Reid Sheffield's 70.3 CHOO RR
RESULTS
Swim 34:09 (1:46/100m)
T1 6:13
Bike 2:56:52 (19.2mph)
T2 3:30
Run 2:35:42 (11:53)
Overall 6:16:26
NUTRITION
Breakfast (3:30am) Bagel @ PB (330c), Yogurt Parfait with Fruit (290c), Coffee, 10oz Gade (65c)
Pre-Swim 20oz Gade (130c), 1 Banana (100c)
Bike: 2.5 bottles Infinit (625c), 1/2 Banana (50c), 4 Salt Tabs, 20oz water
Run: 1/2 Banana, 1 Gel, 8 Pretzels, 8 oz coke, 16oz Gade, 24oz water, 2 salt tabs
PRE-RACE: Pasta and a couple glasses of wine (for sleep) for dinner night before (5:30pm), In bed early watching TV. Fell asleep about 9:30. Slept pretty well. Set alarm for 3:15 but woke at 3:00. Had a cup of coffee and started eating Bagel and PBJ. Ate Yogurt and Berries parfait, sipping gatorade. Shower. Got dressed and out the door about 4:40. Abbie dropped me off near transition. Set up gear in transition, made sure air was good in tires. Decided to catch shuttle to swim start about 5:30. Glad I went early. Line formed at swim start that ended up stretching a long ways back. Sat and just chilled, listening to music, sipping gatorade, ate a banana. About 6:45 started putting on wetsuit, dropped morning bag. Pro's went off at 7 and line starting moving forward. Took 30 minutes to move forward with rolling start. I was in the water at 7:30.
SWIM:
Really liked the rolling start. Came down the ramp onto a dock. they let 3 or 4 at a time jump feet first into the water and then you were off. This really made things space out. Lot of open water. Was not a slug fest, especially in the beginning. Water temp was 71, air temp 68 at the start, cloudy, light sprinkles of rain. First 300 m was upstream and then you turned around for almost a straight shot downstream to the swim finish. Didn't really notice the current but obviously helped with my time. GPS looked like I zig zagged a bit. Most of the time I felt my sighting was good and stayed near the buoy's. The only time I really came into contact with someone is when I was doing the over taking. Bumped into several that were dog paddling or doing breast stroke. I swear I saw a guy wearing a snorkel? It was a very event free swim. Paid attention to my stroke rate, which Garmin said was an avg of 54 strokes/min which is higher than in the pool which I attribute to not making turns. Good swim, exited the water feeling good. Long ways from the water exit along the shore, wet suit stripped, up a steep hill, across the road, into T1 and to my bike. I took my time mostly, ran slowly when there was space, HR was in good shape. This distance was the bulk of my transition time. Once to my bike things went pretty smoothly. I was under control, clear head, no slip ups. Then I had a long walk of my bike to exit T1.
BIKE:
Temp was 72, cloudy and raining. My glasses fogged up right from the start so I put them inside my jersey which eventually came out and they were gone. It rained pretty steady for the first 25 miles but really wasn't much of a factor. I executed well for the first hour. First 20' I had a NP of 167 (0.78) which may have been a little higher than I wanted but it felt pretty easy. Next 20' 169, then 170, then 171. So for the first 1:20 I was slowly increasing watts up to 80%. The first 1:20 I avg NP 168 (0.78) with a VI of 1.04. The last 1:36 I was at 158 (0.74) with VI 1.11. So I started losing power. Some of it on the backend was that the terrain was faster especially heading back into town. Speed was up, power down. Probably could have pushed a little harder there. Surprised that my overall VI was 1.08. I tried really hard and thought I did, to not spike the watts on the hills. I got passed by everyone on the hills, took it really easily and then passed most of them on the downhill as they coasted and rested. I kept thinking that they were using a lot of energy on the hills but then it would cost them as I ended up passing them using less energy on the hills. Thought this would pay off on the run, but did not. Had a lot of discomfort on the bike. Butt, shoulders, neck. Not enough time in the saddle. Quads were tired and sore about half way in. I planned out my race in Best Bike Spilt which called for a predicted time of 2:58. I did 2:56. Not bad. Nutrition seemed to go well on the bike. No GI issues, followed my plan pretty closely. Was not hungry on the bike. Thought I had set myself up for a pretty good run. Most of T2 time was the long walk of the bike to my rack. Once there, very quick to get socks, shoes and run belt on and I was off.
RUN:
Temp was still about 72, cloudy, but seemed really humid. Despite feeling pretty good, legs included, I didn't have much energy. I started out taking it real easy, about 9:30 pace, but HR seemed high and I started walking about 0.4mi in. This was disheartening to have to start walking so soon. Just didn't have energy. Was yawning, a little light headed. Did this mean I hadn't taken in enough calories? Lot of hills on this course which forced me to walk even more. To fight this, I got into a pretty good run/walk strategy that kept me focused and minimized the damage as much as possible. I would walk 30 steps and then run at least 90 steps, walk 30, run 90. If could do more than 90 I would. If it was downhill I would run the whole downhill, but for the most part I did this almost the whole way. It helped to keep me focused and challenge myself to keep running. I had some mild stomach cramps and a side stitch at times. But it was just a feeling in my gut, hard to describe, like pressure, maybe bloating, I don't know, but it made me want to stop running. Again, low energy. Is this an effect of nutrition, lack of bike fitness? Both. My standalone running has been pretty good. Had some really good progressive runs, able to maintain MP and HMP from 50-70 minutes. TP had become pretty easy at the stated intervals, in fact had lowered the TP targets. During aid stations I was taking in water and/or gatorade each time. Couple of them I had a cup of coke. Took a gel at one, ate a banana at another and also 2 salt tabs about an hour in. I am baffled. This about the same run result I had last year at Kansas. Swim and Bike set me up for a sub 6 hr 70.3 but the run failed me. How do I improve this?
POST RACE THOUGHTS:
A unique situation at work has had me traveling during the week, almost every week the last 2+ months. I have beed very disciplined to still get in my swim and run workouts while traveling. It is the bike that has suffered, missing the FTP workouts during the week. Did get my bike done on the weekends however, but in the end, bike volume and intensity were low per the plan. Still had a pretty good bike split. I am assuming I paid for it on the run however.
I know I'm getting older (53) but the last 2 70.3's have been an hour to 1.5 hours worst than my PB of 5:15. How do I get back to close to that? I'd be happy with sub 6. Something is just not right, need to find the answer. I have an IM (Mont-Tremblant) coming up in August, 12 weeks out. I have to sort out my issues on the run and find a way to maximize my bike time when traveling.
Swim 34:09 (1:46/100m)
T1 6:13
Bike 2:56:52 (19.2mph)
T2 3:30
Run 2:35:42 (11:53)
Overall 6:16:26
NUTRITION
Breakfast (3:30am) Bagel @ PB (330c), Yogurt Parfait with Fruit (290c), Coffee, 10oz Gade (65c)
Pre-Swim 20oz Gade (130c), 1 Banana (100c)
Bike: 2.5 bottles Infinit (625c), 1/2 Banana (50c), 4 Salt Tabs, 20oz water
Run: 1/2 Banana, 1 Gel, 8 Pretzels, 8 oz coke, 16oz Gade, 24oz water, 2 salt tabs
PRE-RACE: Pasta and a couple glasses of wine (for sleep) for dinner night before (5:30pm), In bed early watching TV. Fell asleep about 9:30. Slept pretty well. Set alarm for 3:15 but woke at 3:00. Had a cup of coffee and started eating Bagel and PBJ. Ate Yogurt and Berries parfait, sipping gatorade. Shower. Got dressed and out the door about 4:40. Abbie dropped me off near transition. Set up gear in transition, made sure air was good in tires. Decided to catch shuttle to swim start about 5:30. Glad I went early. Line formed at swim start that ended up stretching a long ways back. Sat and just chilled, listening to music, sipping gatorade, ate a banana. About 6:45 started putting on wetsuit, dropped morning bag. Pro's went off at 7 and line starting moving forward. Took 30 minutes to move forward with rolling start. I was in the water at 7:30.
SWIM:
Really liked the rolling start. Came down the ramp onto a dock. they let 3 or 4 at a time jump feet first into the water and then you were off. This really made things space out. Lot of open water. Was not a slug fest, especially in the beginning. Water temp was 71, air temp 68 at the start, cloudy, light sprinkles of rain. First 300 m was upstream and then you turned around for almost a straight shot downstream to the swim finish. Didn't really notice the current but obviously helped with my time. GPS looked like I zig zagged a bit. Most of the time I felt my sighting was good and stayed near the buoy's. The only time I really came into contact with someone is when I was doing the over taking. Bumped into several that were dog paddling or doing breast stroke. I swear I saw a guy wearing a snorkel? It was a very event free swim. Paid attention to my stroke rate, which Garmin said was an avg of 54 strokes/min which is higher than in the pool which I attribute to not making turns. Good swim, exited the water feeling good. Long ways from the water exit along the shore, wet suit stripped, up a steep hill, across the road, into T1 and to my bike. I took my time mostly, ran slowly when there was space, HR was in good shape. This distance was the bulk of my transition time. Once to my bike things went pretty smoothly. I was under control, clear head, no slip ups. Then I had a long walk of my bike to exit T1.
BIKE:
Temp was 72, cloudy and raining. My glasses fogged up right from the start so I put them inside my jersey which eventually came out and they were gone. It rained pretty steady for the first 25 miles but really wasn't much of a factor. I executed well for the first hour. First 20' I had a NP of 167 (0.78) which may have been a little higher than I wanted but it felt pretty easy. Next 20' 169, then 170, then 171. So for the first 1:20 I was slowly increasing watts up to 80%. The first 1:20 I avg NP 168 (0.78) with a VI of 1.04. The last 1:36 I was at 158 (0.74) with VI 1.11. So I started losing power. Some of it on the backend was that the terrain was faster especially heading back into town. Speed was up, power down. Probably could have pushed a little harder there. Surprised that my overall VI was 1.08. I tried really hard and thought I did, to not spike the watts on the hills. I got passed by everyone on the hills, took it really easily and then passed most of them on the downhill as they coasted and rested. I kept thinking that they were using a lot of energy on the hills but then it would cost them as I ended up passing them using less energy on the hills. Thought this would pay off on the run, but did not. Had a lot of discomfort on the bike. Butt, shoulders, neck. Not enough time in the saddle. Quads were tired and sore about half way in. I planned out my race in Best Bike Spilt which called for a predicted time of 2:58. I did 2:56. Not bad. Nutrition seemed to go well on the bike. No GI issues, followed my plan pretty closely. Was not hungry on the bike. Thought I had set myself up for a pretty good run. Most of T2 time was the long walk of the bike to my rack. Once there, very quick to get socks, shoes and run belt on and I was off.
RUN:
Temp was still about 72, cloudy, but seemed really humid. Despite feeling pretty good, legs included, I didn't have much energy. I started out taking it real easy, about 9:30 pace, but HR seemed high and I started walking about 0.4mi in. This was disheartening to have to start walking so soon. Just didn't have energy. Was yawning, a little light headed. Did this mean I hadn't taken in enough calories? Lot of hills on this course which forced me to walk even more. To fight this, I got into a pretty good run/walk strategy that kept me focused and minimized the damage as much as possible. I would walk 30 steps and then run at least 90 steps, walk 30, run 90. If could do more than 90 I would. If it was downhill I would run the whole downhill, but for the most part I did this almost the whole way. It helped to keep me focused and challenge myself to keep running. I had some mild stomach cramps and a side stitch at times. But it was just a feeling in my gut, hard to describe, like pressure, maybe bloating, I don't know, but it made me want to stop running. Again, low energy. Is this an effect of nutrition, lack of bike fitness? Both. My standalone running has been pretty good. Had some really good progressive runs, able to maintain MP and HMP from 50-70 minutes. TP had become pretty easy at the stated intervals, in fact had lowered the TP targets. During aid stations I was taking in water and/or gatorade each time. Couple of them I had a cup of coke. Took a gel at one, ate a banana at another and also 2 salt tabs about an hour in. I am baffled. This about the same run result I had last year at Kansas. Swim and Bike set me up for a sub 6 hr 70.3 but the run failed me. How do I improve this?
POST RACE THOUGHTS:
A unique situation at work has had me traveling during the week, almost every week the last 2+ months. I have beed very disciplined to still get in my swim and run workouts while traveling. It is the bike that has suffered, missing the FTP workouts during the week. Did get my bike done on the weekends however, but in the end, bike volume and intensity were low per the plan. Still had a pretty good bike split. I am assuming I paid for it on the run however.
I know I'm getting older (53) but the last 2 70.3's have been an hour to 1.5 hours worst than my PB of 5:15. How do I get back to close to that? I'd be happy with sub 6. Something is just not right, need to find the answer. I have an IM (Mont-Tremblant) coming up in August, 12 weeks out. I have to sort out my issues on the run and find a way to maximize my bike time when traveling.
0
Comments
Despite your disappointment with the run, you still had a pretty good race overall. We all have off days. I just try to remind myself that I'm lucky to be able to do this, then move on to the next one.
I don't know your history, the details of your training build, or the details of your bike nutrition. Usually, I'd suspect that you got dehydrated on the bike. But, in this case, if I had to take a swag, I suspect it was just a matter of bike fitness. We have to remember that the power goals EN suggests assume that you followed 90% of the EN plan, then confirmed that wattage in a race rehearsal. Even Best Bike Split assumes that you've got the fitness to push your FTP over that distance. If work/illness/injury causes me to skip a lot of bike workouts, I'd blow up on race day if I tried to push 85% for 56 miles. That's probably what happened to you: simply burned more matches than you had in your book. Here are the signs of this in your RR:
"Had a lot of discomfort on the bike. Butt, shoulders, neck."
"Quads were tired and sore about half way in."
If you did 8-12 weeks of the EN HIM plan, got in the double-weekend rides, did both of your race rehearsals, etc., then there's no way you could have discomfort during a 56-mile ride, and certainly no quad soreness at Mile 30. You don't mention race rehearsals in your report, but I suspect you didn't get a good one done?? If you did, how did it/they compare to race day? If not, without a really effective race rehearsal, chasing a wattage goal on race day can be a risky crap shoot.
The good news is, you have enough fitness to finish a 6-hr HIM, which is a great platform from which to jump into 12 weeks of IM training. If you know travel will continue, try to plan out your workout schedule in advance, re-arrange so that all key workouts get done, and reach out to the Micro or the forums if you need guidance or feedback.
Mike
So in hind site, maybe the travel took a toll more than I thought. It was wearing me down at the end. I rode the race at 0.76. On this day, at this time, maybe that was too much.
I am a heavy sweater, and maybe I was somewhat dehydrated going into the run. Did not pee the whole day. Not sure I could drink more without feeling really bloated.
Thanks again for your input.
What/how much did you eat/drink at Choo? Salt tabs? In a hot 70.3, with excessive sweating, I would rather see you skip food altogether on the bike and just pound the Gatorade and, if necessary, salt.
Also look at heat management. Do you have HR data from the bike? Arm coolers? Ice water dousings? There are lots of great tips in the forms and wiki on racing in heat.