Prerace Prep
· Nutrition
o Night before – pasta dinner with some protein (wanted
chicken but ate beef) and finished before 4 PM. During evening sipped on Gatorade and Chex Mix (very little
fiber);
o 4 AM – One bottle of Ensure, one bagel with peanut
butter, banana, dark chocolate, one cup coffee, regular vitamins (multi, fish
oil, zinc/magnesium/calcium/D supplement, B-100). Intended to drink another bottle of Ensure but was very
full.
Swim
Plan –
· Pacing – The plan here was to survive the
swim. In fact, before IMMT,
I had never swum the full 2.4 mile distance in open water without
stopping. However, I had followed
a training plan and was regularly swimming 2.1 miles leading up to the race, so
I should have felt
somewhat confident on race. I thought I’d finish the swim anywhere from 1:30 to
1:45.
· Nutrtion
o Pre-swim @ about 6:30 – One bottle of Gatorade and
one Roctane gel
Execution
Because the water was
under 76.1 degrees on race day (72, I think), this was a wetsuit legal swim
which is good for me since the wetsuit helps with buoyancy and good body
position in the water. I’m always
faster with a wetsuit on.
Time: 1:26:20
Pace: 2:03/100 yards
I need to find something
else other than Gatorade for pre-swim.
It doesn’t sit well in my stomach and comes back up while swimming.
Analysis
I was faster in the swim
than I thought I would be by 5 – 20 minutes, so that was a nice surprise . . .
however, despite the result and doing all swim workouts in the two months
leading up to IMMT, I was very nervous about the swim. My concerns:
· Beach start
· 2500 athletes getting into the water at the same
time
· The likelihood of being swum over, kicked and/or
hit during the swim which has often been my experience during local triathlons.
The
concern was evident in my face just before the race, I guess, because Stephanie
and Ryan both noticed before the start asking me what was wrong. In my mind, I was thinking “Why the
hell did I sign up for this? I
could die out here!” Ryan tried to
console with me with a quote he often thinks about during basketball:
“Confidence is that little voice in your head that says you belong.” I knew I’d be fine once I got in the
water. Once I did get out there,
my nerves calmed and, through reassuring self-talk, I resolved to get through
the swim alive and ready to bike even if it took me two hours……just kept
saying, “You will do this.” The
swim was the shortest event but the most grueling for me.
Bike
Plan
· Pacing
o Ride at high zone 1 heart rate or low zone 2 until
mile 80; at that point push to mid/high zone 2 if feeling good.
o HR Zones
§ 1 – 106 to 129
§ 2 – 130 to 143
§ 3 – 144 to 150
o Given my training, I thought I’d finish around 6
hours provided nutrition worked and no flats/mechaical issues.
· Nutrtion –
o 2 x Hammer
Perpetuem – 6 scoops in each bottle with water: 1620 calories total; 324 carbs total; 1320 mg sodium total
o Clif Bars – 2 bars, 440 calories total; 84 carbs
total; sodium 400 mg total
o Roctane – 1 pack: 100 calories total; 25 carbs
total; sodium 125 mg total
o Clif Blocks – 100 calories, 25 carbs, 125 sodium
o SaltSticks –
5 capsules, 1075 mg sodium plus other electrolytes
o Peanut M&Ms – 200 calories, 25 carbs, sodium 20
mg
o Water – 10 bottles of water but didn’t drink all of
it……just replaced the bottle at each aid station. In total I estimate I took in
o Totals:
2460 calories, 483 carbs, 1990 mg sodium
o Average:
about 394 calories and 77 carbs per hour . . . goal was 350 calories
and 80-100 carbs per hour
Execution
· Average speed: 17.47 mph
· Normalized Power: 164 watts
· Average Power: 131 watts
· Average HR:
133
· Elevation gain: 8320 feet
· Training
Stress Score: 422
Analysis
So HR was a bit high based
on plan, calories taken in were somewhat excessive and carbs were a bit
low. That said, those data points
were in the ballpark of what was planned.
Truthfully the M&Ms were probably the issue with high calories and
relatively low carbs.
I was pretty excited after
getting through the swim, so I likely rode to hard in the first 20 miles of the
bike. I didn’t decide to really
slow things down in terms of HR until the second loop of the bike. It helped a lot to see Bruce Geffen on
the bike course and to pick up an important tidbit of advice I headed all day
long: “There are going to be times
when you feel bad and times when you feel great. When you feel bad, stick to your
pacing and nutrition plan as much as you can. When you feel good, don’t push harder. It will come back to bite you later.”
If I were to do it all
over again, I would have pulled back on the HR during the first lap of the
bike. This would have pulled the
speed back a bit, but it may have helped to settle my stomach a bit.
Run
Plan
· Pacing– Run at mid to high zone 2 until mile
18. If feeling good at that point,
run at whatever pace feels good.
o HR Zones
§ 1 – 106 to 129
§ 2 – 130 to 143
§ 3 – 144 to 150
o This was a complete unknown for me. Given my training, I thought I was
capable of finishing anywhere from 4 to 4:30, but so much can happen during IM
I just wasn’t sure what to expect.
· Nutrtion –
o Flat Coke – drink one cup at every mile aid station
o SaltSticks – 1 capsule per hour 5 capsules
Execution
· Total Time:
4:22:08
· Pacing – 9:58/mile
· Average HR:
138
· Training
Stress Score: 272
Analysis
My stomach began cramping
as soon as I got off the bike and the first two miles were a point where I
wondered if this was going to be more of a walk than a run. Then I remembered Steve McLean’s advice
to keep taking Saltsticks to prevent cramping. I took one 24 minutes into the run and began to feel
better. I took a second caplet 48
minutes into the run consistently took in flat Coke as often as I could along
with water. Saltsticks were an important
key to the day’s success.
It was a solid run
overall. Pulling off a 4 to 4:30 marathon at the end of IM is no small feat in
my opinion. I thought it would be
somewhat likely I would need to walk some of this, but I didn’t. I didn’t push the run whatsoever. My goal was to keep running as long as
possible which is exactly what I did the whole time. I only stopped to walk at the aid stations so that I could
down my flat Coke! It was a great
way to end the day!
Most of the
planning reflected in my IMMT race report was gleaned from:
· Knowledge shared from several
training partners/consultants including Jenny Birmelin, Dave Chomet, Bruce
Geffen, Ryan Karr, Stephanie Karr, Cheri McLean, Scott McLean, Steve McLean,
Dean Meyer, Mark Morawski, Josh Plavnick, Zach Shemon, Chip Thomas, and a
couple others who I trained with a couple years ago. I appreciate all of their help.
· Regularly listening to podcasts by
Ben Greenfield, Zen Tri, and Training Bible Coaching podcasts.
· Several books including Racing Weight
and Going Long.
· Websites including Slowtwitch.com, Beginner Triathlete, RunTri.com, TrainingPeaks.com
Thanks
· First, foremost, and most of all to Stephanie and
Ryan for their support in my endeavor. Training for and running an Ironman is a
family event, and they were interested and supportive all the way along. Couldn’t and wouldn’t have done it
without them. I love you both very
much.
· My extended family . . . thanks for your
encouragement and support.
· Each person listed above for their help, interest,
assistance, and fun-loving ways.
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