Toughman WA - HIM RR#2 Review
HIM RR #2 –
I completed my second Race Rehersal on Saturday. Changes made this go around were:
Added OW swim by friendly mandate of SS
Changed cassette to 11-23 from 11-28
Didn’t lock myself out of my car/refuel station
Ran by HR
I went into this rehearsal with significantly more fatigue from Thursday’s long run and Friday’s swim.
Onto the RR
Swim
Consumed 1 Hammer Gel prior to swim (80 cal). 2355 yd swim was completed in 46:21 or a 1:58/100. I was quite sore from the previous day’s swim and didn’t have much push here. The main time eater was clearing my fogging goggles that were fogging every 100 yards. Newly applied anti-fog didn’t work. It was also slow going on my way back to the boat launch looking out for boats. My guess is that ate up 10:00. Consumed 1 Hammer Gel after swim (80 cal).
I will repeat another RR swim on Friday with new goggles.
Bike
PLAN
Course: Flattish rails to trails trail with support out of my car, with each out-and-back being 15 miles.
Equipment: Full part dress: EN M2 skin suit, aero helmet, rear wheel cover. I had a torpedo between the aero bars and a second bottle on the down tube, water bottle in back to rinse off.
Nutrition hourly: 1-1.5 bottles of HEED (course offering), 1 Powerbar, Two salt tabs. 350-400c/hr
Pacing: .80 of 262 FTP = 210w, first 30’ at .70 or 185w. I have been struggling with completing the FTP training intervals, so I swagged my number down 10 watts from RR#1.
ACTUAL
RR#1 RR#2
Time 2:50 2:52
NP 204W 293W
IF .75 .71
VI: 1.03 1.03
TSS 160 144.8
Starting temp was cool at 53 degrees which required less fluids than I usually train with. I consumed 3.5 bottles of Heed and 2 Powerbars. Peed once during the bike.
Heed – 525 cal
Powerbars – 480 cal
Total - 1005
I started my bike 1.5 hrs later than RR#1, which resulted in a much busier trail. Many slowdowns and a number of matches burned negotiating traffic. With the 11-23 cassette and short DR, I was definitely shifting more frequently to flatten out the course.
I was surprised that my VI was the same, considering all of congestion this time around. It honestly felt and looked like I was riding a lot hotter than I had planned too. I did have more time spent above 210W, but the end numbers show 11 less watt of output, with only two minutes longer on course.
Run
Plan: 6 miles paced by HR; first three miles at 9:00 or slower. HR cap of 150. Hydrate with 4 oz HEED every mile, gel and salt tab at start.
Actual: Started off per plan, but the 9:00 pace was climbing my hr above 145. Took short walk breaks to bring it down to 140. Continued inching my pace each mile as hr would allow. After mile 3 I managed my pace by hr, shooting for 147, but capping it at 150. I hit 150 a couple of times in the last mile and walked a few paces to slow it down.
I consumed 4oz of HEED every mile as planned with no issues. I probably could have consumed more if I had them available.
Take Aways
SWIM - I will know more this Friday after I complete an OW 2200 yd swim.
BIKE – Big question mark here. Should I just rinse and repeat this effort, or should I work at bringing my NP closer to 210W? My thought is that the flatter race course will probably sort this out for me. The run was hard, but no issues with needing to slow down. How do you want to feel coming off of the bike? How/when do you know when you rode too hot a bike leg and what were the signs?
RUN – I need to start the first three miles slower: 9:30 - 9:45 pace to keep my hr in check. I was not able to incorporate intervals into my run training, which I think impacted my hr at TRP pace. I was always in the 150’s for the majority of my run time. The middle 7 will be by hr, capped at 150. The last 3.1 will be raced.
NUTRITION – I felt that I took in enough fluids and calories for each leg. If the temps are the same on race day (cool), I should work to squeeze in another bottle on the bike. I felt as though I had enough to drink, but it would be good insurance for the last half of the run.
Comments
Fantastic work on RR2! Putting that swim up front is the equalizer.......
From the run stats, looks like you have the bike about right and you are now mentally prepared to manage that run pace better on the first 3 miles and use HR ceilings forward from there. Like the coaches say, if you think you went too easy on the bike leg, you have the run leg to over deliver...
Technically you can push an .80+ IF on an HIM and run well, but that assumes you have your FTP set accurately. Given what you learned from the run in RR2, I would use this bike NP as a proxy for my upcoming HIM.
Nice work man!
SS
Winds are expected to be 10-13 mph from the north, giving me a headwind for about half of the bike.
I will plan my race according to this RR, as my run is the big question. Based on this run, hr has me in for a 2:00:00 run; which is 15' off from my training runs. All in all a pretty padded/conservative plan. Now I have to practice my transitions.