Home› Racing Forum 🏎

IMCdA RR#1

Jump4Joy19Jump4Joy19
in Racing Forum 🏎

I did my first RR ever. Started yesterday with the 4200 swim. I practiced starting at a faster pace than normal to get used to going out hard with the front pack.  1000 y Splits: 13:51, 14:05, 14:17, 14:14. Last 200 was a 2:42. Total: 59:09

 

Today: 

My usual pre-race breakfast of banana-egg custard, 3 hours before start.

One serving of Infinit Mud + 1 Bonk Breaker Bar 1 hour before start.

 

Biked 103 miles in 6 hours. 2600' of climbing. Avg 17 mph (including 20 miles of town and bike path). I don't have a powermeter, so going off of HR.

My HR averages for each of the 6 hour splits: 114, 119, 120, 117, 115, 117, 119  Target is Z1 <133, so I guess I stayed squarely in low Z1.</p>

Max HR on the seated climbs was 144 (low Z3).

Nutrition: Infinit. Finished one 3 hour bottle and 2/3 of second 3 hour bottle + a Bonk breaker bar at 2 hours and one at 4 hours into the ride. No GI issues. Set timer for 10 minutes to sip Infinit, and water, and usually took in some water in between. I don't have my aero bottles set up yet on my new bike, so I had two bottles on the frame, which makes it harder to drink regularly. I will have my bottles set up for next RR. Average calories per hour: 265

The bike felt fine.I spent most of this ride in the aerobars. I think I went pretty easy. Too easy? Should I have pushed the HR/Pace a bit?

My main issue is low back pain that seems to build at around 2 hours in. This has happened on the last few rides. It seems to subside somewhere around 3 - 4 hours, and not be a factor after I get off the bike, but it is pretty excruciating at times. This has never been an issue before, but I did have a (non-training related) back injury in March that seems to be haunting me. I don't know what to do about this and am finding it frustrating. I had a Retul fit in April but if anything it made the problem worse, so I went back to my old fit.

 

I did a quick transition in the back of my van after stowing my bike and was off on the run. I don't have a pace or footpod monitor, so I could only get my pace at the end of each mile. I ran 6 miles around a 1 mile loop.

Target HR: Z1 <139. Target pace: EP of 10:22 + 30" = 10:52</p>

Mile 1: 10:07 - WAY too fast. Immediately walked 45 seconds to slow down my 2nd mile  HR 129

Mile 2: 10:35 - still a little on the brisk side. Walked more. HR 127

Mile 3: 10:50 - found the right combo of walk/run to hit the pace - HR 129

Mile 4: 10:44  HR 130

Mile 5: 10:49 - HR 133

Mile 6 - 10:48 - HR 134

 

Overall, the pacing felt fine. I was definitely shocked at how fast I did the first mile in, since it sincerely felt like crap, like my legs were wooden. So it was a great exercise to try and dial the pace in for the EP + 30. Will be practicing that pace more before RR#2

From here, I went to a potluck and tried not to embarass myself by eating too much!

Any feedback appreciated.

 

 

Comments

  • Joe MatchetteJoe Matchette
    @Robin - that looks like a quality Race Rehearsal. Congratulations! You avoided the normal routine of buggering it up and getting some BIG LESSONS from it. It looks like you will just be fine-tuning with RR#2.

    There are two things that I noticed: (1) your caloric intake, and (2) your HR for the 'seated climbs.' I am thinking that 256 cal/hr might be on the high side. Have you done long rides with a lower intake rate? Also, how much water did you take in?

    Why did your HR go so much above your Average for the climbs? To me that indicates that you are working much, much harder when climbing. What gearing do you have on your bike? Also, have you read and practiced the Climbing Smart on Race Day article (http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/Climbing-Smart-on-Race-Day.htm)?

    As to your question, "Should I push the HR/Pace a bit?" Your AvgHR sure looks like you have a little bit more room to push it. How much? I dunno...4 -5 bpm? You don't want to over-do the bike and sacrifice your run. [Been there, done that!]

    Again, congrats on a quality RaceRehearsal!
  • SwanieSwanie
    Your first RR sounds like a success. For RR 2 try to bump that avg HR up a just a bit and see how you do on the run. But keep your climbing heart rate down lower. You should be running 11-28 gears for CDA. I know the course is different this year, but it is still Northern Idaho hills. ThE first few miles of the Ironman run are always done on "wooden" legs, not to worry you just need to know to expect it and know that they come around by mile 5 or so. Work on keeping that pace down, use a Garmin pace watch for RR2. As far as the back issues, it sure sounds like a fit issue, consider using rich's guy for a fitting, he can do it with video and pictures and I have heard that he can do wonders.
  • Jump4Joy19Jump4Joy19

    Thanks all. I have to admit I'm confused on the climbing. I have read and am practicing the smart climbing tips, but at a certain point on a hill, doesn't your heart rate just climb higher? The hill in question on this ride was a 3-miler with >1000 feet of vertical gain, and there was a similar hill at the end of the ride. I've got an 11-28 (but no compact crank yet) and at a certain steepness (like over 6%), I've basically run out of gears and I can't really slow down much more to keep heart rate low. So how do you keep the heart rate down at that point?

    I'm getting a compact this week, so that should help some. But I chose this route because of the similarities in the hill profile to the hills on the CdA course, which are basically 2 - 3 milers at around 6% grade, gaining about 1000 feet each. On the smaller rolling hills, I had no problem just gearing down and keeping my HR lower.

Sign In or Register to comment.