Wow, what a race course... Going into this race I had high expectations, but also a very realistic set of expectations that finishing was the ultimate goal. My training numbers had me feeling good that if all the stars aligned, I could and should be sub-11. As with any race, you deal with challenges and unexpected obstacles and this race presented plenty of them.
Taper:
I had a challenging taper period as I started a new job right as my training was slowing down. This lead to an almost complete drop off in my training (the run in particular). I went from running 30+ miles (peaks into the 40's) down to 5-8 miles a week the 3 weeks before. I have a strong feeling this is part of the reason my foot issues mentioned later flaired up on race day. I should have stayed ahead of this, but sometime life gets in the way.
Pre-Race:
Being my first IM, there was a lot of nervous energy so I hadn't slept well for the few days prior. Woke up at 4 am, had a bowl of oatmeal, bottle of pertetuem and pack of black cherry shotblocks (caffeine) which totaled about 600-800 calories. Walking down to the shuttles with my brother and heading over to the swim start the energy of the morning just kept building. It was great to have him around since he was a 6 time Penticton guy coming out of "retirement" to join me. He kept my head in the game to start the morning. Once arriving at the swim course and ensuring there wouldn't be any surprises in the wetsuit on the swim, I headed over to the bike and started getting it set up. I had planned to cover my cockpit and saddle the day before but forgot bags, so I used my t-shirt to wipe everything down. After the bike was dry enough I put my bottles (2x pertepuem concentrate approx. 1140 calories) on the bike and set my 4x shot blocks down on the ground to pump my tires (mistake 1, but resolved when I got back to my bike after the swim). Tires pumped and walked over to get my wetsuit on. As I finished all that I chatted with a couple of the guys in our group who mixed from first timers to KQ guys and then headed out to the water as the pro men started.
Swim: 1:16:38 OA: 731, Men: 558, AG: 95th
I've heard mixed reviews on the swim. A few of my buddies were are ex-D1 swimmers said it seemed a little long. I've seen others say it was short. My 910 said 2.7 miles when reviewing it after the race and looks fairly straight in terms of course. It definitely doesn't look jagged enough to have a full .3 miles extra. That being said, I also went out a bit harder then I would have liked, but not so much that I would have thought a 1:16. When my watch said 1.2 miles I was around the 33-34 minute mark. Right after the first lap, I realized I hadn't put my shot blocks on my bike, which stressed me out a bit. I knew my swim was going to be a bit slow (predicted 1:08-1:12) since the one place I had neglected in my training was my swim. The last two years I've swam a 32 and 33 respectively at Lake Stevens on similar volume of swimming. I was confident the few minutes I lost in the swim would be made up in the significant bike and run mileage increases I had.
T1: 4:50
I planned my T1 to be as simple as possible and it really was apart from the minor mistake I made pre-race of not putting my shot blocks in my bento box. My wetsuit was off quick thanks to the "peelers" (I still prefer the term strippers but I think WTC is trying to get away from that). I didn't have the normal slight vertigo that I get after a long swim and actually moved pretty well through the pack. I got my helmet, glasses, socks and shoes on and ran to my bike. Luckily the shot blocks were sitting in a plastic bag right by my front wheels so I grabbed them and put them in the bento box. Probably cost me 60 seconds and I took my time ensuring they were in there well.
Bike: 5:50:19 OA: 294, Men: 260, AG: 51
This is where I had planned to put some solid effort in. I had done significantly more riding this year and picked up a new Speed Concept. With a solid performance on the bike I felt confident that I could have easily ridden a 5:25-5:35 if things went well. About 5-7 miles into the ride, my right hip started to tighten up. Again I attribute this partially to the massive drop off during my taper. Not ideal, so I reset my expectations early and figured I'd back off the watts a little bit to keep things strong later in the day. Apart from the hip tightening up, things felt pretty good and was moving past a lot of people. By the halfway point I had moved up to 45 in my AG looking at the tracker and things were looking solid as I was just cruising by people on the Pemberton Flats, even at a lower watt number than I was initially targeting. Right after the turn around at the end of the Flats, I got just that... I glanced down and noticed a shimmer a few feet in front of me but couldn't avoid it quickly enough. Pulled over quickly and got to work on changing the front tire, meanwhile watched a number of larger packs just roll by. Many were riding clean out here but definitely still some large packs rolling through. After inspecting the tire (brand new Conti GP4000sII) there was a small sidewall tear so I wanted to make sure it would hold up the rest of the ride. Because I didn't have any gu packs, I ate an entire package of shot blocks and shoved the wrapper in the tire to keep the tube from pushing out of the sidewall. Got everything back situated and only about 4-5 minutes to change the tire (could have been faster but eating the shot blocks slowed me down a bit). What slowed me down a bit more was the fact that the tape ensuring my speedbox stayed closed was now crumpled up and I had to try and get it to work, but did have to stop 2 other times to resecure it before the end of the bike. Once I got back on the bike I slowly started working my way back through people. I had dropped about 50 slots overall and 11 in my AG between mile 58 and 91 due to the flat and ensuing issues, but heading up back from Pemberton I took much of that back. The only other real issue that came up was my 510 on my bike stopped reading my power numbers shortly after heading back to Whistler from Pemberton so I had to ride by feel. At the top of the last climb my legs started to cramp a bit which I attribute to simply being flustered on my ride and off on nutrition (needed more sodium) with the higher then expected temperature
T2: 5:03
I took a little more time in T2 because of the cramping and the decision made to change out of my PI Octane suit into shorts and a tri top for the run (which meant more sunscreen as well). At this point I knew sub 11 wasn't in the cards, so I figured I would be happier being comfortable on the run. I drank some water and took a salt tab before exiting T2 at what seemed like a pretty manageable pace.
Run: 4:23:50 OA: 291, Men: 247, AG: 50
My feet had started to bother me on the bike a bit, but nothing that was too bad yet. I have dealt with Morton's Neuroma for the last 3 years including cortisone shots alcohol injections. Over the last 7 months I put in pretty solid mileage (30-40mpw average) with limited issues or pain. My first 4 miles on the run, I was rolling at slightly slower then a 9min/m pace which was right were I wanted to be. Mile 5-6 my right foot started to flair up and I dropped to just under 10min/m pace. This was mostly because of a shooting pain in my right foot. Mile 7-13 is where I was basically debilitated and had to talk large chunks of the run because my foot hurt so bad, I could barely put any weight on it. Looking at the numbers, there are about 15 minutes worth of time over 10 minute miles in this section that I can directly attribute to my right foot. Once the foot issues had popped up I decided to make sure I always had a smile on my face despite the pain. There were some great sections of the course with parties going on. I would run/jog through those trying to get the crowd fired up which helped. At mile 13 a friend of mine pulled up next to me and we chatted for a minute. He had some GI issues on the end of the bike and parts of the run, but was pushing through. After a few words of encouragement, I had set a plan to push through and make sure I went sub-12. My split at the half way point was around 2:21. For the last 13, I pushed through the pain, keeping my pace in the 9's apart from a few sections were I was in the mid-10's with massive pain in my foot to the point where I was practically in tears on the course. I wrapped up the last 13ish miles around a 2:02 pace which is close to what I wanted to run for both.
Post race thoughts:
While I didn't hit my goal of sub-11, it was definitely an amazing experience. There were so many challenges (large and small) through the race that were thrown my way that I can't complain with my time. Between the slightly slower then expected swim, the flat, speedbox issues and powermeter going out on the bike and the major foot issues on the run, the race taught me a lot about overcoming the unexpected. Even with my high expectations for the day, I knew deep down the most important thing was finishing with a smile. Below is the post I made on FB after the race. It really sums up how I felt about everything quite well... Also special thanks to all the volunteers and other participants who battled out there on Sunday...
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Completely humbled by such an amazing experience. It is such an honor to share the course with approximately 1900 other awesome athletes. While today presented some definite challenges including a tough swim, flat tire and my foot injuries flairing up to the point that I could barely put weight on them, I powered through and am so happy with my time. The outpouring of support from family, friends and total strangers choked me up at several times in the race. This experience changes people, and I'm privileged to have been a part of today.
Taper:
I had a challenging taper period as I started a new job right as my training was slowing down. This lead to an almost complete drop off in my training (the run in particular). I went from running 30+ miles (peaks into the 40's) down to 5-8 miles a week the 3 weeks before. I have a strong feeling this is part of the reason my foot issues mentioned later flaired up on race day. I should have stayed ahead of this, but sometime life gets in the way.
Pre-Race:
Being my first IM, there was a lot of nervous energy so I hadn't slept well for the few days prior. Woke up at 4 am, had a bowl of oatmeal, bottle of pertetuem and pack of black cherry shotblocks (caffeine) which totaled about 600-800 calories. Walking down to the shuttles with my brother and heading over to the swim start the energy of the morning just kept building. It was great to have him around since he was a 6 time Penticton guy coming out of "retirement" to join me. He kept my head in the game to start the morning. Once arriving at the swim course and ensuring there wouldn't be any surprises in the wetsuit on the swim, I headed over to the bike and started getting it set up. I had planned to cover my cockpit and saddle the day before but forgot bags, so I used my t-shirt to wipe everything down. After the bike was dry enough I put my bottles (2x pertepuem concentrate approx. 1140 calories) on the bike and set my 4x shot blocks down on the ground to pump my tires (mistake 1, but resolved when I got back to my bike after the swim). Tires pumped and walked over to get my wetsuit on. As I finished all that I chatted with a couple of the guys in our group who mixed from first timers to KQ guys and then headed out to the water as the pro men started.
Swim: 1:16:38 OA: 731, Men: 558, AG: 95th
I've heard mixed reviews on the swim. A few of my buddies were are ex-D1 swimmers said it seemed a little long. I've seen others say it was short. My 910 said 2.7 miles when reviewing it after the race and looks fairly straight in terms of course. It definitely doesn't look jagged enough to have a full .3 miles extra. That being said, I also went out a bit harder then I would have liked, but not so much that I would have thought a 1:16. When my watch said 1.2 miles I was around the 33-34 minute mark. Right after the first lap, I realized I hadn't put my shot blocks on my bike, which stressed me out a bit. I knew my swim was going to be a bit slow (predicted 1:08-1:12) since the one place I had neglected in my training was my swim. The last two years I've swam a 32 and 33 respectively at Lake Stevens on similar volume of swimming. I was confident the few minutes I lost in the swim would be made up in the significant bike and run mileage increases I had.
T1: 4:50
I planned my T1 to be as simple as possible and it really was apart from the minor mistake I made pre-race of not putting my shot blocks in my bento box. My wetsuit was off quick thanks to the "peelers" (I still prefer the term strippers but I think WTC is trying to get away from that). I didn't have the normal slight vertigo that I get after a long swim and actually moved pretty well through the pack. I got my helmet, glasses, socks and shoes on and ran to my bike. Luckily the shot blocks were sitting in a plastic bag right by my front wheels so I grabbed them and put them in the bento box. Probably cost me 60 seconds and I took my time ensuring they were in there well.
Bike: 5:50:19 OA: 294, Men: 260, AG: 51
This is where I had planned to put some solid effort in. I had done significantly more riding this year and picked up a new Speed Concept. With a solid performance on the bike I felt confident that I could have easily ridden a 5:25-5:35 if things went well. About 5-7 miles into the ride, my right hip started to tighten up. Again I attribute this partially to the massive drop off during my taper. Not ideal, so I reset my expectations early and figured I'd back off the watts a little bit to keep things strong later in the day. Apart from the hip tightening up, things felt pretty good and was moving past a lot of people. By the halfway point I had moved up to 45 in my AG looking at the tracker and things were looking solid as I was just cruising by people on the Pemberton Flats, even at a lower watt number than I was initially targeting. Right after the turn around at the end of the Flats, I got just that... I glanced down and noticed a shimmer a few feet in front of me but couldn't avoid it quickly enough. Pulled over quickly and got to work on changing the front tire, meanwhile watched a number of larger packs just roll by. Many were riding clean out here but definitely still some large packs rolling through. After inspecting the tire (brand new Conti GP4000sII) there was a small sidewall tear so I wanted to make sure it would hold up the rest of the ride. Because I didn't have any gu packs, I ate an entire package of shot blocks and shoved the wrapper in the tire to keep the tube from pushing out of the sidewall. Got everything back situated and only about 4-5 minutes to change the tire (could have been faster but eating the shot blocks slowed me down a bit). What slowed me down a bit more was the fact that the tape ensuring my speedbox stayed closed was now crumpled up and I had to try and get it to work, but did have to stop 2 other times to resecure it before the end of the bike. Once I got back on the bike I slowly started working my way back through people. I had dropped about 50 slots overall and 11 in my AG between mile 58 and 91 due to the flat and ensuing issues, but heading up back from Pemberton I took much of that back. The only other real issue that came up was my 510 on my bike stopped reading my power numbers shortly after heading back to Whistler from Pemberton so I had to ride by feel. At the top of the last climb my legs started to cramp a bit which I attribute to simply being flustered on my ride and off on nutrition (needed more sodium) with the higher then expected temperature
T2: 5:03
I took a little more time in T2 because of the cramping and the decision made to change out of my PI Octane suit into shorts and a tri top for the run (which meant more sunscreen as well). At this point I knew sub 11 wasn't in the cards, so I figured I would be happier being comfortable on the run. I drank some water and took a salt tab before exiting T2 at what seemed like a pretty manageable pace.
Run: 4:23:50 OA: 291, Men: 247, AG: 50
My feet had started to bother me on the bike a bit, but nothing that was too bad yet. I have dealt with Morton's Neuroma for the last 3 years including cortisone shots alcohol injections. Over the last 7 months I put in pretty solid mileage (30-40mpw average) with limited issues or pain. My first 4 miles on the run, I was rolling at slightly slower then a 9min/m pace which was right were I wanted to be. Mile 5-6 my right foot started to flair up and I dropped to just under 10min/m pace. This was mostly because of a shooting pain in my right foot. Mile 7-13 is where I was basically debilitated and had to talk large chunks of the run because my foot hurt so bad, I could barely put any weight on it. Looking at the numbers, there are about 15 minutes worth of time over 10 minute miles in this section that I can directly attribute to my right foot. Once the foot issues had popped up I decided to make sure I always had a smile on my face despite the pain. There were some great sections of the course with parties going on. I would run/jog through those trying to get the crowd fired up which helped. At mile 13 a friend of mine pulled up next to me and we chatted for a minute. He had some GI issues on the end of the bike and parts of the run, but was pushing through. After a few words of encouragement, I had set a plan to push through and make sure I went sub-12. My split at the half way point was around 2:21. For the last 13, I pushed through the pain, keeping my pace in the 9's apart from a few sections were I was in the mid-10's with massive pain in my foot to the point where I was practically in tears on the course. I wrapped up the last 13ish miles around a 2:02 pace which is close to what I wanted to run for both.
Post race thoughts:
While I didn't hit my goal of sub-11, it was definitely an amazing experience. There were so many challenges (large and small) through the race that were thrown my way that I can't complain with my time. Between the slightly slower then expected swim, the flat, speedbox issues and powermeter going out on the bike and the major foot issues on the run, the race taught me a lot about overcoming the unexpected. Even with my high expectations for the day, I knew deep down the most important thing was finishing with a smile. Below is the post I made on FB after the race. It really sums up how I felt about everything quite well... Also special thanks to all the volunteers and other participants who battled out there on Sunday...
--------------------------------------------------
Completely humbled by such an amazing experience. It is such an honor to share the course with approximately 1900 other awesome athletes. While today presented some definite challenges including a tough swim, flat tire and my foot injuries flairing up to the point that I could barely put weight on them, I powered through and am so happy with my time. The outpouring of support from family, friends and total strangers choked me up at several times in the race. This experience changes people, and I'm privileged to have been a part of today.
Last edited by:
PeteDin206: Jul 29, 14 14:02