IMLOU RR
2nd IMLOU......did last year (temp was mid 70s) at 12:37 (was my PB)
This year:
Swim: 1:04 Target <1:05(felt like I was asleep.....no effort...just form) 200th overall</p>
Bike:; 6:16 Target <6:00 (NP181NP most of ride.....finished ride at 177w) Rode relatively consistently based on RPE....faded alittle the last 10 miles......very crampy at end, unusual for me....prob the heat 656th overall</p>
Run 5:10 Target <4:30 Actually did 1:1 walk/run ratio (ave 11:50m/m) so walked pretty fast......considering the heat it was just what I had on the day.....the start of the marathon felt too slow but never had the 8miles of walking I had last year. 648th overall......I actually MOVED UP overall on the run.....Ive NEVER done that before....</p>
I found out from another website the race was probably 45:00-1hr slower overalll than last year so it still was probably my best IM ""performance"
2009 :12:37 1100th overall
2010 12:44 648th overall
I "should" be happy, BUT, I CANNOT FIGURE OUT HOW IM SO SLOW ON THE BIKE CONSIDERING MY FTP IS 3.46W/KG AND AT 64% IF, STAYED AERO THE ENTIRE WAY. IM CONFUSED. RODE EN STYLE.
Maybe its the fit.....I just sent a submission to TTBikefit......Im hoping he says its a bad fit so there's room to improve.
Comments
Michael -
First, congratulations. Lou is a tricky course to get right on a perfect day, and then throw in heat, and it's a crapshoot. I referred to "normalized finish" in my own RR, and after taking the conditions that you faced on Sunday into account, I would seriously recomend you consider your day a "normalized PB" achievement.
Judging by the all-caps, you have some frustration with the bike (I know ... I'm very perceptive!). it's probably little comfort, but I would guess the conditions account for your 16 minutes, right there. I think it was rather sophisticated to race EN-style and blend RPE into your execution. It's very very easy to ride numbers into a wall in the quest for a X:YY:ZZ split. You didn't do that. It saved your day and got you to a exceptional finish and year-over-year improvement.
Still, I think it's worthwhile to pose the bike question in the Training Forum (or season plan) to get some wider feedback from the smarter folks in these parts. My 2 cents about the immediate 'how to' would be to spend the next week letting your tri stuff gather dust, hit a starbucks with wifi, and re-read every article in the wiki and blog about off-season and structuring a year (I have been with EN or CF for 5 or 6 years now, and do this every year to refocus and recalibrate. And it's not just because i have a bad memory). There's no magic to a faster bike - in the end, it will come down to work - but reacquinting your 'end of season' self with all these principles is where the money is.
My plan is it focus over the OS to be 66% bike fitness(3-5x/wk), 33% run (form work), and ZERO swimming (Im drinking the EN Koolaid this year.......need all my energy/mojo on the bike and run.
Oh......Im going to work with TTBikeFIt to get a good solid bike fit.....sure that is a component here that maybe Ive neglected..
Matt had a 15cm drop and Im only at 5cm.....need to correct that dealio
I agree this is a stellar performance compared to last year. Another metric I use is my % finish. If, say 2500 started IM Lou each year (I don't know the real numbers), you went from 56th % ile to 25th % ile - an awesome improvement. E.g., my slowest IM ever was also my highest overall finish ever, in similar conditions.
We'll never know what would have happened if you had ridden @ 69% IF - what your total bike/run time would have been. But I've usually been surprised by how well I can run after a relatively "hard" bike (.70-.71 IF), even when I feel terrible coming into T2 at the end of 6 hours. A race rehearsal or an HIM next year might be the place to see what your upper limits are.
Your OS plan WILL produce rewards, I'm sure. Congrats on surviving the day when so many others fell totally apart.
Once I have the mojo, I will post in the Training forums about how to structure a huge emphasis on the bike this OS. Im sick of getting passed for 112 miles. It comes to an end!!!!!!!!!!
I think TTBike fit will help find the answer with you on the bike. You are producing the power! Your 177 NP watts for the bike was right there with my NP watts of 178. Somehow I took got around the course 32 min faster with the same power. I see only 2 reasons for the difference in the results. A difference in the Variability Index if there can explain some of it. My VI was ok at 1.06. But I think the biggest difference is being in a more aero position on the bike. Getting an aggressive fit with a solid drop between seat and aero pads will flatten your back and make for a much smaller frontal area to push through the air. You identified a significant difference in our seat to pad drop distance. From last season to this one, I dropped an added 2.5 cm seat to pads. When I compare pictures of both positions, that small change made a big difference in frontal area which picked up roughly .5 mph on flat wind less roads.
Keep us posted with how your bike fit experience.
Matt
0.5mph improvement with just a 2.5cm added drop?(is that with the same power?) This if a huge difference.I can't believe such a small detail could make such a huge mistake. That's essentailly 12-15min over an IM course. My 6-7cm drop needs to be seriously improved! Fit may a detail that I've not given the aattention to! It's always something isn't it. there's room for hope
Take a look at Matt's position on the bike over on his race report; it's a great representation of how to squeeze high speed out of (relatively) low power.
Michael--you just keep getting better and better!!! In that heat, to do what you did out there....well, I'm just darn proud!
Congratulations on a tremendous day in some of the worst conditions an IM day can serve up.
Great idea to get the fit checked. Bet there's some hay to be made there.
The TTBikefit sure helped me to squeeze out more speed from my watts. Hope you find the same results.