How do you NOT settle for a run pace?
For an IM I am still at that point in my fitness where I'm just looking to hang on for the marathon at whatever pace (just faster than walking) I can muster. I have been doing my long runs and long brick runs at my IM Chug pace and that helped me in a huge way at IM Mont Tremblant.
My question is about the run leg in shorter distance events. I just did a 70.3 in Montauk and was wondering about how to break through and get myself able to run harder off the bike. Is it mental? Is it just a fact that I'm fatigued? I managed an 8:36 pace for the half-mary but that had a bathroom break in it and I spent about a minute trying to help a teammate not totally fall apart and quit on the second loop of a surprisingly hilly course (who knew? but is had some nasty sections).
How does one make the leap towards run legs in a tri being a lot less slower than stand alone results? My HM PR pace is a 7:20 or so and the 1:52 (8:36) I ran yesterday was a HIM PR by 8 minutes. I did the best I could but I just felt like my limit should have been higher. I looked at my Garmin and was constantly thinking I should ease back and not over do it. By the time I got past the tough hills on the second loop I tried to pick it up but could only manage paces like 8:16 or so.
Comments
1- Raising your VDot. Where are you on the trajectory of achieving something near your genetic/physiological limit? How much faster can you get thru training? The answer is an individual one.
2- Bike/Run balance. Finding that execution sweet spot that allows you to ride to your capacity then run to your capacity. All about execution, another individual - raceday specific answer. EN has given us the guidelines to go by, and many of the faster pointy-end athletes have shared how to stretch the limits if you have the physical and mental capacity.
3- Run durability. Not slowing down. Part of that is execution (above) and the rest is durability. In my way of thinking there are 2 ways to boost durability: Volume and Frequency. Volume tends to be more problematic in multisport because of the fatigue it brings and the effects that has on the other 2 sports training quality. Frequency is probably the best way to boost durability. Even short 30-45 minute runs over many days and weeks do wonders for durability.
I'm sure some of the WSM's will chime in too.
You did not mention nutrition at all, so maybe this is not the case for you. But for me, any nutritional issues don't seem to show up until I get on the run. Are you feeling fatigued? Cramps? Heart rate hi or lo? If it doesn't seem like a nutritional thing, my second guess would be bike pacing. With your stand alone HM times, I don't see any reason why you can't come closer if nutrition or bike effort is adjusted.
Thanks for the feedback. To answer your questions:
Last weekend I ran a 20:37 5K (a PR) and my new VDOT is 48, an improvement from a 46 last fall. I've just begun being able to run more than a couple times a week this summer due to finding that Hoka One One shoes help my stress fractured foot deal with running. That should help me in the running department going forward, both mentally and physically. I talk about it in my IMMT report.
This year was the first season I'd ever gotten above the 70 mark in the age-graded (PLP) stats some timing companies calculate for certain races. I started out 4 years ago barely breaking the 60 mark. This is making me wonder if all the low hanging fruit has been picked but that's okay. I can't believe all the times I've set PRs these past 2 seasons. Training with EN helped me get PRs in 140.6, 70.3, 13.1(x2), 10K and a 5K. Some of those PRs were by a huge margin. I took almost 20 minutes off my 70.3 PR yesterday on a hilly course. Still can't believe it.
My discipline on the bike is better this year. I had a VI of 1.05 (or maybe it was 1.04?) at IMMT. Yesterday's stats were NP 201W and a VI of 1.04. FTP was 280W when tested last bfore IMMT. I was backing way off on the bike because of some hills and I knew the run course was harder than I thought it would be once I drove it the night before the race. I suppose I should practice that more to find the balance where I'm most comfortable.
I do struggle with nutrition, in part because I'm a type II diabetic. Finding the right balance of electrolytes, glucose and hydration has been an interative process for me. In fact, yesterday's race was one such experiment. I wanted to see if I could race without my Generation UCAN mix and just rely on electrolyte caps, water and Perpetuem until midway through the run. I relied on HEED the rest of the way. Well, it turns out that I need the UCAN to keep my blood sugar in control. I didn't have that bolus of complex starches hanging onto water (and slowly releasing glucose and water into my system) and quickly wound up feeling hungry and that caused me to drink my nutrition earlier on the bike. I had to pee so bad right away. In fact I had to stop to pee buckets 3 different times on the bike. I mean it was like I'd been drinking several beers at the bar or something. All clear and lots of it. I was able to keep myself from falling apart by doubling down on the electrolyte caps ( I always carry extra). However, I still wound up having to pee again on the run in the same fashion. BTW, I just can't seem to make it happen while moving so that slows me way down.
Maybe I'm expecting too much too soon. I'm also going to be 50 next year and probably should readjust my thoughts on how well I should be responding to training. My club has lots of fast folks in it and with the exception of a few folks, they're all younger than I am by a lot. I'll be going through another OS with EN and hope to get even better.
First off, are your expectations realistic? A very good rule of thumb for triathlon run times is "one gear slower than stand alone". Meaning your sprint run should be @ a 10K pace, Oly @ HM, HIM @ marathon pace, IM @ LRP.
Secondly, are you talking yourself out of maximizing your potential during the bike leg? Meaning, your legs are getting tired ("loaded") and maybe even sore during the latter part of the bike, and it seems like you can't possibly run well. For most of my triathlon career, every run leg I've started, I've been amazed that I was actually running at all, much less at the pace I found myself going. EN doesn't emphasize bricks these days, but doing a few after hard or long bikes helps to build that internal feeling of confidence that running is possible after working hard on the bike.
Finally, as always, pacing is a key, with RPE playing a big role. I call it Chinese water torture. Things should start out feeling so very easy, and with every step get just a little bit harder. That's the way to hold pace. If you try to keep the same feeling of effort during a race, you'll find yourself slowing down. It's just going to feel progressively harder and harder. But your training has built your body to be able to do that, so get you mind out of the way, and let the body do its work.
I really worked on the EN approach to the bike leg and maybe that is the reason for the results I just mentioned above. I do find myself riding in that grey area between 'feeling too easy' and 'legs feeling like they could load up any minute now', especially on the hills. I've also done more bricks than ever this year. I did many bike->run bricks this year but also many run->bike versions to emphasize the quality run work. Those long brick runs leading up to IMMT were really hard to do but I got them in and those made huge improvements in the durability of my IM Chug pace (9:30-10:00 depending on the terrain).
I think I still begin my run legs too fast and try to hang on. I probably need to work on the approach you described in that third paragraph.
Like John Kitchen's bike durability thread I am wondering if the issue is my impatience with my running progress. My nagging foot problem has limited my run training these past years, especially the long runs. Now that I'm running Hoka One Ones that should change. This coming OS is going to be the test. Maybe I'll be able to tolerate a Run GFP instead of having to do a bike GFP after the OS.