Half IM Disaster
I'm brand new to EN and would love any insights anyone has. Rich advised me to post this thread which is a race report of my first HIM this season. I'm racing 4 HIM this summer and then begin my final build for 9 weeks to IMFL.
May 27, 2012 I raced my first HIM after finishing Fast Camp and then having 1 week of recovery and a very short 2 week build to this race. Normally I would have began a my typical 12 week build to this race (the typical non-EN way), but PnR had a free offer to try FC for 8 weeks.... so here I am.
1 week before FC I also purchased my first power meter. so training with power is new to me as well.
All my numbers improved after FC.
T-pace 1:43 to 1:38 100/meter; FTP 202 to 242 (3.7 W/kg), Vdot 58.1 to 59! You can see why I joined EN... : )
My background. I'm a former junior/college hockey player turned endurance athlete in 2006. For 3 years I ran everything from 5km's to 100 mile races with several successful podium finishes. 2009 I learned to swim, and jumped on a bike for the first time in 16 years and got the bug, just like you... : ) I've raced several HIM's and IMCanada twice and my best performance was 10:29 in 2011.
To my HIM race. I'm trying to figure out why I shit the bed so bad on this race and why my legs felt like jello. Never experienced this in any race before.
Pre-race days and meals were my typical routine that have worked for me over the past 6 years (I'm an Optimal Living Doctor and eat/sleep/breathe this stuff). Nerves were in control as this was a very low priority race.
Swim: Went awesome, felt great had a HIM PR of 2 mins. time: 31:32
T1 - Perfect 2:16
Bike: 4 loops, so easy to compare the progression. I had issues with my Garmin 910xt as the lap button got hit in T1 and when I got on the bike. SO I had to reset the watch a few times. And as I write this report I see that I may not have saved the bike/run portion, but my watch is at my practice so I will add the exact numbers (power/HR) if they are still there. All that uploaded to my computer was the swim.
My ABP, Zone 3, says I need to lock my power at 200W. This course was very undulating with constant rolling hills. I find myself staring at my watch every 30-40 seconds to see what's going on. On the flats I'd stay between 195-205W. As I approach hills I let the wattage creep up to as high as 220W. Typically most riders pass me at the start of every hill. I hold my watts gearing appropriately. I end up catching most riders at the crest of the hills (if I don't there in another league and I watch them go), but at the crest I gear down quickly and hold the 220W and do my best to hammer on the down side of the hill holding that power for another minute or so. This is my strategy, if it sucks tell me and I'll try something different. I have my undergrad in exercise physilogy and this makes the most sense to me from an energy standpoint, cause we only have so much every race, still can't figure out why almost everyone else burns their matches so quickly on hills???
Having said this, I'd be lying if I never went over 220W, On hills I'm glued to my 910xt and when it spikes I try to back off asap and on flats it would spike occasionally too, I'm doing my best to hold it steady and I'm sure I'll better over the season.
First Loop: Felt great. Time 37:00 (held race plan watts)
Second Loop: Body started to feel weak. Time 39:00 (held race plan watts)
Third Loop: Legs felt heavy and I began to struggle. Time 42:00 (dropped down to 160-170'sW)
Last Loop: My body had no juice left in it, I was on complete empty. Time 47:00 (Watts dropped to 140-150's)
Nutrition: I took in 150cal/hour (liquid), 2 salstick caps/hour, 600ml H2O/hour.
I was so deflated coming into T2 that all I could think about was DNF'ing. Something I have never done before, let alone even think about. I kept saying "it's over man, you're cooked" as I put my socks/runners and ran out of transition. "quitters never win and winners never quit" was what I said as I entered the run. T2: 1:52... smooth!
Run 13.1: I ran this exact race years ago where I had a fraction of the speed I have today. Both my swim and bike were faster today (2 min on swim, 2 min. on bike too), but 2 years ago I started the run feeling so fresh. Here my legs felt liked mush, but everything else was ok, head, stomach, and no cramping at all. 2 years ago I ran a 1:31 here, pretty much a 7min/mile pace. My Z2 today is 6:19/mile pace. My goal was to run the first 2-3 miles at a 7min/mile and then drop down to 6:20min/mile.
The reality was that the fastest I could run was an 8min/mile pace... WTF??? It felt like I was on my Harley giving throttle and 3/4 of the engine was dead because I put in diesel gas or something. There was nothing in me. I kept pushing and pushing but no juice would come out of these legs. I thought maybe I needed more calories. I took in water/gatorade (2 cups each) and gels while I walked the aid stations (total I took in 4 gels during the run). Nothing, I was dead. Earlier I shared my running experience, I love to run and I can always dig deep burying myself by the finish line emptying my tank. But my body wouldn't respond.
For me I ran a molasses slow 1:51.
My finish time 5:11. The last time I raced this exact race I was on the podium with a 4:51 at a time where I was half the triathlete I am today.
So as I write this the day after the race I'm just trying to learn from my experience. If something jumps out please share it with me so I can grow. I'm on week 10 of HIM plan now and it will finish to my final HIM race this summer ("A" race), then I start from wk 9 IM plan to IMFL which is my "A" race. In the end IMFL is what truly matters most to me. Who else is dreaming of Kona....?
My 2 cents.... Normally before a HIM I will have logged several rides of 4-5 hours and runs of 2 hours. In this case I had 2 weeks and only did 1 long ride of 3 hours and 2 hours the next day. The longest run I had was 1:45, and I only had 1 of these. Rich told me that the longer I could hold out on the long stuff and just focus on the "getting faster" shorter stuff, the more successfull I'd be at IMFL. So that's the philosohy I'm embracing. What I didn't know was how poorly I'd perform over my first HIM.
Is this a normal progression with EN, because I'm not going long yet? Or do I just suck... : )
Love to hear ANY insights from the EN world. I love innovation and I believe what PnR have created is innovative.
Thanks in advance,
Sukhi
Comments
I am guessing, based on your watts/kg numbers that you weigh about 144 lbs and suspect that with 150cal/hour (liquid) on the bike, you may have dug yourself a bit of a hole nutrition wise and was unable to recover. Also you stated, ". . . after finishing Fast Camp and then having 1 week of recovery and a very short 2 week build to this race . . ." which may have put you in hole, energy-wise, going into the race.
The smarter people will probably have significantly more, deeper and wiser insight.
If you are new to power, how did you estimate your FTP (20 min, 2 mins easy, 20 mins and NP of the whole 42 min range?)?
It would also be handy if you could give us some power numbers from the bike (eg AP, NP, etc)?
Did you do a race reheasal? And if so, what were the power numbers from that, and were you able to execute the run as per EN pacing recommendations?
Hey Sukhi, first of all, welcome to da Haus.
I'm no coach, wsm, or podium achiever but here's a few thoughts running thru my head....
You've reached great success with your old hi volume strategy and now you've switched it all around by going with EN's higher intensity approach. It may take your bod some time to adapt. I wouldn't pass judgement based on your first race with this style of training. FC is 8 weeks, and from what I gather, it's hard work. Based on what I read about you, I'm sure you did all of the hard work, and did it very hard. (NOTE: not saying you did, but IF you snuck in your own 'increased volume' days cuz of habit, you may have sabotaged yourself, unknowingly). And after FC, there was a pretty quick turnaround to race day. I haven't done FC so I can't speak specifically, but I would bet there is a more 'Race Distance Specificity' Build when you execute a 12 week Half Ironman Plan. I could see how the first 8 weeks of a 20 week plan might be very close to something like OutSeason or Fast Camp and then that would roll into a good 12 week build for the race. Rich or Patrick could chime in on that.
It sounds like you have a race heavy year heading into IMFL. And your resume suggests that you can handle that just fine. Racing your way into peak shape for your A race versus using the plans to peak at the A race. I think both styles work but, if you do them together, there may be some sub par races along the way due to way too many variables to list.
I'd recommend sticking with the EN stuff for the year, being patient, staying focused on your A race and just wait and see how the year pans out. When you look back on 2012, you'll probably be glad you stuck it out.
Remember, the ceiling for adding volume is fixed for most of us. I know that in my life circumstances, I can't just continually add 5-10 hrs/week of training every few months, or even years. I, like most here, are trying to stay and be as competitive as possible with the most EFFICIENT use of our time. It works.
Good luck with season. Don't bolt, hang out for a while.
C ya in PCB!
Hi Suhki,
Another idea--the cals. 150/hr seems ways low. No way I could do that on the bike. I'm about 250/hr. On the run a gel every 1/2 hourish. Lots of water! Did you pee on the bike? What about bfast--was it 600 cals and a gel 1/2 hour before the start? That works.
You won't find hills in IMFL. I did it last year and it's a god race. Depends on the wind, but hopefully you'll find it fast!!
Also, how are you getting those 150cals? What drink/powder do you use, and how long have you used it?
I'd also like to see your power profile for the ride (IF, NP, etc).
I'm going to dissent a little from some of the comments here.
I think you mostly just had a bad day given what you had to say...almost entirely because you only had a 2 week build and you were doing it when you should be tapering. FWIW, I think you probably did what you thought you were supposed to do on the bike course and probably did NOT have any major screwups. I think everyone is jumping to the race execution stuff and missed the important part of your writing in the first couple of paragraphs. Yes, there may have been some errors, but you suffered much earlier than those would usually show unless you just were completely dehydrated and/or glycogen depleted to start the race.
Your profile similar to mine, save that you're a bit faster, a bit lighter, and probably younger. I'm 5'9" 150, 247 FTP. I also target 150 cal/hour on the bike and had a great day one time when I had only about 300 cal on the bike, finishing at 5:0x in pretty tough conditions. 4:50 is a time I put up on a faster course....so I'm there with you (though you're a faster runner than me!)
You don't suck. Your description of how you rode your bike course sounds like you did it more or less as we all plan to do. Maybe you could have started a little easier or ridden a little smoother...maybe not. Even if you did spike your watts more than you should have, that wouldn't cause a massive collapse in the third loop of the bike...it would have caused you to have trouble on the run and MAYBE some difficulty on the bike. But you collapsed 2/3 the way through the bike. (Maybe you had too little water, but I don't think calories, per se, were the problem.)
The whole "fast then far" thing works like this: you work your butt off getting faster/stronger and you get an FTP that goes up and a VDOT that goes up. But the truth is that it's an exaggeration to think that you can go out the next day and do an IM-distance ride at what your FTP predicts if the longest you've ever ridden is 90 min. Or at least, you can't do it and then expect to run. In my experience, the way this works is that you build up your FTP/VDOT and then you extend the time/distance for which it's valid during your race build stage.
For example, I got my FTP up 15-20 W this winter, but when I started riding outdoors, those 3 hour rides (using my new FTP) were much more of a challenge than they were a month later.
If you look at the HIM plans, the last 12 weeks is "the plan" with the first 8 weeks being sort of a holding pattern. The peak weeks are about weeks 12-17. Week 18 slightly tapers, and weeks 19-20 are serious taper. What you did was a great FC, which you may have hacked with one or two longer bikes/runs. You took a well deserved week off (or at least down). Then in your last two weeks before the race, you either fatigued the hell out of yourself by doing inappropriately long/hard stuff or you did the last couple of weeks the HIM plan, where the workouts are designed to be letting us rest up to a degree....not build up for the race!
The mistake that led to this being a sub par race was its timing relative to FC, nothing more complicated than that, I think. If you had had 6-7 weeks after FC, you could have had 1 week rest, 4+ weeks build, and a 10-day taper...and you'd have been right where you expected to be. But I just think you had too much calendar compression to make it work and you didn't get in the appropriately long runs and rides like you needed to. FWIW, I'm doing my first HIM in a couple of weeks at the end of an 8 week full-on HIM cycle, where the last couple of weeks before that were starting to ramp up into HIM type distances....so call it 9 weeks.
When you look at your bike power files, you will find all the Bad Things you want to look for, especially cardiac drift and changes in cadence etc in the last 1/3 of it. But again, I don't think this is an execution problem, per se...I think it's just a reflection of having been under-prepared.
Another way to look at it is this: You did a HIM to a respectable time for you (though admittedly disappointing) with two weeks training and you are STILL set up for a great performance later in the season by taking the new strength/speed and stretching it out to the longer distances between now and then.
Keep the faith.
I will go totally off the plantation here and say WTF were you doing any kind of build 2 weeks out from the race after finishing Fast Camp? I think you were cooked going in...
You should have extended fast camp...and then tapered...rest is what you were missing my friend.
I just got off the phone with coach Patrick and I look forward to being a part of EN, and learning and growing with you all. I'm going to provide answers to all your feedback.
HERE ARE MY FILES FROM GARMIN CONNECT
SWIM - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/183128766
BIKE - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/183491847
RUN - http://connect.garmin.com/activity/183491855
BTW - Does anyone know where to find the discount code for WKO+, I clearly need to purchase it. Apparently Garmin Connect sucks!
@Al, yes I'm very intimidating at my 5'8, 145 lbs! Thx!
@Peter, Yes new to power. calculated FTP via Coggan and Allen's Training and Racing with a power meter book, P. 47. -5min all out effort, 10min easy, 20 min time trial. Average power for 20 min tt minus 5% = FTP Thx!
@Chris thx for your kind words.... I'm here to stay... : )
@Jenn, Yes working on smoothing things out will be a work in progress for me. Having the 910xt on my wrist actually works well, i rotate it to the inside of my wrist and it sits in a place that's 2" over from where Rich's is mounted. With a 6 degree angle my upper body's literally parallel to the ground, so all I see is the watch with no arm movement necessary.
Have no idea what VI is, I'll have to learn more about that once I start using WKO+ yet I do understand NP, and will be on that now. Thx for your insights!
@Dottie, yes that makes sense. I have a very fragile gut and perhaps 150 is low but it has worked well in the past. for IMCanada I was getting 200/hr. I will experiment more with this in training and over the next 3 HIM's. I stick with the plans and don't sneak anything else in either, yet I appreciate all your feedback, THX!
@Steve, Yup, no RR, will experiment more. Thx!
@Scott, I use a high dextrose powder that's from Mark Allen, been using it for 2 years and sip every several minutes so it's like a constant IV drip to my cells., no highs or lows. Once I'm on WKO+ I'll add the IF and NP. Thx!
@Matt, thanks for that insight in your racing. Because I've been a power athlete for only 12 weeks, dissecting my power files is brand new to me, I'd love your input (Truly I have no idea what I'm doing when I look at my power files). Garmin Connect appears pretty limited to me and I think WKO+ is the answer. Please let me know how to set up that support from you, I'd so appreciate that! Thanks Man, look forward to connecting with you.
@Will, Loved what you said here. Really appreciate your observations and it truly resonated the most with me. Thank You! Now 2 days after the race my spirits are back up again and the faith is strong. "calendar compression" need I say more, love that. Love to know how your HIM goes in couple weeks. BTW I'm 38! Very likely my glycogen stores were low coming into the race too. I did pee 3x times on the bike and 1x time on the run (I'm a jedi master at peeing on the fly, not sure how that came about though... : ) Your insights into the program at weeks 12-17 really helps me too. I was planning on doing a BBW and BTW. I was planning on doing a BBW at week 11 of my IM build (9 weeks before IMFL) and a BTW 4 or 5 wks before IMFL. Love to know your opinion (and anyone else's on this). Thanks again William!
@Joseph, WTF was I doing... : ) thx for being candid! Yes, now it's clear I was a little tired, or a lot tired! Have taken yesterday and today completely off, feeling better already! Thx!
I have had a quick look at your bike file and had a couple of thoughts.
Your VI = 1.08 which is prettty high - meaning you got pretty tired making your watts. Pnorm divided by Pav = VI, and is a measure of how steady you rode. In this case, not very steady at all. I usually do a VI for HIM of around 1.02 for a flat course and 1.04 for a quite hilly one.
I also noticed your best 20 min power was 194 watts (an IF of 0.96) — this is one of the reasons you struggled.
http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/108/Default.aspx?topic=Alternate+Means+of+Determining+FTP have a look at this. Most of us use the 20(2)20 method of determining our FTP during the racing season.
My apologies for my language...I was driving home and thought to myslef..."WTF...I'm not on Facebook"...but you get my point...I think you went into the race underrested...
This place is great....the experience and smarts are unrivaled...welkomen into da haus!
Sukhi and Team,
Excellent feedback and excellent discussion! A perfect example of what makes EN so unique and, as we begin to enter the race season, I'm personally shifting from kumbaya with the world to I'm gonna teach and train my peeps how to kick your ass
So...my notes:
Thanks for the insights Rich. Yes, I know... tons to lern when it comes Power!
After purchasing WKO+ from you and trying to download the free version in the meantime, they've just informed me that WKO+ is not available for macs... ??? Is the version I purchased from you available for macs, cause that's all I have... ? They suggested an upgraded version of Training peaks????
Please advise! and by the end of the year I plan to be an old power padawan
Golden Cheetah is a Mac option: http://goldencheetah.org/
RaceDay is another: http://www.physfarm.com/inside/raceday.html
Recommend you search the Power forum for more details on these, I have no direct experience.
Let me know what you want to do, I can always refund your WKO purchase if you like.
Happy with the results.
New FTP 255W, 3.9W/Kg
1.5wks to my next HIM, I'll be training right through with no taper. Let you all know how it goes!
Happy Training!
Sukhi, 1.5weeks to next HIM, does this mean you are headed back this way to the island for the Elk Lake race? If so, I will see ya there. I expect to sign up today.
I had a test week in my advanced HIM schedule this past week so I retested the bike and just did some fast running and swimming that Patrick had suggested to me.
I tested a new FTP at 279W taking me up to 4.2W/kg so I'm pleased with that.
Coming into this race I certainly felt better than I did 3 weeks ago, but I wouldn't say I was totally refreshed having no taper and training right through it.
I had an ok swim of 33minutes (1:30 slower than 3 weeks ago). But I was pleased.
On the bike I decided to play it conservative. It was a very hilly/undulating course and I wanted to keep my VI low. SO I kept it steady and rode the ride I "should" have ridden instead of "could" given where my body is right now.
I rode a 2:44 which is acceptable given everything and here are some of the data numbers:
IF 0.665, NP 185, Relative Intensity 0.655, TSS 120, VI 1.048
Really happy with my VI!
Most importantly I felt great coming off the bike.
After the swim I was 53rd overall, after the bike I was 40th!
I buckled down on the run and started to work. Having run my Z4 repeats in training at sub 6 minute/miles made the sub 7min/miles feel manageable, but I wouldn't call it easy. I had to dig deeper and deeper as the run continued but I ran my way up to 21st place overall and 4th in the M35-39.
I ran a 1:26 and was 4:49 overall, setting a new HIM personal record... : )
So I am very pleased!
I increased my nutrition intake on the bike for this race and took in 280 calories/hour.
There was supposed to be cola at every aid station of the run, but the first 3 didn't have any, which threw a curve ball in my run nutrition so I drank lots of water and had some gatorade (which my stomach hates), when I finally got to the cola station I downed 4 cups which helped me hold pace and dig deep for the last few miles.
S
I am truly the slowest EN memeber.
Which is the perfect reason to be here come to think of it.
Need to change the title of this thread to Half IM PR now. WOW, Sukhi, talented and fast learner. Way to bring it!
Live and learn, indeed.
Awesome Sukhi, unfortuantely I was volunteering as well as racing with ya and could not find time to connect wuth you. I was racked in 2nd row from exit to bike course. That was the 4th time I have done that race, and those were pretty tough conditions too. Perhaps u have experienced more days like that than I, and I would certainly add them kudos to your day as well. I was off my PR by a few minutes, normally I ride that course in 2:36-38 and did a 2:40ish yesterday but it was a tuff 2:40 in my mind and others who have done the race many times.
I am done with the subaru series for the year as I prepare now for IMC, so good luck at the Vancouver and Sooke race.