David Pettigrew HIM Race Rehearsal Report
5/16/15 HIM Race Rehearsal Notes
I sure would appreciate any feedback, particularly on the nutrition issue.
Pacing
I took the first 5 miles(20 minutes) easy. I had not swam before but just wanted to follow the race protocol. In a race I would likely extend this easy time out to 30 minutes.
I experimented with a lower cadence than normal. Just trying to use bigger gears that were also comfortable, nothing crazy. Did seem to give me mo’ Watts, though from mile 45 on was harder to keep my Watts up. I probably over-cooked somewhat early on.
Equipment
Tires @ 90PSI. Less than my normal 110. Hoping this might make a slightly more comfortable ride. Seemed fine, I did not notice any softness. Hard to tell if it made much difference comfort-wise, but maybe it was slightly smoother ride.
I set a timer alert on my watch every 20 minutes
Auto-lap every 5 miles
Main screen had
3 sec avg power | Lap NP
Total Distance | Lap HR
Rear bottle got ejected going over some railroad tracks. Need to put a better cage on there. Maybe get my X-Lab Gorilla cage off my Adamo saddle.
Around mile 40 I started getting really uncomfortable with my saddle. Felt like there was chafing going on. I am not really happy with the Sitero, it is hard and has not eliminated the chafing I was getting with the Adamo. I need to try to use more chamois cream.
I also think it may be beneficial to have a semi-compact rather than compact crankset. I was giving up speed on the downhills due to not having a big enough gear.
Nutrition Plan
I attended the recent Core Diet seminar and made some big changes to my nutrition. More carbs & different carbs.
Per hour
24oz Tailwind - 75g carbs
3 x gel = 81g carbs
Total carbs = 156g (2g per kg of my body weight)
Total Sodium = 909+(3x200) = 1509mg per hour
Nutrition actual
Had a cooked breakfast at 7am, apple sauce with protein powder @ 11am. This did seem to cause an extra bowel movement.
I was getting really quite hungry so I ate a whole PowerBar just before setting off at about 1pm. In hindsight, this was probably a bit much to eat right before and messed up with my fueling plan at the beginning of the bike.
Used front, down tube and behind seat water bottles with Tailwind nutrition @ 3 scoops per 24 oz. Drank approx. 24 ox per hour.
I used my 20 timer as a prompt to take a gel. This was my first time using PowerBar gels. They are quite running and sticky. My hands were super sticky by the end.
At about mile 40 on the bike my HR went up and power down, I think I was not drinking enough because my front bottle was emptied at around mile 30. I made an effort to dial back the pace a bit and drink more. I did start to feel better after about 20 minutes. At about mile 45 I no longer wanted to take a gel every 20 minutes so I skipped one. I felt like my stomach could not handle it.
In total I took 7 gels on the bike and 72 oz of Tailwind.
Results
56 miles : 3 hours 44 seconds
Average Speed 19.4
Avg. Power - 185W
0.82 IF
Avg. HR 141
Avg. cadence 71
Strava
Compared to my “big day” of 2 weeks ago this is much stronger. Then I had Avg. Power of 163W with a cadence of 79.
Other comments
I have been sick for a week and have actually done only a small amount of training in the past two weeks. So, legs were rested (maybe overly rested), but cardio system did not feel 100% as I am still recovering from a cold. I am hoping this will not cause the cold to get into my chest.
Brick Run
Legs were definitely feeling it at the start of the run. I had ended up riding 10 miles longer than planned which didn’t help. The question I have is how much the harder bike affected my run? At this point it is hard to say. The main issue I had on the run was that I was feeling sick in the stomach/GI issues. It was clear the higher than normal carbs intake and change to gels over bloks on the bike was having negative effects. This was making running no fun at all. I had also had some really intense soft-tissue work done on my feet the day before and they were still tender. So in the end I did 40 minutes rather than the intended 60. The pace was slower than I would like.
Learnings
For my next rehearsal maybe try a little less gels (1 per 30 minutes), have less time between breakfast and starting. Reduce bike intensity to target 0.8 IF (180W).
I sure would appreciate any feedback, particularly on the nutrition issue.
Pacing
I took the first 5 miles(20 minutes) easy. I had not swam before but just wanted to follow the race protocol. In a race I would likely extend this easy time out to 30 minutes.
I experimented with a lower cadence than normal. Just trying to use bigger gears that were also comfortable, nothing crazy. Did seem to give me mo’ Watts, though from mile 45 on was harder to keep my Watts up. I probably over-cooked somewhat early on.
Equipment
Tires @ 90PSI. Less than my normal 110. Hoping this might make a slightly more comfortable ride. Seemed fine, I did not notice any softness. Hard to tell if it made much difference comfort-wise, but maybe it was slightly smoother ride.
I set a timer alert on my watch every 20 minutes
Auto-lap every 5 miles
Main screen had
3 sec avg power | Lap NP
Total Distance | Lap HR
Rear bottle got ejected going over some railroad tracks. Need to put a better cage on there. Maybe get my X-Lab Gorilla cage off my Adamo saddle.
Around mile 40 I started getting really uncomfortable with my saddle. Felt like there was chafing going on. I am not really happy with the Sitero, it is hard and has not eliminated the chafing I was getting with the Adamo. I need to try to use more chamois cream.
I also think it may be beneficial to have a semi-compact rather than compact crankset. I was giving up speed on the downhills due to not having a big enough gear.
Nutrition Plan
I attended the recent Core Diet seminar and made some big changes to my nutrition. More carbs & different carbs.
Per hour
24oz Tailwind - 75g carbs
3 x gel = 81g carbs
Total carbs = 156g (2g per kg of my body weight)
Total Sodium = 909+(3x200) = 1509mg per hour
Nutrition actual
Had a cooked breakfast at 7am, apple sauce with protein powder @ 11am. This did seem to cause an extra bowel movement.
I was getting really quite hungry so I ate a whole PowerBar just before setting off at about 1pm. In hindsight, this was probably a bit much to eat right before and messed up with my fueling plan at the beginning of the bike.
Used front, down tube and behind seat water bottles with Tailwind nutrition @ 3 scoops per 24 oz. Drank approx. 24 ox per hour.
I used my 20 timer as a prompt to take a gel. This was my first time using PowerBar gels. They are quite running and sticky. My hands were super sticky by the end.
At about mile 40 on the bike my HR went up and power down, I think I was not drinking enough because my front bottle was emptied at around mile 30. I made an effort to dial back the pace a bit and drink more. I did start to feel better after about 20 minutes. At about mile 45 I no longer wanted to take a gel every 20 minutes so I skipped one. I felt like my stomach could not handle it.
In total I took 7 gels on the bike and 72 oz of Tailwind.
Results
56 miles : 3 hours 44 seconds
Average Speed 19.4
Avg. Power - 185W
0.82 IF
Avg. HR 141
Avg. cadence 71
Strava
Compared to my “big day” of 2 weeks ago this is much stronger. Then I had Avg. Power of 163W with a cadence of 79.
Other comments
I have been sick for a week and have actually done only a small amount of training in the past two weeks. So, legs were rested (maybe overly rested), but cardio system did not feel 100% as I am still recovering from a cold. I am hoping this will not cause the cold to get into my chest.
Brick Run
Legs were definitely feeling it at the start of the run. I had ended up riding 10 miles longer than planned which didn’t help. The question I have is how much the harder bike affected my run? At this point it is hard to say. The main issue I had on the run was that I was feeling sick in the stomach/GI issues. It was clear the higher than normal carbs intake and change to gels over bloks on the bike was having negative effects. This was making running no fun at all. I had also had some really intense soft-tissue work done on my feet the day before and they were still tender. So in the end I did 40 minutes rather than the intended 60. The pace was slower than I would like.
Learnings
For my next rehearsal maybe try a little less gels (1 per 30 minutes), have less time between breakfast and starting. Reduce bike intensity to target 0.8 IF (180W).
0
Comments
Cadence-IMO do what makes you feel comfortable, within reason. You probably don’t want to ride at 55rpm for 2 or 3 hours before a run. FWIW I’m a high 70’s – mid 80’s person generally. This hasn’t caused me any issues (that I’m aware of).
Bottle cage – I haven’t ever had an ejection out of a gorilla cage. Gorilla XT cages are even stronger!
Chamois cream – I use so much that there are times it’s dripping onto the frame of my bike. Don’t be afraid to use a lot or even reapply mid-ride. For races I use “Tri Slide” which is a silicone based spray. I use 2 generous applications on the nether regions before I suit up and saturate the inside of my tri shorts and have had no chafing issues at the IM distance. That said, the saddle issue may be something completely different.
Crankset – Weighing in the 170’s and with a 300+ watt FTP I can get a full head of steam riding downhill. I run a compact crankset. I do spin out, but, I don’t think it’s to the point where it has a significant effect in a race. If this is a big problem for you, make sure you have an 11 tooth cog in your cassette. Converting to a semi-compact may not have as much of an impact as you think. I guess if I was frequently riding downhill several miles at a time I would consider changing my crankset, but that’s not the terrain I ride on.
Breakfast – Your Powerbar pre-ride “may” have impacted your gut, I don’t know. Breakfast is personal and most people have a ritual/routine that works for them. Find what works best for you and stick to it as frequently as possible. (I know stuff happens and we can’t always do that.)
RR Nutrition - One of the things that Jesse mentioned was that you have to practice it regularly. You said you made some “big” changes. This may take some practice and getting used to. The comment above in regards to fluid consumption is a good one. Depending on your sweat rate you may need to take in more fluids. The weather conditions will affect your sweat rate so you have to take those into consideration as well. Did you have to pee while riding? The guidance is that you want to pee once on a HIM bike. Athletes out there longer may pee 2x or at least have the urge to go again coming off the bike. Another thing to consider is an IM nutrition plan vs a HIM nutrition plan. The guidance out there is that your body typically cannot process as many calories at the HIM intensity as the IM intensity. If you try to use an IM nutrition plan for HIM you run the risk of having gut problems. If 1g carbs = 4 calories, your nutrition looks like the caloric intake I average for IM, I weigh in the 170’s. You said it was your first time using powerbar gels. Were they caffeinated? Have you used caffeine before? The standard caffeinated powerbar gel contains 25 mg, the 2x contain 50mg. Caffeine can impact your body, especially if you’re not used to it.
Your IF may be a little hot for a HIM. If you’re expecting a bike split around 3 hours you may want to tone down the IF to around .80. I can’t find the chart but there is an optimal TSS score that you want to hit coming off the bike to run well.
You said this effort was stronger than your big day 2 weeks ago, that’s a good sign, training is working! Being sick and not training consistently for 2 weeks may have played a factor in the way your legs felt on the run. That being said, a race rehearsal is harder than a race IMO because we typically go into it with a full training load. You mentioned your IF and average power, but didn’t tell us what your Normal Power and VI were. The Normal Power is a better indicator of your bike effort and your VI will tell us how steady you rode. A high VI can mean you were spiking your watts, burning matches, which will have a negative effect on how your legs feel coming off the bike.
Chamois cream - Good to hear what you do with the chamois cream Doug, I have been applying a layer but not large amounts of excess and no extra on the chamois itself. I have been using Chamois Buttr, and will get some Tri Slide to try it out.
Cranks - Yes, this probably won't make a big difference for me given my FTP is much lower than yours.
Nutrition - Really good points on probably drinking more. The sweat test seems like such a solitary data point that I personally don't see a lot of use in it. I have done it in the past but there are so many variables and also it doesn't actually say anything about sodium loss. A couple of months ago I made a change to drink less on the bike. I was getting migraines post-ride that I attributed to low-sodium (too much fluid of low sodium concentration - another thread). However, I think I now have better sodium sources in my fueling and may be ok to add some more fluids, especially to get more non-gel carbs in and dilute the gels somewhat. Also, I grabbed the 2g of carbs per hour per kg from the internet as a starting point for IM nutrition. As you point out Doug, that likely is not applicable to HIM. So more dialing in is needed here. I don't think I am too far off, but more experimentation is needed. All my gels were non-caffeinated. PowerBar gels do have fructose and I know that can be an issue for a lot of people. I did not pee during the ride, but did immediately after. So I don't think I was really dehydrated.
Pacing - Yes I think my IF was a bit too high to ensure for a good run. I only have data for the whole ride on my basic TrainingPeaks account. Includes an extra 30 minutes at the end at a lower IF. The TSS was 233.5 and VI was 1.07. The average power was 173W and NP was 185W for the whole ride. I found this link to pacing on the wiki. It shows IF of 0.79-0.81, so I am very close.
I wouldn't worry about "loosing downhill speed" until you have a great run off a smart bike...only THEN do we start making tweaks to gearing for speed gains!
Chafing - are you wearing a thin tri suit chamois, or a thick, cycling style? I've found the thinner the better when riding in the aero position. And an Adamo Attack saddle combine the narrow profile of a saddle like the sitero with the advantages of that split nose.
Nutrition - 600 cal an hour sounds like a gut bomb to me. An HIM is both short enough and intense enough that IMO you (a) don't need and (b) can't absorb that many calories during the race. Consider eliminating the gels and just going liquid at your desired fluid replacement level.
I had been largely liquid with a few shot bloks, after watching the core diet seminar I tried to up my intake of gels. Yesterday I tried less gels but more liquid and got very bloated. I need to rewatch the seminar to get the distinctions between HIM and IM nutrition. I suspect I tried to follow an IM fueling approach which, as you say, is not needed/going to work for a HIM. I appreciate there is time needed to train the gut and I think given I am four weeks out and I going to move back a lot closer to what I have been doing for now. E.g 24-32 oz sports drink and maybe 1 gel or 3-4 blocks. This is approx 400 calories / 100 g carbs per hour. I will see how that goes in my next few long rides.
My comments on saddles, focused on the differences in the Attack: http://bikrutz.org/triblog/?p=1478
And Dan Empfield's article on how to adjust a split nose saddle to best effect for TT riding: http://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/Chan..._5083.html