TrishM IMKY 2018 Report
Short version: Vertical finish on a very challenging day. Long version-read on.
Race day:
woke up at 4:30, ate usual breakfast of oatmeal, protein powder, almond milk, almond butter, and banana, with coffee. Checked weather report and made decision to wear ALL layers for bike in bag as well as ALL layers for run based on report. Met the boys to walk to transition at 5:50. Got bike set up with garmin, fluids. Walked to swim start sipping on a 200c bottle of efs pro (put on wetsuit on halfway up under bridge). Feet were already wet in my meshy walking shoes. Found our spot in 1:10-1:20 and hung out waiting for race start. Got the announcement that swim was shortened and delayed. Great. Luckily we at least had a seat. Finally the canon’s went off and the line started moving. Finished getting wetsuit on and dropped am clothes bag, but was a long time before actually getting in the water. Wet cold feet on the concrete. Peed my wetsuit twice and was glad for the warm up! So glad I had the extra calories pre race as well.
Swim: 15:51 7th AG Finally got to dock, hugged up Jonathon, Bob and John and off we went. I sight a LOT in the pool and that was a good skill to have as the buoys were moving and needed to sight the boaters and kayaks for a line. Was super fast and warm water. Too bad the speediest part of the day was the warmest. Made it to the right side of the steps and easily got hauled up and out. Got stripped and started to jog to transition.
T1: 14:01 Usually swim in full kit, but due to temps wore no top, just bra. I visualized (and packed accordingly) the steps to get dressed, but it was not as quick a change as I had hoped for. I wore a base layer, jersey, jacket (loaded with some extra nutrition and my prescription sunglasses that I never put on), tights, beanie (THANK YOU @Jonathan Brown! LIFE SAVER!!!) nitrile gloves, regular gloves, tights, socks. That is a LOT of kit, to put on a wet body, but totally worth it. Finally ran to bike, smacked @Jonathan Brown on the bum and headed out.
Bike: 7:05:42 18th AG Coming into the race I thought if I executed VERY WELL I could manage about a 6:30. I knew pretty quickly that was not going to happen. 5 minutes into the bike my feet were soaked (new toe covers were good, but not enough) and 10 minutes in they froze. The roads were wet, it was raining and I tried to be conservative. BUT…It was mid 40’s, and I was cold. My right glute/high hamstring was barking early in the ride. No bueno. I was passed by both my WO hubbies early on the stick and it was great to see them for a moment. I started my nutrition plan of efs liquid shot and water (200c, 24oz per hour) right away and was a little behind at the first hour. I ended up taking in about 1150c all day vs the 1350c I planned. I was doing fine…no mental fuzzies, able to pee a little on the bike ( a FIRST, but only once and only a little) didn’t stop at special needs or partake of the hot chocolate offered there (yes…hot chocolate on the bike course!) was happy as a lark when I saw our sherpa crew in LaGrange including my hubby. I laughed out loud at the dudes in bikinis screaming at us on a hill on loop one, and the lady with the my favorite sign during the race “Mother Nature is a Whore!” on loop two. Otherwise it was a long pretty harsh ride. I was happy to pass by special needs but did stop twice to pee and top off nutrition stuff with some very patient and helpful volunteers, with a time cost of 12:30. But I was pissy due to my SLOW ticking off of miles AND knowing I was riding a little hot power wise. I was planning to ride 130 NP per 5 mile lap and was over for most, with AVGP 136 and NP 144 for the ride. My VI of 1.07 wasn’t horrible considering the 2 potty stops, terrain, slowdowns for car traffic on loop two and road conditions. I was happy to see the sherpas again on loop two, but NOT happy to catch up to Johnny, who should have been 30’ at least in front of me. He was frozen for the entire ride an looking really rough. He has lost 40 lbs since January and his body is still adjusting to his new weight. He told me he didn’t think he could run. I advised to get changed into his dry stuff and at least start the run. Then if he had to bag it, bag it. But at least warm up and start. He passed by me at my second potty break and I looked for him the rest of the ride back into town hoping NOT to see him. Overall I think the layers, beenie and nitrile gloves were the saving grace for that ride. I didn’t do my usual flying dismount, I unclipped and walked to transition, saw my hubby and sherpa peeps and kept walking.
T2: 25:27 Wow. Total shit show! I usually don’t bring much into transition because I’m no good at decisions while racing. Today, I was even worse! I knew I was putting on all the layers, but it took forever for me to get all the wet stuff off, get dry and the dry layers on. My gore base layer top was a nightmare to get on, even with my volunteer helper. It was hard for me to get my tums and bio freeze into my pockets. My feet were soaked and I had to lube them up so no blisters. Just slow. At least it was warm in there. I stopped for a kiss and hug from my hubby on the way out and apologized for making him deal with a slow poke in the shit weather. He was super sweet and encouraging.
Run: 5:57:10 30 AG
I was running ok, but unlike when my glute acted up on training days it was not going away on this run. Great. Fantastic! About mile 3 I caught up to John and we ran walked the next 6 miles together at his pace. I was so happy he made it to the run and he was feeling ok. I was hoping this pace would let my stomach settle as I was feeling bloated. I stayed on my nutrition plan of small sips of efs liquid shot with water every aid. We saw Bob about mile 5.5 heading the other direction which was awesome. At mile 9 John said he was walking the rest of the way and I had to leave him for fear of getting too cold walking as it was dark. I made it to the special needs and saw my hubby and got another kiss, and Bob had waited thinking we could all finish together. He had to settle for just me the last half. We ran walked as far as one or the other could manage, rinse and repeat. We saw @Alan Brown looking really strong , @Rich Stanbaugh cheering (great boost!) and quite a few local tri friends which was great. I switched to chicken broth early, maybe mile 14 or 15 and pretty much had that the rest of the aid stations. So glad it was truly warm! Bob announced he was done running about mile 24. We kept plodding along with shorter jogs “lets run to the twinkle lights!” aka cop cars at cross streets. What ever it takes to finish it out. I saw my friend, a first timer running it in and was so happy for her! We finally made the turn and reached the finish line. Holy hell, that was a hum dinger. We got our photos, saw our better halfs, got food and went back into the shoot waiting for John to finish. While we waited we heard our friend finished, said she felt fine and then boom. Down she went. Off to the med tent. She is fine post IV, but this day was a really beastly day!
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think of pulling out more than once on the bike. I knew my friend with ALS was competing in a 100 miler in crap weather too. I heard Al’s words in my head about being stubborn. I chose to be with my workout husbands during the run knowing we’d keep each other moving and get to the finish line. And we all did. Vertical finish for the win.
Nutrition is still not spot on, training was not ideal, but enough to complete. Mental toughness was there to finish, but not race. Mentally I am pretty toasted. Today IMFL makes the announcement of the race situation for 2018 but our condo cancelled and I can’t say I’m upset about it being called off. We will have our Potter Platoon gathering on the trail a mile from my house and then have a party, so while not a race, we will spend time together doing what he loves, trail running and celebrate our friendship.
I think we will be back in 2019 for another whack at IMKY.
Comments
@Trish Marshall this is one race I can condone "baking cookies" in T1/T2 in fact I woulda pulled up a chair next to the oven and baked a couple batches.... I really dont even know how you finished... But I guess with and ALS one thing you just couldnt. Much tougher than I , Congrats! Maybe you guys should do IMCOZ instead of IMFL, it will be warm :-)
@Trish Marshall - you were holding the misery inside, because you looked to be in great shape when I saw you. And I was happy to see you were with John at the time, because I knew you guys would get each other through the day. Congrats on persevering!
Congratulations @Trish Marshall It's been a crazy year of weather and racing. One thing is certain mental toughness reigns high!
@Trish Marshall way to find the bright spots on a gloomy day! Just to finish in those conditions is an accomplishment! Well done!!
@Trish Marshall thank you for the mojo on the run! You were right on all week, talking about wearing all your warm weather gear early in the week and I think that helped many of us in our decisions on what to wear race day! Thank you! Likely back for 2019, hope to see you again!
Unbelievable. I suspect every minute of that day was a brain sapper. Staying in the moment and getting through with the cameraderie of your team makes it a major victory IMO. Everything else will seem that much easier in the future. It's obvious it's gonna take more than a little wind and cold to stop you.
Congratulations! Way to fight through the conditions, adapt and overcome to the end. Your mental toughness is off the charts.
@tim cronk - I gave her crap for putting so much time in the transitions in her race plan. However, i wanted to bake cookies, cakes, and waffles in the tent because it was warm and dry.
@Trish Marshall You rock!!! Thank you for all the fun stories and memories from Louisville 2018. I am glad you pushed through the rain, cold, and wind.
@Trish Marshall - no way I could manage myself that long under those conditions in a race like that.
Incredible stamina to stay with it and get it across the finish line.
Been too long since we raced together.
Congratulations woman!
SS
@Trish Marshall - you are always the model of toughness in every pursuit you do. Thanks for continuing to inspire and show how it's done! congrats on a tough finish!
@Trish Marshall always an inspiration.
Sorry, I am late in reading the race reports.
Wow, what a ruff day you all had out there. You're incredibly strong and manage to cross that line no matter the circumstance. Keep on moving! 😇