Racine & bike pacing

fit91@sbcglobal.net

Hi coaches.  Just came off Racine.  Swim--as expected, though i swear i'm fast, time just doesn't show that Bike 2:45.--pleased.  Run 1:46.  Pleased.  My NP on bike was 120.  after talking with coach P he said that's # i should like at.  was doing Avg watts on Garmin which rarely reached over 95.  bike avg was 20.37mph.  felt good , HR a little higher than normal.  I just dont seem to hold my watts  I was shooting for 150 but was rarely there for any extended period of time.  I think I just need to push more? I hold every trainer workout within prescribed zone.  But on long rides...it's puzzling.  I seem to be going hard, but just can't figure out.  Is bottom line....JUST HOLD WATTS ?  thx

Sue Crowley

Brian Quarton [OLD]

I have no idea about your ability, but my first impression is.. that is not a bad result. It's disappointing when you feel you left time on the table during the bike. I think you need to look further into your numbers for the answer. Compare your race numbers to what you were producing in race rehearsals and your workouts. Racing can make us do funny things. Factoring in your aero race setup, how did your speed compare? Cadence? Heart rate? Temperature? Etc. Do any of these or other variables give you any ideas? On the other hand, can you hit your goal watts for sprint distance? If you can and there is no other explanation, maybe you just need to develop your endurance.. or confidence?

Al Truscott

Sue - I don't know anything about your triathlon experience or athletic background, but just looking at the Racine results in your age group, I make the following observations:

• On the bike, you were essentially tied for third fastest time, 1.8% slower than the top time
• On the run, you were 4.5% slower than the fastest, and
• On the swim, you were 26% slower

So, compared to your peers in this race, you performed best on the bike. I'd suggest that your biggest opportunities for improvement would lie elsewhere, on the run and the swim. Given that you are probably fairly lean (based on your bike time relative to the watts you generated), you probably have some flotation issues while swimming. I'd guess spending some time and money in trying to get an HIM swim split of 35 minutes, which would be more in line with your demonstrated athleticism in the other two disciplines, would be your best return on investment.

You may indeed be able to get a faster bike split, and run time, but I'd also bet the route to improvement there is in race execution, not massive gains in bike fitness. To discover exactly what might have gone wrong (or right), we'd need a bit more power based data from the race (IF, VI, TSS), as well as FTP and VDOT #s.

Brian Quarton [OLD]

Sue, my role in this discussion was to T up your post so Al could hit it out of the park.

fit91@sbcglobal.net

Thank you all for your help.  not sure my bike data from race is accurate as i forgot to stop garmin at transition & it ran thru the run and all the way till i went to pick up my bike after race....ooops.  My ftp is 194 and vdot is 43...if that helps anything.  Hope your training/racing is going welll!