Thank you EN! & Scott’s IMFL Race Report - PR time
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I’m coming up on the 1 year anniversary of firing myself as my coach, joining EN, and working a plan the entire season. My season consisted of:
Open half marathon (my 1st ever) - top 10 overall
Local OLY - top 8 amateur overall
Second OLY - PR time by 5’
Augusta HIM - good execution day, learning experience.
IM FL - PR time, "officially" by 1h 17m over my prior best full (hillier IM LOU) but asterisk that I went 10:14 at 2014 IMFL with no swim or T1 time.
Thank you to everyone on the team for your insight, experience & encouragement. The plans are great, but the knowledge & advice in the forums make this place special. Nothing that I accomplished this season could’ve happened without the benefit of your wisdom.
Race Report
Thursday:
Did a short bike/run brick then swim to cool down. I was too hot in the full wetsuit & doubting if it was going to be a wetsuit race. Went to the team dinner & enjoyed meeting Mark, Paul, David & Stephanie.
Friday:
Practice swim in sleeveless 2 piece DeSoto suit felt better. Dropped off gear at noon & took it easy.
Saturday:
Up at 3:30 and eating per plan. Hit transition to pump tires, put aero bottle, 1 EN bottle and 1 throwaway bottle all with Infinit on the bike (plus some bars in the bento).
SWIM: 1:15, 94th in AG
Announcement that swim was wetsuit legal, used the sleeveless. The swim was pretty rough. I shot for the middle line when we hit the water. There was a lot of congestion early and I got beat up a bit but it thinned out. I had planned on counting buoys to know where I was on course, but the chop made that nearly impossible. It seemed that there wasn’t a lot of visible swim support creating the right boundary parallel to the buoys (at least on the first lap) which added to my sighting challenges. I made the first left turn (now into the swells) & realized how rough it really was. From there I just focused on surviving the first lap. I took some water at the beach and headed back out. My goggles were taking on a little water which created a couple of quick adjustment stops. Traffic was lighter the 2nd time around. I followed the wrong feet off course adjusted and tried to find a rhythm. About 4/5 of the way through the final leg I could see the bottom and despite swimming hard it didn’t look like I was making forward progress. Review of my Garmin route might make someone speculate that I was swimming while intoxicated.
Things I can improve on - sighting & comfort in the pack so I can swim closer to the buoy line.
T1: 8:17
Wetsuit came off easily and I didn’t get a leg cramp like I usually do. Grabbed my bag & hit the tent. Quickly dried off arms & legs. I used a folded trash bag on my chest for warmth. Put shoes on in the tent even though it was a long run to the bike & don’t regret that. Putting on arm coolers was a struggle.
Things I can improve on - a system where I consolidate 2 pieces of wetsuit plus cap & goggles while getting my bike bag & getting the top of my trisuit over my shoulders.
BIKE: 5:43, 109th in AG
Even though I pre-paired the Garmin Edge in transition before the race, it didn’t connect to my HRM or power meter. When I turned it off it froze. I got my watch paired in bike mode & restarted the Edge. I was freaking out a little b/c my whole plan was to ride on power readings & I knew my watch wouldn’t last the whole race. The Edge finally connected (~0.7 mi into the ride) so I shut off the watch. I focused on going easy the first 30’ per EN plan. When that time was up we were heading into a good front quartering wind & my RPE was higher than what my NP was reading. I decided to hold lower than planned watts in the headwind and push it in the tailwind. I was eating per my plan but started having stomach discomfort after 45 miles so I slowed down my intake.
I stopped at bike SNB for my first bathroom break (only got 1/3 of a pee on the bike) & reloaded on supplies. I had frozen a couple of Infinit bottles that hadn’t thawed but I had one EN water bottle of the same. A few miles down the road I realized my base salt tube spilled out into the bento. I tried taking salt straight from it but it was awkward to reach. As such I got behind on salt (more on that later). Without those Infinit replacement I didn’t get the calories/salt in on the 2nd half as planned.
I finished well below my planned watts, but the legs felt good & for someone with a history of over-biking I was happy. This was my first race not having MPH on display & that helped.
Things I can improve on - Living off the on-course liquid & nutrition. Check fit for comfort improvement hopefully giving me a better ability to pee on the bike. Get my FTP up so I can get quicker times at these reduced efforts 
T2: 5:11
Nothing notable here. Hit the porta potty on the way out (counting this as my 2nd bike pee per EN plan).
Things I can improve on - just getting faster.
RUN: 4:07 (PR by 2&rsquo
, 60th in AG
I felt good on the way out. Didn’t go as slow as intended, but wasn’t off by a lot. Somewhere around mile 10 I noticed salt forming on my sleeves. It got worse as I progressed & I made a point to take base salt at almost every aid station. Hit the first port potty after run special needs, so I feel like I was good on fluid intake.
I ran the first 14-15 miles on HR then switched to a screen that showed pace/time because the suck arrived & I mixed in some 1 minute walk breaks sporadically. By mile 16 I was taking cola every other aid station which helped some. I had 1 stretch at mile 18 where I actually felt good, but mostly I was negotiating with myself to push onward. The final leg back after the state park was a dark place for me (sorry if I didn’t smile or wave at you). I picked up the pace at the turn onto Thomas Dr. When I got to the final stretch before the chute there were 3 guys in front of me spaced out. I almost settled in then recalled the lesson I taught my youngest daughter about always giving her best effort & finishing strong. I realized I could pass 2 of them without screwing up anyone’s finish photo (I hope) & I put the hammer down.
Things I can improve on - Build more running base fitness & plan execution accuracy.
AFTERMATH:
Did 10’ of walking laps in the expo parking lot then rested. Had some nausea so my lovely wife (who already had a full backpack of mostly my crap) went & checked out my bike & gear. I took 2 pepto pills & was OK by the time she exited transition. Unlike my last race where I could hardly stomach anything solid or liquid, I had water, recovery shake, pizza & multiple beers…so I guess I did something right
I know it’s a bad word in EN, but I am going to enjoy an “off-season” for a few weeks, catch up on family time then get into the next Out-Season. See y’all at IMLP in July!
Comments
Congrats on a great race. What I personally like most is your constant search for improvement. You're going to find your 2nd OS much less shocking and more manageable than the 1st. You're probably just scratching the surface of what you're capable of at this distance. I would encourage you to dive into the forums in the OS and in your LP build, trying to refine the lessons learned before you get to LP. Don't be afraid to post a Renick Training Update in the forums as you tackle the FTP, vDOT, nutrition and swim issues we all face. You've got Cronk, Behler, Santucci, Sabo, Dinhofer and others racing LP next year - an all-star line-up of speed and smarts. Take advantage of it. I plan to and can't wait to race that course with you and the rest of the team. I predict total EN dominance in the Adirondacks.
Mike
Congratulations!