Paul Curtin’s 2016 Ironman Louisville Race Report
Completing an Ironman is more about making 1,000 good decisions rather than the 140.6 miles you’ll cover. I’ve learned through EN that the more of these decisions you make in advance, the better off you’ll be. It’s like acting in a play: you rehearse on stage; visualize how things should go; improvise when stuff happens; and hope for the best on opening night.
Season Build
My Ironman training consisted of four main build phases (OutSeason, Get Faster, Muncie, Lou). The Performance Management chart shows significant breaks between each phase (sharp rise in TSB, sharp drop in ATL, small drop in CTL). I basically took a down week to recharge after each build. I’m convinced it was critical to my successful season as I had been injured in each of the past three seasons – mostly back and neck issues.
In fact I delayed starting the OutSeason last year because that first 5K test aggravated a herniated cervical disc. I still haven’t done another 5K since then. I had decent run mileage this season but didn’t get in very much speed work. For the overall season, I averaged about 10.5 hours of training per week. My peak fitness number (CTL) was 115 in the final build to IM Lou. Here’s a chart with the TSS, bike, and run numbers by week:
Race Week
I arrived in Louisville on Wednesday (Sunday was race day). It was nice getting in earlier just to have the travel and unpacking out of the way. On Thursday I swam at the downtown Y, did the course recon ride with Ed Eovino, and completed athlete check-in later that afternoon. We had a very nice team dinner at the Hard Rock Café. Meeting my EN teammates was a true highlight of the week!
Friday was pretty low key. I rode my street bike to check out the swim start and then did a 1.5 mile jog to ensure the running shoes were laced properly. Lunch was at The Bristol with the EN crew; dinner was in the suburbs (Cheesecake Factory) with Jay and David (my sherpa team)
On Saturday I did a whole lot of … nothing. My only steps were within the hotel room and to walk down for the bike and gear-bag check-in. Dinner was Olive Garden carry out. Mo (my lovely wife) and Dan (my handsome son) arrived Saturday evening. They went to Fourth Street Live to get a bite and check out the race venue. I was in bed my 9:30.
Race Morning
Race morning turned out to be easy and unstressed. The lists were already made out, with the final checklist taped to the refrigerator door. Breakfast was oatmeal, a beet-carrot-apple-ginger drink, most of a Core Power drink, and half of a bagel. Jay and I left the hotel just before 5:00 a.m., and there was already a long line for the transition-open at 5:15. But getting through was pretty quick – I only had to put bottles on the bike, synch the Garmin power, and drop off the special needs bags. After body marking I then rode my Giant street bike to the swim start, and locked it to a tree when I got in line. This was a huge savings as I passed hundreds of people walking to the swim line. Jay walked down and met me in the line.
I wound up very close to the start – farther up than I wanted to be. But I figured I could let people go by me once the line started moving. I sipped Gatorade, ate most of a Power Bar, and had a Clif gel about twenty minutes before the start. At 7:15 they announced the line was going to move forward – they had held the line at the sidewalk in front of the path down to the dock. This was a little chaotic as I had just started to get my wetsuit on. So although a lot of people passed by me, it was okay as I wound up with my planned starting spot after all.
Swim
After you snake your way down the ramp, you have to choose which ramp you want to jump off of. I decided last year when watching the swim start – the right side clearly was the better choice. And not because the left-side dock meant swimming an extra eight yards, but because almost everyone goes left swimming up the channel. It got very congested there last year. There was no line for the left-side ramp, and a few folks switched at the last second. But I didn't budge.
It turned out to be a good decision. I hugged the far right and had a super-clean line all the way up the channel. I even stayed wide on the turn so I could keep right and ride any current from the river. After the turn buoy, it was all gravy. (Gravy, coincidentally, also best describes the color and texture of the Ohio River water) I bumped into other people only about four times, and three of those times were hitting the same guy. One of us wasn’t swimming straight. Or perhaps, neither of us.
My only issue was some lower-leg cramping in the last 10 minutes. I had to stop and flex my foot each time it happened. But overall I was very happy – official swim time was 1:08:55 – about 3-6 minutes faster than expected.
Transition One
I wound up swimming in the EN speed suit, so I toweled off a bit, put my “Texas jacket” in the front (cardboard and plastic shopping bag), had the volunteer tuck my plastic wrap in the back of my jersey, then put on arm warmers and knee warmers. I sat down to put on socks and shoes – I was okay with running with bike shoes even though it’s a long jog to the mount line. Finally it was the helmet and then gloves. I was surprised they didn’t put carpeting over the concrete – I thought it was there last year? Oh well. Total T1 time was 8:01. I’m good with this given the colder temperature. I was smooth. And with all that clothing, I was Nanook of the North.
The Bike
It was rather cold on the bike – high 40s at the start. Although I was nicely bundled up, the temperature still affected my ride. My initial objective was to lower heart rate, and that turned out to be pretty easy. Holding speed was easy too with all the other riders moving in the same direction. So I decided to just ride along, taking in the first 200 calories from lemon-flavored Tailwind in the TorHans.
The first four laps though were all under goal power: NP was 158, 168, 186 and 175 (5-mile laps). My target power was closer to 190. Not sure if it was the cold or if I just wasn’t paying close enough attention to the power meter. I continued to take in calories, with an Infinit bottle and about half each of the Power Bar and Clif Bar. I did well to top off fluids at each aid station, but not really sure I needed all those liquids. I drank to thirst on the bike.
It finally warmed up about 2 hours into the ride, so I ditched the front and back body insulation panels. It probably looked pretty strange to the volunteers at the drop zone. The gloves came off at mile 60 at special needs aid station. Thankfully I didn’t need my bike special needs bag.
I never found the course to be overly congested. There were a few busy spots on Route 146 with cars moving in the same direction, but otherwise it was a steady stream of passing people and taking it easy on the climbs.
The last 30 miles or so were mostly downhill (a gradual 450-foot overall descent) and we had a nice tailwind. I had my fastest splits of the day in this section, increasing average speed from 20.0 to 20.5. Overall, it was really an uneventful ride: a good thing for an Ironman bike I suppose.
My official bike split was 5:24:08. NP was right at 200, VI was 1.07, IF was .69. I was hoping for a VI of 1.05, but on that hilly course with the slower start it seems to be a decent number. NP and IF were a bit under planned numbers (205 and .72 respectively).
Here are the bike data files:
TrainingPeaks – TSS, NP and VI: http://tpks.ws/nUhKo
Garmin file – graph of HR and power: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1399476592
Strava file – more data views: https://www.strava.com/activities/740368685
Transition Two
I didn’t do a flying dismount heading into T2 – there were water bottles behind my seat. After you dismount there’s a fairly long run down the walkway to the transition area, where a volunteer catches your bike while you continue down to pick up the run bag. I left the shoes on the pedals and they kept catching the ground as I ran. That was annoying but I suppose it kept me from running too fast.
I had the arm warmers off and EN suit unzipped in advance of entering the tent. It wasn’t crowded at all. I did a full change into running gear. I left all my stuff on the ground and asked the volunteer to stuff it into the bag for me. I noticed he wasn’t wearing gloves when he picked up the EN suit. Yuck, I thought.
The Run
After you exit the transition tent, you run along the river’s edge and then head up the walkways to Witherspoon Street. It’s nice having the cheering crowds there. I saw Mo, Dan, my daughter Alyssa (she arrived Sunday), Jay and David. Having support at an Ironman is awesome.
My first check of the heart rate showed 145. That wasn’t too bad. I wanted to be 138 per my race plan, but frankly I wasn’t sure what the right number was. It stayed in the low 140’s, so I was good with that. I had to check HR often though because it kept creeping up on me. That HR yielded about 9:30-minute miles. I took a Clif Shot block every mile or so (33 calories each), and had a gel pack at about mile 4. I walked each aid station to ensure I could drink water or Gatorade.
I knew this run would be a great learning experience. After mile 7, I started to pick up the pace. Gradually. Things felt okay: HR was in check at high zone 2 and I was moving faster. I noticed fewer people passing me and I was passing more people. It felt good so I held it. I stopped to pee at mile 11. The turnaround for the second lap was packed with people – I never saw Mo and the gang – I only remember seeing Tim Cronk.
My heart rate drifted into the mid-150s, but it felt okay to sustain it. I didn’t have a lot of run experience at that HR, and was taking a huge risk by continuing at that effort. I hit mile 18 anticipating the crash but it didn’t happen. I had popped a caffeine tablet at mile 17 so maybe that helped. I was actually in a good place until mile 22. I had to go potty.
I found an open port-a-john and the delay didn’t seem too bad. (I stopped my Garmin for the break – about 2 minutes total) However, when I stood back up my quads cramped. I tried to get back to good run pace but it got difficult. Mile 23 was at a 9:36 pace and I was getting tighter. And slower.
In desperation I took salt and drank Red Bull at the aid station. Stopping to walk made running again that much harder. My heart rate dropped a few beats to high 140’s. My race rule was “you are always in control.” But I had lost control. I tried to push the pace but my legs kept tightening up. I thought of Clarice running with the lamb: he was so heavy … so heavy.
All I could manage was a shuffle stride for the last two miles. There weren’t a lot of people passing me, but I knew I was losing valuable time. It was such an incredibly frustrating feeling.
Soon enough though, I made the turns onto Fourth Street for the finish. It was fabulous! Coming into the finisher’s chute was a great feeling.
My finisher’s pose was a tribute to my favorite tenor voice (arm warmers served as my handkerchief). His arias didn’t last quite as long as an Ironman.
After the finish I got my medal, t-shirt, and hat. I met up with Mo and the gang at the end of the chute. I chugged a bottle of water, thinking I was thirsty. That was a mistake. Luckily I was standing near a garbage can. David tried to get it on video – they were laughing as I puked. (I would have laughed too but you can’t puke and laugh at the same time) To be safe I went into the medical tent. They gave me an IV – not sure I needed it because I probably drank too much fluid throughout the day.
Here are the run data files:
TrainingPeaks run file: http://tpks.ws/HvqkO
Garmin run file: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1400662303
Strava run file: https://www.strava.com/activities/741267578
Race Analysis
Completing a race plan in advance was a huge help – it took out a lot of stress from race week. http://members.endurancenation.us/F...fault.aspx I believe I stuck to the plan fairly well – there were only a few moments where I deviated from plan or had to improvise.
The official times were:
Swim 1:08:55
T1 8:01
Bike 5:24:08
T2 5:55
Run 4:01:50
_______________
Total: 10:48:49
I took third place in the 55-59 age group. I’m really happy with that result. As it turns out there were two Kona slots for my AG, and both first and second place took the spots. I didn’t expect to be that close. If only I had gone a few minutes faster. But I didn’t. If only I hadn’t taken those potty breaks. But I did. I can’t look back though; I honestly feel I gave it everything I had on that day.
My takeaways:
- I needed more swim training and better focus for each swim session. (Season average was 4,700 yards with 11 weeks above 8,500 yards). I know what to work on for next year – starting with video analysis. I have to figure out how to propel myself comfortably faster with each arm pull
- I should have been a bit faster on the bike. I left a lot on the table. I have to learn how to leave less
- I gained a lot of confidence from that run. From a time standpoint I believe it’s the biggest area for improvement. I have to learn how to deal with discomfort from high zone 2/low zone 3
- Nutrition has significant room for improvement. I have to learn how to race with a bit of thirst and hunger
Now that I know it’s within reach, Mo and I have to figure out how important Kona is to us. I wasn’t planning to do another Ironman. I might have to change my mind.
Comments
Thanks so much for riding the course with me... I really appreciate you taking the time... and it was a lot of fun.
Top 3 is tremendous results!
Other than the 3 discipline, I think you can gain "easy" time on the transitions
I think you MUST do another IM and KQ! You're so close and it would be awesome!
The fact that you accomplished all this on only 10.5 hours per week of training is also impressive.
When I saw you ride away at IMChoo camp, I thought you were going to be strong on race day.
I think you should talk to Coach P and figure out which IM plays to your strengths and go for it next year!
Congrats on a great race!
Paul, you had a great year. Very nice CTL cycle build.
I really enjoyed sharing with you on Strava.
10:48 IM at IMLV is just amazing! You had a great day, did a ton of things right and pulled off a 4 hour marathon to prove it!
Sincere congratulations IM!
SS
Paul - Absolutely stellar performance. Hard to believe this was your first 140.6? It would be a shame to be just "one and done". IMO, getting to Kona is not the reason to consider doing another one. Rather, seeing just what you might be capable of, playing the chess game just a little bit better, is rewarding in and of itself. There's probably 5-10 minutes of low hanging fruit you might want to go after:
You might want to consider Coeur d'Alene or Wisconsin in addition to Louisville. I know it's real close to home (I grew up in the northeast Cincinnati suburbs), but the field @ CDA is often the easiest of those three.
10:48 on that course is a top tier time. Clearly, you are built (mentally and physically) for this sport. You owe it to yourself to demonstrate what is possible.
I loved reading your race report and thank you for the inspiration! What an awesome year and a HUGE congratulations! Great work my friend!
TB
I cannot explain it, but somehow the Ironman distance became a mental thing for me and I couldn’t get my head around succeeding. So I kept lowering expectations for Louisville. Now that I’ve thought about it, that likely impacted my race.
And this was not my first IM. For the record, I did Canada in 1998 (12.5 hours or so) and Wisconsin in 2002 (11:38). Perhaps it was the 14-year gap or that I just thought I couldn’t improve that much.
Either way, I’m pretty certain now that I’m already over whatever was causing that block. @Al – I really like your point about seeing what’s possible.
My dad would always tell me that I’m not getting any younger. That didn’t mean I couldn’t get faster.
Great race report Paul! Loved the picture at the end! Congratulations!
So great to meet you, and THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all your kind counsel as you navigated your training. As I am a BOP, I have no feedback to offer other than I look forward to watching you soar in your next race.
Amo Luciano - what a beautiful picture.
Cheers!