Tim Cronk IMMT 70.3 Race Report
This race was by far the best run of any I have done to date period bar none. They even had a mini airshow put on by the Snowbirds that did 3-4 fly bys at the start. Yes it was a long way from the swim to T1 but most of that was run on a Red Carpet! Everything was amaziningly near perfect. It can only get better and the full IM should be insanely good. I think I even wanna go to the pre-race dinner at the IM just to see.
My pre race breakfast was 1 cup white rice left over from dinner, almond butter, a PB gu , and soymilk all mixed up and warmed in microwave. 1 starbux via iced coffee. One bottle of perform sipped and then finished off with a clif-shot 20 minutes before my swim wave start. Total calories consumed between 4:30 and 7:30 were between 8-900 and 32 ounces of fluid between the coffee and perform.
Swim 32:05 New HIM swim PR by 50 seconds. The 50-54 men were wave 9 going off at 7:40. Lined up front along the buoys. Pretty uneventful after the first minute or two. Water warm, smooth no wind, sighting easy, lots of room , felt great. I heard the timing mat was after the wetsuit strippers so it is quite possible times were even faster.
T1 4:46 was quite a distance maybe .2 miles? Anyway they laid down a red carpet for most of it so we didnt have to run too far on pavement in bare feet. Bike out was on the far side of transition so I ran bare foot to the bike out and put shoes on there.
Bike 2:34:31 New HIM bike PR by 10 min. Numbers were AP192 , NP 195 , VI 1.015 , IF .847 , TSS 183.5 , KJ 1756 , w/kg 3.5 , NPsplits went 194,194,196,200,192,199,190. I can't believe how fast this bike course was I never thought it would be that fast (just for comparison I biked Mooseman at NP185 which is 10 watts less but in 3:10). On paper the elevation looked so much harder. No wind , smooth pavement, and 8 waves of people ahead of me allowed for continuous slingshotting but still it was fast. I also found it very easy to ride even ,just nailing my goal of NP 195 give or take a few watts every interval. Incredible course and very happy with bike execution. Having said all that when I got to the end of the bike just imagining turning around and doing it all over again would be pretty hard. Just gotta dial back the watts to the right number. Nutrition on the bike was 2 24 ounce bottles of perform with 280 calories each and 2 shot blocks (I had planned more but also though 3hrs was in the cards). That was 620 calories or 248 per hour and 48 ounces fluid in 2.5 hours.
T2 1:51 and much shorter than T1.... took my shoes off after dismounting and crossing the mat and ran thru transition bare foot.
Run 1:40:59 this was 1:15 seconds slower than my recent Run PR but it included a pee stop and it was a much hotter day. I consider this a very good run for me. Hilly at first , flat in the middle, hilly again at the end. Course amazing. Not enough aid stations and almost all in the sun. Aid stations I think were every 2.5 km which was close to 1.5miles but they seemed farther apart than that when you are use to 1 mile aid stations. Definitely something to consider for run walk type strategy and the IM this August. Tiny side stiches for a few miles in the middle just slowed a bit but for the most part ran a nice even pace from start to finish except when passing a few AG had to make it look easy you know and pick it up for a little while. Nutrition for the run was 2 powerbar gels self supplied , perform and coke off the course. Water with gels only and this was the only water I consumed until finished. Estimated calories 400 or 240 per hour.
My Race total.... 4:54:12 New HIM PR by 35min yep 35 minutes... The only HIM's I have done are Mooseman 4 times and Timberman a few years ago... This is probably equivalent to Timberman but much easier than Mooseman IMO.. My execution was about as perfect as I coulda hoped for . I felt everything came together , nutrition, swim, bike, run , transitions, no mistakes. I was amazed to see I finished in 13th place in my AG with that time. The competion at the is race is stiff! Of the 12 that beat me 8 are going back for the full so I know what I am up against.
Race story.... I passed alot of AG on the bike... The last AG I passed , would pass me on a hill, then I would go by on flat or down, and repeat, so we got to acknowledging each other, not again etc. I thought he was "Ricky Racer" but he really wasnt , but I eventually dropped him just prior to the hardest section out and back to Lac Superior and never saw him on the rest of the bike. About 2-3 miles into the run , I hear hi Tim , its Marc. I look left and said oh shit you can run? He says yeah but you can bike! I laughed. We talked about the bike a bit. Then I asked him is best HIM run time and he said 1:34 I said mine was 1:40 but I'm feeling good today. He goes were running 7:20's now. I said too fast for me you go ahead and I'll reall you in later. He beat my by a few places and 2 minutes but I tried to catch him. He was the only guy in my AG to pass me on the run and as far as I know not one passed me on the bike. We caught up in the food tent and had good coversation at least he isnt one of the ones coming back for the full but he was close enough with enough time I think I could outlast him.
Great Race highly recommend it. Very much looking forward to the full IM and feel I have an advantage knowing what I am up against just gotta dial in my percentages and paces correctly.
Was great meeting more EN peeps and congrats to all who raced!
Comments
Congrats again though, all your splits sound fantastic. 1.015 VI on a hilly bike course? That is stellar. And I'd take a 1:40 run any day, let alone on a hilly run after a tougher bike.
Yowzah! Great job, soak it up, Tim, confidence for the big one when as you know pacing and nutrition are king.
I thightthat the elevation was much tougher in real life than I had folled myself into believing on paper. Great work.