Tony Ledden's 2017 IMWI Race Report
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Background information:
This was my fifth IM, all IMWI, and rookie year with EN (officially started, i.e. paying $, with the Jan ’17 Outseason).
- Age 56 (57 by 12/31/2017),
- Live in northern suburb of Chicago but originally from Milwaukee, WI.
- Would love to do other IM races, especially IMMT, but I stick with IMWI in order to minimize the "hassle factor" , lifestyle commitments and overall expense of doing this stuff,
- FTP 260,
- wt 168,
- husband, father, grandfather -- 7 kids, 4 grandkids, 1 wife
- I come out of the nerdy part of the swamp; I do actuarial math for a living and read philosophy in my spare time; never participated in high school or college sports. I started in triathlon 10 years ago in order to lose some weight and not sweat like a pig going up a flight of stairs.
Here is my family:
Goals
- Break 12 hours.
- Stay healthy - no injuries.
-
Use
IM2017 as a platform to dial in daily nutrition, eating whole real food, fat
burning paleo ancestral living lifestyle changes and daily stretching/rolling.
- Use IM2017 to build consistent strength training, foam rolling, form movement and maintain body composition of 170 pounds/under 10% body fat.
Summary
- Set a PR. Time was 12:02:58 so didn't hit the goal of breaking 12 hours. But hey, 3 minutes out of a 12 hour day is close enough for actuarial purposes.
- Finished 10th in my 55- 59 AG (out of 160)
Previous IMWI PR was 12:13:56 on 9/7/2014
- IMWI time last year, 9/11/2016 was 12:39:54:
- Nailed nutrition; no gut issues on the run
- Finally cracked the code to IMWI
- Never raced with HR before joining EN. Big eye opener here. Need to fix the disconnect between training and racing as measured in HR and watts. Here is my 2017 IMWI info from Training Peaks (free version) vs. last long training ride.
vs.
- Test equipment before the race -- my goggles were smudged and I asked to borrow a volunteer 's shirt to wipe them down, but then I was late getting to the swim start line.
- Don't pack the Bento so full that I can't access it during the race!
Longer Story and Context
This was my first full year with EN. I really didn't know what to expect on race day since the training regimen and volume were so different from my prior training experiences. I never did a full race rehearsal or camp weekend before, let alone 2 of them. So I was training on tired legs and didn't know how those training numbers would translate to race performance on tapered legs.
Also was experimenting with a more paleo/ketogenic/fat burning lifestyle. One big reason for getting into this sport and continuing with it is for health reasons: I've been able to eliminate my blood pressure and cholesterol medications, and as a cancer survivor, I truly believe it has helped to keep the cancer from coming back.
Adding to the uncertainty is that two of my friends / training partners have developed heart issues and we have endurance sports in common. Don't mean to be preachy here and I know this is a sensitive topic, but there seemed to be enough noise out there, at least for me, to give me pause about pushing to threshold power or pace too often See Primal Endurance (Mark Sisson) and Beyond Training (Ben Greenfield).
Anyway, for me, when I answer the question of why I do all this Ironman training and racing and joining EN in the first place, I need to frame it around my personal life situation and my goal to use endurance sports to reach my potential as an athlete and become a better version of myself.
For all these reasons, I wasn't sure about what I had in the tank on race day, how long it would last and what to expect, but was hoping that my improved body composition compared to prior years would help to offset any lack of intensity in the get faster parts of the training plan.
Race Week & Check In
Came into the taper and race week at a great body composition. Using Myfitnesspal I was able to control calorie intake as I started a slow bleed of CHO in order to build up glycogen stores. Gained less than 5 pounds during the taper.
Developed pain in patella tendon on Monday of race week. Would feel it going down stairs. Came out of nowhere. Used my Marc Pro+ electrical stim device for an hour each day and only 1 run during race week. No knee issues on race day or during the race!
Great bike position this year. With the new wave start format by age group, they also re-positioned the bike racking. The old guys were very close to the bike out. I ended up within about 75 - 100 feet of the bike out. I'm the red P2 Cervelo with the torpedo.
Swim
New wave start format. I was in the last wave with a group of about 500. Went into the water at 7:00 and went off at 7:05. Made a rookie mistake here. As we were in the corral to get into the water, I asked a volunteer to use his shirt to wipe off my goggles since they were smudged on the inside and I knew it would drive me nuts for the next hour+. Should have checked all my race equipment more carefully, even trying it all on, before the race. I was still swimming to the starting line when the canon went off. Never made it to left of the swim ramp or to the stat line when the canon sounded, so just turned when I heard the canon and started down the line I was on.
Still a decent amount of contact, but not as much at the start as in prior years. Bunched up in places, especially after the last turn. Still had to push people out of my way as they swam perpendicular to my line -- who know where they were going, I guess out into the deep!
Water was chilly but nice. Was worried about cramps in left calf and right plantar fascia as I had experienced that in training. It always felt as if they were on the verge of cramping but thankfully they never did.
I was hitting 1:20 in training swims in the pool and though that with race day energy, wet suit and no flip turns I could go 1:15. But I didn't count on the contact and not being able to see a line at the bottom of the lake. So I swam 1:20:54, which is right at my pace from last year.
T1
Really focused on transitions this year -- KISS principle + slow is smooth and smooth is fast. The faster transitions was the reason I leaped over the 11th place finisher in my age group. I wanted to wear my "junk" shoes that I wore down to the swim up the helix and running to my bike across the parking deck due to my injury history (plantar and metatarsal fracture). But my shoes were not allowed by the eye glass table and I couldn't find them where I thought I left them. Spent what seemed to be 30 seconds looking for them and then gave up. Lost it a bit but remembered the Box so went to the wet suit strippers and hoofed it up the helix. Altered my gait so as to land more squarely on my entire foot so as to spread the force. Didn't run up the helix but didn't walk either. Saw Frederick the Super Sherpa in T1 and he loaded me up with my Almond Butters and Macadamia Nut bars and directed me out to the bike. Out in 8:48; 9:23 last year.
Bike
I worked on making the bike and myself as aero as possible while still balancing enough comfort to ride 112 miles and then run a marathon. I cleaned up the back hydration system (only 1 Gorilla cage down low behind the seat), my tools in my SPI belt. Only 1 Bento. My nutrition was in my back jersey pockets, salt in the Bento and handle bars. The SPI belt felt too loose on the ride. Again, should have paid more attention to that while getting my gear set for the race. Also learned to not stuff the Bento so full that I can't get stuff out without dropping it. I stuffed a Base salt into the pockets of my tri shorts, but dropped it somewhere. Seems that whatever I put in those pockets I lost.
Took only water at the aid stations. My plan was to consume 220 calories per hour over 6 hours, with Justin's honey almond butter, Primal Kithchen's macadamia nut bars and Greenfield Systems NatureBite bars at first, then shifting to more glucose based nutrition near the end of the second loop and on the stick (e-gel from Cranksports and Glycofuse). I felt this would avoid gut issues on the run and provide enough calories for the bike and run. Frederick mentioned in passing that with the cooler day, the body should be able to tolerate more calories. I picked up on that and consumed more than I planned on the first part of the bike. In fact, stopped at SN to pick up another bar and almond butter. Wound up consuming 330 calories per hour over 6.25 hours. I think the extra nutrition (as well as cooler temps) certainly helped me not to fade on the run.
Felt good about the holding the watts; I was riding pretty much what I planned: 165 for first 20 miles then 175. But was concerned about the elevated HR relative to my training rides. I told myself that as long as the HR stayed steady in the mid 130s relative to my planned watts of 170 - 175 I would be OK and wouldn't blow up on the run.
Peed 6x on the bike. Stomach felt a little tight on the bilke. thought I may have eaten too much too late the night before or swallowed too much of Lake Monona. So I loaded up with extra salt and water to keep the gut clear. I think the crampiness/tightness was due to the elevated HR since digestion and hydration were working and I could generate a nice burp after eating.
Goal for the bike was 6:10. Last year my bike was 6:33. I rode the bike in 6:16. TSS=328; AvgPwr=170; NP=188; VAR=1.11; IF=.72; AvgHR=134; AvgCadence=75
I rode a 50/34 compact crank with a Quark power meter on the crank and a 28/11 cassette.
Here is my HR, watts and elevation over the ride (from free version of T.P.). Still lots of spikes in watts, sad to say, but HR was fairly steady in relation to watts. The big spike in both HR and watts at around the 2 hour mark must be the delayed effect of Barlow.
T2
Pedaled up the helix with feet on top of shoes. Last year T2 was 8:09. This year was 4:03. Just wasn't as cooked on the bike this year compared to last and so had more go to get out of T2. Go Bag idea also a game changer.
Run & Finish
Plan for the run was to load up on the nutrition over the first 6 miles. Consumed 5 ounces of EFS Liquid Shot mixed with water + a package of Honey Stinger Chews. Couldn't consume much nutrition after that. Took salt +water at each aid station. I did stop at run SN to vaseline my feet, take a bite of 72% dark chocolate and reload my Fuell Belt handheld with Liquid Shot. Forgot more salt, but did take some of the Base salt that was on the course.
Peed 1x on first 13.1 miles.
Hit the suck around mile 16 and the body began to hurt. Stomach crampiness/tightness came back, but no gas/bloat and was able to pass that easily. Peed 1x on second run loop but spent extra time in the porta-pot tryng to clear the bowels to make sure that wasn't causing the stomach tightness. Nothing moved and with no gas/bloat, felt confident I more salt and adjust pace would take care of any gut issues.
Came out of T2 with HR at 142. It decreased to the mid 130s within three minutes and started to take in a slow bleed of nutrition. HR stayed in the mid 130s for the most part over the first 13.1. It climbed into the low 150s by the end of each loop, topping out at 154 coming down the chute at the finish.
Here is the T.P graph of the HR and elevation on the run. From the 2:00 hour mark to the 3:40 mark, basically most of the second loop, HR was lower -- upper 120s to lower 130s, compared to the first 13.1 but at least fairly constant. Nevertheless, HR does show the struggle to hold it together on the second loop compared to the first with a lower avg and what looks like more variability. The dip at the 2 hour mark is the stop at run SN and at the 3 hour mark is the extended stop at the pot.
Almost a negative split: 2:05 out and 2:07 back in. Pleased I had no foot issues and would run in the Clifton 2s again.
Since I raced the Wisconsin 70.3, Racine 70.3 and IMWI, they gave me an additional finisher medal -- "Dairyland Tour Series" .
Next steps
- Recover
- Bribe/ Convince the family about doing 2018 IMWI or possibly IMMT??
- Learn and use Zwift and Strava
- Use IMWI as a springboard into a more consistent ancestral style living approach
- More consistent strength training, foam rolling and running in the out season
- Dial into HR and more closely align training HR and watts to race day experience
Thank you coach P for the race day support. Love the GroupMe app and you being there for last minute ideas/reminders.
My experiences with EN over the past year have demonstrated the overall value, ROI vs. time, and raw power of the knowledge base that drives EN. Thanks to all of you in the 'haus'.
Tony - 9/13/2017
Comments
Great report and congratulations!
Nice race report Tony, and congrats on cracking the top 10. Such a great feat. Sorry we didn't get to meet before the race, but sounds as though the rest for the knee was well worth it. And nice podcast as well. You are really getting the full EN experience!
I really appreciate the advice to add the strength/rolling to the plans. I agree, we are more likely to get it done if it is prompted to do so in the plan (but we would need to replace something else rather than just adding in more for most of us I suspect).
DS
I don't know the course as I live in Australia. I did notice your VI for both your last long ride and the race were both over 1.1. This suggestions you were much more tired than you needed to be for the P average you produced. Riding more steadily would help a lot. A VI of 1.05 or lower is where you should be aiming.
Also a related thought, TSS over 300 in an IM is setting yourself up for some pain on the run. Given your strong run, you must have awsome fatigue resistance!
So again, well done.
I recommend you consider IMMT as the next stop on your journey. I have done both IMWI and IMMT and love both of the venues.
Incredibly beautiful family as well, thanks for sharing the pics!
In my view, you did a lot of things right and showed your experience executing a solid run at the end as reflected by your steady HR and pace.
What are the specific focus areas you are going after as you build your 2018 schedule, coming from this race in terms of driving improvement? Ex, improved 5.5 w/kg, move to X percentile of AG performance, place in top 10% of AG for T1 and T2 times, etc...
SS
@Doug Sutherland : again, sorry to have missed you at the dinner. I didn't fully realize that there would be others listening in on that podcast or that Coach P would let me go on and on and... Please feel free to cut me off if that ever happens again!!
@Peter Greagg : G'day Mate!! Always wanted to say that back to an Aussie
@Shaughn Simmons : thank you for your feedback Shaughn! In fact, I was sorta stalking you and read your IMWI race report -- figured I better hunt down the WSMs that did IMWI and read what they had to say. Next stop on the journey will set up the goals for the outseason, and that depends on how many spousal approval units I can accrue. Will give a lot of thought to focusing on increasing w/kg to at least 3.6 at FTP for starters, and hitting the HR zones in training at least 95% of the time, and in a way that minimizes potential heart risks, which I need to do more research on and talk to my doc and folks way smarter than me about. Even Peter Attia MD, who has explained how heavy training can potentially damage your heart, ignores his own moderation advice at times because he enjoys endurance cycling. I think knowing when to back off and when to push on is key. Agreed that the more focused and granular the goals for 2018, the more likely they get achieved. Thank you again for your comments!
It sure looks like you fully absorbed and then implemented the EN strategic plan for race execution. While there's no such thing as a *perfectly* executed race, you came darn close. The even split (not counting the porta-potti stop Lap 2) on the run, along with the ability to raise your HR in the last mile demonstrate that.
Your detailed, metrics-based analytic approach which you carry over from your profession has served you well so far. There are also non-objective aspects to training and racing which might be worth exploring and using to build on from where you are now. Here's the ultimate example of how that can be applied to performance improvement:
http://www.ironman.com/triathlon-news/articles/2003/05/mark-allen-a-grip-like-no-other.aspx#axzz4so5coe3y