robin sarner. 2012. tremblant.
So a great race overall. Tremblant is a great venue. A must do. Great week with wife/uncle/aunt/mom/dad/friend. Pretty good race execution by me overall with a complete race performance. Having fairly significant post race blues currently as per normal. And this worsened by thoughts of what I could’ve/should’ve done to get the 7 minutes by which I missed the Kona rolldown. Bit of suck it up on the bike. 1-2 less pee breaks on the run. Minus one panic episode on the swim. Etc. Lots of us have been there. I really need to get to Kona as do a lot of us. Specially flavored by growing up on Maui and the desire to come home. Probably only have another year or so before I need to move on. Can not keep putting other life on hold on this quest. Frustrating with the slots getting less and competition getting stronger, the goal just gets further and further away. All that said, had a special weekend and racing day with family (and EN folks). Family states it was a top life experience being involved.
All the logistical stuff went fine. Flight. Rental car. Tribike transport. Condo pretty close to transitions. Overfed by family. Etc.
Swim. 65 minutes. hoped for the more normal for me 60 minutes. mashed by the crowded start. bit of water inhalation at the start with brief stop. But good enough.
Bike. 5:30. course a bit short. tss 222. np 225. vi 1.0. ftp ??? 350. so IF .64 185 pounds. So again seemed to leave some on the course. fast course for being hilly. Tim Cronk and Trevor Garson went by me early on the bike. Unfortunately saw Trevor later on with his tire issue. Sorry Trevor, you definitely will do it next time.
Nutrition. doing the newish for me thing. cda and here. two+ bottles perform each hour plus 200 calories of whatever. Really seems to be working. Hard to tolerate all the Perform but seem to be absorbing it fine.
run. 3:29. Didn’t feel the bad suck until 20 miles. So probably a bit more to give here. Traded places with Tim Cronk a couple times at the start of the run with pee break. Saw Pete Joaquim a few times (waiting for your report). Trevor. Steve Ross once. Sorry if I forgot to mention others. Lisa Watson (wife) had a kidney infection and had to drop out after the swim for IV antibiotics, etc. I had an idea that there was a problem when I did not see her on the bike. And saw family going out on the run and they looked ok so knew she was ok. Saw her going out on the second lap of the run. Hugs/crys/”are you ok?”. And off to complete the thing.
10:13. Personal best. 14 th in the age group (46 years old). Missed the roll down by 7 minutes. Not sure if that feels better or worse than missing it by seconds. First complete race with strong showings in all the disciplines.
So onwards for now. Looking forward to trying the flat courses. Arizona then maybe Texas. Will be doing some direct coach consultation. Will be doing a very hard rest here for 2-3 weeks having done cda recently. And despite the current doldrums, AM excited to move on. Try out the Arizona course. Monkey with my bike fit (drop the front some). And dream of home and the possibility of making it back there someday.
p.s.
So part of the magic of the week in Tremblant. While spectating me on the run, wife starting chatting with a coach that had athletes on the course. And starting chatting with the man with him. Edward James Olmos. His son Bodie “Hot Dog” was doing his first Ironman. So wife chatted with him for a couple hours. We are both fans of his work, Battlestar, etc. Couple years ago I saw Edward give a neat talk on ethnic diversity. The day after the race I met and talked with Edward and Bodie for a good 15 minutes, at the top of the gondola. Great and gracious people.
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Thanks all.
Tim, will see you in Texas. Maybe this big man will get you on the flat bike course there.
Considering Cozumel for 2013 depending on Arizona this year. Let's do a Kona reunion some day ?!
Robin...the pieces are falling into place. Of note the new IM Canada, due for sign up the first week of Oct, will have 100 kona slots 2013 only, as WTC fights Challenge in Penticton next year.
I'm glad the Perform only on the bike worked. sounds like a good idea.
Robin, another thought I had while driving home from work this AM:
I get the feeling that you have developed your racing personality to the point where control of your race is happening on a non-conscious level. That "central governor" has been taught to go easy on the bike, in prep for the run, which is good. But now, he needs to be convinced that you are actually capable of running well after working to full capacity on the bike for 5 hours.
The RRs are supposed to help with this transformation, but when looking for that last 5% IF on the bike, he needs a little more solid evidence, I guess.
My suggestion: pick a Sept local HIM - Black Diamond would be my preference, as it has a flat bike course. Don't focus on the swim, but make damn sure you bike at the very top end of recommended IF. For a 2:30 split, that would be 85%, for a 2:20 split, 87%. Then, start running. I think you'll be surprised at your performance overall, that you WILL be able to complete the run without slowing down.
Then, carry that confidence into AZ. I'm convinced that course is ideal for you. You can literally stay aero and at steady power in almost the same gear for the whole way. You should be doing 75% IF after the first turnaround at the top of the "hill".
The good news from MT: you didn't cook yourself in this race (and still had a good performance), so you will be able to roll over your training for AZ to good effect for one more spiral up
Robin, was super impressed with your execution and really your calmness and collectiveness the entire weekend. Lisa as well, she really seemed to take a pretty big setback like missing an Ironman in pretty good spirits. You guys both were an exception to the the general pre-during-post Ironman hysteria.
Know it's got to be heartbreaking to miss KQ by a small margin, and while I could try and venture all sorts of advice, honestly I'm just a punk kid and newbie to this sport in comparison to all of you in this thread so I'll keep it to a minimum.
You swim is good, your run is excellent, and your bike stats are great on paper. I feel like for the power you are putting out though, you should be getting more return in your bike split. Course selection may make a big difference, and I hope AZ and maybe TX prove that, but even at MT your FTP should have you at over 4W/kg which is no slouch either. So really only leaves one thing, trying to get more aero. Know you ride a custom frame and dropping $$$$ on a new bike is probably not high on the agenda now. But there is still a lot you can do even staying on your current frame. Fit as you mentioned, also you could just change / clean up the front end in general. Possibly lower, faster bars, aero brake, cable routing, not sure how your hydration was setup?
I know it bit me in the ass this time, but low Crr tires and latex tubes are usually a good way to go too. Just don't find out the week after your race you were riding on rim tape that was recalled for popping latex tubes left and right. You make me look like a midget, but by most standards I'm not a tiny guy, and I'm putting out way less power than you, so I must be getting free speed somewhere.
All and all, was great to meet you. 3 IMs in one season sounds monster to me, but you seem to handle it pretty well. Best of luck in AZ, will definitely be rooting for you.
maybe I'll get to meet you all at Texas IM next year! We were far from the maddening crowd this year at IMMT so although it was good to chill we missed meeting you all.
anyone who wants to come to Austin to train in the heat is welcome to come visit.
Thanks all.
Al. Yes thinking about the new Canada race in 2013 aug/sept with all the slots. instead of flat november 2013 race. The idea on the governor sounds like what I may be experiencing on the bike. May think about doing a half iron race. Though I am not a fast recoverer and 13 miles of fast running may set me back from training for a bit. May be I have to dial back my ftp estimate some too.
Trevor. Yes will be looking into bike fit. Have had several relooks with good local fitter. May get another opinion from our online guy. I think the bike set up is fine. very aero except the round tubes. fork and front end very aero. brake behind fork. race wheels with disc. nice base bar. etc. Will probably adjust my tire tube type.
Do not not do Tremblant based on the swim. please. too nice a race.
Not sure about being calm. But this was the sixth ironman so I guess a bit of experience helps with the jitters.
Thanks for all the thoughts and thought.
Well done Robin!
Your report offers great perspective. Man, there are so many folks chasing the Kona dream… it’s hard to know how hard to push and where to look but you seem to have a good sense about where to draw the line. It’s clear you’re getting really good at putting together a “complete” race though so I hope keep the faith – at least for a bit!
Stupid question re: the pee breaks. I took about 100 last year at IMC so I’d resolved, successfully to learn to pee “on the fly”. It was gross (especially when not in a race), but doable. This this year I took zero stops but just because it just happened that didn’t have to go as I was fully prepared to do so. What to guys do? Can you just go on the fly or do you have to actually stop? If you just haven’t tried, would you consider that to shave off a minute or two?
And yes… that 2x Kona slot race sure is interesting, I’ll be following that too... perhaps we’ll see you there!
All the best to you and glad Lisa is okay as well!
P.S. The blues will pass... we've got your back 'till they do.
Hey Robin, solid effort. You missed KQ by 7min I missed my slusive 4gr run by 9min. I share my blues-beer with ya.
I have a friggin garmin that behaves like this friggin iPad.
That would be elusive 4hr run.
Thanks.
Yes I am a fully qualified on the bike pee-er now. So not losing time there.
Have done on the run peeing. May need to go back to that if it seems to be close during a race.
Hope the new Canada option is still on the west side.