Chip Lombardi's IMLP 2017 Race Report
My day, like my past 18months, was a mixed bag of good, bag, & ugly...punctuated by an underlying lack of self confidence...all a result of inconsistent training and deterioration of my previously reliable running fitness....All that said...while LP2017 was my worst finish of my 5 IM starts (3IMLou & 1 IMTX with 12:18 PR) I am excited to have competed, completed...and been part of the EN team there.
My race plan was fairly simple and built on some solid training. Overall swim volume was not much different from the past but I had good opportunity to get open water swimming in and felt good, for the bike I had done some good volume, and had the opportunity to get into NH mountains and do some climbing...my Power numbers were up (but negated by weight...ugh)....my weakness came from my run "fitness"...I say fitness but related more to issues I have had with run speed loss due to (or I attribute to) ..progressing Hallux Limitus/Rigidus...While I could confidently run 7:50-8:15 pace steady in prior years...changes to my stride and pain have made running 8:50-9:15 the norm and slower....(again weight has been a factor)...So while I put in run-time/distance...It was nowhere near the fitness I have had in the past....this weighed on my confidence to execute here...
As for the weight- It simply didn't come off as it typically does in the Race Prep phase as volume bumped up...and I should have done more to address it...business travel that resulted in some training inconsistency didn't help...but in the end my TSS build was comparable even better than past...so the weight needs to be addressed...I went into the race 10-12lbs. heavier (165 v 154) than prior IM's....and it showed ...I certainly felt like I was carrying it around on the second lap of the run.
Race Week - Arrived LP on Wednesday nite having done a 1.2mile OWS prior to departure. Thursday...Road 45min from Wilmington up to Entering East Elba sign...just feeling the power/gears etc. stayed well on target for both power & HR...checked in...and had dinner with great group of athletes at the EN dinner...Friday...swam 1 loop of the course & attended the 4Keys!...rested the remainder of the day...Saturday...legs up.
Race Day...did the 2am Ensure breakfast...then up at 4:00 and coffee....walked down to transition...everything went smoothly...Team Photo and off to swim start.
RESUlTS:
Swim: TARGET 1:15 ACTUAL 1:18 (PR) - I had been swimming 1:14-1:15 in my training...and I felt good however...this was the worst swim experience I have ever had ...I was kicked/grabbed/jostled more than I have ever been on an IM swim...and had to pull up numerous time and swim away from line numerous times to keep swimming ...unfortunately my Garmin froze so I have lost my GPS track of the swim...but sure it looked crazy not straight...anyway...I got out of the water feeling fine...HR was under control and nothing was broken....
T1 - TARGET: <10min ACTUAL: 12 min. First I had to stop in PortaPotty...then found a seat and had trouble getting HR & Jersey on...then I didn't realize they called my number and bike handers had my bike...so I ran to my racking space and freaked out thinking someone took my bike...(this is what happens when you haven't raced in 2 years...they didn't do bike handing at IMLou 2015 that I recall)....anyway...found the hander and the bike after some confusion and made my way out to the mounting area...
Bike: TARGET: 6:30 ACTUAL: 6:46 In retrospect my Target may have been aggressive based on my RR's. And looking at my Data...I think I actually rode fairly well. My Target HR was 135 & Power/NP was 135/155 (.69 IF) and the actual HR was 130avg and Power was 130/152NP vi 1.1 (first loop time 3:19 Power129/151NP vi 1.11 HR 129 .69IF...second loop was 139/153NP HR 130 vi 1.10 .70IF)...second loop was slower due to a number of factors not least of which was headwind on the flats out to Ausable forks...but also due to my sitting up and out of aero a bit more...generally though I felt I rode well within my "shoulda" ...I stayed well hydrated 2bottles/hr and 1 powerbar per hour...peeing twice....
T2 - slow & deliberate...but slow TARGET <5min ACTUAL 9min. No excuses...just slow.
Run: disaster...ugh... TARGET: <4:30 ACTUAL: 5:24 I have done 4 prior IM's and never run to my potential due to poor execution on the bike...leading to dehydration and the need to walk due to shakes etc....however I always finished sub4:30...however during those training preps I trained at 8min pace...This year...I left speed aside and just ran the distances albeit slow(er) my thinking was that I could get off the bike well and just plod through...ie. actually execute at the slower pace rather than thinking I should be running sub4 which was my goal in prior IM's....Well I felt I got off the bike ok...and struck out at the pedestrian pace planned- my plan was 10:30 for the first 3-6 ...then progressing & settling in at 9:30-9:45....I will admit that I had not run on the course...but nothing about the course scared me...I like hills ...so felt I was ok...I'm not a good down hill runner so approached the out bound cautiously...my HR was good off the bike 135 and my target hr on the run was 145... I did pretty well through 6...with some walking through aid stations...avg 10:50 and HR 135...but reached the turn around and just couldn't maintain never mind pick up the pace...I found myself taking sporadic walking breaks all the way back to the ski jumps....HR was fine...but my feet hurt (I made the decision to go with lightweight Nike Lunar Tempo Racers rather than more cushioned Hoka...it is a tradeoff for me because often despite the Hallux Rigidus...more flexible gives me better motion than stiff shoe....but the less cushion can lead to soreness/pain...today it was the latter)..& frankly feel I just had lost it mentally...I knew at that point (or told myself at that point) it was about finishing and not the time...I feel like I gave up mentally because of the lack of confidence I had in my run....which bothers me because of my running background....I ran as much as possible throughout the remainder of the run....I felt good the final run up the hill/along lake and into the finish....but man a LONG DAY.....Final Time (all of) 13:50...my worst time by over an hour...and all of it on the run.
Suffice to say I learned alot, I still enjoyed the day, and look forward to getting back to a better state of fitness and moving ahead.
Thanks to all the great support from everyone within EN....thanks if you took the time to read and share any thoughts.
My race plan was fairly simple and built on some solid training. Overall swim volume was not much different from the past but I had good opportunity to get open water swimming in and felt good, for the bike I had done some good volume, and had the opportunity to get into NH mountains and do some climbing...my Power numbers were up (but negated by weight...ugh)....my weakness came from my run "fitness"...I say fitness but related more to issues I have had with run speed loss due to (or I attribute to) ..progressing Hallux Limitus/Rigidus...While I could confidently run 7:50-8:15 pace steady in prior years...changes to my stride and pain have made running 8:50-9:15 the norm and slower....(again weight has been a factor)...So while I put in run-time/distance...It was nowhere near the fitness I have had in the past....this weighed on my confidence to execute here...
As for the weight- It simply didn't come off as it typically does in the Race Prep phase as volume bumped up...and I should have done more to address it...business travel that resulted in some training inconsistency didn't help...but in the end my TSS build was comparable even better than past...so the weight needs to be addressed...I went into the race 10-12lbs. heavier (165 v 154) than prior IM's....and it showed ...I certainly felt like I was carrying it around on the second lap of the run.
Race Week - Arrived LP on Wednesday nite having done a 1.2mile OWS prior to departure. Thursday...Road 45min from Wilmington up to Entering East Elba sign...just feeling the power/gears etc. stayed well on target for both power & HR...checked in...and had dinner with great group of athletes at the EN dinner...Friday...swam 1 loop of the course & attended the 4Keys!...rested the remainder of the day...Saturday...legs up.
Race Day...did the 2am Ensure breakfast...then up at 4:00 and coffee....walked down to transition...everything went smoothly...Team Photo and off to swim start.
RESUlTS:
Swim: TARGET 1:15 ACTUAL 1:18 (PR) - I had been swimming 1:14-1:15 in my training...and I felt good however...this was the worst swim experience I have ever had ...I was kicked/grabbed/jostled more than I have ever been on an IM swim...and had to pull up numerous time and swim away from line numerous times to keep swimming ...unfortunately my Garmin froze so I have lost my GPS track of the swim...but sure it looked crazy not straight...anyway...I got out of the water feeling fine...HR was under control and nothing was broken....
T1 - TARGET: <10min ACTUAL: 12 min. First I had to stop in PortaPotty...then found a seat and had trouble getting HR & Jersey on...then I didn't realize they called my number and bike handers had my bike...so I ran to my racking space and freaked out thinking someone took my bike...(this is what happens when you haven't raced in 2 years...they didn't do bike handing at IMLou 2015 that I recall)....anyway...found the hander and the bike after some confusion and made my way out to the mounting area...
Bike: TARGET: 6:30 ACTUAL: 6:46 In retrospect my Target may have been aggressive based on my RR's. And looking at my Data...I think I actually rode fairly well. My Target HR was 135 & Power/NP was 135/155 (.69 IF) and the actual HR was 130avg and Power was 130/152NP vi 1.1 (first loop time 3:19 Power129/151NP vi 1.11 HR 129 .69IF...second loop was 139/153NP HR 130 vi 1.10 .70IF)...second loop was slower due to a number of factors not least of which was headwind on the flats out to Ausable forks...but also due to my sitting up and out of aero a bit more...generally though I felt I rode well within my "shoulda" ...I stayed well hydrated 2bottles/hr and 1 powerbar per hour...peeing twice....
T2 - slow & deliberate...but slow TARGET <5min ACTUAL 9min. No excuses...just slow.
Run: disaster...ugh... TARGET: <4:30 ACTUAL: 5:24 I have done 4 prior IM's and never run to my potential due to poor execution on the bike...leading to dehydration and the need to walk due to shakes etc....however I always finished sub4:30...however during those training preps I trained at 8min pace...This year...I left speed aside and just ran the distances albeit slow(er) my thinking was that I could get off the bike well and just plod through...ie. actually execute at the slower pace rather than thinking I should be running sub4 which was my goal in prior IM's....Well I felt I got off the bike ok...and struck out at the pedestrian pace planned- my plan was 10:30 for the first 3-6 ...then progressing & settling in at 9:30-9:45....I will admit that I had not run on the course...but nothing about the course scared me...I like hills ...so felt I was ok...I'm not a good down hill runner so approached the out bound cautiously...my HR was good off the bike 135 and my target hr on the run was 145... I did pretty well through 6...with some walking through aid stations...avg 10:50 and HR 135...but reached the turn around and just couldn't maintain never mind pick up the pace...I found myself taking sporadic walking breaks all the way back to the ski jumps....HR was fine...but my feet hurt (I made the decision to go with lightweight Nike Lunar Tempo Racers rather than more cushioned Hoka...it is a tradeoff for me because often despite the Hallux Rigidus...more flexible gives me better motion than stiff shoe....but the less cushion can lead to soreness/pain...today it was the latter)..& frankly feel I just had lost it mentally...I knew at that point (or told myself at that point) it was about finishing and not the time...I feel like I gave up mentally because of the lack of confidence I had in my run....which bothers me because of my running background....I ran as much as possible throughout the remainder of the run....I felt good the final run up the hill/along lake and into the finish....but man a LONG DAY.....Final Time (all of) 13:50...my worst time by over an hour...and all of it on the run.
Suffice to say I learned alot, I still enjoyed the day, and look forward to getting back to a better state of fitness and moving ahead.
Thanks to all the great support from everyone within EN....thanks if you took the time to read and share any thoughts.
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Comments
I hope your recovery goes well and when you plan your attack on the next IM course, you have shoes that work, and the day you hope for!
SWIM http://tpks.ws/IDVBj
BIKE http://tpks.ws/CXtHt
RUN http://tpks.ws/NIrGy
Chip, thanks for sharing a tough day.
I did IMLP in 2015, and it is definitely a legitimate bike course. Coming off the bike with 325 TSS can make the run tough to execute mentally, believe me, I just did that a couple of weeks ago at IMMT and got to deal with it the rest of the race.
Way to hang in there, move forward and get it done regardless!
SS