IMCDA Race Report - Tucker McKeever
Sorry it has taken a bit to compile this. Travel was a bitch getting home. So here goes, I think it may be a big one as I have a lot on my mind and I can kind of ramble. Please indulge me as it is my first IM Race Report.
This was my first IM. Have done only 2 HIMs, 1 Olympic and 4 sprints. So I don’t have a huge history of racing. I was our race captain. Fun job. Helped keep me motivated and involved. Highly recommend it.
Race Week
Arrived in CDA Wednesday around 2 and went directly to the house we rented for the week. It’s about 4-5 miles from the lake and was pretty easy to and from town. Was a good setup with plenty of rooms and a hot tub. We had a cool house, and that is even including Coach Rich crashing with us. We had 4 from EN(JT Thompson, Bruce Thompson, Pete Giesin and myself) and a couple buddies from home. Plus we had 3 wives and 4 kids. So it was a packed house.
Wednesday we went shopping for food and decided to recon the hill at the run turnaround. It wasn’t nice, even on fresh legs. We ran it at about 8 PM PST. Was cool that the sun was still up.
Thursday we registered and picked up our bikes from TBT. We planned on swimming too but ran out of time as I tore my race band off. Went to get that taken care of and ran into Michael Smith and Al Truscott. Headed home to go sample the hills of Hayden Lake as we are not from the area. Nothing too bad compared to what I usually ride on but some are longer.
Friday we got our swim in. I’ll be honest it scared the shit out of me. It was cold. It was choppy. In the past I have had trouble exhaling under water in cold temperatures and was unable to do it Friday. Left the venue feeling very uneasy. I suspect I wasn’t the only one on the team or in my house. So we decided to come back tomorrow to try again. It was reassuring to have Al tell us it would be calmer on race day. At night we had the team dinner and was great to meet everyone. I drover my family back to the house and ended up having a few beers with Coach Rich and Michael Smith. Apparently there was an athlete meeting going on.
Saturday we swam again. Water was calmer and slightly warmer. I was in shock upon first entering and again couldn’t breath out underwater. Eventually I said F it and pounded through it. Turns out it wasn’t so bad after all. Another 25 minutes of swimming and confidence was high for the swim. 4 Keys talk and home we went. Actually went on a pirate cruise with the kids that night. Fun times. Ok it wasn’t, all I could think about was the race the next day. Picked up a couple Jamba Juice smoothies on the way home and had dinner.
Small aside for my house. Michelle Giesin and I did all the cooking. The rest of you suck!
I slept amazingly well considering I was doing an Ironman the next day for the first time. Usually I have a tough time sleeping but for some reason not this time. Woke up at 4. Had my smoothie, a 5hr Energy and sipped on Gatorade until swim start. Got dressed and our driver Coach Rich dropped us at the start. Pumped tires, hit the can, and checked bikes one more time as my friend Lawrence and I were the last people to leave transition.
Swim
I’m not the greatest swimmer in the world. T-Pace of 1:55. Throw in 2800 people and never having done this before I had no idea what was going to happen. Said goodbye to Lawrence who was going to the buoy line as he is about an hour IM swimmer. Bad idea on his part. I headed to Al’s spot where I bumped into Greg Van and Scott Stewart. I decided to take a quick dip to get the initial cold shock out of the way. Took a few breaths and was swimming smooth so out of the water I went. Found Greg and Scott and we awaited the cannon. Cannon off and I waded into the water. Swam a little with my head out of water until I could actually swim. Finally was able to get into a groove. Well, put my head in the water that is. It was mayhem out there. People ripping all over you to fight over a couple feet of water. And then they go slower. People are crazy. So I am swimming to the first buoy thinking of anything but the race, and it occurs to me that I have zero idea of how fast I am going. Then I hit the turn. Too funny. Surprised people haven’t died at these turns. I mean shit, if you are turning when I am, you aren’t winning anything. F#cking relax. Make the turn again it’s hard to really swim. Eventually you get into a groove then you need to turn again! Same shit, different turn. The way back was better though. I used the buoys on the left, the resort on the right as my sighting when breathing. As I approached the shore I kept trying to sneak a glance at the timer, didn’t work as it was too small, or here the announcer call out a time. Neither worked. I only figured what my time was when I crossed the timing mat. 40’ even. That was where I hoped to be so happy about that. I then waded back into the water and really needed to pee. So I stood there and tried and tried. Eventually did but it took me 2 minutes. Started swimming again and this lap was minimal contact. I did notice that the chop had picked up a little bit so I needed to breath out of my right side more going out which although I can do, it is not my natural side. I found the second lap uneventful beside for the increased chop. Minimal contact except for some fine looking ladies but that was consensual I promise.
Swim time: 1:23:45 Goal time: 1:20-1:25
T1 – 8:42
Seems like most were cold. I really didn’t feel all that cold. I just took my time. But I was a little dazed as I forgot my number. Must have taken me 2 minutes just to find my bag. Then I sat down and put on helmet, arm warmers, and glasses. Put my swim stuff in the bag and jogged with the shoes to the water table and then to my bike. Put shoes on and walked bike out. Bumped into Bruce Thompson and we exited T1.
Bike
Plan for the bike was to target 200w. I would probably come closer to 192-195 but that was fine with me. My thoughts were I should ride 6:10-6:25 on the bike based on my RR. Also had a 3hr bottle of Infinit with me and another at bike special needs.
So Bruce and I were JRA through town and then onto Coeur d’Alene Dr. We were chatting a bit when we climbed the first hill of the day. We went up and over and I just started coasting. Started pedaling again and my watts were “0”. Ok sometimes there is a lag. Nope. Nothing. Turned it off and on and nothing. F#ck me. Panic starts to set in. What do I do now? So I made a quick thought to just use HR/PE and see what happens. Decided to try to keep my HR around 135 and under 150 on the climbs if possible. Seemed to work well. Headed out of town and and true to form many were crushing it. I just sat there and rode a nice steady pace. Al Truscott rode by me and said hello. That was right before we got into the hills. Hit the first hill and I went pretty damn slow up it then hard down it. Felt pretty good so thought let’s see how it works the rest of the day. Hit English Point and saw Rich. Some clown next to me says “Hey, I watched your video last night! You’re the man!” Rich’s response was “Why yes I am the man” or something to that affect. Out of Rich’s earshot I scolded the man for feeding his ego. Oh, and apparently he didn’t listen close enough as he was killing it out of the saddle on the next climb. Next bit was pretty uneventful. Then I saw Al coming out of a port-o-pot and asked if he was ok. He was, just peeing. A few minutes later, and a few hills, Al pulled alongside me and commented that I was executing perfectly. That has to be about the highest compliment a guy can get in the Haus on raceday. I then informed him I lost my PT around mile 5. Al responded with that’s not good but keep doing what you are doing. That worked for me. So I followed Al around for about the next 50-60 miles or so. It was masterful to watch. When he sat up, I sat up. If he stopped to pee, so did I. Once out of the hills and heading back to town I pulled slightly ahead of him and we made our way through some of the riders in front of us. As we made the right onto Northwest Al came alongside and told me we would take that harder next time. Whatever you say sir! First lap was somewhere in the neighborhood of 3:05-10 so I was feeling good. But I had to pee bad.
On lap 2 I headed through town to BSN. I wrongly thought there was a toilet there. Picked up my stuff and away to the next aid station I went. I ate 1 Fig Newman as I rode. Little did I know this could have been my undoing. Oh and I also forgot to mention that I somehow lost my salt tabs. I swear I put them in my back pocket in T1 but weren’t there when I needed them. So no salt tabs and the Fig Newmans may have combined to be my downfall. Again the ride was fairly uneventful even though the hills. On Hayden Lake Rd Al and I saw 3 crashes at about the same time with one directly behind us, another in front and another up the road a bit. Crazy. People were trying to crush up the hills and just ran out of gas. Soon after this I started to feel some discomfort in my gut. My Infinit was damn hot! It tasted like shit. I tossed that for Perform. At least that was cold. By mile 85 my gut just wanted nothing else. I tried to just drink water in hopes it would pass. Negative. Just didn’t happen. Al pulled away from me as I couldn’t keep my speed up. HR didn’t want to get above 125. I was not feeling well. I found a nice bottom and tried to follow her around for 10 miles. It helped keep my mind off of my gut which was starting to get bloated. I also was starting to get cramps in my legs. I got off the bike to stretch out and a nice guy also pulled over gave me some salt tabs. Popped a couple and headed back on bike. I tried my best to make up some ground and move through the line heading back to town. Did ok but wasn’t great. I was one of those guys Rich talks about who are riding back to town dreading the marathon. So I drop off the bike and pick up my run bag.
Bike Time : 6:49:16 Goal Time: 6:10-25
T2 – 6:58
So I go into the tent pretty dejected. I can’t believe I screwed up by eating something I didn’t train with. Such a dumb mistake. I really wasn’t thinking when I did it. It was just an impulse thing. So I thought about this as I gingerly changed into my Newtons and picked up my satellites. Tried to pee and poop to alleviate the discomfort but didn’t help. Out of T2 I went onto the run course.
Run
In both RR I settled into a 9:30 pace off the bike. RR #2 after about 4 miles my legs clicked in and I was just running, not running off the bike. I knew then I was ready for CDA. It became painfully obvious that I was not going to have to struggle to keep my speed down. The body seemed to be screaming at me when I was running over a 10:30 mile. It was rough. I saw the EN crew on Sherman. My family as well. I didn’t stop as I’m sure my wife would have been worried. Was very sad to see Peter there and I had hoped he would have been out there racing with us all but he showed true class to be there supporting the team in full kit.
The first few miles were ok but I was having nothing of the aid stations. Sure it was nice to walk but nothing but water was going down. I went into a toilet to try to vomit or poop but got nothing. I needed to do something to make myself feel better. Just didn’t know what. Kept on plugging along at what turned out to be a 12 min/mi pace for the first half. I guess I was one of Rich’s 12 min All Stars. Not what I wanted at all. Heading back into town I saw my family again. They were worried that I was taking so long. Apparently I looked pretty bad too. Then I was told they were leaving and not going to be there for the finish. Someone had made a decision to get there at 11AM for an IM. With a 2 and 4 year old. I wasn’t happy and quite emotional now. Rich came over and asked what was wrong. Told him I couldn’t stomach anything. He said I had plenty of time to finish and make myself throw up. Hugs and goodbyes to the family and away I go. Soon after I found a magic elixir called chicken broth. I started hitting that at every aid station for the next few miles. And then some Perform. And some Coke. Started to feel better. Passed Mile 18 and then the big mountain, I mean hill right before the turnaround. I basically walked up that hill and ran to the bottom. My third split was a 14 min/mi pace. Terrible. But I knew if I ran up that hill it might have had negative impact on the last leg of the run. At the turnaround I needed climb the other side of that hill. Not fun. I ran walked that hill. Made friends with a woman and her BF who was riding his bike next to us. She wouldn’t run downhill whereas I knew I had to make it in before 14 hours, my new one thing with my family gone. I kept asking “what time is it?” to the volunteers, spectators, whoever. Mile 21-22 was a 9:00 split. Made friends with a dude around then and we had the same goal. Kept each other going. Then around 23.5 I saw Shannon Castle walking. Grabbed her and told her we were finishing before 14 hours. She said he foot hurt but she pushed on. We kept each other running except for brief aid station walks and a quick walk up the hill before the evil section where you go left to finish or right to keep running. Well it wasn’t evil for us, we were finishing! Shannon told me to go ahead and finish first so we would each get good pictures and our names called. Made the turn onto Sherman and saw a pretty sight in the distance. The finish line. It wasn’t really conscious but my pace really quickened. I think I was laying down a 7 minute pace at this point. I passed 2 people on the street and then a third. Then I saw Peter and his wife and my friend Scott. I nearly knocked him down when I hugged him. Kept going and heard those magic words from Mike Reilly.
www.asiorders.com/view_user_event_video.asp
Run Time: 5:28:01 Goal Time: 4:30-45
Race Time: 13:56:42 Goal Time: 12:30-13:00
Conclusion
Still reading? Why? Well obviously I didn’t reach my goals except for the swim. I have come to grips with things and fine with that. It was my first IM, first time riding 112 miles, first time running a marathon and I use that term loosely. I have learned a ton of stuff here:
1. Don’t do anything new on raceday
2. Warm Infinit sucks. Either bag it or get some type of cooler pack for BSN bag
3. CDA EN team rocks, especially my Beluga boys
4. I need to have written plans for events over 5 hours
5. I need to set alarms to eat/drink on bike as I tend to space out a bit
6. Change Powertap batteries once a year
7. I can go faster than I did
8. I need to learn to pee on bike
9. I need to do another IM, most likely IMLP in 2013
10. Loved racing with friends. Saw and talked to many of you out there. Shouted out to anyone I saw in EN kit.
Thanks for reading all.
Comments
Tucker - Great report man, and thanks for cooking @ the house. You would have starved if I did the cooking as my cooking would have made you feel worse than that fig newton and hot Infinit. Sorry I dropped back on the bike after about 15-20 miles. Would have been fun to convoy with you and Al. I think you came away with some great lessons from this event. It was great hanging out with you, meeting you family (your girls are soooo CUTE), and I look forward to doing another IM with you.
PS- my Infinit was hot on the run too. Here is what I did. I got a cup of ice at each aid station and carried it with me. When I wanted some Infinit from my fuel belt, I'd just pop a piece of ice into my mouth, then squirt the Infinit into my mouth and over the ice. Cooled it down quickly so it was drinkable and then I'd chew on the ice. Kind of made my own Infinit slushie on the go, and got a little extra core body cooling too. I got a fresh cup of ice at each aid station, squirt, chew ice, repeat. During the run I only used Infinit, water, ice and took 2 salt pills - no food from the aid stations as I didn't train with any of it.
It was great to have you as our race captain. You definitely kept me entertained. Hopefully I'll see you at a race in the future.
Contrats!
you first timers are animals...doplhins!! great job, tucker!! thanks for being the captain for the team and best of luck at your next race.
gh
A two and a four year old, huh? Plug that into the life stress score LSS/IM handicapping system.....let's see.....hey, you went sub 11!
Great report, much respect, and congrats on the big day.
Great Race Report. Glad you were able to pull it togetheron the second loop. Hope to race with you again soon.
Tucker - man, you've got a photographic memory! Just watch out whose rear end you're following out there - don't want to get too mesmerized.
Cheap advice_ next time, let someone else be Captain - that alone is equal to the burden of two little girls in that LSS Chris mentioned.
I had stuck a Snickers bar in each of my SN bags, "just in case" I needed the pick-me-up. I thought about it at both of those stops, but didn't take it - wasn't sure how my stomach would handle it. I guess I'm glad I didn't touch it. I think I would have ended up in the same GI hell that you were in.
So good to see you out on the course, however. Thanks for the encouragement along the way.
I forgot who said it, but a pro was once quoted as saying something to the effect of, "The only person who gives a shit about your race times is you - let them go and enjoy the experience." Granted, this person may not have been a pro for much longer after that statement (!), but I agree with the sentiment for us age-groupers.
Great job brother. Way to represent the Mid-ATL. You are an IRONMAN. Congrats!
Liebs
Great report! Fun to read, painful to imagine your GI distress!!! Thanks for sharing!
Tucker,
Nice race report and the the many lessons learned. Remember to read this before LP in 2013. I had 6 years between IM and forgot a few of the lessons I learned. The salt tabs was one of the issues I also had at IMC last year in my second.
Gordon