Gray Guys/Girls Maturing Triathlete - Always OPEN (Page 24)

Steve,

I saw that article and got a good laugh.  I don't know about everyone else, but outside of a race, anytime I have tight clothing or tights on, it's covered by running shorts.  Call me old fashioned!

Warning - not for the feint of heart!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQ_IQS3VKjA

Have a safe trip Steve and have a great race!

Steve - sorry to hear about the DNS.  I almost did the same this morning for the same reason.  When I got up to head to the race it was raining, thunder, lightning - the whole works.  I went ahead and drove over and set up my transition in pouring raining wondering if we were even going to race today.  We did, but the start was delayed and the Olympic bike course was shortened to one loop (the road had to be re-opened at a certain time).  The weather actually improved for the duration of the race and we even had some sun when I was out on the run.  Just about the time the last runners were coming in, another thunderstorm rolled through.  So packed up transition and back to the car in pouring rain again.  

My race went well.  I was hoping to beat last year's time and I did by a little under 2 minutes.  Not a big improvement in overall time, but I was much more comfortable with the swim this year (even without a wetsuit).  My bike went from 15.1 mph average last year to 16.2 mph this year and I spent almost the entire ride in the big chain ring (a major improvement for me), even passing a few people on the "hills" - actually overpasses.  My run was a little slower but I kind of expected that with the hamstring issues I've had.  So I'm happy with the result and I know what to work on for my next race.  

Janet

Nathalie - congrats on your duathlon!  I know I'm a little late but wanted to say great job!  

I've been on vacation for the last week and haven't spent much time on the computer so I'm a little behind.  I'll try to get caught up in the next couple of days.

Janet

Steve,

You have insider information that those who started may not have access too - you've gone down hard and know it hurts.  There are only a couple races I can think of that warrant the kind of risk riding in that race would have required - and they all have "Championship" in the race name.

You did the right thing not starting.

Janet,

Nice to see you had a good swim.  You're getting stronger on the bike too!  I can remember a time when the large chainring was rarely in the conversation.  Good job!

Thanks Scott .  I really feel like I am getting stronger on the bike.  You're right - I used to avoid the big chainring so using it for almost the whole race this time felt good, especially with the wind on the course.  Normally I would have been struggling with the headwind on the way out but this time I just pushed through it.  It's an out and back course (6.4 miles each way) and it took me almost 27 minutes on the way out - the way back was a little over 21 so a nice tailwind there helped with the average speed.  My legs were a little shaky to start the run but after about a mile they settled down.  I'm really anxious to see what I can do at my race in July after another couple months of good training.  

Janet

Hey Rob,

Good question!  As I answer, my response isn't so much directed at "you" the individual as it is to "you" the collective interested triathlete.

I'll get to the HR question at the end.  As I write this, I am making a couple of basic assumptions -

1. That you can complete your specific race distance.  Let me define what I mean by that.  You aren't just coming off the couch and you have sufficient fitness that you could, on successive days - swim the race distance, the next day ride the race distance, and the next day run/walk the race distance (this may not be a very good gauge if you are doing a 140.6 because you aren't going to be running a marathon in training).  If you can do those three things, you have sufficient fitness to start and have a successful race (I'll define "successful" in a moment).
2. That you are a newer triathlete or are a typical age-group triathlete and not necessarily competing for an overall podium finish.  (If you are truly on the very pointy end and competing for an overall finish, everything I am about to say is still very true, however you'd have a much better understanding through training of where your limits are).

With all of that in mind, I'm going to share my thoughts with a 140.6 triathlon in mind - an Ironman.  However, everything I am about to say is equally true as you go down in distance.  It's just a bit easier to see how it applies at the longer distance.

The dirty little triathlon secret is that fitness has absolutely NOTHING to do with a successful race.  Before you call me crazy, remember we have already established you have sufficient fitness to complete the race when you toe the line.  Allow me to offer an analogy - it isn't about the car, it's about how your drive the car.  Most of the athletes that show up at an Ironman start (or any other distance, especially for newer triathletes) are focused on their fitness:  Will I have enough fitness to finish strongly?  Will I be strong enough to handle the hills?  In other words, to their way of thinking, the course and the race are the problems and they are looking at fitness as the solution.  With that mindset, their race will be over before it even starts.

The first key to success is you must execute YOUR race day plan - that is the only thing that will allow you to have a successful race.

Ironman success is based on executing your race plan using whatever level of fitness you bring on race day.

Trust me on this, the course will be littered with the bodies of very fit men and women who don't know how to properly form and/or execute a race plan.

That begs the question, "What is a successful race?"  The short answer is that a successful race means a good run. NOTHING on race day will matter until you arrive at what I call "The Moment."  When you arrive at "The Moment" during the run, continuing becomes very, VERY difficult.  Do not make the mistake of thinking it won't happen to you - you WILL arrive at the moment and it may well be one of the greatest challenges of your life. (Certainly at the Ironman distance EVERYONE WILL arrive at the moment.  As the distance goes down, and your experience goes up, the moment will occur later and later into the run).

“Success is defined as not slowing down when you arrive at the moment.”

Everything before the moment – nutrition, the swim, the bike, and roughly the first two thirds of the run – is about creating conditions for success when you arrive at the moment.

Let's look at the race from within the race -

The swim - only swim as fast as you can while staying aerobic.  If you begin to "feel the burn" you are going to fast - slow down.  Triathletes in general don't seem to understand the swim can sabotage their entire day.  If you come out of the water in high zone 5 (deeply anaerobic) it is highly unlikely your HR will recover unless you sit down, rest and allow that recovery to take place.  But you're in a race, so that probably isn't going to be an option.  More importantly than your HR being so high, by going deeply anaerobic during the swim, you will have dipped into your limited glycogen stores which you will need later in the day.  Stay aerobic and set yourself up for a successful day.

The bike - this is the most likely area you will sabotage your day.  We are going to look at this specifically in terms of an Ironman, but remember, the theory still applies at shorter distances - including a Sprint.

But first, consider this - The difference between a "good" swim and a "bad" swim is generally 4-10 minutes.  The difference between an "easy" bike and a "hard" bike is maybe 15-30 minutes.  However, the difference between a "good" and "bad" run can be measured in hours.  Not convinced? - running at an 8:30/mile pace the last 10-12 miles of the marathon versus shuffling along at 15:00/mile, walking at 20:00/mile, or doing a "death march" at 24:00/mile for those last miles is a massive difference in time - just do the math.  

Knowing that fact demands that you examine bike pacing as it applies to the run.  There is no such thing as a good bike leg followed by a poor run - PERIOD!  Remember the race isn't about your fitness, we know you will arrive at the starting line with sufficient fitness for the race at hand.  Therefore, since fitness won't be the issue, if your run is bad it will be because you paced the bike wrong – PERIOD. 

The bike is about setting yourself up for the run.  The simple reality is that your chances of DRAMATICALLY slowing down occur in the later part of the run.  Therefore, the focus all day is creating conditions for success during the run NOT on putting up a fast bike split.  The course will be littered with the walking bodies of athletes who put up great bike splits.

The best cycling strategy to set-up a good run is to know your pacing red-lines and to maintain a steady effort across all terrain on the bike course – flatten the course.  Avoid surges on the hills and excessive coasting downhill.

The run - CONTROL YOUR PACE!  If you stood outside T2 at any Ironman race, you would think half the field could run a sub three-hour marathon by the way they come out of T2.  They likely CAN'T and neither can you.  The best thing you can do during the run is strictly control your pace based on HR.  If your HR is Z4 coming out of T2 then I suggest you WALK until your HR is in Z2.  For any long course triathlon - i.e. 140.6 or 70.3 I strongly encourage you to WALK every aid station (this is another discussion for another post that I am happy to have if anyone is interested).

Your overall goal for the run should be to end the run with a negative split - the last half of the run faster then the first half of the run.  You do that by gradually increasing your effort/pace as you get closer to the finish.

Pacing/HR - after all of that I've said, I imagine everyone is looking for specific pacing/HR suggestions.  The simple reality is, I can't make those.  Sure, I can give boilerplate very general recommendations, but those are contrary to everything I just said.  I just said the YOU need to plan and execute YOUR plan that optimizes YOUR fitness on race day.  A boilerplate recommendation doesn't do that.  So the better question is, "How do I determine the best race pace/HR for me?"

The simple answer to that question is through the use of race simulations in training.  For shorter distance races, you can actually simulate the full bike/run portion in training.  For longer races - 70.3 or 140.6 - you can do simulations sufficiently long to gauge if you can adequately run off the bike at a given cycling pace.  This all begins with knowing your HR zones (as well as FTP and cycling zones if you have a powermeter).  Once you know your training zones, you are utilizing those zones in training.  The next thing is understanding "Threshold."  In theory, your threshold HR/pace/power is that effort you can maintain in a quasi steady-state before fatiguing.  This is generally accepted to mean one-hour (that isn't the true definition but we'll go with that for the sake of discussion).

Once you know your training zones and threshold you can begin to zero in on a pacing strategy.  In general, a Sprint will be Z4 building to Z5.  An Olympic will generally be Z4 with a Z5 kick at the end of the run.  70.3 typically Z2->Z3 and a 140.6 in Z2.  You can begin with those pacing generalities and test them in training to determine YOUR pacing.  If you are doing an Olympic triathlon, can you ride 25 miles in Z4 and then run a 10k?  That's short enough you can actually do that in training.  Certainly you could do the ride and a 5k run which would tell you what you need to know.  If you struggle on the run, you know you need to back the bike down a bit.  Next time, do the ride at your 'new' target and run again to confirm.  On race day you will likely be able to go a bit faster then in training because of race day adrenaline and excitement but a simple truth is, if you can't do it in training, you probably won't be able to do it on race day.

I attached a chart below that cross-references RPE (rate of perceived exertion), with HR and Power so you can get an idea of the relationship between each.  There is also a brief description of what each level should/will feel like.

With the athletes I work with I try to make it so that there are no surprises on race day making race day just an extension of training.

Hope that helps and answers the question.

(BSC - HR-PWR-RPE MAP.png)

Memorial Day Weekend for me means only one thing - auto racing nirvana!

Sunday begins with the Monaco Grand Prix, followed by the Indianapolis 500, and then the Coca-Cola 600 to finish up the day.  Just under 1,300 miles of auto racing split between Grand Prix cars, Indy Cars, and NASCAR.

Throw in family, friends, BBQ and more junk food than anyone should have in front of them and it makes for a great day!