10th at the Age Group World Championships in St. George—Result Spotlight
John B. en route to a 9:38 on the very difficult StG World Championships course
Ed. Note—today we hand the keys over to John B., a Campfire Endurance Coaching athlete who nabbed 10th in his AG at the Ironman World Championships this past weekend in St. George. Following you’ll find his notes about the day, and the coaches will drop comments in about John’s preparation.
9:38:34, 3rd fastest IM on the hardest course I’ve completed to date
10th in AG, 65th male OA
Swim
57:05, 10th in AG, 67th male
Two days leading in, the water was 60 degrees. Cold for a general swim but with race day adrenaline I figured it would be fine for race day. I still put gloves in my T1 bag just in case. Race morning they announced it was 64 degrees and that eased the nerves and also helped me decide that no gloves would be needed for the start of the bike. I poured ice water on my face and down my kit prior to jumping starting the race to get that initial fight or flight reaction over with. Coach’s note: many athletes forget to do this, and it’s a mistake! Your mammalian diving reflex happens when water hits your face, prompting a big inhale and a rise in heart rate and ventilation, two things you don’t want when you’re already nervous. Splash cold water on your face and in your wetsuit before the start to mitigate this reaction.
Pretty basic swim, I was the 5th wave to start and just swam through the earlier waves the entire time. After about 200m I backed off the effort slightly knowing I wanted to build by the end. Found some good feet about 1k into the swim and followed those for the next ~1.5k before not liking the line he was taking and did the rest solo. Pressed a little towards the end but still held it in the 5/6 out of 10 effort all the way to the end. Coach’s note: this is a perfect report. The swim in the Ironman should be exactly like this: quick-ish start but only for 2-300 meters, and then a settling into 5-6 out of 10 effort or “moderate to moderately-hard.”
The swim venue in StG, where water temps hovered in the low 60s
Bike
5:12:37, 3rd fastest IM bike on a much tougher course
16th in AG and 101st in males
NP by hr: 197, 190, 192, 195, 189.
Nutrition: no issues here and everything went down well
5.5 24oz bottles with 75g cabs and 1300mg of sodium in each
First two hours was 25g carbs of gummy worms
Final 3 hours was 1 gel an hour with 25g carbs
Water from every age station
As everyone has already said, St. George was an absolutely crushing course and absolutely worth being a World Championship.
My only goal starting the bike was to start easy and not push over 220w. The first tiny climb out of T1, 220w did not feel very good and my HR was shooting up above 150! This was basically how the rest of the bike went. Power was not coming, and my HR was super high at my recovery power. I hoped that after a little bit the legs would turn around and I would be able to ride the way I knew I could. But that was not the case, I tried my best to hold 180-200w the rest of the ride while holding my HR in control as much as possible in the high 140’s. Then it became a problem-solving day, just do what I can to get to the finish of the ride. I always have faith in my run and just knew I needed to get there as I just wanted off that bike by mile 70…I did have a little concern during that ride as I felt like my quads were cramping slightly on the ride after the first major climb up Gunlock. I pushed that negativity aside as best as possible as I didn’t need to make any decisions about the run before getting it started. Coach’s note: I believe that I got John’s taper wrong for the bike. John has an anaerobic background as a pole vaulter (yup), and could probably have benefited from more bike work late. We really only did one threshold session in the final ten days before the race, and everything else was very light or short. We will play around with a different taper for John’s next 70.3 to make sure we have a solid plan for John’s next Ironman, in Kona.
Closing in on the finish line
Run
3:21:30
11th in AG and 67th in males
Nutrition:
One Clif Blok every two miles
Started with 200 calorie bottle and finished most of that in the first 1.5hr
Coke starting at mile 8
Two gels
Same as the bike, just start easy! Straight out of T2 an uphill is not a great way to start a marathon. I looked down at the watch and saw my power at 340 and immediately slowed down significantly to drop down to 310. It was hot and I knew some lower power was going to be needed to get me through to the end in the best way possible. Mentally this marathon went by quickly as I just focused on one mile at a time and doing my best in that specific moment without thinking about what is to come. Every aid station was the same thing, slow down and grab water and as much ice as possible to pour down the kit. Between aid stations I would hold ice in my hands to help keep myself as cool as possible. I turned to coke by mile eight as gels just didn’t sound great and I was only putting down the Clif Bloks every two miles. I must have been a bit low on sodium during that run as I had to pee so much during that marathon! It was like the water was running through me. Half way through, I had to take a bathroom pit stop as a bit of gas had showed up and I knew I didn’t need to risk holding that off very long. That second lap of the run was an interesting one, passing so many people was exciting and even running with a couple guys for a while kept me engaged on the process at hand, but I dropped them all eventually.
The final 10k was a rough one, I started to feel my hip flexors and hamstrings tightening up when I tried to press a little harder, rather that pushing harder I focused on a quicker cadence which seemed to help me move a little faster without completely seizing up. The last uphill was absolutely crushing, but I was the only one running up that hill at the moment which made me feel strong. I finally crested the top with only 2.5 miles to go. This was also the first time I saw my girlfriend Alex that day as she started her first loop and that gave me a little reprieve going into the final miles. I wish I could have ran faster at that moment, but the cramps were on the verge of sending me into a walk so just tried to keep the cadence up and get down that final hill. What a relief it was to hit that finish line after getting through some low moment during that bike.
Finisher medal in hand, 10th in the world in the 30-34 AG
Summary/Resolutions for Next Time
Swim
Did what I expected to do. Could I have swam harder and a little faster, probably. I have swam between 56-58 in every IM I have ever done so this was where I expected this one to be too.
Bike:
Keep the bike legs working through the taper. I may have just gone into this one too rested and resulted in being flat on the day.
Nutrition worked great, don’t change it.
Good job not getting too down on yourself not being able to push the power you wanted. Great job and using all the information I had to pace the ride (HR, power, PE). Coach’s note: this is my absolutely favorite thing that John wrote in his reflection. Staying positive when things aren’t going to plan is so important in long-distance racing, and at at LEAST two to three things will not go according to plan. Instead of wasting energy on worrying and self-recrimination, John managed what he could control and got a great result anyway. This is the big takeaway lesson for him and for anyone reading.
Good job staying focused on the process to get to the run in the best shape possible.
Run:
Pacing was pretty damn even all day long, 308w for the fist half and 305w for the second. Great job at adjusting for the heat and holding steady all day long. Cadence increase just slightly for the second half.
Get more salt in on the run, I was peeing so much!
Would have liked to get one more long hill workout in prior to this race. The hip flexors were gone for the last 10k and I think that had to do with all the climbing.