RR #1 for Vineman did not go well!!!!
Last week was week 6 in my 12 week intermediate IM plan preparing for Vineman the last weekend in July. That means it was time for my first RR, and it did not go well.
Breakfast - Got up at 6:30, and had a protein bar for breakfast. For the race, I would get in time to have breakfast 3 hours before the start, and include 1.5 servings of perpetuem for a total of about 700 calories. (I’ve been doing this for years, and it has always worked fine.)
Bike – Left home at 8:00 (about the same time I will be getting on the bike for the race). Target was .7 IF since I’m in the over 6:30 bike group – FTP right now is 187 – hoping for 195-200 by race day. Gear 1 – 124, gear 2 – 131, gear 3 – 137, gear 4 – 144. On bike nutrition was nothing for the first 30 minutes, then 225 – 250 calories per hour of concentrated Infinit taken at 15 minute intervals. Fluid intake approximately 24-28 oz per hour. Temperature warm, but not real hot - First hour in first gear according to my gear chart, able to be steady with low vi – np – 121, vi – 1.05. Second hour was OK, but my watts were low – np – 125, vi – 1.06. Third hour I started to get tired. Vi still OK (1.08), but couldn’t hold the watts (np - 120). Last two hours I felt really tired – just getting home for the run basically – NP – 115, vi – 1.08. Stomach felt fine the whole time. I believe the calories and fluid intake were about right. I just seemed to run out of gas, and have no idea why.
Run – the run was even worse. Started out at my long run pace plus 30 seconds, and managed only two miles before I couldn’t hold it anymore and turned around and mostly walked home. My long run two days before had been fine. My 30 minute brick after my long ride last week had been fine.
I believe that my vdot and ftp are correct. I’ve been able to do all of the workouts OK – they’re hard, but I can complete them.
Two years ago when I did my first IM distance race, both RR’s went fine – one better than the other, but they were both OK. The main difference this year is the amount of time I had to build the volume. Two years ago my race was in the middle of September, so I had all summer to build the volume. Also, this year I have had some health issues. In between OS and the first week of my race prep, I had planned two big bike weeks, and a transition week, but I missed the better part of a two weeks with a respiratory infection. Then four weeks ago, I missed 5 days with minor surgery. I’m beginning to wonder if at 61 I’ve just missed too much time too close to the race. Maybe I should just take my higher vdot and ftp and do a couple of HIM races. I guess I’ll know in a couple of weeks when I have RR #2.
Help!!
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@Patrick - One other thought is bike fit. It's been cold in NCAL, and I have relatively few rides on my tri bike in the aerobars. For whatever reason, it just doesn't feel quite right. Maybe that has something to do with it. I posted a video in the critque my fit thread and sent a video to Todd. The only thing I changed is the saddle - made sure all the contact points were the way Todd set me up. But it just feels off.