Wisconsin race rehearsal #2 - Matt Aaronson
Ok, RR #2 is in the bag. I ended up heading out to Madison
and doing it on the course which made for a long day and a lot of driving, but I
was glad to get out there if for no other reason than it’s a nice course and a
change from the usual rides I do. At this point in the training I'm pretty sick
of riding my tri bike. I'm ready to be done for a while. The conditions were
excellent for riding: overcast, low 60's and very little wind.
I've done quite a few ~5-hour rides by now and many with a
brick run so the only thing that made this a "race rehearsal" was:
(a) targeting a bit lower watts compared with just going out
and riding whatever I seemed to have that day
(b) nutrition "as I expect to do on race day"
including a newly-purchased box to carry much of it
(c) no socks
There were a few very "un race day" things, most notably
that I forgot my singlet or any cycling jersey so ended up wearing a technical
T that didn't fit too snugly and was flapping around all morning…argh. Also it
meant no pockets so whatever didn't fit into the nutrition box I either taped to the
frame or shoved into my shorts which luckily fit pretty tight. Also I had to use
electrical tape to secure my cell phone to the bottle cage mount behind my seat
(wrapped in a sock so it had some cushioning). The whole setup was pretty
comical and I'm sure some of the people I saw out there made jokes to their
training partners. But I was flying past all of them so they can laugh all they
like!! (as an aside, the number of people I saw today with really high-end tri
bikes who were riding sitting up in the base bars was just astounding).
Overall the ride was 105 miles in 5:17 (elapsed time 5:24),
19.8mph. NP 209 watts and VI of 1.00 (!!). HR avg 140bpm, cadence avg 85rpm. Max
speed 46.9mph. The run was 6.11 miles in 45:18 (7:25/mi). Avg HR 149 and very
steady. Avg cadence somewhat low at 177spm.
Bike: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/880559871
Run: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/880559884
Things I think went well
- Bike execution. Very steady. Felt pretty
good. A bit of fade but my peak 3-hour power was from 1:45 to 4:45 which
coincided with the end of the second loop. I lost a bit of focus on the stick
on the way back and there were some intersections where I had to stop and lost
a few watts here and there as a result.
- Nutrition. I took in ~285 calories/hr
in the form of 3 Clif bars (halved) and 8 gels. I alternated but slightly
front-loaded the Clif bars so they were all done by the 3:20 mark. I ate half
of a bar or a gel every 20 minutes until the 3:20 mark, then moved to a 30
minute cadence. Everything went down and stayed down! Although I'll confess I
didn't really feel like eating so much…I was really forcing myself to get it
in.
- Running by HR. On the run I set my
Garmin to show only HR and cadence on the screen. I didn't check pace until
after the run. I set an HR cap of 150 on the way out and 155 on the way back.
It felt really, really, REALLY slow. I had to fight a bit to keep HR under 150
on the way out…I was constantly going up to 152/153 and having to pull back and
slow down. My cadence was really low at 177 vs. my normal 181-184 range. Part
of that is my running injury (details in a different post), but a lot of it was
trying to slow it down.
- Manual laps on the bike. Rather than
"auto lap" at 5 miles as I usual do in races, on the IMWI course I've
decided to take manual laps based on landmarks. They end up all being about 5
miles each but it's something to keep my mind occupied and interested and the
course with all of its variations lends itself well to a natural segmentation
based on terrain. For example, one of my laps is the 5.5 miles from the top of
the Garfoot downhill to Cross Plains. Another is the bottom of Old Sauk Pass to
the top of Shady Oak (i.e. has Old Sauk, Timber Lane and Midtown all on one
lap). You get the picture.
Things I think went "just ok"
- Overshooting my target watts. I told
myself I'd shoot for 200-205 but then decided that I'd let myself go up to 210
if I felt good since it was a training ride and I'm a bit behind on fitness and
TSS due to lack of running. But that means it wasn't really a "race
rehearsal" in that I didn't target my race watts which I think should
probably be more in the 200-205 range.
- Bike HR. For some reason (see medical
posts) my HR (resting and workout) has been running really high for the past
couple of weeks. On the run today I was really encouraged to see sub-7:30/mi at
<150bpm because that's not where things were even earlier this week and perhaps
it's indicative of a return to normal. But triangulating with other rides there
is no question that 140 bpm for NP 209 on a very cool and overcast day is too
high. On July 30 it was sunny and mid-80's and I was NP 212 on 145bpm (although
max was in the 160's vs max of only 152 today…in fact today's max HR was very
low compared with other rides)</span>
- Low VI. This is probably a course where
a 1.00 VI is actually too low. I think I should be a bit more aggressive on the
hills. Input on this would be really useful.
- My new "Dark Speed Works" box.
I paid $40 for this thing that I doubt costs over $2 to make. The problem is
that the top tube of my BMC is "shaped" so the Velcro straps on this
thing don't really hug the frame. Pretty un-aero. I am left wondering if the old
trick of taping gels to the top tube is actually better.
- My stomach on the run. On prior brick runs
where I have practiced "race day nutrition" I have sometimes got a
bit of a side stitch but never felt queasy. Today I felt slightly queasy at the
~3.5 mile mark when I stopped briefly at a water fountain. The feeling went
away once I re-started running and made an effort to keep it nice and easy, but
I'm starting to get worried about nutrition on the run which I haven't really
practiced since my longest bricks have been 45 minutes. I'm not sure how I'll
feel eating gels 30 minutes into the run.
Things I think went poorly
- Hydration. It was overcast and low 60's
and I just wasn't thirsty. I drank with all of my "meals" but it
amounted to a mere 3x 24oz bottles. That is less than half of what I'll drink
on a hot day and is the lowest water intake on any of my 5-hour rides this year.
Add that to the fact that I'm taking NSAIDs (again, see other post if you want details
on that) and there is real risk. I need to do better on hydration.
- Speed. Honestly I was very disappointed
with my average speed. Perhaps some of this is due to wearing a t-shirt and having
my cellphone taped to my bike and shit like that as explained above. But how
much difference will that make? Consider the 4 on-course rides I've done this
year:
- July 30, 20.6mph on NP 212
- July 31, 19.8mph on NP 196 (and pretty windy)
- August 1, 19.9mph on NP of 196
- Today, 19.8mph on NP 209
So this was really quite frustrating. Today loop #1 was NP
211 and 19.7mph and loop #2 was NP 210 and 19.9mph. So pretty consistent. The stick on
the way out was quite slow at 19.2mph on NP 204 and on the way back was 20.7mph
on NP 203. The real comparison should be with the July 30 ride where I was only
3 watts higher but 0.8mph faster (and that day was a bit windy too so should
have been slower). Looking at last year's results, the top 10 in my AG rode
21-22mph on the bike. Even dressing up for race day I don't see that happening
if I can only muster 19.8mph on too-high watts.
- Urination. I stopped 3 times (plus a
couple of traffic stops)…once for a dropped chain and twice to water the trees.
I also watered the trees on the dropped chain stop. I went sockless to practice
on-bike relief but I just couldn't make it happen. This cost me 4 minutes today
(and isn't counted in my average speed, either, since auto-pause is making me
look good).
- Bee sting. Yep, at 40mph on Sugar River
Road on loop #2 a bee slammed into my neck and left a stinger. So I got a lot
of pain and swelling in the whole area. Luckily I don't have a huge allergic reaction
but man it hurt and now typing this it STILL hurts.
Any thoughts from the team let me know but at this point I'm
done with 5-hour rides until race day!!!!!
Comments
;-)
@ Matt...I think the slightly slower speed today was due to the lack of aeroness (t-shirt, phone) and general fatigue from all the 5 hour rides. This is new territory for you, and it does build up. I wouldn't worry about it. You are going to be rested and feeling powerful on race day. Now shave those legs and you get 5 more watts.
I agree with Rachel...did you take any sports drink? All the bars might the cause of the side-stitch. Finally, you can't stop to water the flowers in the race, not in your AG.
Overall,I think you are superbly ready for the IMWI bike segment...great fitness, & you could probably ride that course with eyes closed you know it so well.
You have EARNED the right to race at 210W. If you must fall back to 205W then have at it... The actual race ride will be a little bit tougher after that little swim you'll be doing before it, so maybe 205W s a good target, but if you're feeling great, don't feel bad about creeping up to 210W and don't feel bad about dropping to 200W if it's hot or you're hurting.
I also agree with your thought that 1.00 VI is too tight. I would consider a 1.03 a perfect ride on that course, but 1.02 is certainly better than 1.07.
If you won't listen to me, PLEASE listen to Bruce. He's a back-to-back Kona qualifier, you know. And he's your elder... You MUST.NOT.STOP.TO.PEE. Seriously man, get over it and just pee on the bike.
@ Bruce, I have deliberately left my legs "untreated" for the past month so that the waxing next week will be maximally effective!!!
And as to the urination, I will be able to do it on race day I hope. I will stop only as an absolute last resort.
I pee a lot... took a few IMs to do it... I would honestly load up on fluids one morning right after drinking a big cup of coffee and go for a ride... focused on nothing but going ez and breaking the seal... once that happens, you can go all day... I tend to find a good place to coast, keep my left leg down and let it run down my leg mostly...
as for solids vs fluids. I tend to agree with getting more liquid nutrition. I know my own stomach starts feeling "hungry" when there is nothing solid in it and then i tend to do a quarter of a clif bar at a time.. I think they give you mini's on the course, to that makes it a lot easier.
My only comment - besides agreeing that you have to pee on the go - is around the nutrition.... If it's a hot day, getting down 3 cliff bars may be a bit too much - you'll need to drink a ton more than 3 bottles and will be getting a bunch of calories that way - and will be easier for your body to handle... Other thing is to make sure you focus on salt intake during the race - especially if hot. Either salt pills or what a lot of the pros here in Boulder have switched to is Base Salt - here's a link... http://www.baseperformance.com/product/base-electrolyte-salt/#.VeO2o7e1ywk
I used the Base Salt at IMMT and worked great - once every 1/2 hour on the bike and every 2 miles on the run. Easy to just pull from a pocket and use on the go....
And you'll have all the bike power you need when you are rested and tapored... Rip it up!!
Matt, two things I'd offer
And a couple of IM aphorisms:
I don't know what it says about me, but I drink 3 bottles an hour on IM race days and I have never peed more than once during the whole race...and I have never peed during an HIM. Maybe I'm an outlier on this. But I keep coming back to the simplicity of lots of sports drink for fluids, calories, and salt. Doing it that way forces me to get sufficient fluid. As far as peeing on the bike goes...I've never been able to make that happen because in training I just can't get myself desperate enough, I suppose. :-) It sounds pretty silly, but if you're only going to make one stop...and you wait until you just HAVE to go, you'll be down for about 90 seconds, no more.
I am not afraid of you not making it through the bike, but unless it's around 60 degrees, I'm seriously concerned that you will struggle on the run with as little fluid as you took.
VI of 1.00 is definitely too low. 1.03-1.04 is ideal. This said, the ideal VI goes down with your W/kg ratio because the minimum watts required to go up the hills becomes closer to what your target watts are as your W/kg go up. (i.e., a weak rider has to suck it up and power over FTP just to get up the hills...a stronger rider is still well below FTP). You are probably strong enough that 1.03 is a good target. Even you will find some places where you are going 40+ and it's stupid to do anything more than hunker down and go for a ride. You ARE strong enough where powering down some of the hills will be a huge benefit because you'll get most of the way back up without working hard, but everyone benefits from a bit of coasting now and then. Hopefully, you've figured out which hills are key for you to power down on your rehearsals...and certainly try to remember them for the second loop on race day.
Good luck!