Coach Patrick’s Comeback Report -- 9:36 at 2017 Ironman® Mont Tremblant
Quick Summary For those of you who might want a quick recap or with little time, here are the details. Swam a 1:07, Biked a 4:55 and Ran a 3:27 on my way to a 9:36 finishing time. This was a 1 minute improvement over 2014, confirming that I am indeed “still in the game” and good enough for fourth place in my Age Group and another trip to the World Championships. I am ecstatic!
22 Months of Building Up
The image above really captures it all. After Kona 2015, I got all excited to run more...but my Ego wouldn’t let me drop the pace….so I added tons of volume (red bars) at a high intensity (blue bars) and I got injured. I spend the first half of 2016 not working out, getting MRIs, doing Physical Therapy and trying to see what was what.
When it was all said and done, the best Doc I could find told me that I had tweaked a Fat Pad (I asked “Which one?!” since I was so out of shape) in my left knee. There’s a pad under your patella that acts as a cushion...it's the most sensitive part of your knee area, mine was jacked. He gave me a cortisone shot and told me to get after it. I tried but it still wasn’t 100%...so I decided on my own to back it down again until I could be smart...which wasn’t until the end of Dec 2016.
I started with a basic week and felt great for about 8 weeks...and with the Blue Ridge Camp coming in May, I got back on the trainer in earnest and starting riding with focus while I kept the run low. After Blue Ridge Camp (so fun!) I was fit and not hurt with 3 lighter weeks to absorb it...so I decided to see what I could do if I trained more like a triathlete...and things worked out with a good 13-ish week build up to Tremblant.
How I Hacked The Training Cycle
The Run: I knew right away entering 2017 that I couldn’t train the run like I wanted to train the run. I love running 40-ish miles a week, and as fast as I could. But this had proven to be too much, so I committed myself to starting very gradually. By the time I got to the final 13 weeks to Mont Tremblant (final bar on the right) I had put in 10 consecutive weeks of 25 miles or more. Not a lot, but for where I was coming from it was enough. I did sneak in two bigger weeks but that was really all I could handle!!The Bike: I didn’t get my brand new amazingly fast Ventum (more on that later) until July 26th, less than four weeks before my race! So I spent most of this year on my road bike. I usually spend way more time than that riding the aerobars all year, but I made the most of it. I think one of the things that helped me getting ready for this race was just how long I was on the bike….a century on a road bike takes me almost an hour longer
than it would on a tri bike. Yikes!
The biggest edit was joining Zwift and riding there. I did both Team Tempo rides with my Endurance Nation peeps on Sundays (picture above) as well as some weekly races...which are just incredibly hard. It kept me engaged and really made me very fit in a very short period of time. Nothing like chasing a wheel to get you to work harder and without a doubt, my teammates helped build my bike engine. Thank you!!!
The Swim: Of all the disciplines, this was the one I was most concerned about. I don’t love swimming and getting back to the pool “out of shape” and on their funky schedule wasn’t my idea of a good time. Cue our amazing sponsor Vasa who sent over their SwimErg for me to train on. Having real-time power and in incredible workout in my own basement, was a game changer.
When I first started, I could only do 10 to 15 minutes at a time. It was THAT HARD to do. It took over a month of doing this a few times a week to get to a point where I could swim for about 30 minutes. This was a great workout and netted me about 1,000 yards with a consistent stroke rate and power. It was about this time that I started to re-orient towards Mont Tremblant.
Rather than get all into the details about improving my power via intervals and stroke rate (I didn’t have the mental bandwidth to do it right!) I decided to use the Vasa to get physically ready for the swim...that meant swimming two miles, approximately an hour, several times a week.
As you can see from the Weekly Swim Volume chart above, I started in the winter of 2016, got a bit more serious in March and April, then in May began building and in June / August was on it. Can my swim be faster? Yes. Would I trade my 1:07 swim in a wetsuit from 2010 for thousands of yards all year in a pool at Oh Dark Thirty? HELL NO.
Sounds crazy, I know, but having my iPad with Netflix and a cup of coffee makes any swim workout completely manageable. Thanks Vasa!
The Body Composition Difference
Every race I try to improve the body composition. At 6’ 2” my personal basic training equilibrium seems to be about 190 lbs. But I like to race sub-180 if I can do it...but I’ve only been able to do it once before. This time given my training and overall durability, I figured the nutrition had to be a top priority so I got on it a bit early. For me this means the following edits to my normal schedule:- Post workout / Breakfast recovery shake vs a full meal. My wife is on Isagenix so I used their PRO mix with 32g of protein into Almond Milk with a banana.
- Fruit and nut choices for snacks throughout the day.
- Better workout nutrition so I didn’t finish a session hungry...had to go out and buy a lot of PowerBars and Gels as my prior supply had expired!!!
- Giant salad for dinner with lean meat.
- Evening 2L of Crystal Light drink mix (I like the Peach Mango Green Tea) to satisfy my sweet tooth.
- Late night / Bedtime scoop of Protein in 12oz of water so stop me from waking up and eating bad food when the training got serious. I used OptimumNutrition’s Chocolate Peanut Butter flavor as it was delicious and mixes well with water / no blender.
Race Week
My family just loves Tremblant. The town is quaint with lots of stuff for the kids to do and explore. We bought the Activity Pass and did everything from the Luge to the Rock Wall to Bungee Jumping, a Gondola ride up to the top of the mountain and even Mini Golf. There’s more, but I forget!
The highlight of the trip was doing a Birds of Prey private experience. My kids love all animals thanks to their Grandmother, and this was amazing. My wife and two daughters...one trainer, one Hawk and 90 minutes. It was epic...they learned a ton, got to “catch and release” the hawk and so much more.
The Swim: 1:07
I normally swim between 1:03 and 1:07, so this was kind of par for the course. Especially considering that I only swam in actual water five times this year, I was very pleased. With the time-trial start, I got into the sub-1:05 group and waded in with 8 others through the “toll gate” they have set up. I had a very clean swim...for some reason, everyone else seemed to be swimming much further outside the buoys while I stayed on the line.
Every once in awhile I found some feet but it was otherwise uneventful. The water was a bit choppy out at the middle, but I felt strong and smooth all day given my muscular fitness. Normally I tire at the end of the swim, but not any more. If I want to get a faster swim I’ll either need to join the scrum (ugh) or maybe get some more water time.
The Bike: 4:55
My last bike here in 2014 was a 5:08. I felt fitter (and lighter) but wasn’t sure. I had gone with a 54/42 up front and an 11/28 in the back to take advantage of the downhills and the super aero properties of my new Ventum. Basic bike details:
- VentumOne with integrated hydration and DI2
- Powertap G3 rear hub and disc cover from Wheelbuilder
- Zipp NSW 808 front (borrowed)
- Rotor QXL ovalized rings.
- Profile design front bottle with room for spare tube + garmin mount.
- Speedfil R3 Single Cage + Holder
After talking with some of my super smart teammates, I began to think about the bike and how to ride it. I headed over to Best Bike Split to see what was possible and the dang thing said I could go 4:56. I was shocked. So I ran it a few more times and used the Advanced Weather feature on race morning to review the data. Even with new winds, no real change.
So then I downloaded their Garmin Power Course and put it on my Garmin 810. This would alert me at key intervals to use a certain amount of power...it was more dynamic than I would normally ride (which is usually a very steady power) but I figured as long as I kept my heart rate in check, I would be fine.
Disclosure: My FTP for this race was 340 watts and my race weight was 178 lbs (81 kg) for a W/kg of 4.2. In other words, I have a lot of bandwidth to “push harder” and “experiment” than the average triathlete.\
My only piece of feedback to the BBS Team is that the alert font size is a bit hard to read on my Garmin 810...but with the beep and the grade displayed on my Garmin, I knew basically what I was supposed to do.
So How Did It All Play Out? Pretty Damn Well.
I got on the bike and started drinking right away as I knew it would be hot later in the day. Fueling was great as I was able to pee three times on the bike. The power numbers were good and I just focused on getting my heart rate down in the first seven miles before heading out to the highway section.Once I was there, it was pretty clear my Watts/kg were good enough to keep me moving on the hills and my VentumOne plus my gearing meant no one could hang with me on the flats. By the time we hit the hills in miles 45 to 51, I was with the “Kona hopefuls” in a group of about 20. I left them behind on a descent and didn’t see them until the run.
For the rest of the ride I tucked in to avoid the wind, rode past the entire Women’s pro field and caught all but seven Age Groupers. I felt great for most of the ride and hit T2 with a great split and feeling strong.
The Run
My run game plan was to run really smart through the hills in the first 2.5 miles, then get my legs moving on the flats. Get through the hills at halfway, stay strong and then finish in full control. It was pretty close. I started the run in second, but was passed by four guys of different ages early on.
I was able to pass two of them back for sure, but in the end those weren’t the ones in my Age Group. Those two passed me around the halfway point in the crowd, and I didn’t have the gas to keep up with them.
As the data from my Stryd Powermeter above shows, I was fairly consistent through about the three hour mark. After that point, in the hills, things started to suffer in a battle of mind vs body vs stomach. See how I was more efficient (Form Power) running less Watts in training but almost running the same pace...that's called "my run form is broke" on race day!!!
When I left T2, it was hot. Upper 70s after a week of low to mid-60s made me really cautious. I ran very slowly here and tried to limit the damage. You can see how much my HR wanted to spike right away. Having power data allows me to do some comparisons to the “work” I did in training. Rather than just compare by pace or distance, I can actually review metrics to ensure that future training will be as race specific as possible! My general statistics as compared to my last long run show that I worked harder on race day, likely due to an inefficient run form exacerbated by Swim and Bike fatigue!
| Mont Tremblant | Last Long Run | |
| Avg Moving Pace: | 7:42 / mile | 7:46 / mile |
| Avg Moving Power: | 309.5 Watts | 297 Watts |
| Avg Moving Form Power (Efficiency): | 86.2 Watts | 90.2 Watts |
| Avg Cadence: | 167 SPM | 166 SMP |
Then the next eight miles were a good slow build except for discovering I had no aid station game...I messed up so many! Thankfully I had my RaceSaver™ Bag all day to carry ice with me between aid stations which was a lifesaver! And I was smooth until I hit those hills in town...my legs did not want to climb!!!! As you can see from the chart my Heart Rate was spiking around mile 13 and it wasn’t very happy.
Heading out on Lap Two it was gut check time. I was hurting, my stomach wasn’t feeling it and I was feeling sorry for myself. Time to put a package of Gatorlytes into a Coke and crush it. With my stomach settled, I got back to work. I felt smooth outbound and stronger on the way back. Even though I was slowing, you could see how my Heart Rate built through the climb/descent at mile 22. I wasn’t catching anyone but no one passed me in the last 10 miles! I was clearly at my limits as I got a cramp at Mile 23.5 of all places (highest heart rate all day), and had to walk a bit to get my breath back...but I kept going.
One final push up the hill through Special Needs and then on to the finish! All in all, I was pretty pleased with the run. Comparing Lap One to Lap Two I only slowed down by 5 minutes!!
- Lap One: 7:31 / mile pace at 316.8 Watts for a total time of 1:41:00.
- Lap Two: 7:53 / mile pace at 302.6 Watts for a total time of 1:46:00.
The Finish & Thank You's
I was able to see the family almost right away, and they whisked me to our condo. It was only a two-minute walk from the finish….did I mention how much I love this place? With a pit stop for a shower and some NormaTec Recovery Boot time I was back to cheer on the other athletes within an hour. Another personal best!
There’s no way I could have done this without my entire Team of supporters:
- My incredible wife and family who supported me while injured (aka grumpy Patrick) and in my return;
- My teammates at Endurance Nation who gave me advice, support and the occasional beat down when required...and helped pick up the slack when I was on site for Race Week;
- My co-workers at Endurance Nation who stepped up to help with so much work when my training picked up;
- My friends who offered help at every turn such as Jeffrey Capobianco from Breakthrough Performance Coaching which does great one-on-one coaching if that’s your thing;
- Industry partners all mentioned above, especially Todd at TTBikeFit who first transformed me into a Human Missile in 2010 and I’ve never looked back, the folks at Ventum and Vasa.
- And many others I am sure I have forgotten...thank you all!
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Disclosure: This blog post does contain some affiliate links that, if clicked and purchased, will generate revenue for this website via a small comission. It’s more out of principle than anything else, but I wanted to give you a heads up. Thanks!
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Comments
I look forward to following your recovery and abbreviated build to Kona!
Congrats on an amazing comeback!
Speedy recovery!
Your "mind" (as well as your body) must have been very strong race day to let you keep building that HR through the run! That must have hurt a lot. I'm glad you had your Stryd on during the race as I was curious to see how your power was with those hills. Wow, you really seemed to keep the power fairly constant throughout the run. Did you ever look at your power during the run to either push a little harder or back off? I know from running with power that those hills can really cause a spike!
Congratulations! rest well and get ready for Kona!
#ClappingHands #Smiling #BeamingWithPride
Rest well and enjoy your Xth time in KQ !
I have a couple questions about your ride...
1) did you plug your info into BBS and try to determine an IF that you could ride at to come out with a certain TSS?
2) do you know your 5 hour power #? (no need to reveal it if you do) if so, did this factor into your bike plan?
3) after the first 7 miles where you were focused on lowering your HR, did you look at HR again? did it correlate to the HR/power numbers you saw in training?
Thank you for any additional info you want to provide. Looking forward to following your race in Kona!
Outstanding race. I'm inspired by the attention to detail and the great comeback performance. Your 2017 run mileage graph is similar to my experience (although less volume) with the need for the step back weeks over the course of the year. A 16.5 mile average is crazy low and your focus on body comp was a huge factor helping offset the run volume and intensity. Congrats on holding back on the volume and intensity and then getting in that final push.
I was amazed with the 4:55 bike split and following it up with the run. 13' faster than 2014 is huge. Finally to get the HR spikes under control at mile 12-14 and then continue to build the HR for another 7 or so miles shows huge mental fortitude.
Enjoy the spoils and have a great time in Kona.
ALL, thank you for the kudos and your support over the past two years…appreciated beyond belief.
@Paul Hough - I agree....taking steps for 2018 to limit future damage!
@Stephen Cogger - having the team there is really relaxing for me....I love connecting with you guys!
Tom, I used the Best Bike Split program to create a race file (www.bestbikesplit.com) and then download that to my garmin…then it beeps at you to put in the watts you SHOULD be doing. You can geek out on CDA and target IF or TSS…totally up to you on that. I recommend you check it out…but wait for me to post the new discount code!
Tim, thanks….remember I am a runner first (despite the bike splits) and have that pretty dialed in. Oh, and plenty of crappy runs to show too, if you look. Never used the Stryd in race, as I think HR is more valuable for my total system (fluid, nutrition, gut)…but I will be digging in later!
JW, thanks for the body comp tips. I agree…came as a bit of a surprise. So the Vasa workouts helped. I mentioned the diet stuff above. Also being doing MCT oil power as creamer in my AM 2 cups of coffee, that could also be a potential point of change. Not sure…but Laird Hamilton mentioned it in a podcast…so I tried it and liked it.
Rory, I want to hear about your race. Saw you in T1 ahead of me when you forgot something…post that report!
Doug, so great to have you there and I OWE YOU for the Special Needs stuff!!!
I use BBS, and I enter a target TSS I want to end up with…that way I know I can run afterwards (I have lots of TSS points to compare).
I don’t really know my 5 hour power as I don’t ride that long for that often….but I know from experience it’s between 240 and 250 watts. I don’t ride those numbers often…my longer rides due to fatigue are usually less and the other rides are more ABP effort in the 280-300 range.
After the first 7 miles I only looked at HR every so often…like hills, etc. I tried to keep myself building all day, so I was cautious early. The HR was a bit higher than I saw in training (120-130) but I knew that that was likely due to cumulative fatigue / situation and it was sustainable in race.
Tim, thanks man. I can’t stress enough how much I rely on the input and example folks like you set for the Team. Now if only I could have your transitions!!!
GC, you know how hard what I did just is…and I appreciate that. Lots of discipline is what keeps me sane pre race and sets me up to be strong when I _have to_ be.
Congrats on an epic comeback. I honestly wasn't as surprised as others here to see what you could do . . . as long as you were healthy. And you were healthy. Your swim was a standard P swim, and the fact you were able to accomplish that without much pool time is awesome. Going sub-5 and 13 minutes faster on that course than you did a few years ago was a little mind-blowing. But 340 gives you that option. And I knew after those 17-milers you put together a few weeks ago at race pace that you'd be able to deliver on the run. Which you did, of course.
I'm very curious about how you followed the BBS Garmin Power Based Navigation feature. I've thought about trying this before, but BBS wants me to ride way above FTP at times for my comfort. For IMLP, for example, BBS had me pushing 325w on a part of the ride up White Face, whereas I capped myself at 230w. That's a pretty significant difference. Of course, I rode 10 minutes slower than BBS had predicated. When I mentioned this to @Tim Cronk, he had a great response: "It's called Best Bike Split - not Best Run Split - for a reason." Did you manually input power caps? Did BBS have you riding wattage above, or perhaps longer than, what you would typically do?
Finally, I'm interested whether you're going to follow the 2014 road between MT and Kona? Most curious about the run, as that's where the potential danger lies. In 2014, you went recovery, four weeks of work, two weeks of taper, and the weekly runs in those four work weeks were right back up at 17, 17, 17 and 15 miles. Same thing this time or is there a new approach in light of the last couple of years?
Congrats again. Part of me selfishly likes the idea of having a coach on the course to provide feedback and advice while I race, but history shows that the only input you ever provide is about peeing on the bike and drinking Coke. So, all in all, I'm much more excited to have you racing Kona than sitting on the sidelines. Welcome back!
Mike
Good luck at Kona and stay healthy!!
Super congrats on an amazing comeback! Your planning and execution certainly gives all of us something to strive for. As someone who was able to see you on course in action....you could tell you were having a strong day and were going to come out on the top. Take the time to enjoy and balance the coming weeks with injury prevention in mind, at the same time as keeping up fitness you already have.
Congrats again..look forward to seeing you cross the line again in a few months.
The most impressive thing I've seen from you this year is simply your appearance. At the BRC, you looked like someone training for Mr. Universe - all pumped up as if you'd been spending hours in the weight room. Then, @ LP, you were a lean, mean, triathlon machine. That, and not all the gadgets, gizmos and apps, is probably the biggest contributor to your success on the run. I bet a few more times in the water over the next month will go a long way to giving you a head start onto the Queen K.
Somewhere (podcast?) you noted (or maybe someone else noted? so many reports!) that you lost focus on your stroke rate the swim and could have gained some easy speed there.
Have you considered dropping Netflix etc for the occasional Vasa swim? (But good lord, keep the coffee!) And/or covering the Vasa output metrics?
Do you think practicing focus on the Vasa would be helpful? Maybe just in the 12 weeks prior to race? Or practice focus more frequently in the race prep?
Always just a big honor whenever I get to race with you and the other EN team mates! I'm sure that alone is worth 15+ minutes on my personal race time!
For me, seeing you and the others out there during run leg, focused, executing, grinding, eating glass together and just getting it done is worth a thousand words!
Like @Mike Roberts commented, I too looked at that BBS ride data and thought, "my God what kind of a V.I. would that give me?" if I followed it.... @tim cronk feedback makes a lot of sense regarding Best run split.....
Thanks for leading as always and super congratulations on the outcome!!
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