SBR Utopia ~~~~ Permanently OPEN!! (Page 37)

Good job Jeremy and congrats on your first tri finish!  If the wind there was anything like it was here it must have been an adventure out there.

So, what did you learn and what do you need to work on?

This race just keeps getting more awesome. Great job Mark!

Had a lot of riding planned for the weekend, but felt kind of funny so just sat around the whole time instead.

Mark - that is quite the race, congrats on the finish, and good to see the leg held up after the time off.  It seems every time you do an Ironman things happen to make it that little more epic...

I would have been more worried about the blisters than anything.  The idea of running in soaking wet socks is horrible.

Question - HIM training.  How much of your long rides (2.5hrs+) will you spend above targeted race wattage? 

Neil, I took a quick look at some of my long rides from last year prior to Miami.  My target race wattage ended up being around 220-225w

Some examples:

2 x (40' @ 225-235w + 10' @ 245-255w, + 10' <210w)

-----

WU  20'
40:00 at 250W
5:00 at <210W
40:00 at 250W
5:00 at <210W
10:00 steady at 225W
20:00 <210W

---

20:00 <210W
5:00 at 275W
5:00 <210W
40:00 at 240W
20:00 at 220W
40:00 at 250W
20:00 <210W

Not much for me.  Most of my long rides have been with intervals at 78-83%FTP and getting alot of time in that range.  I have been riding alot more than in the past.  I have never done more 3+ hour rides than this year and back to back most of the time.

Most of my training above HIM pace is during the week for my shorter to intermediate rides.  2x25 Z4 or 3x15 Z4 along with some V02 stuff have all been in the schedule but just not during long rides.

I think it depends on how you are distributing the volume/intensity load across each week.

Those look tough Arend.  I am at about the same target wattage for my HIM so I can relate.

That's probably why it continues to hold my interest   You never have everything figured out.

Mark - congratulations on successfully working through a tough race! Very happy the legs held up and hopefully you have turned a corner with it? And I agree 100% - I really do enjoy long course racing simply for the fact that strange, unexpected things are going going to happen and a big part of having a successful race is not necessarily how fast you go but instead how well you deal with stuff when the race goes sideways. Sounds like you couldn't have had a better race from that point of view! Hopefully you get the time to put together comprehensive race report - you know we like to read 'em.

Great job on the race simulation yesterday, Fred, even though you may have not got things exactly right it sounds like you were still able to get your legs underneath you and recover on the run, and you got a much better idea of what you should do in the race. Knowledge is power!

And for the record, that little bike you did on Saturday looks kinda tough - so to pull off the brick so well on fatigued legs is a bonus as well. I just did a brick that maxed out with a 35 minute bit at 230w followed by 8x800s building from a 6:20 pace to a 5:50 pace. That was PLENTY for me. Cant imagine stringing a bunch of those bike intervals together, and much less for longer.

Very cool Chris! Really cannot wait to see how the race goes - sounds like one to put on the list. I was thinking the same thing as Neil though - why socks with the Zoots? I love racing in mine simply because they are so good sockless. In fact I raced a wintertime 5k a couple of years ago and wore them with socks and actually hated them as my feet felt so sloppy - I actually wound up getting a another pair of racing flats for winter races instead.

Been there and done that, Ben. Good on you for actually having the perspective to take the time when you know you need it.

Jeremy, congratulations on lining up and getting it done - you will never forget your first one! If you get the time over the next couple of days sit down and write out EVERYTHING you can remember about the race from beginning to end. Start with the night before and go all the way to post race. We all like reading race reports, but even if you never post it up on line and only do it for yourself I have found it to be an invaluable way to get better. One really important trick to racing faster is to be able to walk through and visualize every aspect of the race beforehand, and a great way to learn how to do that well is to walk through step-by-step your previous races after they have occurred. Like many things in racing, it is a skill that you can develop if you work it, and it WILL make you faster next time!

Congratulations again - I really hope you had fun.

Thanks. Didn't really feel that bad, but historically respiratory issues and hotter than I'm used to conditions are not a good mix. Had to keep looking at the training I've already done. I'll fall short of where I wanted, but will still end up with a pretty good month. Think I see the couple places that pushed me over too. Have to make sure the easier days stay lighter!

Congrats!   Good advice above about improving things, but the first one is just a learning experience.

Do you have to wait a year before the next one?

Oh, and another thing you'll learn is tactics to improve your placing without having to go faster.  For example, if someone DNF'd, you were actually 5/6.  Anyone that started that you beat across the line, whether they finished or not, is behind you   

I can see going sockless for an Oly, but the issue with this race is that it's 18 miles total running, not sure I'd do an 18 miler without socks.  And I've never been a sockless guy except for sprints, so that's all new.  The socks were those tight, structured race socks so they stayed on fine in the water.  I was worried about blisters but body glided the heck out of the potential hot spot areas on my feet.  Will probably try without socks next time, but it worked susprisingly well with them, especailly as the runs were quite hilly - about 1400 feet of elevation over the 12 miles yesterday.

Mark, great job getting through that, it's a tough course to do fully trained, much less undertrained.  Plus a rock climb!

Oh, wow - we are experiencing just the opposite at the moment - I actually had to wear arm warmers on my bike ride this morning. In late July. After my brick I jumped in the lake and kicked around for about 20 minutes of so to flush the legs out - water temperature is 67 degrees, but it felt great as it was well above the ambient air temperature. Crazy, but not complaining at all - it was 98 degrees at home yesterday.

Ha! Think most of the time is closer to what you are seeing. Early mornings would be just a bit above sleeves if I was riding more then. The weekend had a good 12-15* jump in the highs. Fairly normally temps for late July in actuality, but we just haven't seen it much this year, much less been active in that!