Derrek Sanks 2019 IM Florida Race Report
Derrek’s Ironman Florida Race Report - Finally!
Ironman Florida was my 7th Ironman. It wasn’t my best but I got it done, barely. Actually this was the first time I experienced a “bad” race where several things happened that led to a very hard run. This was the first time I really, really wanted to quit. I experienced issues in this race that I’ve never faced in my previous IM races. Just looking at my race times, many would say I had a great race, however, compared to my first 6 IMs and how I felt during the bike and run, this was a bad race for me. It’s been over three months since the race and I’m finally accepting my conclusion that I failed to make adjustments to my race execution as various problems popped up. Here’s my story.
Growing up in Niceville, FL (~50 miles to the West of Panama City Beach), this was like a hometown race for me. Also, it was the first time my mom was able to see me race a full Ironman; something she has been wanting to see since my first full in 2014. That was one highlight of the weekend. The other highlight was hanging out with great EN teammates.
My racing season started off with a good build and great fitness going into Eagleman 70.3 finishing 8th AG with a bike and run PR (swim was cancelled). Earlier in May, I won my AG in a local Olympic Triathlon and I completed my first 5 mile OWS. Then two weeks after Eagleman I was sidelined with Pneumonia and sever lower side chest pain that went misdiagnosed for two weeks. I essentially couldn’t train for 4-6 weeks. I transferred from IM Maryland to IMFL and started training the second week of August building back the endurance engine. At the last minute, I decided to race Atlantic City 70.3 in Sep to see where my fitness was and had a good race finishing 13th AG with a bike and overall 70.3 PR (5:00:08). In hindsight, I think this gave me a false sense that my endurance was back, but 70.3 fitness is nowhere close to 140.6 fitness. Though my Training Peaks CTL numbers were way below previous IM builds, training went well and I used my race rehearsal to set my pacing targets.
On to the race. Since a cool front moved in Thursday night dropping morning temps to the upper 40s (and water temp below 76 degrees), I made some last minute purchases and changes to my T1 bag in order to not freeze on the bike: throw away arm warmers on my aero bars; put my Castelli tri jersey in my T1 bag to start the bike with a dry jersey; used my run special needs bag to stuff in the front of my tri jersey along with a body warmer to block the wind and keep my core warm, which worked perfectly; toe warmers; and full fingered gloves.
Race Morning:
Typical race morning, up at 3:30, ate a ~600 calorie breakfast, left for transition at 5:00 with teammates @Danielle Santucci , @Edwin Croucher and @Mike Roberts. Made above adjustments to my T1 bag, set up bike, etc. At 6:10, I put on my wetsuit, hugs and kisses from my wife and mom, took a GU gel and headed to the swim start. I did a 10 min swim warm up, then made my way to the front of the 1:11 - 1:20 line.
Swim: Goal 1:10 – 1:15; Actual 1:14 https://www.strava.com/activities/2836583037
Bottom line this was a great ocean swim and I had the same time as Lake Placid in 2018. Due to the low tide and sand bar, the swim started with a jog to the water, then a walk in shallow water, a very short swim, and another walk until the water was deep enough to swim again. The swim warm up really helped get me off to a good start without feeling out of breath. With 4 people starting every few seconds, the first few hundred yards had minimum contact all the way until the first turn where there was a bottleneck with people stopping to find the next buoy. I was surprised that the buoys were not in a straight line. In my other IM races, as I passed a swim buoy I could immediately see and sight on the next buoy, but not at this race. The buoys were not aligned and seemed to be spaced so far apart that I couldn’t find/see the next buoy. Several times I wanted to stop and find the next buoy but I just kept swimming and sighted off other swimmers for the next 100-200 yards until I spotted the next buoy. That made the swim a little annoying but was offset by the clear waters and seeing some sea life below. I saw small fish, an eel or something and a dozen or so jellyfish, which were far enough below me that I didn’t make contact and no stings. I felt strong the entire swim. After completing the first loop, I peeked at my watch and was pleased to see 36 mins. Then, walking back into the water to start the second loop I felt a little twinge in my right hamstring and thought that was odd and hoped it would be a one-time occurrence. The second loop was about the same as the first and I made sure not to kick (I don’t kick much with a wetsuit anyway). There was a little more congestion requiring me to navigate around people and on a few occasions increase pace for a couple minutes to get away from those who couldn’t swim straight. Walking out of the water at the end of the second loop, I felt the twinge again but it was a little worse and I became concerned about having a very long day fighting a cramping hamstring. I did a slow jog up the beach to the finish arch and on to the wetsuit removers. After getting up from having my wetsuit removed, BAM both hamstrings cramped to the point where I couldn’t walk…what the F? I’ve never had a hamstring cramp from swimming and was wondering what was going on and thinking my day might end early. Still in front of the wetsuit removers, I couldn’t walk and took what seemed like 1-2 minutes to stretch out both hamstrings, with assistance from some volunteers. Finally, I was able to walk but had to stop a few more times to stretch some more. Ugh!
T1. 9:01
Eventually, I managed a slow shuffle to my T1 bag and the changing area all the while wondering how I got a hamstring cramp from swimming. That has never happened before in training or racing. This killed my plans for racing through T1. I decided to take my time and not risk another cramp. I put on my tri jersey, which took longer than I wanted but I knew that was the trade-off for not wearing it under my wetsuit. I stuffed the plastic bag under my jersey along with the body warmer. The jog/walk, in bike shoes, to my bike went smoothly and was glad I did not have any signs of my hamstrings cramping. Fortunately, my hamstrings were fine the rest of the day.
Bike: Goal, 5:15 – 5:20; Actual, 5:38 (5:29 without flat); .727 IF; 174 NP; 1.02 VI; 289 TSS; Avg HR 123 https://www.strava.com/activities/2836749335
At the start my HR was in the low 140 and as expected it dropped to the low 130s after 15 mins. Then after another 15 mins it was in the low 120s and stayed in the low- to mid-120s the rest of the ride. I wasn’t sure if the low HR was due to the cold or equipment malfunction but I wasn’t concerned about it.
A few minutes after my HR dropped I eased my effort/power from zone 1 to my target watts. I must have taken in too much saltwater during the swim as I had a bad taste in my mouth and a scratchy throat. In a desperate effort to get rid of that taste, I drank a bottle of GE in the first 30 miles but it didn’t help much. All was going as expected until ~mile 35 when I started developing a slight pain in my left knee. The last time I had this type of pain was a couple years ago after a very long and very hilly ride early in the season. I initially thought it would go away but it gradually became worse and then over the next 20 miles slight pain started in the right knee, same place as my left knee. That was very strange and I thought/hope it would go away. My plan was to keep pressing at goal watts but ease up if the pain progressed from a 2 to a 5 on the pain scale. That was my first stupid decision of the day. I should have backed off at the first sign of pain. Then, somewhere before the halfway mark, my left quad started cramping. What the F? That has never happened before on the bike! Again, I decided to keep pedaling thinking it would get worse if I slowed down or stopped. Luckily, the cramp went away after 5 mins. Then, between mile 45 and 50, I started hearing a light rattling noise from my bike and couldn’t figure out the cause and pressed on. Over the next few miles, the noise was still there and I stated noticing a slight difference and some minor lateral movement in my bike. It was hard to detect while riding but eventually I surmised I must have a slow leaking flat. I wasn’t hitting the rim so I rode a couple more minutes looking for a good spot to stop where I wasn’t in the bike lane/road shoulder. I was at mile 52 and instead of frustration I was relieved thinking this will be a nice break and some relief for my knees. As soon as I dismounted, a motorcycle police officer pulled up and asked if I wanted bike support. I almost said no thinking I can easily change a front tube but told him yes just in case something went wrong. I took a long drink of GE and before I had my tools out, bike support was on the scene. I said yes when he asked if I needed assistance and all I had to do was get the spare tube out of my saddle bag as he did all the work. A++ for tech support! According to Training Peaks, I lost ~9 mins. Surprisingly, I saw the bike support guy hours later at an aid station during the run and thanked him again as I gave him my red volunteer band.
I’m back on the bike and 4 miles down the road I stop at bike special needs just long enough to get my spare tube (I’ve had 2 flats in one race before) and stuffed it in my jersey pocket. At this point my knees are still bothering me and I decided to back off after mile 68, which was the turnaround point followed by 24 miles with 10+ mph tailwinds. My average power dropped from ~176 watts to ~165 watts. And the last ~20 miles I took it easy with my power dropping to 155 watts. To top is off lower back pain started around mile 80, which had me go from sitting up every 15-20 mins to sitting up every 5-10 mins. I haven’t had lower back pain since my first couple outside rides back in April.
Nutrition plan seemed to work well as energy levels were good throughout the ride. I had 2.5 bottles of GE the first hour and ~1.5 bottles per hour thereafter. I took one GU Roctane gel every hour. This put me at ~300 cals per hour. I’m usually at 400 cals/hr for warmer races. I peed three times and once in T2.
T2: 5:57
As soon as I dismounted, the bottom of my left foot was very sore/tender. I started limping and had to walk to the transition tent. What the F? What is wrong with my foot, I said to myself as I had no idea of the cause. It was tender and I couldn’t put much weight on it. I thought maybe I stepped on a pebble or something while dismounting but nonetheless, that’s another thing that impacted my race which has never happened before. I couldn’t run through T2 and just limped along hoping the pain would subside. When I hopped out of my chair in the changing tent and started to jog towards the exit, I was pleasantly surprised there was no more foot pain. After a quick bathroom stop, I was on my way with very positive thoughts that after a few miles the knee pain would go away, my running legs would kick in and all would be well and happy. Those thoughts lasted about 200 yards.
Run: Goal, 3:30; Actual, 4:27. Avg HR 126, Avg Pace 10:14 https://www.strava.com/activities/2836590056
Worse run ever. I say that not based on my time but on the fact that I felt horrible from the first step but my energy level was good. As soon as I started running my breathing felt restricted and I was wheezing. What the F? I thought about turning around and going to medical but it wasn’t getting worse while maintaining my planned pace. The restricted breathing/wheezing lasted the entire run but would go away while walking and at slow paces. I figured it was manageable and kept going. I was still hoping the running legs would show up but they never did. Instead, the knee pain quickly returned. I don’t recall ever having knee pain while running, (unless I had some type of injury). It was a constant dull pain that didn’t get worse. By mile 10 my quads and hip flexors were very tight and a few miles later my Achilles started bothering me. Instead of slowing way down, I fought to stay close to my goal pace but as I approached mile 13, I felt close to how I usually feel at mile 20. Aid station walk breaks became longer and longer. Just before mile 13, I stopped and chatted with my wife for a minute and told her I didn’t know how I was going to run another 13 miles. She didn’t acknowledge that statement and just continued telling me how awesome I was doing. Around mile 15, my pace slowed and I started walking 30+ seconds before the aid station and 30 seconds to 90 seconds after the aid station. I even tried running 3 mins and walking a min. That last about 10 mins because it was taking too long to make progress. Around mile 22, I decided to do whatever it took to cross the finish line. I decided walking just prolongs the agony and takes longer to get to the finish line. I settled into a very slow and maintainable pace and I fought to stop walking between aid stations. Several times in the second half of the marathon I wanted to quit but my first thought was I can’t quit with my mom here. The second thought was, what’s my reason for stopping? I wasn’t sick, no sharp/piercing pain, no GI issues, no medical issues and I going slow enough that the wheezing stopped. My only reasons were I felt horrible, I can barely run and it got really, really, hard. To me those were excuses, not reasons to stop. So I kept shuffling away and finally came to the finish chute and just maintained my slow jog through the finish. I had no burst of energy to pick up the pace…just relief that it was over.
Overall results: Finish time - 11:35; Swim - 1:14, Bike - 5:38, Run 4:27; 68th/278 AG
It was difficult writing this race report. I could not figure out what caused all those first-time issues. I needed to blame it on something. Being an engineer, I’m a cause and affect person and I couldn’t come up with obvious causes. I also didn’t want to relive this day writing/reading my report…I just wanted to forget about it and move on, but there were some lessons learned. Maybe the cold temps played a factor, but I’ve raced in cold temps before. I thought my bike seat was moved by Tri Bike Transport as the reason for my knee pain , but my bike fitter said all the measurements were the same. I finally came to the conclusion that I might have been low on electrolytes/hydration from spending 4 days ( Saturday - Wednesday of race week) visiting my brother in Orlando (80+ degrees). Additionally, my bike time goal/power targets were too aggressive for my current fitness level, which lead to the spiral of death feeling on the run.
Take Aways:
- If something starts hurting, there’s a 99% chance that it will not get better throughout your race unless you change something.
- Change your race execution plans and goals well before you’re forced to change them
- Maybe it just wasn’t my day…an opportunity to learn from mistakes for future races
- I't sure there are others...
Comments
@Derrek Sanks , your IM accomplishments have both impressed & motivated me ... and so I shouldn't be surprised that you have done the same with this IMFL outcome that wasn't what you planned.
Two things stood out ... You Finished, despite the issues that arose ... and you've written this report, despite not wanting to relive the experience ... I did/have done neither of those for my 2019 IMMD race that "wasn't what I planned".
Your Take Aways are valuable for me ... because, as I'm still learning, IM offers challenge & opportunity ... and no guarantee of outcome.
Thanks for sharing this!
@Rory Gumina - Thanks for your kind words! You're so right about IMs...challenge, opportunity and no guarantees.
I hope your training is going well.