knapplaura
04-23-2007, 11:03 AM
Well, a little late but....
The IM was my priority race of the year. I did it last year in 14:29 and received a massive sunburn (2nd degree) on the bike, so my whole race plan involved not getting burned again. I also bought a new bike this year, Guru Carbonia Tri, which is great. Outfitted it with Zipp 404's.
I had been training really hard, and my last brick was 3 weeks out, 73 mile ride w/6 mile run at 10:00 pace. Felt strong on the run and took that as a good sign. I tapered for 2 weeks, cutting my long run to 6 miles in the week prior and very little running during race week.
Headed to Phoenix on Friday and started the pre-race freak-out!
The swim is my worst event, just tried to stay calm. I stayed too calm I think b/c my time was 1:53 for the swim! I could not see any bouys on the way to the turn, and the way back i was right next to them. Have got to work on the swim!
I started the bike by downing a whole bottle of water before mile 10. just so thirsty! then started my nutrition plan; Perpetuem (5.5 scoops in the bottle) every 15 minutes chased with water and 1 gel (w/caffeine) every hour. The tailwind was tremendus for half the loop (3 loops) so I was hitting 23-25 MPH on the outbound, and the extreme headwind dropped me to 14-16 MPH on the inbound. On lap 3 the wind was getting to me, trying to fight and stay over 14 was hard and I was failing. I started to tell myself, just smile and relax, this wind is not going to kill you. After that I could mostly stay over 14. In the final stretch i passed a group of guys drafting each other, so I sprinted past them so they could not catch my wheel! Final bike time: 6:30
The run ...i was so happy to finally start running! Set off at what I thought was a good pace; averaged 10:00 pace the first of 3 loops. Kept on the nutrition plan; gel every 30-40 minutes w/endurolytes every hour or so. When I started to feel cramps coming on, just ate endurolyts straight and that helped alot. My 2nd lap was tougher than the first, i tried to run with another girl but I think I was annoying her so she ducked into a portajon. At around mile 14 I switched over to coke instead of gel, which was good. Then on I took coke or water at each aid station. I felt like the cushioning in my running shoes was going flat in the forefoot though! On lap 3 I met up w/the brother of a friend and ran the whole lap with him. We were a little faster than 11:00 pace that lap. From mile 23 to the end I thought I was going to die from the strain of pushing but knew I was too close to stop. Walking each aid station was a big help, and I did not have to walk any significant chunks of terrain.
Overall time was 13:27; over an hour faster than last year. And no sunburn or major injuries, just some toe blisters. I was so jazzed up that I could not sleep all night!
For next year I plan to focus on improving the swim and increasing my leg strength and overall speed.
thanks for reading,
Laura
The IM was my priority race of the year. I did it last year in 14:29 and received a massive sunburn (2nd degree) on the bike, so my whole race plan involved not getting burned again. I also bought a new bike this year, Guru Carbonia Tri, which is great. Outfitted it with Zipp 404's.
I had been training really hard, and my last brick was 3 weeks out, 73 mile ride w/6 mile run at 10:00 pace. Felt strong on the run and took that as a good sign. I tapered for 2 weeks, cutting my long run to 6 miles in the week prior and very little running during race week.
Headed to Phoenix on Friday and started the pre-race freak-out!
The swim is my worst event, just tried to stay calm. I stayed too calm I think b/c my time was 1:53 for the swim! I could not see any bouys on the way to the turn, and the way back i was right next to them. Have got to work on the swim!
I started the bike by downing a whole bottle of water before mile 10. just so thirsty! then started my nutrition plan; Perpetuem (5.5 scoops in the bottle) every 15 minutes chased with water and 1 gel (w/caffeine) every hour. The tailwind was tremendus for half the loop (3 loops) so I was hitting 23-25 MPH on the outbound, and the extreme headwind dropped me to 14-16 MPH on the inbound. On lap 3 the wind was getting to me, trying to fight and stay over 14 was hard and I was failing. I started to tell myself, just smile and relax, this wind is not going to kill you. After that I could mostly stay over 14. In the final stretch i passed a group of guys drafting each other, so I sprinted past them so they could not catch my wheel! Final bike time: 6:30
The run ...i was so happy to finally start running! Set off at what I thought was a good pace; averaged 10:00 pace the first of 3 loops. Kept on the nutrition plan; gel every 30-40 minutes w/endurolytes every hour or so. When I started to feel cramps coming on, just ate endurolyts straight and that helped alot. My 2nd lap was tougher than the first, i tried to run with another girl but I think I was annoying her so she ducked into a portajon. At around mile 14 I switched over to coke instead of gel, which was good. Then on I took coke or water at each aid station. I felt like the cushioning in my running shoes was going flat in the forefoot though! On lap 3 I met up w/the brother of a friend and ran the whole lap with him. We were a little faster than 11:00 pace that lap. From mile 23 to the end I thought I was going to die from the strain of pushing but knew I was too close to stop. Walking each aid station was a big help, and I did not have to walk any significant chunks of terrain.
Overall time was 13:27; over an hour faster than last year. And no sunburn or major injuries, just some toe blisters. I was so jazzed up that I could not sleep all night!
For next year I plan to focus on improving the swim and increasing my leg strength and overall speed.
thanks for reading,
Laura