Qs to J Behler about reaching higher and kona PB
This is a question for Jeremy that would nomally be a PM, but I suspect his answer would be valuable to others on the team ... so I'm putting him on the spot with a request for a team teachable moment, and public answer (hope this ok, mate!)
Q:
Having had the pleasure of being passed by you something like 6 times in Kona, I was occasionally reminded (!) that you were coming into this race with the goal of 'Earning a PB on the worlds biggest stage' (or however you stated it in your 2015-2016 sig). What is remarkable to me about this is it was a pretty far reaching goal ... I think you had a PB in your qualifying race at ironman WI 2015 in order to earn the spot, and you had been at the triathlon game for some time. So, I'm damn impressed that someone who probably finished WI thinking "that was the best I could give," and has theoretically been at it long enough to max out the major gains, could set a goal that is pretty audacious, make that goal public for the better part of a year, and actually accomplish it.
So you set this goal, update your sig, and it's out there .... Was there something in your training in buildup over 2016 that you did differently? Was there a specific step by step build you followed in goal attainment, or were you more holistic? I remember your result at Racine was standout .... So was it just overall fitness? or working specifically on a limiter / limiters? Short version... Talk to me a bit about going about achieving a standout performance on already standout base!
Q:
Having had the pleasure of being passed by you something like 6 times in Kona, I was occasionally reminded (!) that you were coming into this race with the goal of 'Earning a PB on the worlds biggest stage' (or however you stated it in your 2015-2016 sig). What is remarkable to me about this is it was a pretty far reaching goal ... I think you had a PB in your qualifying race at ironman WI 2015 in order to earn the spot, and you had been at the triathlon game for some time. So, I'm damn impressed that someone who probably finished WI thinking "that was the best I could give," and has theoretically been at it long enough to max out the major gains, could set a goal that is pretty audacious, make that goal public for the better part of a year, and actually accomplish it.
So you set this goal, update your sig, and it's out there .... Was there something in your training in buildup over 2016 that you did differently? Was there a specific step by step build you followed in goal attainment, or were you more holistic? I remember your result at Racine was standout .... So was it just overall fitness? or working specifically on a limiter / limiters? Short version... Talk to me a bit about going about achieving a standout performance on already standout base!
2
Comments
Happy to share my experience. And for the record...I ultimately didn't achieve my goal as I missed the PR 80 seconds.
I'll preface this all with the fact that there is no silver bullet for this. I think it's critical for each of us to understand what makes us tick and adjust our plans accordingly.
There are a number of things that contributed to this. When I first qualified at IMWI in '15 i initially planned to make Kona my 'victory lap' and celebrate the five year journey to toe the line in Kona. And after some mental hand wringing, and a great conversation with Matt Aaronson about how he prepped for 70.3 worlds it became crystal clear to me that celebrating doesn't motivate me. Success and accomplishment motivates me. At that point I knew I needed to have a stretching goal. IMWI was already an 18 minute PR vs. my race there in 2013 so another PR on top of that at a course where conditions would certainly be more challenging. And I found for me that putting myself out there is the best way to drive accountability. I did it at IMWI where I was very candid with my desire to KQ. So with that I did everything I could to remind me and others what my goals were. I changed my passwords and passcodes to some variant of my PR time, I updated my EN Signature so everyone would see it, and set out for the training. As you stated, I've been at this game from some time, but still feel I have room to improve. That improvement doesn't come as quickly, but I believed it was still there.
I knew my training and buildup for IMWI was solid and that I entered the race as fit and fast as I had ever been. So that was my benchmark. I graphed my weekly and cumulative time and distance for each discipline and my goal was to meet or exceed those numbers at VDOT and FTP that were equal to, or greater than the prior year and with a bigger volume push in the last 4-6 weeks BUT...with the caveat I didn't sacrifice recovery or sleep. I know there area lot of folks on the team that put up major TSS, but seem to under-perform on race day and I've seen how this can affect me and made it a key priority to strike the right balance. I had some good discussions with @Mike Roberts this past weekend at IMPR 70.3 on this very subject and how many pros are instituting this philosophy in their plans. I also intentionally didn't have an IM planned in the lead up as the taper and subsequent recovery would sub optimize my training. I was all-in more than I ever had been and everything I did was built around achieving this plan. My friends would have said I am the lamest, most boring person ever. My family would have said I was absent more than I was present. And my co-workers though I was crazy by extending my bike commute to work from 12 to 30 miles lowing me to get in 60 mile days midweek or by adding in a 7-8 mile run at lunch. All of these together led to singularly focused plan to PR. Not many social/fun activities, only a couple races and no IMs along the way, etc. Here is a slideshow of the metrics I tracked https://sargento.domo.com/link/eUKf6FllwXzNzOCm.
My Racine results were underwhelming but I think you were remembering Steelhead where I went 4:28 for a 70.3PR. That, to me, was a great boost of confidence that my fitness was there six weeks out from Kona. I've never been the best at any discipline, but always in the top 5/10 of each which usually yields a top 3-7 placement overall. I decided to focus primarily on my run and bike as I knew that's where the ROI was on my time. Steelhead validated that progress was made on both.
When it comes to race week/day I was also very intentional. Again, some of these may be more individual than others. One thing I am really good at is not worrying about things I can't control. I arrived in Kona knowing I had the fitness and knowing that I've raced enough long course to be able to execute well. I embraced that and soaked in as much of the Kona vibe as I could. I didn't spend too much time going through transition or scouting the course. I just did the requisite overviews, chatted with former Kona athletes to get their perspective/opinions, etc. I know some people like to stay out of the fray and focus, but for me that alone time is just a temptation to worry or stress about things that either 1) I already know or 2) I can't impact. The last thing I did a bit differently was related to my race execution, primarily on the run. My bike was stronger than 2015 so while my power was up a bit, my execution was very similar. On the run, however, I intentionally went out a bit faster than EN protocol would suggest. This was a gamble, but again I had enough long course experience where I felt it was an educated risk. Everyone slows down at mile 18...that's a fact...but if I could put 5-6 minutes in the bank to the point I didn't blow up at mile 18 and have to walk, it would give me the chance to slow down but still have a better time. Mile 18-20 was by far the low point...I remember seeing you in the Energy Lab and thinking "Oh shit....did I overcook it earlier". Ultimately it was just the stage of the race and the oppressive heat in the Energy Lab and once I got out I was able to regain my groove and get into a reasonable pace. In fact, the Energy Lab was the only time all day my pace dropped below 8min/mile.
I also found that by mile 23 the fact that my goal was within reach allowed me to dig deeper and have an extended 24 minute push vs. the normal 10 minutes 1-1.5 mile push at the end.
As I said..ultimately I fell a bit short of my PR goal by 80 seconds, but by all other measures had a spectacular Kona debut and a helluva lot of fun in the process.
Hope this is helpful.....and happy to connect here or directly to talk in more detail.
What did your fitness look like coming into this 14 week block? That first week seems manageable but then you basically doubled the next 3 weeks - that is a pretty remarkable and steep build.
I am trying to fully comprehend what you mean by "not sacraficing recovery/sleep". You didn't list TSS data, but very clearly your time investment was vast particularly considering you have a career (or did you strap your excel computer to the bike?).
I too agree with going out a little hot. Seems like the slow down is going to happen, might as well get some time banked.
Coming into that 14 week block my fitness was pretty solid. Right before (about 17 weeks from race) I spent the week in Colorado with Al and a house full of ENers knocking out 600 miles on the bike and capped off with a Ragnar Trail relay. Prior to that I had done the JOS and also completed a 100 day run challenge that ended in March. I'm glad you mentioned those as that doesn't show up in the data but certainly provided a solid endurance base from which to growth. Note that it wasn't too different than 2015 however as I did JOS and then TOC in May for a bike slug of bike volume.
I'll pull the TSS data. I used that as more of a secondary measure and don't know offhand how that compared. What I really did was find ways to 'hack' training in to as much of my life by sucking up garbage time. Things like bike commuting to work which ultimately didn't add much to my commute. Running at lunch. Biking to my kids soccer games vs. driving an hour. Etc.
And on going out a little hot...it's a balance. Obviously if you go out too hot you aren't going to keep running the whole time and it would be a bad gamble but once you've played the game long enough you get a sense for where that line may be.
The second element, which I fully discovered last weekend, is the mental side. We all talk about staying in our own box and focusing only on the things we can control, he actually lives that. As we checked in our bikes last weekend, JB was noting the bib numbers of the $15,000 P5x's in TA not so he could determine if they were being driven by super-studs, but instead to wager on whether any of them would ride sub-3 (I'm fairly certain he's created a spreadsheet to show the resulting ratio of $ to mph in PR70.3). Meanwhile, another unnamed EN athlete was obsessing about all the "fast" bikes in TA and worrying that their riders might be in his/her AG. When I quizzed JB about Kona and the fact that I'm already fearful/anxious about the swim, getting a drafting penalty on the (overcrowded) bike and melting on the run, he looked at me like I was an alien - like, why on earth would you even waste mental energy thinking about that crap? He clearly went into Kona last year with a game plan, with relentless confidence, and absolutely zero fear. That, plus his top fitness and goofy gallop, the sub-10 result was no surprise in retrospect.