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IMSG Race Report- John Molchin

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Race Morning

 

3:45 wake up. Felt really good, slept good. Took in about 800 calories across a shake, bagel/cream cheese, fruit, EFS drink, and a power bar. I stayed close to the race so I just walked over to the shuttle. Very organized, impressed with how smooth everything ran. Athletes on the bus were cheerful, nervous, and chatty. 

 

Swim: Goal 1:10, actual 1:29

 

Arrived at T1, filled my tires, changed into my gear and walked to the water.  Took about 10 minutes to file into the water.  I made my way just behind pole position and just hung out treading water.  Gun goes off and I’m on my way. I started too fast and my heart rate is soaring.  My wetsuit feels constrictive and I’m finding it hard to take consistent breaths. I stop, take a few deep breaths, and I feel my heart rate normalize. This is normal for me and I should have warmed up, stupid mistake.  I continue on my way and I’m feeling good.  I get into my rhythm and am concentrating on my stroke. I’m thinking of all of the advice from my swim coaches.  Long strokes, brush my thigh with my hand, reach way out and start again. It’s going very well. I swim around a few people and am finding a lot of open water to settle into.  I’m hoping for a 1:07-1:15. I’m nearing the first turn and feel myself being pushed by the water, I’m really liking the extra speed.  I make my left turn and immediately feel the waves washing across me.  I don’t understand it because it was calm when I started.  I’m able to site the next buoy and I’m starting to feel a washing machine effect.  When I make the second turn, I was full on into the waves.  Swimming up the front, down the back.  Siting at this point is very difficult.  I know that we swim around the island so I just head north and will look for the next buoy when I get close. Progress is slow going.  I feel the wave surges and it reminds me of a swim I did in Mexico.  I’m actually enjoying the difficulty and know that I’m going to complete the swim.  What my time will be is another story, but I was never worried about my safety as I am so buoyant in my wetsuit.  The closer I get to turn 3 the more difficult it becomes.  I see a lot of people cutting the corner and tell myself I’m not going to do it because I want to know that I swam the complete course.  I mean if I’m going to do an Ironman, I’m going to swim 2.4 miles.  I make turn 3, start looking for turn 4 but can’t see it.  I follow the yellow buoys, go past the last one and cannot see the final Red turn. I finally locate it.  It had come loose and was heading towards the island.  I stop to orientate myself and find several other people trying to figure out where to go next.  One person yells out “where do we go”, I answered and said to “swim to the crowd”. I use to be a lifeguard and I’m sensing stress in the voices, I took a look around to see if I saw any distressed swimmers that might need some assistance, I didn’t, so I headed to the crowd. I exited the water and felt really good, I was charged up from the chaos in the water. 1:29 swim. I was hoping for a 1:10, oh well, at least I have a good story to tell.

 

Bike: Goal 6:15, actual 7:15

 

The volunteer helping me in T1 said he’s been coming here for years and has never seen waves like that.  He says there was a sand storm that started a few minutes after we started to swim and it moved directly over the water. I asked him if anyone was hurt, he didn’t’ know. I get to my bike, one of my new arm warmers was blown away and I cannot find it.  Damn!! I paid like $70 for them.  I put one on my right arm and head out.  I have some problems with my Garmin 910  in multisport mode, so I abort and reset it in bike only. I start riding the stick into SG, riding below my target watts of 180. I find it difficult because of the wind, but I stay aero and tell myself to conserve.  By the time I get to SG the wind has dramatically picked up and it is very loud in my head.  I’m directly into it but I ignore the wind and just pay attention to my watts.  I do that but I’m only going 15-16 mph.  I rode the loop on Wednesday and averaged 19.6 mph.  Nonetheless, I listen to the plan and keep myself as low as possible.  By the time I get to the Gunlock fork my average watts are about 220.  I make a mental note and tell myself that they’ll eventually come down.  I talk to a few other athletes and we are all commenting on the wind.  I’m pedaling downhill and only going 6mph.  This is a brutal day and I know I’m going to be out here for a while. “A strong run validates a good bike”, this keeps running through my head and I try not to burn any matches. I complete the three major climbs and I’m thinking I’d rather have these hills than the wind any day. As soon as I make the right at Veyo Pies the sound in my head disappears and I almost rejoice! I scream down towards SG, spinning when I can, coasting the rest.  The 2nd loop starts and the wind has died down, but it’s still there.  I can feel the effort in my legs. I’m 35 miles from T2 and I’m telling myself, out loud, that “35 miles is Nothing!” I do some quick calculations and realize I’m going to be 7 hours by the end of the bike… I don’t like it, but I look at my average watts and they’re 195.  When I reached T2 my average was 184, close enough to my plan.  That was the longest I’ve ever been on a bike, nonstop…  I get off my bike and I feel strong.  I consumed about 2200 calories, primarily from EFS Shot.  I’m sick of it though and tell myself I’m going to switch to GU on the run. I just can’t drink anymore of this shit!! I exit T2, see my wife, daughter and friends, run over to them, give them a quick overview, and literally skip out of the run start loosening up my legs.  I’m feeling surprisingly good.

 

Run: Goal 4:15 Actual 4:22

 

First 6 miles I run slow, taking in water and ice at every stop, GU at every other.  I’m really concentrating on my form and am trying to shuffle as quickly as possible.  I like the slight downhill going south.  Turning north is a bit challenging, more than I thought when I looked at the course earlier in the week. I slow down slightly, but still a good pace for me.  After the first hour I pick up my pace and tell myself I’m going to average 10 min/mi. (which is what the heat/pace calculator told me also) I did 10:30/mi in Wisconsin but I’m more fit now.  I keep taking water, ice, GU, putting ice under my hat and in my shirt.  I realize that this system is working for me because I’m feeling really good.  I hit 13.1 miles, 2:09 half. My average is 9:55/mi. and I’m very happy.  I start thinking about my family and friends and reach a Zen like state, I have a big smile on my face for a while and I can’t believe it but some tears of joy actually well up behind my eyes.  I was really happy!! I actually laughed out loud at certain moments.  Talk about a runners high. I keep myself in check and focus on my breath and form.  I’m running really good, very consistent and the aid stations just keep flying by, same routine at each.  At this point I’m being very methodical,  “water, water, ice, ice, GU” I’m yelling at each aid station.  The volunteers are outstanding and I thank each of them. Again, I recall, “a solid run validates a good bike”, I think to myself this is going to be true for me.  I see a lot of people walking and can’t even count how many I’ve passed at this point.  I get to “mile 18”, and start equating it to my home run course routes. I’m feeling really good, but in the back of my mind I’m waiting for the pain, it never comes!! Sure my legs are sore but nothing like my first marathon when I had to walk the last 3 miles.  Halfway through my final loop, 4 miles to go, I try to increase my cadence.  I smell the hay in the barn and keep my form solid.  I’m like “I Fu##ing got this”!! I feel so good!! I turn my race belt forward, make the last turn to the finish and high five people as I approach the line.  I hear the announcer, “John Molchin from New Lenox, IL  You are an Ironman”!!

 

Final run time 4:22 10:01/mi. This was my best run off the bike to date at the full IM distance. Not my best time 13:35:28 but I’m extremely happy with my results off the bike. I’m looking forward to IMFL  and am anxious to focus on my biking. I believe that all of my work on the bike allowed me to have a successful run.

 

I somehow didn’t save my bike data.  I think I switched to run mode without committing the bike data to memory. I can’t believe I did that!  I was really looking forward to looking at that data.

 

This was my first EN plan and I followed the 20 week intermediate pretty much to the letter.  I have to say this was my strongest IM to date. I’ll follow this same plan again for IMFL in November.

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