Gabe Peterson's St George Race Report
Race Report: St George 70.3 "Revenge Race"
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2015 Results Time |
2015 Results Place (Div out of 381 / Overall out of 2585) |
2014 Results |
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Overall Time: 5:48 |
115 / 677 |
Overall Time: 6:40 |
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Swim: 44 |
243 / 1586 |
Swim: 46 |
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T1: 4:39 |
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T1: 6 |
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Bike: 3:01 |
180 / 1041 |
Bike: 3:27 |
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T2: 1:47 |
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T2: 5 |
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Run: 1:55 |
115 / 677 |
Run: 2:15 |
Highlights
I beat my time from last year by over 50 minutes! Of course, it helped that my time last year sucked. I would say this was my most complete race from an execution standpoint. I feel like I executed my race plan without significant deviation and have no regrets.
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Phase |
Key Take Aways |
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Swim |
While my time has not improved vastly, my efficiency has.I could have easily swam another lap.It was an easy swim that set me up for the bike and run.Sadly, this is my HIM swim PR. |
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Bike |
I raced a lot smarter than last year and was prepared for when things got hard.I went conservative on the hills and hammered on the flats and down hills.My FTP is only 30W higher, but I knocked off 25 minutes of time. |
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Run |
I ran hard and didn’t blow up or have to walk.I had enough gas left to push on the last 3 miles of downhill.I took 20 minutes off my time. |
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Transitions |
My T2 time is approaching ninja level.T1 is still a struggle because it takes a few minutes for me to make the water to land orientation. |
Background
St George was the race the inspired me to join EN last year. I felt like my race execution sucked. I did one of those traditional triathlon training plans that was loaded with Z1. It was boring as hell, and it didn’t prepare me for a tough course like St George. This was my revenge race for a poor showing last year.
I had a great season year last year capping it off with my first full IM at IMAZ. I did the IM “Minimalist” plan and enjoyed the focus on intensity during the weekdays and endurance on the weekend. Given I was under time constraints this year with the move to SLC and starting a new job, I made a HIM “minimalist” plan following the template.
My biggest training week coming into St George was 8 hours. Yes, 8 hours. However, there was no junk time in there, only high-quality suffering. Since I had to be time efficient, my strategy this season has been:
· Maximize the run. I started out at a VDOT of 43 this season and am at 46-47 with a goal of 49-50 by the end of the year.
· Optimize the bike. I started out at a FTP of 220W and am at 230W with a goal of 240W by the end of the season.
· Maintain the swim. One of these seasons I’ll go crazy on the swim, but not this season. I just need to maintain my current ability. Swimming is the lowest ROI in terms of time of the three sports.
Further, I made my swimming even more minimalist by going 1-2 times per week. I made sure to do an endurance swim where I’d go 1900m straight through every week. Surprisingly, my pool swim dropped from 43-44 minutes to 38-40 minutes just by focusing of form.
I wasn’t sure I’d have the top end endurance for the run, so this was going to be my crucible.
Race Morning
I executed my nutrition plan and headed out at 4:30 to setup in T2. After setting up my gear and memorizing my rack location, I got on the bus to Sand Hollow. When I got out there, I ran into Rich, who was already setup and ready to go. I got to my bike and the front tire was completely flat. At the orientation, the dude said NOT to let air out of your tire – the tires popping in the heat was a myth. No, it’s not. Luckily, the bike tech folks changed my tire in less than 5 minutes. It would have sucked to change the tire in the dark surrounded by stressed out triathletes.
Swim
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Target time: 45min |
Actual time: 44min |
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Target pace: 2:00/100yds |
Actual pace: 1:59/100yds |
I did a short warm up with the stretch cord I brought. However, I noticed they moved the swim start closer to shore, so I knew I’d have more time in the water to tread and get oriented. I ran into a bunch or EN, PTC, and SLTC folks while waiting for my wave.
The swim was uneventful, clear water and reasonably warm (62F). There was minimal contact, and I only had to punish one swimmer who tried to go over me. I kept a nice, easy rhythm. Next thing I knew I was running up the boat ramp.
T1
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Target time: 7:00 |
Actual time: 4:53 |
I executed a much smoother transition than last year. The ground still rolls for about 3-4 minutes after I come out of the water.
Bike
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Target time: 3:10 (BestBikeSplit predicts 3hrs) |
Actual time: 3:01 |
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Target NP: 178W |
Actual NP: 173W |
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Target TSS: 180 |
Actual TSS: 171 |
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Target IF: 0.78 |
Actual IF: 0.75 (0.78 to the top of Snow Canyon) |
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Target Speed: 18.5 MPH |
Actual Speed: 18.5 MPH |
I had ridden my tri bike 4-5 times in all of 2015. I knew my position fitness wasn’t great, so my strategy was to stay aero on the flats and minor descents. I’d ride in the bullhorns on the climbs for better access to power and during the major descents for improved bike handling.
I went conservative on the hills, making sure to not spike power above FTP. I’d come over the top and keep the power on. I got passed on all the climbs but usually passed most of the riders on the flat or descent over the top. I was shooting for IF = 0.78 at the top of Snow Canyon, and hit it right on the money. I wasn't going to worry about it after that for the descent back into town.
I was glad that took Tim Cronk’s advice and went with the FLO 30/90 setup instead of 60/90. The bike was much easier to handle on the descents. From an aero perspective it probably cost me a couple minutes, but I think I made it up by going balls out on the down hills. The last drop back into town was a real hoot, topping out at 42MPH.
The only challenge on the bike were the husky dudes on road bikes who were hammering the bike and would be walking the run. When I passed, they'd hammer it to pass me. Then they’d coast in front of me. I didn’t let them dictate my pace. I stayed steady and just kept playing the game of leap frog.
I stayed pretty close to my nutrition plan, taking in about 1000 calories on the bike. That was a good thing because my stomach shutdown on the run in the heat.
T2
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Target time: 3:00 |
Actual time: 1:47 |
I quickly racked my bike and was jogging out of transition with my go bag in hand. I made a stop at the port-a-potty. My T2 transition is getting really good.
Run
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Target time: 1:50 |
Actual time: 1:55 |
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Target TSS: 130 |
Actual TSS: 129 |
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Target Pace: 8:20/mi |
Actual Pace: 8:54/mi |
I knew my run targets were aggressive given the temperature approaching 90F. However, I was resolved that I was going to push hard and would not under any circumstances walk the hills.
The first couple of miles I noticed the HR that Garmin was reporting was way too high, much higher than my RPE-meter was telling me. I figured it was either wrong or I was about to go into cardiac arrest. There was nothing I could do about the later, so I went with the former.
I went easy up to the big climb around mile 3. I powered up the hill, shortening my stride and keeping cadence up. Then I pushed hard in the high Z3 to low Z4 area on my RPE-meter until mile 10.
I stayed loose the first 10 miles, chatting with other runners and joking with volunteers. I saw Rich at around his mile 9, my mile 4. He looked like he was digging deep, so I shouted some encouragement to him. Alvin gave me a shout out around mile 8.
By mile 10 I had gone to my dark place. My chest hurt and I was feeling nauseous from the heat. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of getting to the next aid station to dump a cup of ice water on my head.
I came down the hill starting at mile 10 and forced myself to keep running hard. I thought of my wife and two girls waiting for my just before the finish. When I finally saw them, I stopped and hugged / high fived them. I was choked up and probably lost a minute. Totally worth it.
Next thing I knew I was crossing the finish line and pumping my fist in victory. I knew from the race clock that I had handily beat my target of a sub-6 race and smashed my time from last year by over 50 minutes. I even managed to negative split the run by about 30 seconds.
What’s Next…
I am doing Boulder 70.3 in June. My goal is to break a 5:30. It’s a fast course, as long as you’re trained for high altitudes. Luckily, my house is a 5k feet and I can go up to Park City to train at 7-8k feet.
Then I am going to be a runner for the rest of the season. I have a couple half marathons lined up, culminating in St George Marathon in October. I hope to destroy my previous marathon PR from my days as a recreational runner. St George Marathon is a fast course (you run DOWN Snow Canyon). I am hoping to hit around 3:30.
St George will probably be my season starter while I live in Utah. The fear of getting swallowed up by this course will motivate me to train hard in the outseason. Next year I’ll target breaking 5:30…
Comments
Gabe...Congrats on a HUGE improvement over 2014. You raced smart and strong. It is a pleasure to see people take advantage of the EN training and racing strategies to post continuing improvements. Well done.
Gabe, Congratulations on a very solid race all the way around and a HUGE jump from 2014! A couple notes....Totally sucks about your tire at T1. That's my worst nightmare! As for your wobbliness at the end of the swim...Have you tried ear plugs. I personally don't have that same problem, but friends of mine do and they use ear plugs and they say it helps with that vertigo feeling coming out of the swim.
Solid bike split. It's eerie how accurate best bike split is with predicting actual performance! I haven't looked at my numbers but i think I think i finished within a couple minutes of my predicted time as well. Great performance on the run. Sounds like you kept things in check as long as you could and then dug deep those last 2-3 miles. Very nicely executed.
The best part about doing St. George early in the season is that everything else will seem easy in comparison. This will be especially true at Boulder. It was very nice to meet you and congrats again. If you have any question on the Boulder course or the venue, just ask!
HUGE progress Gabe any way you look at it bro! A reflection of consistent hard work and mental discipline to execute that fitness on race day! You'll just keep getting faster!
FYI - the increase in red blood cell count actually occurs only when you sleep at higher altitudes. While the training is good for teaching your body and mind what to expect, the bone marrow does not increase red blood cell count while you are working at those altitudes.
Living at 5K should be enough to do the trick IMO. Also ask Al T. more about this as he seems to know a lot in this arena as well....
SS
@Jason, thanks! Congrats to you as well on your race -- you crushed it!
@Mark, it was great meeting and racing with you! Your story of building up to sub-5 on IMSTG over 3 years is an inspiration. I look forward to seeing you destroy Boulder 70.3 next month! I'll give the ear plugs a try. Good suggestion -- I hadn't thought of that.
@Shaughn, thanks for all the encouragement on my tri journey! I was wondering about the high altitude training. It sounds like I'd have to spend a few days in Park City for it to have any effect. Not sure I'll be able to swing that. I definitely enjoyed the extra boost of racing at lower elevation -- the run seemed effortless for the first 7-8 miles. I guess I'll have to crush myself even harder since I won't get that extra kick at Boulder.
Gabe - very impressive improvement and execution. A few comments, just my 2¢... Your improvement targets on bike and run for the coming year are right on, and with steady work you should hit them. One note about getting ready for Boulder. That race is at 5000-5500'. Training at a higher elevation than the Salt Lake Valley is probably counter-productive. The higher you go - even 3-400 meters up - the less you are able to hit the intensity intervals, meaning you won't be able to handle FTP intervals at the same wattage nor TP intervals on the run at the same speed. Remember the adage, "Live high, train low" when it comes to altitude training. You will do just fine living and training @ 4400' for a race @ 5000-5500'.
I suspect that you have the MOST opportunity (percentage and maybe even total time-wise) for improvement in the swim; with your engine, you should be in the 34-5' range. Swimming 1-2 x/week will not get you that time, but 3x/week, with concerted stroke work and some focus on intervals of 45 sec-3 minutes will.
If you're gonna be a runner, BE A RUNNER this fall. Meaning, if you can get your VDOT up to 49, and can run 50 miles a week in the two months leading into St George, you should set a much more aggressive target for that race, like 3:18-20. Do that, then swim all winter, and you'll be looking at sub 5:30 NO PROBLEM.
I was wondering about the mechanics of training at altitude, since I've lived near sea level most of my life. It sounds like I'll be fine training around my house at ~5k ft. No need to go up to Park City, except for fun.
I'm thinking in the outseason I'll have to focus on my shameful swim. I have a former pro triathlete who comes highly recommended from my SLTC peeps lined up for some one-on-one coaching.
For Boulder, I would be happy if I could translate my pool times of ~39 minutes for 1900m to open water. I find it hard to keep my arm turnover up in open water. In the pool, I have my Fenix 3 set to buzz like a metronome at the target time for each pool length. I can tell if I am going too slow and pickup the pace. I only did one open water swim prior to St George. I have a couple weeks to work on it before Boulder.
Good advice on the running. I really want to see what's possible. A few years ago I wouldn't have even dreamed of a sub-4 marathon. 3:20 seems like a tough yet attainable goal.
For now, I'm focusing on breaking the 5:30 barrier at Boulder...
Gabe ... you will probably notice a degradation in your FTP and VDOT at that new altitude. If you have not yet tested there, it's a must. But if your numbers are from tests in SLC, then just train per normal. If you get up above about 1800-2000 meters, then things start to become more complicated if you are trying to do higher intensity intervals. When I go to my house in CO which is at about 2500 meters (8330'), I make it a point to drop down about 2000' (600 m) to do my running intervals, and even that is pushing it. For cycling, I do FTP intervals on hills around my house, but have to drop my FTP 10%. But 4500-5000', according to the studies, should only produce about a 2-3% drop in FTP or running paces. And, the flip side, you should not slow down on the bike, as the air is thinner, and we know how important air resistance is to cycling.
Have fun getting faster!