HASAN'S first IM Race Report - Many more to come
Hey folks, below is my race report from wisconsin this past weekend. It was written piecemeal, and you will see that throughout, cos there are some inconsitencies, as well some repitition. My ADHD also hits in at some points, and it’s evident with all the tangents I go off on - please bear with me ;-)
A little bit of background: I’ve been FAT for almost all my life, and started shedding the weight through medical school. I was a book geek/nerd almost all my life (and still proudly AM). How I would describe myself: Skeptic, of everything. Driven. Type A (or even more, if there is such a thing). Driven, aggressive, determined. I LOVE TO LIVE, and SMILE; but if you’d asked me a year ago, I would’ve never described myself as athletic…. I wouldn’t even have imagined I’d ever even get close… Long story short, just like everything else in my life, signing up for IM was kinda a joke, and then became reality... I'll tell you it was REAL on Sunday before that cannon went off
I did not train EN style - I'm a newb, but after hearing a couple of the podcasts, I quickly realized RnP are 2 wicked smart people. I’m a skeptic, everything has to be scientific, and even if somebody has proven it in the past, It still has to be proven again, and again before I would adopt. Why do I mention that I did not train EN style - I started off way toooo early, and that cost me a lot later on. Oh well, we live and we learn.
Expectations on race week:
- FINISH with a smile on my face. I wanted to enjoy it. Paul, one of my swimming buddies reminded me once after seeing me stressed out after a workout - I do this because I enjoy it. Ever since, I have never lost focus of how much I love this sport
- Finish under 13
- Execute a 4:40 marathon. Based on my vDot
Failure on all counts, except the first ;-) but boy did I smile
I had 2 fears coming to this race:
- My right calf would cramp on the swim - I don’t know why, but I was never able to swim more than 1.5 miles open water with a wetsuit on.
- I would not have a bowel movement race morning, and that would bother me all day on race day…. (TMI? sorry couldn't resist
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I won't bore you with all the details of everything. my GF forced me to write everything down for my own journal. so anybody who wants the unabridged version can get a copy, it won't fit as an email attachment
. In short however, I was not nervous at all about the race. not a single bit. actually, that was the only thing freaking me out prior to the race. after executing the ritual pre-race, 2 entrees, dinner, and even falling asleep in less than 5 minutes, everything was going according to plan... below are the details from RACE DAY - DETAILS
1st Alarm at 2am. 2 smoothies back to sleep in 10 mins. Alarm at 410. 1st coffee down in 5 minutes. 2nd coffee down - I had to move GI system. That was my one of my fears coming here. After the second coffee, I felt I can go. And boy did I gooooooooo. MANY MANY times…... Diarrhea, pretty bad….. Yep, all the talking myself that I did not have race nerves. Well, it was kinda like putting a cork on a volcano, and all my nerves erupted out of my ass - literally
Tried not to bother myself a lot with this. Things happen, but in retrospect, my thought process was clouded. Should’ve know. Cos any other day, I would’ve immediately worried about my electrolyte balance. Not today.
Get to the swim start, and off goes the cannon for the pros. That’s when I jump into the water. I wanted to finish the swim comfortably - remember, the difference between the best and worst swim splits is just 7 minutes, and if Rich couldn’t catch up with the pros 75 yards ahead of him, who do I think I am??? When 7:00am came, and the horn blew off, I didn’t start swimming forward. I just looked around, and started laughing - not smiling. It was the most beautiful picture I’d ever seen. I am getting goosebumps just thinking about it as I write it down…. Somebody woke up from that dream when they bumped me from behind. My swim was VERY comfortable, I enjoyed it. I would look up to the terrace, and smile. Very smooth, and focused, in my box. First loop down, and here comes the second one. Unfrotunately, the problems you face in training don’t just disappear on race day. Buoy number 3 (it was yellow) on the second loop, and here comes the gastroc cramps. Floated on my back for a minute, kayak recognized something wrong and came to rescue while I was stretching my calf. Actually, that was the primary reason why I was swimming to the left of all buoys, in case I needed help from a buoy. Stretched it out, and off to go. Didn’t even last to buoy 4, when it came again. I was not ready to stop, but the pain was BAD. Side story (ADHD): One of our prosthetics people at work is a double amputee, who is a 4time gold paralympic, and competed with full-bodied swimmers in US national swim meets - never came last in any race. I’d had this discussion with him before, and if he can do it, so can i. Unfortunately, from that point on, and through the remainder of the swim, I had PAIN. A LOT OF PAIN. I can deal with that, it was gonna be temporary, and the swim will end soon.
I got out of the swim feeling I had not wasted a lot of energy, but feeling a lot of pain. GOOD; as long as have energy for my run - my worst enemy, I can manage. The cramps will go out as long as I’m not in the water. Let’s hope the diarrhea won’t plague my day.
T-1:
SLOW IS SMOOTH, SMOOTH IS FAST. The least amount of moving objects, the better. Go up the ramp smiling, say hi to everybody out there cheering for me, cos they didn’t come here for me to pass by the, with no acknowledgement - so I’m sorry if I did that to some peeps ;-) Changing tent - I saw a friend who volunteered T1, and he was free. What a pleasant surprise. I joked that he can’t go telling the story of how I stripped in front of him to all the people we knew in common.
Quickly grabbed a swoop of lube, and applied, dried my hands first then my feet, helmet, with glasses on it, clamped that, and ran with my shoes. Gave him a hug, and thanked him. A volunteer had my bike ready for me. Gave my last hug of the day to that volunteer - I’m sure she was thinking I was high. I was just happy I was not cramping anymore, and survived my biggest fear of the day - getting out of the water. I was really happy.
Bike:
Turned on my garmin, nothing. Come on. Nothing. Off, and on. NOTHING. Frustrating….. So started pedaling, while fiddling around with the garmin, I’m just riding along, but there was nothing I could’ve done. Well, I could’ve panicked- and that’s exactly what I DID. Thoughts in my head: “a year’s worth of training, down the drain” “ what a fool to be a tech junkie, and rely 100% on technology” “ I have a 305, why didn’t I put that in my special needs bags? But how would I know which bag to put that in? I put an extra lens in every bag, it’s not practical to have a GPSX in every bag!!! STOPPPP”. Ok, back to the original plan, just have a good day out here, and try to finish. I can do that. So, every mile or so, when 90% of the crowd was overtaking me, I would fiddle a bit with my garmin - no avail. CRAMPS AGAIN, this time in 2 places at the same time. This has happened to me only once before (ironically at the IM tri-rally), and I was down on hydration then. Damage control, and maintain a steady relaxed pedaling pace. Why am I cramping? and even worse is that it’s not going away…. And unfortunately, for the rest of my ENTIRE day, I was plagued by a cramping right gastrocnemius and left thigh adductors. I am still hurting in both places as I am writing this report. Actually, those are the only 2 muscle gps in my legs which were sore after the race…. SWo stretch out, and look for my GPS to give it another try- NO GPSX, another brief panic episode (<2secs). Stop, rewind, I just dropped it when I cramped while I was fiddling with it. So yes, I did take the time to turn around, since the day was not going according to PERFECT planning. Retracted my route, and actually found it less than half a mile back in the middle of the road. I think the fall must’ve done something, bc now it was actually turning on, but it was reset, so putting in all the athlete info while riding. It found satellites. GOOD. I can work on a bare skeleton of info, pedal, and then later put on all the alerts, data fields, etc. Wait, no HRM, no cadence monitor, no powertap detected. Ok, try to scan. Locates my HRM, but it also located the 10 other people surrounding me… GREAT. “Is this really happening to me?” “Why ME? What have I done to deserve this?” Ironically, I maintained my calm all through, except for the 20 seconds when I panicked initially. But hey, we all have our moments of doubt… </span>So, I found a small parkway with a lovely old woman cheering, surrounded by her 3 big dogs (and boy do I LOVE DOGS…..). I ask her if she doesn’t mind if use her driveway, while her dogs politely sniff me, until they can smell the urine that might’ve escaped my bladder in fear
. I dash away from the dogs (probably my highest peak watts on a single stroke EVER), and go close to her house entrance. I couldn't pair my HRM, but i did pair my power and cadence. fresh start to my day... my bike was uneventful from that part on. for the rest of the ride, VI 1.05, but i left some on the table, cause myIF was 0.67.
I would remember Coach P rambling about the box. I couldn’t change anything, so just execute according to what I can do. UI remember smiling for the rest of my bike. The crowds were awesome. I saw the EN crew camped and waved. They yelled back, after recognizing me in my non-EN outfit. I loved the pass through Verona, and all the tour-like ascents. And I maintained utmost restraint in not spiking, and managed successfully. But my cramps were ALWAYS with me. There was pain with every pedal stroke. EVERY SINGLE STROKE. Everybody was overtaking me on hills, but I was overtaking a lot of people on the way down and flats. I was just smiling to myself when that would happen. It was a nice day, and I was soaking up on the sun. At the end of the my bike, I was secretly hoping that my cramps will not carry into my run, and I thought I’d had my fair share of pain for my first IM. I knew though, that would be a far shot from happening
T2: actually SUPER SMOOTH, SUPER FAST. After changing, I headed immediately outside, and there were 2 volunteers waiting next to a stretcher. The volunteer freaked out when he saw my right calf twitching - that was quite a sight. I laughed. He started stretching my calf out, until I stopped him, and asked him to take care of left thigh. That was were most of the pain was. He thought i was joking.
Run:
At this point, I had lost all hopes of going sub 13. I needed to run a 4 hr marathon, which would NEVER happen for me. Not this year at least. Again, I went into auto-pilot mode. Mile 18 was already happening for some people, and I was still on my first loop. I smiled at the sight of all the pink speedos. I was just ecstatic all the time. My nutrition was ok for the first 13 miles, then I suggested to a friend I bumped into on the run that I have been cramping since the morning. His answer: eat a pretzel, it’s got salt in it. I did, and went on, alternating fluids at the aid stations. I was slowly dwindling away, and knew something was wrong. I just didn’t feel right…. Passing the guys at mile 18, and smiling at the party that was going on, I got some energy, and picked up the pace. Jokingly, I thanked the first athlete I overtook after mile 18, for “popping my cherry”. Less than half a mile later, having brought my pace up to 10:30, I recognized that my stomach was filled with water, I was about to puke the single pretzel I had 6 miles earlier, and became very light-headed. I had to sit down and think. I did. Unfrotunately, for the first time in that whole day, I had one of my brain cells working again - I was dehydrated with salt imbalance from the start - DUH?!?!?! Remember the diarrhea you had this morning. I never did anything to fix the problem, just masked the symptom by not pooping. It all became clear. I’m dehydrated, and my GI system just told me it shut down. I was overheating as well, and there’s not a lot I can do to change things. I will admit, the thought of DNFing crossed my mind at that moment. It was around 8 pm then. I really had to struggle to get myself to stand up. Would look at the watch every 30 seconds, and think to myself, 30 more seconds…. IT JUST HAPPENED. Didn’t even look at my watch, just stood up, and started running/shuffling/something; the good thing it was a forward movement. I decided to stop all nutrition at this point, give myself sometime to reset. I thought really hard trying to remember if cold fluids help with stomach emptying, or the opposite. I just could not remember that physiology fact, for my life. Whatever happened to the geeky nerd when I needed him?!?!?
Passing Mile 18 on the way back was probably the best thing that happened to me all day. Josh walked with me while I was trying to run. He slapped me on the ass, and that was exactly what I needed - run an 11 min mile until the end; and you WILL overtake a lot of people. Well, I did not do 11 min miles,; it was more like 12-13 mis/mile, but I did overtake a LOT of people. I did not count, as I was only counting my steps 0-10 and repeating. No nutrition. Only ice, and dumping water on myself. I got to the hill before the capitol, a friend of mine was there waiting. He started running next to me, he knew I was struggling (he admitted later). I told him to leave me, with the one fear that I would be disqualified for illegal pacing before the finish line - boy was I rude. The finish line was in sight, and I literally sprinted across that line - I don’t remember a moment as proud as that crossing the finish line. No graduation, no celebration, no nothing. I’d fininshed, not in the time or the goal that I had, but I was still one HAPPY person. That last mile, I even stopped feeling the cramps. In all honesty, the one thing I was worried about after crossing that finish line was getting in my fluids, and that’s why I dashed to the perform stand even before taking my finisher’s pic. They thought I was crazy, and asking me questions to verify that I was not hallucinating…. 3 full perform bottles later, I was ready for my finishers photo!!!!
Thoughts on my first IM: It’s all about execution. If there’s one thing that has made me cross that finish line, it must’ve been joining EN. Sharing my pitfalls, and reading about everybody else’s has been the most uplifting experience. The coaches are right about everything they say - EVERYTHING. The “One Thing” “JRA” “The Box”. Listening to that 4 keys DVD time and time again made everything on race day look like an experience I’ve been through before. Even though I had not trained with EN, just executing EN-style was like having the upper-hand against the IMWI gods.. The coaches deserve my biggest shout-out!!!! THANKS.
WOW, what a day…. If I were to describe it in one word - HUMBLING. Enjoyed it? Yes. Will I be doing it again? That’s the only certain thing right now….
New Goals: lose another 15 pounds before my next IM. maintain FTP of 265, and increase vDOT. A LOT
and by the way, if i didn't thank each and every one of you, i guess it's never too late : THANK YOU
Comments
Hasan, YOU ARE AN IRONMAN!! Congratulations!!!!! Your race report shows you have soaked up much wisdom from drinking the EN Kool-Aid! Excellent job staying focused on what was in your box and dealing with a range of issues presented to you on a difficult course in hot conditions.
You understand the secret that 90+ % of the others on the course don’t – Execution trumps fitness on race day. You have learned this early in your IM journey. May you have many more IM finishes where you can say “but boy did I smile
”
Hasan,
Congratulations on finishing your first Ironman! You never know what the day will bring you, that's for sure. You made it to the finish and fought some adversity with your cramping. The run can just he so hard. Very nice bike execution. 1.05 VI on that course is awesome!
Looks lke you'll be back too.
Matt
Thanks peeps. I'm still absorbing the fact that I have completed this race. taking off my wristband tonight, b/c I have to go back to work tomorrow...
@Mark - sorry i missed you as well, we came in pretty close, and I was surrounded by some friends, who were legitimately worries when i told them on mile 20 I decided to stop all intake.... They did not leave me out of sight after coming in, cos they know I'm crazy enough to do such a thing... In all cases, hope it's not toooo late. CONGRATULATIONS on your first ironman, and many more to come ;-)
@Matt Sullivan - thanks for the kind words. I'll tell you, the pain of those cramps was just deadly at times.... as far as my bike split, I did leave some on the course (goal of 179 vs Pnorm 167). something was wrong, but can't figure it out. I did that course (108 miles of it) in 6:05 for my RR. but that was using HR. This time around, I was planning on using power just for the JRA portion, and on the hills to avoid spiking(I've only had my powertap for 2 weeks). I'm still surpirised after reviewing my file that my VI was 1.05. beginner's luck, no complaints
.
@Matt Samojeden- yep, I am high on this site. It has definitely helped prepare me a lot. I can only imagine what it would've been like without being on EN. I'm almmost sure I wouldn't have finished in all honesty.... but what i also love about EN is you guys, everybody on the forums, who has literally helped me make it through to this race. THANK YOU ALL. I truly appreciate it
Hasan, what fun you are! The first time we met was @ the rally, when Besty and I hooked up with u and Jeff on the second loop of bike course. I do remember your cramping on Old Sauk...you actually got off the bike for awhile and stretched! Sorry to hear you had more of the same cramping. Though, to be honest when u passed me on the first lap going into Verona, u looked great! Couldn't tell u were having problems. Then seeing u on the run in the tunnel...I thought to myself he looks like he is struggling....like a lot of us were!! But despite all your troubles on bike and run......U FINISHED!! Great job Hasan, ur the best!
You got a great first race under your belt...a little bit of everything that has really advanced you the next level. Guaranteed your next race will look nothing like this one...except (I hope) for that smile!!!
Great work!
P
Kathy - yes, I was hurting when you saw me, you were finishing your first loop, and I was just starting my second.. that was the worst part of my day ;-)
Coach P - I will live to talk about that day, and one day to go back and CRUSH that course. Mark my words....
BTW, cold fluids do no increase gastric emptying: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1433604/
@ Eric, thanks man. you were looking STRONG when i saw you on the run!!!!! it was great seeing you, and meeting the family. Congratulations to you on becoming an ironman ;-)
@ Kitboo - I knew I when we passed each other on the bike; but didn't want to make the whole circus performance then, especially that i didn't know if ud recognize me without the EN top. Ironically speaking, the first thing I asked my friends at the finish line was whether cold fluids increase gastric emptying. Reading thru your report, it's funny to see the references that only a general surgeon would make!!!!!!!!! I'm definitely down for Drinks the next time, especially that i'm moving east next year ;-)
Michelle, It was great seeing you again. I remember when we first met at the IMWI tri-rally over dinner, you had a special warmth in you smile. look forward to seeing more of you, and training together when i move to the boston area ;-)
Sheryl - you can not imagine how much the likes of you (not deterred by physical adversity, and failure the first time around) inspire me. I am honestly proud to be associated with you... dad always said there's no shame in failing to do something. therre's definitely shame in quitting to try doing it again. I personally yet have to find the strength to say that about myself. you on the other hand, make it look sooooooo easy to just bounce back up ;-) WOWWWWW. THANK YOU.
Congratulations on finishing your first (but not last) Ironman!!! Can't wait to see what you do next!
Nemo, thanks for the kind words....
I try to keep my cool. unfrotunately, it doesn't always work. I wa pretty behind when it came to my nutrition plan, and did not react according to what was thrown to me on race day - we live and we learn, and this was just my first round with the ironman GODS..... the likes of you, and all the chicas, going through all your race reports thwarts any accomplishment of crossing that line.
Thankws for sharing your RR, and ALL YOUR CHECKLISTS. WOW. I share me crossing that line with all the help i got from the team. definitely wouldn't have it done it without you peeps
Next one - I'll have to work that one around work now ;-)
-hb
Looking forward to more racing and training with you in the future. FYI - There are plans for a french fry TT in the works.