Josh Church: 2019 IMCHOO Race Report

Swim- 1:02:14

Swim fitness was ok, not great due to being out of town during the first taper week and I only swam one day that week. I wasn’t too worried as the current usually helps with overall time in the water. But to my suspicions, the Tennessee river was flowing much slower which added 8-10 mins to my estimated time. So no PR on the swim this year but it was a steady solid effort and I came out of the water fresh.

T1- 3:16

  Achieved my goal of being fastest in my AG. Simplicity is the only way this can be done. As soon as I grabbed my bag, I stuck my gels in my jersey, sunglasses held in my mouth, and put my helmet on all while running into the tent. Took off my swim skin, stuck it in the bag and tossed it to a volunteer in the tent. No volunteer help or I would have asked them to put the swim skin in my bag for me.

Bike- 5:23:09 http://tpks.ws/TZWNKUH7TD7NR3VK33LTXXURIY

Jogged out to mount line and hopped on to begin the bike. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast at the mounting line. It happens every year, the guy behind me mounted but was trying to get his feet in his shoe on the small incline and probably in the wrong gear as well. Just a few seconds after I passed him struggling, a loud crash and he was down 50-75 yards after the mount line. 

After topping the little hill I got my feet strapped in and easily navigated my way to the Georgia line. Well, minus a small hiccup of my chain dropping around mile 5, I just hopped off fix it and went on without stressing. The admin out of town is full of hazards like bottles launched due to railroad tracks, and some nasty pavement at times. I spent this time drinking to get ahead, relaxing to get my HR down, and reminding myself to play defense on the heat before I ever feel hot, thanks for the reminder @Gordon Cherwoniak . After passing the state line I found a steady cadence, stayed within my power plan and drank 3 bottles in my first hr of the bike. Every aid station was the same, fill-up aero bottle with remaining GE from down tube and cover myself in remaining water. Then toss trash, get water and rack it, get Gatorade and rack it, then either a bottle of GE to drink what I could then discard or water to dump on me then discard at final trash drop. This system worked great all day.  

I actually had a minimally congested bike all the way out to the Hog Jowl turn around, mile 32. The net downhill to Chickamauga was mentally/physically good, staying in my box and executing the course like a ninja. Nutrition continued to be spot on all day on the bike. At the start of my second loop I put my head down and rode the false flat strong. NP was 193 and VI 1.02 on this one hour segment to the hog jowl turn around. I rode this mostly by myself, only passing a hand full of people and I stayed cool by dumping water on me when I slowed for hills and when I was in the shade the wind and water cooled me even more. 

One of the toughest sections is from the sharp left hand turn around into Chickamauga then finally the righthand turn back into town. My first lap time on this section was 1:07:XX and my second lap was 1:08XX, so I was very happy to stay very consistent all day. There was a lot more rider traffic and way too many cars from what I encountered. But this really didn’t surprise me as I had seen this in previous years on the course. Slower riders would be followed my cars that were not passing which would cause me to slow down and lose momentum multiple times. Did my best to not get worked up about it but if you remove those times of slowing and speeding back up again I honestly feel that I could have saved another 3-5 mins on the bike. Maybe that’s too optimistic, either way it was very annoying. 

The last aid station before the right turn back to town was a cluster. Lots of athletes off their bike roaming around and volunteers distracted by them. All I was able to get was a bottle of cold water thankfully and I had a small amount of GE in my BTA bottle for the ride into town so it worked out ok. Only passed one person on the way back before the TN state line. It was a pro women so I thought, “I guess I’m in an ok spot to start the run.” Continued to cool with water and drink what GE I had left while cruising pretty leisurely into town. Feet out of shoes and did a quick dismount with a great bike handoff to the volunteer. 

T2- 2:04

Again so happy to have the fastest time in my AG. Free Speed and I was covered in water out of transition, a must all day! My bag was at the very end so I had time to mentally go through transition in my head before I got my bag. Held my go bag in my mouth and had shoes out before I got to a chair in the changing tent. Helmet off, volunteer put it in bag. Socks and shoes on and out I went.

Run- 4:01:27 http://tpks.ws/GGROAXHWRXBBUVEOZWHNSIREI4

I knew I was missing some durability this year but I also knew I had another year of training, including 2018 IMChoo, under my belt. I knew I had the tools and execution to have a decent run. Off the bike I felt normal, happy to be off that thing and on my feet. After getting through transition I got to the first hill and walked shortly in the shade to keep HR from getting out of control. Pretty quiet on my first loop, mostly people passing me and some I ended up catching later when they were walking between aid stations, ON FLAT SECTIONS, who does that? I might have went out a little hot, but my first 6 was 8:53 avg and final 20 was 9:26 avg. I don’t know if that’s a huge disparity but I would have liked a tighter range. I managed to put out a respectable split with a first 13.1 of 1:59:02 and 2:03:13 on the back half. 

Took my time at the first few aid stations getting plenty of ice, DON'T RACE WITHOUT THE RACE SAVER BAG, and GE. Gels at mile 2, 4, and 6. Sadly this is where I stopped gels, I should have kept taking them but Coach P came to the rescue telling me to eat a banana and coke that really helped my push through the last 6 miles. THIS was one of those lessons from the race, I cannot rely on GE alone after mile 6. I ignorantly thought in previous years, “ I can’t handle food after mile 6 just lots of GE and then Coke around mile 18-20.” This was the most comfortable “stomach situation” I have had from mile 18 to 26 in previous races. Usually I drink too much and get stomach cramps/side stitch from what I think is so much fluid and little slushy stomach. No painful side stitch this year, just pain-filled legs.

Uneventful first lap, talked to Matt Russell for 30 seconds as he passed me at mile 6, his mile 17. Then came Barton at mile 8.5-8.6, I just stayed steady were I could walked 20-30 steps on the first lap. Coach P said, “ If you need to walk some of Barton early to be able to run it later in the day do that” and I did just that. 

My “LINE” was so early, mile 13-14. I almost expected this from my lack of running through the month of July/August, but I still thought I could hold of that feeling until mile 15 but not quite. The wheels didn’t fall off or anything dramatic my legs just felt so heavy, I had energy and mentally I was good, I just realized how uncomfortable the rest of the day would be. I had nothing in reserve, no kick or special boost I was saving for later so I kept what felt like a steady effort and fought the desire to walk for too long at aid stations. 11:36 up frontside of Barton, 10:04 up backside of Barton, then dashing down and through the North Shore main strip to the pedestrian bridge. The big blue pedestrian bridge is always a beast on the last lap it slowed me to 9:07 from 8:39. By the time I reached the other side Coach P, Rich and Jeremy were there yelling go and I was responding, “I CANT, IM TINGLING EVERYWHERE!” LOL. I was answered with, “ Get a banana at the finish line” and I did, only after escaping the medical tent holding me hostage, no medical was needed just Coke and Banana.  

So yes I had a great race 7th AG, 49th Overall. My time splits were not my fastest and I have yet to break 4 hours on the marathon but sometimes you race the day your given and that was about my limit for that day. A huge thank you to @Coach Patrick @Rich Stanbaugh and @Jeremy Behler for the encouragement on course. My wife, parents and in-laws in full support leading up to the race and thankfully got to see all the work pay off on race day. Congrats to all my teammates who raced with me. 

I love Chattanooga you never know what she will throw at you!