Vegas 70.3 WC race report - Matt Aaronson
IM 70.3 Vegas race report
(being written by the pool the day after the race!)
The short version
The short story is that I got utterly schooled. It was not my best day but even if it was, I'd still have been schooled. That said, the race experience was awesome overall and I for sure want to do this race again.
Overall I finished in 5:29:01, putting me at 143 of 175 competitors in M3539. This is about 40 minutes worse than my 4:48:48 at Racine back in July. But the course was a lot harder. Roughly I think about 20-25 mins of the time difference is attributable to the course. The rest, well, is improvement waiting to be realized for next time!!
In terms of the individual pieces:
Swim
My swim was embarrassing (as expected). Time 43:32, AG rank 163/175. It was no-wetsuit and in water over 80 degrees. My wave start was about the midpoint of all the waves, and interestingly the organizers put a full 10-minute gap between my wave and the one before it. But the way the start worked was the start line was about 100 meters from where you enter the water. So as one wave lined up on the start line, the wave behind it got loaded into the water and had to wait. Well, with the 10-minute time gap that put us in the water about 15 minutes before our start. I found some rocks by the shore to hang onto so I didn't have to tread water the whole time.
I started near the back since I knew I'd be run over otherwise. The swim was into the sun but I didn't get too off course since I had plenty of folks to follow. The course was an out-and-back and about halfway to the turn buoy I stopped to look for green caps (my wave). Well I couldn't see too much in front due to the glare and when I looked behind me I saw only a couple. Yikes. About 2/3 of the way to the turn I started to get passed by a stream of blue caps. On the way back I was getting passed by purple caps. Heck, there were probably other colors too by that point.
After the race lots of people were talking about how the swim course was long. Maybe it was, but my HIM PB swim is 38:27 so I need to work on my swimming. That's a different conversation…
T1 (time = 4:08)
This was my first race with gear bags and changing tents. So a cool experience – I guess that is how full Ironman races work. In any case I ran into T1, someone gave me my bag and I quickly put on my shoes and helmet and stuffed my swim stuff into the bag and ran out to the racks.
One awesome part of my swim result is that I had no trouble finding my bike…it was looking incredibly lonely in a sea of empty racks. Wow – I've never had THAT happen to me in a race.
Bike
The bike course was tough but not brutally so (until the very end, at least). Elevation change is a constant…there weren't really any flats, but there were no steep grades / brutal climbs either. The overall elevation gain was ~3,500 over the course of 56 miles (per the Garmin), with a net gain of ~700 over the point-to-point course.
My overall time on the 56 mile bike was 2:47:07 (20.1mph), AG rank 117/175. This is substantially slower than my rides in Racine (2:26) and Steelhead (2:20), but the course makes comparability difficult. Going in I figured I'd be roughly 20 mins off what I'd expect on a flat-course so I guess 2:47 is about expected.
The thing that really typifies this race for me was how few people I passed all day on the bike. I certainly passed more than passed me, but the folks I passed were clearly the weaker end of other waves and some of the "slower" waves (like the 70 and 80 year olds). I clearly did not "catch up" to my own wave in a material way.
After the initial admin getting out of the T1 area I settled into my usual routine of trying to ride very constant power. Pre-race I figured I'd target ~206 watts (0.83 IF), since that's what I was able to achieve in a very hot-temperature race in Racine. Assuming a reasonably low VI that meant looking for ~203 or so watts AP for each lap (I set auto-lap to trigger every 5 miles). But I also knew that if I undershot the target that would be okay (a) given the hilly course and therefore potentially higher-than-usual VI and (b) because I didn't want to overcook the bike and mess up my run.
Overall I think I executed the plan pretty well (or maybe just "okay") until the last 5-8 miles when I started to tire. A few observations:
- My overall ride VI was 1.02 which I think is good given the course
- Clearly I undershot the NP but I was comfortable with that possibility going in
- TSS of 178.5 on a ride time of 2:45 is still "green zone" according to EN HIM execution docs
- My power went into a pretty constant decline over the course of the second half of the ride…that is not good
- In the last 7 miles there was a decoupling of HR from power…really not good
- In the last 2.5 miles my VI went way up despite no change in the character of the course…so driven only by the character of my riding…REALLY not good…
The last 5 miles to T2 was all uphill and I was really hurting and riding in the base bars a whole bunch. Normally I keep aero for an entire ride no problem. So I was really fatigued. Not great. The thought occurred to me that despite undershooting power, I might have overcooked the bike…
Distance (miles) |
Speed (mph) |
NP (watts) |
IF |
VI |
Cadence (rpm) |
Avg HR (bpm) |
Max HR (bpm) |
2.3 |
15 |
215 |
0.868 |
1.03 |
89 |
143 |
160 |
5 |
23.9 |
198 |
0.797 |
1.07 |
95 |
148 |
158 |
5 |
22.6 |
197 |
0.796 |
1.01 |
92 |
141 |
148 |
5 |
18.7 |
206 |
0.832 |
1 |
87 |
141 |
155 |
5 |
21.5 |
200 |
0.807 |
1.03 |
90 |
138 |
145 |
5 |
20.9 |
211 |
0.851 |
1.01 |
91 |
141 |
149 |
5 |
22.9 |
203 |
0.82 |
1.01 |
88 |
139 |
148 |
5 |
21.9 |
195 |
0.787 |
1.01 |
87 |
135 |
143 |
5 |
16.2 |
200 |
0.808 |
1.02 |
85 |
140 |
149 |
5 |
22.6 |
190 |
0.767 |
1 |
86 |
136 |
143 |
5 |
20.7 |
194 |
0.784 |
1 |
86 |
146 |
152 |
2.5 |
16.2 |
183 |
0.738 |
1.04 |
84 |
144 |
150 |
Overall 56 miles |
20.1 |
199 |
0.804 |
1.02 |
88 |
141 |
P.S. to the bike – I only stopped once to water the desert landscape, and the stop was only 0:56. A record for me!
T2 (time = 2:28)
Could have been a lot faster but I took time to apply sunblock and put my watch on. Usually my T2 is very fast. But I was kind of still reeling from the last 5 miles of the bike that put the hurt on me.
Run
Well, this is the disappointing part of my day. I was looking forward to gutting out a good run on a very hot day. I had heard the run course was actually quite tough, but I was not fazed and was targeting a 1:35-1:40 run. I ran 1:38 at Racine in 96 degrees (106 heat index) and 1:36 at Steelhead with tons left in the tank, and here I was looking to slay some demons relating to playing the HIM run too conservatively. I planned to push hard and relish a lot of pain.
Well, it was not to be. I had ridden into T2 with fellow EN-er Carrie Chavez and we both ran out together. I looked forward to running together for a while. But After the first mile or so my quads cramped up massively forcing me to make multiple stops to massage the muscles. I tried to really shorten up my stride to see if it would help but to no avail. Overall time was 1:51:46 (8:30 pace). My AG ranking was 143/175. The AG ranking is really frustrating since if I performed to a level even a the low end of my capabilities (say, ~1:40) I would have been in the 93-99th range in terms of run split placing and ~130th for the race. The whole thing was a pretty miserable experience…less due to the pain and more due to my inability to do anything to resolve the cramping and speed up.
Run splits each mile: 6:47, 7:44, 8:06, 9:35, 8:15, 8:22, 8:37, 9:25, 8:00, 7:50, 10:05, 9:04, 8:47. Tons of energy and a nice low HR to let me go faster, but the cramping stopped me in my tracks whenever I got going. Btw I think the first mile was a GPS blip…the official results show the first 1.2 mile split at a pace of 7:14. That first mile was completely downhill, btw.
I'd note that the run course was even more brutal than the bike course…it was literally like 2 mile hill repeats – 2 miles up then 2 miles down, done 3x. Overall elevation gain of 700 feet may not sound like much but the length of the uphill portions made it seem just unrelenting. I would have relished it had it not been for that quad cramping!!
Atmosphere / other
I'll write a "race review" with more detail on this dimension, but will say that the race was an awesome experience overall and I for sure want to do it again. There is great energy and a huge international turnout. All of the top pros where here and based on the timing of this race relative to Kona I expect that trend will continue. The venue is good (although I stayed on the Strip and would make that choice again in a heartbeat) and the course is challenging "in a good way".
I would say that we probably got a bit lucky with the weather. When we arrived it was 105 degrees and projected to be 101 on race day. Whoever says "but it's dry heat" gets slapped around…it was HOT. But in a freakish turn we got a bunch of rain the day and night before the race, and raced in mid-80's temps (rising to about low-90s by the time I finished).
Also it was great to meet a lot of EN folks this weekend, including riding with Carrie and Bev on Friday. Sorry I didn't meet up with you all more but I was playing this somewhat like "vacation" with my family (otherwise there wouldn't have been a hall pass granted for this race).
It will be harder to qualify with fewer slots at each U.S. race next year, but I really think that with improvements I can finish mid-pack in this race.
Aftermath
Let's just say the quad cramping had a lasting impact. Watching me get up out of chairs and go down stairs is probably comical. Several parts of my quads are literally painful to the touch today. I assume the muscles are internally bruised.
On reflection I think the quad cramping was somehow related to overcooking the bike…even though, by the numbers, I didn't overcook the bike. My cadence in the last 20 miles of the ride was about 7-10 RPM lower than my usual cadence in races. Perhaps that plus all the uphill stuff somehow had a different physiological impact than usual. I have had this same quad cramping once or twice before (in training sessions) but was
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Comments
Thoughts - I wonder if you were dehydrated? Your nutrition plan was probably fine for the midwest, but you were in the desert. Every time I visit the parents there, I have to seriously up my water intake, even on days with no exercise, in the winter, because the air is so dry.
Quad cramping - maybe due to one of the following 3 factors or a combo: 1) not enough electrolytes. Sure, you had plenty the day before, but where were the S caps for during the race given the expected heat? 2) was this bike course harder than the others you did this year such that you used those specific muscles in the race more than you have before (lower RPM indicates you may have been mashing a little); and similarly 3) was the overall effort level more than you had experienced in any recent training sessions? Seems like #2 might be the most obvious since a lot of folks cramp in the hamstrings or adductor muscles when they have an electrolyte shortage.
Anyway, so glad you had a great time even though it was subpar for you. Your experience has me excited for 2012!
20mph with 3500 feet of climbing is pretty solid. Your power curve looks good too with very little coasting and only a few spikes. What was your VI? It looks like you rode pretty smooth. I watched online and people were looking worked crossing the line, especially for a HIM.
@ Beth - indeed, 3 is a charm...although 3 in 8 weeks has been tough...I'm mentally DONE for a little while
@ Paul - I also suspect #2 is the main driver. But tough to tell. The rpm difference has got to mean something, although I did some more checking and the 87 rpm average is identical ro my race at Racine and only 1 rpm lower than Steelhead...although the falloff in rpm over the course of the race is probably the more relevant evidence of mashing a bit and perhaps using muscle groups differently. I need to find more hills to train on.
As for strip vs. event hotel, one thing that is not clear in the race information is that the strip is closer than the event hotel to T2 / run course / finish line / registration / expo. The event hotel is located at T1 / swim start. Granted, you need to go to both T1 AND T2 before race day (and on different days, at that), but on the other hand after the race if you are on the strip it is super-convenient. I think it comes down to the experience you want to have -- if you are at the event hotel it will be more quiet and relaxed pre-race, and lots of other triathletes to hang out with (which is a positive aspect IMO)...on the other hand the strip has tons of awesome dining options and more "stuff to do" (shows, etc). In my case the choice was clear cut for family reasons. One thing I expect is that by next year more people will understand in advance where things are located and the relative distances and consequently more will stay on the strip. Just my guess but since I'm on Vegas I guess I should place a bet on it, right??!!
@ Chirs -- My overall VI was 1.02. My other two HIMs have been lower at 1.01 but I think 1.02 in Vegas was probably good given the course. To be honest I probably should have coasted more. My top speed was just a touch above 40mph, and I was in that range multiple times. I know the EN guidance is to coast above a certain speed but I don't have speed showing on my computer and I was concentrating on always pedaling to maintain constant watts so therefore only coasted when I had spun out of gears.
As for people looking worked at the finish, my wife watched the finish line or a while and she was pretty amazed at the fact there were "catchers" like you'd have at a full IM race AND that so many finishers actually needed the catchers. This is particularly remarkable in light of her other big takeaways from spectating this race vs. others, namely that everyone in Vegas "looked" like they had awesome fitness and almost no one was walking on the run. (her third takeaway -- less relevant to your point -- was that everyone had a badass-looking bike!!!)
My fault, I see the VI above now. That is awesome, especially for such a hilly course. That run looks brutal. I did a HIM earlier this year with 900 feet of climbing on the run and it was really hard. I think given the course and conditions you had a great race.
Yes I noticed the catchers as well as the fact that many seemed to need them. I'm sure the atmosphere was different since everyone had to qualify to be there. Nobody at that level is interested in "just finishing.". Such is the nature of the pointy end of the field.
Matt,
Great job on the race an a pit stop PB. I would agree with Beth's assessment when I go to vegas I can't seem to drink enough water. Also the mentioned electrolytes on race day could help.
Gordon
Congratulations. That is a huge accomplishment qualifying for Vegas at your first HIM. I can only imagine how fast you will be next year after a mental reset and OS. Well done.
About the cramping though, I just want to echo what Beth said about being dehydrated. Dry heat is different than the humid heat here in the Midwest. Yes, hot is hot no matter what the temperature but the lack of humidity means you have to really up your water intake. Probably your salt intake too. Just standing around there can dehydrate you let alone racing. This would explain your fading on the bike and cramping on the run.
I would guess that the cramps came from some dehydration, but more importantly from a lack salt during the bike. I did Silverman 2010 (nearly the same course) and needed 12 salt pills to make it through, and it wasn't nearly as hot. Great season for you, when are you stepping up to the full?
Thanks for taking the time to write it up Matt. There is something about guys in Chicago named Matt being fast...