GrooveTime!group - CLOSED!!! (Page 221)

   And you DID leave them in your DUST!!!!!!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS AND WELL DONE, DENISE.   Very proud of you.    21 minutes between you and 2nd place???   WOW.

Looking forward to hearing all about it and what part you liked the best.  

Woohoo, DENISE!  Great job!!  Congrats!

LISA

Boy, it's a quiet weekend.  

STEVE - hope you had a great race.   Can't wait to hear about it.

DENISE - where are you?   Hope everything is OK and that you are feeling good. 

Don't know if anybody watches the ITU races, but the last 4 have been quite good.   Paula Findlay, a 21 yr old Cdn took gold in London and this morning on a tough course in Kitzbuel (sp?).    And yesterday my favorite, Gomez, came in second.   He took gold in London.    Moffat who, just hung on to the series first place, is struggling and came in 5th.  

Yesterday's race had the toughest bike course that actually had a hill which made it a better race to watch plus they had some penalties come into play with the top guys, Brownlee and Gomez.  

Budapest is going to be a good race to watch, I think.  

Hope everyone is having a great weekend.  

Anne - you found my results - thanks for the comments.  Lisa - thank you too.

So I cross the finish line and I'm feeling pretty good about my race and I walk over to the chip guy and he gives me a funny look and I look down and there's no chip on my leg.  My heart sank.  But wonderful, wonderful PickleEvents was able to get my backup manual times so all is good.  I do have to pay for the chip, though.  They had a chip time for me after the swim and then nothing after that.  So it most probably came off with my wetsuit - but couldn't find it anywhere - went thru my stuff multiple times after the race and the clean-up people didn't find anything.  I'm wondering if when it came off the velcro was open and stuck to somebody's something.  I'm actually glad I didn't know it was missing until the end of the race.  It's funny how the thing that actually went wrong was not one of the 20 possible things I was obsessing about the day before.

Had a GREAT time and improved over last year.

Placements:
age group: 1/3  females 52/117, overall 149/246

Comparison to last year

Nevis 2010:   2:43/100yd   17.5 pace  9:23 pace        Total time: 1:35:34
Nevis 2009:   3:22/100yd   14.9 pace  9:48 pace        Total time: 1:49:30

Swim was below average but bike and run were my best so far.  I'm actually happiest about the run.  I've been having below-average triathlon runs lately and don't know why.  My run yesterday went really well and felt easy and I don't know why.  Possible reasons:  the bike was only 14 miles, the run course was flat and shaded and it was overcast, I took a full GU with 8 oz water in T2 instead of partial GU and a few sips of water.  Who knows?  A lady in the 55-59 age group actually came up to me after the race and said that I had passed her and she was impressed by how comfortable I looked running.

Hope Steve is having a great day.

Now I'm ready to cheer on all you people who are racing next week.

Denise

Gang!

No, no, no -- Steve did not have a great race.

I woke up for good at 2:30am (excited, couldn't get back to sleep), and at about 8:30 I was at the side of the road, on a hill, maybe two miles into the bike, fixing a rear flat. I did not do well at that, taking somewhere between 8 and 13 minutes; I'm guessing it was about 11.

Honest to god, I have broken the whole debacle down into five segments, and estimated the time spent on each. (It was a long drive home. I needed soemthing to keep myself amused -- and awake!) And I may even do a "re-enactment", trying to get as close to my actually time-lost as possible. I will post all of this for you all to see, as it might actually have some valuable tidbits of dealing with flats in races.

The good news is that I managed to hammer the living daylights out of the rest of the race, and eaked out an a.g 3rd place. The winner was, I think five minutes ahead of me, so had I not flatted I would've had a great race.

Other good news is that my swim was quite good, and when I got into T1 the vast majority of bikes from guys in my wave (55+) were still there. And my T2 was back to old form.

The bad news is that in the process of hammering the living daylights and all, I managed to hammer my right calf; micro-tears, i would guess. I could feel it being a bit crampy after I got moving again, and maybe that came from being hunkered down working on my tire, or maybe it came from just pushing too hard. To add to it, the run was very hilly, so in pushing that very hard to tr to salvage something, I may have done a wee bit of damage. I don't think it's anything serious, but.....

Other bad news is that when I stopped to do the change (more on all of this later), I tumbled and banged up my knee and outer ankle bone and the top of my foot. So, I was bloodied but unbowed, and had injury added to insult.

That's the short of it for now -- much more to follow. And results don't seem to be anywhere yet. At the race it was just posted as finish times, so I have no idea how I stacked up in each disciplie. Hopefully that will all be there tomorrow.

Onwards!

DENISE --


Jeepers-creepers, what a fantastic race YOU had! Not only did you decimate the opposition, but you also annihiliated last year's time - not even close. AND you finished comfortably in thte top half of all women.

(Stiil feeling burned-out? )

I'll be very interested to hear why you thought your swim was sub-par, as :40/100m is mammoth jump. The bike improvement is also mammoth.

That is also very cool that that woman commented on how comfortable your run looked. Those types of comments from other competitors are worth their weight in gold, aren't they.

And three cheers to Pickle for getting your times all straightened away. That's one thing that has never happened to me, but at one point during the swim someone bopped my leg right where the chip was, and I did a little tow-feel with the other foot just to make sure it was still there! (Little did I know at the time what was soon to befall me! )

My guess is that your chip will be recovered, somewhere, at some time. We know it's not at the bottom of the lake, and there's no use for a chip unless it's one that a person actually owns and that is registered in their name with their own unique number. So, I'lll bet in gets unearthed in Picklevania within the next day or two. (Otherwise, what is it -- about $35?)

Great race, Denise! I'm very pleased for you, and OI hope that went some ways towards exorcising some of the negative thoughts and feelings you were having a few days ago.

And what's next for you???

Steve Steve Steve - I'm so sorry - What a day.

But - Coming in 3rd even with a flat is amazing!  And you said your swim was good.  I hope you can focus on the positive.

How is your body today?  Your calf and assorted scrapes?

Having a flat is one of my greatest fears.  You haven't had one for several years, right?  I remember you said you had two in one race, right?

Onward!

Denise

ps - It was very considerate of you to comment in depth on my race in spite of how you must have been feeling last night.  I appreciate it.

DENISE -

I really WILL do a detailed analysis of how it all unfolded yesterday, and that should be here later today. I hope there are some lessons there that can help you all out if and when you have your own flats.

You mentioned focusing on the positives, and the flat is something I'm actually trying to view as a positive. To wit:

I do all this racing, and seldom do I learn anything. I generally race well, I generally place well, and anything I learn is quite insignificant; in fact, the "learnings" are more just observations and finger-waggings: I didn't sight well; I spent too long getting my wetsuit over my chip strap*; I forgot to have a gel at the end of the bike/start of the run.

But yesterday I actually learned something, and it was pretty big.........and would I say that made for a good day? No, but it's something. It's another lesson learned hands-on style, and it's been a long time since I had a race in which I emerged from it with much food for thought. So......I guess that's a good thing, yes? (In a school-of-hard-knocks kind of way.....)

My multisport scorecard is now at 77 triathlons, 12 duathlons, 6 aquabikes, and 2 DNFs (one tri, one aqbk). Yesterday was my third race-flat (all rear-wheel!!!! ). The first was Columbia '05 (oly), and there's lots behind the story of that 20+-minute change! The second was Brierman '08 (oly-HIM hybrid), and after struggling for about 10 minutes the sag wagon came along and I decided to DNF (that was about 11 hours away, and meant for a loooooong drive home, wracked with remorse and regret ). And then yesterday.

Most years I have 1-3 flats; maybe more like 1 or 2. This was my first this season. I would asay that of my xx flats, 80% of them have been rear -- bad luck and trouble right there! Just the way it shook down yesterday (will be detailed in full flat report!), that fact alone probably accounted for two minutes of lost time, as oipposed to about 20 seconds had it been the front tire.

Stay tuned for more later -- if you dare!



*The chip strap thing had me changing straps yesterday so that I was using one that was tighter than my beloved DeSoto one.....and it worked! Several seconds saved by not having to coax the wetsuit over a flaccid old strap! So, there was a small "lesson" that I actualy benefitted from yesterday!

DENISE, wow 14 MINUTES off last year's time.  You should feel great about that!!  Congrats!

STEVE B, sorry your race didnt' go as planned ... darn flat ... but 3rd place AG is still a great position to be in!  And 77 triathlons, etc, etc ... wow.  How long have you been doing this?

Found out yesterday that my group won a lottery spot in the Houston Half, so we are officially on for January.

LISA

DENISE again -

The scrapes are minor and will just be eyesores for a few days. What was the line in Monty Python's "Holy Grail" -- "Just a flesh wound."

As for the soreness, especially right calf -- about 87.632% better! I attribute this to spending most of the drive home wearing a calf compressor sleeve on it, and also sleeping in the c.c.s last night. If you are unfamiliar with these, the two main makers are 2Xu and Zensah, and Zoot and DeSoto also make them. When constructed will and sized properly, they really do help with recovery. many people race and train in them, although I don't and probably won't -- don't want to upset my lovely tan!

If you go to www.fronhofertooltriathlon.com, the top photo shows Paul Fronhofer at the finish line of the kids' race, and he has on a pair. They sure can look geeky*, but I think there is a lot to be said for their efficacy. I wore one of my pairs between the two FTT races last weekend, and again after the second race and on the drive home, and I was ready for a good week of training.

(Unfortunately, they can't help with feeling of "depletion", which I felt for a couple of days after FTT, or with hematuria symptoms. BUT my calves were fresh as daisies after FTT!!!!)


*Zensah has an array of wild colors - orange, yellow, chartreuse, pink, royal blue, red, purple - to go with standard black and white, and it crossed my mind to get orange ones. But then, i'm accountable to you guys, and I didn't know you all might think!




Edited by stevebradley 2010-08-16 8:52 AM

LISA -

2000 was my first season, and my first-first was, i believe on August 14 and 15; I just had an anniversary. So, this is my 11th season.

'00 had three, '01 had five, '02 had seven.....and then it has just spiralled from there. My peak season was '07, with 17 -- 11 tri, 6 du. I don't think I'll ever hit those numbers again!

I sure don't like the flats.....but I guess it goes with the turf of racing alot. I mean, racing frequently increases the odds of getting a flat during a race. (To which Lynn might point out "So race only a few times a year!" )

Your group being your running group? How many are you, and are all of you going? That is very, very cool! Many years ago I came within a heartbeat of signing up for the full marathon, loving the way the course was laid-out and the ground it covered. They may have changed it since then, but it started downtown and then ambled south past Rice, then way west, then back north a bit and finishes with a long eastbound stretch. It was a big old rectangular thing. Is it still like that? I also remember there being lots of convenient lodging near the start/finish. Overall, it seemed VERY user-friendly!

Steve,

They have you in 2nd??????

but no splits - this is not good

Denise

Nevermind - they do have the splits - you have to click on the individual

The more I race, the more I appreciate PickleEvents - they time most of the stuff in this area.  They usually have the results posted online within a couple of hours - usually by the time I get home.  And they include leg pace as well as leg time - it is so much easier to compare your performance to other racers (especially in sprint triathlons where the distances vary so much).

Just mentioned this because, it's cumbersome to get the info on Steve's race.

Denise

STEVE,

Just got in a short while ago from our 90km ride and glad to hear you are feeling pretty good despite yesterday's unfortunate turn of events. 

I plan on spending tomorrow afternoon taking my rear wheel off and changing the tire a few times.    Will be interested in your post and anything that can help make this task easier.   I have been racing 5 years now and had 1 flat, so I am getting a bit nervous, thinking my time is coming.  

I saw that you said you learned some stuff, which is good, but that still didn't make it a good race for you.   This is where you and I will differ a bit - had that happened to me, and how you are feeling physically today, I would be talking about what a good race it was - having come in third after having to change a rear wheel flat and really pushed like crazy, straining your calf to the point of perhaps micro-tears but already feeling close to 90% better.  

Hope you are going to pamper yourself and get some good recovery in - another big race coming up soon. 

I have had 2 good rides since we last spoke.    My Friday recovery ride turned into a bit more than a recovery ride, but fortunately I didn't go too crazy.   I remember reading once that if you aren't able to keep your ride a recovery ride, then you are best not to ride at all.  

Today's ride was pretty awesome for me.  Am going to post my blog entry for today.  Usual detail.    I think I am ready for Vermont. 

STEVEB,

Route we planned out was only 88km, then part of it was 'oiled', so we had to change it up a bit and went just over 91km.
This was the WINDIEST ride I have EVER done.

Varied from NW 28 at beginning to NW35, NW28 and NW 30 with Gusts to 41km/hr.
Temp was 19* to start and it did feel cool on the ride which was OK.

This was to be a Z2 endurance ride. This is a VERY hilly route and figured HR would get into Z3, but avg. HR should be between 128-134 at end.

Didn't have a chance to get any morning stretching/flexibility in before the ride and went right into the ride cold. My muscles felt 'oxygen deprived' initially; like I had just finished a tough anaerobic workout. I think I have been dehydrated the last couple of days.

Started the ride right into the headwind so was taking the first 10 km VERY slow so as not to strain any muscles. Based on the start, I fully expected that we would be lucky to hit 22km/hr avg speed for today's ride. Still felt that way after the first 10km and avg speed was 20.3.

Still taking it easy, but muscles feeling more awake, we got into the Bamberg hills and I noticed they were much easier than previous rides, despite the headwind. Small circle spinning up them; no standing climbs.

By 10km I knew the breakfast we had was not appropriate; too much fat content and too close to ride and it was coming back on me.

This is a most beautiful, scenic ride with 1,000+ feet of climbing; good variety - steep hills and long climbs with some flat sections into a tough head/crosswind.

Stopped the HR monitor 2 times to get an idea of intensity. This was one time where the HR and the RPE didn't quite match up. HR in the right zone, but RPE felt harder. RPE would indicate alot of ride was HIGH Z2/LOW Z3

Negative split again, and never faded at all during ride. Strong right through.

Noted following speeds:
At 10km - 20.3
At 15km - 21.8
At 35km - 22.4
At 50km - 23.4
At 80km - 24.6
At 90km - 25.1

First hour: 519 cal; 45%fat
Avg HR 117, Max 156

Second hour: 564 cal; 40%fat
Avg. HR 123; Max 152

Third hour +: 815 cal; 35%fat
Avg. HR 127; Max 151

Total calories - 1898.

Based on Avg HR of 122, didn't even get into the Z2 (128-134), but know I was there alot; slowed down and took it easy when I felt the effort was too hard, so those times must really lower the avg. HR.

Can see by the average speeds and the Avg HR's at 1, 2 and 3+ hours that I was working a bit harder - because I was feeling stronger?? Because it didn't feel more difficult.

NUTRITION:
We have found a new friend in Vega Sport, Performance Optimizer. This was one of the best, strongest rides I have ever had and all I had during ride was 2 x 8oz of Vega sport (140 cal total) plus 2 figs (60 cal) and never faded.

Never stood on the hills and practiced spinning small circles alot.   The advice on spinning small circles has really made a difference in my climbing.     Thanks.

DENISE -

Okay, clever lady, where you did you find the results?? Not only haven't I been able to find them, but i got a broadcast email came from the RD saying that there were problems with age status* as well as chip problems for a block of participants. He said that we would all be contacted by Wednesday, but maybe it is clear now. However, I just went to both the race website and www.active.com, and couldn't find anything. Help!!

*I knew that would happen, as they took people's race day age, as opposed to the USAT requirement of age as of Dec 31. The race is 21 years old, but this is the first year it has been USAT-sanctioned; I guess they didn't read the USAT rulebook!

Help! Help!

ANNE -

I'll be back in a while!

DENISE again -

NEVER MIND, NEVER MIND, NEVER MIND!

I found the results -- or at least what is curently up there.

Pleased to see 2/12, and 3rd fastest a.g. swim. The run was fastest in a.g..........and no comment about the bike!! (Well, okay -- if it had been the 41 or 42 minutes I figured i was good for on that course, it would've been 1st. Things being how they were, however -- 7/12 !!

Aww, mama said there'd be days like that!





Edited by stevebradley 2010-08-16 6:23 PM

STEVE B, this is the first year the lottery system was used for Houston ... and there were MANY very upset athletes ... due to the lottery and the fact the registration fee was raised to $95 for the half (up $30 from last year), not sure what the difference was for the full.  You could register for the lottery as an individual or you could register in groups up to 10 (in case you don't want to race if your spouse/friend/etc doesn't get in) ... either the entire group gets in or noone gets in.  My group (Too Hot To Handle) consists of my running partner from my actual running group (Woodlands Fit), her husband, myself, a friend of mine from work and her daughter.  There are people (including one coach that I know of) with my actual running group that did not get in.  This will be my first time for this race, everyone else in Too Hot To Handle raced last year.  I did the 5K because I missed out on registration as I was out of town without internet access and the race filled with 48 hours (hence the lottery, to make things more fair, so they say).  It's a great course with lots of spectator support.  The marathon course winds through downtown, Memorial Park, the Heights and other old historic neighborhoods, and, yes, Rice.  The other thing that makes it such a great venue is the fact you can wait in the George R Brown Convention Center right up until race time if the weather is inclement.  We are looking forward to it!

LISA

LISA -

I'm very happy for you that the running gods were smiling on you (or at least your group ). With that roster of friends and associates, it's gotta be a great thing to look forward to!

About lotteries.....sigh....but I support them. With my dial-up computer, any race I would want to enter that has an almost-immediate fill-up status would leave me standin' by the roadside with my hat in my hand. When I did NYC Tri in '05, it was not quite so popular that I was able to enter it with no sweat or angst. But between then and '07 it mushroomed in popularity, and when I wanted to enter it for '08 I knew I would be in trouble. And then the trouble became worse when we decided to travel to Spain, which overlapped with when reg opened -- midnight, Nov 1. So i asked my daughter, Jane, to PLEASE stay awake and try to get me in, and she succeeded; I think the window that year was 12 minutes. For this year it filled up in 4 minutes, I think I heard, and now the decision has been made to go to the lottery. I would like to do it every 4th or 5th year as long as Jane is still living in NYC....but maybe I'd better start lotterizing for it now in case I'm not lucky in '12 or '13 or '14!

Speaking of daughters, has yours begun her new rehearsing for........(was it Mama Mia!)? I seem to remember something about mid-August being when her life does a 180, but maybe I'm wrong on that (as I probably am with the perfomance itself!).

ANNE -

First post first!

About not doing any ride if your recovery ride is not going to be a recovery ride --- there are recovery rides and there are Recovery rides and there are RECOVERY rides. Which style did you have planned for Friday's ride?

I may be being a bit silly there with three degrees of recovery....but maybe not. I think of the first as when one senses they have worked hard recemtly, and maybe need to dial it back a bit -- do soemthing easy, just a vague effort at recovering from the past X days. And then there are the times when nothing too onerous has happened and nothing too deamnding or important is up ahead, but both body and bring are suggesting that the next day or two should be toned down a bit. this is how I felt last week after Fronhofer, talking about feeling "depleted". So, i did some easy stuff for a couple of days, treating those workouts as Recovery because my physiology was making a stand. As for RECOVERY, that would be after something major for which there has been a significant build and the effort for the race itself has been right out there. (The other option for this is when the body has been hurt -- maybe how my calf felt yesterday, and ranging through many other things that are more dire. It's when you strongly suspect that if you do whatevere you think you want to do, regardless -- it might be the last something you do along those lines for a while. )

So, yes -- I'm happy to subdivide my various recovery efforts according to degree of demand, and in that light I think what you had planeed for Friday was lower-case recovery, which means that you were okay by pushing it harder than you had planned. Ta-da!

BUT ---- Getting back to what you said, if it's RECOVERY you are after, but can't guarantee that you will kepp it that way, then have Ken lock in a room for your own safety!

As for me and pampering and recovery, all it was today was a 37' swim. Tomorrow will be a loosey-goosey ride, and then Wednesday a run. There'll be swims in there and probably a ride on Wednesday before I take the bike to the LBS.

If you saw my post to Denise, you'l see where I think that wearing compression calf guards for the better part of the past 32 hours has helped the calf immensely. Do you use them?

I'm not sure ewhat you are saying about how we might differ, if what happened to me happened to you. Would you react "better" or "worse"? I posted to Denise how my results (such as they are, with maybe some revisions to follow) looked to me, and overall that makes me feel better about the day. Was it good? Maybe not good-good, but it was certainly beneficial. I CANNOT WAIT TO GET BACK THERE NEXT YEAR!!!!

My rear tire has slowly lost pressure since yesterday, and for much of the day I was worried that there were maybe soime burrs in the rim that were digging into the tube. This was because when I slightly inflated the dead tube (which I drove back post-race to retireve -- partly to not litter, but alos to do an autopsy) and put it in water, I couldn't detect any leakage. So, I worried all day about that. Then I decided to inflate it more fully, and when I put it in water and squeezed, it was very obvious where the damage was -- conveniently almost directly opposite the valve. So I then went to the tire and rubbed in that spot, 180 degrees from the valve.....and there are tow rough spots there! VOILA! My guess is that whatever intruded left a tiny bit of itself in the tire, and that is very gradually causing the tube to deflate. I will have the LBS check that out, but probably I'm in line for a new tire.

Which is one mistake I made yesterday -- I forgot to run my fingers along the inside of the tire looking for anything sharp. I can rememeber to do that when I'm not under pressure, but it completely escaped me yesterday. So -- When you flat, and before you install the new tube, do a feel-search of the inside of the tire! It is probably wise to do this with your fingers covered, but as I no longer wear cycling gloves, ever, I have nothing convenient to use. Maybe I ought to put a wee rag in with my emergency stuff, just so I don't slice my finger if what's in there is glass or a roofing nail or an old rusty razor blade!

Full tire-changing report is still to come, but maybe not until tomorrow morning. I'm still too involved in beating myself up over it all!

Onward!

ANNE again -

We've spent a lot of time talking about bike techniques and effort, and so I will tell you the following, which might interest you.

I think I learned yesterday that chaotic cysling can have an effect somewhat similar to that of chaotic swimming -- which came up between us last week. I'm still mulling this over and trying to view yesterday in a more detached and rational way, but here's what i think happened.

I drove the course on Saturday, and knew what to expect, mostly. I think I was in line to manage the course really well, especially one long gradual climb. But after the flat and once I got moving again, I was hellbent for leather, take no prisoners, it's all or nothing -- that kind of thing. There was no thought to managing my energies or trying very hard to "read" the course (and it is a superb course for reading) -- it was just to get right to edge and push.

The result of this is that at several points I hit close to my absolute limits, and had to back off some; didn't want to, but had to. I would guess that my HR was as high as it has ever been on a rdie, with much of that being from emotions. But it didn't matter what thre source was, the result was that my brain was removed from the equation and I did not ride "smart" at all. I don't really think I had a choice given that I was only concerned with getting a podium spot and didn't have much "wiggle-room" in which to do it, but under normal circumstances I would never ride that way by choice.

To my current thinking, then, what I did yeaterday is akin to windmilling like crazy in the water, thrashing away for all you're worth --- and really only exerting too much energy and not getting full results from the furious effort. The take-home in this is to never cross "that" line, and to always ride inelligently and with full regard for how the body is feeling. There was a world of difference between how I felt at Musselman or the Fronhofer races, and how I felt yesterday, and I can readily asknowledge that in theose other races I felt in complete control of my effort, whereas yesterday it was all tossed away at the roadside where the tire repair happened. My only soalce is that desperate times call for desperate measures, and that's why I rode like I did yesterday.

And then there is the matter of pushing to the extreme in a race that I almost bailed on, with a much, much more important race two weeks away. I definitely did not let discretion be the better part of valor yesterday, and that may have been very foolish. I don't think it will turn out that way, but I certainly put myslef in the position for that to happen. Not too smart. Or not too long-veiwed, anyhow.

But i went down on Saturday excited, and seeing the course and just being there made me even more excited. In fact, i even took the time to ride the run course, which I heard was a doozie, and that's so,mething I havemn't done in quite a while. But getting there made me aware that the race mattered to me at some level, and scouting it (driving the bike, riding the run) proved that point. So, it was a no-brainer when the tire needing repairing, that I would repair it and charge forth and not take a DNF.

Blah, blah, blah!! (Do I think I'm still working my way throught this, maybe?)

ANNE once more -

So your name, being A.A. -- does that also stand for "Admirably Analytical"? It could well be! Yet again you have produced some awesome data ("Awesome Averages"?). I will study them more later, but my quickish perusal supports what you feel -- tnat you are ready for HVM! I mean, you got faster as you went along, which doesn't often happen in rides of that length. You've given some reasons for why that happened, but after a few hours in the saddle the body can often overrule fact and logic -- but that didn't happen to you today! Holy moly, A-squared!

I'll just throw this out there -- Have you figured your HR limnits for the bike very separately than those for your run. I can see why you are a bit perplexed by the discrepancy between HR and RPE today, and I would agree that from how you described the conditions, you were indeed in high Z2/low Z3. Soooo, it might be worth recalibrating your HR parameters for the bike specifically. What do you think?

And very economical to do today on 16oz Vega (I have to check that out) and a couple of figs. I think you have a workable system in place for HVJ.

Anything more, that's long, in the plans between now and then? I wouldn't think you'd need it, but......

And a final thought here, moving away from riding, is how often you experiment with your swim "cadence"? I'm thinking about how consistent your times were, and how a swim coach once told you he could set his watch by your times. For me, slight increases in turnover result in a bit more speed, which has been borne out using my Tempo Trainer in the pool (Mark, late of this group, found the same thing), as well as less patently obvious in OWS situations. Anyhow, you might want to try some controlled swim "spurts" in which you increae your turnover for a short spell --- maybe 15 or 20 seconds, just until you start to feel a bit taxed. That might work to improving your times; it does for me.

And I'm glad that spinning those circles is working for you! It worked to perfection for me at FTT and other races this year.....but yesterday when my brain shut off I abandoned it and took to doing too many probably counter-productive standing grind-assaults. But that was just anger and fury and desperation having their way with me, I think!