asI ramp back into FL?
4. I will probably switch Wednesday rides to the trainer for safety's sake (dark, busy roads). This season, these have typically been VO2 sessions /  intervals of 10min or less in one form or another. Not sure of the impact of doing these on the trainer.

 I love that this sport is always about improving and that there are always so many  things to improve upon!

Ed Eovino

Rich...You posted yourRR so early...I remember reading it still in a post race daze after the long ride home. I wanted to tell how great it was to meet you and Anna at camp and see you again during the race. I'll remember how smooth you looked pulling away from me for a long time.

I had coach P look at my race this week. His biggest note for improvement for me was that I started the bike too hot. That I didn't let my HR come down to the level it was on my last few long rides at the start of this race. I was about 15bpm faster and I just held that the whole bike. I did the same on the run. The later stages of my run I was forced to walk due to cramping... or else I would have held that HR with a dropping pace for the rest of the race. I looked at your HR analysis... and while you were a ton steadier than me...you were still 15 BPM over your last long ride. Like I said... you were way steadier... but maybe reach out to coach P?

Frederick Guesneau

Rich, I enjoyed reading your report. I am confident and hope that you and I will cross road soon. Good luck in FL and continue on the PR path.

Ian Kurth

Rich - awesome comeback race! You looked good out there - massively improved from the giddyup stride you had in IMMT... Your rehab was smart, and your IM build was very steady and very impressive. Your attention to detail will continue to pay dividends as you continue to shave time.

Good luck in IMFL, and hope to see you again at BRC!