IM Louisville 2018 Race Report - Josh Maylee
Height: 6’10, Weight: ~235lbs, 5th Ironman
A Day of Firsts even though it was my 5th IM
Saturday:
On the advice/demand of my lovely wife, we got out of town (hour and half drive) and went to Mammoth Caves National Park for majority of day. I was beyond nervous-nauseous and couldn’t relax, but the caves were awesome and would recommend to anyone if you have time. I was eating and drinking constantly all day while doing a fair amount of light walking which in hindsight kept me loose. Dropped off my gear late afternoon (~4pm) and had to get my bike adjusted because it wouldn’t shift into the big ring, although I never ended up using it. I think it was a symptom of a potentially larger issue so glad I took the extra time and $16 later, no issues- small price to pay for success next day. Got back to the hotel and suddenly I was uncharacteristically calm….it just hit me and had the attitude of “I don’t care what happens tomorrow”, and for the first time ever the night before an IM, I eat a whole pizza and actually slept rather piecefully the whole night.
Race Day:
Morning- got up at 5am, eat two small containers of liquid chobani yogurt, water and two small pieces of pizza. Took a pre-workout dose of Hammer Anti-fatigue and Endurance BCAA+. I wore my swim jammers, a shirt, and a pull over jacket because it was already raining pretty steady. I had planned to just wear my wetsuit from that point due to the rain but decided on my cycling rain pants instead. Left hotel about 5:35am. Got to transition around 6:15 am, decided to take off cycling rain pants and put in bike bag (just in case). I don’t know about anyone else but you ever have a seamily non significant moment that turns out to be a season changing action?....Well that decision was the best one I made since signing up for this race a year ago.
Pre-Swim:
Got in wetsuit about 7:15am and waited in the rain, watched the “flooding” river, repeat. I did have one hammer nutrition gel and water about an hour before the start. Swim was shorten to .9mi due to the current, which was fine but I’m still counting this as a “Full IM” I don’t care what ANYONE says :), besides the swim is just a warm up, right? I didn’t start the swim until about 9:30ish.
Swim: Time: 7:35
Started swim and within two strokes my goggles fogged up, had to roll over, take them off and lick’em and put them back on and continue. It was a super fast swim although I had to sight off other people because I couldn’t see any boyes, only was able to see kayakers if I was right on them. I felt good on the swim (although short) but I had to concentrate to see the exit as fast as the water was moving. It would of easily sweep you away if you misjudged the exit and/or you were not a very strong swimmer at the end. I actually sprinted as hard as I could for about 200 yds at the end to get to the shore where I got away from the current a tad and could line up the exit.
T1: Time: 13:54 (Projected ~ 10-15)
Was a sloppy...humid….dirty….mess. I knew this would be a slow process but I just needed to be smooth. It took a few seconds to find a seat and even then everyone’s crap was all over and wet, wet, wet. So instantly everything I took out and touched became wet. I had to make a critical decisions during this transition: 1) I was going to tape my left pinky toe because I’ve had a bruise on it since June and it normally hurts after about 3-4 hrs on the bike but tape was too wet. Skipped it. I had an extra insole in my bike shoes that helped prevent my foot from sliding around. 2) Wore my rainpaints and thought I could always take them off if it became too hot. ****Gold Star decision***
Bike: Time: 7:11 (Projected ~ 7:00-7:30)
It was cold and my feet were soaked immediately, but thanks to my aforementioned pants and riding jacket i was fairly warm. There was enough climbing that when you started to become really cold, you started climbing and warmed up. I was in my small ring all day with the goal of a HR cap of 140, my long ride avg HR is 125. So I tried to stay at that number on the flats and just spin up the hills and back off when it was over 140. I decided to ignore speed on the hills; instead focusing on HR and when I topped each hill, shift a few gears, give a few hard(er) pedal strokes and coast down the hill and repeat! I had scouted this course pretty hard by riding the wahoo Kikr using exaggerated grades % and lengths simulation. Basically where 4hrs were twice as hard as 7-8 actual outside road hours. The first 30 miles were pretty good despite the heavy rain and wind. I was drinking 2 bottles of Skratch mix per hour and taking a hammer gel (~80-90 cal) every 30 minutes...in addition I was taking 2 anti-fatigue and Endurance BCAA+ pills every hour that were in separate plastic bags for each hour -stored in my bento box...exactly like I had done in training. My only issue was that the drink/gels I used were very difficult to reach when needed. I actually had to stop almost every time I needed a gel/skratch. I had them in ziplock bags due to the weather but with my jacket on it was difficult. Miles 33-45 were a little difficult and I hit a rough patch were I stopped on a long climb and checked my back brake because it felt like it was rubbing but nothing, it was just me slowing down. A little later before the turn for the second loop I was feeling a little fatigued and began to worry that this was the old familiar feeling of falling apart for the second lap. HOWEVER, another first occurred where I just kept moving, eating and drinking like planned and that feeling went away. I did miss taking a gel once or twice but I could tell at the time that my stomach wouldn’t of liked it anyway. The second lap felt much better and I peed at about mile 75 and when I got to the 80 mile mark or so I began to pick up the speed and I was nowhere near being gassed and that was reflexed in the increased speed. Last 10 flat miles I was picking up speed and mentally preparing for the unknown of an Ironman run, I was feeling kinda neutral about how I physically felt.
T2: Time: 12:02 (Projected: 10-15)
Hopped off bike, rather dismounted in a non-spectacular fashion and was running to my run bag and ACTUALLY my legs felt pretty good, good enough to run in my bike shoes:)
Same scenario as T1 but more seats available and I noticed how many red bags were “still” on the ground outside because usually there aren’t a lot of them when I come through. (Starting to see a theme with my day?) Felt good to take off the bike shoes, no pinky toe issues the whole ride. Changed my shorts and emptied my bike nutrition from jersey but not much else, however I did keep my rain pants on for the run as well.
Run: Time: 5:27 (Projected: 5:30-6:00)
I came out of the changing tent and started to run immediately and felt ok. I guess I missed where the timing mat was and I ended up starting my watch about 3/10ths of a mile late. I wanted to keep my heart rate at my long Ride Average (~125) but it was around 131-133 so I went with it. I ran with a lady for about 4 miles before dropping back and still felt pretty good - legs turning over well, heart rate steady at 133, drinking (skratch) and eating (gel blasts) until mile 6 or so. I didn’t even walk through the first 4 aid stations. I was a little hot and the jacket and pants felt bulky but made the decision that I would shed them around the halfway mark if it was still an issue. I did notice that after about six miles or so, that springy feeling I had was starting to decrease but settled in to my pace ~12:00/mile and just kept knocking out the miles, focusing on foot turn over and form. From mile 6-13 I started getting drink/food at the aid stations. Around mile 9 or so it started to get fairly cold and made the decision to keep my gear for the remainder of the run. I believe I peed at around the same mile 9 point (another first in an IM). The one mistake I might have made was not taking any gels or blasts after about milie 6 but I was drinking at each aid station. I don’t think my stomach was able to handle it and a few miles I just got water in hopes of settling it down to be able to take in more fuel. Eventually my stomach settled and I was able to take in drinks again.
At the halfway point I was in a semi-tired state but still focused, still doing 12:00/miles. Got a little boost being on the second lap and basically kept drinking coke, red bull, and chicken broth at each aid station and preparing for mile 18.
Mile 18 came and went and I was feeling about the same, my pace dropped a little to around 13:00/mile, still NO walking except through the aid stations but no major fatigue or feeling like I can’t take another step...I was just running a little slower but still running.
Mile 20 was near the out turn-around, and started passing people just by a steady not slowing down any further pace. I kept waiting for a total break down in pace but never happened. I was just steady all the way back with the exception of my feet starting bothering me. Around mile 23 my left foot starting getting major blisters and ended up walking a couple hundred feet to get things sorted out but once again was able to run right after. It was awesome to have the feeling that anytime I stopped and walked through the aid stations, when I wanted to run again I was able to pick up right where I left off. I was still passing people who were walking even at mile 24-26, not sure how many people I passed on the last lap but it was quite a few, with hardly anyone passing me (both firsts on the day :) Had the finishing shoot all to myself, which seemed appropriate considering I had ran the whole damn marathon :)
Overall thoughts: Time: 13:24
I actually enjoyed the weather overall, since I was born and raised in Oregon/Washington but have been in Texas for the last 18 years. It was a nice change from the scorched earth 100+ degree/90% humidity days I’ve trained in all summer; however I do sympathize with everyone because it was blind luck that I wore my rain pants on the bike.
I thought my bike nutrition and pacing worked out very well in comparison to past IM rides and courses- actually peed on the bike. I was actually fresh for the run, never in a million years would have guessed that and the time wasn’t that awful, especially since I only rode from June-Oct this year.
The run was my highlight because of two things: 1) my heart rate was steady the whole run as shown by the chart below and I felt pretty good most of the time.
2) Simply put…...I ran the whole *&$($ Marathon, never even did that in an individual marathon, let alone an Ironman:)
Ok, I know I seem overly excited about a rather slow time but I’m a Triathlete trapped in a basketball players body (6’10, 235lbs). I run and bike like a giraffe- where physics is against me. My bike is the biggest around, if you saw a big old blue co-motion bike where the seat was at your chest level or so, that was mine. I have self proclaimed that I’m the “World’s Tallest Multiple Ironman Finisher” (un-officially ofcourse, never got around to verifying it LOL). To be honest, most of you all intimidate/inspire me because you’re so small(er)/light(er) & fast(er) but when I crunch the numbers and figure this Gentle Giant beat close to 60% of the field on Sunday for his 5th IM finish, I guess I’m no slouch either. Thanks for all your support and I hope I did EN proud.
Comments
HUGE CONGRATS!
That was one beast of a day and you (I can't believe I didn't see you? My hubby is 6'7" and I always notice our people lol) killed it!
Running steady for the whole *&$($ Marathon for those of us who don't come from running is NO JOKE! Huge Huge Huge congrats to get the weather, nutrition and bike sorted to accomplish that!
I haven't met you, but I will second your proclamation! (use Mike Relies voice in your head) JOSH MAYLEE, You are the Worlds Tallest Multiple Ironman Finisher!"
Recover hard and hope to race with you again some day!
To me, running the whole marathon is the #1 indicator of a successful Ironman, no matter what else happens on the day. The mental fortitude required to do that at any pace (it gets harder the slower one goes) was magnified on this day by the environmental conditions. Congratulations!