Ironman Lake Placid - 2013

IMLP2013 was the second Ironman for me, with IMLP2012 having been the first.  I signed up for 2013 before I even completed 2012 because I knew I'd have unfinished business - I had just recently joined Endurance Nation (in June 2012), which coincided with some epiphanies about training approach and philosophies that I had slowly been discovering on my own during the prior six months or so, especially with regards to how to improve on the bike, which was my weakest discipline.  So I went into IMLP2012 knowing that while I could cobble together finishing the event, I would be able to make significant improvements over the subsequent year with a proper and focused training regimen.

Winter Training - Building Up
And so it began, back in November 2012.  That was the start of what they call the EN Outseason (OS) - whereas many people consider the winter to be the offseason, in the EN training world, winter is the time where power in built on the bike, and speed is gained on the run.  The workouts are short, usually an hour or so in length, but the intensity of the workouts is cranked up - most every session includes some sort of significant time at threshold intensity.  Of the three flavors of plans - beginner, intermediate, and advanced - I chose advanced.  Normally it probably wouldn't be a suggested course of action to go from making stuff up on your own to a focused, advanced level plan, but my reason for doing so was two-fold:  I had spent some time doing the advanced version of the Get Faster plan in the fall, as a sort of dry run for the advanced level plans, so I had a good idea that I could handle it; and I knew that with my travel schedule, I'd be missing some workouts and having some forced rest placed upon me - which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.  Speaking of missing workouts, I did end up bailing on virtually every Monday run, which was one of the lower priority runs.  The primary reason was to allow myself a chance to get to Monday yoga - something I find helps tremendously with recovery and injury prevention.  Over the fall I stopped going for a couple months, and eventually got to the point where I had to put all other training on hold for two weeks and go to yoga a handful of times to get things sorted out again.

The OS took place between the beginning of November 2012 and the beginning of February 2013, and as mentioned, included running and biking.  No swimming.  That is another oddity about the EN training approach - no swimming in the OS.  Without getting into too much detail, the reason is simply this: there is usually a lot of overhead associated with getting to a pool and doing a swim workout, and the swim is a fraction of the time of the day during an IM, so the time is better spent on the bike or the run.  It's all about efficiency and time management within EN - being age groupers vs pro's means there is limited time in the schedule for training, so you are better off spending the time doing what will give you the best bang for the buck.

Once the OS finished, there was a six week period where you could choose either a run or bike focus block.  Since the bike was my weakest spot, I chose the bike.  The bike focus block lasted from mid-february until the beginning of April, and like the OS, was primarily focused on threshold intensity workouts.

Once the bike focus block was done, it was four weeks of the Get Faster plan, where swimming was finally reintroduced.  As much notoriety as the OS plan gets within EN, I find the GF plan to be one notch tougher - the demands of the workouts are higher as they start getting a bit longer, and it has swimming added to it.  Up until the GF plan, there was only one workout per day, but once the GF plan started, double sessions were common and normal about half the days of the week.  I found that swimming in the morning and doing the bike/run workouts in the evening worked best due to pool lane availability.

IM Specific Training - Adding Volume and Distance
Once the GF plan was finished, we dropped into week 8 of the 20 week IM training plan, where intensity was dropped, and volume increased.  No more 60-90 minute workouts on the weekends - the norm was a 4 hr ride on Saturday, with a brick run, and a 3-3.5 hr ride on Sunday.  This was in addition to at least one bike FTP and one threshold run session during the week, with a few other runs at various paces sprinkled in, such as the thursday long runs that generally ranged from 105 to 150 minutes.  Oh, and the three swim workouts.  Weekly training time ramped up quickly, and once I realized what was going on, I informed my family that I may be MIA for some various events over the next couple months.  In a few cases, I was able to do something like ride my bike to a gathering destination so I could get my workout in for the day, but sadly there were a couple events I missed.

In the middle of the IM training was the EN training camp at Lake Placid.  This was a three day event where we had the opportunity to ride the full 112 mile course on consecutive days.  There were a few benefits of this - even though I had done the course before, it was a good refresher which allowed me to re-calibrate my mental impression of the course with my new levels of power on the bike.  It also provided me with an opportunity to test out use of a customized feed bottle solution from Infinit Nutrition for calories and sodium intake.  Finally, doing 224 miles in a weekend (followed by another 100 miler the following weekend) was a huge dose of steady-state cycling effort that brings its own rewards in terms of training stress.

Summing It All Up
So, in the end - between the end of IMLP last year and going into IMLP this year, there were significant improvements made on both the run and the bike.  I can't say for certain what my bike FTP was last year, because I never tested on a true power meter (I had only acquired one in the couple weeks before IMLP2012) - but TrainerRoad's virtual power pegged me at an FTP of ~220W.  I think that is decently accurate, as I find that wattage range to coincide well with what my power meter reads - it starts to drift more after ~240W.  After a year of EN training, my FTP was last tested at 272W.  I say last tested because the last time I tested was actually back during the OS - I never retested again because I wasn't fully confident I'd be able to hold the target wattage that would result, and I figured I'd be better off going in a tad under-trained than a tad over-trained.  Based on previous experience with rising FTP, I'd estimate it to be closer to 280W going into the event.  I also figured that wasn't enough of a difference (8W) to split hairs on.

My half marathon time was 1:35:00, corresponding to a Jack Daniels VDOT of 47.  After the full year of EN, my half marathon time went to 1:29:24, which increased my VDOT to 51.  Obtaining a good VDOT number is tough because I find that my ability to push during a solo test can never replicate my motivation to push during an actual race.  As a result, that VDOT of 51 was actually from the fall of 2012, and I used to resultant paces during the entire OS and training leading up the Ironman.  I won't get a real good comparison until a fall half marathon - but like bike FTP, based on experience with increasing VDOT, I'd estimate my VDOT to have increased to around 52.

Other Changes
In addition to improved fitness, there were some other differences from last year.  Instead of using a road helmet (with a rear view mirror glued to it), this year I purchased a TT helmet with visor.  They look goofy, but they make a big difference - it feels like it is slicing through air effortlessly, while the road helmet, in comparison, feels like it is being tugged at from behind.  I also used an aero jacket on my rear wheel, which is just a couple pieces of custom shaped plastic that attaches to the rear wheel, turning it into a race wheel.  I didn't necessarily notice a huge difference with this piece of equipment when I first tried it until I took it off and rode without it the next weekend - I felt like I was dragging something along the entire ride, and I must have checked my rear wheel a dozen times to make sure it wasn't flat, because it sure felt like it.

Leading Up To The Race
I arrived in Lake Placid on the Thursday before the race.  As opposed to last year, I didn't take any chances with hotel bedding, and brought my own.  An air mattress, an egg crate, my own sheets and pillow, and my white noise generator that I use at home.  I just remember last year not having gotten great sleep at the hotel on their beds, and getting only a couple hours sleep on the Saturday night before, and this time I wanted to do everything I possibly could to make my bed as close to what I have at home as possible.  I have to say, it worked incredibly well, as I got good, solid sleep on both Friday and Saturday night.

Soon after I arrived on Thursday afternoon, I checked in for the race, and then on Thursday evening was the EN dinner where I got to meet a few other folks from the team.  This was one of the EN focus events for the year, so there was a large turnout of nearly 80 people participating.  Most everyone I knew of their names, and a few I had met in person either at Rev3 Quassy in June, or at the training camp.  So the dinner was just a social event, and it was nice to see some people I had met and not seen since last year.

Friday morning was an optional EN team swim.  The talk was what the weather would be like on Sunday - it had been going from bad to worse to OK throughout the week, and also varied widely based on the source.  Some places were saying 20% chance of rain, others were saying 80%.  Once thing that everyone knew, though, was that it would continue to change, as this area is prone to sudden changes in weather conditions.

After the swim, I went to the EN Four Keys talk, mostly as way to re-imprint the basic concepts of how to execute during race day into my mind.  In the evening, I went to the athlete meeting, mostly to see if there was anything to be aware of with regards to the new SwimStart initiative, as WTC has removed mass swim starts from events in favor of a more time trial like start.

Saturday was final preparations and rest.  The morning started out with my pre-carb load routine of a mile or so warm up run, followed by three minutes at max effort (sustainable for that three minutes), and cool down, followed by eating 12g of carbohydrates per kg of body weight - nearly 1000g of carbs.  The idea is that this instigates a response in the body to maximize absorption and storage of carbohydrates, but the short duration of the workout doesn't compromise performance.  I've done this several times in the past, and I always felt that it provided positive results - at the very least, it didn't negatively impact anything.  Well, nothing performance wise.  I have found that eating that many carbs does cause a large amount of water retention - so especially with triathlons, I've found that soon after the swim, all that fluid starts to make its way through my system.  Last year when I did the same thing, I ate a lot of carbs in the evening and had a hard time falling asleep as a result.  This year I did my best to front load the carbs during the first half of the day and kinda taper back a bit as the day wore on - mostly stuff like OJ, pasta, etc.  Anything with carbs, nothing with fibre.

Also very important for Saturday was staying off my feet as much as possible.  Not only to minimize exertion by the legs, but also I had been battling a nagging ache on my right foot ever since the training camp.  I was a tad concerned about running a marathon on it, but I had also found that it hadn't been too bad during run sessions - just more sore afterwards.  So I figured I'd probably be OK - but in reality I was actually more concerned with how it might affect my training for the Marine Corps Marathon coming up in the fall.  If this event made it real sore and gave me a set back, I'd have a real hard time managing to get in the significant chunk of miles I had been hoping to get in between IMLP and October.  It was just something that I'd have to deal with as it came.

I went to bed around 9pm, and while it's not surprising that it took me a bit of time to fall asleep, I was rather surprised that I had good, deep sleep.  I had my alarm set to 2:30am so that I could eat my applesauce breakfast, and I wound up waking up just a couple minutes early and, for a second, was actually a little scared I missed the start because I felt like I had such good sleep.  Once I finished the applesauce, I went back to bed (it took a while because of the sugar), but did manage another sleep cycle before my alarm went off at 4:30.

At this point, the weather was still showing a high chance of rain, and I had submitted to it and taken the mental approach that I wanted a deluge.  If it was going to rain, I wanted it to count.  Even with the forecast of clouds and rain, I doused myself with sunscreen just in case.  I gathered my stuff and had my wife drive me as close as possible to the oval.  Though only about 3/4-1 mile away from the hotel, if I could save that time and avoid that time on my feet, all the better.  I went through body marking, went into transition and filled by bike tires, and did last minute sorting of my transition bags before heading up the street to drop off my run special needs (with extra shoes and socks in case the first pair got wet) and bike special needs (CO2 canisters and 2nd 3-hr bottle of Infinit) bags.  Once they were dropped off, I found my way to the starting area, donned the wetsuit, and slotted myself in the corral for a 1:11 swim time.  My time last year was 1:14, and I anticipated I'd be a few minutes faster this year.

The Swim
Unlike previous years, the swim start has switched to a new time trial format.  Previously, the swim was a mass start - all 3000 people going at once.  However, due to some high profile events in triathlons over the past year, WTC created the SwimStart initiative, which allows for a less stressful start (supposedly), and provides an opportunity for warm up.  Personally, I found little difference in overall contact between the mass start and the new start - but perhaps that was because I lined up on the outside last year.  The main thing I didn't like about the time trial start this year was that the buoys were set up such that it kept people funneled in - you had to swim a few hundred yards before people could spread out.

1.2 down, 1.2 to go!

Overall the swim was what you'd expect.  Some contact, more around the buoys, less on the second loop.  I feel as though I found the middle half was where I had the most open water - the first quarter and last quarter had more people around me and more contact.

Once out of the water, I waited in line for a wetsuit peeler, which fortunately was almost instant.  I grabbed my wetsuit and ran towards the transition area, and noticed that it was raining slightly.  Here we go - the start of a wet day!

Lasting impressions:
- TT start caused more congestion than mass swim start (although it's possible that I expected more contact during the mass start, and was pleasantly surprised - so my opinion may be swayed by perception).
- TT start caused more congestion on beach, making it a mess.  Last year there was plenty of room on the beach, athletes could meet families and take pictures, etc.  Lining everyone up before entering the water made the beach scene a mad house.
- Numbered buoys in the water were nice.
- Probably easier to get to buoy line if that was the goal.

T1
I ran into T1 (actually, I took a detour to a porta-potty because during the last 1/4 of the swim, all the water those carbs were retaining was making its way through!), found an empty seat and did my thing - get the HR strap on, get my GPS tracker on (I had to fumble with it a bit, as I never test fit the strap around my waist.  Stupid), get the grass off my feet (I didn't mind the water, but didn't want pieces of debris rubbing on my feet for the rest of the day), throw on socks, cycling shoes, and put on my helmet, and left.

As I was running out of T1, I realized there was a guy taking note of numbers and calling them back.  He never called mine, and it dawned on me that without him calling, I'd have to get my own bike.  Well, I wouldn't have any of that!  So I stopped and called out my number to him.  As I ran around, I saw the volunteer ahead with my bike out.  Perfect!  I grabbed it and went to the bike mount line.

The bike mount line at Lake Placid can be very hectic - it's narrow, and there are a lot of people swarming through in short time.  I've found the tactic that works well for me is to swing one leg over, slip in, and then descend past the first 180 degree turn, and then clip the other leg in.  Minimizes the time spent at the line where you would be more prone to someone bumping into you.

  

Mount Up!

The Bike
The bike started out a tad wet, and it was raining slightly - but I found I was getting more wet from rooster tails of people in front of me.  Once I started out, it was JRA for a while - make sure to keep my HR down (it was in the 160's when I got on the bike) so I could start to absorb calories as quickly as possible.  Fortunately, this didn't take long, just a few minutes - but I stayed at an easy pace for a while.

Started out looking like it was going to be a wet ride!

On the first loop, I took the descent pretty conservatively - the road was wet and I am not confident enough or knowledgeable enough in my bike handling abilities to know how fast is too fast for the tires to stick to pavement.  So I spent a lot of time feathering brakes and avoiding being in rooster tails on that first descent into Keene.  At this point, it seemed like most of the rain had actually stopped, and it was just wet road more than anything.

Once at the bottom, it was time to get to work.  Steady riding, take in nutrition.  Sounds easy, but the problem was that I was constantly fighting with either left land campers, who had plenty of room to move over but just didn't until I said 'On your left!', or people who were riding about the same speed as me, which would cause my power to drop due to drafting, but would require power spiking to get around.  Not really sure what to do here, I did what I probably should not have done, and passed a lot of them.  I had a false sense of security, figuring I could handle the brief power spike now and again - and while I don't feel it negatively affected my performance on the day, it was a stupid thing to do.  Better to have just settled in and taken the free speed.  In retrospect, I was too worried about my VI being high, without considering that it being high due to drafting and free speed is better than it being high due to spiking and passing, because the former sets up a better run.

And that was pretty much the story for the first couple hours.  A surprisingly large amount of congestion, and constantly fighting to try and find a rhythm, which was elusive.  In fact, it wasn't until the turn into Wilmington, where the hills start, that I found I could settle in.

Which reminds me - due to my flat issues from Quassy in June, I was resolved to help anyone and everyone that I could.  I figured if I lost three minutes to helping someone else out, that was better than losing ten minutes to my getting a flat.  Karma.  As I was on the road to Wilmington, I came across a woman who was stopped, and when I rode by and asked if she needed anything, she said she needed a tube.  I pulled over and offered her a spare of mine (I had two with me), and while she was originally appreciative, we ended up determining that she had tubular tires, and that my tubes wouldn't work.  It's just that it took a few minutes to figure that all out due to a language barrier.  Oh well.

Then, about half a mile from there, I came across someone whose rear derailleur broke.  Obviously I couldn't help there, but I told him I'd inform the next volunteer I came across to send the SAG vehicle with a mechanic.

THEN, about two miles from there, I came across another person with a busted derailleur!  So, now I had three things to relay - a tubular replacement, and two derailleurs.

As I entered the out and back on Haselton Rd, I spotted a volunteer and yelled back 'Tubular and two derailleurs on the road to Wilmington!'  I have no idea if he heard me or understood what I was saying, but that was about all I could do as he was on the other side of the road and with it being an out and back, I didn't want to cross the lane.

Fast forward a bit - the last major climb people talk about when heading back to town is Papa Bear.  This is a fun hill to climb because it is lined with spectators, and is the start of a cheering section that lasts all the way through town.  Of course, with all the cheering, people stand up out of the saddle and grind their way up the hill in the big chainring to show off.  I think I was literally the only person who stayed on my saddle and slowly pedaled my way up, keeping my target watts right where they should be.  I probably looked pathetic and worn out, but thats ok.  There were a few EN folks there who knew the real deal of what was going on.

Wrapping up first loop heading through town

At special needs, it was a quick stop - drop off my empty feed bottle, grab the new, and I was off on my way.

The second loop was a bit of a different story from the first.  The roads were drier and less crowded on the descent, so I was more comfortable going faster.  Once at the bottom, I felt like a lion on the prowl - here I was keeping to my prescribed watts, but passing other cyclists at a steady rate, reeling them in.  I still had to deal with some left lane campers, though.

Gettin' down to bidness..

The rest of the ride was actually unmemorable.  Of course, people were showing off on Papa Bear again on the second loop.  Overall, nutrition with the Infinit and water went pretty well (stopped at a porta potty twice on each loop - definite improvement over last year), but there were a couple times where I had maybe a bit too much in a single swig, and with the concentrated formula, I had to back off a bit over the next couple feeding sessions.  In the end, I consumed 41 fl oz of the 48 total, and the 48 total fl oz was comprised of 6.75 servings of Infinit, with each serving being 300 calories and 500 mg sodium.  So, doing the math, that turns out to ~266 cal/hr and 443 mg sodium/hr.

Lasting impressions:
- Thought it would be less congested on first loop due to TT swim start.
- Left lane campers were a pain in the ass
- People chatting it up riding side by side were a pain in the ass
- First loop was just dealing with a lot of congestion.  Second loop was much more 'get down to business' and steady state riding.

T2
As I was going through T2, I happened to see my wife, who was volunteering in the transition area - which was nice.  She volunteered last year and really liked how volunteers get kinda VIP treatment - plus it really helps pass the time of the day.

T2 was pretty typical.  I'm not fast in transition - I still like to take my time and make sure I'm all set and didn't forget anything.

The Run
My plan coming out of T2 and starting the run was to run the first 6 miles at my long run pace plus 30".  This required a good deal of consciously slowing down, not only because of the disconnect in RPE when getting off the bike, but also because the first six miles of the IMLP course are varying degrees of downhill - from every so slight to just about needing to put on the brakes.

Nutrition-wise, the plan was to take in Perform and water at every station.  Being steady with calorie and electrolyte intake on the bike, and having to stop twice on each loop at a porta-potty, I was not concerned with dehydration or running low on sodium as I was last year.  I figured I'd hit about 6-7 aid stations every mile, and each aid station I'd take in about 4 oz of Perform - about two solid mouthful swigs.  That would provide about 35 calories, and with hitting one every 9-10 minutes, I'd get about 200 calories an hour.

The first few miles felt pretty good and solid.  Around mile four, my stomach was actually rumbling a bit - like it was starving and really wanted something solid!

Around mile 3-4 - still all smiles!

Not wanting to actually try something solid and risk my stomach going haywire, I figured I'd pick up a GU at the next aid station.  As soon as I swallowed it, I could tell it probably wasn't the brightest idea, and it caused my stomach to be a bit upset for a while.  I immediately drank some water to start diluting it, and hoped it would go away.  Last year during the run I got to a point where taking in calories caused my stomach to revolt, and I didn't want a repeat.  Fortunately, within about half a mile, it settled down, and by the next aid station, it was feeling pretty much back to normal.  I decided that although I hated the taste of Orange Mango Perform (it tastes like something I'd rather not repeat in 'public', and it's not a four letter word starting with 's'), I'd have to suck it up and stomach it.  Half the reason for the water at every stop was simply to wash the taste of the Perform out of my mouth.

Gimme some of dat Perform!

Well that didn't taste too good..

The run was a lot of rinse and repeat on a mile basis.  Walk the aid station, take 3-4 oz of Perform, chase it with water, dump the cups and at the end of the aid station start running again.  I also allowed myself to walk the two primary uphills (around mile 10 and around mile 12) - to run them I'd have to go so slow that it simply wouldn't be worth the heartbeats.  As the miles ticked by, the walking predictably became more and more of a relief, and starting to run again got more difficult - usually taking the form of requiring more and more time to get up to 'speed' (which started out at about 9-9:30 min/miles, but gradually became 9:30-10 min/miles).

13.1 miles to go!

To make matters worse, remember that tweak in my right foot?  I was feeling it.  Every step.  For about 16 miles.  Then, suddenly, I realized it was gone.  Poof.  Vanished.  Not sure how it happened - but I figured that it just gave up whining and decided to shut up.  Oddly enough, in the four days since, as I write this - it has been significantly better then before the race.   I would not have anticipated that putting more miles on it would make it better.

As I approached mile 18, I really started getting sick of Perform, and the idea of Coke was really appealing.  However, I saved it, because I wanted to make sure I kept taking in the sodium that Perform brings.  I told myself that once I reached the turn-around at mile 18, then I could take some Coke because at that point, it was only 8 miles to go, and sodium would be less of an issue with the distance remaining.  When I got to the aid station, I grabbed some and loved every second of it.  I forget whether I grabbed two in one station, or grabbed one at the next two stations - but either way, I ended up going off the Coke because I found that with it not having been flattened, the carbonation was not helping.  A burp came out and that helped, but I didn't want to depend on burping to keep my stomach from getting upset.  So, back to Perform it was.  /sigh

Around the 20 mile mark, I did some quick math and figured that if I could manage 10 minute miles from here on out, I could hit a four hour marathon - and if I wanted any chance of beating 12 hours total, I'd have to hit that four hour marathon.  I didn't know my exact time, but I knew I could be close if I did 10 minute miles for the last six miles.

Unfortunately, once I got to mile 22, I really started to bonk.  I mean, I had been kinda bonking for a while by this time, but now it was really hitting me.  I walked the uphill as planned, but had to take a bit of an extended walk break upon cresting it.  I forced myself to pick up the pace, even if it was only 10-10:30 minute miles.  It was slower than the pace I'd need for a four hour marathon, but I was hoping that the last mile I'd re-energize and be able to maybe make up some time due to adrenaline - and the best chance of making that happen would be to conserve energy now.  I hit the last big hill and walked it, but by that time I realized I had about two miles to go and to hit four hours, I'd have to do something like 7 minute miles.  It just wasn't going to happen, because even after the last big hill, I still had to walk a slight incline with only a mile and a half to go.  I just had nothing left.  I was D-U-N done.

My other O-face.. as in 'O my god I'm dyin' here!'

I hit the 25 mile mark and resolved to run the rest of the way in - however slow - I just didn't want to be taking any more walk breaks at the very end of the race.  I was able to pick up the pace every so slightly to 9:30 or so, and I was fine with that.  Last year, I just about sprinted around the oval - this year I wanted to spend more time soaking in the crowd energy during the finish, because it's just awesome.  As I ran into the oval, I checked behind me to see if anyone was there - no one was within short sight of me ahead, so I knew I'd have at least a few hundred feet of the finisher chute to myself.  As I rounded the apex of the oval, I heard my wife screaming and I managed a wave as I went by.

If I look like I have any energy left, I'm totally faking it.

I followed it up by removing my hat, waving it around my head to get the crowd yelling, and crossed the line. Just a bit over 12 hours.

Although I didn't reach my ultimate goal of sub-12 - I actually don't feel bad or disappointed about it at all.  I finished with nothing left - I left nothing on the course and nothing on the table.  Furthermore, execution was very good, probably A type material, but not a perfect A+.  My swim splits were just about even (differed by about 2 minutes), my first half and second half bike splits were only off by about 3 minute,s and TSS was about 270 - which is right in line with where it should be.  Variability was a tad high at about 1.08, but that was mostly because of the inability to settle into a groove on the first loop of the bike (1.1 on first loop, 1.06 on second).  Most importantly my run split differential, which is where poor decisions throughout the day express themselves, was only 7 minutes between the first half and second half.