Buffalo Springs Race Report
This was my first time as BSLT. It is a nice little race and I have a feeling that I will be back. Compared to the other IM ranked races that I have done this has by far the most "local" feeling.
It is not a tourist race (nothing wrong with that. IMCoz was a blast) but as a mid year checkpoint there is a workman like vibe to belt that I enjoyed.
Earlier this year I had the chance to race texas 70.3 in galveston. As our team captain john pointed out, "this aint galveston". He is 100% correct. It sure aint. Higher temps, but zero humidity. Much more technical bike course. Rougher roads. Great water. Challenging hills on the bike and run course. But within minutes of crossing the finish line I wanted to do it again.
I had a few execution goals for this race. Most of them coming as a result of a tough time in Galveston. At galveston, I road just under my target watts from my FTP test (227w at the end of the out season). Got a bike split that I will always hold close to my heart and imploded 2mi into the run. By the end of the galveston bike my HR was just too high for me and I had no where for it to go when I got off the bike.
So, for BSLT, my plan was to watch HR and AVG HR and let everything else go. No power, no speed. From training, I knew that I wanted lower 140's as an average hr on the bike. That would leave me 15bpm for the run. I knew that I could grit out an upper 150's run but if I spent much time in the upper 160's I would crack.
Swim - A wetsuit swim counter clockwise around a beautiful lake. Beach start (LOVE those), a right turn then lefts the rest of the way. I started swimming a few years ago and have been progressing. I am a top 1/2 swimmer and have started to get bolder in terms of where I place myself at the start. For this one, I put myself towards the front row in the center. In the empty spot that is often there while people either crowd to the wide part of the start or hug the buoy line. Not much contact. Counted strokes. I found as the swim went on that I could go further between sightings. Felt pretty good.
Swim time: 33:52 Division rank: 18 WHAT! WHAT WHAT WHAT??? The swim must have been a little short. But still, this is the first time ever that I have swam that close to the front. And it is the first time ever that my best position in my AG was when I stepped out of the water.
Bike - My plan was to work my hr down till my Avg HR was 140 then start pushing a bit harder so that my avg HR was in the 142 area. I had driven the course the day before. It was quite technical. Not a ton of climbing but the hills that are there are short and steep. and the course layout is such that bikes are going both ways on the road the entire time. And and some of the climb/descent portions are twisty and the roads are narrow. My sense was that this was a bike course that one would get better at racing with practice.
Bike time: 2:55 Division Rank: 25. Well, after a 2:35 in galveston this was slower. But I knew it would be. I just executed my HR plan, went as easy up the hills as possible, and hoped that I would be in a better position to run. NP was 9w lower than Galveston but my Avg HR was 10bpm lower. 142bpm vs 152bpm back in galveston.
Run - ok. I had 15bpm left in the tank. I wanted to avg 157 or so. I decided that I would hold myself to 155 for the first lap, give myself 160 till he big hill then take the governor off and go as I could. I was able to execute this. It hurt. I "wanted" to walk toward the end but I was able to keep going. At Galveston, my run HR was into the 160's almost immediately and I cracked early. I was watching my target run pace and spent he whole run disappointed with my self because I wasn't hitting the splits. This time I just watched 2 numbers on one screen of my garmin: HR and Avg HR. For me it worked well. I don't know of the course was marked correctly but I ran a 9:31 pace for the first 3.5Mi and a 9:32 pace for the entire run. Sounds pretty even to me. And I felt better about myself while I was doing it.
Around mi 10 I felt cramp twinges but my trusty pickle juice fended them off.
Coming up to the finish line I hear "excuse me, I am trying to get by on your right". Someone was trying to pass me right at the line. So I took off as fast as I could and held them off. After the line, I turned to thank them for the last little nudge and it turned out to be our race captain John Culberson. Sneak past me next time john!
Run: 2:05 Division rank: 26. Avg HR was right on at 162bpm, 15bpm higher than my bike. Overall time 5:39. 12min slower than galveston but I feel subjectively that I executed better.
All in all, I am pleased with the way I executed. I am proud of how I swam. I am happy with the way I paced. I am very excepted about IMFL and plan to use HR to race with there as well. I still like power and pace for training but on race day, for me, when all you can do is drive the vehicle that you have, HR seems to suit me better.
I will goof off this week then get to work on FL. TTBikefit changed my position a few weeks back. 1.5cm lower seat (how the hell was I even riding that high???) and 2.5cm out of the front. I am excited to see how I go with a few months in the new position.
Comments
12 min faster than Galveston at BSLT is arguably a faster time considering all other things equal given the heat and the terrain bro!
I've raced both of these courses 3 or more times each. I think you knocked it out of the park! a 5:39 at BSLT is a great time IMO!
Well done and super congratulations!
SS
Jimmy, congrats on executing so well. Clearly, you are learning what works for you during the race. You have your racing bike and run HR's dialed in now and that should be huge for IMFL. Good luck the rest of your season.
Nice report! and good job on the swim! Nice to be surprised yes? I'm doing all kinds of chanting for IMFL overcast 60 degrees, light breeze, no waves... maybe it needs a melody...
JA, nice report on a great day. This has always been a tough race, so your time and rankings are very solid. And I think we can officially out you as a swimmer now. Your swim time never really matters, because of how courses are measured, currents, conditions, swim waves in front of you. The only thing that really matters is your OA ranking and, far more importantly, your AG ranking. Your BSLT swim put you on the bike with the front of your AG, which to me, is far better than near the back trying to claw through the masses.
I mostly like what you did on the bike. Was your no-power, all-HR bike plan a 70.3 thing only? Either way, I'd still like you to use power on race day, at both 70.3 and IM, and especially at IMFL where a well paced bike will likely separate the winners from the losers. That way, even if a 70.3 race day is brutally hot and your 180NP goal goes out the window because it puts you above 140HR, I'd still prefer that you follow an even power output once you figure out what NP allows you to go sub-140 (i.e., 170NP).
Congrats. Looking forward to training and racing with you this fall. Stay healthy.
Mike - Nope. The HR thing might just be a keeper for long races period. I know from looking at past IM's that I ride best with an avg HR of 136-140 and run best in the low 150's. I want to spend the next few months working to increase the speed at those numbers. I am committed to HR for the rest of the year. I think that I am on to something and need to give it time. I don't see why I can't still ride a low VI bike in florida by hr.
Great report and great execution Jimmy. I understand the HR guidance too. I'll be interested to see how that works for you at full distance. How many in our/your AG at this race?
Congrats. JL
While I personally am not a fan of using HR (although just got a MIO which doesnt work well on me and gonna try the rythym) I totally get it...... Certainly applaud your collection/review/use of HR data.....We are all data geeks but so many do not really look at it and correlate it for future use.... So if I get this right you have your HIM HR's pegged at bike 140-145 , run 155-160 and your IM HR's bike at 135-140 , run 150-155 ? In some ways this actually makes more sense at the longer distance since the actual HR range is unlikely to change much through training unlike pace/power.... Interested to watch your IMFL HR performance ....
What I noticed is that there are a pretty solid correlation between the HR files of the good races and the bad ones.
Plus, for some reason, if I watch my HR, my ego gets taken out of the picture. If I am watching power on the bike, I will drive myself into the ground chasing the power number. I did that at IMTX and at galveston.
I did have my best IM run at IMCoz watching pace. It was a 3 lap run and I ran LRP+30 for lap 1, LRP +20 for lap 2 and LRP+10 for lap 3. I may use something like that for IMFL. There is something magical about neg splitting a marathon...
But the Coz run was set up by the bike. What I really need to do is bike right then go out easy for the first 6mi. You can do that with watts and pace or you can do that with HR. For some reason, I stay more relaxed and patient with HR.
John - Thanks again for giving everyone your local's perspective!
I will echo what Mr. Cronk said as far as not being a fan of heart rate, mainly because mine is all over the place but everyone is different and it sounds like solid decision making on your part. I will tell you I have cracked a sub 4:40 at Galveston and the same year ran a 5:12 at Buffalo Springs. That course is no joke and the conditions always suck. CONGRATULATION and wow what a swim!!!
Shane