IMCDA Race Report - Happy to be Alive!!
Wow...I can't tell you how happy I am to have IM #2 under my belt. Some kid was holding a sign that read "It seemed like a good idea at the time!" That sums it up nicely. So here's my report:
Swim - 1:23:02 compared to my goal of 1:10 or better. The "line" came for me before I was 400 yards into the swim. I honestly thought I was in jeopardy of drowning and was looking for a kayak or surfboard because I was close to near panic. My arms and legs felt like I just sprinted a quarter and I was gasping. I finally got a little room to swim but then came the first two turn buoys with everyone grabbing all over me and I thought I was going down again. After I cleared the 2nd turn, I called for a kayak and hung on for a minute to catch my breath because I was hyperventilating. From there on, my swim was uneventful because I stayed away from everyone else. But I was emotionally exhausted and was just swimming, not racing. During the swim, I was praying to God to just get me on land and whatever the day brought I would be happy with. I came out of the water 76th in the M50-54 which had 155 starters.
T1 - I think it was 4:13. Pretty quick and uneventful.
Bike - 5:41:48. I was pretty sure I could pull 20 mph as a "should" split on this course because there aren't any hills here that I haven't seen and trained on in Florida..."believe it or not!" In previous posts to the forum, I've noted there are significant hills in the San Antonio-Dade City and Clermont portions of central Florida. However, I followed EN's sage advice to bring lots of gears to this race and that really helped. I was riding a 53-39 with a 12-27 cassette. However, I crossed my gears twice in the excitement and lost about 5 minutes getting my chain free...stupid! I also followed the advice to take it easy on the climbs and shift down over the tops. I don't use power or heart rate, but my RPE is pretty well developed and I moved up to 20th in my age after the bike. Nutrition: I went through the 6 Gu packs I had taped to my top tube and took one PowerGel on the course. Went through 4 Gatorades and 4 waters and 12 salt stick tabs. I did NOT prepare a special needs bag for either the bike or the run.
T2 - I think it was 3:25. Finally took a leak in the transition port-o-potty. There's just no way I can do it on the bike, but hats off to those with this skillset! 
Run - 4:03:56. I would have liked to have broken 4 hrs, but my left hamstring was not happy with all the downhills. It locked up on me countless times going down...nothing I couldn't shake but it was a real governer on speed. Nutrition: had 4 PowerGels, 2 potato chips, 4 Magnesium Tabs and maybe 8 Salt Stick tabs. Started my count at mile 18 and picked off something like 150 people although most were probably on lap 1. The finish was incredible. Since it was downhill, I could not pick it up, but it was way with thousands of spectators on each side for the final six blocks.
Finish: 11:16:23 in 9th place M50-54. My "B" goal was top 10 and I was amazed that I achieved that after my disastrous swim experience, and not even breaking 11 hours. Times in my age group were slower than 2009, so the heat must have had an impact on people. Roll down in my age group went to 6th place but putting it in perspective, I'm glad to be alive. If I could do the race again, I would have started on the far right and gladly swam the extra distance with less contact. I talked with at least a half-dozen people today that spoke of panic and fear of drowning in the swim. The beach isn't going to get any wider and yet WTC just keeps increasing the field sizes. I may do Louisville in the future just for the time trial start.
Other: The team dinner was fantastic; and the team tent along the course made it more enjoyable for my family. Kudos to Bryan for selecting the Wine Cellar. Having Coach Rich out there on the bike and run course was also motivating as was the support from other ENrs. Thanks to all that cheered for me when I was in the fog of pain. The town support was incredible...much better than IMFL although IMCDA could not match the "Girl Zone" on the Panama City Beach run course. The lake water was really cold for me...about 61 or 62. I've had a neoprene swim cap for 2 years, but this was the first race I ever used it in. If I ever swim something below 60, I'll definitely need booties.
Comments
Oh my happy to be alive!! don't say that you are scaring me! I'm training for my first IM...Wisconsin and yep the kid will prolly be right...seemed like a good idea at the time
Way to go on 9th in ag...also awesome time.....if I do under 14 I will be happy! cheers 
Paul- Congrats on your finish- top 9 after the swim
I had a very similar experience at CDA in 2008! Very beginning of swim, I got kicked and then a punch or kick to the lip. The water was also colder, under 60. i started to pull off skull cap and swim cap, started treading water and looking for kayak. Eventually got myself calmed down. I also got out of the water around 1:24. thought i would be under 1;15. Eventually finished overall
I agree with you, that beach is small for the start, and they keep increasing number of entries.
I'm not sure how I am going to approach the swim at IMLP. Will probably go wide the first loop and try to move closer to buoys for 2ndlap
Congrats to a great finish after a rough start!
Way to go, Paul! That's quite a comeback after that nasty swim. I'm really impressed with your execution on RPE alone! Well done.
Enjoy some RandR.
Dave
Paul,
Great job completing the swim and hammering out a top 10. I got a little worked up in a 1/2 IM swim in 2005 and made it through so I know where you are coming from.
Gordon
I'm with Kathy -- don't scary the newbies! Actually, way to get pull yourself together after a crazy start. And you must have seriously ninja perceived exertion on the bike. Nice work!
Great race and awesome job coming back from the darkness! CdA can be a tough course, especially when it's hot out.
tom
Great race and awesome job coming back from the darkness! CdA can be a tough course, especially when it's hot out.
tom
Strong recovery - nice meeting you today in front of the K Swiss tent with Bryan Ogle. The swim was rough for me too. But a strong recovery.
Tom
@ Beth & Kathy- I think the swim issues CDA are related to such a small beach for number of people starting. Rich made a post of 2700 bikes in transition this year! When I did Florida in 2002 there were like 1600 -1700 people?
To avoid washing machine effect/scrum, seed yourself on the outside. Maybe read race reports for Wisconsin on how the swim is, and how previous racers placed themselves related to their ability
Paul,
Having more time to think about it what do you think caused your issues with the swim? Do you have a lot of open water swimming experience? How many races have you done? Ever have a similar issue before? Was it just one shot/contact that put you over the edge?
Great race BTW. Yet one more example of how long a day an IM is and just cause things are going very wrong at one point [or very right for that matter] is no indication that they will stay that way for very long.
Chris - I'm not exactly sure, but I think I overseeded myself. I started in about the 3rd row and sprinted out when the cannon went off. I hit the water and started hammering to get away, but was soon run over. After having my arms swept down one too many times and people grabbing onto my legs, I just started to panic. At one point, very early in the race, my legs felt very heavy like I was in total oxygen debt and that's when I started to wonder if I would even make it out alive. I looked for a kayaker then, but didn't see anything but the field and realized I had to keep going if I didn't want to drown. After the 1st quarter mile, I had a little more room but could barely catch my breath and then came the turns. After the 2nd turn I moved just inside the return buoy line and flipped onto my back, then signaled for the kayaker. Swimming down the inside after that gave me some relatively clear space and I moved back to the right side a couple of buoys before the first exit. I have a lot of open water experience, but not in cold water, and not with this amount of extended physical contact. I've had similar open water fights in wave starts, but they don't last very long. This one was just too much for me. I'll be studying the IMAZ swim closely to avoid a repeat. r/Paul
I've had similar issues in cold water and/or when I go out too hard. Suddenly, it feels like I'm hyperventilating, and my wetsuit is constricting me. I've had to hang on to a kayak for a minute to calm myself down, and then I was fine.
Great mental toughness, by the way. A top ten finish after that kind of start is awesome. Congrats on your day!
Aaron