Friends, I am not going to sugarcoat things here. Yesterday, I crossed an ironman finish line for the 50th time. And while I am indeed proud of this accomplishment, I didn’t come to Louisville just to cross the finish line, or to finish 8th. I came into this race confident that I was capable of a podium finish, and that was my goal.
Maik and I had just come off of our first-ever training stint up high: 6 weeks at 7500 feet. As we hadn’t done it before, it was experiment; and after yesterday, I think it is safe to conclude that, for me, it was an epic FAIL. The good news is that judging by his great race on Saturday at TriStar Minnesota, Maiki seems to have good form right now, so it was not a complete loss for our team as a whole.
Look who is on the Louisville race programs and posters!
The difference between Maik and I as athletes—or, one of them—is that Maiki can run slow for a whole training block and then still find a “fast” gear. We found this a couple winters ago when we did every single run together in training (meaning he cruised every single one) and then did a half marathon. He ran 73 and I ran 93. So, running slow up high worked well for the GCM.
Here is what happens when I run slow all the time: I run slow. And I knew this. I knew that my training plan, which called for weeks of running without any check on pace, would result in this. I knew better, and yet I let myself be talked out of what I knew.
49 Ironmans and I did not have the confidence to persist in a forceful intervention in my run training plan.
Yesterday I got off the bike within 8 minutes of the lead, which, given where my cycling has been in the past couple years, was about where I could hope to be at this point in my cycling improvement project. I thought I had it all under control and that I could run my way to the podium. And in fact within a mile of starting the run, I felt good.
Actually, I felt pretty good the entire run. I felt like I was crushing it. However, when I crossed paths with my competition at miles 8 and 15, I discovered that I wasn’t going anywhere but backwards.
And this is why I am so disappointed and angry at myself. I had already learned this lesson in my training in years past: when I run alone almost all the time without some kind of check on pace, I get slow without even knowing it. And that is exactly what happened this summer, apparently: how 3:40 became the new 3:30. All while I thought I was making my way back to a 3:20.
By comparison, my swim yesterday was the best I have had all year; Nina Kraft and I came out first for the women, with only 2 men ahead of us, in 50 minutes (non-wetsuit). I think I have only been able to swim with Nina once in my career, and to make this happen I had to bridge a gap and cover a surge with a gear that I often cannot access during ironman swims. So this was definitely the day’s highlight for me. But, how did this happen?
My swim was good most likely because I did what I knew I needed to be in tip-top swim shape, even though it was what most people would call “too much”: a 36,000-yard swim week a week out from the race and two 10,000-yard swims in a week.
And thus I had to learn the very hard way yesterday that what works for me is usually not what works for most everyone else. Because I apparently did not learn this lesson the first, second, or third time, I missed a big opportunity and failed to meet my goal.
The good news is that even after 50 finishes, I still get goosebumps running through the last half-mile of an ironman marathon. Thanks so much to the awesome spectators here yesterday for the enthusiasm and for bringing me lots of smiles during that run.
And thanks to my sponsors for their helping make my 50th possible: Rev3-Trakkers (PARTY IN CEDAR POINT IN TWO WEEKS!!), SkirtSports, TYR, Recovery Pump, FuelBelt, Kestrel, Zipp, ISM, Vega, CycleOps, Avia, FSA, and First Endurance.
I will be back.
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
I am so, so impressed by you…
I hear you on the run slow thing, I tried that this year and made absolutely no progress on my runs this year…glad to hear I can bag that plan and go with what is in my gut – 50 Ironmans is a huge accomplishment – what an awesome swim!
I am so proud of you! You make me cry every time you cross a finish line no matter what place you are in. Your spirit, tenacity, positive take no prisoner attitude is beyond amazing. Thank you for being so open and honest and sharing so much with all of us so we can learn from you. I will NEVER do a 36,000 yd swim, probably not even 10,000 but I still learn about listening to my body, trusting my gut, and never giving up. You have that all in spades. 50 IM’s unbelievable. You are remarkable, please don’t feel like it was an epic fail. YOU are an EPIC person, racer, coach, woman. Congratulations! Stay strong, stay you.
nice to read such a fair and honest race report… no excuses! Hang tough
Awesome. So honest.
Thanks for your honesty Hills, i did see you expression after crossing the finish and you dind’t look happy, although please remember you have done 50 IM’s and that in itself is amazing. You have unbelieveable endurance and mental toughness!!!
I agree with you when you say what works for one person doesn’t work for another. We’re all different and training/racing is like trying to find the perfect piece of the puzzle. You are the best coach of yourself Hills. Stay strong.
Hill,
Typical you, brutally honest and straight-forward. No point in arguing with you over perceived success and failure, it’s your call. I do think, however, that your willingness to be coached and try new approaches will result in future success.
You are a stud, and I’m gonna celebrate your 50 by doing my long run today. Here’s to you!!! xxoo
Ingrid
I totally agree with Lisa, Hillary: You are an EPIC person in so many ways. I am sorry that you aren’t happy with the results of your 50th. Please know that you continue to amaze and inspire many, many people(myself included!!!). Take it easy on yourself. Thanks for all that you do.
Kelly
Sometimes the toughest thing to admit to yourself is that unconvential applies to you and damn what everybody else says. It’s the same reason that for the people looking to “finish” something that getting that off-the-shelf training program will do just that; get them over the line. When you want to excel to the best of your ability, all of the factors need to be taken into account and constantly addressed and tweaked. Famously somebody in a meeting I attended once refused to admit they were changing something, but were rather engaging in a “mid-course correction”.
Most people don’t think that 140.6 miles is a great place to play lab rat, but you did just that yesterday. Swim ass kicking? Check. Bike results as planned? Check. Manage all external factors to the best of your ability? Check. Run that somewhere in the back of your mind there was this little voice whispering over dozens of training miles, “Are you sure this is working?” that probably needed to be drowned or left on the roadside at altitude somewhere? Well, yeah.
The crime will be if you don’t take what happened and move forward and improve on it. But you’ve got the ability, the drive and the skill to make sure that doesn’t happen again and I trust that #51 will be entirely different.
Rest, recover, kudos to the Cat for his big win and look to the next one on the calendar you can put a change in tactic on display.
You less than 10 minutes out of fourth place. If you could have pulled a 3:20, you would have been on the podium.
From reading your blog, sometimes I am concerned that you overtrain. You have such a huge base, I would think about cutting down on the volume a bit and focusing on speed. Maybe throw in a half ironman? Some more trackwork? I have also noticed that you look a lot leaner .. Don’t know if this is good or bad .. just something I noticed. You are way ahead from where you were a year ago … Just about one more MPH on the bike and :30 seconds per mile on the run, and you are there! Good luck at the Rev 3!
X3 on Epic. This morning I came directly to the 8th place finisher’s blog because I knew it would be epic. That’s why I follow you, that’s why we all follow you. Sometimes epic is first, sometimes it’s eighth. We always respect the hell out of it either way.
wow–50 IM’s AmAzInG.
What I love about this sport is the integrity, character, discipline, and good manners demonstrated by most of the athletes and you and Maik are at the very top, setting a great example! Bravo to you both for excellent races, above and beyond the race clock.
Hillary,
I was so impressed with your honesty with your article I wanted to toggle over and figure out how to send an e-mail to you. I think it is very telling and professional of you to not make excuses but to analyze where your training failed you in preparation for your race. Also, to be able to express your disappointment with not getting right speaks to why you have done 50 Ironmans, persistence.
I’m sure you will get it right for the next time and prevail, especially after all of that slow volume sets in
Best of luck
Hills you need to come up and stay with us for a few weeks or months this fall or winter and you and I can bike and run together everyday (I will also go to the pool with you, but we wouldn’t really be swimming together) I will get you faster in your running shoes, I promise!!!
Congrats on number 50, keep inspiring us!!!
you’re a baller, period. we all make the mistake of not listening to our inner voice at one point. you’ll just crush it MORE next time
Refreshingly honest…..a true professional.
Just was thinking of you and wondered what you were up too and then saw this post of #50!! I am so proud of you and what you have accomplished in this sport and for the sport! I chuckled at your comments…funny how many times we have to learn the same lesson over… did I tell you I am riding bikes again?? Hermosa Beach house 99% done, come play next time you guys are in town! OOXX
Kudos for having the perspective to know where you went wrong and what you’ve got to do to fix it. Can’t wait to watch you kill it at Cedar Point!
You are such a class act, Hillary, 50 Ironman races… WOW! I appreciate you sharing #50 with all of us, your insight has proven to be priceless for myself, and I am sure for many others, as well. I hope you spend some QT in your Recovery Pumps over the next few days, because I am positive your legs will be ready to drop the hammer in Cedar Point!!!!!
I hope you have safe travels home!
Cheers,
T
tough day, i know you had hoped for better but still so amazing! I was following and cheering, james and I both were.
Wow, boods. Love this post. You’re still the same cat who knows herself and knows how to dig deep. I like the commenter who said “I won’t quibble about perceived success” because I think that’s worth acknowledging. Anyway, thanks for an inspiring tale of judging yourself by your own (super-high) standards.
You know yourself, and what it takes. You have many years from your early swimming through your 50th Ironman Hillary. Sometimes it just takes going back to knowing what you know about yourself and what works, making that leap, having faith, and believing in it. I know you know it!! As mentioned above it’s always great racing on the same course as you. You’re an inspiration to so many. Your honesty, boldness, and ever fighting spirit are traits that can never be taken away! We’re cheering for you!
Hillary,
We met at the Colorado Training Camp in July. I’ve enjoyed reading your blog since and have been fueled by your passion for the sport. I will never forget the look on your face when I asked about what to do when not feeling so good on any certain day… and don’t worry, I haven’t even considered stopping since! Your mental strength is clearly something all of us should learn from.
Not having nearly any experience in the Ironman distance compared to you, I must say I completely agree with you in the train hard, run hard approach to running. Before turning into iron distance races, I was a decent age group runner that could go sub 2:50 in a marathon and sub 1:20 in a half. When I finally was able to do this, was when my coach and I discovered I was under training (i.e., running slower than my potential). As we pushed up the “tempo” training paces, my race results started to improve. I consider myself to be like you as I don’t have that extra gear that other people have. HOWEVER… I’m also from Mexico City, and I know what altitude training does and doesn’t do for you. You are right, tempo/speed work in altitude is tough. My better days as a runner were when I was living at sea level. BUT… that doesn’t mean that altitude training isn’t beneficial. And here I have to disagree. I think your altitude training helped a lot. Look at your swim split, it was awesome. Why? Because you are a swimmer, swimming comes natural to you, and you were able to convert all that added altitude fitness into a fast swim split given the key workouts you mention you did. In other words, you needed a short time to reap the benefits from altitude training for your swim given your natural swimming strength and some good swim workouts. However, the same didn’t happen with your run… Why? Well, because that adaptation period wasn’t completed and maybe you didn’t do enough key workouts to make that happen. From what it seems, you might’ve needed more time to make this happen for your run, given that this is not your strongest or natural sport. I know that you have a passion for racing, but let’s be honest on this front too. Didn’t you decide to race Louisville about two weeks ago? What would’ve happened if you’d allowed yourself two or three more weeks of training and adaptation to convert that altitude fitness into tempo speed for you run?
Just my humble opinion. I think you are being too hard on yourself… and on altitude training.
Nevertheless, CONGRATULATIONS on your big 5-0! This is absolutely amazing. Please keep insipring us with your passion for the sport and your great blog. And good luck to Maik in Kona, I will never ever forget cruising through the Colorado mountains with him at 35mph+!!!
Saludos,
Francisco
Hillary! So great seeing you at the expo! And thanks for cheering for me on the run (and shaming me into running when I was walking on the second loop – seriously! I was like “ahhh that’s Hillary and she NEVER walks, I need to pull it together!”) I think you’re awesome and can’t wait to see how great you do at CP!
Hillary, thanks for the refreshingly honest race report and the reminder to trust in our gut. I am racing my first ironman at Cedar Point in two weeks and will definitely draw inspiration from this and many of your other posts. I hope to see you out on the course…crushing it, no less!
thank you for your great race report. i love reading how you learn and hope to learn from your lessons as well.
i know everyone is different, but i know that all pieces of information will come together.
thank you so much. i know you will win!
Hey,
Great and honest blog again Hillary. Thats why we like you som much:-) Could see you where not to happy in the finish cute, but still it was great to see you finish of #50!
And I am sure #51 will be FAST:-)!
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