Patrick Hayden - IM FL Race Report 2019
Short:
10:31:49 - 34/271 (40-44), 215/1757 (M), 237/2283 (Overall)
Swim – 1:21:51, T1 – 8:45, Bike – 5:26:22, T2 – 6:10, Run – 3:28:43
New PR over IM CDA @ 10:55
Background
Age: 43
Did HIM Boulder earlier this year and had a decent race, held on to that fitness and upped time on bike, etc. to get ready for IM FL. Had a few snags, but nothing major although at least half the time I hit the pool, there was some issue where I had to get out early (lightning, lifeguard on duty too long, etc.). This was my 9th full IM, having been at IM FL two other times, although training/consistency wise this one I felt on par to some of my better races in the past. I came in with few goals outside of bettering past performance and a distant hope that if it came together right I should hit around a 10:30.
Pre-Race
Got in early with the family and saw a lot of red flags on the beaches, as it went from red, to double red, to red, and then thankfully down to yellow. Spent some time in the wetsuit out in the reds, to get use to the swells as the last time I did IM FL I had stomach issues on the later half of the swim between the motion/gargling saltwater for an extended period of time.
Temperature crashed during the week and suddenly it was looking like we would have a pretty cold start (for FL) of the race and being wet and cold on the ride, so had to adjust plans to try to get ready for that.
Race morning got up early, followed eating/drinking routine and walked to the site. Transition was straight forward; the only issue was morning cloths drop-off which was a horrible in the drop off/limited space to get out to the beach.
Lesson Learned (LL) #1 – Bring the clothing/gear needed to cover most situations for race day, otherwise you may scramble or be uncomfortable on race day. I had liner gloves in my bag that I took out when packing and was kicking myself for not having.
LL #2 – Don’t speed too much time in transition prior to heading to the beach, while you likely won’t miss the swim start, there are a lot less headaches and concerns if you drop off morning cloths, etc. earlier and don’t have to deal with 1k plus people all trying to go down a tiny walkway to the beach.
Swim - 1:21:51
Water temp dropped and was 70 on race day, so it was wetsuit legal for everyone. With the cold outside temps the wetsuit kept the body warm but not the hands or feet. I lined up by expected finished time heard the canon go off and then proceeded to wait for almost 30 minutes before hitting the water. Ran in the water for a while, then swim really started. As a whole the swim was rather uneventful, some contact near buoys, normal people grabbing the leg or occasional contact with arms. Came through at the ½ mark right around where I was expecting then proceeded to the second lap, similar contact, etc. through it but felt comfortable till the end with no stomach issues.
LL #3 - I found getting a little extra time in the water even if it was just bobbing around in my wetsuit with the kids helped me mentally and physically get used to the motion, etc. So if you don’t do much if any ocean swimming it may be worth a little time getting out in the waves to get used to the feel.
T1 – 8:45
Legs were fine coming out of the water, went to the wetsuit strippers, which wasn’t as quick as I hoped, then off to shower/changing area. I packed extra here figuring I would make a decision based on how cold it felt, etc. Luckily, I put in two sets of arm warmers/coolers as the thicker/older tore as I went to pull them the last bit. Swapped to the others and headed for the bike, got there put gloves on and off I went.
LL 4 – I should have put the gloves on as I was running to bike, vs when I arrived, just wasn’t thinking and not something I thought I would need to practice.
Bike – 5:26:22
NP 167 / VI 1.04 / HR 143
http://tpks.ws/OHWQX7C5EGHQ36OYOB5RDKNNTU
Headed off on the bike and started passing people, took it easy early on, but air was cold and I was happy for the gloves I found in the car, only issue was they were my daughters winter gloves, so small and bulky making it so I had to take them on/off to get my solid nutrition out of the bento box. With the cool temps feet went numb, but core seemed fine, power wise my numbers were a bit low I so went by HR and RPE for most the race. Worked hard this race to drink a bottle of Gatorade by each aid station and was well hydrated but had to stop at ~40 as I just couldn’t pee on the bike. Went to put gloves back on and inside liners were all out of whack so just dropped them at the aid station in case anyone else wanted them. Legs felt like they might cramp a little, so pulled pickle juice from my special needs, and went on. Held constant, I don’t think feet thawed until about 4 hours in with the wind to the back.
Picked up a hitchhiking Monarch butterfly with about 10 miles to go, which got caught in a vent on my aero helmet. Which stayed with me until T2.
T2 – 6:10
In dropped off bike, pulled off helmet, convinced the butterfly to come out of the vent and fly away before packing helmet, downed some more pickle juice and BCAAs, grabbed my go bag and went.
Run – – 3:28:43
NP 274 / IF .74 / VI 1.01 / HR 141 / Pace 7:58
http://tpks.ws/4LWAUTNLDE3GXO77JP3WVPAKWY
Went out on the run at what felt like a shuffle and tried to focus on keeping HR below 145, to grab nutrition on the run through as many aid stations and possible, and to look for EN folks to cheer on. Saw @Mike Roberts and @Derrek Sanks s and cheered them on, then hit the turnaround and decided to see how I felt holding this HR till the halfway mark. Felt good, till about a mile out of the ½ mrk when I had a few twinges of potential cramps and started chaffing. Grabbed my chamois cream and pickle juice and went back to work. Decided to walk some of the aid stations, as necessary on the 2nd loop. Continued to work to hold HR and roughly the same pace I didn’t have any issues and was happy to give/hear the go EN as I ran. Decided to forgo the last aid station and then just pushed it in, hitting my highest power, pace, and HR numbers of the day.
Overall Thoughts
I didn’t really watch my overall time just the segments, so I was happy to see I hit right around 10:30 which was my goal. Ended up being a new PR beating my 10:55 from IM CDA several years ago off a couple year break from IMing.
Comments
Congrats Patrick!
@Patrick Hayden - Congratulations on a strong race, PR and great run! It was good seeing you on the course...you were making it look easy. I wish we had a chance to met before the race and hope to race with you again.