Profile of an Ironman – Ride
For the end of year blog series, we're looking at two of our athletes, James Martin and Mike Galante. Before jumping in mid-stream, be sure to read the previous posts:
James Martin
Be sure to take a close look at James' Ride in full detail.
I ran towards my bike and pointed at a volunteer standing at my rack and hollered my race number. Racks were tight and he literally lifted it over his head to bring it to me; I put my shoes on while waiting. I ran past the mount line by about 10 yards and was off.
Now that I was on the bike, I felt way more in control of my race. I had done a workout recently and knew that I could do 180 watts for 5 hours and then run strong off the bike, so that is what I intended to do (for those that like Bike data, that would an IF of 0.75 based on FTP of 240 as verified by an all out 40k TT in September where I went 239 watts for 57 minutes and change on this exact setup).
I got on the bike and everything felt normal. I saw my Dad in the first half mile, gave him a wave and went to work. Legs were a little tight from the long ocean swim (I am not used to salt water swims and it always works slightly different muscles for me), but I was having no problem getting settled and hitting my power number and starting my nutrition plan.
Course was a little congested, but the roads were good so no problem getting around people and getting moving. Later on I would learn that I came out of the water in 296th overall but managed to pass (net) 145 people prior to mile 15 of the bike (some of them were likely in T1 though).
Plan was a bottle of Powerbar Perform every hour and supplement with a concentrated calorie bottle throughout the bike. I am a little guy but have had success racing long course at around 300 to 350 cals/hour on the bike. It is probably on the high side, but my stomach can handle it and I figure it gives me some room for error if I drop a bottle or something. For higher intensities, like 70.3, I can’t get nearly this much down.
I had success with this plan in training and in racing, but I was open to tweaking based on weather conditions. Were this race going to be hotter, I was prepared to take on nearly double this fluid amount (for same calories)
After about the first 6 miles, the course is a straight shot for roughly 16 miles. This is the first time that I really started to see a good bit of blatant drafting/cheating. I know that IMFL is known for it, but this is the first time I have seen it that bad in my three years racing here. I won’t belabor it; I will just say it was bad.
Winds were predicted out of the NW, so we expected a headwind from mile 6 to roughly mile 56 (with some exceptions) and then a tail wind from roughly 56 to 106. With the head wind, I was able to target my power numbers and drill them perfectly. Then only exceptions were when I had to climb the bridge around mile 10 and when I had to surge to make a pass or coast to keep from entering a draft zone or to fall back out after someone else passed me. First 28 miles, AP: 178 watts, NP 181 watts. Perfect. Second 28 miles, AP: 181 watts, NP: 182 watts. Perfect.
Then we shifted to the tail wind. Around this time there is another really long straight section of the course with some rolling hills. It is probably from about mile 68 to about mile 82 (something like that, it is dead west with no turns). So we are getting a slight tail wind (turns out winds were more from the north that from the west) and I am dealing with some traffic.
She had a 5 minute head start and I caught Mirinda Carfrae and I am counting it!
I will remember this part of the course for two reasons. First, I came up on and passed a reigning Ironman World Champion. I don’t care that she was taking it easy and using the race for qualification purposes. She had a 5 minute head start and I caught Mirinda Carfrae and I am counting it! As I passed her, I congratulated her on a great race last month and carried on. She said thanks and looked like she was having a nice ride in the nice weather. She is a Class act, loved racing with her for the 5 seconds I saw her on the bike.
Second reason I remember this part of the course, a few miles after I saw Rinny, I had an interesting experience with a fellow racer. I got passed by a big group, most of whom were making an effort to cheat. As they rolled through, somehow one of the group ended up on my back wheel (maybe he was resting or something). After I slowed and the group advanced to maybe 200 yards up the road, I noticed this guy was behind me. I asked him to get off my wheel and he pulled up next to me and asked if we could work together to catch the group down the road.
I asked if he planned to also cheat on the run, declined his request and then I turned it up a little bit to drop him. Happily I didn’t notice him again, but he may have passed me at some point in a group later on.
During this 3rd Quarter of the bike, I found that I was losing my concentration and not focusing enough on my power. I was able to hold my 180 or a little higher on the uphills of the rollers, but the downhills were causing my average to drop (I wasn't working them hard enough). Add in the slight tail wind and I ended up on the 3rd 28 miles with an AP: 174 watts and an NP: 178. Not the end of the world, but not hitting my targets.
Around this time, we turned Southbound and finally get the benefit of the full tailwind and are also on a net downhill for most of the rest of the course. Somewhere around mile 90, I begin to notice that I am not feeling right. I am starting to get cold even though it is getting hotter, my HR is dropping, my RPE is too high for a power that is too low. I started running through my mental checklist and can’t think of anything I have done wrong. I hit all my calories, I hit my fluid numbers, I have hit my power numbers, I emptied my bladder a couple of times. I should feel awesome, but I was getting weaker.
I decide that the only thing it could be is that it might be hotter than I planned and that I was low on fluids. On the next aid station or two, I take in an extra bottle (just water) and try to top myself up, this put an extra 30 or 40 ounces in me with about 45 minutes left to ride. This was a risk because I didn't want to end up with a sloshing gut on the run, but if I still felt like this when I got off the bike, it was going to be a long 26 mile walk.
So, I start to feel a little better around mile 100, but at this point, I am afraid to chase my power goal and thought it better to listen to what my body was trying to tell me. After all, I have a bunch of work left to do. I also knew that this end of the course gets congested again as people approach T2. So between the traffic, the downwind, the net downhill, and my feeling “off”, my power on the last 28 was AP: 163 and NP: 167. While this was off target, I wasn't too concerned because I knew I was getting blown down the course so my speed wouldn't suffer much.
What was your power meter and cassette setup?
I was using a Quarq Riken (crank based PM) which was basically brand new, I calibrated it early and often (by back spinning the cranks while coasting out of the draft or while on a fast decent), the ring/cassette setup was 53/39 11x23.
I spent nearly the whole day right in the sweet spot of the cassette and in the big ring up front. On decent, I probably used 53x11 some of the time. I think I shifted to the 39 on a big bridge at around mile 100. This course is as flat as they come really.
Mike Galante
Be sure to take a close look at Mike's Ride in full detail.
The course rides out 18.7 miles, turns around to the start, and then repeats that two more times for three total out-and-back loops – aka, a mental nightmare. The way out is slightly uphill most of the way, with a pretty noticeable incline just as you approach the turnaround point. I will say, the road conditions were incredible, and for that I am thankful.
On the first lap, there was no wind to speak of and the temperature was still cool. The first trip out went smoothly, but the hill leading up to the turnaround woke up my legs and reminded me just how far 112 miles is. Fortunately going uphill on the way out means going downhill on the way back and I took full advantage.
I sped back to the starting area, clocking in my first lap in just under 2 hours (and way ahead of my estimated pace). Here I am spotting the crew cheering me on, with a Southwest plane overhead, and pretending like I don’t have another 74 miles to bike. Beautiful day though, no?
Lap two was more of the same (literally), though this time I noticed a bit of a breeze picking up. I told myself it was just my imagination and that I must be going even faster, but the flapping flags spoiled that idea. Thankfully the wind was behind me on the way back uphill.
At the turnaround this time I heard a “Go Mike!” and saw another member of my support crew cheering me on. The way back to the start now had a headwind, so it wasn’t quite as fast as the first lap, but my legs were grateful for the relief nonetheless. I swung back into the starting area in nearly exactly two hours again.
The last lap can be summed up as bittersweet. Bitter because I still had 37 miles to go; sweet because… nope, just bitter. The final outbound trip taught me a few things.
I will finish.
I’m tired.
Solid food is no longer an option.
I will finish. I’m tired. Solid food is no longer an option.
That third lesson worried me. I just couldn’t eat anything, so I’d have to get my calories from gels and sports drink. Usually not a huge deal, except that I had a bit of a long run coming up. However, with each passing mile I got a little more excited. If you saw me at the turnaround, you’d think it was the finish line. Getting to fly back down the hill knowing that I was riding to the run course was definitely a high point for me. I made pretty good time getting back and saw the support crew cheering me on right before hopping off my bike.
Next
We'll be looking at James and Mike's run segment and the post-race wrapup.
Reference
Much of the race report comes directly from the athlete's own race reports. James Martin's is posted at SlowTwitch while Mike Galante is on his blog at blog.mikegalante.com.