IMWI Race Report and Backstory - WARNING: long

Triathlon Forum
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Holy crap…yo sound almost exactly like me. We must have been circling around each other Sunday, with me just behind. Similar swim and bike times, but almost the exact same carnage on the run, with almost the same meltdown points.

I factually came off the bike feeling great…hit my power numbers exactly and executed my nutrition. Was actually above my goal time heading out of T2. But I made a critical error and forgot my Garmin on the bike, so had to run by feel. All year I have struggled with running too fast. My fastest goal pace was 9 min / mile and even 9:30 / mile would have had me break 11 hours.

Went out WAY too fast (probably running closer to 8 min / mile and walking the aid stations to net around 8:20 / mile). Wheels were coming off around mile 9 and by mile 11, I was walking. At mile 14, it was 4:00 and I held out hope I could still break 12 hrs, but a blister stop at an med tent ended that. Got home in 12:08.

Lesson learned - work on running by feel, or at least have a simple watch with me.

Like you, I am looking at 2016 for my next IM.

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ORIGINAL POST:

I’ve seen a couple of other IMWI race reports and figuredI’d offer mine. I apologize for the length and superfluous content.

First, I’ll start with my brief getting-to-IMWI backstory,as well as the summary of my comical attempt at a training weekend in August. Then, I’ll give my IMWI report.

  1.  Grew up as a team sports guy who managed playfour sports in HS (including track), without ever having had to run longer thana mile.  I am Clydesdale and startedputting on weight during college, so I started doing some mountain biking andrunning, but then developed chronic exertional compartment syndrome.  I had fasciotomies of four compartments ineach leg in 2000, but it didn’t work. I wasn’t able to run more than 400 yards,so I got into biking, working my way up to a solid Cat 3 over the years.

After observing several of myfriends train for, compete in, and reminisce about Ironmans, I became veryjealous. In 2010, I found a surgeon who conducted fasciectomies (removal oftissue rather than merely releasing it), and the surgery worked. After not running for more than 10 years, Iwas doing half marathons within 6 months.

  1.  With humble triathlon beginnings in 2011 at thesprint and Olympic distances, I graduated to 70.3s, before deciding to tackleIMWI 2014. Armed with Freil’s bible, a few sub-5:00-hour 70.3s under my belt,and healthy dose of cockiness, I set out on Jan 1, 2014 to prepare for IMWI.

Training progressed steadily withno injuries and very few hiccups (other than a ‘friend’ who put Kahlua in mycoffee one morning, unbeknownst to me, before I set out on a long brick, duringwhich I felt light headed the whole time) until my attempt at a training weekend in Madison.

I live five hours from Madison, andon the way there one Friday night in August, I got into a three-car pileup. Ihad to have my truck towed 40 miles to a body shop in Madison, and thentransfer my bike and gear to a cab so I could I get a rental car at theairport.

My Saturday swim in Lake Mononawent well; the bike didn’t. I rode fromthe Terrace (consciously ignoring the recommendations of many STers who advisedagainst it), which was convoluted and dangerous. While on the first loop Iflatted twice – no big deal – it’s good practice. Then on the start of the second loop, myderailleur cable broke, so I was stuck in my second-smallest cog in theback. I wish I had a dollar for everyfriendly fellow cyclist on the course who politely suggested that I shift to aneasier gear as I muscled my way up each hill with a cadence of 50 rpm. Then after getting lost on the way back toMonona Terrace, I got stopped by a park ranger along the bike path and wasissued a ticket for not having a trail permit. The next day I bonked andcramped on my 2.5-hr run, before heading home in my rental car.

Two weeks later, the body shopfinished my truck, so I left home at 4:30 AM with the intent of dropping therental off at the airport, taking a cab to the body shop, and getting in a lapof the bike course before heading home on the five-hour return trip. A fat raccoon had other plans, however. Atfirst I didn’t think he did any damage to the rental sedan when I ran him overat 6:00AM on a rural Wisconsin road, but then the radiator started smoking andthe temperature gauge spiked. Five hourslater, the rental company sent a tow truck and a replacement vehicle. Stillthinking I could get a ride in, I waited in the lobby of body shop for a fewhours while they put the final touches on my repairs. Seventeen hours ofsitting total, with no course recon.

  1.  **<u>IMWISwim</u>**:  I lined up to the left ofthe jump where I kept asking people how fast they expected to swim, so I couldproperly seed myself.  Garnering no clearanswer, I started a few people back, hoping for the best.  I found the swim to be remarkably consistentthroughout. At no point was I getting clubbed more than any other; yet, Ididn’t go more than a minute without experiencing some contact.  I ‘planned’ to swim 1:12-1:15 and finished in1:11. <u>Take-aways for next time</u>: (1) Open-water swims and long straightpool sets are essential.  (2) Work onshort, intense kicking drills.  Everytime I got clubbed (accidently, of course) by someone, I found myselfinstinctively flutter kicking really hard to keep momentum and on top of thewater.  After 50+ incidents, it put alittle unanticipated sting in my legs.

T1: T1 was longer and more taxing than I expected. If (OK, when) I do IMWI again, I willpractice some long swim-to-bike transition runs.

Bike: I don’t have apower meter, so I planned to bike by RPE and speed – stupid, I know. I figured it’d try to average between 19 mphand 20, depending on feel. It took a while for my computer to pick up a signaland when it did, I learned that I was going much faster than it felt like I hadbeen going. Once again, I ignored advice about how the IMWI hills wear you downover the 5+ hours, and I kept my 21ish average, including time lost having tochange one flat tire. I felt solid forthe entire bike, but I did have an issue with my nutrition. Having raced and trained with Hammer foryears, I carried two Heed/Perpetuem 600-calorie bottles pre-mixed, with theintent of supplementing with water from aid stations. About halfway through my second bottle, Istarted gagging, and could no longer drink the stuff. I probably rode for 45 minutes with drinkinganything. I switched to Perform at thenext aid station, but in hindsight, I didn’t get the hydration or calories Ineeded. I planned to bike around 5:35, but came in at 5:20. Take-aways: (1) invest in a powermeter, (2) have more respect for the length of an IM bike course, and the hillsof IMWI particularly, (3) make absolutely sure I take in 24 oz of liquid and250 calories every hour on the bike

T2: T2 was smooth andquick, other than forgetting to take my feet out of my shoes before starting upthe helix. I tried to pee in the porta-johns on the way out on the run, butonly a dribble of gold came out. I knew I was in trouble.

Run: Based on mytraining and hubris, I figured I could ‘easily’ run around 4:00. I started the first couple of miles at 10min/mile with a slight twinge in my legs but not worried. I then ramped it up to 8:45 for a few miles,feeling OK but on the verge of cramping. Around the 9-mile mark, I started cramping and began the run-hobble-walkdeath march I’ve heard so much about. Idrank at least two cups at each aid station thinking my leg would “comearound”, but they never did. At the endof the first lap, my mind was playing tricks on me like I’ve never experienced. It was like I was possessed by a demon whoinsisted I stop, or else. In allhonesty, if my kids weren’t at the finish line, I would have DNF’d but Iresolved myself to walk the last 13 miles, no matter how long it took. I still managed to run at times before musclesI didn’t know I had would lock up and refuse work. Even my neck and forearmswere cramping. At some point, perhapswhile lumbering on the out-and-back section of State St. where hundreds wereeating, drinking, and cheering while I was a slobbering mess of dried salt,sweat, and self-despair, I realized that I could still finish the damn thing inunder 12 hours. With a modicum of renewal, I extended my shuffle intervals andmanaged to come in at 11:55 to some very proud and teary family members. Addendum: A guy I trained quite a bit with,who also was doing his first IM, started the run 40 minutes behind me andmanaged to catch me with 20 feet to go. Take-aways:Duh – don’t bike too hard, and don’t start the run behind on calories and hydration.

My “I’m-never-going-to-do-that-again”lasted only a day. I will take next year off from long-course, but I will beback to IMWI in 2016 - this time alittle smarter.

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Great report. Way to suck it up and keep putting 1 leg forward and finishing. I think now that it’s not a IM unless you get that experience. The finish line means so much more if you have to really battle your body the final miles. Though I’d be suprised ot find anyone… other than a top 10 Kona Pro Validating in November…haha… that doesn’t experience that.

Couple comments…

250 calories? Wow that’s brave! You had some solid times up to the run. I think with just a little adjustment on your bike pace, nutrition and overall execution and you’d go sub 11. My power meter was one of the main reasons I ran the last 10 miles. It reminded me to slow my ass down about 100 times that day.

Funny, in terms of swimming, what I gathered, was that long pool swims and open water swims are nice, but totally unnecessary. You are either swim fit, or your not. Actually I like the pool, because where I swim there’s 3-4" chop a lot of the time, just like in open water so you get used to breathing “through it”. For me, that’s often the biggest challenge. The less water I suck in, the better swim I have. That and in my 2 bst open water swims, I always found a large group which meant I didn’t have to rely on my shi**t sighting skills or pacing. “just keep swimming” from Finding Nemo… was the basic theme that morning.

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Thanks, motoguy128.

It’s probably best left to a future thread, but . . . swim training baffles me. None of the programs I’ve come across have more than one long, steady swim per week. Nearly all swim workouts consist of multiple intervals with distinct recovery periods (yeah, yeah, I get the whole technique thing). But, running programs aren’t set up that way. In fact, many IM running programs call for only one tempo run per week, with the rest done around IM pace or slower. Same with biking. If I lived close to a lake, I would do 90% of my swim training by heading straight out into the lake for XX minutes and then back to shore. To me, that would better simulate an IM swim than doing 100s in the pool. Well, that is if I could recruit 100 people to club me with foam baseball bats while I did my OWS.

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Thanks, motoguy128.

It’s probably best left to a future thread, but . . . swim training baffles me. None of the programs I’ve come across have more than one long, steady swim per week. Nearly all swim workouts consist of multiple intervals with distinct recovery periods (yeah, yeah, I get the whole technique thing). But, running programs aren’t set up that way. In fact, many IM running programs call for only one tempo run per week, with the rest done around IM pace or slower. Same with biking. If I lived close to a lake, I would do 90% of my swim training by heading straight out into the lake for XX minutes and then back to shore. To me, that would better simulate an IM swim than doing 100s in the pool. Well, that is if I could recruit 100 people to club me with foam baseball bats while I did my OWS.

Couple things to remember.

  1. Running is weight bearing, high impact, and slower recovery, so it’s a totally different animal that cycling or swimming.
  2. You have to consider what you are trying to train… your engine? Muscle fatigue resistance? Technique? Overall energy system?
  3. Swimming is relatively short compared to running
  4. Training is about adaptation, not rehearsing or simulating you event a thousand times. You train to get as fit as possible in each discipline. That’s why many coaches don’t do a lot of bricks, they can be counter productive to optimizing training stress.

I’ll train for Kona next year with a couple soft limiters in my training. 1) no runs over 16 miles or 2 hours 2) no OWS swim practices unless it convenient or fun (partly social) 3) no continuous swims over 1500y. 3x500 in comparison at a much faster pace on short rest, gets you better adaptation.

You train to go fast, so it’s easy when you go slow. Again, if you read my race report, I mention how easy the whole day felt until the last 10k. I trained to maximize my training load, rather than focus on checking off certain distances in key workouts. I still did several 5+ hour rides, but only because those are important to train certain energy systems.

A second element is polarization (alternating hard efforts with long slow and easy)

A thirds is periodization and separating you season into different periods (base, build, taper) with recovery between blocks of training.

There’s lots of great threads on here.

The 3rd element is what I lacked previous years. The 2nd element I’m still working on finding the right mix. It’s a perfect year to try something different.

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Great post! Thanks for sharing.

I’m convinced that a 2nd IM is nearly always required because so much knowledge is gained about training and execution after the first go-around.

Although we’re a thick headed bunch and usually end up learning the hard way; it’s take-a-ways like you’ve provided that should be printed and read over and over by all racers of the distance.

Best of luck to you!

Thanks.