Austin 70.3 Explosion Report
Based on race rehearsal(s), testing and the workouts I completed in late August and October, I thought that my day would play out like this:
Swim: 28:low.
Bike: 2:32-34
Run 1:39-1:41, but with the heat, anything under 1:45 would have been fine.
This is what actually happened:
Swim: 29:41
Bike: 2:37
Run 1:54
While my preparation in the last 10 weeks leading into the race was not ideal -- work/family/home obligations caused me to miss half or more of my workouts for 4-6 weeks from about 8 weeks out to 3 weeks out -- but it was not substantially worse than last year, where I went faster on harder courses with (theoretically) a less aero set-up and less optimal pacing plan. Aside from the obvious explanation that I missed too many workouts, didn’t get enough sleep, and suffered from gigantic stress levels in the weeks before the race, I am trying to figure out what went wrong. I don't think that I made serious pacing errors on the bike or in the first 3-4 miles of the run, but still blew up on the run and hobbled home the last 10K.
Other useful data: 34 years old, 186 lb, 6’0’’. History of dehydration and heat related struggles.
My wave went off at 8:40, the second to last wave, putting me on the run course at 11:40 in best case scenario and still out there after 1 p.m. The weather was a high of 90 degrees, and there was not one step of shade on the run course.
Swim: Not great, but not awful. I followed the plan: start in the front row, and swim a controlled hard pace for 100-200 meters to get away from the pack, and then swim steady, looking for feet. It was an obstacle course out there with slower swimmers from prior waves. My time was about a minute slower than my slowest previous half-iron swim, and 2 minutes slower than my last race rehearsal, which felt super easy. I came out of the water about 10 Age Group places down from where I usually exit the water. My navigation was fine. Not sure quite what went wrong here. Perhaps I just hooked onto the wrong pair of feet.
Bike.
Nutrition/Hydration. My plan was 1 bottle of water in an aero drink, and 1 bottle of concentrated (about 2.5 hours worth) Infinit in the downtube. Drink the water before the first aid station (mile 11), refill with a new bottle of water at the first aid station, drink one bottle of water, plus ¼ of the Infinit between aid stations, and repeat for the next 2 hours. I am a bigger athlete, and I sweat a lot, so keeping up the fluid intake is critical for me.
Just after the third aid station, I dropped my 1/3 drunk bottle of Infinit, eliminating all calories I had on board. I figured I would grab a bottle of Gatorade and 2 gels at the last aid station to make up for the loss. This seemed to work out okay. I was a little hungry by the time I got to the last aid station, but picked up what I needed, and started the run feeling alright on the nutrition/hydration side.
Pacing Plan. I have been riding to an outdoor FTP of between 290 and 300w most of the summer. I had a really bad section in September where I missed every week day workout for 3 weeks, and went into the weekend ones sleep-deprived and stressed out. I really struggled on the bike for those weeks as a result, but in October, I have been able to hit just about the right numbers. My plan was to ride at about .81, holding between 225 and 240 watts, and not going above 260 watts. My race rehearsal from 2 weeks ago (October 8) took 2:32, with 235w AP, 242 NP (.82 IF), and that felt reasonably good. My legs hurt and the run afterwards was harder than it should have been, but I attributed that to (a) acute training load of the prior 3 days (including a run 12 hours before the race rehearsal); and (b) needing to cut the brick run to 4 miles due to time constraints and going straight into marathon pace off the bike as a result. So a thought that if I backed off just a hair, the extra rest leading into the race would set me up for a good ride at .81.
Execution. In the first 5 miles, there was a right turn at the bottom of a fast downhill, followed by a short, but steep hill. I got caught in the big chain ring, lost momentum and fell over. Nothing but a banged, scraped knee, a dropped chain, and some wounded pride. I ran the bike to the top of the hill and re-mounted and kept going. All told, this probably cost me about a minute. The fall was particularly stupid becuse I drove the bike course and noted this exact turn, but failed to review my notes on race morning.
I auto-lapped every 10 miles. Here are the splits:
Lap |
Miles |
Time |
Speed mph |
Avg power |
Norm power |
VI |
IF |
Avg HR |
||
1 |
10 |
27:59 |
21.4 |
196 |
209 |
1.07 |
.71 |
152 |
||
2 |
10 |
26:15 |
22.8 |
198 |
204 |
1.03 |
.69 |
149 |
||
3 |
10 |
28:46 |
20.9 |
208 |
217 |
1.04 |
.73 |
152 |
||
4 |
10 |
28:01 |
21.4 |
206 |
211 |
1.02 |
.72 |
150 |
||
5 |
10 |
29:25 |
20.4 |
207 |
211 |
1.02 |
.72 |
148 |
||
6 |
5 |
14:51 |
20 |
180 |
194 |
1.08 |
.66 |
148 |
Overall, I rode 201w AP, 212w NP, at .72 IF and 1.04 VI. These numbers were well off both my race rehearsal, other October outdoor rides, and ever lower than my indoor numbers (where I have been riding to an FTP of about 280w).
My legs just weren’t interested in pushing the same watts as in my race rehearsal. It does not appear to be an issue of higher power initially that drops over the course of the day. I just never had the juice. The road surface was chip seal, and I probably spent more energy than I expected just trying to not crash. A bunch of times, I thought I had flatted the ride was so rough, but no.
In theory, my bike stats should have been falling asleep type numbers, setting me up for a good run. At least, that was what I was telling myself in the last 15 miles of the bike when it became clear that I wasn't having the bike I expected to have and had to resist the urge to hammer into the headwind.
Run.
Pacing Plan. Again with the exception of September where I missed more than half of my run workouts, I have been running to a VDOT of 49 for shorter intervals and 48 or so for longer sessions, and I did a 1:33:31 half-marathon in May. Since I struggle on the run, and have problems with overheating, I thought I would aim for a 1:40 run (47 VDOT), for the first 10 miles and pick it up in the last 5K if possible.
Execution. I ran the first 3 miles in 8:00, give or take a few seconds, and I was holding myself back. This was the supposed to be the right pace. Since it was already hot and my HR was getting close to a high Zone 3 even though my pace wasn’t even at MP, I decided to scale back my ambitions and just run 8:00’s, which would have been enough to break 5 hours, with time to spare. I walked every aid station (there were a lot), grabbed 2 sponges to stick in my jersey, ice and water in the effort to keep myself cool, along with taking a sip of my run-mix Infinit.
But by the end of the first loop, I was starting to struggle, and heading out on the second loop (not even at the 5 mile mark), I started repeating my One Thing (“You came here to break 5 hours”), and my HR was in the mid-170s (close to Zone 4). I knew that I was in trouble.
Disaster. I made it to just past the half-way point (6.75 miles) before I broke and needed to walk, with my HR hitting Zone 5. Miles 8-12 were run-walk as best I could, getting progressively slower and slower. My HR was not exploding, but my legs were just so tired and hurting, that I couldn’t keep running, not matter how much I shortened my stride. I did the math after 8 miles and realized that I wasn’t going to make it under 5 hours, and my new goal became just to finish. I tried to run the entire last mile, but had to walk for 30 seconds on one of the little uphills. I did manage to finish, and ended running at least the last half mile, even if it was more than a minute slower than my expected pace.
Lessons I learned on the day:
· When you skip 50% or more of the training sessions for 4-6 weeks, bad things happen on race day.
· When you take the trouble to drive the bike course, review your notes race morning.
· Don’t drop your feed bottle.
· The a four-bottle fuel belt isn’t really necessary for the HIM. Two is fine.
· I just can’t handle the heat and should stick to cool weather races.
Questions:
1. What went wrong on the swim? I am not as concerned about the swim, but it was peculiar to swim so slowly in comparison to workouts and race rehearsals.
2. What happened on the bike? Why couldn’t I produce the watts I had been seeing in training, as recently as 8-15 days before the race? Was I just badly undertrained, or was my FTP set wrong?
3. What happened on the run? It was hot, but still I totally melted down. I didn’t have an overly high IF or VI on the bike, so I should have been set up for a good run. Any guesses what went wrong?
4. Am I just not built to do the 70.3 distance and should stick to short course instead?
0
Comments
2-4. All of the missed workouts, in my estimation, had your FTP wrong for race purposes. This means you should have gone easier on the bike, so you probably biked too hard and that likely blew up your run. The workouts inside EN are really meant to create and build fitness cumulatively, so, it isn't any one workout, but rather the cumulative total of the workout load that creates fitness. So, missing close to 15 workouts broke up that fitness and and it is a wonder you did as well as you did - I am guessing you might be a stubborn person to have stuck with it like you did. Long course is not something you run from because of this, you just need to remember that the longer the race gets, the more you have to get right to have a strong chance of having race day workout right.
Give it another shot, and see if you can't get the build up right!
I know many faster, <5 HIM folks don't always hit .85 on their bike...I think I rode a .79 to a 2:24 split this year. A .85 would have had me in the hospital, despite my being able to train at that number. <br />
Curious to see what others have to say...
@ Patrick. Sorry for missing the workouts. Please don't fire me. I actually chose not to wear any EN gear so that no one would see me struggling and get the wrong idea.
I swam about 3 minutes slower than you and i had issues swimming through the waves of people in front of us. I came to a complete stop a few times and swam right into people doing the breast stroke. I had trouble staying on feet because of the zero visibility under the water and constantly going around people. Unless you swam really wide around everyone, which would have added extra distance, I'm guessing you dealt with the same mess. This is why I rarely compare swim times from race to race...too many variables.
The conditions at Austin were were tough even if you had nailed your training. Were you acclimated to ran in close to 90 degrees?
If you still want to do 70.3 racing, I would not give up based on this race. Give yourself another race were you can do the full training and then see how you do before deciding if you want to focus on a different distance.
The heat acclimation was something else I did wrong. I am just a little frustrated because this is the third straight time, I have left T2 thinking I had set up the race to finish in 4:5x:xx, and the third straight time I haven't gotten it done on the run. I have run well (for me) off the bike in sprint and Olympic distance races, and I have run a decent (again for me) stand-alone half, but cannot seem to run well in a 70.3.