Chris Oubre's IMTX 70.3 race report 2015 edition
Race report for IMTX 70.3 2015
I'm going to do this one differently for a course preview see the report I did last year. I'm going to give you the state of Chris Oubre going into this race. I'll tell you about my race day challenges and I'll wrap up with my questions
This year I went 5:41:43. My splits were
S 54:22
B 2:40:11 (183 W average)
R 2:01:26
T 5:32
My FTP is 245 and the last time I was able to test/run consistently my vDot was 51
I'm 6'2" and my race was was 168. I made a special push this year to drop from my normal 178.
Pre race training issues
1) in early march I had a massive flare up of capsilitus in the metatarsals of my left foot. I took 2-3 weeks off running. My last long run was March 1st. Since then I've only gotten up to 6 miles.
2) my family took a cruise with 3 weeks to go before the race. That week was a total loss in so far as training goes. I was able to lose the weight that I put on.
3) I had no real race rehearsals.
4) my swimming was limited. While I hit the pool a number 3 times a week (mostly), only once did I put in more than 2k yards. :-(. I did a lot of cords.
5) I have really focused on my bike workouts since I've been so limited on my other workouts. Doing two FTP sessions a week, plus a long ride on the weekend. My FTP rides had a TSS in the upper 60's.
6) my last long rides were a 70 miler on 3/28, 56 miler on 3/21 and a 56 miler on 3/14
Race weekend challenges
1) I sliced the f out of my foot on a race rehearsal swim. It didn't end up playing much of a roll in the race. Just in my head space.
2) I lost my good googles and had to use my old back-ups.
Race Day Challenges
1) my back up goggle just as soon have been painted black. I could not see. Just vague shapes. I do not swim straight. Every time I wanted to site I had to full on stop. Three times I had to tread water while I'll tried to clean them out in vain. I was so frustrated I could have screamed. I did use anti fog but I didn't test them out. I ended up swimming 1.32 miles. I never got in a rhythm.
2) I can't stop peeing on the bike. On the bike I took in
2 bottles of water
5 Power gels
Maybe 2-3 bottles of Gatoraid endurance
6 Salt Caps
I have an "issue" where once I start going I just don't stop. I peed 4 times on the bike and pulled into T1 with a full bladder. I peed again at the first aid station.
3) it was feeling HOT!! And humid.
4) I was in one of the last waves to all I was doing out of the swim was passing. I moved up 1010 spots on the bike and 256 spots on the run
Execution
Swim: idk. I did the best I could.
Bike: according to my FTP I should have started with a 178 and built to a 198 pace. (I used my previous FTP of 238 instead of my shiny new 245). Now I've had issues with elevated HR after my swims so I thought to put a HR limiter. On my long rides above my average HRs were 144. 141 and 148. With average watts of 187, 154 and 193. I decided to limit the first 20' to 145 and the rest to 155. I met my HR targets but only averaged 183 W. I started to feel fatigue in my left quad and was worried about pushing to my goal watts. I don't think my bike held me back at all on my run. So did I leave to much on the bike? I just don't have a good RPE and my heart rate was up there.
Run: I'm happy here. I pushed to a typical HR of 165 with a final build in the last 2 miles to 175. I ran to the edge of throwing up and then backed off just a bit. I took 60" each aid station dousing myself in water and ice. My arm coolers were the bomb.
Transition: no worries here for me. This was my fastest ever.
Help me!!! How do I stop peeing?
How do I pace the bike?
What do I need to add to my workouts?
I'm just not getting faster at races. My vDot and FTP move up but I race at the same freaking speed.
I'm really frustrated and wishing I could validate my training with my races.
I'm going to do this one differently for a course preview see the report I did last year. I'm going to give you the state of Chris Oubre going into this race. I'll tell you about my race day challenges and I'll wrap up with my questions
This year I went 5:41:43. My splits were
S 54:22
B 2:40:11 (183 W average)
R 2:01:26
T 5:32
My FTP is 245 and the last time I was able to test/run consistently my vDot was 51
I'm 6'2" and my race was was 168. I made a special push this year to drop from my normal 178.
Pre race training issues
1) in early march I had a massive flare up of capsilitus in the metatarsals of my left foot. I took 2-3 weeks off running. My last long run was March 1st. Since then I've only gotten up to 6 miles.
2) my family took a cruise with 3 weeks to go before the race. That week was a total loss in so far as training goes. I was able to lose the weight that I put on.
3) I had no real race rehearsals.
4) my swimming was limited. While I hit the pool a number 3 times a week (mostly), only once did I put in more than 2k yards. :-(. I did a lot of cords.
5) I have really focused on my bike workouts since I've been so limited on my other workouts. Doing two FTP sessions a week, plus a long ride on the weekend. My FTP rides had a TSS in the upper 60's.
6) my last long rides were a 70 miler on 3/28, 56 miler on 3/21 and a 56 miler on 3/14
Race weekend challenges
1) I sliced the f out of my foot on a race rehearsal swim. It didn't end up playing much of a roll in the race. Just in my head space.
2) I lost my good googles and had to use my old back-ups.
Race Day Challenges
1) my back up goggle just as soon have been painted black. I could not see. Just vague shapes. I do not swim straight. Every time I wanted to site I had to full on stop. Three times I had to tread water while I'll tried to clean them out in vain. I was so frustrated I could have screamed. I did use anti fog but I didn't test them out. I ended up swimming 1.32 miles. I never got in a rhythm.
2) I can't stop peeing on the bike. On the bike I took in
2 bottles of water
5 Power gels
Maybe 2-3 bottles of Gatoraid endurance
6 Salt Caps
I have an "issue" where once I start going I just don't stop. I peed 4 times on the bike and pulled into T1 with a full bladder. I peed again at the first aid station.
3) it was feeling HOT!! And humid.
4) I was in one of the last waves to all I was doing out of the swim was passing. I moved up 1010 spots on the bike and 256 spots on the run
Execution
Swim: idk. I did the best I could.
Bike: according to my FTP I should have started with a 178 and built to a 198 pace. (I used my previous FTP of 238 instead of my shiny new 245). Now I've had issues with elevated HR after my swims so I thought to put a HR limiter. On my long rides above my average HRs were 144. 141 and 148. With average watts of 187, 154 and 193. I decided to limit the first 20' to 145 and the rest to 155. I met my HR targets but only averaged 183 W. I started to feel fatigue in my left quad and was worried about pushing to my goal watts. I don't think my bike held me back at all on my run. So did I leave to much on the bike? I just don't have a good RPE and my heart rate was up there.
Run: I'm happy here. I pushed to a typical HR of 165 with a final build in the last 2 miles to 175. I ran to the edge of throwing up and then backed off just a bit. I took 60" each aid station dousing myself in water and ice. My arm coolers were the bomb.
Transition: no worries here for me. This was my fastest ever.
Help me!!! How do I stop peeing?
How do I pace the bike?
What do I need to add to my workouts?
I'm just not getting faster at races. My vDot and FTP move up but I race at the same freaking speed.
I'm really frustrated and wishing I could validate my training with my races.
0
Comments
Help me!!! How do I stop peeing? --- Being a 53yr old Male I sometimes have these issues... Some days when riding/racing its every 15 min , somedays its 2-3hrs , rarely get thru a night without a couple trips.... For a HIM it just sounds like you had more fluid than you needed.... Less coffee/fluids pre-race and go over how much you actually need while racing... Practice with less fluids... You can also try more sodium , but all the sodium in the world won't keep the fluid in your body if there is too much... Also sweat test.
How do I pace the bike?---- See bottom....
What do I need to add to my workouts? ---- Race Rehearsals... For a HIM there is absolutely no reason NOT to do a RR... Doesnt have to be the full RR... One week do a full swim , full bike , next week do full bike , half swim.....
I'm just not getting faster at races. My vDot and FTP move up but I race at the same freaking speed.
I'm really frustrated and wishing I could validate my training with my races....
With a Vdot of 51 your run should be much faster .... But you did have injuries, your a big guy , on a hot day.... An open HM vdot would probably be a good idea for you!
FTP of 245 means nothing come race day unless you have validated that with an RR....The percentage of our "estimated" FTP is different for everybody.... Someone with a lower
FTP riding at .85 could actually be riding a higher power than someone with a higher FTP riding .80..... 245 x .80 = 196w ..... If those were my numbers I would be riding 2.5hrs ABP every weekend at 200-205 and then I would race at 195.... I use FTP for setting my zones and training... pre-race I don't care one bit about my FTP or what the percentage I can ride is... All I care about is what power I can put out for 2.5hr for a HIM or 5hrs for an IM....
Idea on the swim for next time... throw the goggles away and swim without... Yeah it would suck but at leas you could see and your eyes would get over it..... I use plain old spit to prepare my goggles....
HUGE advice from Tim here......hard to put a value on that.
I have raced ~20 or so HIMs before I made the move the Full IM.......
All I can add is that the more you race the faster you will get, adding to all of the below, experience is BIG on making progress as well and getting faster.
It also takes time, patience, hard work, (and many times plain stubbornness) to find the breakthroughs and move forward to the next plateau.
Great race report in opinion!
Keep fighting!
On the goggles - spit in them, rub it around, rinse with lake water. The spit forms a film that will keep them from fogging.
What Tim said about racing to ftp. For me, FTP and Vdot info is a hard upper limit. Not a target. RR's are good and I think that the swim/bike RR should really become part of my regular training plan. Because I ALWAYS come out of the water and on to the bike with an elevated HR. And it takes an hour to get it down. I seriously should do a 1900M OWS onto a 2hr ride a couple times as part of every HIM buildup.
As to being stuck on a plateau, I waws there last summer. I hadnt improved in my Ag results in a year and was getting frustrated. Then out of nowhere I popped up from 33rd to 23rd%. Now I have been stuck there for 3 races.
The good news for both of us is that we can get so much faster just by slowly closing the gap between our VDOT/FTP given numbers and our actual race data.
Great to meet you. Thanks for putting lunch together!
1) Back up swim goggles same as your good pair. No reason NOT to have that.
2) Your swim will not improve until you can get in the water consistently, especially the last 6 weeks...you were thwarted here with travel, so next time!
3) As others have said, the FTP is the target for your training zones where you push those rides (you told me your HR for those rides, but not the IF...how hard were you riding them???)....race pacing is based more off of the efforts of those rides vs a fancy calculator. The calc can say ride 193 W, but unless you have done it in training, no way that's going to happen!!! Having the bike HR as confirmation is good, but ideally you target watts and confirm HR.
4) Peeing = Sweat test. You should be able to say: " My sweat test says I need X bottles an hour and I took in Y." I am not sure why you are taking in water though...that's a peeing magnet as your body doesn't really "use" it without sodium, etc. Might be worthwhile trying to cut it out.
5) The run. With a 51 vDOT your Z2 pace is a 7:09, which is a 1:33:39 half marathon...but you were nearly 30' slower than that "target". Sure there should be considerations for heat...and you gave away 12' (12 x 60") for the heat, but that's a 1:45. So what were your long runs looking like...and your paces? I think you left a fair amount of time out here at least according to the data.
This step, the review, is the hardest part of getting better...it will happen!!!
Most of us are here b/c there is ALWAYS pieces of the puzzle that need turning over and over. IMO, it's what keeps us coming back year after year.
Keep plugging away!