I completed the Rev3 Knoxville race this week, but to summarize, I was very dissapointed in my performance. I ate a bad bar-b-q sandwich the day before at the expo and was not feeling good when I woke up. I thought it was just nerves and would pass over, but it never did.
About 2 minutes into the swim, I cramped up severely and wound up side stroking the majority of the way. I couldn't put my head in the water because I felt sick every time I did. I had a goal of finishing the swim in 25 minutes, but wound up doing it in 34. It wasn't a horrible time considering that I side stroked almost an entire mile, but I had other expectations and the swim is my strength. There were times I felt like quitting, but I kept telling myself that it will get better when I get out of the water and on the bike, which turned out to be a lie.
I never started feeling better on the bike. I did take in some water, carbs and electrolytes on the bike, but they didn't seem to help. This bike course is not a good one to not feel well on and have little energy. Knoxville is built in the mountains and they found some pretty big climbs to put on the bike course. I averaged 16.1 mph, which is faster than I would have done last year, but it was nowhere the 22 mph that I pulled on a flat course of similar distance last week.
When I got off the bike, I was completely spent and my stomach was still killing me. All I had left was a 10K run and I said tough it up and get through it. I wound up walking about half, which gave me an average pace of 12 min/mile, which is not even close to the 9 min/mile that I would have expected on this short run.
If you can't tell, I am a little dissapointed in this race. My goal was to do this in less than 2:45, but wound up taking 3:24. That is almost 40 minutes off my goal. Overall, I came in 332 out of 412 finishers, so I still beat 80 people, but I should have been in the top half.
There are 2 good things about this day:
1. I learned alot about myself and pre-race nutrition
2. I get a second chance in 2 weeks at the Guntersville Olympic Distance Race.
Eric,
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work. Don't let any of these issues to get you down. You are experiencing exactily what most people new to IM are going through.
My suggestions are to mostly concentrate on the Siwm, bike, and nutrition. If you get off the bike before the cutoff, you have plenty of time to fastwalk a lot of the run, if needed.
For the next two weeks concentrate on dialing in your nutrition and the swim. You will be suprised what falls into place when you get your nutrition set. Remember the body can only digest about 300 calories an hour. Ingesting any more than that risks the digestive system locking up and taking more blood to digest rather than feed the muscles. Also, they say the race can't be won in the swim, but is sure can be lost. Relax and keep your heartrate down. Don't get too caught up in your speeds and times in these shorter races. Your IM is an endurance distance and training differently than may slow your progress toward the skills and techniques that you will be using to stay in motion for 13-17 hours in your big race.
If you are going to the LPA National Convention in Dallas this year, I would love to talk to you about how this is going.
Remember you will have good days and bad days. Enjoy the good and learn from (and then forget) the bad ones.
Also, expect things to go wrong in the races, nutrition, flat tires, cramps, heat, that way they are not suprises.
You and I have very similar training paces. I expected to finish my races in 14 hours.
Best of luck in two weeks.
Pat Green
Ironman Wisconsin Finisher
2009 - 16h 10m 38s
2011 - 16h 18m 28s
Son - Jared, 12 yrs (Hypochondroplasia)
Thanks for the response Pat, it is cool that another person who is a parent of a little person and competes in Ironman races has found my blog. Please help me get the word out as far as you can.
DeleteThanks for the advice, it is all very good information that I will keep in mind.
As far as Dallas is concerned, this will be the first conference that we have missed in 6 years, but we have another vacation planned on top of it, so we won't be able to make it. I would like to talk sometime about your experiences or maybe get together if you have a weekend where we could meet half way.
Hey there, I just stumbled upon your blog. I am a LP (dwarf) and also a triathlete. I live in MA and will be completing my 2nd 1/2 iron distance race this September. I have achondroplasia. Here is my blog http://teamcompmightyjy.blogspot.com/
ReplyDeleteCheers!!!