Chasing the OLY Podium
This year was to be my year, or was it. Last week I did a mini camp with @Tim Cronk and @Al Truscott at Al's place in Snowmass. I rode Mon - Thrs, 60/100/56/89 for mileage, doing a few trail runs, including 2 Five milers back to back on one afternoon as a brick, keeping in mind that all of this was at altitude. @John Withrow asked of my last ride, "why did Time ride longer....?" Because I was toast! Burnt Toast! That's why!
Thus, my expectations going into this race were that I would be top 5 and hopefully on the podium. I'd know when I rode the opening miles as the course is net uphill for the first half and net downhill for the back half. To add to things, usually we freeze in the morning air, a good bought of hot & humid weather made this more like an August race than a late September, early fall classic that it usually is. The run took place in high 70s/low 80s and high humidity. cc
The swim was short as the race crew (Rev3) set up the chute at the high tide mark and the water in LI sound at the start was dead low tide. This meant running across approximately 75 meters of hard packed sand at the start & finish, in other words, we ran 10% off the swim course on dry land before touching & exiting the water. I lined up in front and expected to get swum (is that a word?) over by a few people. Our wave encompassed 2 age groups and was the last wave to go off over a 50 minute period. This race also serves as a Northeast regional collegiate Championship. Aside from one really hard slam/ push back from one guy's elbow, the swim was uneventful. I sighted well, swam hard and knew my 4 minute PR was mostly due to a shortened course.
A big part of being here was to practice transitions for the upcoming IMKY. I peeled one arm from my wetsuit as exiting the water and the other as i ran to transition, got out of my wetsuit quickly, helmet on, grabbed bike (with shoes pre-loaded) and went for the bike out.. as I mounted my bike, left shoe got clicked off the pedal. I got off, put it on my foot, mounted bike, clipped in and pedaled off, got right foot into shoe, tightened both shoes and went to work.
It's said in a movie or book on the LA affair, that when blood is more oxygenated, that one still feels the pain, but can push through it. I definitely felt this, as when I backed off and looked at my PM data, I was at or over FTP, nice effect from being at altitude for a week! I kept hammering on the bike and knew I was doing well. Passing many people and while I was passed by one guy on a climb, I passed him back a mile later when hammering the flats, he was literally the ONLY person to pass me on the entire bike. Having switched my big ring to a 53 a few weeks ago certainly helped here.
I came into T2 uneventfully and racked my bike, very fast change to running sox & shoes and recognized that there were virtually no bikes in my row. There was a guy I chatted with before the race in the row facing me, I looked at him and said "it looks like we've got a race... " and trotted off. I ran the first four+ miles with this guy 10 steps behind me and the assumption that we were in the same AG. I ran the downgrades hard and found a few places to push harder on upgrades and the one hill on the course to try and shake him. My assumption was that we were in 3rd & 4th place. They ran the numbers down one side of the bike racks and then back on the other, so his race number was about 50 off of mine. Somewhere early in mile 5, he got next to me and said "you are probably going to podium." To which I responded, "that's good for both of us." As he got a stride ahead of me, I saw his calf and the number 49...
While he got ahead. I used him as a pacer trying to hold on. To me it felt as if i had slowed in mile 6. This course is always short every year and I knew that when I got to mile 5.2, it was really only .8 or so to the finish, and thus at my 7:15 pace, less than 6 minutes. I can hurt for 6 minutes. I was running 7:15s at an HR in the mid 150s, which for me is high. A couple of hundred yards before the final turn into the park where the race finishes I heard someone who was breathing heavier than me come along side. He looked my age and I carefully slowed a drop to get to the point that I could see his calf.... 53... I accelerated hard, figuring his hard breathing was a sign that he'd have trouble staying with me... Well, there was the first error of the day. He came right with me and we both accelerated... my HR was pegged in the high 160s and I blew up... letting him go, walking 10 steps and running hard again to ensure no one else got by. He got me by 20 seconds. We talked after & I congratulated him.
More detailed stats
17th out of the water(as an after thought, this is huge for me. Usually I am slightly ahead of mid-pack, here I was 17/83!)
14th out of T1
2nd off the bike
2nd out of T2
1st at mile 4.3 of run
Run was short (6.04)
Average HR
Mile 1 147
Mile 2 152
Mile 3 150
Mile 4 153
Mile 5 157
Mile 6 157
having the feeling that many of us have after a loss like this, I looked at TrainingPeaks to see how much easier I went in Mile 6. for the First .8mi of that mile, I ran a 7:12 pace with an AHR of 155. That's redline for me. I can say that I could have buried myself harder, and many will, I am not sure the blow up would have been any different. Should've could've would've... I look at the numbers and believe I did've!
For the .14 miles that I ran next to him, we averaged 6:17/mi @HR of 166 with max of 169… not sustainable HR, for me. Simply put, the victory was not given to him, he worked hard for it and took it..
Our races compared like this:
He was 1:20 faster in the water
I was 2:09 faster on the bike
He was 2:17 faster on the run
I was 1:06 faster on combined Transitions
Most importantly to me is that I now have the confidence that every time I step up to the line I am there to compete, and that I have the stamina & mental fortitude to fight it out. Time to bring this back to the long course world in 3 weeks time.
TrainingPeaks files-
Bike - http://tpks.ws/dP3eA
Run - http://tpks.ws/85VDf
Comments
First, This was an awesome read and I felt like I was watching it happen in real time.
Second, it sounds like you had an awesome race (at what I know first hand is a very cool venue)
Third, by looking at the photo and the results section of the Westchester Tri webpage it looks like you did end up on the podium which is downright awesome in it's own right.
So... Great race, great result, but suck it up and finish strong next yr and win the dam thing!!! Your speed has come to an unbelievable place and you have the deep fitness to also back it up. That's a great swim, a great bike, and a blazing fast run (for any age group).
Just for fun, I went back and checked my results on that course when we raced it together when I was 36 yrs old... Your 50+ yr old self beat my 36yr old self by ~3.5 mins on the swim, you beat me by ~5.5 mins on the bike (and you'll recall we were stupid enough back then to be "racing" each other on the bike) and you beat my run split by ~7 mins (that's more than a minute per mile). Hell, after ~8 months of dedicated run training, your un-tapered OLY tri run-split is faster than my stand-alone 10k... Daaaaaang dude, who are you and what did you do with the 40-something yr old Scott Dnhofer??? Also for fun, I looked up your 2011 times (so you were in your mid 40's then and already had at least one IM under your belt. You finished in 2:53:32 that year and were 67th out of 118 in your AG. I know you're not the best at math, but that was in the BOTTOM 50th percentile! So I'd say improving your time in an OLY by 32 mins and moving from 57% to less than Top 2% could be considered a minor improvement (even if you are a bit disappointed that you weren't 19.5 seconds faster).
THIS SHOULD BE REQUIRED READING FOR ALL ENDURANCE NATION NEWBIES!!! You just passed your 7 yr ENniversary (as did I). You followed the plans (and helped write them), listened to advice (and gave a lot), and worked hard (and then harder), had many up years (and a medically lost one) and all the time stayed focused and kept improving. You took 30+ mins of your absolute time in a short race as you aged by 7 yrs making your "relative" improvement even that much more dramatic. You could literally be a case study of hope for anybody currently sitting in either the front of the back of the pack... Or for somebody sitting in the back of the middle of the pack... or the front of the middle of the pack... Or the back of the front of the pack... That it IS possible to get to the front of the front of the pack.
I can't wait to see what your next "Important" race has in store. I know you will eventually achieve your "ultimate" goal... Nice work old friend, nice work indeed!
I absolutely love this report. Fantastic play by play. Must have been thrilling to be in that spot with 1 mile to go.
JW said it best - watching/reading about your progress over the years has been supremely inspiring. You must walk away very very proud of your progress. It is just a matter of time before that confidence results in a massive win. Now you just need more reps.
I am a little surprised that your blew up at the end. Knowing you were that close, I know you were pumping adrenaline like crazy. Did you look at your HRM or was RPE that forced the stop? If you did look at the HRM, in retrospect do you think seeing that big HR number played a role in stopping? Not that I have any experience in that situation at all, but I had assumed max adrenaline gives us some kind of magic powers to keep going... I can almost hear Rich's response now, "There is NO magic"
I think the disappointment is that I could have raced better tactically, or not...
Note, the swim had two factors, one, the run at the beginning and end that were surely part of the measured course. Two, I am convinced that the far buoy was short. There is no way that I took 4 minutes off my swim when I have consistently swam at 30' there including last year.
The bike - this was the 4th permutation of the bike course that I have ridden. They seem to change it up every few years. But, yes, I HAMMERED IT!! and don't think I am not channeling YOU on every down hill. EVERY downhill I ever ride, especially in CO last week!
The run, is exactly the same every year, so that stands up to all comparisons
As for your other comments, THANK YOU. just a reminder, I lost 2 SEPARATE years to medical issues. Lost '12 & '13 to a MISdiagnosis of a cardiac ailment & lost 2015 to a herniated disc..
For EVERYONE reading this, follow the plans, be disciplined & consistent, and you can do amazing things...
If you have any doubts, here is a pic that shows me through the years.. I've been waiting to do a write up on exactly what JW states above so this pic has been sitting in my files... - Right Click on the pic & open in a new tab to see a larger copy with the years & race times, this picture says it all.