First HIM compleded. Jonas McCluskey.
Well. I survived my first HIM 
. Grand Rapids Michigan Triathlon.
12th out of 53 in my Age group.
62 out of 242 male overall.
Swim 0:34:17. Went just as I planned, in my previous races (2) Sprints & (1) Olympic I had a tendency of going out too fast (excited) and getting winded, nailed it this time though went out real real real slow & by 0:10 into race had my stride and picked up speed the rest of the way 7th out of water in my AG I've never had so much fun swimming!!!
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Bike went as I planned as well, although I really don't think I targeted correctly (too aggressive). I must lock myself down for some time and get more intimate w/ the watts / TSS / IF data tools. Not sure if I have my threshold in the WKO software set exactly perfect, but my TSS was 266 w/ an IF of .99, I think that is about where I should have been?
I targeted 200 - 205 watts, and ended up at 200 watts exactly. Crazy though, the bike course according to my Garmin was 57.4 miles! My time was 2:42:31, speed 21.3, 7th off bike in my AG. Not too much drama on the bike, a mix of flats & hills, I like the hills so I can stand up and stretch a little. Somehow I lost one of my two bottles of PowerBar Perfrom, no idea how that happened, I had not even started using that bottle yet, I struggle to yank those out when I need them? Grabbed a bottle of Gatorade from the next water stop and moved on. By the end of the bike I had completed my nutrition plan 1/2 a Powerbar 10 minutes into bike, Powerbar Gel at :40, Powerbar Gel at 1:30, then 3 Cliff Bloks at 2:10 and was happy stomach wise I felt good.
I'm not sure if I drank as much as I should have though, I made sure I drank every 10 minutes, but I only ended up drinking (1) 24 oz. water bottle of Perform & about 1/4 of the 20 oz. Gatorade. Temperature was only low to mid 60's, I was not sweating much (my HR monitor didn't start working until 1/2 way through ride because it could not make good contact w/out sweat.
I really had to pee about 1/2 way into bike, this is one question I forgot to inquire about. Most of you guys just let her rip on the bike? I had to admit it but I ended up holding it the whole race, I wonder how that impacted my performance? I had to go, but it wasn't like killing me, at least I don't think it was.
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Run - 1:47:59. 14th fastest in AG. This is where the wheels fell off. My pace plan was mile 1-3 at 7.8mph, 3-6 at 8.0mph, 6-9 at 8.2mph, 9-13.1 at 8.4 or whatever I had left. First 3 miles I held 7.8, not too uncomfortably but I could tell I didn't have much more speed in me for the remaining 10 miles. Once mile marker 3 went by I attempted to bump up to 8.0 mph, but nope not there. Not sure if it was too much exertion on the bike, or lack of fluids on the bike, but no matter how hard I tried I steadily slowed down. HR held around 150 the whole time, in hind sight maybe I just didn't grind it out hard enough 
. So rather than hitting my 8.1ish mph target for the run, by the end I had fell about 7.3, losing about 0:09 on the run. Killed me to see some of the guys I knew I should be in front of get me on the run. Normally the run is where I've reeled people in in my other races I've done (albeit Sprint & Olympic). I was extremely thirsty on run course as I'm sure everyone is, but I mean like all I wanted to do was stop and grab all the cups of everything and drink them all, but I knew my body wouldn't go for that. I grabbed Gatorade as I felt my stomach could handle, took 1 gel about 1/2 way through but that was all I consumed on the run. I was able to finish the last mile fairly strong, catching 2 guys in my AG, and in doing that made me think I did not grind it out enough. I was so worried about bonking 1/2 way through the run I went a little too conservative.
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Overall I'm happy w/ my results. Swim I'll just keep on gaining speed w/ technique and fitness. Bike I just need to keep building fitness as well, but spend time w/ the WKO+ software to make sure I didn't spend too much on the bike which cost me on the run. I'd need to figure out how / when to pee , I just didn't want to take the 1 minute, in hindsight not very smart.
One of my big questions is did the run let down occur from giving too much on the bike, or possibly not drinking enough fluids on the bike or both? Or lack of nutrition on the run, a few cups of Gatorade & 1 Powerbar gel seems like too little to me now, I just didn't want to add stomach issues to the state I was already.
Of course feedback would be greatly appreciated EN'rs! With what I learned yesterday I am very anxious for my next event, HIM Indiana on July 14th.
Thank you,
Jonas McCluskey
Comments
Its hard to determine your run questions without knowing more about the bike. But its likely a combination of the bike/nutrition.
The bike--- Its virtually impossible to bike an IF of .99 for 2:42 and the TSS of 266 is more inline with an IM ride.... FTP is the amount of power you can sustain for one hour. So a ride @ FTP for 60minutes would be IF 1.0.... What is your FTP? How did you determine your NP200 target? EN protocol is to target IF .80-.85 for a HIM. If you were in that range, its likely that you DID NOT over bike and that your FTP is just set wrong in your software.,
Good Morning Tim,
Yup, this is where I need some help and to do some studying and spend more time learning the WKO software better.
My last FTP test (20 min.) on 05/14/13 my numbers were:
So the number I put in the Threshold box in the Power Training Zones should be 226? Currently I have 200.
Thank you for your help Tim, kicking myself for not having this conversation w/ someone months ago.
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Jonas
If your 20min NP for your test was 226? You should be using 95% of that number as your FTP. 226 x .95 = 214.7 .... 215 is your FTP and that is the number to put in the threshold box to determing your power training zones.... Target NP watts for a HIM bike would be .80-.85 or NP 172-182... Makes sense?
Hey Jonas congrats on your first HIM! Strong work!
Ahhhhh! Got it now. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Tim!!! I have a tendency to complicate things and I sure did here. Kicking myself for not just swallowing my pride and saying I'm just not getting this before. So via those correct calculations you outlined above it makes it clear why I did not do so good on the run. My true IF was .925, not terrible, but probably not where I wanted to be in my first HIM.
But of course now enter the discussion, how much slower would my bike time have been vs. how much faster my run time would have been.
Jonas
You definitely overcooked yourself on the bike and suffered for it on the run. But not as much as the math would suggest and I will explain below.
Tim straightened you out with the numbers already so I won't rehash that. A .93 IF is what most of us would target for an Oly. There's pretty much no way any of us could ride a .93 for 2:42 and run a 13.1 like you did (subpar or not). I'm not sure I could ride a .93 for that long if my life depended on it. That's one brutal bike ride. You should have walked and vomited for most of the run but you didn't. What does that all mean? Your 20 min test was not an actual reflection of your true ability. I bet that 226 number should be closer to the low 240's.
There is a saying around here on EN , bike what you should , not what you could.... practicing this will maximize your run.
X2 on what Bob said ... Your FTP probably needs to be retested.....
Keep in mind that after you test your FTP and calculate your zones . The recommended IF for a HIM is .80-.85..... This is just a starting point and needs to be validated and practiced thru training and most importantly your Race Rehearsals so that when race day comes you know exactly what you want your target to be. Some people will need to go lower and some will be able to go higher.
Lots of good discussion here Jonas!
One other thing about the bike: you said your normalized power was 200, but do you know what your variability index is (VI) is? You get that number by dividing the normalized power by the average power. You can arrive at 200w NP over 2:42 by riding smooth (VI of 1.02 or less), or with many peaks and valleys in power (VI of 1.1 or higher) which could cost you on the run. (The VI numbers are just examples, I am told we should be striving for 1.02 or less but I have not been able to get below 1.04 yet myself).
Hello Satish,
My power meter data in the WKO+ software says my VI was 1.02. I'm a skinny dude, muscles in my legs are steadily building but I'm built for the long haul, not surges, I know if I spike too hard it drains me quickly so I do all I can to smooth out the ups and downs. Glad to hear I'm o.k. there.
Bob that is interesting (and I believe spot on) in regards to my 20 FTP test not really being a good indicator of where I'm at. Fortunately I'm a data collection junky, so I'll just have to monitor my progress as my training miles compile. And now with your guy's help in removing the mystery of TSS, IF, VI it is going to be so much easier to train so much more effectively. Thank you!
Jonas
Peter,
Yup it would have been right after my 5 min. Vo2 test. I did my 5 min. at 9:13am, and my 20 min. FTP at 9:27am, so just a little less than 10. Good point Sir. Actually I remember I had to get off the bike and walk outside as I thought I was going to hyper ventilate after my Vo2 max test
. Hit my target though, but good point, may have led to a decreases 20 min. FTP result. Hmm.
Jonas
The 5 min VO2 max is necessary to do before the FTP 20 mins — the VO2 max test takes away all of (most of?) your of your anaerobic fuel so the 95% of the 20 min FTP test is a more accurate estimate of your FTP. Your FTP test should only use your aerobic energy system.
Doing the 20 min FTP test without the VO2 max test before will tend to give you an FTP estimate that is biased too high.
Cheers