mancona's 2010 Kona RR1 Report

mancona

Summary

As usual this will probably get very long, boring and detailed; because that’s the way my mind works. He is the reader’s digest version:

 

·         I had an awesome day where everything just went right and felt great … too bad this has never happened at a race

·         Swam 3850 M in 1:04:15. Set a new PR and was relaxed and comfortable the entire time, never pushing hard.

·         Rode 116.1 miles in 5:10.  Conditions were exactly what I wanted, crosswind all day, hot (thanks to some layers), and direct sun. Came in at 255 TSS, .703 IF, NP 198 and VI of 1.02 … target was .72 and 203 watts under my target. VI was 1.02

·         Ran 8.1 miles in :56. First 3 miles were right on the target paces 7:35, 7:15, 7:10. Then I ran the rest faster than race pace to test my nutrition and how I would handle the heat

 

Swim

 

I decided I wanted this to be as realistic as possible and I’ve noticed the bike feels different after swimming so I got up early and swam a solo 3850 at the pool at 5AM. I say solo as there was not another person in the pool the entire time, very unusual.

 

My stroke didn’t feel great, but didn’t feel bad either. My last 4 1000 M TTs in this pool have all been in the 1:33 to 1:35 /100M pace, however those are all out and today I just swam comfortable, not super easy, but not hard either.  I ended up finishing the 3850 in 1:04:15 or 1:40/100M. I probably could have pushed it and went faster but I’m pleased with my progress. Still have a TON of work to do in the pool though.

 

The big lesson learned here for me is to just relax and not push it. If I would have killed myself I MAY have went 1:02, but instead I got out of the pool feel great and like I was warmed up and ready for my day…and only 2 minutes slower.

 

I think I’m most proud of the fact that I never lost count once…but I’m really glad I only have to do this once more.

 

T1 – about an hour between the drive and setting my bike up. Had one 24oz bottle of water, a gel and a salt pill on the way.

 

Bike

 

I know I didn’t have to but I wanted this to be as realistic as possible. Therefore I did a few things:

 

Course – I spend a good amount of time looking for what I wanted. I ended up doing a double out and back on the SW corner of the Udder Century route. I choose this because there are basically 3 long straight and boring sections, only one decent climb, no shade at all, and typically wind because it’s nothing but corn fields. Unfortunately there were a number of stops though due to having to cross other roads and I couldn’t always see around the corn stalks.

 

Clothing – Since it was only 63 at the start and forecasted high was 81, I wore a long sleeve base layer, black arm warmers, all black cycling kit, a cap under my helmet, winter cycling gloves and a black aero helmet with all the vents taped over. I know I didn’t have to do this, but it felt right and I wanted to.

 

Bike setup – I usually do not use race wheels or an aero helmet on RRs. Since I have never ridden the 606 set I’m planning to use in Kona I decided to try them out. I only used the aero helmet with the tape to keep try and get my head to be hot. I figure I got a good gain in speed from the aero toys, but I’m sure all the layers and black clothing had somewhat of a negative effect.

 

Weather – I obviously have no control of this, but it ended up pretty close to what I wanted. It was 63 at the start and 83 at the finish with not one cloud in the sky. The wind was from the SW at 10-15 mph all day, which gave me a cross/tailwind on the outs and a head/crosswind on the backs. The only thing missing was the humidity, as I even got some crazy wind gusts from semi’s buzzing me on the narrow roads.

 

Plan – My goal was to have an IF of .72. I wanted to ride the hours at 190, 195, 200, 200, 205.

 

Actual –

 

Entire workout (194 watts):

Duration: 5:10:34 (5:20:14)

Work: 3606 kJ

TSS: 255 (intensity factor 0.703)

Norm Power: 198

VI: 1.02

Pw:HR: 4.92%

Pa:HR: 7.46%

Distance: 116.108 mi

Elevation Gain: 1327 ft

Elevation Loss: 1318 ft

Grade: 0.0 % (4 ft)

Min Max Avg

Power: 0 407 194 watts

Heart Rate: 87 175 154 bpm

Cadence: 20 114 81 rpm

Speed: 0 32.5 22.4 mph

Pace 1:51 0:00 2:41 min/mi

Altitude: 674 876 744 ft

Crank Torque: 0 645 206 lb-in

 

 

 

 

Hour by Hour -

 

Hour	TSS	IF	NP	VI	HR	CAD
1	44.6	0.671	189	1.02	145	87
2	47.4	0.689	194	1.02	147	85
3	41.3	0.695	196	1.02	149	79
4	49.8	0.711	201	1.02	160	80
5	54.7	0.739	209	1.02	168	76
Last 10’	9.2	0.723	204	1.08	168	69

 

Observations -

·         Hour 3 I had a 10’ stop to refill bottles and pee, this did something funky with the TSS for that hour

·         The increase of 5 watts in hour 4 increased my HR by 11 … This was around noon and when the temp was 81.

·         I went a little too hard in hour 5 at 0.739, which makes me think I went too easy in hour 2 and 3.

·         Cadence – my natural cadence this year has been 75 to 80. I tried to force it to be higher, but it just creeps back down on it’s own.

·         A 15 mph wind on narrow roads with semis going by at 50mph creates some crazy wind gust … this was good practice.  The first few moved me quite a bit, but then I got the hang of leaning into it and it wasn’t too bad.

·         I had to pee during hour 1, 2, and 3, but not during 4 or 5. I did one more time during the run though, so I don’t think I was dehydrated.

·         I realized this was the first time I was truly locked in my aero bars for 5 hours as every long ride I have done has hills or turns and give me more breaks. Other then boredom, I didn’t have any issues, but I’m glad I did this as I know what to expect now.

·         I’m confident I could ride at .73 or .74 but because I have not experienced the heat in Hawaii, I’m going to stick with .72 as my target.

 

Lessons Learned-

·         Shorts – I started to get uncomfortable during hour 2 and 3 as the seem in my compression tri shorts was rubbing. It ended up being that I had not pulled them completely up when I put them on after swimming. Once I pulled them up right they were fine for the rest of the day. This should not be an issue during the race as I will have them on before the swim and this has never been an issue before.

·         HR – I really need to start watching this more during the ride instead of just checking it after.

·         I probably could go a little harder in hour 2 and 3 and not as hard in hour 5 to even things out a little more.

 

T2 – About 5 minutes while I put the bike in the car

 

Run

 

I tend to go away from EN guidance on the RR1 run as I really like to test my nutrition and I’ve found I have to run harder to expose an issue. Therefore my goal was to run the first 3 miles at each of my target paces 7:35, 7:10, 7:05, and then just keep dropping the pace and see what I can do and how my nutrition plan was.

 

I can pretty much sum up the run as HOT, like holy crap hot. It was 83, direct sun, not one bit of shade and I had all my layers on still with a black hat. This is just what I wanted and I got it.

 

The run actually went really well. I would not have been able to hold the pace of miles 3-8 for another 18 miles, but I’m confident I could have held my target pace 7:10.



Miles:

7:34

7:16

7:09

6:45

6:52

6:54

6:40

6:54

 

Lessons Learned:

·         Continue to focus on getting hydration in

·         Really focus on the first 6 miles slow in Kona…and maybe even all of the first 10 since before hitting the Queen K.

·         I’m thinking my race plan should be:

o    Kona Out and Back (mile 0-10): 7:35

o    Queen K Out: 7:10

o    Queen K back: whatever I have left

 

Nutrition

 

I checked online and could not find my normal Noodles and Company pre race meal so I decided to go with Subway and Jamba Juice as I know both are in Kona.

 

I was a little nervous trying something new the day before, but everything the day of has been tested and worked before.

 

Fortunately everything went well and I felt great all day.

 

Day Before:

• 1:00 PM Subway ~650 Cal
• 5:30 PM Jamba Juice – Original Peanut Butter Moo’d ~770 Cal

 

Morning:

• 2:00 AM Naked Fruit Smoothie if I am up ~300 Cal
• 4:30 AM Whole Wheat Bagel and Almond Butter ~450 Cal

Bike:

·         Gel and Salt Pill 30’ prior to start (will have prior to swim on race day

·         40 oz of Infinit

o    9 scoops for 1125 Cal, 2700 mg Sodium, 13.5g Protein)

o    3 sips every 15 min starting at :30 and ending at 4:30

·         5.5 x 24oz = 132 oz Water

·         Salt pill at 2:00 and 4:00

Run:

·         16oz IM Perform

·         16oz Water

·         1 package of Blocks

Recovery

·         Ensure x 2 (500 Cal)

·         Cliff Protein Bar (250 Cal)

·         48oz Water

·         32oz Coke

 

Morning Weight 137.2

Finishing Weight 132.2 (after recovery)

 

Considering how hot it was with my layers I think I did pretty good. That said, I need to improve and will continue to try and take more water in.

 

Thanks for reading and please let me know if you have suggestions!

Beth_S

Clothing – Since it was only 63 at the start and forecasted high was 81, I wore a long sleeve base layer, black arm warmers, all black cycling kit, a cap under my helmet, winter cycling gloves and a black aero helmet with all the vents taped over. I know I didn’t have to do this, but it felt right and I wanted to.

So you were out, riding your bike, looking like a ninja? Awesome. =-)

Matt, I'm glad you RR went so well. Maybe your body likes to race in heat and this is a good sign for Kona?

Al Truscott

Matt - your RR was awesome and provided some lessons on bike pacing, heat response, and fluid needs. A few random comments:

-"this will probably get very long, boring and detailed; because that’s the way my mind works" Ah-ha! That's your secret; the IM itself is "very long, boring and detailed"

- We can have a party in Kona 5 PM Friday night @ Jamba Juice - my pre-IM meal for the past five years has been a Chocolate Moo'd, original plus small - about 1000 cal. I tried the Peanut Butter once, and couldn't stomach it.

- I guess you can't simulate the climbs where you are. The only real issues I find are on the road from Kawaihae to Hawi and back (about miles 40-75). The worst part is the rollers on the way up - the sun is baking the mountain to your right, and those same hills reduce the cooling effect of any winds. Then, downhill out of town, the winds can be nasty and from all directions, and smaller folks can get knocked around a lot. Several rides in that area after you arrive should straighten that out for you.

- I hear you on making the RR runs a little tougher than programmed - I generally try to do the same thing for the same reason, to try and surface any nutrition/hydration issues. I think you found one. Losing 5# after only an 8 mile run in those conditions is a warning sign, mostly about pacing, I think. The first ten miles there can fool you, as it is flat, along the ocean with "cooling" breezes, and a fair amount of shade (the only shade you'll get all day). The last 16 miles have distinct terrain conditions, broken into five segments: up for about 3 miles, rolling to up for another 3, then down into the E lab for 1+ mi, up for about two, then mostly down for the rest of the way. Plan your pacing strategy accordingly. Coming out of the Energy Lab is a lot like doing the last two hills in Boston - they're at the same point in the race, and the final one, once you're out of the Lab, tends to surprise you and can trip you up as you think you're done with the climbing.

Since one of your main goals presumably is to not blow up on the second half of the run, the first ten miles of the run has to be the place where you maximize your fluid intake, but not to the point of bloating or worse. Sometimes, going even slower than you think is right for those first 10 miles is the only way to let all that fluid get absorbed.

- You want that "What I have left" on the final six miles to be a LOT left - the downhills can be used to great advantage to gain a lot of time if you have not dehydrated too much. But if you're down 5% by then (6-7 #), then it's a real struggle to get home. I don't know if salt on the run helps or not, but maybe it's worth a try on the next RR, as I didn't see you list it here.

Kitboo

So so glad you felt strong on the day!

So the 5 pound difference in weight between before and after the RR includes an intake of 80oz (48oz water + 32oz coke) right? If so, then your true fluid deficit is the 5 pounds + that 80oz of fluid which is another 5 pounds. Therefore, it's a 10 pound weight loss, correct?

I'm thinking 24 oz of fluid per hour on the bike will be low for the heat. The bike really is the opportunity to take in fluid on a hot day. For me, 24oz fluid/hour is normal for me on a 70-74 degree day. For temps over 85, I need 40+ oz/hour. I'm pretty sure I weigh more than you do; and everyone's sweat rate is different. So my suggestion would be to work on increasing the bike fluid intake (vs. the run fluid intake---when it may be too late).

mancona

@Beth - Thanks, it's not like I saw many people out there but I got a few really odd looks while I was running with all black on like that.

@Al - I tried the liquid dinner on your advice... I'll see you there on Oct 8th.  I definitely want to get out and ride by Hawi a few times.  I'm thinking Tuesday after and agaion on Thursday for this.  The climb and decent don't bother me at all, the wind/heat is what I think I really need to experience.  Thanks for the advice on how to break the run into segments, my goal is to run the entire course as 4-5 separate short runs the week before the race and I will use the segment syou suggest.  Yes, 5 lbs is still too much to loose but I'm making progress.  Next RR I will focus more on testing my ability to take in my water on both the bike and run instead of trying to see if I can hold a faster pace at the end.  Also, I will give the salt a try on the run as well.  As usual, thanks for all the great advice.  Even though I have never been to Kona or raced in this hot of weather, I'm learning a ton for your advice and blog from last year.

@Kit - Yes, my weight loss was 5lbs, plus I took in 132oz of water and 40 oz of infinit on the bike and another 16 oz water and 16 oz perform on the run.  Therefore total loss was 17.75 lbs over 6 hours or 2.95 lbs per hour.  I am going to target 36-48 per hour on the bike on the next RR and see how it goes.

@Trent - I think I may have finally caught up with the awesome numbers you put up last year.  I checked the file today and I covered 100 miles in 4:26:3X and 112 in 4:58:06.  Thanks for the motivation, i've been trying for a long time to break 4:30 / 5:00.