Race Report - 2019 Lake Placid - Bobby Patrick
Ok... just realized there was a special form for race reports. I actually sat on the plane today writing this one up special... so I'm just going to post it. Its kinda long (sorry). I wanted to be detailed to capture some things for myself and also for anyone reviewing and offering ideas, tips, or insight. Thanks in advance for any feedback.
IMLP 2019 Race Report - Bobby Patrick
Summary (12:55:23 overall time, 85th out of 266 in M45-49 Age Group): I finished the race, enjoyed it for the most part (suffering at the end aside)… so all in all it was a success. I didn’t have the race I would have entirely expected but I’m ok with it since I didn’t have hard time goals set. The swim went pretty good for me, the bike went pretty much like what I expected, and the run really didn’t go well. Swim and bike were on par with typical past performances, but the run was the poorest performance so far.
Lead up: Leading up to the race was not as restful as past races. We were traveling to IMLP from Ohio. We spent a couple of days in New York city vacationing and then drove up to IMLP. We enjoyed the vacation, but we did a lot of walking and driving and so on… so, I wasn’t as rested as I have been on past races. Eating in the days leading up to the race was probably not as on target as it normally would be since we were traveling.
Pre-Race Night / Morning: I actually slept well the night before the race. Not super long because we got in a little late, but I went to bed roughly at 11:00 and slept good until about 3:00 AM which was unusual… normally I toss and turn. I did use the Nuun purple rest formula a little while before bed. The morning of the race went very smoothly… very well-run race, easy getting there, easy getting in and so on. I arrived and parked in central downtown parking (by tri bike transport) at about 4:00 AM.
Swim (Predicted: 1:15, Actual: 1:14:59, 97th of 266): Seeding was kinda difficult… very hard to get through the people to where I needed to be. I seeded myself at the back of the 1:00 – 1:10 group. I used defog but still had some trouble with goggles fogging while I was in line. I took them off my head and held them until just before I got in the water… they didn’t fog anymore on the swim. I didn’t get on the cable until about ¼ way through the first lap. Getting on the cable was terrific except for the congestion. This swim was super crowded and got a little rough at some points because of people fighting for position. I found myself blocked behind slower people a significant amount of time. The people behind me were trying to swim over me… not realizing I was blocked too. Next time I would seed myself even faster. I executed the swim exactly as planned. I stayed calm, focused on breathing out (exhaling) and just relaxed and kept moving. The only time I stopped was when I was fully blocked and had to give the swimmers ahead of me a second to keep from getting kicked in the face. One trick I found was to get a little inside the cable. Swimmers seemed to focus on being on the cable or outside the cable… less people were inside the cable. I found decent sections of water where I could swim freely and comfortably just inside the cable. I didn’t discover this until the second lap… worked pretty well. I was very pleased with my swim execution, felt pretty calm and relaxed, never really felt tired or out of breath, just kept going. Best swim execution yet.
Bike (Predicted 5:50, Actual: 6:02:55, 44th of 266): Initially, right after the race, I thought I may have executed the bike poorly and sabotaged my run. My “gut” feel was that my variability was high with lots of power spikes. After looking at the data and thinking back over how I felt when I finished, I’m not sure that is the case. I think I actually executed it pretty well. My variability was 1:07 which seemed better than I thought it was (open to feedback on this). My overall normalized power was lower than I planned to execute. I rode NP of 191 Watts (I originally planned to ride 205 Watts). I suspect that my conservative approach to the up hills coupled with not much pedaling on the long downhills is why I ended up with a lower than planned power. I was aggressive on the downhills and conservative on the up hills. I rode the descent into Keen very fast with no tapping the brakes… max speed actually showed 54 mph (I’ve never rode that fast). I passed lots of people coming down the descent. I used coach Patrick’s tips on keeping my outside foot down and steering by laying my knee out… that worked perfectly. I stayed in the aero bars for about 90% of the Keene Descent. Some of the longer climbs on the backside were challenging but not as bad as I expected. Gearing seemed ok. I did get passed a lot on the climbs, but I expected that and was ok with it. I intended to be conservative on the climbs (I weigh about 190 lbs). In the end I would summarize the bike by saying it was challenging (harder than IMLOU for sure), a bit scary on the Keene descent, but not as bad on the climbs as I initially expected. Looking back, I feel like I probably rode it fairly well… but I still haven’t figured out why my run went so poorly. I did feel ok when I got off the bike… didn’t feel toasted. After comments on my race plan I did focus on getting a bottle of Gatorade endurance down every 45 minutes (roughly every aid station). That seemed like a good thing. I took down 1/3 clif bar or clif gel (with caffeine) every 30 minutes (alternating). I also took in salt at every aid station. I think I need to spend more time focusing on and figuring out nutrition for the next race. I’m not sure if my overall nutrition played into sabotaging the run or not. But the approach on the bike seemed to work fine. I was comfortable temperature wise for the most part but a little warm in my Kask Bambino helmet… airflow through that thing is limited. I did remove the visor and made sure to cut slits in my race number at the front to allow for airflow. Airflow was still limited.
Run (Predicted: 4:10, Actual 5:16:21.... crash and burn, 126th of 266): I came unraveled on the run. My last IMLOU marathon was slightly over 4 hours (like 4:04 or something). So, this 5:16 time was disappointing. But I do keep reminding myself… the goal this year was to finish and enjoy the race and I did both of those. My “racing self” really doesn’t like that 5:16 time though.
I felt normally tired when the run started, but not bad. My starting heart rate was in the mid 130’s which was on target with where I came off the bike. I found it was drifting up into the 140’s as I progressed towards mile 6. After mile 6, when my heart rate hit 145 I would walk to get it back down. I never really got a second gear beyond mile 6. Normally I run heart rate up until mile 6 and then switch to power. I never made the switch to power because I just didn’t feel I had the ability to increase my effort after mile 6 like I normally would. After mile 6 (I think between 8-10) I started walking more to keep my heart rate down (not above 145) and to try and settle my stomach (felt nauseated). From that point on I was not really executing a plan… just run to the next landmark I could see and then walk some. Just kept alternating run and walk somewhat randomly. I knew I needed to keep pushing to not be out there all night. I was suffering by this time and mentally not as “gung ho” as I normally would like to be. At this point it became survival and “get through it” to meet my goal of finishing. The hills were tough… I walked many of them. People all around me were walking too… I wonder if I used that as an excuse to walk (not typically how I operate).
My stomach was “queezy” the whole time, but I never got sick (vomited). I initially tried to keep pushing food and drink down (mainly GE and Gels). I’m not sure if that contributed to the stomach problems. I didn’t follow a clear nutrition plan from this point on. At each aid station I was dumping water on my head, putting ice in my hat, and drinking either GE or coke. I think I stopped eating somewhere between miles 8-10. My stomach just felt off and I didn’t feel like eating any more.
In summary, my stomach was off, I didn’t execute a nutrition plan, I abandoned my power plan, and I abandoned my plan to run aid station to aid station. It was somewhat hot and the hills were more challenging than I anticipated. This was my most poorly executed run in a race. On a positive note, I hung in there, kept pushing, kept picking landmarks to run to (and then walk) and just kept moving forward. Got it done… not pretty… but got it done.
I had some chafing under my arms (where bicep / tricep meet)… never really had that before. Have to remember to put some body glide on next year.
Lastly, I never really felt like my run was in a good place through training. I never really hit the level of run fitness that I’ve hit in the past. This needs to be a focal point next year for sure. I also need to focus on bricks during training. I “short changed” those this year… that may have contributed to the poor run.
Final Points: Transitions could be faster. I need to not treat those as a rest break. Swim and bike seemed to go as planned for the most part. My first reaction was that I over did it on the bike… but I don’t think the data supports that and thinking back to the bike finish, I really felt ok. I need to better understand why the run went so poorly. Its not entirely clear to be honest. Meeting EN folks (like Scott Dinhofer @scott dinhofer , Mariah @Mariah Bridges , and Coach Patrick @Coach Patrick ) was a terrific part of doing IMLP. @scott dinhofer had great advice and was super kind. I love his attitude! @Mariah Bridges was super friendly and helpful in getting everyone corralled in for the 4 keys talk. @Coach Patrick actually ran out on to the course (briefly) and gave me advice while I was running (twice)… I can’t tell you how awesome that was. I was “foggy” and not thinking clear and he gave some great advice that really did help me get through a tough situation on the run. He also found me after the race and discussed a few points with me. That was inspiring!
Whats Next: Now I’m going to take a break for a little while and enjoy some time with my family and getting some personal items in order. Of course, I’ll be lightly swimming, biking, and running because that keeps me sane and healthy. I’m considering a fall 50k ultra more as a new experience and primarily for a fun challenge. I was originally planning on doing IMLOU again next year since I will age group up (50) and I’m super familiar with the course. However, after experiencing IMLP, I may switch plans and come back here for IMLP next year. It was a tough course but beautiful, well run, and my whole family really enjoyed the Lake Placid area.
For the bigger “triathlon picture” I’d like to get a better handle on what I’m doing or chasing. After my massive improvement at IMLOU in 2017 (went from 12:45 to 11:20 and felt like I had much more in the tank) I thought I might have a path to Kona at some point in the future (with lots of hard work). After that year I had a DNF in 2018 at IMLOU and a less than stellar time this year in IMLP. So, that leaves me scratching my head a little in terms of goals, potential, and so on. Outside of the ultimate goal question I do know I really enjoy doing this… as a “Type A” person like so many people in this sport I feel like I should always be chasing an ultimate goal. As I get a bit older, I’m questioning the rationale behind that for me… maybe I don’t always have to have some massive goal. Maybe having fun and seeking constant personal improvement is what its really about for me. I’m not sure… I have some soul searching to do… but I can’t help but already be thinking about what I’m going to do to get better this year and show up ready for big improvements next year! Kinda funny because two days ago at IMLP mile 10 (on the run) I was thinking that might be my last 140.6. Funny how this sport messes with you like that.
Comments
Great report.. the form... is to help those with writers block, i think, which you clearly don't have. Great job all day. It was great seeing you on the run course, you always looked positive and engaged. I also felt nauseated on the run, which I left out of my report. I wonder if it was the GE for 11 hours or the time my run took😯
thanks for the props and lmk if you come back to LP, it would be great to race with you again!
@Robert Patrick Point #1: I suspect that 99.9% of people who do an Ironman - from the 17 hour finisher to the record-breaking pro - always say something at some point during the run like "Oh, Lord, if you just get me to the finish, I promise never to do another one of these". Or words to that effect. So don;t use that feeling to inform your decision about future races, IMO.
Point #2: I just spent a few hours this week, going over in some detail both my build-ups and race day performance of my last 5-6 IMs, in preparation for my next one, now 10+ weeks away. There were two things which correlated well with race-day run performance (all my bikes were well executed, as was bike nutrition): the more I ran in the last twelve weeks before the race, the less I walked on race day. Avg of 21-23 mpw = walking 6-8 miles; 25 mpw = walking 2 miles; avg 28 mpw = no walking outside of aid stations. And the other was HR at the start of the run: staying at or below by avg HR for the final bike hour for the first half marathon = running at the end; starting out, even for just the first couple of miles, above that bike HR = walking in the later half. Don;t know of there's a lesson there for you, but that's what I confirmed about my training and race execution needs.
What to do next? IM LP is indeed an iconic course with a long history and a great vibe both within EN and the entire venue. But it may not be the ideal place to find your best performance. You like IM LOU; you've had success there; and it's certainly closer to home, both in terms of drive time and terrain there in the Ohio River Valley. For reasons like that, I ended up doing IM Coeur d'Alene ten times, and ended up getting better and better at it after my first one, which was a DNF.
Finally, macro goals? That is indeed the most important thing to be very clear on. Ironman is simply too, too much, too, too hard, to be involved in on a long-term basis without knowing EXACTLY why you are doing it, and remaining true and consistent to the work needed to achieve your goals, whatever they may be.
@Al Truscott thanks so much for the great points. I really like the info you provided on the run... good learning for me. I felt good on the swim and bike for the last few weeks of training but just never really felt like I was in the right place on the run. I had a number of weeks with less mileage than planned... that seems to correlate with your point #2 above. I also agree that IMLOU seems better suited to my abilities and execution... but I absolutely LOVED the IMLP course, village, and EN participation there! I was feeling pretty beat up by the time I got that run done on Sunday... now here I am 3 days later feeling excited about planning another race! Your last point is also a very good one... I'm still struggling with what that real goal is... I just know that I love the process, I love the training, the racing, and the great feeling that comes with all of this. I'm already feeling a bit stir crazy after no training since Sunday... even so, I'm tired and trying to get some needed rest. I'm sure I'll be back at it pretty quickly. Thanks so much for the well thought out advice and thoughts!
Congrats on a solid race! Think you passed me on the bike and we may have crossed on the run. I struggled on the run, too. I’m also signed up for IM Louisville, so hope to see you down there.
Great race report.. thanks for the honesty and the insights!