Vegas 70.3 half-ironman world championships - Matt Aaronson - I still have a score to settle in the
IM 70.3 World Championship (Las Vegas) race report, Sep 9 2012
Profile: Matt Aaronson
- 37 year old management consultant, 3rd year doing triathlon, 2nd year doing HIM distance
- FTP 254 (4.1 watts/kg), VDOT 51.6
The short version
I did this race last year and got completely humbled by the hard course and unbelievably high level of competition. I got massive muscle cramping on the run, likely due to overcooking the bike and mismanaging hydration in the dry climate. My time was ~5:29 -- ~40 mins slower than my ~4:48 season PB at Racine – and I placed 142 out of 170 in my AG. I was pretty convinced that if I had a good race I should have only been 20-25 min slower than Racine. In my race report I closed with "…but I really think that with improvements I can finish mid-pack in this race."
Well my race this year didn't turned out exactly how I planned or wanted, but it was a major improvement over last year and again a great experience and a ton of fun. My finishing time was ~5:10 – an ~18 minute improvement – and I placed 77/170, so got to about "mid-pack" where I thought I could be after last year. My season PB at Racine this year was ~4:39, so I was ~30 mins slower and not into the 20-25 range that I still believe is possible if I have a good race. I repeated the sodium-loading protocol I trialed at Racine and didn't get any muscle cramps, but instead got a side stitch at the beginning of the run that was pretty debilitating and necessitated walking and slowing down a LOT. It went away for the most part after the first 3 miles but despite feeling great I just wasn't able to speed up and get my HR elevated and get moving as fast as usual. I have no idea why.
Overall, I really like this race. The course is legit and the conditions are always going to be challenging. The level of competition is world class (literally) and the event is really well run. The location in Vegas is a lot of fun with great dining and things to do. I still have unfinished business on this course, and I certainly want to come back again to execute the race I'm capable of executing. Such is the challenge, frustration and fun of triathlon…
My splits in each discipline relative to last year's race are in the table below, as well as the links to the Garmin files. Improvements across the board, each as a result of different reasons that I'll go into in some detail. But the upshot is that on the right day I can go sub-5:00 on this course…a 2:37 bike and 1:38 run would have given me that, and I think both are within reach even at around my current fitness level.
| 2011 | 2012 | Improvement | ||||||||
| Swim 1.2 miles | 43:32 | (2:17/100m) | 37:14 | (1:55/100m) | 6:18 | 14% | ||||
| Bike 56 miles | 2:47:07 | (20.11 mph) | 2:43:10 | (20.59 mph) | 3:57 | 2% | ||||
| Run half-marathon | 1:51:46 | (8:31/mile) | 1:44:42 | (7:59/mile) | 7:04 | 6% | ||||
| T1 | 4:08 | 3:50 | ||||||||
| T2 | 2:28 | 1:43 | ||||||||
| OVERALL | 5:29:01 | 5:10:39 | 18:22 | 6% | ||||||
| Placing overall | 929/1505 | 432/TBD | ||||||||
| Placing in AG | 142/170 | 77/170 | **placings tentative until results are official | |||||||
A couple of other small notes before the "detailed version":
- I didn't push the swim at all effort-wise, but I did try to do some drafting after getting some advice from former EN-er Aleksandar Tasic a few days before the race. It was the first time I've successfully drafted for a good portion of the race and it made a big difference.
- As usual, I just couldn't finish the bike without a pit stop…in this case two stops to irrigate the desert landscape totaling 2:04. I just can't bring myself to do this while riding…maybe next year.
- The run was a big negative split, with the first part including quite a bit of walking time while battling the side stitch. I also had to make a bathroom stop on the run, which was annoying.
THE DETAILED VERSION:
Intro
As usual I sent a short email to my family in advance of the race…it is a good summary of how I approached the race:
Ok, race day is tomorrow. Hopefully I'm ready. You can track me online at Ironman.com or using the Irontrac app. There is also an EnduranceNation athlete tracker that dad can get the address for tomorrow if he goes to the team dashboard once the link is posted.
The goals are simple:
- Enjoy the half-ironman World Championships race experience…really appreciate and soak it up during the race, unlike what I did last year when my race fell apart starting at the end of the bike and I got very focused on trying to salvage my performance, leading to a downward spiral
- Beat my time from last year. This SHOULD IN THEORY be easy, but with a forecast of 98 by the time I expect to be on the run course, you never know
- Have a good race without major physiological issues brought on by the dry heat…something I'm not acclimatized to or experienced with. I'm doing a lot of high sodium hydration today to see if that helps…we'll see. I'd love to have a goal of "no muscle cramping" but I try to have goals that are within my control…
Placing within my age group is an irrelevant metric…in most of the large half-ironman races (the ones run by WTC and attracting a regional crowd) I ought to target a top-10 finish. But in this case I could have the race of a lifetime and wouldn't be anywhere close. Last year I was convinced that I was capable of a performance to put me in the top half of my age group, but this year the qualification was much more difficult so the field ought to be even more competitive. So I have no real way to measure success on that dimension.
In terms of specific time splits, the swim course last year was a little long and if that is the case this year, I'd expect about 40 minutes (no wetsuits allowed in this swim, so I'm thinking ~4mins slower than my ~34' swim at Racine this year, plus another couple of minutes for the long course). On the bike people talk about this course being about 20 minutes slower than a flat course, and that was my experience last year almost exactly. That said, I went too hard on the bike last year and paid for it big time so I'm planning to target a little lower power this year and go somewhat conservative. So I'll probably end up somewhere in the 2:45-2:50 range. The wind is a bit of a wildcard…that could easily swing the time by 5-10 minutes. On the run, a 1:40 would be quite good given the course and the heat. And it would sure beat last year's disaster run of 1:51:46 where I spent significant time stopped in my tracks with debilitating muscle cramps.
Overall it promises to be a great experience and a capstone event to my tri racing for this year!!
Pre-race + EN team pics
Several of the team bailed on the Saturday pre-race lunch (you know who you are…), but it was good to hang out with folks. I enjoyed a lot of food pre-race given the great restaurants in Vegas, and the Saturday total was ~3,500 calories and plenty of hydration – most of it in the ~70oz of G2 I drank over the course of the day (plus about 20oz of regular water…used to down a bunch of salt-capsules). I estimate my sodium load (including the salt in all the restaurant food at meals) was upwards of 7000mg on Saturday, including ~1000 mg in the Gatorade / G2 and 1290 via salt caps in the evening. Sodium on Sunday morning was 2765 mg including 645 of salt caps, and ~2200 during the race, including 1290 of salt caps.
The team pic was attended by 5 of 7 EN-ers racing, from left to right: Matt Ancona, Paul Hough, William Jenks, Selina Humnycki and me. Matt Ward and Chris Fugate were in Vegas too but didn't make the pic.
Swim – 37:14, 140/170 in AG
Since I'm a weak swimmer I started on the far left side in an effort to avoid the crowds. That worked out well and for a non-wetsuit swim in mid-80s water temp I thought it was quite a good swim. It was almost exactly 3 minutes slower than my swim at Racine in July with a wetsuit in very cool water. So not bad at all. My placing of 140/170 is a bit better than last year's 163/170 (when I swam 43:32!!), but really given I finished 77th overall I should have a lot of improvement left on the swim.
One thing I did try out this time was drafting. Former EN teammate Aleks Tasic gave me some tips over lunch on Friday before the race and I implemented them with some success. Prior to this race my attempts at drafting featured trying to follow someone who passed me. This time around I found someone who was swimming nearby at about my pace, and settling in behind them. So "same speed, less energy". It certainly felt different and better. But I also spent a fair amount of time in open water, and that was fine too – I concentrated on my form and being as smooth as possible in the water.
T1 – 3:50: It was a pretty long run to the bike rack, and unlike last year there was no changing tent. Just a "standard" 70.3 procedure, with the exception that everything not on your bike had to be in a bag. The bike racks were just as empty as they were last year when I exited the water, so no trouble finding my bike. Shoes were clipped in and sunglasses were taped to the frame, so I stuffed my speedsuit into the bag, put on my helmet and started running up the hill to the bike mount line.
Bike – 2:43:10, 86/170 in AG (which put me in 108th place at the end of the bike)
This is a pretty tough bike course, and fortunately I had experienced it before, which I think confers a great advantage. The overall elevation gain is ~3,500 over the course of 56 miles, and it is somewhat deceptive…there aren't really any major climbs or steep grades…but there are no flats either, so you're always working. The course also has a net gain of ~700 feet…all of the "net" coming in the last 5 or so miles, which really broke me last year and which I think accounted for a good part of my trouble on the run. So when I got to Vegas on Thursday I made a point do my shakeout ride on the last 10 miles of the course. It isn't great riding when not closed to traffic, and I did it in the heat of a 105 degree afternoon with a 22mph HOT headwind. It was brutal…just like I remembered it. But I paid attention to every twist and turn, so I could make it my bi*ch on Sunday.
Last year I targeted 0.83 IF and very constant power. I rode a 1.02 VI which in retrospect I thought was "too low" for the course…I was pedaling on downhills like a madman and pushing hard to maintain target wattage that I just couldn't achieve. I ended up at about 0.804 but it was an ugly ride that saw my power fall constantly over the course of the ride. By the end I was unable to stay in the aerobars and was almost unable to climb the final miles to the end of the bike. This year I resolved to:
(a) be ok with riding a higher VI…making sure to coast when appropriate (and also I put on a cassette with an 11t cog so I wouldn't be spinning out so easily)
(b) target a lower NP…I targeted 0.8 to start with, and was prepared to accept lower without fighting it if that's what the day handed me
Overall I felt awesome on the bike from beginning to end. The conditions were excellent with very little wind and only mid-90's heat. I coasted when appropriate, but felt good the whole time and my VI came in a 1.02 again. I ended up with an IF of 0.808 – also almost identical to last year – but felt a billion times better. The stretch at the end that brutalized me last time was truly a piece of cake and I felt great heading into T2. Given how I felt, my split of 2:43:10 was a bit disappointing (AG rank 86/170), but my goal was not to push it hard, and so I didn't and shouldn't have expected a better time. My FTP is a bit higher this year so on the same IF I actually had a higher NP and that combined with better conditions gave me a bit better split. Makes perfect sense. The summary numbers, this year vs. last, on the bike:
| Bike data | 2011 | 2012 | ||
| NP | 199 | 205 | ||
| IF | 0.804 | 0.808 | ||
| VI | 1.02 | 1.02 | ||
| TSS | 178.0 | 176.4 | ||
| Avg HR | 141 | 145 | ||
| Avg cadence | 88 | 85 |
If you're wondering about the cadence being low…so am I!! I'm typically in the high-80's / low-90's so that was a surprise to me when I pulled the data. When I look at the cadence chart it is pretty constant…and low. Strange. The high average HR resulted from a jacked HR that took about 7-10 miles to come down after the start of the bike. That happened to me at Racine this year too. Most of the ride was in the mid-140's.
Below is also a comparison of HR and Power this year vs. last. The declining power and HR decoupling in 2011 just didn't happen this time around. It is striking how different the profile is (and how different a feeling that profile translates to).
And detailed bike splits, excluding a couple of bathroom breaks totaling about 2:04, plus one or two 30 second "breaks" to backpedal and re-zero my powermeter:
| Distance (miles) |
Speed (mph) |
NP (watts) |
IF | VI | Cadence (rpm) |
Avg HR (bpm) |
Max HR (bpm) |
| 2.5 | 15.3 | 215 | 0.846 | 1.05 | 82 | 160 | 174 |
| 5 | 23.1 | 211 | 0.831 | 1.00 | 89 | 152 | 160 |
| 5 | 22.5 | 202 | 0.794 | 1.02 | 88 | 143 | 149 |
| 5 | 17.7 | 206 | 0.809 | 1.01 | 84 | 141 | 157 |
| 5 | 19.6 | 209 | 0.821 | 1.01 | 86 | 141 | 146 |
| 5 | 23.6 | 199 | 0.785 | 1.01 | 89 | 144 | 153 |
| 5 | 24.6 | 212 | 0.835 | 1.00 | 87 | 145 | 153 |
| 5 | 23.9 | 204 | 0.805 | 1.00 | 85 | 147 | 152 |
| 5 | 16.5 | 200 | 0.788 | 1.02 | 81 | 143 | 153 |
| 5 | 23.7 | 203 | 0.800 | 1.00 | 85 | 141 | 148 |
| 5 | 21.7 | 210 | 0.828 | 1.01 | 85 | 145 | 151 |
| 2.5 | 18.0 | 202 | 0.797 | 1.03 | 84 | 146 | 152 |
| Overall 56 miles | 20.6 | 205 | 0.808 | 1.02 | 85 | 145 | |
| TSS = 176.4 | |||||||
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Comments
Steady improvement, as usual. Nailing a world class course takes precise attention to numerous details, then a bit of luck. E.g. It took me four tries to have what I considered a successful race @ Xterra World's on Maui.
I bet you'll get over the hump next year.
What do you think caused your side stitch? Nutrition? Effort?
Where are you going to re-qualify again Racine?
Congrats again and love all the data. Read it twice and think one more is in order!
Obviously, solid race as well. That course appears to be truly humbling. While Racine is a fast course, it has less than stellar conditions the last 2 years so your insanely fast times there vs Vegas only underscore the execution challenge and competition at Vegas.
I will make a couple remarks about "really well run". My wave was the second to last, so naturally I was toward the end of the bike and and run.
On the bike course, the last couple of bike stations had only a couple of people handing out Perform because they were running out. Note: carry extra calories/salt if you are counting on them.
By about noon, the run aid stations were running out of ice. I know of no "solution" to this.
Although I agree this is a great course and I have my own reasons to want to get back and try it again, these two things (PARTICULARLY the ice on the run) struck me as totally unacceptable for a World Championship race in the middle of the dessert. I don' t know how to communicate this helpfully to WTC. If anyone does, please drop me a PM.
1. Stuff did not have to be on the bike in T1. I laid out my gear on the T1 bag on the ground as I saw many, many others do.
2. Take the race seriously. It is a lot of work even if you are come just for the workout and experience.
3. If I did it again, and at this time of year, I would go out with 3 bottles on the bike instead of 2. It was very hot and WTC cheaped out on the water stations.
4. I came in a little heavy but you need to be lean and light for this race. This is a course that rewards high power to weight ratio on the hills. Plus, being light will help with the heat.
5. Overhydrate. It's a blast furnace out there and you need to work the fluids continuously for this course. I did a good job on this front, but came into the race too tired for it to do much good.
6. Bring a disc wheel/cover!! I used mine and flew by people time and again on the downhills. Can't believe the amount of free time folks gave away with open wheelsets.
7. I would use EST again for this race. Seemed like more of a hassle to stay at T2 than T1 and EST just made it so easy. They took us to the strip on Sunday night after the race, to Hoover Dam on Monday morning, and to the strip again on Monday night. Heck, the mechanic services alone are reason enough to travel with them. That's twice I've used them and they get a big thumbs up from the family which equals SAUs for me.
Thanks for the comments everyone
Matt - Steady improvement over last year. Good stuff. Also, don't be too hard on yourself - it is the World Championship after all, and you did well. Congrats and go get em' next year.
Congrats on being there - Not sure I'll ever make it (maybe as I get to be more of an old fart) so hope you enjoy the honor. Great to see you in Madison this summer...