2008 IMFL

IMFL 2008

I was supposed to take all my lessons learned from my first race in 2007, and do much, much better at IMFL 2008. Not quite. Well, as you can see (see image from a couple posts ago), relative to 2007 - I rode a bunch more, and ran marginally more, but swam even less (as if that was possible!), and really made a tough time of it for myself. As I’ve alluded to before, there’s no hiding in a race like this. I managed to finish 43 minutes faster in 2008, but definitely left a lot of time on the table based upon what I feel my capability is.

Totals for 22 weeks:
Swim 14 miles (26,280 yards). Bike 1083 miles. Run 147 miles.

Swim
My swim technique needed improving. I spent a little time watching some on-line videos and reading some articles and forums about swimming drills to better my stroke, but there’s only so much those can do without direct feedback in the pool. Luckily, my friend, colleague and fellow Ironman Matt came up to Boston for a work visit and spent some time with me in the pool giving me some great tips. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to solidify those tips (e.g. generate enough muscle memory in my stroke) prior to my event for me to hold form in my race. My swim training was dreadful, and my result showed this. I had enough confidence to be able to finish the swim leg, but I wouldn’t be tearing it up by any means. I’m definitely writing this shaking my head, wondering what result I was possibly thinking I could achieve with so little training. I’m feeling far greater motivation now to train for a better result this year at IMFL 2009.

Bike
Felt so much better on the bike in 2008. After the first 72 miles in 2007, I slowed down considerably in the last 40 miles. This year, I sped up. Legs felt great in those last couple hours. I have to say a couple things about the bike course at IMFL. First, it’s pancake flat. There are a couple tiny hills, like the ones over bridges, but across the whole 112 miles, there’s only about 1000 feet of “climbing” – compare that to some of my rides out of Boston into the local suburbs, where through only 30-40 miles I reach the same amount and more of climbing. Florida is darn flat. The plus is that there are no major climbs; the minus is that you end up using one muscle group in the same way for the entire distance – which can be taxing on the bike, and treacherous when you try to run afterwards. Second, for me, the bike portion represents a subtle psychological win. Since I’m such a slow swimmer, I end up passing tons of folks on the bike throughout the bike leg. There definitely is a boon to my feeling good on the bike. In 2007, my position improved by 171 racers during the bike leg. And in 2008, my position improved by 329 racers. Hopefully this year I won’t come off the swim so slow, but I’m already feeling that I’ll be much stronger on the bike since I’ll be putting in so much more time on the bike.

Run
I felt great on the run for the first 6.55 miles – to the first turnaround. Then the day and lack of run training started to catch up with me. You find solace in those suffering right along with you. Some are running, slowly plodding along, walking and a few even limping along. We all provide encouragement to one another. At some point my run turned into a walk. Many times I would alternate between running and walking throughout the rest of the race. It’s a tough place to be. The run is through a residential neighborhood, and you can see folks settling in for their evening dinners or watching tv. I remember wondering if any of those locals would mind if I just walked into their living room and took a short little nap on their sofa. Just 10 minutes, that’s all I needed! But alas, we must keep on, keepin’ on. I remember one time that I slowed to a walk, a fellow racer ran past me and seeing my pause, he said: “That’s ok buddy, take a break – then find it.” He emphasized those last two words. And those were the words I needed to hear. We all have that someplace deep down inside, a place where only we know exists, a place you save for when you really, really need it – it could be physical, mental, spiritual, intellectual, whatever. This fellow racer reminded me that I have a place like that. I think it was far more a mental place than anything else, and I summoned myself there. The night had fallen dark, there was some cheering, but a good part of the course was pretty quiet, and long gone were the endorphins that masked the pain – all you have sometimes is yourself and what you believe you can do. So while I walked a lot during the middle part of the run, I “turned it on” over that last 6.55 miles and finished strong, simply repeating to myself in a chant – “find it, find it, find it…”.