Rock & Roll Man Half Iron, Mixed Feelings
starting my rr a day early.... tri position FTP 250.
GOALS based on solid (B+) training since Jan. Although May could be called a taper MONTH.
Swim: to PR, under 40. I don't count Augusta's Swim time.
Bike: to NOT PR, to bike smart, capping watts at 220 on the longer inclines.
Run: to PR.
basically, focus on the swim, be a poser on the bike (look good but don't get caught up racing the hammerheads), have a good run.
details to follow....
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Rambling report...
will fill in final times when they get posted....
Day before, had the day off! Ez logistics for a chance. Beat the ATL traffic out, got to Macon by 3, checked in, bike dropped off, and at Olive Garden by 4:30. Beat the Tri Rush. Chckn Parmesan. Checked into Comfort Suites and was chilling by 6. Had 90% of everything done before we left ATL so it was nice to have the evening to relax. Late snack was a banana with nutella and about 2 cups of Peanut M&M's.
2:30 am- 2.5 ensures, ~600 cal, milk chocolate flavored.
4:45 wakeup - 1 plain bagel, nutella spread with banana on top. 1 cup of coffee.
5-6ish - sipping on 1 bottle of Gu Brew Ultra + nuun (each bottle gave me 120 cal, from 1 scoop, and 340 mg of Na+) plus 5 endurolytes (additional 200 mg Na)
6:45 - 2 gu gels, roctane, with water
Swim:
Mixed feelings. Felt really good in the water. My swim has gotten so much better over the last 2 years but the time didn't show at this race. Steady, RPE of 7ish, smooth, got to focus on my pull and rotation, thought I was cruising along. I heard some peeps mumbling afterwards about the swim being marked long but I always chalk that up to a common excuse. If it was marked long, and I did my race day routine of going wide, adding some zagging, foregoing any kind of straight line, then that might account for my pathetic 50min swim. I really felt like I was swimming closer to my 40 min effort. Also, there was a bit of a run from the beach to the transition entrance and I think the timing mat for the end of the swim was actually at the transitions. Everyone swam slower than usual, I just didn't want to be THAT far off. Damn. C- 50min 25/35 AG
T1:
Went slower than usual, slow is smooth, smooth is fast stuff. This Macon course eats me up and I decided I was going to chill rather than trying to beat it up in transition. Added time came from putting on De Soto Arm Coolers (weather was the coolest it's ever been for this race but I didn't trust that it would stay cool, and I tend to overheat so why not buy some degrees even if the temps were ok). I also took the time to put on some cycling socks, mainly for later in the run when my shoes tend to find this particular hot spot/blister. Downed a small can of Red Bull, defizzed. about 2 min.
Bike:
p2sl, 808's with wheelcover, quarq pm, bottle on the bars via zipties, bontrager aero bottle on the seattube, 1 midline gorilla caged bottle under the seat. able to put 1 can of fix-a-flat + 1CO2 with adaptor in the tail of my Giro Advantage 2, worked perfectly, barely showed at all, hidden from all wind, didn't bother the weight of the helmet at all. very clean setup. been working on the aero position all month, nailed it, very small hole in the wind, no back troubles or so compact that power suffered.
1.5 bottles per hour - 180cal Gu Brew Ultra + nuun with 5 endurolytes (so 550mg Na per hour)
Missed a G'ade handoff at mile 30. Got 'hungry' at mile 35. Had a roctane that I was saving for mile 45 but I decided to go ahead and eat it at mile 35 since I was hungry. So, the last 35-40 min was on water and a roctane gel.
Pacing was solid. FTP of 250. Goal watts of 200, 215ish on the longer climbs, 220-225 on the bumps to power over. EVERYTHING was 1-2% up and down. I got so SICK of seeing 1% and 2% on my Joule. There were only a handful of times when I burned a match, maybe 250 watts and I caught those early and backed off. So, this 80% effort seemed good to me. Even holding .8, I reeled in everyone. That concerned me. I didn't want to be That Guy. I've never done a Half or Full where I was never passed. So, I thought I was doing something wrong (in the EN world). Figured my run would tell me. pnorm 197, 2:41 bike split, B+ 1/35 AG
T2:
pretty smooth, sat down, tied shoes, no yankz, more red bull, don't have a pace so fell back on a basic Times with chrono for mile splits, used Fuel Belt with bib number attached to front. had 2 gels in the back pocket, 2 fuel belt flasks of Gu Brew Ultra + Nuun, and 2 separate packs of 5 endurolytes safety pinned to the belt. about 2 min.
Run:
Lots of good here, for me. time wasn't impressive, but I pulled off something that I can't say I've ever done. Even splits for all 13. I usually have a couple of 11-12min/mile episode, or worse. 9's today. Hmmm, ok, that's a step in the right direction.
Again, more 1-2% everywhere. This kind of running KILLS me. Those long slow slopes make my legs feel like concrete. I tried to stay loose and patient. My goal was to hit the mile markers around 8:30, depending on the terrain, and to be running at 9min. And it worked out. Some miles were 8:20, some were 8:40, all due to the slope. Took 5 endurolytes at mile 1 and 7. Sipped on course stuff (Heed, cola, ice water) when the tent was at the mile marker. But, as I learned at Rev 3 last fall, you can't always count on the mile marker and the tent always being together. That's why I took the 2 fuel belt flasks, so that I could run buy the tent if it fell in the middle of the mile. I could use my own gu brew at the mile marker if it was out on its own. I didn't want to stop running until I hit the mile markers. So, pacing was solid (though it's a bummer that I executed well but it still had me freefalling in the AG after I made up so much ground with the bike) and the other good thing was that, for the first time ever in a half or full, I NEVER CRAMPED! There was a very slight warning twinge at mile 12.5 but I slowed for a few steps, took in some fluids and just finished smart, without the finish sprint. 1:57, B+ 12/35 AG
finishing in 5:33 and 7/35 AG
Feel free to correct me if you see differently....
Felt good about:
Felt stronger in the swim, smoother and steady.
The bike, everything from the setup to position to goal watts, and pretty good about execution.
The fewer calories, 180 per hour is WAY lower than I used to go. Think I used to look around 250-300 (?). I can tweak this a little but I do see the benefit as u coached.
Socks on the bike/run.
The 'Not Slowing Down' on the run. Maybe I can run faster if I bike easier, don't know, but at least I didn't blow up on the run, it was hard, but FAR from the usual grind.
Concerns:
The swim time, WTF?!?!
Was I going too hard on the bike? Passing everyone? (Tho, when you are that slow in water, you're gonna be passing peeps on the bike)
I was 'Full'/bloated, needed to burp or puke for the first half of the run and when that subsided.....
I was feeling a little undercaloried on the second half of the run, but didn't feel like doing much other than small sips of cola & ice water.
Gonna lose a few lbs before IMFL.. 165# race morning which was about as light as I've been. Feel that losing another 5 by November is far from radical.
Gonna get real close to The Feed Zone, by Lim.
Otherwise,
Sheri had a great Sherpa day cuz the heat was missing. A few years ago, we said we would never be back to this one cuz the heat/humidity is brutal. Now, I'm saying that we'll never be back to this race cuz the weather will never be as nice as it was this year!
Sheri had picked up a very nice Tyr Tri Suit for me on my birthday last Feb. Silver/White, says it got some kind of carbon stuff in it. Felt really good. HOWEVER, it becomes see thru. Nuff said. It's been retired, the suit, that is. I told her it was cuz it was cold outside.
Meeting Joe and Gen Matchette was super. Gen did great in her sprint race. Look forward to doing some of these races in our area with ya over the upcoming seasons, Joe! Get that leg feeling better.
Bottom line - getting better.
I did that race years ago. Why? I dunno. Long drive. I thought the Allman Bros might be playing or something.
Anyway, I think the swim was long then as well. Or at least we all thought it was long. Could well have been again.
One thing I remember about figuring out fueling for halfs while training for an IM- 2 very different animals. Less tended to be more for the HIM. Learned the hard way to be consistent with fuel and water but not overdo it.
Congrats.
Might go Infinity for November's race. Don't worry, I will be trying it out, practicing with it, before Oct 25th.
Legs very sore on Sunday to Wednesday. got progressively worse. quads aching and the idea of massage or foam rolling was unthinkable. by wednesday, knees were aching pretty bad too.
using transition plan.
but went for a 1 hr bike wednesday evening and decided to hammer a few stretches. legs felt awake again. no soreness after the ride and woke up Thursday morning with legs feeling completely normal.
bottom line- took about 4 days to get post race soreness out of the system.
Great report, good race. Regarding nutrition: I've found I don't need to load up on calories pre-race for an HIM, just keep steady liquid based fueling during the race. That may account for your bloating?
And just how many 50+ swim/2:41 bikers are there - no surprise no one passed you, your steady run shows you didn[t overcook your bike.
re: nutrition. Many of the upcoming weekend rides will last between 2-4 hours. I plan on trying something similar to what you're suggesting.
and thanks for the perspective check, not losing any sleep over the swim time in Macon. I'm confident that I'm improving in the water. Just want to be ready for 2.4 in the Gulf in November.
Tho I do need to bite the bullet and do a 5k test to get an accurate vdot. Leg is healed, can't use the fear of reinjury anymore, no excuse not to have accurate data.
These are great notes to come back to next year. Will probably stay with a couple of 70.3s and not go full. Usually take a year off after a year that has a full.
As for now, I have to let myself move on and start practicing getting/digesting more cals for the full in November.
Thanks for all of the feedback guys!