IMWI Rick Shea Race report
I joined EN at the last minute in Feb, with the intent of reducing my total hours of training and improving my biking skills. It took longer than I thought to get into the "fast first" mindset, learn my powermeter (arrived in May), and understand pacing (still don't have a Garmin on the run). Overall, I'd say I completed about 75% of the plan, and arrived in Madison knowing that my path to happy IMWI memories was through good execution on top of below-average fitness. Last year, I could see the mile 18 pink-Speedo crowd when I had to begin walking, and I spent this year promising myself not to walk this race. I decided to not look at times through the day, only paces, and to make every decision to respect "the line".
SWIM After stealing some mojo from Lauren P. at the swim entry I muscled my way around to Moo corner with the rest of you, then caught a great draft for the next mile or so. Once my ride started to slow down and lose her ability to navigate I ditched her and swam free, having used alot less energy than last year. I came out at 1:12, which is my lifetime average for IM swim, and feeling like the effort was no big deal. So, same time, less effort, and with less training. Part 1 was a success.
BIKE I planned a .71 IF ride, which I stuck to until about 10:30 AM when it felt to me like the heat was going to play a much larger factor than I had planned. I did not memorize the heat-adjusted pacings, so I made the decision to head to the far Northwest corner of the TSS table and ride a .68 IF to conserve energy. This was really hard, since I was not fast at .71, but I absolutely thought it was the best way to set up success at mile 18 of the run. Again, I did not look at times, only normalized watts. I finished with an IF of .69, feeling pretty tired, but pretty much got what I deserved at my level of fitness. At the time I felt it was successful. I'm glad I didn't look at my time, as it turns out this was ~20 minutes slower than last year and I would have lost focus on execution. Ignoring overall times, in favor of the metrics we usually train by, will be my strategy for future races.
RUN The RnP voices in my head were nonstop. I ran too fast for the first 2 miles, despite using a countdown timer (got to get that Garmin), and I knew that I'd be walking if I didn't concentrate. I settled in, tried to keep to the planned 10:30 pace and found myself feeling pretty good. Nutrition was water/coke or water/poweraid, always erring on the side of taking in a bit less. At 18 I realized I was good, and I kept pace until 20 when I was sure, then started to run. I gained mojo from Ebe, Dr. Jenks, and Lauren P (again ! "Finish strong" she yelled), and cut more than a minute per mile off in the last 6 mile surge.
I finished in 12:35, 10 minutes faster than last year. My average time over my 6 prior IMs was 12:30. However, I negative-split the marathon this year and had a PR for the run. Through the day I felt like I was controlling the race, and I never felt that before. I can absolutely celebrate for the next 12 months knowing that I did what I wanted to do. The 4 Keys ideas of race execution provided clear guidance that allowed me to make good decisions and have a great day. I'm hooked.
Comments
Fantastic mid-ride adjustment and overall execution. You're right: the Four Keys is unparalleled IM race guidance.
Chapeau!
That's the good stuff. Great race, and congratulations on your accomplishment!