Roy's 2012 IMLou Race Report
No apologies for length/detail. Very stream of consciousness, disjointed thoughts, but I’m focused on getting it all on paper. Lots of learning points that I want to use to sustain/ improve my next build / race season.
Ironman Louisville 2012. Bottom line stuff up front: Pre-race stats- 40 years old, 6’3”. 187lbs on Wednesday morning prior to sodium/hydration load, 274 FTP (3.2 w/kg), 54 VDOT. Race Stats: Overall Time 12:21:11, swim-1:24, bike-5:53, run-4:49 (small PBs in each event ending up with a ~35 minute PB overall). 89th in 40-44 AG (~20ish%)/509 overall. I really enjoyed the race venue and all things unique to racing in the Ville. I plan on racing it again in 2013.
So now the rest of the story:
Lead up: I tried to take a few lessons from what I considered to be a largely mediocre day at IMCDA earlier this year: 1. Figure out how not to get beat up and sick (I have serious motion sickness issues) on the swim. 2. Work on mental toughness. A point that has slowly dawned on me: Although bike/run paces are “easy”, they are not “easy” to hold the entire 140.6 mile day. This took a bit to get my head wrapped around. I also knew heat would be an issue in Louisville. Luckily, the northern Virginia summer agreed to be my training partner and together we scheduled workouts in July and August that saw record average highs. I tried to get at least one longer run and one bike in during the heat of the day per week. Additionally, I took on board a lot of the heat management execution advice in the house to influence my core temps during the race. On the professional front, I focused on making the job work load manageable during the final taper as it literally exploded the week prior to CDA, leading to a lot of mental/physical stress in the last week before CDA. Training-wise, I made about 85% of all run/bike workouts over the out season and 12 week intermediate IM plans x2, probably less than 50% of the swim workouts (bad), skipped RR1 for IMLou (or did IMCDA as RR1, depending on how you look at it), and skipped a half week of taper with a family vacation (absolutely right call on this one, would do it again). IMVille was my 3rd IM distance race (Vineman 2010, IMCDA 2012). Louisville works out well from a family perspective as the wife grew up there and her parents still live there.
Pre-Race. Rolled into town on Wednesday with the family and settled into the mother-in-law’s home. Had multiple family/friend commitments so I didn’t get to see much of the EN team, but I made deposits in the SAU account (good to be able to do that on an actual race weekend). Got a bike course recce with team mates Terry and Ken (both great with really helpful course insights) Friday and got registration done with minimal fuss. Went to the 4 Keys Saturday morning, turned in the bike and bags, and then checked into the Galt House with the wife (thanks mother-in-law for watching the kids Saturday night). I did this to be close on race morning and to get the family a place to base out of on race day. The suite was nice and the wife enjoyed being able to go back to the room during the day while I rode the bike. Typical big lunch Saturday with a light dinner. Woke up twice during the night to answer nature’s call from the hydration push and got a smoothie in each time for the “midnight calories”.
Race Morning- Up at 0400 and out the door with the wife around 0500-ish. Water/Gatorade on the bike and pumped up the tires. No stresses.
Swim: (LOVE the time trial start, LOVE it) Hopes-anything less than 1:30, actual 1:24:xx, pretty close to what I had done my swim RR in. Got to the line late, so I was pretty far out and had a long walk/wait. However, since I was focused not getting crushed in the washing machine like I did in CDA, I was totally good with the line. Wore just my tri shorts and a timex so I could see my swim time when I finished. Made it into the water at 0730-ish (they do have a race clock on the dock) and quickly got into my rhythm. Although the water is murky, I did not have any issues with it at all. To me, it was typical river water, not the diesel filled gunk that a lot of folks make it out to be. I did hit a couple of twigs on the way into shore, but other than that, the water was just dark. Although it is a time trial, there is still contact; however, it is nothing like what I experienced at CDA. I focused on not being aggressive (both with fighting for ‘position’ or with pace) and keeping long in the water. Sighting was relatively easy, with both shores close on the way out and the bridges on the way back. Out of the water with no issues.
T1: 7:XX Nothing impressive here. Jersey, socks, shoes, helmet, sunglasses. Nutrition, salt sticks, and gloves in a ziplock bag to be dealt with on the bike. Porta-potty stop 1 for urination.
Bike: Hopes: Anything sub 6, actual 5:53:xx. I love the Louisville bike course. No real killer climbs to decimate the average speed and just enough rollers to keep you engaged with opportunities to sit up and change position every so often. Goal watts: 180-ish for 1st hour and then 190-200 for the remainder. Ended up at 189 NP (0.69IF) for the entire ride with a higher than desired VI of 1.1. Standard crank up front with a 12-28 on the back and I used the whole spectrum of gears throughout the ride. Had 3 second watts and NP on the screen as my power metrics and used 30 minute intervals to keep myself honest. Held to my targets until the last hour or so and then started to slip into the 175-ish range for the ride back into town. As for the riding itself, again, I really enjoyed the course. Since I started the swim late and took so long in the water, I was in bicycle traffic the entire ride; however, that just kept engaged with what was going on. I saw multiple course marshals out and about passing out multiple red cards, so while there was some illegal drafting, I did see an honest attempt to stop it by the officials. I mastered the seven meters distance during the ride and even had one marshal ride by me nodding her head and smiling at me after sitting on my hip for a bit. There is definitely time to be had using legal drafting if you can get into a situation where it’s tenable. Louisville is a perfect place for it. I did execute in the EN style, so like most EN Ninjas, I got passed like it was cool going up hills and passed lots going down and on the flats. I started seeing dudes on the side of the road just outside of Lagrange on the first lap, which surprised me, and then continued to see them for the rest of the ride. Some were working on mechanicals, but most were just sitting staring off into the distance. There were a couple of issues with cars backing up and slowing bikers down, but since that situation is well documented (hence, expected), it was no surprise and did not cause any negative vibes inside my box. Most folks riding within themselves were very friendly and chatty, so it was a very nice ride. One “steep-ish” grade at Acorn Road on which I stood each loop (keeping watts under control) to mix up the position. For some reason, both of my feet really burned during the ride, which is something new. I tried tightening/loosening the straps which did not seem to help. It went away after T2. In hindsight, I think that may have been cause by my sodium intake, I’m very sensitive to sodium and since I was loading hard, my feet may have retained more water than usual. Good crowd support in Lagrange, but other than that, pretty lonely besides other bikers. That’s not all that bad to me though. As previously mentioned, my power dropped during the last hour, but that was more a function of position/perceived effort than fatigue. By that point I had two or three regulars around me and we were working the seven meter rule pretty good. Nutrition (as planned)- 1 salt stick per hour, 1 Stinger waffle to start then 1 Roctaine per hour, fresh bottle of perform on the seat tube and water in the Torhans every aid station. (I have not bought into the “I hate water” movement yet.) Computer alarm set for every 15 minutes, liquid every alarm, gel/stick every other alarm. Heat Management- A complete bottle of water squirted all over my chest and groin region every aid station, even the first one when it was not that hot yet. Aid stations were busy places for me, 2 bottles out, 1 bottle in, and available gels, but it worked well. I like living off the course as much as possible.
T2: 5:xx. Again, nothing impressive, but I forgot to put my heart rate monitor on. I wanted to capture what my HR was doing for future analysis based on the race to HR thread ongoing. Socks, shoes, jersey replaced with singlet, mesh hat and garmin. Porta-potty stop 2 for urination-I didn’t pee on the bike, but I was crushing water/perform like it was my job. I’m thinking the 6 salt sticks + sodium in perform made me retain water that I would have otherwise gotten rid of during the ride.
Run: Hope: sub 4:30, actual 4:49 (~11 minute miles average). I felt the heat once I got off my bike. I saw cheering squad 1 (wife, kids, mother in law and her boy friend) coming out of T2 and that lifted the spirits a bit. Going into the Ville, I knew that mental toughness is really my limiter on the run. I didn’t really care about what pace I ran, I just wanted to keep running (unlike my previous two IMs where I walked a good bit of the run). My initial plan for ~10 minute miles with 30 steps at aid stations held for a bit, but I soon realized that it was a bit much given the conditions and what my “toughness” was willing to give that day. I came up with a compromise to run at whatever pace I could hold for a half mile and then walk 30 steps. This typically meant I would have no more than around 5 minutes to run at any time before a mini-break. This worked for me this race and I was able to maintain this pattern for the majority of the race. As advertised, the run course is mainly flat. I was able to find some shade, especially later in the day as the sun was getting low. Nutrition was all liquid at this point, usually coke/perform per aid station. I did not want gels by this point. Miles 0-6 are always mentally tough for me, with such a big number still out there. Once I get into the teens, it gets progressively easier from a mental standpoint. Heat management: While I usually change into running shorts for the run, I kept tri-shorts on specifically to help with heat management this race. Pattern for each aid station: Grab 2 sponges and stuff 1 into the front of my shorts. Other one rinsed over the body and under the hat. Then two cups of ice, one of which follows the sponge into the shorts. Tri-shorts holds the ice in place until it melts. Then coke/perform as available/desired. Another cup of ice if available. Crush cup(s) of ice in hands and hold them as I pick up the run again. Eat ice, pour water on head between breaks. On in-between walk breaks, dump another cup of ice into shorts or into singlet pocket to keep cool. I followed this pattern the entire race up to (and including) the last aid station in town. Cheering squad 2 (wife’s best friend and her husband, both non-triathletes) were stationed near the university the entire run and really helped with the motivation mid-course. Given that they were not a). required to support due to familial bonds or b). fans of the sport but were willing to sit in that heat all afternoon and cheer me on, they really made me feel special. It was nice to have family/friends in separate spots on the run. That gave me something to look forward to (as well as keeping me honest in running). Also saw Coach P out on the run and he got after me to keep moving. Just what I needed at that point. The final mile seemed like the longest but I finally made it to 4th Street and through the finish line. After I got through the finish line, Coach P grabbed me and we chatted for a few. Then I linked up with the family and started the process of gathering gear and getting clean and home.
Lessons learned and what I want to focus on for the next OS and race season:
1. As I’ve learned with every iron distance race, I’ve got to work on my mental edge. I don’t think I’ve reached my potential with the run. From 20+ years of Marine life/exercise, I’m very good at taking myself to a “dark place” on shorter, more intense runs/workouts. However, as the distance lengthens, I find myself defaulting to an uncomfortable but not “this hurts” place. I need to find more opportunities to get there in training to prepare myself to do this in a race.
2. Swim: I’m joining a master’s swim group this fall. I’ve already talked to the team and am waiting on repairs to get done with the pool to join in. If I’m going to commit the type of time to IM that it requires (as opposed to spending that time with my family), then I want to at least give all three disciplines my honest effort
3. Heat Management: I’m in for IM Texas and Louisville for 2013. Both races are hot. I will definitely ensure I have training and execution tools in place to deal with hot temperatures.
4. Course / Venue knowledge: I really like the Louisville race. Coming into the race with knowledge about the time trial start, the Ohio River, bike course vehicular traffic, and heat, I felt I was prepared and able to mentally stay in my box. If you have issues with any of those course specific idiosyncrasies, pick another race. These conditions haven’t/probably won’t change.
Thanks to everyone in the Haus and RnP for all the support/advice/motivation during the year. I believe in what we do in EN and look forward to getting after it with the next out season.
Comments
Roy -- great race and report congrats!
Great race, Roy, a half hour + PR is a great step forward. Getting to know and be comfortable with one course ends up being a plus as you pursue continued improvement.
You have identified "mental toughness" as the most important limiter to an even better result. With a VDOT of 54, on a day that starts out at 85F and is somewhat humid, you should be able to put in a 4 hour marathon. Convincing yourself that you area able to do that is a key task for you. I'd offer these thoughts to get you there:
First, long training runs similar to the ones early in the EN IM build are helpful. That is, a run of 2+ hours which starts out with 20-30 minutes worth of intervals @ 10k/HM pace, and ending with 30 minutes @ MP can show you that your capable of gutting it out all the way.
Next, try the strategy out in an HIM, where you don't have as much on the line. Work the bike in the 82-84% IF range, and then run @ MP.
Finally, you need to make that run pace on the IM your "one thing". Unless you are fully committed to having that be the definition of a successful race for you, you won't have enough internal motivation to overcome your natural desire to "just finish".
@Al, thanks for the input. I'm definitely spending my down time thinking about the next OS and how to work on that particular aspect of my training.
Way to hang and get it done.
Thoughts from my own small experience in six ironmans. I dramatically increased my bike calories per hour these last two ironmans. The 2+ bottles of Perform + other calories. 185 pounds.
Still the typical not feeling great for the first 1-2 miles on the marathon until things settle in. However, after that, now feel great until miles 18-20.
So, am wondering why you are feeling no so great the whole marathon.
Nutrition? Lack of peeing definitely indicates under-hydration. Do consider going to all Perform hydration/nutrition.
Bike pacing and fitness? Must get compact crank. Get higher cadence?
Things you are probably already thinking about.