Follow up to Post Race Phone call
Coach,
To follow up our phone call, This is what I have posted in the Macro. I have raced triathlons since 2003 mostly ½ iron distance. For the first ten years, I was a totally self-coached athlete. I made some gains, but I was not satisfied. I started with Endurance Nation after IMLP 2013. I have completed 3 ironman races and 1 half Iron race since that time and recorded a PR on each one. In addition, since joining EN I have race two Olympic triathlons where I place 1st & 2nd in my age group. I ran an open ½ marathon placing 2nd in my age group and recording a 13 minute PR Here are my race results. I have no doubt that I owe these results to the guidance I have received from the EN coaches and community.
|
Race |
Swim |
T-1 |
Bike |
T-2 |
Run |
Total |
Place |
|
Ironman |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
IMLP‘13 |
1:15:55 |
7:39 |
5:59:28 |
5:34 |
4:40:33 |
12:09:09 |
44 AG, 688 OA |
|
IMLP ‘14 |
1:13:07 |
6:14 |
6:03:42 |
4:44 |
4:19:50 |
11:47:35 |
24 AG, 365 OA |
|
IMLP ‘15 |
1:14:22 |
6:46 |
6:04:52 |
4:49 |
4:03:04 |
11:33:53 |
19 AG, 214 OA |
|
IMFL ‘15 |
1:21:35 |
6:20 |
5:27:36 |
4:00 |
4:14:48 |
11:14:16 |
20 AG, 251 OA |
|
½ Iron |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tupper ‘13 |
37:42 |
2:07 |
2:38:23 |
3:09 |
1:49:52 |
5:11:10 |
7 AG, 56 OA |
|
Tupper ‘15 |
37:15 |
2:07 |
2:43:50 |
3:30 |
1:38:06 |
5:04:45 |
4 AG, 31 OA |
Although race times cannot accurately tell the story of how the race went, they do shed some light on where I feel I need to improve.
TRANSITIONS: First, there is very little reason that my transition times should be any different between an Iron and half Iron race other than total distance from swim exit to the start of the bike. The Swim to Bike transition for Lake Placid is not 4.5 minutes further than Tupper Lake and my Tupper Lake Transitions are too slow to begin with. Also, my Bike to Run Transitions are just too slow. I need to practice this and stop giving away time.
SWIM: My swim times are simply too slow. I can not get to where I want to be when I am 8 to 12 minutes slower than the leaders of my age group. The 6 weeks before IMFL I spent more time in the pool than I have ever done before a race. This netted me 51stin my Age Group. Although conditions were tough, they were tough for everyone and I wore a wetsuit. I need to cut ten minutes from my swim. I intend to add 2 to 3 sessions weekly where I am in the pool and working on technique.
BIKE: For races that are not Lake Placid, I ride fairly well. Tupper Lake is a rolling course and there are some good climbs. I am able to ride that course fairly fast. I rode IMFL course with good speed and execution. I received a penalty during the second half and had to sit for 5 minutes. My overall time not including the penalty was actually faster for the second half. My power did begin to drop as I neared 100 miles. I was not happy that over the last 10 miles my power and speed both dropped. Overall, I am not happy with the power level I am riding at for any of the races and want to improve that. I feel I can lift my power to a much higher level than I am at right now. My half Iron speed has consistently been between 20 to just under 22 mph. I need to be able to ride a 112 mile rolling course at 20.5 mph or better and then still run.
RUN: My running has improved quite a bit since I started with EN. During my training for the 2015 season, I completed the "Run Durability" program. At IMLP this year, I was one potty break and a poorly executed final hill away from breaking the 4 hour marathon. The run I had at Lake Placid and earlier at Tupper Lake gave me great confidence heading to IMFL. However, since every race is really its own entity, I did not run the way I thought I would. At Florida, I felt overwhelmed by the heat right from the start. I began the race with a full stomach. However, that feeling did not go away as I ran. Taking in more fuel did not give me a good feeling. Even so, I forced myself to do that during the first lap and a few times during the second lap. I also experienced something new to me during the run, I needed a bowel movement. That was followed shortly down the road by the need to stop and pee. These two stops were expensive on the clock. I felt I managed the heat well using lessons I learned at IMLP this year. I only walked at the aid stations. Now it’s time to do the work needed to finish where I want. For that, I need to be able to run an average of 8:45 per mile. I am definitely capable of that.
So, now to get to these goals. Our phone conversation has given me a focus point. The only race I currently have scheduled is IMWI. I'm need to figure out the rest of my race schedule to start. I will start an out-season the 3rd week of February. I am a firm believer in the run durability program especially for the 140.6 distance. I have begun that program again. My initial goal is to get my heart rate down for my GRP runs. I Don't think I have a lot of room for speed improvement. Sustained speed is a different story and I know that this program develops that. During our call, we talked about putting the bike on maintenance mode. I can do that, but I think that there is a way to do a little more than just maintenance. The RDP does not over tax my legs. The run distances are shorter and the intensity is generally at a level that I can do a lot of.The swim work I plan is all technique and does not have a big effect on down stream run workouts. My plan for the bike is to aim for 2 to 3 one hour sessions with brick runs after. The bike sessions will aim to keep me use to riding at a hard level. So, I will try to ride at 90 - 95% and just keep increasing the length of the intervals. 3 X 10', 3 X 15', 2 X 20', 3 X 20', 2 X 30', etc.
Any advice you have will help.
Comments
Thank you for reposting your thread here for me to consider. I context, especially the race times. As you know, it's hard to compare these performances by times alone. For example if you look over to the overall placing column you can see the significant improvements you have made with what you might consider to be less-than-expected time improvements. We can also see that obviously your age group continues to be fast relative to the overall amount of participants.
Unsurprisingly, your analysis leads to a need to improve in all three sports.
Here's what I suggest:
1 – we start with run durability and swim frequency. Between now and the start of the out season your goal is to build up to 40 miles a week running and five swims a week. I say bill because it should take you several weeks to get to that point even though you could go out right now and run 40 miles in one week it will be too much overtime. As an example, I started at 18 miles a week, and six weeks later I am now at 35 miles per week.
2 - during this time, we keep the bike very low. If you want to ride three days a week only ONE of them can have threshold intensity please. This is because you will be doing the out season later which has multiple workouts a personal intensity and combining threshold workouts now with more threshold workouts later will not yield the results you want. the rest should be steady writing; if you want intensity you can put it in the big ring and do some resistance/strength work. But these rides will also build, starting with 40 minutes and over several weeks getting up to being an hour.
3 - will evaluate your fitness once you start the out season especially on the run. During the off-season I recommend you still keep the swimming up even though it's not necessarily required.
4 - on top of your regular schedule, I do recommend that bike volume work we discussed; maybe one or two big weekends. Also don't forget how we discussed more half Ironman paste writing versus just longer rides for you. That could be a hallmark of their early-season workouts say between May and July.
Take a minute to write down what your goals are for this one durability. Do yourself a favor and chart out the progression you're looking for so you can avoid overachieving to early.
Good luck!
Coach, Thanks for the analysis and review. I am following your advice on the RDP. I started with two runs totaling 12 miles and one intensity ride. Last week was four runs for 20 miles and one intensity ride. This week the goal is 5 runs making it to 25 miles one intensity ride and one ride at 70%. My goal until I start the OS is exactly what you suggested. I want to get to 40+ miles and hit that mark at least two consecutive weeks right around the end of January. Since my pool is the college, it has been difficult getting those in. The pool schedule is always messed up around the end of a semester.
Keep on tracking the runs...as for the swims, just swim when you can. Onwards and upwards!