IMCDA Race Report - Bruce Thompson
Here is my race report from Ironman Coeur d’Alene on June 26, 2011. The weather was great: 45F at the start of the swim, warming up to 80F by late afternoon, sunny, very light breeze. Water temp for the swim was 58F. That was cold.
This was my first IM. I finished in 12 hours, 50 minutes – beating my goal of 13 hours. Overall, I felt good the entire way, no bonk, no GI problems, no cramps. Here are my splits:
Swim (2.4 miles) 1:19
T1 :13
Bike (112 miles) 6:52
T2 :05
Run (26.2 miles) 4:20
The swim was brutal. The combination of the cold water and 2400 people all going in at once made for rough time. It was like a roller derby combined with water polo match. I started in about the 7-8th row (people were lined up 30 deep) and still got caught in the mayhem. This was like the start to no other triathlon I’d been in. The worst part was not the bumping from the side or people in front, but the people behind hitting or grapping my legs and pulling me down. Also, every stroke I was hitting someone too. I did get somewhat panicked, so I just did the breaststroke for about 60 seconds to get myself calmed down and then re-joined the fray. There was constantly someone closely around me for the first loop and only on the 2nd loop did I get some open water to make good strokes. My equipment worked well the entire swim and after the initial cold sensation, I didn’t notice the water temperature. On the 2nd loop I just focused on my technique and maintained a steady pace. I was surprised and happy with my time of 1:19 as I was hoping for 1:20-1:25. However, as soon as I got out of the water, I felt really cold and began to shiver. Got my wetsuit unzipped and my arms out, and let the wetsuit strippers do their thing. On to T1.
I was really cold now. I found my T1 bag and ran into the tent as I wanted a chair to sit on. I could barely get myself dried off with a small towel as I was shivering so much. Hands just wouldn’t work. Slowly I got my socks and bike shoes on, put on a long sleeve technical T-shirt over my tri singlet, a pair of lightweight gloves, and got my prescription sunglasses and Helmut on. Stuffed my swim gear in the bag and off I went. I forgot that there was a urinal in the tent, ran right past it, and had to make a detour to the port-o-johns to pee. All in all, by far the slowest transition I’ve ever done.
The bike course was beautiful. I exited T1 with Tucker McKeever, also from EN, so we just rode along at a steady pace and tried to warm up for the first 15 minutes. Tucker pulled away from me after about 15 miles as my heart rate monitor was giving me very erratic readings (125 then jumping to 230 without me changing gears, cadence or doing any hills) and I didn’t want to go too hard right at the start trying to keep up with him without good data. I started drink water and Infinit (3x concentrate) right away since I have a history of getting dehydrated in marathons with bad consequences. Overall, I drank six 24 oz H2O and two 24 oz Infinit on the ride, and it was too much liquid. I had to stop and pee 8 times during the ride and probably lost 10-12 minutes, but I didn’t get any cramps. After about an hour my heart rate monitor started working consistently and I just rode along at HR of 125-135 range and a cadence of 85-95. Any time my HR got above 140 (Z2 for me), I would back my pace down. On the hills I took it EZ on the climbs using my 28 in back to just spin up them, and then really attacked the down hills to get the free speed. The EN guidance sure seemed to work as many people would grind up the hills past me and I’d then re-pass them while I was coasting on the descents. I pretty much rode along like this for the entire ride. At BSN, I did take off my gloves and long-sleeve shirt and rode in my EN singlet the rest of the way. I also got another full bottle of 3x concentrated Infinit and a bagel. I ate ½ bagel then and saved the other have for about mile 90 on the ride. This was the only solid food I ate all race. At about mile 95 my right hamstring began to feel tight, so several times I stood up and stretched it. That seemed to help as I didn’t have any problems with it later on the run.
Net, I probably could have pushed the pace harder to make up for all the pee stops, but since this was my first IM, I wanted to follow the EN strategy and save my energy for a good run. Lessons: 1) learn to pee on the bike or drink less, 2) push harder on the bike as my final pace was a full 1.5 mph slower than my pace on RR#2, 3) get a power meter and not rely on HR.
In T2 I ran right past the port-o-johns again. I got my bag, found a chair inside the tent, got my bike stuff off, applied lots of Body Glide to my toes and feet, socks and shoes on. Then grabbed a 2nd plastic bag from inside my run gear bag. The 2nd bag had my fuel belt with Infinit, hat and salt pills. I forgot about the urinal inside the tent, so I backtracked to the port-o-johns for a pee, then had to run back thru the changing tent again. Nothing like making a detour ‘cus you’re stupid. That detour probably cost me at least a minute or two. Once on the run course, I pulled my hat, fuel belt and salt out of the bag, put them on while running (thanks Matt A for that tip) and threw away the plastic bag at the first aid station.
I felt good coming out on the run. I maintained a steady run pace of 9:30/mile the first 6 miles. Only problem was that I had to pee so often from all the water I drank on the bike. I stopped to pee a total of 9 times on the run. My pee was clear so I took a salt pill to make sure I was getting extra electrolytes. I drank 4 10 oz bottle of Infinit on the run. I walked thru every aid station to make sure I got enough water and ice. I got a cup of ice at each station, carried it with me, popped an ice cube into my mouth and then would squirt the Infinit in. The ice cooled the hot Infinit quickly and then I’d chew the ice to make an Infinit slushie in my mouth before swallowing it. I also took 2 sponges at each aid station and put them inside my singlet to keep my core body temp down as it was now getting up to 80 degrees.
I went to 9:00/mile pace for the next 14 miles. It was awesome to see Coach Rich and other EN supporters coming back into town, but sad to see Pete G knowing that his day ended early. At various times in the run I talked to other ENers, including Art, Shannon, Vickie, Al, Greg, and JT. I tried to encourage each one and got encouragement back from them too. I was able to run up the big hill before the turnaround on each loop by going whatever speed the hill gave me while keeping my HR in Z1. When I crested the big hill after the final turnaround (mile 20 or so) I figured I had crossed “the Line” and it was time to start racing. I picked up the pace to 8:45/mile for the next 2 miles. I was still feeling ok (no GI or cramp problems) so I pushed on the gas pedal again, pushing my HR into Z3. For miles 23-25 I ran 7:50 pace. I passed 282 people from mile 20 to the finish (Yes I counted them as each one was a mini goal and it kept my mind active) and that felt great. For the final mile I just cruised on in to enjoy the crowd and the scene on Sherman. Wow! What a view. What a crowd! Even better than the finish to the Boston Marathon. I got chocked up when I heard Mike Reilly call my name.
After I crossed the line and got my medal and stuff, I walked towards the food. Who do I find sitting in a chair waiting for me but brother JT. We had a wonderful re-union as we were now Ironmen. I was so happy for him since he has had a long road back from his broken neck.
My hydration plan worked well; in fact, too well. I had to stop on the bike a pee 8 times and pee on the run 9 as well. This hurt my overall time by maybe 14-16 minutes, but I’ll take having to pee over getting cramps any day. Guess I have to learn a new triathlon skill – peeing on the bike and run without stopping.
Overall, a great day for my first IM. Can’t wait to do another one. And I am recovering well. 2 small blisters on my toes and some stiffness, but I feel better than I expected. I felt worse after the 2010 Chicago marathon.
Comments
bruce: sounds like a well executed race in the areas that mattered the most. i had the peeing all the time experience at IMAZ last year on the bike. it happens.
great to meet you and i wish you and JT the best at your future races!
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Hope we can race again soon. And don't worry I'll take care of your younger, but not better looking brother.
Great RR and race Bruce. Sounds like you executed according to plan.
Oh crap, 17 pee stops?? How on earth did you have to pee 17 times? Do you normally have to pee like that throughout the day? It seems that everything that you were taking in was going out. More salt, maybe?
And just think - when I signed up for CDA a year ago, you said "Well - good luck - no way I could swim that far and 112 on the bike??" Now Look what you've done!!
It's been great training together via the phone and it's time to start thinking about our next race (IM Moo 2012). You should be very proud of what you've accomplished - I know I'm proud of you!!
Nice job Bruce!
You executed like a ninja! AMAZING and in your first IM – that’s the power of the EN way!!!
FWIW I peed my way through my first IM as well. I can't tell you how funny it is to hear about someone else having the same experience - thanks for sharing. Since that then I’ve taken careful hydration notes on many of my key sessions noting the temp, fluid in, fluid out, etc. so I have a very good idea of what I actually need on any given day. Also, I’ve separated my calories from my fluid which makes the on-the-fly math easier for me.
Great job, smart race and best of luck in your future endeavors... sounds like you and JT make quite a dynamic duo!
Impressive first time result, for anyone, much less your age and history. What's really great is how even and steady you were all day, staying within yourself. Shows both consistent training and disciplined performance on race day.
I know I hold back on my hydration sometimes because I hate to stop to pee. So, I was pretty proud of myself that I drank enough to make about 6-7 stops along the way. Can't believe you stopped three times that!
Great job....sounds like you are getting sucked into racing again, too....
Congratulations on your race, Bruce, and it was great to meet you.
I used to be plagued by frequent urination during IM as well.
My RX? I upped my salt intake. 2 succeed caps/hr; pee 2x on the bike, 1x on the run, same hydration schedule. I'll let the smart guys explain it, all I know is that it worked and I felt much better overall.
Al, Mike, Dave, Bill, Jenn and all - thanks for your comments. It means alot coming from you much more experienced racers that I was able to execute the race the EN way. Since this was my 1st IM, I was frankly a little scared to go out too hard for fear of a total meltdown on the run (I've been there before on a marathon). Next time, I'll be more confident to push the bike and early run a little harder. I also got to figure out the right hydration plan so stay hydrated without peeing so much. Something to work on for 2012. Thanks again for your kind words and encouragement.
bruce:
you have to adjust your hydration plan on the fly if you notice you start peeing every 5 minutes!
so, you had the right plan, if it wasn't so cold to start with or if it was hotter later in the day. your body was telling you that you were properly hydrated and you kept drinking!!!
...i did the same at IMAZ last year in the cold wind and rain. at cda i simply listened to my pee frequency and drank accordingly.
at cda, i peed three times in the water, while still swimming!! yeah. no kick.
on the bike three times, when coasting at high speeds.
run got screwed up due to #2 issues, but you read my report so no need to go into that again.
see u in the forums!
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