Mark B. IMCDA Report

[Mark Baumli]

’08 Ironman CDA race report
Coming into this year’s race, I felt fit and ready to go. I was confident that the EN bike pacing protocol would pay off and I would consequently be able to have a “decent” marathon which was my primary goal this time around. The only trepidation I had was: 1) surviving the swim and 2) did I estimate the time to complete the bike course properly and hence have the proper pacing.
I had 2 goals for the race:

1) Survive the swim without getting the crap knocked out of me (I had a terrifying experience last time I did an IM)
2) Have a good marathon

.
The Swim
I lined up on the swim way right. I figured I would rather swim extra distance than have an experience like last time. The tactic worked as I had a pretty uneventful swim other than it taking forever. The time to the first turn seemed to take FOREVER. I rounded the corner with no issues and when I hit the beach for the first time and looked at my watch, it read 19 seconds. Somehow, I had started it and stopped it so had no idea of my time. The second trip around was uneventful, and I came out of the water at 1:15:33. It was slower than I was anticipating by 4 or 5 minutes, but heck I met goal number 1 so I was happy.

The bike.
I stuck to plan taking the first 50 or so minutes very easy and hitting my NP target. Once we hit the hills, I wasn’t able to keep my power below the target. I was going up the hills as easily as I could, but I was still over my planned watts. This didn’t concern me as I had done my RRs in hills and had the same experience but still did fine overall. At mile 34 I was beginning to get concerned that I was going to be out there longer than the 6:20 I had planned, but figured the trip back into town would be pretty fast and I should be pretty close (wasn’t counting on the headwind). As I hit the halfway mark, it was clear I needed to adapt my plan or I would be toast on the run. My NP and IF were right on, but the TSS was north of 155. I was looking at an overall TSS in the red zone unless I slowed… which is exactly what I did. I reminded myself that one of my goals was to have a good marathon, so I backed down the watts. I didn’t look at the TSS and IF for the last 20 miles or so as I didn’t really want to know how far north of 300 I was. I figured there wasn’t anything I could do about it and I didn’t want to give myself an excuse to implode on the run. One issue I did have on the bike was that I was VERY well hydrated. I had to stop 5 times to pee and it cost me over 11 minutes. Guess I need to learn how to “soil” myself. At least the 11 minutes didn’t add to the TSS!
Stats for Bike
Time NP VI TSS
1st Half 3:18 145 1.05 157.4
2nd Half 3:33 138 1.06 151.8
Total 6:51 142 1.06 309.2 (Note actual ride time was 6:40)
Goal 6:20 143 1.05 285
FTP is 210; weight 133 lbs; for 3.48 watts/Kg.

The Run
I left T2 and felt pretty good and tried to hold myself back as I started the run. I kept looking at my Garmin and it was in the 8:30 to 8:45 range. I wanted to be around 9:30 or 9:40. After the first 3 miles or so, I seemed to be seeing paces starting with a 9, so I figured it was close enough and I would just run. I carried a fuel belt and ran straight through all aid station but 2 (to refill my bottles) for the first 15 miles. Turns out I was going a bit faster than I should have been as my pace was 9:15 for the first 15 miles. I stopped to get my SNB and really wish I hadn’t. I ended up not being able to stomach the gu I picked up and it broke the momentum I was feeling. After that stop, I ended up interspersing periods of walking with the running, but overall felt okay for the rest of the race and didn’t slow much more beyond the pace I began at the SNB pick up. The pace for the last 11 miles averaged 11:20 min/mile consistently till the end. I ended with a 4:32:16 marathon (10:23 pace) and felt really good about it.

Overall
I finished in 12:51:46 and felt completely satisfied. It was slower than I anticipated but feeling satisfied with the results was all about the run. I did CDA in '05 (easier bike course) and did a 6:07 bike and an abysmal run (if you could call it a run) at 5:20. I was completely disappointed in the results and the feeling lingered for months. This year, I only improved my overall time by 7 minutes, but my attitude is 180 degrees flipped. I feel completely satisfied...... simply because I had a decent marathon. It was such an experience to be running while everyone else was walking. The crowd would cheer me and call my name simply because I was looking strong and actually running. That in turn gave me more energy. It was great. Yes, there was some walking, but it was controlled and there was much more running than walking.

Going forward, I need to get faster on the bike. At 133 lbs. and 3.48 watts/kg FTP, (48 years old) there is clearly room for improvement. The other thing I will do differently next time is to be more controlled on my run up front and go slower. I think I could have had a better overall pace if I slowed up front and didn’t slow as much later on.

Mark

[Erstegeiger]

Mark:

Thanks for sharing the report with us.

I look forward to the day when I have a sub-13 experience on my good day let alone a not great day.

Congrats,

Drew

P.S. most important like you said in your report you had a great attitude and your mental game is 100% the opposite direction!!! AWESOME!