Scott Imlay's IM Canada 2019 Race Report
Main Goal: Beat my previous IM time (15:45 at IM Boulder 2018)
My first attempt at full IRONMAN distance, 2016 IM CdA, ended in a DNF after I badly messed up my nutrition on the bike. Last year I finished in 15:45 in a very hot IM Boulder, so that was a big improvement. This year I wanted to improve on that time.
Execution Goals
- Finish the race!
- Follow the nutrition plan – especially on the bike!
- Maintain a steady pace/power
- Stay in my box
Race Conditions
The weather was perfect! The high temperatures were in the low to mid 70's and it was partially cloudy. There was essentially no wind in the morning and light winds in the afternoon.
Swim (1:41)
I tried to seed myself in the 1:30-1:40 group. Overall the swim was really nice. If anything, the scenery was a bit distracting and I found myself not paying enough attention to my technique. Because of my daughter's illness I didn't swim as much this year and I knew that my time might be a little slower. My time was 1:41, 4 minutes slower than my 1:37 swim time last year.
T1 (18:51)
T1 was a bit of a dumpster fire. The tent was very crowded and my fingers were so cold I had trouble opening the bag and putting on my arm warmers, gloves, etc. Even though the high was in the mid-70's, the temperature as we finished the swim was in the low 50's. I was cold! I shoved some zip-lock bags down my jersey for little extra insulation and ran to the bike.
At the bike I noticed something didn't look right. The gears didn't seem to be were I left them. I ran it through the gears to make sure everything was OK and I couldn't get it into the big chain ring. I played around a bit with the front derailleur until it seemed to work and took off. I'm not sure what happened - I know it was OK when I racked it Saturday afternoon. Perhaps someone bumped it.
Bike (7:29)
My FTP at sea level is 200 Watts. I was shooting for 70% of FTP so my plan was to maintain between 135W and 145W.
I still had trouble getting it to shift into the big chain ring. I always managed to get it there, but sometimes it took 15 to 20 seconds.
My nutrition strategy and power plan worked OK. I consumed a bottle of Nuun hydration and a gel per hour (7 bottles total) and I held a normalized power of 141W. By the second climb up Callaghan I was really getting tired, but managed to complete the bike feeling pretty good.
My biggest scare on the bike was when some jerk swerved toward me as I passed him. He had his cell phone out and appeared to be texting. Perhaps they need to reinstate the ban on cell phones!
My time on the bike was 7:29, 18 minutes longer than in Boulder. Honestly I was happy with this result. The climbs were brutal!
T2 (7:45)
T2 went pretty smoothly.
Run (6:00)
I’ve been fighting a periodic runners-knee issue for the last 2 months, so I was planning to use a run-walk strategy to lower the stress on my legs. Specifically, I was planning to do a 9/1 run/walk based on repetitions of 3’ of running followed by 20” of walking.
As I headed out I felt a bid dehydrated but otherwise pretty good. My run/walk strategy worked well the first few miles but things started to go bad toward the end of the first loop. Unfortunately, I was so nauseated that I couldn’t keep any fluids down and my dehydration continued to get worse. They were providing Base Performance Hydration at the aid stations and that stuff make me gag at the best of times. I didn't feel I had any choice at this point, so I continued taking in liquids until they started coming back up.
By the second loop of the run my situation had gotten really bad. I was basically in survival mode. I couldn’t keep anything down, I was getting wobbly, and I was now doing more of a 1-to-1 run-walk. What finally saved me was the chicken broth. I still felt nauseated, but I managed to keep the broth down.
This is very similar to what happened to be me Boulder, but it wasn't hot this time. I need to figure this out!.
I finished the run in 6:00:29, 36 minutes better than my 6:36 "run" in Boulder.
My total time for the IRONMAN was 15:37, a 14 minute PB over the15:54 at IM Boulder. So I achieved my stated goal, but I would have been more satisfied if the run had gone better.
Lessons Learned
- I need to solve the hydration problem on the run (probably starts on the bike). Based on 1/2 IM and 1/2 Marathon times I feel I should run the marathon portion of the IM in well under 5 hours. This is were I feel I can make my biggest gains in future IRONMANs.
- There is also a lot of room for improvement on the bike. The top 10 in my age group mostly finished the bike near 6 hours, 1.5 hours faster than me. My bike power has been slowly increasing over the years, but not as fast as I would like. I could really have used more power on some of the hills. I had to push into high zone 3 or low zone 4 on the two steepest hills.
Comments
@Scott Imlay First off, Massive respect for getting back on the saddle and attacking the IM puzzle...AND getting a PR on what is surely a much slower course than Boulder, especially the bike.
Now, my diagnosis on the run? I'm thinking the seeds were laid with your bike plan and execution. An IF of 0.7 (your FTP is 200?) was WAY too ambitious, IMO. E.g., my FTP is 210, and I was racing in May on an equally hilly course (5300' in 68 miles)) @ an NP of 137, IF 0.646. And I was barely able to hang on over the FLAT run course. Then, @ IM Boulder this year, I went 6:28 @ an NP of 126. I think this is the NUMBER ONE area in which you can improve your race-day performance next time - EASIER ON THE BIKE!!!
Number two, I know you're not that big (same size as me, basically), but still, 7 bottles in 7.5 hours might not be enough fluids going into the run.
By the time you got out onto the run course, your fate was already sealed...
You can probably get back 45-60' on the run by going easier on the bike. At Penticton, eg, you may be able to go 7:30 there at an IF of 0.65, then run 5:15 no problem. More Zwifting this winter, getting your FTP up 10-15 points, and you might find another 15-20 minutes on the bike as well.
BTW, I'll be @ Lake Meridian and Bonney Lake for sure, and maybe Lake Stevens.
@Al Truscott Thank you!
I hadn't thought about lowering my IF. I thought the EN guidance was IF=0.7 for > 6hrs, but I just looked it up again and it's actually 0.67-0.69 for >6hrs. In any case, I'm WAY over 6hrs so it makes sense to drop IF a little further. I'll take your advice and use a lower IF at IMSG next spring!
I definitely agree with you on the hydration. I'm still trying to figure out the IM fluids. Last year, in Boulder, I did nearly 2 bottles per hour. Whistler wasn't nearly as warm so I thought I could get away with less. It was a bad decision, and I realized that once I was on the run. I tried to recover, but I don't tolerate the BASE Performance hydration very well. I either need to work on tolerating the BASE or find a way to carry my own electrolytes (I like Nuun).
I'll be at Lake Meridian (Oly) and Black Diamond (Half). I haven't decided on Bonney Lake or Lake Stevens yet.
I'll like to pick your brain some more. Maybe we can talk while they slowly work their way through the raffle at Lk Meridian!
@Scott Imlay Congratulations on a PR finish after a very difficult year. That Whistler bike course eats it's it young, so your ride probably took a toll in many ways. A course like that makes a perplexing puzzle even more difficult to crack. You should be really happy with your finish given the problems you were presented with. So glad you are going to be at IMSG taking on the next beast. See you on Zwift!
Thanks for posting your race report, I agree with what Al Truscott mentioned above. Your bike if it was too high, and your hydration execution was too low. One bottle an hour on race day is insufficient, mainly because you have just come out of swimming for one hour and 40 minutes. Even though you were told during that time, that was 100 minutes of exercise during which Your body was sweating and losing fluids.
I don’t know what types of electrolytes the noon product has, but if you recall our target is to get in approximately 1000 mg of sodium per hour through fluid and food. You can do the math to see how your nutrition choices stacked up, that would be a good place to start.
The reason why they got to go south on the run is because you were so dehydrated from the bike you need to drink more but it’s impossible to drink and run.
One easy way to test us is to weigh yourself before and after your long rides and Training to see if, in fact, you are meeting your fluid needs or if you are behind.
Thanks for the advice coach!
The Nuun Hydration product has 500mg of sodium per 24oz bottle (roughly the same as GE). It's the same stuff Mariah discussed in a recent podcast. I was able to consume 2 bottles per hour of the Nuun Hydration at Boulder last year, so I just messed up my plan this year.
I've done the sweat test before. I'll go back to my notes and see what the numbers were. My memory is that I sweat less than average. Of course, I'm doing this test in the Pacific NW were it's relatively cool.