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Race Rehearsal Reports

SwanieSwanie
in General Discussion

I met Allen and Scott up in Lake Stevens this morning for our RR on the new course. Due to a large event going on in downtown Lake Stevens we opted to park and start from a trailhead about 2.5 miles out of town to get away from the hoards of people.  We were on the course by 8:00am, I wasn't expecting much out of this ride as I have just gotten done with a Bike Volume Week two weeks ago followed by a Run Volume Week last week. I wasn't sure what I had left in my legs. The plan was to familiarize myself with the new 1 loop course and to make a 78% effort.

It took awhile for me to get my groove. I was probably 10-12 miles in before i was able to produce the expected watts. Looking at  WKO+ it is clear that I finished stronger than started. The first part of the course is the same as last year until about mile 12 (?) instead of heading south you turn and head north for another 10-12 miles. Due to road construction we had to use a detour and weren't able to ride the actual road the race will be on. But we were able to ride the terrain that we will see. The profile appears to be generally uphill the first half and generally down hill the second half. (dont believe it!) The first 39 miles were actually very fast and comfortable, mostly 3-6% grades with a few 10-12% thrown in to keep it interesting. Averaged a good speed through first 2/3 of the course. Based on my recollection of the Ironman Profile of the new course, I was thinking that I had this race in the bag because I didn't remember any hills to speak of the last half. Then we turn the corner at mile 40........all I saw was pavement in my face. 12-16% for almost a mile or at least thats what it seemed like. Turn the next corner and some easy rollers, no problem, turn the corner and 2 miles straight up. As far as the eye can see, uphill! It seemed like we climbed the entire miles 40-50. After getting off of 171st the hills were basically gone and we could cruise home, trying to gain back some of that average speed that we left behind for those last 10 miles. There is one last incline at mile 53 that will put a final tax on your glutes before your run, but it's not too long.

We ran on the Centennial Trail 3 miles out and 3 miles back. Averaged a 7:26/mile pace which is good considering the run volume I put in this week (40 miles).

After the RR we all went and tried the after race hangout establishment. Fred Rivertown Alehouse, the food was great the service was great and reasonably priced. Parking is a little hard to find but it's worth it. If you are planning on joining us for either the pre-race dinner or the post race dinner make sure you information is on the Info Sheet on Race Central so I can make Reservations.

 

Comments

  • scottwstewartscottwstewart
    I did my RR on Saturday along with Steve and Allen. It was great to see the new bike course. The first half of the ride was relatively easy, just lots of small rolling hills and nothing very steep. The second half was much more difficult, however, and includes one very steep hill which required me to get well above my goal watts to get up (Ingraham Road). Despite that, I actually thought that the course was pretty comparable to last year, although after talking to Steve and seeing Jenn's comparison I'm thinking it's just because I'm much more fit this year so it just seemed that way. I felt pretty good the entire ride and ended up at an IF of 78.3% (a little below my target of 80%). The 6 mile run revealed that I had pushed it just a little too hard on the bike, as I had to do a little walking as my legs were cramping up. If it had been race day, I know that I would have really struggled to get up the big hill at about mile 4.5 on the run. Based on that, I've decided to back down to a 77% IF on the bike which should be low enough to feel good on the run.

    With the race less then two weeks away now, I'm really getting excited for it. I'm hoping to finally break the 6 hour barrier in a HIM.
  • alleneskelinalleneskelin
    Ditto on Steve and Scott's comments about the hills in the last 20 miles. Ingraham is the first really steep hill and 171st is the second hill that is about 2 miles long. 171st was a knee killer for me but my knees felt okay running a few miles after the bike. The only problem is that they were stabbing by the time I made it home (1 hour and 45 minute drive). While I could probably do the race, I don't want to chance injuring my knees as that RR helped me realize they're not ready yet. So I'm going to shift my focus to short distance triathlons and try to slowly build up my knee strength for the HIM distance next summer. I do still plan to come out to Lake Stevens on race day to cheer you on and maybe attend the dinner if my dad doesn't come up with other plans since he lives a few minutes from the race.
  • SwanieSwanie

    Your more than welcome to join us at Lombardi's Saturday night. Great idea, going back to SC for awhile, get your speed up and heal those knees. You'll be back with the long ones before you know it.

  • alleneskelinalleneskelin
    Change of plans. I decided that I am going to race. My knees only hurt the night of the RR and have felt 100% since then. I also went to the chiropractor today and he said my knees were better than 2 weeks ago before the RR. So at least I know I'm not making my knees worse. Add all this to the fact that they changed the bike course and took out the 2-mile hill that was the only time my knees hurt in the RR. One of my chiropractor's theories is that I may be deficient in vitamins and minerals and that may be having some effect in the joints after long-term stress. Interesting idea so I'm going to start taking multi-vitamin supplements and see if that helps. It can't hurt.

    Steve, I'll update the spreadsheet and count me in for Lombardi's Saturday night and possibly for the after race dinner if my dad doesn't come up with other plans.
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