Dottie Catlin's 2012 IMLP Race Report
Clearly I am not really expecting any of you to actually read this. It’s so long! But, writing all of the details really helps me as I approach the next race, which for me is IMAZ. So, if you want a read, here you go--
Ironman Lake Placid 2012 was a great race for me. When I came around the oval and saw 12:56, sub-13 at IMLP, I nearly freaked out. My finisher’s photos and video say it all. I loved that day.
I know it’s not entirely useful to compare different races, but the only other IM I’ve done is IMFL. I think an ideal race at IMLP would’ve been to beat my IMFL time b/c I have improved my fitness that much since Nov. ’11, but it was a hot & windy day at IMLP-I get how those factors affect pace. It’s all good and, in the end, I am more than happy. Maybe that’s why! I’m ALWAYS happy. Everyone else looks like they hate life out there. I need to suffer enough to have really bad faces out there!!! I’m waving, flashing the peace sign, blowing kisses. Good grief-always so positive
In IMLP race results it does not say 35 out of xxx and 908 out of xxxx, so I really don’t know how well I did percentage-wise. It also doesn’t list overall gender rank. For IMFL I was 34/107 in division and 1245/2921 overall. I always seem to straddle the line between top and middle third of my division. I wanted to jump up a bit into the top 3rd, but not sure if I did or not. Don’t know where to look to find actual numbers for IMLP.
Total 12:56:22
Division Rank 35
Overall Rank 908
Pre-Race Day:
I just focused. I definitely was more nervous for IMFL than I was for IMLP. It was new then, it wasn’t new at IMLP. I knew it was going to be a much tougher course, but camp really helped alleviate any stress about that. I felt comfortable with my execution plan. My training was great throughout the winter/spring and leading into summer. EN works so well with my life of being a full-time working professional and mother of three, plus maintaining a very healthy and happy marriage. I definitely felt prepared. As for IMLP race week I was able to stay with a friend who had a spare bedroom and I made a reservation at a campground for the family & kids. At IMFL we all stayed together and it was fine, but this was better. I do believe that in order to truly be in the zone, the athlete needs his/her space if possible. Campground ended up being a great place for them with kids races (my son was on the top of the podium-yeehaw!), games, pool, etc. And, I have an awesome wife. She’s a two-time Olympian and “gets it”. I really am lucky that way. There was no race week anxiety fighting or any of that nonsense, thankfully.
Anyway, I headed up to IMLP on Wed. and I really felt like a robot or that I was on a business trip. I posted a pic of myself on FB in an Ironmom shirt and stated I was attempting to become a two-time ironmom. And, that’s how I felt. I was going up there to get this done, and of course I would have fun along the way. Consequently, when I left town on Monday I felt the same way. I’m a two-time ironmom, matter-of-fact. Not flat, not bored, but just robotic, seamless, done. But, in a good way-an effective, efficient way. Seems boring as I write this, but I felt consistent, and EN has made me this way. I am now a 12:42 IMFL and a 12:56 IMLP finisher. When I came into this game I thought I’d be a 15hr Ironman. I mean, it is just incredible. EN just rocks.
Went through the typical procedures during race week-check in on Thursday, swam almost a loop and decided on a LS wetsuit, and went for a bike ride. The plan called for the ride out of LP and through the descent, but I am speedy on the downhills. What I did was go to the bottom of the descent at the Keene turn and rode 60% out for 45 mins and 60% back for 45. I noticed my speed and my watts. This helped a lot on race day. Went to the team dinner, which was great. Friday, team swim, Four Keys (you can never hear it enough. I just visualized the whole time). Then headed out to set up my family’s campground, and you remember how that went from GroupMe (brought everything BUT the tent, so didn’t get very far). WTC dinner that night. Done it before, but it’s inspiring. We laughed at some ladies in dresses with compression gear, the videos were good-it’s carefree and takes your mind off of things for awhile, but at the same time inspires you by talking about the subject the whole time. Loved hearing Woody win free entry to next year’s race. Sweet!
Saturday put my goods in transition early and spent time with my family. Big lunch, then planned where I would look for family the next day in town, had pasta & pizza at Mr. Mike’s-highly recommend for pre-race dinner. Home to bed. Still, just really robotic, going through my motions, my plan. EN checklists and recommendations were key. Just followed the plans. Bed early and up for race day!
Race Day!:
My nutrition for the day worked very well, so I will write about that in the different sections too. For breakfast I had my typical meal at 4am(usually around 600-700 cals):
-Sunbutter & nutella on white bread
-20oz Gatorade
-Decaf coffee with cream
-banana
-1/2 powerbar
I took a nice dump (haha, I don’t even think that I have to make a note of my graphic writing from now on, right? You guys are used to me in the forums and on FB) OK wait, side note, but must be mentioned, and I am deciding not to only write about this in the women’s forum b/c men could benefit? I have no idea-you decide! Anyway, I have gotten a Brazilian before both IMs the week before. Do it. Who wants to deal with ingrown hair from bad/difficult shaving areas or hair in general on race day. I’m telling you, do it. I commented elsewhere about this too, but at IMFL I used body glide everywhere and was chafed everywhere after. This time I bought those big containers of Vaseline. Dig in, big scoop, spread thick. Everywhere. Cracks, under and around all mounds. No chafing. Literally not one area. It worked.
OK, so took the dump, which is typical procedure for me on race morning, and was on my way into town. Parked and walked into transition. Brought my own bike pump this time with plans to leave with my support crew, which worked out. Much better. Just made things easy, no waiting in line. Put some items in T1 & T2 bags, said hi to some folks and headed down to swim start.
Love LP b/c it is so spectator friendly! My family & friends were exactly where we had planned. Playground is great for the kids and we all hung out. I was not feeling nervous, but I was feeling very thankful for this opportunity to race here on this beautiful day and with 18 support crew. Yeah, 18. It was amazing. Julie’s favorite uncle died the week before and there were some other things that had happened, so I just felt thankful, which made me a bit emotional. I just was so happy I was here again-at an IM race start. Team picture was great & nice to get high fives from EN peeps. Went back to family and gave lots of hugs. Really special moments here. So many people were so proud of me just getting here again with all else I do in my life. I felt like a little kid again.
GU & water at 6:30am.
Had to get to the bathroom one more time. Another #2, this one softer and typical for me on a race day. Oh yeah, I’m hydrated and ready to go. Robotic. Peed a bunch of times in wetsuit before start. Also normal for me.
SWIM-1:09:22 (21 seconds slower than IMFL)
Div. Rank-23
OA Rank-655
Gender Rank-132
1st loop 33:11
2nd loop 36:11
Got into the water with about 3 minutes to go. I love to swim, so wasn’t afraid, but knew that there would be more thrashing than IMFL. My plan was to head right to the front. I knew I could handle it. I waded in and started swimming over to the tip of the dock and heard, “Dottie!” It was Woody and I was so happy to see him!! My wetsuit makes me so buoyant, all I remember is just wrapping my legs around him and hugging him tight. It was so awesome to see you, Woody, after training together all year!!
Gun went off & it was crazy, but not as crazy as I thought. I stayed on the inside of the line except for the red buoys. Loved the time on my first loop. Was psyched that I would PR my IM swim, but then I got hot the 2nd lap when the sun came out. Now I know that at 74 degrees I might go with a sleeveless next time. 2nd lap was 3 mins slower. No idea if that is normal or not. So, I didn’t end up PR’ing the swim. I’d like to improve upon that. No need to be a sub-1 or anything, but it would be cool to be a 1:05 one day.
TRANSITION 1 was great. Smooth. I am psyched about my T1 time. Stayed focused. Robotic.
T1-5:33 (6:54 at IMFL)
Bike-6:42:53 (IMFL was 6:33:50)
Div. Rank-28
OA Rank-1041
Gender Rank-145
30mi.-19.98
56mi.-14.19
86mi.-20.16
112mi.-13.73
Total speed-16.68
I am overall very satisfied with my bike. I have worked on the bike the most this past year. I got a PM and it has really helped, plus losing weight. Oh yeah, I guess I should mention that I am an Athena. I’ve lost about 30lbs since joining EN and after birthing three kids, but I could probably lose 20 more. I think I could actually be pretty good at this game! I have a 3-sport Div 1 background (FH, IceH and Lax) and really commend that experience for my mental toughness. With a tighter body, I’d be much faster, so that is something to keep improving on.
Camp made me feel comfortable on this course. I did 2 loops at camp and I came within 1 minute of that exact time on race day. I really visualized that course over and over. I am slow on the hills b/c of my body comp, but I am also very fast on the down hills due to my body comp. I watched my speed at camp, so I knew what to look for on the Edge 500 as well as my watts. I was consistent. JRA out of LP, wiz down the hills, JRA to 90 mins. Done. Pick it up to 70% and watch the watts up into Placid. Done. Loved seeing Kori, Carly, Lisa, Patrick out there. Fans coming into town were incredible. Papa Bear felt like the Tour de France with the bottle neck at the turn. Ross’s were AWESOME! Changed out my infinit at SNs and rounded the bend. Friends to the left going NUTS, family to the right going NUTS. Blew TONS of kisses to them all and was fired up inside. But, rode steady & safe. Robotic. Up between the oval and rink (I’m a hockey player remember, and this place is magical. I had chills) Saw Sue (Woody’s partner), saw my good friend Colleen going NUTS. Back behind the oval and again we go. Steady. Watch watts on the climbs, go for gold on the downhills. Make up time. Done. Take the corner at Keene and remember when I rode out on Thursday? I had seen that pace on loop one, so I picked it up. Kept watts at Z2 and made sure pace was around 20-21. Speedy for me. It was great. Brian, owner of High Peaks came up behind me and commented on how strong I am (Alright! Knew my big butt was good for something-the flats!) He actually gave me some good tips about bike positioning, which I’ll check in with Todd at ttbikefit about later. Then the turn to Wilmington hills. Watch watts. Steady. Saw Carly here and this was great. And, rode with Eric for a long time. Thanks, Eric! Saw my family & friends again at same location coming into town going NUTS. Omygosh, the crowd was so awesome!!!
Nutrition on bike was concentrated 3.5 hour bottle of Infinit in my torpedo mount. Water in the Speedfil. Every 15 mins I would swig 1 of the infinit and chase with 10 of the speedfil water. Coming up to aid station took a big swig from speedfil, grabbed bottle, filled speedfil, soaked my body, threw into goal. Robotic. No issues re: nutrition. Really no issues at all. I think I tackled the bike well. Swapped out water bottle at SN for another 3.5 hour concentrated Infinit. I didn’t lose much energy on 2nd loop at all and felt great coming into T2. With 15 mins to go I did water only, and only a few sips. Not sure how many times I peed on bike during this race, but it was normal and I knew I was hydrating enough. 2 scaps salt tabs every hour on bike.
T2-3:08 (3:55 at IMFL). Very happy about T2. What am I gonna say here? You guessed it. Robotic.
Run-4:55:26 (4:48:54 at IMFL)
Div. Rank-35
OA Rank-902
Gender Rank-156
3mi.-10:37/mi
8.2mi.-11:03/mi
12mi.-11:28/mi
16.1mi.-10:41/mi
21.3mi.-11:44/mi
25.1mi.-12:08/mi
26.2mi.-10:24/mi
Total-11:16/mi
My EP leading up to IMLP was 10:10. With heat and hills, I knew it would be slower. I ended up with an 11:16/mi pace and I am okay with that. I asked a lot of people if they really hit their EP on an IM marathon. Only a few really did, and one was Superman Patrick, so he doesn’t count
With that said, I felt great. Steady. I look back at pictures and I’m so happy. Maybe, maybe? I don’t really know how to suffer. This is something that I want to try to learn just to see if I can go faster, just to see.
Re: details of the run my family got from the lake down to T2 exit in time. That was a surprise and was awesome. Then I saw Patrick and got my high five. I also got a high five at IMFL, so I looked forward to that. He said, “Steady. Get wet and stay wet all day.” Yes, sir. I did exactly that. It was hard, hard to get down to 10:40 (30+’’). My average was about at 10:45ish at about 8 miles. I obviously slowed down a bit on hills up to town on loop 1. That big hill right before the left turn at the lights I just kept thinking, “Patrick said head down, baby steps, keep moving forward” (this was his advice leading up to Mooseman 70.3 which has a big hill on the run). All of a sudden I hear, “Dottie!!!” I look up and there he is, Patrick the God!!! That was also awesome. Pretty sure I now know that he was the one that spanked me. Ha, I was like ooo! But, it gave me a little boost. Saw my family on the out & back & the Ashworth crew & Scott D., then was able to speed up a bit on the downhills out of town. At mile 18 my legs felt fine but it’s like I don’t know how to tell them to speed up. I just stayed steady, even though I was slower heading up the hills, I really felt steady. Next time though, I am really going to concentrate and try to get my legs to go faster after mile 18. To see what it’s like “to suffer” But, this course is hard though, b/c at Mile 18 it’s basically uphill back to town. Good thing is at IMFL I faded by 30”/mi the last 8 miles. In LP I only faded by about 15-16” overall and it was uphill. So, I was happy about that. I was very close to Carly & Lisa which made me so proud b/c they are both very thin, very fit athletes and I am honored to finish so close to their times. I also saw Woody right before I entered the oval, which was another special moment to have after training with him all year. Saw him at the start and finish-so cool! I did hear Mike Reilly announce that I am an Ironman and I did remember to take my cap off, put my hands up in the air, flash the EN gang sign, etc. I really felt great! IMLP is a great finishing chute! Fans on the run were awesome! Saw some friends out by the horse grounds, Michelle at various places, Deb Livernois. People loved ENers!!
Run Nutrition was gel every ½ hour, water at every aid. I grabbed 4 cups. 2 made a full cup to drink, one went over the head and one was split on my cool sleeves, which I HIGHLY recommend. I also highly recommend the towel-thingy that I wore around my neck (black). I had to get it wet, then grab it at each end and snap it. Then it stayed cool. It was GREAT! I stayed wet the whole day and did not feel overheated. 2 scaps salt tabs every hour on the run too, and peed maybe 4 times in small amounts. I’ve posted this elsewhere, but I just don’t like the feeling of having to go to the bathroom when I’m running. I take small frequent breaks vs. waiting for a large break. SNs I did grab my powergels b/c the GU doesn’t have enough sodium. Note to self-put a bunch in at AZ.
Race Nutrition:
Spot on. I’m not changing a thing. I had a little side stitch heading out of town after turn around, but it did go away. I think I took about 3 sips of coke, but then just stayed with original plan. I really didn’t leave my plan at all. Robotic.
Things I want to improve on:
-Does anyone swim faster the 2nd loop without having a strategy of starting slow and way back (b/c then obviously you’d be faster in 2nd lap)? If so, I’d like to do that.
-I would love to get to a fitness level where I can increase my gender rank with every discipline. I am always way ahead after the swim, lose a bit on the bike, and then a couple more notches on the run. I know with more weight loss my biking and running will keep improving. I’m definitely happy with my swimming ability. Good enough for me. I went from 23 after swim, to 28 after bike, to 35 at finish.
-Learn to suffer on the run. I’m way too happy. I certainly don’t want to die out there and would rather stay out of med. tent too, and in the end I love triathlons, so want it to stay fun, but I would like to hit my target EP pace. Other people do, or come damn close, so I think I could too. The one thing I think will help and where my robotic ways failed is to try to pick age groupers off 1 by 1 in the last 8 miles or so. I just kept steady (which worked), but I think this could help me learn to suffer. To be more competitive too. I didn’t have to tap into my one thing b/c I was happy & steady and all was good really. It was fun! I guess I’m struggling with the fact that that is probably a good thing, but does that also mean that I have potential to be faster if I suffer? Time will tell.
-Body comp. Hey, the more I lose the faster I get. It’s as simple as that. Keith Wick-I will not give up my beer though. And, I don’t drink the light crap
Overall:
This was such a great experience for me. I love IMs and I love EN. I have met so many great people and have led a very happy, passionate life leading up to and completing the IMs. It’s a spiritual sport in a way. I still hear Mike Reilly saying before the start, “Go out and have the best.day.of.your.life. I’ll meet you at the finish. I promise” IM is just so special. I have been an athlete my whole life, really, but for a lot of women it ends after college. I went into coaching for awhile, but it’s not the same feeling. I always missed playing. Now, with triathlon, I feel the way I did as an athlete in college. It’s definitely my thing, to lead an athletic life. I share this trait with my wife, and my kiddos are little athletes in the making too. But, it’s always so much better in a team. That is why I was drawn to team sports years ago, and why I love EN so much now. We definitely bring out the best in each other. I loved heading to the Pub and to the midnight finish with team members too. Great pic to cherish from that awesome weekend.
It’s been two weeks and I’m still forcing stand-down mode. But, I’ll be ready soon to ramp back up for IMAZ. I simply cannot wait to get back to an IM race start-even if that water is gonna be murky. Ya just can’t beat it and luckily I have a great support system that allows me to continue to reach athletic dreams.
Comments
P.S.---Glad you drink the real stuff!!
Regarding learning to suffer, I have found the Z5 and Z4 bike intervals in the OS are a great way to learn that — I always keep thinking that when the hurt it on, the only way I will slow down is if I can no longer turn the pedals (ie only the lack of power will slow me, which does happen sometimes).
BTW, I don't ever drink that light crap either.
Go Girl
Good luck in Az.
I love your honesty and descriptive posts as you talk about the real stuff lol. Big shout out to your family, too for their awesome support of you and for pursuing their own healthy lifestyle. On to Pumpkinman! Xo