Beverly Richardson IMLP 2011 RR
IMLP 2011 was my 3rd full Ironman race. My first was Beach 2 Battleship in Wilmington, N.C. For those of you who don't know anything about that race, it is a super fast course. You swim with the tide on the swim, then the bike and run are almost pancake flat. Add to that the time of year (early Nov, late Oct) and the weather is pretty close to ideal for racing. I had a great day and finished in 12:12 and wasn't turned off of IM racing. Signed up for IM Louisville the next year. Signed on with a local coach, and had a good season, but got food poisoning the weekend before IMLou. Somehow managed to recover in time and finish in the 100 degree temps, but crossed the line at 13:16.
I went into IMLP feeling like I had a lot more arrows in the quiver than ever before going into an IM race. This is my first year with a power meter, to help me execute the race. I did the Nov. OS and gained 30 watts on the bike as well as a few vDot points. I spent a weekend at TTBikeFit this winter and got a tricked-out Kestrel and a much improved aerodymanic position on the bike. I had the advantage of all the great EN advice on pacing, and nutrition, as well as a virtual preview of the course from watching the IMLP camp videos. This was the first year I had ever done a "volume camp" either. I joined in the Blue Ridge Camp in late May where we did 4 days of 80-100 miles per day and 8000+ feet of climbing each day! I knew that gave my bike fitness a serious kick in the pants!
Swim: (1:19:02)
This was the biggest mass start swim I had ever done. I was a bit nervous about the washing machine. I finally decided to emulate Dave Campbell's strategy and start to the far left, near the cable, but far enough back to avoid the crowd. The plan was to then move inside to the left of the cable to get some clear water. I breathe primarily on the right, so I could use the other swimmers to help me go straight. I started probably 30 feet off the front, and there weren't a ton of folks around me. BOOM went the starting gun! Swimmers from behind me started moving up, and we were all pushed together up against the folks in the front. It was TIGHT! You barely had any clear water to push your hands down into the water and stay afloat. Occassionally another athlete would tug on you and push you down. That made me quite concerned about getting pushed under. AND I wasn't wearing a wetsuit! I said, "easy, stay calm." Not sure if I was saying this to myself or the folks around me! After probably close to a minute of that, the traffic jam cleared and we could start swimming. I cut to the inside and did find clear water pretty easily. I was pleased with the strategy until we started getting close to the first turn buoy, and I realized "Uh, oh, this is going to be a very crowed turn!" Didn't think that one through before hand! It was slow and vertical going around the turn, but everyone was thankfully calm and we managed to get through it with no boxing match. Same thing with the next turn.
On the next lap I decided to go with the opposite strategy and swim on the outside. As we got out on the beach to run around and start the next lap, I noticed the clock said 7:38. Not bad I thought. I knew I had the fitness to do about a 1:15 if I had a good day. On the second lap I found clear water easily again. Focused on calm easy strokes and good form. Being on the outside I think I probably navigated worse on the second lap. Finished the swim in 1:19. Not my best swim, but, hey that's the great thing about IM racing, a few minutes is NOTHING! Overall I was very lucky in the swim that I had clear water most of the time, and experienced very little contact.
Bike: 6:04:39 (18.43 mph!)
Starting off on the bike it was very crowded. At the mount line my cheapo bottle for water that I'd planned to chuck at the first aid station had the cap come off and most of the water spill out. I stayed calm; a spectator volunteered to hold the bottle for me as I got the cap back on and got going. THANKS to the spectator! First aid station came very soon, so it was no big deal. I had in my mind that the race didn't even start until we got through the twists and turns in town and out on the road. Reminded myself, "crashing is NOT FAST!" I was SO glad to have a power meter on that first climb out of town. It took some discipline to keep the watts low with all the excitement and freshness of race day. Thankfully I had the reminder of fellow EN athlete around me who I could see were executing the race smartly. I felt such a camraderie with fellow ENers who like me, let everybody pass them up the hills, then passed them right back on the flats/downhills. Go team!
I was nervous as well about the descent into Keene. I had driven the course, but not ridden down that climb. I'm a decent bike handler, but it was the huge number of folks around me that made me nervous. I stayed to the right, with my handles ready on the brakes. I used the wind to slow me, and hit the brakes some during the straight sections between the curves. "Crashing is not fast!"
After arriving in Keene I was psyched to really start racing. I got down in my aero bars, and pushed my watts (target in the 140s). On the flats I was absolutely FLYING past many people. (Thanks TT Bike Fit for making me one aero monster!) On the hills, I held the watts steady and folks would BOMB right back past me! This didn't bother me though because I KNEW that I am a sneaky EN execution ninja and was conserving my energy!
I think that part of the course that felt the hardest to me, on both loops, was the big out and back. It was fairly flat, so I was down in the bars really working it. The funny thing is that after that section, when you start the big climb towards Wilmington, going UP the hill felt like RESTING because I could sit up, and was just keeping the watts low and letting folks pass me. How is that for ironic!
The hilly section back into town didn't seem that bad to me after the monster climbing that we did in the Blue Ridge Camp! There are some sections during that stretch that are actually flat where you can pick up some good speed.
When I crossed the 56 mile mat back in town, I had my most delightful surprise of the day. Based on the w/kg data I had seen, I suspected my bike time to be at the very best 6:00, but more likely around 6:30. My 2 previous bike splits in IMs were 6:52, and 6:49. I crossed the mat at about 3:01!!!!! Alright, I am having a friggin awesome ride! My fastest century ride counting only moving time was still about 6:10! No reason to change strategies though, I am just executing the plan.
I switched out my bottle of 3x Infinit at special needs. When I first tasted it, it tasted funny. Was it bad?? Surely not, I had just mixed it last night and it spent the night in the fridge. Considered not drinking it, and switching to PowerAde. But it was from a new bag on Infinit. Maybe the flavor was different?? I figured I'd keep it and see how my stomach reacted to the first sip. If it was bad, I'd know it quickly, right? (Cue ominous music now...)
Second lap was great too. I was passing guys who were built like Thor Hushov like they were standing still and getting a lot of respect. Score one for the chicas! Near the end of the ride, I took stock and realized that I felt better than I had on either of my previous IM rides. Usually I got to a point on the ride where I felt quite spent, but not today. I continued and drank the Infinit and stomach seemed fine. I was well hydrated. All seemed well. Second lap was about 3:04.
Unfortunately my Garmin ate my power file so I don't have stats for this epic ride of a lifetime. I don't think I overcooked it, well, maybe just a tad, but you all will just have to take my word for it.
Run: 4:30
In T2, I had my own personal pit crew of 3 volunteers helping me get through in record time. One got my shoes ready, while another helped me change race belts, and another cleaned my sunglasses. Felt like Dale Earnhart! I spent the first little bit of the run fiddling with stuff, getting my Garmin reset, putting on my visor. When I got around to looking at my pace it said 7:30 min/mile. I thought, "is this thing broken?" Slowed down a bit to see if the pace changed. It wasn't broken. Ok, SLOOOOW down!! By the time I got to the bottom of the hills, I had settled into a nice easy pace around 9:20-30 which was my target. It felt great and so easy, and the country side was beautiful, and it was such a wonderful day! I had the thought, "I wonder how hard this pace will feel 20 miles from now?" (Cue more ominous music...)
At the beginning of the run my stomach felt a little off and sloshy. I have had a history of races with GI issues so am very cautious about this. I decided to not take anything in for the first few miles and let my stomach absorb. I heard Rich's voice in my head from the podcasts saying "the best thing you can do to fix your stomach is SLOW DOWN." I ran very slow feeling 9:30's until about mile 6. I started taking in a little powerade and water, and alternating between that and water every other aid station. At some point even though the stomach didn't feel 100% I figured I might be ok and picked up the pace to around 9:10s which felt like the perfect pace.
Around mile 13 or so I was starting to feel some real fatigue so I decided to try a sip of coke. I did Coke in IMLou with no stomach trouble and it was part of my plan once I felt I needed it. Right after that I got a stabbing pain on the left side just below my ribs. Oh CRAP! For the next few miles I slowed, trying everything I could think of to resolve the issue. I walked for stretches. I jogged slowly when I could stand it. I spent a few minutes in the porta potty. I tried a little chicken broth. I picked Endurolytes up off the road and tried one (I didn't have any) in desperation. I did weird stretching poses on the side of the road to try to get rid of gas if that was the issue... I kinda limped along for a while, all the while, starting to feel so sad that I was letting this awesome race slip through my fingers. I so wanted to follow up that awesome ride with a great run and have the race of my life. But we all know how compeling GI pain can be.
My attitude was going south, and I recognized it. I realized at one point that I had to try to pull myself up mentally or I wouldn't have a prayer. I've been there in races before and knew how essential that is. I tried for a while a train of thought that helped my in my last 70.3. I started thinking about all the things I was grateful for. (being able to compete in this race, not being injured, having my family there to support me) It wasn't working though. So then I tried thinking about my one thing. My one thing was that I owed it to myself to race well because of how hard I had worked through the OS and spring. I OWED it to myself to pull this race together. This worked! My attitude shifted from dispairing, to serious determination. I told myself that I WILL run between each aid station! I will only walk through the aid stations. I started up running, and saw that the GI pain wasn't as bad as it had been. Running was pretty tolerable. My energy was at an ebb for the day, but I did it. I ran from aid station to aid station, only walking through them. My running pace was even still decent, at 9:10 or so. Things were looking up. Through this section I was not as careful about being moderate about taking in calories. I remember being at one aid station and drinking a whole cup of Coke and thinking, "oh my God, this tastes SO GOOD!!!"
Around 3 miles to the finish, another bomb exploded in my gut and I got a bad side stitch on the right side. ARGH!! Only 3 miles to go though! I was soooo close! I decided that I was going to keep going and shuffle this thing in to the finish. I used my race belt in dug it into the stitch to take the pain away a bit. I shuffled forward, walking that last big hill into town. I figured out at one point that if I ran hunched over like a really old person it took the side stitch pain away so I shuffled forward like that. (Sorry - no insult intended to the 60+ year olds who kicked my ass out there). When I finally got close to the oval I was OVERJOYED! The guy directing us around the corner told me that I could still make it under 12 hours. I was in disbelief. Really? After that ugly ugly run? I ran around the oval and crossed the line in 12:02:37. Wow - that was still a PR by about 10 minutes. I was so relieved to have salvaged the race. My low-end goal was to come in sub 12 or PR. yea!!
After the finish line I B-lined towards a little patch of grass. I wanted to lie down!!! I can't remember ever feeling more exhausted in my life. I laid there for quite a while, waiting to feel like getting up and finding my family. It wasn't happening. The nice medics kept asking me if I was ok. "oh yes, just tired" I said. After a while one lady said I looked pale, and I was shaking a bit, so I was fine going into the med tent. I think I was pretty dehydrated. I spent some time under a couple blankets, drinking many cups of chicken broth, and then felt much better.
In the end it was a mixed day for me. I am very happy to have set a PR, especially on a much harder course than my original PR. I am really psyched that my bike fitness has catapulted to a different orbit. (I finished the bike leg this year 45 minutes faster than during prevous IMs!!!) I also feel disappointed to have not had the 4 hr run that I know I have the fitness to accomplish. I am annoyed at my stomach, especially given I am not sure what went wrong. So in the end, I feel unfinished business with Ironman racing. I will have to come back again and strive for that perfect race. In the meantime I'll work on racing shorter and gaining more speed, so that someday maybe I'll be racing for the big dance.
For those willing to help me figure out the nutrition failure, here's what I had:
breakfast 3:50 AM: banana, 2 slices white bread, some yogurt & granola, & coffee (latte) (700-800 cals)
Pre-swim: 1 hammer gel + water
Bike loop 1: 3 x infinit (825 cals) with lots of water
Bike loop 2: 2.5x ininit (687 cals) with h20 No calories in the last 30 minutes of the bike, and no water the last 15.
Run: first 3 miles: nothing
miles 4-13: alternate gulp of power ade and water at every other aid station.
miles 13-26: coke and ? I have no idea since it was a blur...
Comments
I concluded in my case that I overdid the calories. You took in about 250/hour on the bike - maybe a little on the high side for you? My other thought was maybe I under-did the sodium intake (I took no salt other than what was in infinite and gu), but based on follow-up postings here and other on-line reading, I'm thinking that is less likely.
Either way, you found a way to finish with a PR on a tough, hilly course. That's a great bike split, it's too bad we can't drool over the data (you know how us junkies get). Congrats on a great race!!!
You've got more experience than me but here is something that worked for me.
In regards to over doing it on the calories, one thing I did during training that worked for me was to work the lower end of the calories/hour spectrum on my long rides gradually working my way up. Meaning, I did 3+ hour rides with zero calories an hour (just small breakfast and water during the ride) working my way up to 250 cal an hour. Even did a 3 hour ride after having a HUGE Lunch at work to see how that felt..UGH..not good.
I think this gave me a good idea of how my body reacted on various caloric intake.
For my rice I came in just under 250 calories an hour with Infinit and 2 GUs. Lots of water.
Did Perform/coke/chicken broth on the run.
Again, great job..
Beverly - #1 - I'm in awe of your bike.
#2 - Your run isn't shabby either!
Really, that's a race to be proud of. Now, what about the GI stitches during the run? Those symptoms were IMO set up by your nutrition on the bike. If you were doing a 6 hour ride @ NP in the low 140s, you're smaller than I am (66 kg). I barely make it to 1200-1300 calories in a 6 hour IM ride, and you had on board nearly 1600 (260/hour). I suspect you were planning for a longer ride, and ended up taking about 50 cal/hour too much. So that's one thing which may have irritated your GI tract. Another thing which might make a difference next time around is to mix up the calories a bit between Infinit and some gel or even Perform (if you can stomach that). The stomach and small intestine were probably just letting you know two things: a little less calories, please, and maybe a bit of variety? Oh, and consider a purely liquid pre-race feed, also.
12:02, or 11:59, whatever, your race on the IM LP course is a great accomplishment, and seems to have left you hungry for improvement.
I just realized that a Kona spot rolled all the way down to 15th non wetsuit place in my age group. I missed it by 15 minutes! I can find 15 minutes. Hmmm... which IM should I do next year???
I'm astonished it rolled down that far!
Fantastic day! And you worked through the low points like a champ! Congratulations big time!!!!!
Congratulations on your PR. I LOVE IMLP. My favorite course of all of my races. I have raced there 6 times. You and I would have been racing side by side practically. I SO feel for you with the stomach cramps. It is shocking when you are moving along so well having a well executed race and then whammo. Good job finding a way to get through it. In one of my LP races I got a WICKED side stitch. I was moaning and trying to make it go away doing all the stuff you did but I would not walk. I suffered and I think the folks racing near me wanted to bop me over the head with all my moaning
I also don't eat as much food as you eat for breakfast or as many calories on the bike.
It was a warm day for you guys from what I have read. Dehydration with too much food could have been it? Also too hard on bike does wear you out and everything gets fatigued. Diaphram being one of those areas. The swim could have whooped that area fighting to stay up. Then super aero position followed by standing up straight to run. I am just thinking out loud here. I'll stop now.
You are a strong fit athlete. CONGRATS on your race!
Carrie
Bev