Tim Cronk IMAZ 2017 KQ/BQ
No its not an official BQ since its not a certified course, just put that in the title to grab your attention, but it was a BQ time.... Quick stats of the race....Total 10:14:32 for the 4th fastest out of 14 Ironman's finished, 7th KONA Qualifier , 2nd out of 151 for M55-59AG, 103rd out of 2236 OA....Interesting ongoing statistical record , with the exception of KONA and my 3 DNF's , is that I have KQ'ed @ every race I have completed since Age 50, all races in the M50-54 and my first in the M55-59.... There has been 1- 1st place, 4- 2nd place, and 2- 3rd place finishes.... Certainly dont expect that record to continue, specially since I plan on sitting out the IM's this year and something tells me it will be harder and harder to place at the higher end of the older age groups...Felt good to race hard, I got the race I wanted to end my season and look forward to ZERO Ironman's next year... Oh don't worry more stupid stuff to come!
Here is a copy of the Race Plan....
https://endurancenation.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/24173/tim-cronk-imaz-2017-race-plan#latest
Pre-Race- went according to plan, headed to Tempe from Tucson mid morning on friday with Otto , Heather was coming up saturday after picking up Pixie our new dog, arrived midday, packet pick-up, ran into Jimmy Augustine, met @Gary Lewis Gary at Green's for dinner and a couple hours of chat... Thanks for the company and buying me dinner Gary. Got up early saturday , breakfast, met up with @matt limbert 10am for the swim and ran into @David Richmond and Gary at the swim entrance... Quick 11 minute swim confirmed the nice warm water of 68 degrees... Back to the car for bike/bags, got those dropped off, back to the room for lunch ... Heather arrived shortly after that with Pixie, the new addition to the family ! After a bit more of getting to know each other, it was time for some serious feet up.
Couple dog walks around the hotel, Dinner, snacking, hydrating, and lights out around 9 but I had already fallen asleep around 8:30.
Race Morning- up at 3:50 , 10 min before alarm, prep according to race plan, might of left hotel a little later than normal, when we arrived Mill St it was closed already so we missed our good parking spot of the last 3 years, 1 lap around the bridge, currie road, and back to the parking garage, took care of bike, checked transition bags and took the hand warmers out of packs to put in shoes and jersey pockets.... Met Heather and oops forgot body marking, back down , got marked , then back to the swim start and actually made the EN photo (pretty good I was 3 for 3 this year:-))...
Team Photo pre-swim
Heather injured her shoulder during SwimRun CascoBay in August, was signed up for IMAZ but had to stand down and play sherpa , take care of the dogs, while recovering from the rotator cuff surgery which took place immediately after KONA... You can see the sling she is still wearing... Recovery is going great and she ran today :-)
Swim- Goal was 1:03 actual 1:05:15 for 7th in the AG... Was up front at the one hour swimmers with Matt and Satish... Everyone seemed very relaxed and low key.. The gun went off at 6:50 and I was in the water at 6:51:37... The water was nice and warm (they announced 67 that am) but I had still decided to use my BlueSeventy Thermal Helix... Aside from this one guy who couldn't swim straight and kept clobbering me ( I think it was Satish cause I looked at his swim file :-)) the swim was pretty uneventful... A little choppy due to winds... Felt like I swam really well and strong so was a bit surprised to have missed my swim time by a couple of minutes... but as usual I did not learn this until after the finish of the run since I do not wear a watch on the swim...True story- I actually saw a guy ahead of me at the second bridge out on the way back to swim exit, pause and look at his watch, WTF I dont get it, he is 200yds from finishing, ahead of me so doing pretty good and he looks at his watch??? During the swim I was looking at how clear and sunny it was , how warm I was in the water, and kept thinking I would go without my warm gear plan in T1 for the bike...
T1- Goal was 4:00 actual was 5:00 , Got out of the water, wetsuit stripped, started running to the tent , and said WTF its still really cold , changed my plans back to warm gear, got my bag, in the tent , shoes out , hand warmers out of shoes, shoes on, helmet on, grabbed Castelli Jersey with hand warmers in the back pockets and put that on while running to my bike, at my bike I put on my sock arm warmers, and then gloves, ran to the mount line, careful mount and go.... I gave up 1 minute to be warm, in retrospect this was unecessary, it was not that bad and I would have managed the cold just fine for 15-30 minutes... Should have stuck to my original plan of temp cut off's which I had confirmed that morning when I got up... In the end my day did not come down to minutes and its always a give and take risk situation when making these decisions which is part of what makes this game so much fun...BTW I wore toe covers on my shoes and kept the castelli top on for the entire ride and never felt hot... Amazingly my slow transition was still 5th in the AG and it felt like I was baking cookies... I honestly wonder what some people are doing?
Bike- Goal was 5:05-10 actual was 5:23 for 3rd in the AG... Watt goal was 165+- 5 watts and my actual was AP 157/ NP160 so close enough, Avg HR 139 , TSS 300 , IF .75 , w/kg for the ride 2.88... It was a slow day for the IMAZ bike course , the winds were ENE which means a headwind on the out/uphill portion and tailwind on the back/downhill portion... My last couple of 112 RR's were 5:10-5:14 with NO BIKES on a flat course with similar watts... For all practical purposes the IMAZ course should have been 5-10 min faster than those thanks to all the unavoidable drafting, legal drafting, and steady supply of slingshots on 2nd and 3rd laps but it just didnt come out that way... Rode pretty steady, slight fade on the second half, partially due to a little back fatigue I was worried about and partially due to the traffic on subsequent laps, I did take a couple advil around mile 45 and felt like I needed more towards the end but did not take any more... Saw Matt just ahead and Satish just behind... Passed the @David Richmond cheering corner 6 times... Satish passed me around mile 40.. Ride, drink, eat, according to plan... Eased up at the last turn around, picked it back up a little on the admin flats, but eased back up again in the last couple miles... Prepped my self for dismount and transition, feet out of shoes, shut my bike computer off before descending into the chute before dismount cause I knew I would be braking, stopped at the line and handed over bike...Drank 4-5 bottles GE, ate 1 cliff bar, and 5 gels... True Story- getting passed on the bike by a guy with one leg....
https://www.strava.com/activities/1282829762
Picture take from "Davids Corner" yes I am riding Heather's Purple and Pink Trek SC.... FLO Disc/HED46 , latex tubes, turbo cotton tires, LG-EN-M2 trisuit w/ EN Castelli on top, Aerohead Helmet
T2- Goal was 2-3min actual was 1:55 for the fastest in AG, while running to bags I removed my Castelli top, then removed my helmet, bag and in tent, sat , socks and shoes on, visor and belt with watch in hands, go, while moving to exit tent, visor on, belt on , then reach down turn watch on, crossing the run start line, reach down and start watch....
Run- Goal was 3:40-45 actual was 3:39:21 for the fastest in AG and pretty sure the fastest in previous AG which I look at since I just left there :-), Boston Marathon Qualifier Time for M55-59 is 3:40, I have had 2 faster IM runs than this one by 3 and 6 minutes each but I would consider this run my best IM Marathon ever... When analyzing(specially a flat course) I like to throw out the fastest and slowest miles and then look at the range... I removed the 2 fastest 8:01 and 8:03 since they were so close and then the slowest at 8:57, the remaining 23 miles splits were all between 8:09 and 8:32 for a range of 23 seconds...HR range was also very tight 141-148 every mile with a ramping up on the last 3 miles from 149-158... Huge thanks to Heather, @David Richmond , and @Coach Patrick for all working together to provide me with near real time placement and times through out the run... This was a first of actually knowing where I stood.. After exiting T2 and starting my watch I removed my gel flask from belt, and eased into my run, was feeling pretty rough actually and my lower back was stiff, all normal but you never can tell, saw Heather on the first out and back, kiss#1, and was told I was 3rd with 4th a minute behind , by the 2nd mile I was loosened up and starting to feel good and went to work via RPE, I looked at my watch splits only when the beeper went off every mile, never focused on pace or HR , just how I felt, by mile 3 I was approaching a 55 calf, at a distance he was running really well, as I approached, my evaluation was he was a big guy and very sweaty at this early in the game, figured he was already over heating and done, passed uneventfully, shortly after approached Heather , kiss#2, and she said I was still 3rd, but I knew I was 2nd at that point, saw Matt and Satish on each turn around, David Richmond gave me the news I was officially in 2nd, but 3rd was 1 minute behind and 4th was 2 minutes behind him, 1st was way ahead by 20-25 minutes, steady mile after mile of good hard effort, around mile 10 David told me 1st was still 20min ahead and 3rd was 10min behind, relief finally, starting lap 2 I started to feel a bit worked and struggling to keep effort high, stopped at Heather for kiss#3 , I dont think she updated me right away, but she looked me straight in the eyes, evaluated me, she could tell I was starting to come apart, and said "Keep IT Together", "Keep it Together," as I left with an confirmation update on 1st and 3rd, I kept it together and went back to work, you can see a slight dip in the file from around mile 12-19, returning on that out and back a kiss#4 from Heather and a high five from Heather Jackson, All along I had a secret goal of running a BQ at an IM, I came within 3 minutes @IMFL once, but thanks to aging up the BQ time of 3:40 is a lot more realistic than my old BQ time of 3:30 , so I used that as my "ONE THING" to keep my effort level high all the way to the finish... I really needed this because 1st place with a 20min lead was not going to come back to me unless he walked it in , 3rd place was now 15min behind me and not going to catch me unless I walked it in, so I raced an imaginary number of a BQ time, held the pedal to the metal, ran with a 47yr old AG guy for about a mile 22-23 up the last hill on Curry and then started to push harder dropped him, I had walked every single aid station starting at mile 1 but skipped the last 2.... Caught Matt Limbert around 24.5 and he picked it back up and ran with me, then passed me, when he stopped at mile 25ish aid station I yelled at him not to stop, he dropped his cup and came after me again, he took me at the end by 17 seconds , WTG @matt limbert ... Never did catch Satish, he was having none of that... Congrats to you Satish for holding me off:-) As I was running down the finish chute I saw Heather on the side, I looked at my watch in the low 3:39:xx range, thought yep I have plenty of time for kiss #5 and I could still make sub 3:40... Success.... I drank GE every mile, sipped gel from my flask every 3 miles with water, switched to coke and little redbull around 19-20miles...
https://www.strava.com/activities/1282797436
Picture from Matt Limberts father in law (sorry forgot his name) but he was a great EN cheer leader ALL DAY!
That night and days after - as usual I felt pretty bad due to the 10+hrs of effort, sugar, salt, and caffeine.... I coughed a lot , felt like I fried my throat and lungs, had been really dry and dusty in some places... Very little sleep if any that night, next day the body felt really good and the throat lungs much better... 2 days after I was on a plane to KONA to Crew for @Simon Shurey at Ultraman World Championships. Felt a bit rough on the first couple runs during the week but ran really well with Simon 7 days after IMAZ...
Basking in the glory at the awards ceremony... Turning down a KONA slot is so much fun! There were only 2 KQ slots, 1st took his, 2nd (me) passed , 3rd passed, and the last KQ slot went to 4th place with an 11:04.... 1st place kept his 20min lead on me with a 9:55, I was second at 10:15, 3rd place was the one guy I did pass who managed to hold on to his placement but eventually melted to a 10:58 a full 43 minutes behind .... So the top 4 were spread out over 1:05:00...Not a close race....
The progression of the day , even though it did not come down to minutes , shows the importance of transitions...
UMWC Crewing is done! Look for a Crew RR soon.
Looking forward to some down time, extra food, unstructured training, and Trail Running Focus this winter!
Questions , comments, criticism , suggestions, anything at all is always welcome.
Here is a copy of the Race Plan....
https://endurancenation.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/24173/tim-cronk-imaz-2017-race-plan#latest
Pre-Race- went according to plan, headed to Tempe from Tucson mid morning on friday with Otto , Heather was coming up saturday after picking up Pixie our new dog, arrived midday, packet pick-up, ran into Jimmy Augustine, met @Gary Lewis Gary at Green's for dinner and a couple hours of chat... Thanks for the company and buying me dinner Gary. Got up early saturday , breakfast, met up with @matt limbert 10am for the swim and ran into @David Richmond and Gary at the swim entrance... Quick 11 minute swim confirmed the nice warm water of 68 degrees... Back to the car for bike/bags, got those dropped off, back to the room for lunch ... Heather arrived shortly after that with Pixie, the new addition to the family ! After a bit more of getting to know each other, it was time for some serious feet up.
Couple dog walks around the hotel, Dinner, snacking, hydrating, and lights out around 9 but I had already fallen asleep around 8:30.Race Morning- up at 3:50 , 10 min before alarm, prep according to race plan, might of left hotel a little later than normal, when we arrived Mill St it was closed already so we missed our good parking spot of the last 3 years, 1 lap around the bridge, currie road, and back to the parking garage, took care of bike, checked transition bags and took the hand warmers out of packs to put in shoes and jersey pockets.... Met Heather and oops forgot body marking, back down , got marked , then back to the swim start and actually made the EN photo (pretty good I was 3 for 3 this year:-))...
Team Photo pre-swim
Heather injured her shoulder during SwimRun CascoBay in August, was signed up for IMAZ but had to stand down and play sherpa , take care of the dogs, while recovering from the rotator cuff surgery which took place immediately after KONA... You can see the sling she is still wearing... Recovery is going great and she ran today :-)
Swim- Goal was 1:03 actual 1:05:15 for 7th in the AG... Was up front at the one hour swimmers with Matt and Satish... Everyone seemed very relaxed and low key.. The gun went off at 6:50 and I was in the water at 6:51:37... The water was nice and warm (they announced 67 that am) but I had still decided to use my BlueSeventy Thermal Helix... Aside from this one guy who couldn't swim straight and kept clobbering me ( I think it was Satish cause I looked at his swim file :-)) the swim was pretty uneventful... A little choppy due to winds... Felt like I swam really well and strong so was a bit surprised to have missed my swim time by a couple of minutes... but as usual I did not learn this until after the finish of the run since I do not wear a watch on the swim...True story- I actually saw a guy ahead of me at the second bridge out on the way back to swim exit, pause and look at his watch, WTF I dont get it, he is 200yds from finishing, ahead of me so doing pretty good and he looks at his watch??? During the swim I was looking at how clear and sunny it was , how warm I was in the water, and kept thinking I would go without my warm gear plan in T1 for the bike...
T1- Goal was 4:00 actual was 5:00 , Got out of the water, wetsuit stripped, started running to the tent , and said WTF its still really cold , changed my plans back to warm gear, got my bag, in the tent , shoes out , hand warmers out of shoes, shoes on, helmet on, grabbed Castelli Jersey with hand warmers in the back pockets and put that on while running to my bike, at my bike I put on my sock arm warmers, and then gloves, ran to the mount line, careful mount and go.... I gave up 1 minute to be warm, in retrospect this was unecessary, it was not that bad and I would have managed the cold just fine for 15-30 minutes... Should have stuck to my original plan of temp cut off's which I had confirmed that morning when I got up... In the end my day did not come down to minutes and its always a give and take risk situation when making these decisions which is part of what makes this game so much fun...BTW I wore toe covers on my shoes and kept the castelli top on for the entire ride and never felt hot... Amazingly my slow transition was still 5th in the AG and it felt like I was baking cookies... I honestly wonder what some people are doing?
Bike- Goal was 5:05-10 actual was 5:23 for 3rd in the AG... Watt goal was 165+- 5 watts and my actual was AP 157/ NP160 so close enough, Avg HR 139 , TSS 300 , IF .75 , w/kg for the ride 2.88... It was a slow day for the IMAZ bike course , the winds were ENE which means a headwind on the out/uphill portion and tailwind on the back/downhill portion... My last couple of 112 RR's were 5:10-5:14 with NO BIKES on a flat course with similar watts... For all practical purposes the IMAZ course should have been 5-10 min faster than those thanks to all the unavoidable drafting, legal drafting, and steady supply of slingshots on 2nd and 3rd laps but it just didnt come out that way... Rode pretty steady, slight fade on the second half, partially due to a little back fatigue I was worried about and partially due to the traffic on subsequent laps, I did take a couple advil around mile 45 and felt like I needed more towards the end but did not take any more... Saw Matt just ahead and Satish just behind... Passed the @David Richmond cheering corner 6 times... Satish passed me around mile 40.. Ride, drink, eat, according to plan... Eased up at the last turn around, picked it back up a little on the admin flats, but eased back up again in the last couple miles... Prepped my self for dismount and transition, feet out of shoes, shut my bike computer off before descending into the chute before dismount cause I knew I would be braking, stopped at the line and handed over bike...Drank 4-5 bottles GE, ate 1 cliff bar, and 5 gels... True Story- getting passed on the bike by a guy with one leg....
https://www.strava.com/activities/1282829762
Picture take from "Davids Corner" yes I am riding Heather's Purple and Pink Trek SC.... FLO Disc/HED46 , latex tubes, turbo cotton tires, LG-EN-M2 trisuit w/ EN Castelli on top, Aerohead Helmet
T2- Goal was 2-3min actual was 1:55 for the fastest in AG, while running to bags I removed my Castelli top, then removed my helmet, bag and in tent, sat , socks and shoes on, visor and belt with watch in hands, go, while moving to exit tent, visor on, belt on , then reach down turn watch on, crossing the run start line, reach down and start watch....
Run- Goal was 3:40-45 actual was 3:39:21 for the fastest in AG and pretty sure the fastest in previous AG which I look at since I just left there :-), Boston Marathon Qualifier Time for M55-59 is 3:40, I have had 2 faster IM runs than this one by 3 and 6 minutes each but I would consider this run my best IM Marathon ever... When analyzing(specially a flat course) I like to throw out the fastest and slowest miles and then look at the range... I removed the 2 fastest 8:01 and 8:03 since they were so close and then the slowest at 8:57, the remaining 23 miles splits were all between 8:09 and 8:32 for a range of 23 seconds...HR range was also very tight 141-148 every mile with a ramping up on the last 3 miles from 149-158... Huge thanks to Heather, @David Richmond , and @Coach Patrick for all working together to provide me with near real time placement and times through out the run... This was a first of actually knowing where I stood.. After exiting T2 and starting my watch I removed my gel flask from belt, and eased into my run, was feeling pretty rough actually and my lower back was stiff, all normal but you never can tell, saw Heather on the first out and back, kiss#1, and was told I was 3rd with 4th a minute behind , by the 2nd mile I was loosened up and starting to feel good and went to work via RPE, I looked at my watch splits only when the beeper went off every mile, never focused on pace or HR , just how I felt, by mile 3 I was approaching a 55 calf, at a distance he was running really well, as I approached, my evaluation was he was a big guy and very sweaty at this early in the game, figured he was already over heating and done, passed uneventfully, shortly after approached Heather , kiss#2, and she said I was still 3rd, but I knew I was 2nd at that point, saw Matt and Satish on each turn around, David Richmond gave me the news I was officially in 2nd, but 3rd was 1 minute behind and 4th was 2 minutes behind him, 1st was way ahead by 20-25 minutes, steady mile after mile of good hard effort, around mile 10 David told me 1st was still 20min ahead and 3rd was 10min behind, relief finally, starting lap 2 I started to feel a bit worked and struggling to keep effort high, stopped at Heather for kiss#3 , I dont think she updated me right away, but she looked me straight in the eyes, evaluated me, she could tell I was starting to come apart, and said "Keep IT Together", "Keep it Together," as I left with an confirmation update on 1st and 3rd, I kept it together and went back to work, you can see a slight dip in the file from around mile 12-19, returning on that out and back a kiss#4 from Heather and a high five from Heather Jackson, All along I had a secret goal of running a BQ at an IM, I came within 3 minutes @IMFL once, but thanks to aging up the BQ time of 3:40 is a lot more realistic than my old BQ time of 3:30 , so I used that as my "ONE THING" to keep my effort level high all the way to the finish... I really needed this because 1st place with a 20min lead was not going to come back to me unless he walked it in , 3rd place was now 15min behind me and not going to catch me unless I walked it in, so I raced an imaginary number of a BQ time, held the pedal to the metal, ran with a 47yr old AG guy for about a mile 22-23 up the last hill on Curry and then started to push harder dropped him, I had walked every single aid station starting at mile 1 but skipped the last 2.... Caught Matt Limbert around 24.5 and he picked it back up and ran with me, then passed me, when he stopped at mile 25ish aid station I yelled at him not to stop, he dropped his cup and came after me again, he took me at the end by 17 seconds , WTG @matt limbert ... Never did catch Satish, he was having none of that... Congrats to you Satish for holding me off:-) As I was running down the finish chute I saw Heather on the side, I looked at my watch in the low 3:39:xx range, thought yep I have plenty of time for kiss #5 and I could still make sub 3:40... Success.... I drank GE every mile, sipped gel from my flask every 3 miles with water, switched to coke and little redbull around 19-20miles...
https://www.strava.com/activities/1282797436
Picture from Matt Limberts father in law (sorry forgot his name) but he was a great EN cheer leader ALL DAY!
That night and days after - as usual I felt pretty bad due to the 10+hrs of effort, sugar, salt, and caffeine.... I coughed a lot , felt like I fried my throat and lungs, had been really dry and dusty in some places... Very little sleep if any that night, next day the body felt really good and the throat lungs much better... 2 days after I was on a plane to KONA to Crew for @Simon Shurey at Ultraman World Championships. Felt a bit rough on the first couple runs during the week but ran really well with Simon 7 days after IMAZ...
Basking in the glory at the awards ceremony... Turning down a KONA slot is so much fun! There were only 2 KQ slots, 1st took his, 2nd (me) passed , 3rd passed, and the last KQ slot went to 4th place with an 11:04.... 1st place kept his 20min lead on me with a 9:55, I was second at 10:15, 3rd place was the one guy I did pass who managed to hold on to his placement but eventually melted to a 10:58 a full 43 minutes behind .... So the top 4 were spread out over 1:05:00...Not a close race....
The progression of the day , even though it did not come down to minutes , shows the importance of transitions...
UMWC Crewing is done! Look for a Crew RR soon.
Looking forward to some down time, extra food, unstructured training, and Trail Running Focus this winter!
Questions , comments, criticism , suggestions, anything at all is always welcome.
Tagged:
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Comments
Great race, very fun to watch you. I enjoyed meeting Heather and talking training at dinner. Although we won't be racing together in 2018, hopefully we can share a course or some training in the future.
Job well done, especially knowing you were racing to give up a Kona slot if you earned one.
Even though Second Sucks, running your best all the way through the chute does not. BTW, I've seen you race. You are not an animal; you are a machine. Enjoy the year "off". After mine, I'm itching for another go at the big time.
Best to Heather and the new addition to the family!
All kidding aside ... way to absolutely crush it Tim! Super steady pacing on the run; very impressive. The guy ahead of you on the run had a pretty good first split time, but then collapsed under the pressure you put on (I presume it was the sweaty guy you mentioned)
KQ'ing in our AG is tougher largely due to fewer slots -- typically just two when the pool is 40 slots -- and you never know who shows up. You sure did that day!
I love the sleeping with dog photo! Hopefully we will talk soon! Enjoy the unstructured time!
that #4 guy must have been ecstatic!
Well if you do no IM's next year then maybe I can come train a little in AZ in prep for IMAZ and you can crack the whip on me!!
Nice job all the way around!!
I hope you washed Heather's bike off before you gave it back to her...
Do your usually bike at .75 IF and a 300 TSS? You're a beast! Also, are you running in Sketchers...which model?
@jimmy augustine thanks it was nice seeing you again... it had been a while
@Al Truscott Can't wait to watch you execute that recharged itch!
@Paul Curtin What are you talking about I am a slave to fashion?
Note: my shoe comments to Derrek
@Satish Punna Always love racing with you and against you, then hanging out eating Indian food.. Say hi to Carrie:-)
@Brian Hagan @Stephanie Weldon thanks for the kind words... You guys are up.... February is coming fast and I am excited to watch the show.
@Scott Dinhofer I never met or talked with 4th but when he went up he was very excited... I did talk to 3rd and his wife quite a bit, she was giving him updates on me, they both said its always the little guy that gets him LOL...Anyway 3rd place had been to KONA 4 times and was not interested..
@Trent Prough You definitely won the unofficial congratulatory text contest...
"Mother Fuck bro... awesome job!!!! Inspiring for me to get back at it and keep at it!!!"
Unfortunately I probably wont make it to IMAZ next year even as a spectator... We plan a late departure from NH and a stop in MOAB for an Ultra Run the day before IMAZ... I will be kicking your A$$ virtually the entire day!
@Scott Renick I washed her bike the day before I raced it :-) Actually I did get around to wiping it down today LOL... Go get that Marathon!
@Jeff Kane @Tim Sullivan @Virginia Edmonds @Sheila Leard Thank you so much for the kind words!
@Derrek Sanks Yes those are Sketchers GoRun 5 with some HOKA inserts, I ran in them for KONA as well and the inserts delaminated from peeing in them and keeping them soaked with water for 26 miles... I always had the same problem with the Newton inserts...
Yes .75 and 300TSS is pretty normal... I went way over 300tss both times I rode IMLP... some flat course comps below even with a higher FTP than I had for this race... Looks like I gotta get my FTP back up to ride mid 170's to get closer to 5hrs at IMAZ....
IMFL 4:55 172/174watts IF.77 tss 294
IMTX 5:01 169/172watts IF .76 tss 293
IMTX 5:06 175/176watts IF .76 tss 299
IMCHOO 5:10 171/174watts IF .76 tss 296
@Robert Sabo Thanks for the very kind words in the summation of my preparations... I really appreciate it.. Where is your KQ gonna be this year?
@Gabe Peterson Thanks ... We gotta meet soon... I almost put in for the Leadville 100 in a moment of stupidity, but I am gonna stick to my plan for the Vermont 100... Gonna update my sig line with Ultra races soon and Maybe the Moab Camp...
Awesome I say to my self, just awesome!
Words really don't do justice to my admiration for your ability to prepare and then suffer as you race to win. It has inspired me to really see what I am capable of this season. In the last 3 and a bit seasons I have had major injuries that have conspired to make me focus on gratefully participating, rather than racing.
BTW, I have often wondered about the high (for me) TSS of your IM bike splits that are usually followed by killer runs. I would be interested in any insights you had as to how you are able to go north of 300 TSS on the bike and still run well? Is there something in your training that helps? Or is it something else? Also, how did you discover that you could do it? Perhaps it is a function of the fact that you are "the little guy"?
Perhaps it is a function of the fact that you are "the little guy"?
YES I really do... Think hummingbird etc... Small men and women just tend to operate at higher HR's and higher percentages of thresholds etc... Body type, age, gender, etc play a large part in all of this with generalities for each group but of course there are always exceptions.. For example just compare me to Coach P. with high ginormous FTP and his size he crushes my bike splits with an IF of .68 where my baby FTP and size at an IF of .75... Its up to each of us what works for our particular body type etc... Its not a one size fits all "pun intended"...
Also, how did you discover that you could do it?
This is a great Q... One I believe a lot of athletes limit themselves on...First I remember doing a 330+ TSS RR and Coach Rich telling me it was impossible, I went back over my ride and my believed FTP and determined I was right... Again 300tss is a good generalization but there are always exceptions... I think I gradually determined it over several IM's and HIM's as I became hungrier to race and more willing to risk it all ... When a break out performance does occur you then have the mental confidence to repeat it... In order for a break out to occur we need to believe in ourselves and NOT looking at limiting DATA can help with that break out...
Is there something in your training that helps? Or is it something else?
Pretty much covered above but I do train it physically and mentally... I like the 5hr ride structure with around 4-4.5 hrs at IF .70 and then .5-1hr at .80 or higher.... these are often .72-.75 for me and then .85 at the end... Do a few of those and you believe you can do it on race day... I also structure long runs very similar, say 2hr run with 30 min easy wu, 60 min EP-TRP, then ramp last 30 min from Z3 to Z4...
I would be interested in any insights you had as to how you are able to go north of 300 TSS on the bike and still run well?
Not much else to add here, but sometimes I think in the terms of what I need to accomplish rather that what I think I can accomplish... IOW swimming , biking, and running the splits I believe I will need to win, place, KQ , etc... This involves risk we need to be able to accept when things dont go our way... I do have a few DNF's in my history...If we always just do what we know we can that is called a plateau....
I am going to bookmark this page and re-read before my next race.
It might not be a bad idea to throw in for the Leadville lottery if it's a race you want to do. If you get in, you can defer to next year.