The Swim

I was actually sad they cancelled the swim. It was so cold though. My teeth were chattering basically from the time I walked down to transition till the time I started the bike at 9 AM.

In fact I had just started to put my wetsuit on when they said the swim was canceled. I had walked out to the pavilion in the back of the boardwalk and saw a boat getting tipped over by a breaker. Yowza… I didn’t get nervous till I saw that. It was definitely the worst I have ever seen it and I people say it was rough last year and I know it was rough the first year I did Gulf Coast in 2009. It actually reminded me a bit of the epic storm in St. George 2012!

Anyways, after they announced the cancelation I was able to get back in the changing room for a bit and just sat there and tried to warm up. It was a cluster. 3k people trying to get their bike bags then go back in the change tent. It was in everyone’s best interests to cancel. Not safe for swimming.

Then we had to go stand and wait for our bikes at the TT start. No one knew how long it would take so I went out there right on time (at 8 AM) and it ended up taking a full hour before I started.  I didn’t want to wear a big flappy jacket so I opted for race kit, plus arm warmers, and a long sleeve on top and capris and toe warmers on the bottom.

That was a good amount of clothing after about 11 am but before that it was borderline hypothermia. Low 40s doesn’t really sound that bad.. I think it was the wind that made the difference. Supposedly the windchill was 30 or so. I thought about Trey and Giorgia at Tahoe and how they still had success.. and I though about mine and Ted’s day at St George in 2012 and how that was the most epic wind day ever  and we also had to deal with heat and altitude all combined.

The Bike

The bike was as you would expect or saw.. hard and slow. I was 40’ slower this year than last year on the bike alone with a power that was probably about 15 watts lower than last year (had pm problems last year).

I love this bike course but it doesn’t necessarily love me. This course is tough for a wee gal who likes heat and doesn’t have big power. The wind acts as a multiplier in this situation, making it a huge advantage for the Chris Lietos aka brick houses.  I rode nearly 3 watts/kg and could only generate a 6:09 with that power and riding legally with that wind. It is what it is.  If I had my extra 15 watts I’m not even sure how much faster I would have been .. I probably still would have scored a personal worst bike split in those conditions.

Another thing about the TT start is Paul and I didn’t start with our age groups (Paul also rode 40′ slower at ten watts higher than last year) They had a separate AWA transition area (which would have been a great spot if we had a T1) so I started with a bunch of people who were I guess all faster than me. Anyways, it was the loneliest FL ride I have ever done which certainly also had an affect. Normally there are certain areas where there is nowhere to go in terms of trying to stay draft legal.. the wind and the start really split people up so there was lots of time I wasn’t around anyone.

I knew going in that my bike fitness has been about 10-15 watts off that has interestingly applied uniformly across all distances. So basically I was “in shape”  according to my new lower benchmark but it wasn’t going to get me far versus my age group here. The other nice thing about FL is wit the easy bike you can sometimes hide a weaker bike split since you lose less time overall but with the conditions it wasn’t going to be the case.

Now for the positives.. big difference in my shoulder. I was able to stay in aero like 90% of the time so that is huge. That gives me a lot of happiness because if I wasn’t able to work that part out then there is really no point in continuing to do IM if you’re going to sit up half the time. I attribute this difference to my radiofrequency procedure, my 5′ of strength per day, visits to GA Sports chiro, and constant bike fit retweaks at Podium.It is pretty sore now and I felt some pangs but nothing like the usual.

Nutrition… I had a lot more than usual actually. Even without the swim I think I burned a lot more trying to stay warm. I had ~1600 calories of EFS, ~4 bottles of perform, two Clif double shot gels, and a snickers bar for a total of  around 2500 cals over six hours.  That is by far the most I’ve ever had in an IM.  I don’t think I could absorb that many calories in hotter weather, but it felt right in these conditions. I also may have started out a little light because I was having trouble forcing down breakfast prior to the race.

The Run

Run started out great. Even though I have been a bit light on miles trying to build back safely. I have been more diligent about just the most basic bit of strength (5’ a day!) and of run specific stretching exercises, and I felt great form in the first ten miles.

I ran several miles with Rachel Jastrebsy and she was so cool. We chatted a bit and I thought it would be nice to just keep pacing off of her. It turns out she might have been saving a bit of energy for the headwind portion of the race though. When we turned back into t he wind the effort turned too tough for me and I had to let her go. The wind died down from 25 sustained but it was still stronger than I have ever felt in the “back” portion of each lap.

I saw John on the bike several times which was great. He kept popping back up at different spots. I thought I must be pretty far back after the bike but didn’t know my exact time. He kept telling me I was about 20th and I kept puzzling that over in my head thinking it wasn’t right.

At that point I thought maybe not starting with my age group messed up the order somehow and thought I might still be in it.  (I didn’t know my exact bike time at this point) About halfway through I realized that indeed I must be extremely far back and while I wanted to continue to run strong, I didn’t want to take any big risks either to go from say 20th to 18th or what have you.

Remenbering what happened at Roth, I was afraid to take a walk break. ( I took a teeny walk break  at mile 14, which irritated my foot to the point where I felt like I needed to walk the entire rest of the way, afraid that I would tear the plantar fascia completely). I play little mental games with myself during IM, and I kept telling myself that I would  give myself a break the next aid station.. I played this game until mile 17 then I really needed a small break to “reset” my form. I walked for about 30” and thank goodness the foot was fine. I took one more small break at mile 20-ish and that was it.

For nutrition on the run I rely completely on coke, perform, the occasional salt stick, and in this case, broth. I also started out with red bull obtained in T2 and I added another Cliff double caf shot midway. I liked having the additional caffeine and will do it again!

Since I started the run so much later than I would have if there was a swim, it was pitch black with four or five miles to go. This was my second IM where I have been offered a glowstick the first was Kona (where I had pneumonia during my 8 week build). Although I grew up in Central Florida and thus love glowsticks, I wasn’t going to take one for this race.

I was ready to finish and by mile 23 I was pretty confident that the old foot was going to hold up so I picked it up. The finish wasn’t super epic but I was happy to be done running for sure! Happy to have #10 and really this year behind me. I did get to end on a high note in one respect.. I was able to complete one of my favorite races injury free and fill in spot #10 on my office wall!