Crappy Oceanside RR results
It was suggested that I post my Half-Iron RR; hopefully this is the right place.
Before setting out, there were a few issues to contend with. Due to my schedule I had to pigeonhole this ride (56 miles) early morning on Saturday, making enough time to complete the workout and head to OC for my wife's swim meet (3 hrs of ride time). Big SAU shadow looming over me the entire ride! That said, I had to start my ride at 5am so the first 90 minutes were in the dark; also on wet, semi-frozen pavement. This was one of my first non-trainer rides in 3 months with my limited bike handling skills. You get the picture.
I started my ride on (what I thought was) a flat section of highway north of Malibu, CA. Turns out there's about 10 miles of hills before the flats. So, it was a constant battle trying to reign in my watts, while trying not to hit potholes or black ice in the dark (despite being lit up like a Christmas tree). My worst spikes were around 80 watts above my z3, but unless I change my gearing, that's how it's gonna be on hills. I'm still defeating all that climbing work on my downhills as I ride the brakes most of the downhills, trying to keep my tri bike from wobbling out from under me (I have serious descending issues). Typically on flats, I can stay in the aerobars a long time. This ride, due to the circumstances (dark, hills), I used the aeros about 15 minutes of the 3 hours. The worst news of all was having to turn around at mile 23, instead of mile 28. I turned around about 1:45 (of 3 hrs) assuming I'd negative split back due to sunlight and better confidence). The ride back was much better and sure enough, I was faster in the return. Just bummed that it took over 90 minutes to ride 23 miles.
Overall in the 3 hours I had, I only rode 46. I think if it had been mostly flat with only a few hills, I could've pulled off 56 in maybe 3:15 - 3:30. My Normalized Watts for the ride were at the top of my z3 and my Average Watts were at the top of z2 which seems pretty good. I'm using Power Agent for now, but I hadn't put in my FTP so it defaulted my IF score to something like .354. My legs were pretty darn good after the ride (had to save the brick run for later in the day, but I probably would've been able to pull it off immediately after).
Lessons learned for next RR before the race:
1) Make time for the ENTIRE ride no matter how long it takes.
2) Set up my profile in Power Agent with the correct FTP.
3) Find a flatter section to ride on, while keeping a few of the hills.
4) Push myself in the coming weeks to descend faster, bit by bit.
5) Try to stay in aerobars in all flats.
6) If budget allows, get a 12-27 cassette.
That's all for now. Thanks for listening to me vent!
Comments
Is it possible to go back in and set your FTP in power agent so that you can post segments of the ride where we can look at your NP?
What was the VI for the ride?
You mention z3, but did you plan out your gears or are you just aiming for z3? If aiming for z3, then please go into the racing with power part of the wiki as you can really nail down your zones more specifically with that guidance.
When your 80 watts above your intended watts, is that because your still trying to maintain a higher cadence?
Also, hopefully you'll get more time in the aero bars as that is going to play a major factor if your catching all that wind from being upright. I'd say your better off lowering your watts, but staying aero than trying to keep your watts while being out of the bars.
@Mac - though the hills of Oceanside course are not that bad on the bike course, particularly for those used to riding California hills and mountains, I strongly recommend you get that 12-27 cassette. A 25cog will cost you some wattage spikes. A 27cog or greater will pay huge dividends on your run. I've done this event twice, and that first climb inside the Marine base (approx half way thru bike) is steep but only about a quarter mile long. You will hear it from the coaches....one can never have too many gears at an HIM and IM event.
BTW - what was your TSS for your RR ?
@Keith,
I fudged my FTP in Power Agent but it doesn't appear to retroactively change any of the data from my past rides. Specifically, I wanted to see what my IF was, but it didn't change after I adjusted my FTP.
I did have an NP reading from both PA and the Joule, but I can't remember offhand what it was. It was just a little above my z3 watts so I figure I was close to ballpark.
No idea what the "VI" was for the ride. I'm assuming this is a WKO+ term (and I haven't gotten to that in my Hunter Allen book yet) so I can't share.
For the ride I just monitored the watts and tried to stay within my z3 range (which is 123-131 watts, which is embarrassing after looking at everyone else's numbers!). I've read the Racing With Power article that you mentioned but maybe I missed something? I'll check it out again.
Typically when my watts spiked, I was in my lowest gear (34-25) and my cadence would be around 70-80 rpm.
@David,
I'd love to adjust my gearing, but it's not really in the budget right now. Besides, it's tough selling the wife on a hundred dollar purchase that amounts to 2 extra teeth added to my gear
As for TSS, I am new to power but have a very basic idea of what it is. I think the Joule calculates that number so I'll check it when I get home from work.
Thanks guys for taking the time to read my report!
1. As Keith pointed out, this is only a race reherasal so don't worry about messing it up. This is when it's important to anlyze your ride to see how you can improve for the actual race, and it looks like you already have a good list of lessons learned.
2. One thing you might want to review (if you haven't already) is the pacing guidance for HIM's in the Wiki. Because of the second half of the Oceanside course is fairly hilly, it looks like you'll likely be in the 3+ hr range (same with me). The guidance in the Wiki for someone planning on going 3+ hours is an intensity factor between 0.78 and 0.80. Note that this is below z3, as z3 is between 0.80 and 0.85. You mentioned that your normalized power was at the upper end of your z3, so you might want to bring that down a bit to set yourself up for a good run.
3. I'm not sure if you've thought much about nutrition during the race. It would be a good idea to have a nutrition plan to test out during your second race rehersal, especially if you haven't tested it out in training/racing in the past.
Also, if you know what the default FTP was that the .354 intensity factor was based off of, you can use that to calculate the actual intensity factor using this equation:
Actual IF = (0.354) x (Default FTP) / (Actual FTP)
And don't be embarrassed about your FTP. There is a very wide range of fitness levels in the Haus, which in my opinion is one of the things that makes EN so great. RnP don't cater to the elite athletes, they cater to the average, everyday athlete like you and me.
And I 2nd what Scott says... Practice your nutrition. It makes a big difference.
Good luck!
I suggest that you post your race rehearsal plan in the forums before you do your next one. You'll get a lot of feedback on that, which will help and then more feedback once the rehearsal is completed. The race execution part of EN really helps us all put it together, which is why we don't wait until race day to figure all of this out.
@David, according to the Joule the TSS for the ride was 94.0. As I recall a TSS score of 100 is equal to a 1 hour TT at threshold pace (I think?). So I'm hoping I was near the ballpark?
@Scott, thanks for the equation. Turns out my "actual" IF was 0.92 so....I'm hoping that's a good thing. I plan on reading the HIM bike pacing again now that the race is approaching. Also, I have a phone consult with Infinit to possibly use that as my nutrition source for the race. I'd love to not have to be concerned with solid food during the race!
@Peter, if I can't get the 12-27 cassette, I plan on going up the hills in my lowest gear and dropping my cadence super low and easy.
@Keith, my NP was 141 and my z3 is 123-131 so I was a bit over the range. Will definitely keep in mind for the final RR.
Mac,
You really, really need to read and take advantage of all of the training and racing with power resources we have here. Your comments indicate that you don't have a good understanding of some of the basic concepts of power training. Your $$$$ investment in power is only as good as the investment you make between the ears in learning how to use it. You're in the best tri-space in the galaxy for learning how use it...but you gotta read, listen, etc.
Let us know how we can help!
@Rich, Doooode....! I just got my PT less than 3 wks ago and this was my 1st ride with power outdoors (ever), so at this point I'm just trying to grasp the concepts of staying in the correct zones and cadence (completely new for me). I've been checking out my data post-ride in PA, but mostly focusing on AvP and Pnorm as well as cadence. I am halfway thru the Hunter Allen book, about to start on the section that describes how to analyze the data. I read most of the EN power articles (that I know of) but that was long before I had the PT so I wasn't totally getting it all. I'll get there...job and family have a nasty habit of getting in the way
Btw, what are the pertinent articles/webinars to look at? I'm looking at "Racing With Power", "Long Course Bike Pack" and the "HIM Bike Execution Guidance." Is there anything else I should check out?
@Scott, thanks for the heads up. What you said is all correct (FTP=154, NP=141). Unfortunately the Joule keeps showing that my FTP is 250, which may explain for the TSS. Several times I've set the correct FTP (154) under my User profile in Power Agent and used the "Configure Devices" mode to translate that to the Joule (since you can't input FTP directly into the Joule) but every workout defaults back to a 250 FTP which appears to be messing up my work detail. I have calls into Saris to see if they can help me out so hopefully next week...
http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/108/Default.aspx?topic=Race+Execution,+Half+Ironman
This articles covers everything from pre-race routine to pacing to nutrition, plus it has links to a bunch of other good stuff. I think I've read it at least a dozen times, there's a lot of good info there.
Thanks Scott, I've looked it over several times since I started the HIM plan. Haven't had time to go thru all the supporting docs referenced in it, but will get to them. Right now my biggest nemesis is TIME!
I did my first race of the season yesterday SICK AS A DOG, but pushed thru it and managed top 10% overall (nearly 1000 competitors), as well as top 10% in each of the 3 legs. It was only a sprint, but it was a much-needed confidence booster.
Mac,
I get it. See Power Webinar discount code here. Excellent product, you can listen and learn while you drive.
@ Mac - I had the same problem when I first started using my Joule/PT combo this month, with the FTP defaulting to the wrong number (in my case something like 871,247,623 - really!) despite me thinking I was configuring it from PowerAgent.
I called Cyclops/Saris and discovered my problem was I had several versions of me as a "User". When I first got the program, I had created several "New Athlete" users, before I knew what I was doing. If you have more than one user in the User window, eliminate all of them except the one you want to use, via "Delete User" from the Edit menu.
BTW, when I called for help, the FIRST person who answered the phone had the answer for me, AND he was extremely courteous and knowledgeable. WOW for customer service, as others have reported.
@Rich, thanks, man. I've contemplated that Webinar since I got the PT. I wanna finish the book and get those details thru my thick skull, then I'll tap that resource. Thanks for your patience, dude. I'll get there!
@Al, I only have myself as the only user, but it turns out Power Agent wasn't recognizing my Joule, but we got it figured out. FTP is now correct so I'm good to go!