Brian Terwilliger IMCHoo 2017 Race Report
I don't really write race reports, but figure its kinda required.
Quick overview of the days leading up to race day. Kids got on bus for school, sherpa and I got in the car. Got into Choo late afternoon and went right to athlete check in to get it done. No line. In and out in a couple minutes. Sherpa hit expo for a couple things. Checked into hotel and cleaned up. Went to team dinner, then back to hotel to relax. Transferred my Bike and Run bags into the official IM bags. Watched TV, went to bed.
Friday down to the village for the athlete briefing. Holy line for athlete check in. Like out the entrance to the village long. Glad I did it Thursday. Went to the athlete briefing. Sherpa went off to do who knows what. Briefing knocked out. got back with Sherpa and we hit some stores and got lunch. Not really sure what we did rest of the day. Went out to dinner with a friend from home also racing.
Saturday, got up and went to the team pancake breakfast. Caught some of the Ironkids fun run and later got to meet Mike Reilly and get a photo with him. He was commenting on my m-dot tattoo on my bicep. Said his friend has it in the same place but its a lot bigger. Asked if he was calling my m-dot small. He laughed and said his friend is like 250 pounds. Told him I used to be a lot bigger, but lost 70 pounds. Go check my bike and bags in. Now its time to relax until morning.
Race day! Up at 2:30, eat breakfast, drink coffee and relax. Get kit on, grab nutrition for the bike and run, morning clothes bag to throw my clothes in, cap & goggles and we are off.
Bike: Pump tires, put bottles on bike, make sure I'm in right gear. Go put run nutrition in run bag and we are off to the shuttle for the swim start.
Swim Start: Get in line at the porta-potties right away. 20 minutes later get to go. Then head down to the swim start. Get in line right at the front and wait. And wait. And wait.
National anthem. Women pros start. Now its go time.
Cannon fires and the AG racers start pouring into the water. I get in just over a minute after the cannon. Probably about 60 people in front of me. I take it super easy. Like stupid easy. I count 6 right hand strokes and site a buoy. Over and over. Just kept it smooth, slow, and relaxed. Pass a ton of people. After a while no one is with me. I can see people in the distance when I site, but the gap is pretty big. I just keep it smooth and easy. No need to kill myself on the swim. Got a long hilly bike coming up. My right calf has been cramping up on swims lately for some reason and it seems to be brought on by kicking. So basically did a pull drill the entire swim with very little kicking as I noticed if I did kick, my calf would get tight. So I didn't. Up the ladder and out. Swim time 48:01. Could have been a lot faster, but killing the swim to me isn't important in an IM. Friend working swim finish said I was 10th out.
T1: 5:37. Thats pretty good for me, especially considering the long distance between the water, T1 entrance, and my bike being as far from the Bike Out as possible. And I don't leave my shoes on the bike, so I gotta waddle in my bike shoes to the exit. I'd eat it if I tried a flying mount. I just know it. Maybe I will work on learning it. I Should. We shall see.
Bike: 5:38:46. 20.45 MPH. I'd of liked to have been faster. Wouldn't we all? But following EN protocol, took the first hour easy. Let the animals pass me, laughed at the people out of the saddle and hammering up the early hills.
My bike targets. 190 watts, <205 NP. Being a bigger guy I knew I'd have to push up some watts on the hills to not do 6 mph. Actual numbers: 189 watts, 201 NP for a VI of 1.06. I'd say I nailed it. Nothing remarkable or interesting on the bike. Just rode along, held my numbers, and stayed in aero 100% of the time. Outside of aid stations and bottle swapping, filling BTA. Got a new bike at the end of July and hadn't really got my position dialed in and comfortable. Made a couple seat post and saddle position changes the week before the race and hoped for the best. I will say it was the most comfortable I have ever been on a bike. Normally, no matter how do a fit is, come mile 80, 90, 100 we get some ache, some sore spot, some issue and we wiggle around, sit or stand to stretch for a minute, whatever it takes. I can say I never had a single issue. Not one ache, not one twitch, or nagging spot. It was comfort personified. So final numbers, 5:38:46, 189 avg power, 201 NP, TSS 344, and pee'd twice. Was shooting for a cadence of 90, came in at 89. Had 5 bottles of Infinit (launched one or it would have been 6), and 3 bottles of Gatorade Endurance. 1 pack of shot blocks and 2 GU packs. Never was hungry or thirsty and didn't ever feel that I had taken on too much.
T2: 3:19. Thats pretty darn fast for me. Hit dismount, got off bike, gave to volunteer, took off shoes and ran to get my bag. Into tent. Shoes out, go bag out, shoes in, helmet in. Put on socks, shoes, grab go bag, transition bag and out the door. Hand off run bag, and stop to get slathered with sun screen. Throw on visor, bib, and grab race saver bags. Throw the zip lock bag in a garbage can and I am off.
Run: 4:05:42. I really wanted to break 4. But the last 4 miles got me. Damn you Barton! Per Coach P, had only HR on my watch screen. Tried to hold 130 for the first 3 to 4 miles, then up it to 135 till 6 and then tried to keep it above that. Worked for a while, then 135 or so became the number it wanted to be at no matter what. Until toward the end, where 130 was the number and no matter what I couldn't get it up higher. Even going up Barton it wouldn't budge. So I accepted my fate and moved as best I could at that HR.
But I did hit my goal of running the entire thing other than aid stations. Zero walking! One interesting thing of note on the run was very early, Mike Reilly was out on the course announcing some people as they ran by. Somehow he remembered who I was from the day before when I got my picture with him. So he announces, "And there is Brian Terwilliger. He lost 70 pounds!" How does he remember this stuff after meeting hundreds of people a day?
30 minute PR over IMMD in 2015 with a shortened swim, 6 mile shorter bike course, much cooler temps, and a pancake marathon. Very happy with my performance. We always look back and see what and where we could have done things different, or pushed harder here and there. But on race day I did what I could at the time and raced as best I could. No regrets and no disappointments.
15th in AG (40-44) out of 349. 81st overall finisher out of 2,166 starters.
No Full IMs in 2018, but will do 1 or 2 HIM and a hand full of sprint and olympic distance stuff. Looking forward to the OS and hoping for a new Half Marathon PR with the end of OS Test at the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon in March.
Here is a video of my Chattanooga finish (if the link works)
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Comments
Keep working hard and those results will keep improving. I expect you to gain some major speed from you HIM's and OLY's in 2018. Then put an IM build on top of that for 2019...you will be sitting pretty in your AG!!