Dan Molina 2018 IMLP Race Report
Race Name: Ironman Lake Placid Race Date: July 22, 2018
Race Day Stats:
Total Time 12:34:52 12:09:41*
Division Place 71st out of 254 (M40-44) 102*
Gender Place 400th out of 1,496 (M) 422*
Overall Place: 482nd out of 2,093 524*
● Swim Time: 1:22:34 (181st, 1,016th, 1,352nd) 1:23:25*
● T1 Time: 7:17 4:55*
● Bike Time: 6:19:56 (63rd, 376th, 426th) 5:57:54*
● T2 Time: 5:06 4:32*
● Run Time: 4:40:01 (88th, 488th, 619th) 4:38:55*
*2016 IMLP Results
Race Day Goals:
1 Finish my sixth Ironman, second time at this venue.
Did you achieve it? Yes
What helped or prevented you from achieving it?
· Good race execution, especially on the bike. The bike really set up a respectable run for me. Time invested reviewing the course and visualization of challenging points was well worth it. Also, cloudy skies on the run really helped.
· I would have liked to come in lighter into this race, 8-10 lbs.
· Bike FTP was lower coming into this race than in pervious
2 Finish under 12 hours.
Did you achieve it? No (not even close.)
What helped or prevented you from achieving it?
· Sub 12 hours for me was a stretch goal. I was fairly realistic with my predicted times and came very close to all of them, with the exception of the bike. Best Bike Split predicted a time of 6:23: 34 for this new version of the IMLP bike course. As mentioned above, I was a little faster than that. The new bike course did appear to add time to everyone’s bike, with 3 additional U-turns that weren’t there compared to the 2016 version of the course. Weather did play a factor that slowed all athletes. The biggest factor impacting the day was the morning rain. For me the rain started at the end of the climb out of Lake Placid. The combination of crosswinds, wet roads, decreased visibility, and cold wind chill made the decent to Keene probably the most technically challenging and potentially dangerous part of the course. I was almost certain there would be some significant crashes as speeds on the decent increased and the roads got wet. Heat was not a factor, with cloud cover much of the day after the rain subsided around mid-day. Strong winds topped out at 15-18 mph, first as a head wind on the climb out of town, and a tricky crosswind on the early portions of the decent to Keene. This was the pattern for the second loop of the bike as well. The wind did not seem to be as much of a factor on the return to Lake Placid.
·Transitions for me were also slightly slower for me this year, but that was purposeful. I made the call that potty breaks in transition were more comfortable than on the bike or on the run. Despite this, there were plenty of on bike and run course potty breaks due to cooler temps, and maintaining the hydration/feeding plan that I had trained with in warmer temps.
·The run was consistent for me through mile 20, then I had extended run-walks through mile 22. After this, I was back to a consistent run.
3 No injuries.
a Did you achieve it? Yes
b What helped or prevented you from achieving it?
·Listening to my body, doing a “systems check” every 30 minutes.
·My right hamstring was on the verge of cramping for the last 60 minutes of the race, so I slightly had to adjust my stride over that time. Undoubtedly the increased hamstring work came from all the climbing on the bike.
The Swim -- Race Day Evaluation
Target Swim Time: 1:22:00 Actual Swim Time: 1:22:34
Weather / Conditions / Notes: Morning temperatures were pleasant in the low 60’s, winds 10-12 mph giving the normally pristine Mirror Lake a noticeable (but not concerning in any way) surface disruption, with water temperature reported at a refreshing 76 F. No waves, no current since it’s a man made water feature. No fog was present, and the buoys were clearly visible. Water visibility was about 10 feet. Self-seed rolling swim start. I lined up right behind the 1:21 sign. As a bit of advice, there is a small warm up area to get the swim nerves out of the way if that’s your thing. But be careful not to spend to much time there, because the swim corrals for self-seeding become very packed and it can be difficult for faster swimmers to make it to the front groups because everyone is packed in pretty tight. Mirror Lake has an underground cable the runs the span of the course and makes above surface sighting essentially optional.
Challenge 1:
Find the guidance cable as soon as possible and stick near it.
Response 1:
I was able to do this and felt fairly comfortable doing so.
Evaluation 1:
My placement in self ceeding was right on. It seemed that the folks around me swan the same pace. After finding the guidance cable, I stuck to it and felt as fast as I ever had in an open water swim. You definitely feel the draft. I did find myself wanting to outswim the draft, by going around the feet I was following and finding faster feet. After doing this a few times, I felt as though I was working harder than I needed to and would have the same or more benefit just settling in and working with the draft I was benefiting from.
Challenge 2:
Getting banged around during the swim.
Response 2
Everyone else seemed to have the same idea about finding the cable and fighting for it. I was able to relax, absorb contact and occasionally delivering (but not with bad intentions) contact without too much of a problem. Counting strokes and trying to maintain form also helped me settle in.
Challenge 3:
This is a two loop swim with a beach exit in between.
Response 3
This wasn’t too much of a big deal. I just focused on taking my time getting vertical in between loops and once I was balanced, walked quickly along the beach and went in for the second loop. No fancy dolphin dive or poorly executed belly flop.
The Bike -- Race Day Evaluation
Target Bike Time: 6:11:00 Actual Bike Time: 6:19:56
Weather / Conditions / Notes:
There was a steady rain for most of the duration of the of bike course, but this was never a down pouring rain. Most cloudy throughout the entire day with temperatures topping out in the mid 70’s F, and humidity in the upper 40’s%. There was a strong headwind on the climb out of Lake Placid with gusts up to 20 mph. The winds were a little trickier on the decent as there were significant cross winds as we started the decent to Keene. The most technically challenging portion was the heart of the Keene decent were higher speeds, decreased visibility from the rain, and having to navigate riders around you along with a couple of sweeping curves made you think if you hade the right beneficiaries listed on your life insurance policy. I honestly thought this set up had a very high likelihood for a serious incident. Thankfully, none were reported.
Challenge 1:
Getting through T1 with minimal issues and safely getting onto the course, realizing there is an early climb out of Lake Placid before a significant descent.
Response 1:
T1 was smooth and fast. After receiving help from the wet suit strippers. I focused on getting my hydration started early and taking in some nutrition before the descent. I was dialed into my JRA (just riding along) wattage of 170w for the first 30 min (based on FTP). I increased this to 187w for the remainder of the ride as per my pre-race plan.
Evaluation 1:
I feel that I rode the bike course very effectively and intelligently. To be honest, I sometimes felt a little demoralized when I saw lower power numbers that I’m used to. My FTP coming into this race last time was 298 W (this time it was 250 W). I constantly fought the urge to push harder that I should have, and this was rewarded when I felt “good” at the end of the second loop and strong for the run.
Challenge 2:
The decent to Keene in the rain.
Response 2:
If you look at my Strava profile, my descent went well, but that never tells the entire story. You’ll see that I hit a top speed of 51 mph on the descent, which for anyone who rode on that day in the rain knows, that was way too fast to feel safe. I have always found that the aerodynamics on my P5 are amazing that that I accelerate very quickly especially on descents. In dry conditions I relish this and work to keep the same power output (in this case 187 W) that I maintain on my climbs and flats. At those speeds, break pads on carbon wheels are essentially useless and can even causes other handling complications. I realized I was committed, choose my line, navigated around and through the riders I quickly came up on (because I’m a slower swimmer it was fairly congested), oh and I also prayed for the traction between my wheels and with wet asphalt to be maintained. Prayers answered! I’m not sure if my heart rate spike or dropped to an all time low during this portion. After the decent, I felt like the rest of the race was already a victory because I didn’t go down and into a guard rail at 50 mph. Needless to say the second loop was handled much differently and although I prayed again, it wasn’t as hard. As a point of reference, during perfect road conditions in 2016, I hit 56 mph, feeling completely in control, confident and exilerhated by one of the most awesome decents I had ever experienced as a cyclist.
Evaluation 2:
My initial decent to Keene was not the smartest decision, and I know that I got away with a one. The rest of the race was marked by riding strategically. There was no place for “Big Ring Riders Only” as you needed to go through almost every gear in your bag to ride the course efficiently. If you weren’t shifting and shifting often, you weren’t going to have a good bike leg.
The Run -- Race Day Evaluation
Target Run Time: 4:30:00 Actual Run Time: 4:40:01
Weather / Conditions / Notes:
Mostly cloudy, Temperatures mid 70’s, Winds 8-10 mph. 2 loop course, distinct 2 elevation gains and drops, several rollers.
Challenge 1:
Keep correct easy pacing miles 0-6, then increase to IM marathon pace miles 6-20, then hang on (don’t slow down) for miles 20-26.2. Walk 20-30 paces at the very end of each aid station.
Response 1:
I was definitely feeling good coming out of T2, getting some love from my Divide and Conquer peeps, and the Endurance Nation crew. Also, the crowd provides tons of mojo at this point. The plan was to maintain a pace of 9:55 min/mi for the first 6 miles, which is mostly a decent, and then speed up to 9:15 min/mi for miles 6 to 20. The reality was that miles 0 to 6 went just as planned, and I was taking in nutrition just as per my race plan; Gatorade at each station, a gel at every other station, walking about 30 steps and water to cool. When I tried to increase my pace to the 9:15 that was called for, for miles 6 to 20, I wasn’t able to flip the switch and ended up staying at essentially the same pace. I actually drifted into the low 10 min/mi pace, but this include the two significant climbs that were descents in the first 6 miles. I essentially settled into a methodic 10:15 pace that I could never improve on until mile 21. At mile 21 the box got pretty small for me and I was doing a lot more run to a target, then walk 30 steps, repeat, repeat, but never give in. I ended up walking much of the two significant climbs (sky jump hill and townie hill) back into town, which brought me to mile 23. At that point I was able to wrap my head around the finish, focusing on my one thing and using the mojo from the crowd to bring me home, finishing up the last 2 miles at a 10:40 min/mi pace. My overall pace for the run was 10:41 min/mile.
Evaluation 3:
I had good run endurance coming into Lake Placid and I had ridden the bike smartly, but this is where the addition 8-10 lbs that I came in over my desired race weight showed up. I love the mental strength I was able to call upon and the consistency that I demonstrated for much of the run. I also loved hearing from some many people the following comments:
“Sandals, no waaaaaay!”
“Dude, you’re running in flip flops…and passing me!?”
“That just hurts to look at.”
“Did you lose a bet?”
“How long have you been doing that?”
“Luna’s, that’s Awesome”
[Over the PA as Lisa G’s] “And here comes Sandal Man on his last loop everyone!”
“Sandals, God Bless you.” …and many more.
Next Time -- Overall Lessons Learned
Use the space below to capture a few critical things that you learned, not covered above, that you will want to remember for your next big race!
· Try and minimize outside distractions on race week. Some things are out of our control and we shouldn’t stress what we cannot change.
· Utilize check lists as much as possible.
· Utilize team and teammates as resources in the months and weeks leading up to race day. Share the knowledge!
· Draw from the support and positive energy of everyone who supports you on a daily basis, at work, home, friends and teammates.
· Keep in mind feelings of family and friends during your training
· Use mental toughness as your edge.
· Embrace all the comments about your Luna Sandals.
Comments
@Trish Marshall thank for the post. Ya, after I got to Keene on two wheels the first time through, I felt the day was already a victory. The rest was "cake".
@Gary Lewis it was great following you along virtually. From race plan to race report and comments, I admire your level of engagement. You are a true asset to the EN community. See you in Tempe?
@Derrek Sanks ya, "never give in!" You definitely have a little of that in you. Honor to share the day with you.
@Rory Gumina mile 23 was definitely my mile 18. I tried to push it back as long as I could, but in the end I think it was a "push". Next time, I'm thinking the run course won't be as fortunate.
@Tim Sullivan try one of the pairs of Luna Sandals. The company has great customer service, and there is even a great access "ninja foot sleeve" called a tabu that you can use in the winter (felt lined) and actually very comfortable, so now you can run in sandals year round!
@Robert Sabo let me try posting a pic. I've had trouble doing that in the past, but I'll try again.