Jubal Dais Race Report Ironman Lake Placid 2017
Age: 40
Weight:186 lb
Height: 5’10”
FTP: 240
VDOT: 36
Goals
· Have fun & enjoy the race
· Execute Plan as best as I can
· Finish in daylight
Pre-Race
· Tuesday: Arrived in LP at 4pm and checked into house with family. Walked around town
· Wednesday: Morning Swim, then Site seeing at Whiteface Mt., Gondola, and High Falls Gorge.
· Thursday: Morning Bike, kayaking/SUP in Mirror Lake, race registration, and EN Team dinner.
· Friday: Morning Swim & Run, EN 4 Keys talk, Athlete team meeting, pack up transition & special needs bags.
· Saturday: Lake Placid Boat Tour, Bike Check & drop off T1/2 bags.
Race Morning
Woke up at 1am and downed 2 Naked juice (about 300 cal), then back to sleep. Woke up at 4am, had coffee, and ate 4 slices of French toast with syrup(about 600 cal). Got dressed, used the bathroom, and left the house at 5am to walk to transition. It was a cool morning of about 50 degrees, so wore a fleece and sneakers. The weather forecast was a high of 70 degrees. Dropped off bike special needs, pumped up my tires and put nutrition on the bike. Met the EN team for 6am pic and gave run special needs to EN Sherpas and walked to swim start sipping a bottle of Skratch.
Swim (1:19:46)
· Plan
o Take it easy on 1st loop, follow feet, avoid contact, stay in my box, and try to swim straight(sight every 10 strokes).
· Execution
o Warmup: Did a warmup swim with some short efforts to get loose and HR up, then joined the 1:15-1:20 group.
o 1st loop: Had a bit of contact that didn’t allow me get in my rhythm until about halfway to turn buoy, so I stayed away from other swimmers to stay in my box. After I got comfortable, then I started to find other swimmers feet and was able to draft. Swim went by fast after the turn buoys. 39min for first loop. I swam a 35min in practice, so I knew I wasn’t overdoing it. Had a sip of water and a took a deep breath before starting 2nd loop.
o 2nd loop: Stayed calm and relaxed following feet most of the way. Had to swim around some breast strokers, but felt fresh coming out of the water.
o https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1873294288/1
T1 (about 10 min)
Goggles up and wetsuit down to hips. Found a strong Ironspouse to strip wetsuit. Wrapped it up like a football and ran off. Saw my family on mirror lake drive, gave a wave and headed into transition. T1 was crowded and had to run around to find a seat. Sat down, drank 8oz of Skratch, toweled off, put on bike shoes, sunblock, chamois cream, helmet, and ran out of the tent.
Bike (7:03:19) 158 NP 134 HR Avg
· Plan:
o JRA pace for first 90 min, then steady at 160-170 NP. Keep HR down in the 140-145 range. Ride hills at a cap of 210 NP & <160HR. Was planning a 3:10 1st loop and a 3:20 2nd loop.
o Nutrition (340 cal/hr): 1100 Cal fuel bottle, 6 piece Clif Shot Bloks, 6 Salt Stick Pills (3 w/caffeine) , and water at aid stations in BTA bottle(re-fill at each aid station).
§ Every 5 min: Sip water from BTA bottle
§ Every 15 min: Sip Fuel bottle
§ Every 30 min: Sip Fuel bottle + Salt Pill
§ Every 1 hour: 2 piece Clif Shot Bloks + Salt Pill
· Execution
o 1st loop (3:08 ride time): Temp in the low 60s. Easy out of T1 to navigate turns and descent. Waved to family at Lisa Gs, then out of town. Spinned easy on the Ski jump hill and saw a few ENers out there. Chilly going down the descent. Pee’d (1st) at aid station 2 hours before God Hill. Paced well through Ski Area, managed rollers well, and easy up Cherry & Bears. Got to T1 and noticed I had only drank about ½ my fuel bottle, which put me about 220 cal/hour. The cooler weather
o Bike Special needs: Swapped fuel bottle, salt pills, Clif Shot Bloks, and ate ¼ Clif Bar.
o 2nd loop (3:37 ride time): Temp in the low 70s. Same strategy, but tried to up my calories a bit to catch up. Had to pee every hour on the bike because my stomach was getting full. I had to clear my bladder to process the fuel/water. Felt ok this loop, no high/low. Kept thinking good bike will setup good run. Made sure to finish up my fuel bottle. Quads started to cramp up on Papa bear at end, which was strange for a cool day at this ride pace.
o https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1878253235
o Lesson Learned: I ended up Pee’ing 5x, which lost me about 25-30min going to porto-potty. Need more salt and learn to pee on bike.
T2 (about 10 min)
Handed bike to volunteer, then took off bike shoesand both my quads cramped and I had to squat down and massage them for about 2 min. I then hobbled into T2 tent, had a cup of water and a salt tab. Toweled off and put on sunblock, socks, calf sleeves, shoes, race #, fuel flask, salt pills, visor, sunglasses, and handheld water bottle. Jogged out of T2.
Run (6:11:20) 125 HR Avg
· Plan:
o 60 min easy pace (Z1 - 30sec), then run steady Z1/TRP.
o Nutrition (200 cal/hr): EFS Liquid Shot every 20 min + Salt Tab every hour. Water at aid stations + Handheld bottle.
· Execution
o 1st Loop (2:42): Temp in the low/mid 60s. Quads were tight good coming out of T2. Saw Coach Patrick and he reminded me to go easy and take in nutrition. Got a quad cramp when going down Townie hill and had to squat down and take another salt tab. After a minute or 2, legs felt good on the downhills at 11 min/mi pace with a 135-140 HR. Stuck with my nutrition plan until mile 9, when my stomach was getting full again(like on the bike). I knew I had to pee more often and slow down(run/walk) to process food. Switched to Gatorade to get more electrolytes + a salt pill every half hour with a lot of water. Saw Coach Patrick going up Townie hill, reminded me to use my arm swing up the hill. Also saw EN Team and they gave me some energy heading to special needs.
o Run Special needs: Swapped Fuel flask, salt pills, and put on knee compression sleeves.
o 2nd Loop (3:38): Temp in the high 50s. My stomach wasn’t getting any better on the 2ndloop. I knew I had to make more changes. Switched to bananas and chicken broth with a lot of water. It started to get cold as the sun went down, so had to make sure I kept moving. Mile 14-20 was a run 2min/walk 2min trying to figure out how to solve my stomach issues. Tasting HOTSHOT was a bad idea. My stomach felt a lot better when I hit mile 21 and I was able to run again. Coke fueled my last 3-4 miles and I was able to run the hills and had a strong finish.
o https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1873294288/1
Post-Race (14:56:34)
Saw my family standing by the finish chute and gave a wave while crossing finish line. Coach Patrick & Mariah were there for high 5s, then got my finisher photo and some food. Coach Patrick made sure I changed to the dry finisher shirt because it was cold. Great having the EN Team out on the course the entire day.
Thanks to my family & EN Teammates for the encouragement and the energy out on the course! I wasn’t able to finish in daylight due to the stomach issues, but I’m happy with my performance and ability to overcome the challenges of the day. I’ll be back to IMLP next year looking to be lighter, go faster, and execute better.
Comments
I'm a late bloomer on being able to pee on the bike. I didn't/couldn't for my first IMLP in 2015 but did 3x this year. It makes a world of difference. Just practice a bunch in training.
Your GI travails hint at too much of ...something. Re-consider your needs on all counts - fewer calories, less fluid, less salt, less caffeine - you were OD'ing on something. Less might be more for you.
Fuel bottle was 1100 calories. 6 scoops Tailwind + 5 scoops Carbo Pro, supplemented with 2 salt stick per hour(1 with caffeine) and 2 pieces of Clik Shot Bloks. This worked fine in warmer conditions(80-85 degrees) during 6 hr rides, where I would pee every 2 hours. I had water in my BTA and I drank 1 to 1.5 bottles/hr, which may have bben too much on a cool morning. Will be switching to 1 hour fuel bottles to make it easier on the stomach and take in less plain water. Will see how it goes at IM Atlantic City 70.3 in a few weeks.
On the Run:
Needed to start the run with 2 salt tabs to keep my quads from cramping. Used EFS Liquid shot every 20 min washed down with water(handheld). Was fine up until mile 9 until the body didn't want EFS any more. Switched to bananas and eventually chicken broth(which saved me) and let me run the last 5-6 miles.
I personally recommend using Gatorade endurance as it has sufficient calories, sodium integrated, and is available every 10 miles. But I defer to you, continue to enjoy the rest post race!
Great race and report! Congrats!
Thanks to all the nutrition feedback. Good for note taking.
All these reports have me very excited for IMFL in November!
First - way to represent and get it done out there during a very long day with issues! At the end of the day, that's what an IM does, find a way to get it done over 140.6 miles regardless of what comes up!
During this next training cycle, get that nutrition dialed in. Practice it on the long rides/brick runs, refine it, and make the adjustments needed then do not deviate from it on race day. Put the swim up front on your race rehearsals so that the RPE and nutrition are impacted accordingly.
Cramps - I have lots of experience with that monster. There are 2 things that drive the cramps:
Either it is a nutrition issue or it is due to over exertion/stimulation of the muscle beyond your current fitness level.
I have done both wrong. 2016 IMFL was a nutrition issue for me where I did not pee enough on the bike and could not get it in as fast as it was coming out due to the humidity level. 2017 IMMT I ran a .76 IF on the bike and got to enjoy some cramps on the run because I cooked the bike too much......I know better than that but saying and doing are often times two different things....
At the end of the day, it takes practice, patience and discipline!
Congratulations Ironman!
SS