Sid Wavrin IMAZ Race Report
This was my first time racing in Tempe. Kelly and I flew in on Thursday with easy travel. We ran into @Al Truscott at the airport in Seattle. Always great to see Al. Things were getting off to a good start. We stayed in an Air BNB that was 12 blocks south of the race sight. This always works well for us due to extra space and the ability to handle some meals in the house. I started to cross paths with other EN folks as I did registration and the other requisite things to prepare. The fact that so many of us were here was exciting. Some of us met for a ride on the course Friday morning and a really fun dinner on Friday night. Again, so awesome to meet up up with people I feel like I know so well but have never met in person and reunite with those I have met before. I decided to skip the practice swim on Saturday as I was feeling rushed and the water in Tempe Town Lake does not exactly lure you in. I had not been in open water since early Oct., so I wondered if this was the right decision but it worked out fine. Better to take the time to rest rather than rush to another event with a time restriction. Bike check in took a while due to a very long line. Low key afternoon, early to bed, Ready for race day.
Swim: Arrived when transition opened. Really do not like to feel rushed. Got the bike prepped with nutrition, pumped tires etc. Again all the EN folks were racked together. So awesome. No one is real chatty on the morning of a race, but so great to feel the energy and be among the people I think of as legends on this team. I met Kelly outside of transition and walked to the swim start. Waiting patiently to support his team we found @Nam Lam at the swim start. Another awesome boost. I lined up around 1:10 and waited, standing in other peoples pee for the day to start. Soon enough it was my turn to enter the water. The water was cold, but I felt very good getting started and just plugged away taking it pretty easy as the darkness lifted and the yards ticked away. I usually really enjoy the swim and that would be the case here. There was some contact but nothing out of the ordinary. My swim time was 1:11:xx which is right in line with expectation. 28th Age group
T1: There is a really long run from swim exit to the tent. It is what is. everyone has to do it. Strippers at the exit. I used them and carried my wetsuit for the .4 mile run. I really was not affected by the cold. Got to the tent and decided to add the EN Catstelli jersey over my kit and put on arm warmers. I had really great help from a volunteer. With the long run up and the extra time with cloths the transition was long. 11:10. That is the longest transition ever by far.
Bike: The bike is a bit sketchy getting started. There is a really long narrow chute and some admin stuff before you get rolling. I felt great to get out of there with no issue. The course is three equal loops with a climb out (nothing huge) where there is a headwind and descent back with a tail wind. I feel like the wind was strongest on the first loop. A pretty good headwind. Again, nothing crazy. I had a hard time on this loop producing my power numbers. I didn't feel poor, I just was working to maintain what I knew what I could do. The course was really crowded right from the start for me. I won't take the time for detail, but I was a issued a penalty card on the way out on this loop. No question I was drafting but it would have really hard to avoid. She could have issued cards to 100s of cyclists. 12 bikes in the penalty tent when I checked in. Move on. The trip back after that was really fast with the downhill tailwind. Starting the second loop my power numbers felt totally opposite of the first. Seemed really easy to hold the numbers. Just cruised through the loop concentrating on getting in my nutrition and staying aero. When I made the turn for my third loop I had a stretch where I felt off. A little dizzy and week.I Did all the things that made sense to me at the time. Drink, eat, back off a little. The feeling faded and the third loop was actually really fun although still really crowded. It was almost impossible to ride clean and given the fact that I was carrying one penalty I tried really hard not be in the draft. On the return for the third loop I backed off slightly on power staying aero and was still able to ride fast on the to return to town for T2. Once again Kelly and @Nam Lam were in the the perfect spots for this entire ride to keep us all motivated. I dismounted leaving shoes on the bike to enter T2 ready for the run. Bike time 5:46. 36th age group. http://home.trainingpeaks.com/athlete/workout/W5W6RKRUVGWEBEWTDHKNP7E7PI
T2: Uneventful. Removed extra jersey and arm warmers. Grabbed go bag. Once again great help from a volunteer. 2:20.
Run: I felt like my running legs were with me when I started this run. I really concentrated on RPE trying to run easy for the first few miles. My HR was good every time I checked. There is two out and backs on each loop of a two loop run course here. One on each side of the "lake". The first side has many spectators including the EN tent which was populated with EN folks, including Kelly, and @Kori Martini (Retzbach) and some of her Betty Squad friends. Massive boost right when you need it. You then cross a bridge to the other side which is a little less populated with people. No surprise here the first loop felt pretty good. I have to really push myself on the run to force nutrition of any sort. This is an area I wish I could improve. I did what I could taking water and GE at the aid stations. I also had a Hoppy Trails Gu with me that down went pretty good. No surprise once again the second lap was beginning to get much harder. The miles just started to come a little slower. At mile 16 I had no choice but to visit a porta potty. The mile splits went from a low of 9:01 to high of of 10:36 (excluding potty). So I didn't blow up, but I know I can run a better marathon. This will be a focus on the next one. Still need to start a little slower. The last three miles seems to take forever on this course but by this point you know the finish line is the thing that will end this. So push to the end I did. I have not met @Kori Martini (Retzbach) before she caught me at the finish but it was so great to have her introduce herself and feel the connection we have through this team and her supportive presence was such a welcome gift. This ended my race for the day with run of 4:16 and finish time 11:28:29. 17th age group for 19th overall. This is a PR Ironman for me by about 34 minutes. Cannot complain. I always have a pretty rough time for about 30 minutes when I finish. This was no exception. Sat OUTSIDE the medical tent for a pretty long time gathering myself and staring into a puke bag. Vowed that I would not enter the medical tent. After 30 minutes or so things cleared up. Kelly who always supports me through these things was there with some warm clothes and her ever positive self to get me gathered up and collected to head back to clean up and get ready foe Pizza and beer with some of the team. So much fun! Great way to celebrate an amazing weekend. http://home.trainingpeaks.com/athlete/workout/RPJHAIO6ZKA25EWTDHKNP7E7PI
Closing thoughts: This team is amazing! If you have chance to do a key race or a any race with Team EN members, do it. Seek them out. Draw from the energy and experience. Thank you to @Brian Hagan, @Ken Mclaughlin, @Shaughn Simmons, @Al Truscott, @robin sarner,@Jeff Phillips @tim cronk @Rich Stanbaugh and everyone else who puts their stuff out there and keeps us all motivated to keep working. Many who did not race here provided huge support to training also. Virtually training with you all has been a huge help. Meeting you in person is icing on the cake. Thanks to @Nam Lam and @Kori Martini @Nam Lam for showing up and supporting us all weekend. @Coach Patrick thanks for all the support. So great to see you locked in and killing it on the run! Huge thanks to Kelly Wavrin. My number one fan and training partner. Could not come close to doing this without her unrelenting support. Cliche as it sounds I am truly grateful every day I get to train and race. Standing at the start of an IM race is a privilege not to be taken for granted. That bis not to mention the finish. Time to take what I've learned here forward to IMSG. Can't wait.
Comments
Congrats on your pr. Thx for the words of encouragements when u flew by me on the run.
Sounds like a really well executed race to me @Sid Wavrin ! Big congrats on a huge PR!! Well done! Rest up !
@Sid Wavrin It was nice to see you again and share the IMAZ course. Was 2 years ago we met in the Windy Kohala's :-) That was crazy, I was crewing UMHC for Simon who actually did IMAZ this year and flew to KONA to crew for UMHC , and out of nowhere is this EN guy on the course. Great race. Congrats on your huge PR. Your pace spread on the marathon of only 1.5 minutes is solid. Don't worry about that penalty, I've had 2 and both of them I couldn't even tell you what I did wrong, I had a very long conversation with Jimmy Riccitello (IM head ref) on a flight to KONA about my opinion of its mathematically impossible NOT to draft, and he assured me they completely ignore drafting at the beginning of any race and then only focus on the blatant wheel suckers where there is absolutely no doubt as to the intention of the rider. But somehow this does not translate to all the refs on the course. Great day Happy for YOU!
@Sid Wavrin Of course it was great seeing you again, building our cross-Cascade friendship. And meeting Kelly was a bonus! It's obvious she's good at keeping you honest in both work and play.
Keep on moving forward with your Ironman career. You've figured out how to integrate the training into your work life, which I think is the number one limiter for those in their 50's. You have a solid swim as a foundation. You have an opportunity to continue improvement in your bike strength this winter, don't slack on that. Rides of 2-2.5 hours at HIM pace once a week coupled with sharp, shorter (35-55') Zwift races will do the trick. And the run execution as you note can be improved. That's the hardest nut to crack in my experience, because the only time you really get to practice it is during an Ironman. It's well nigh impossible to replicate how your body functions (or fails to) during the final 10-12 miles of an IM without actually doing the 130 miles which precede them. It wasn't until my 6th IM that I felt I finally did it right (even split), and that's not from lack of knowing what or how to do it, just being able to actually execute all the pacing and nutrition nuances. Even after that, it wasn't until IM run # 15 that I set my run leg PR, ten years in...
Your transitions were STELLER! Looks like we all could take lessons.
Very nice work.
Good to be there with you.
i look forward to you getting even more speedy.
maybe see you in st. George.
@Sid Wavrin Awesome race report and congratulations on a great race day. You executed well across the day and it was a huge mental boost for me to see you on the bike course a few times.
Looking at your run data, do you think you started the marathon a little hot? Your HR the last hour on the bike dropped from high 130s all the way down to high 120s as you eased off the gas some, but you started the run in the high 130s and then crept into the 140s ~25-30 min in. It looks like you kept your HR there until the second loop where you started to fade a little, as you described above. Just my two cents.
It was great to meet you and Kelly over dinner and then see you something like 20x over the course of race week. I figured if Sid and Kelly are outside doing something and I see them, then I must be doing something right!😁
Enjoy some down time and good luck with your build into IMSG. I look forward to following your training and watching you continue to improve.
Congratulations on your race and an awesome PR. Looking forward to Zwift rides and watching you smash IMSG.
@Sid Wavrin super congratulations on both the PR and the 4:16 marathon bro! Those are strong numbers in my book!
I had the 2:00 penalty in 2014 IMTX and had no idea how to avoid it in the situation but honestly, 2 minutes on an 11+ hour day is nothing.
I have been fortunate to avoid any penalties in the other 9 IMs.
You will make our team strong for the IMSG battle to come next May. Rest, absorb, comprehend and meet me very soon in the OS!
Congratulations Ironman!
Sid, congrats on a PR and look foreword to training and racing with you again in IMSG.