IMAZ RR "#2"
This was actually my one and only race rehearsal since I was injured over the last scheduled one. So here goes:
1. Bike setup: very able to stay aero for the ride. Only really came up to eat/drink. Neck properly sore at the moment. Of note: my quads, in particular, the vastus medialis (the interior muscles just above & inside the knee), became noticably sore around ~5:15. Initially it was on both sides equally, but then it essentially became just my left side. This is definitely muscle soreness/tiredness, not joint pain, but I rarely ever get muscle fatigue on rides of this nature... Thankfully on the run it did not bother me at all. However, this gives me pause because I am just back from a sacroileal joint rotation on my "*right* side. It had caused quite a bit of hip pain on my right side (in addition to calf strain & knee pain). I am wondering if the left knee fatigue is at all related to my hips being rotated back to anatomic normal (had a slight rotation for a ~ year beforehand then just recently was pulled even more out of alignment)... Maybe it's also that week 16 was my first week at 100% after three weeks of below normal training. Thoughts?
2. Nutrition: I may have erred too much on the too little side, but you all can let me know. I got my calories from a variety of sources: gu, shot blocks, gatorade, and 4 small peanut butter "cookies." I discovered I prefer this variety. More control & flexibility. Ultimately over the 6 hour ride I got in 775 calories and 4g protien. I got an additional ~25 calories in gatorade on the run. This is about 130/hr for the bike. I realize ~250 is recommended, but I am 5'4" and weigh 106. AND interestingly enough I was 2lbs heavier at the end of the ride. The plan for the run on race day is similar. (meaning ~1 gu gel + 6oz gatorade per hr). I felt a bit hungry at one point around the middle of my ride, but then had a gu or shot blok and was fine. I was also a bit hungry near the very end, but again, a gu packet fixed me up for the remainder of the run - (6 miles in 58 minutes). It also crossed my mind that the hunger may be due to a slight dehydration issue, but I am not sure. I took in 168 oz of fluid over the course of the brick. Peed 5x. Intially about every hour and then slowed to once every 1.5-2 hours.
3. Pacing: On the bike - Was happy to just ride along for 90 minutes to start. Stayed the rest of the time in a high z1, so ultimately I consider that good. On the run - maybe I screwed up as I reread the wiki - it says pace & HR you know you can do all day. From the training plan it says that I should do my long run pace + 30s for 6 miles or 1 hr. I realize that ideally the z1+30 should be a pace that I could do all day. In fact, after settling in, I felt pretty comfortable. But could I do that aalll day? For 26.2 miles? I can't say yes with 100% certainty. Again I don't know if this is partly due to me coming back from injury and being "out of shape" for lack of a better description. Did I go too hard on the bike then? Not eat enough? In terms of the numbers I am happy. But still cautious. Last year at IMAZ, precisely at mile 18, the line wrapped itself around my tummy and almost ended my race. I am beyond happy that after my recent injuries I am even going to the race, but I am bound and determined not to get eaten by the line in the same way as last year.
Thanks for reading all this - your thoughts are very much appreciated!!
Comments
I'm not getting your calorie load. 775 calories + 25 from Gatorade (what's that - 1 cup). So 800 total. Doesn't seem enough. Were you only drinking water? That's not even 150 an hour. Even at 106 I think you need more although I'm not recommending cheeseburgers.
Pacing...sounds good. You felt fine on the run...best you can do. For what's worth, I feel like CRAP when I start the run, definitely do not feel like I can run all day, but KNOW that I can and will run the entire thing.
Thanks for the suggestion on the leg lifts! I will try some of those and see how things feel.
On nutrition - I was drinking both water and Gatorade. I went through about 3 bottles of diluted gatorade, but had factored that into the calories... (I think! I'll have to double check my notes.) Last year I think I ate too much and it hosed me, so I guess at this RR i might have gone too much to the other extreme. I bet I can add in a little bit more gu or shot bloks and be in good shape.
Thanks for the understanding on the run - thank goodness I am not the only one that feels like crap in the beginning!!
I'm small like you too, but 130cal/hr seem way too low. Especially since once you get to the run it becomes even harder to get in the calories. I also find 250 is too much for me (as a fellow l'il peep). But I'd encourage you to shoot for something closer to 180-200 so that you aren't really far behind on calories when you start the run.
On run pacing, yes, you want to run your LSD pace + 30 seconds. BUT, I'd recommend you think of that as the "max speed". It's totally OK to go slower (especially if it gets hot or you didn't get enough calories on the bike). I'm going to guess you actually did just fine, and what you experienced is more because of low cals on the run and the fatigue you'll have in your body right now.
Finally- if you haven't already done so, consider puting a post in the Med Forum for some advice on the leg/knee issue. Perhaps there is some taping or something the team there would recommend.
Thanks for the thoughts, Nemo, as well as for the calorie range adjustment. it shouldn't be a problem for me to tack on 50-75 cals an hour. I can do that in a variety of ways through shot bloks, gus and gatorade. It would certainly suck to have another bad experience at "the line" because I went to the other extreme and took in too few calories!
And I am glad that it's ok to go slower on the run too! That's pretty much exactly how I feel - like that would be my "max speed" to start out. But with the extra calories on the bike I think I will indeed be better off.
Will put a post on the med forum too - thanks for the suggestion! (it's amazing how I can forget to use the many resources here - I am not used to having so much help available to me!)
Hi Julia,
Regarding the left knee Vmo pain...
For the short term, don't worry about it. Even if you did nothing to 'correct' this between now and race day, the pain would not occur until late in the bike and it should have no major consequence, as per your experience with the RR2. Sounds like the pain is simply muscular vs. tendon/ligament and that just comes from using one leg more than the other. One easy adjustment to make that should not cause any problems this close to race day, is to raise your stem slightly, maybe even 1cm, with spacers. This will relieve some tension at the hips from being in aero position. the change likely won't be significantly detrimental for aero purposes, but can be significant for preventing that pain from creeping up at all during the race.
For the long term, have yourself evaluated by experienced bike fitters. i mean professionals, like john cobb in texas (although he is one of a kind and no one compares to him). adjustmentments to your cleats will position you properly on the bike and you will have no pain at least on the bike.
sound good?
good luck and great job on the RR2.
GH
P.S. since it is likely muscular pain at the left VMO, if it starts to creep up late during the bike even with the raising of the stem, then focus on using both legs equally and it will relieve the strain on the left side.