Slornow and Wannabefaster's mentor group...Closed (Page 45)

Jason finished Steelhead 70.3 in 4:54.  Swim 40 min. Bike 2:32 and Run 1:37.  Well done!

Probably too aggressive IMO, but it depends on how you raced that Olympic.  I'm usually just about, but not quite at FTP on an Oly.  If that's true for you, then I'd shoot for 85% of that, or even a bit less if it's your first HIM.  That also assumes you've been training 56 mile distance.

Thanks Mark.  Power for the Olympic was around 90% of FTP.  It was a hilly course and I was a little too aggressive early on and my power started to fade in the last 10 kms.

The bike course of the HIM is pancake flat so the goal will be to maintain steady power throughout.  90% of my Olympic effort would be around 80% of my FTP.

Its my first HIM and so I'd rather go conservative on the bike and keep the legs fresh for the run.   

Jason - that is a solid time.  Well done!

I also don't perform well in the heat, which is why I signed up for a mid September HIM.   Hoping that the heat wave we're experiencing in southern Ontario doesn't extend too far into September.

Mike, that sucks.  But good on you for stepping up and DQing yourself. 

I almost took a wrong turn at my last Olympic where there were pylons leading off on a left hand turn but no volunteers at that spot and no other signage.  Luckily I had studied the bike course beforehand and knew that there was a small loop of side streets at the 20 km turnaround.  The pylons were marking the turn where the loop reconnected with the main out and back course.

Training for my HIM is really ramping up - 100 km bike ride on Saturday (on the trainer ugh) and 16 km run on Sunday.

I'm a little nervous as my left heel started to hurt for the last 4 kms of the run.  It was just after the turnaround to head home so I just ran through it.  Really hoping my PF does not flare up.

No pain yesterday or today but a tingling in my heel and in the middle of my foot, similar to how it felt when I was healing from PF earlier this year.  Going to stick to the treadmill for the next little while.

Work has been crazy for the last month or so, so I haven't been around much....congrats to those who had good races, condolences to those who crashed or had races that did not go as planned.  There will be another day when things go right!

I have been able to get most of my training in even with work being crazy....have moved afternoon training around on occasion when there's been a particularly long day, and may have missed one or two easy runs, but otherwise feeling good about my build to Santa Cruz 70.3 next month.

As I mentioned in one of my last posts, I've been binge watching WTS racing since I discovered Triathlon Live TV....as of this morning, I'm finished watching all of this year's races up through Stockholm (still need to watch Hamburg) and I have to say, I'm pretty excited about the Olympics!  I think Gwen Jorgensen will take the women's race, but I'm rooting for Flora Duffy -- I love that she rides like it matters and doesn't just sit in and let others do the work.  I hope she comes out with a couple other strong bikers and they make a big break.  Gwen's gonna need a good swim, or to find a strong biker / weaker swimmer (Spirig maybe) to drag her up to the front.

I think the Brownlees are going to have great races, but I'm predicting Mola taking silver and them gold and bronze....would love to see Richard Murray have a great race.  Can't believe I've gotten into this draft-legal triathlon stuff....but I have a soft spot for those athletes who ride the bike like it matters

I'm flying out tonight, off to Mont Tremblant.  Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!

Indeed, good luck everyone.  I have a sprint on Sunday but with the HIM approaching I will be using it as a training day.

Streaming the men's Olympics tri at my desk.  My money is on Mola and would also love to see Murray make it to the podium.

I believe Murray was down almost a minute after the swim, so it will depend if the chase group can catch the leaders.  

Had an epic road race yesterday.  112 miles is hard enough as it is, but when you've put on weight and lost a lot of fitness due to work it makes it all the more interesting.  Completely locked up with cramps at around mile 90 where I had to get off the bike and lay down till my inner quads released after a few minutes.  I had been dropped by the main pack just a mile before that so I was just in survival mode anyway.  Eventually got back on my bike then tried to chase down my female teammate who had passed my while I was on the ground so I could help her to the finish.  It's a mass start race and helping other divisions is allowed.

Anyway, I was maybe a minute down and was bombing down a descent approaching a left turn which I can normally rail under dry conditions without touching the brakes.  Problem was it was wet, and I wasn't thinking straight.  By the time I realized I was carrying too much speed I only had two choices...lay the bike down or ride it straight into some really tall grass.  Grass seemed like the better option and rolled about 5 feet into it before my front wheel hit something and I went over the bars.  Full somersault, half twist, and I stuck the landing on my feet.  

Other than a very tiny scrape on my knee which drew about a drop of blood, I was fine.  I did have a double pinch flat though, but the bike seemed okay other than some weeds in my chain.  Waited about 10-15 minutes for a mech vehicle to arrive with wheels and I got back on my bike to finish the last 10 miles.  Nearly bonked going up the last short hill a couple miles before the finish, but soft pedaled it in.

Overall, I'm glad I did it.  I had convinced myself last week I wasn't going to participate given how bad my fitness was, but this race builds character.  Definitely ready for the off season, but also looking forward to next year where hopefully work won't be so busy.

A buddy of mine had won by going into a 2 man break with 70 miles left to go.  Then solo'd it in from 35 miles to go and still won by almost 3 minutes.  One of the craziest moves that has paid off in this race as the break almost never works.  Helps when you can hold 280 watts AP for the last 3.5 hours of the race of a 5:22 race.  The first 30 miles are neutral though as we get escorted through the busy parts of town.

This is just a quick check in - have missed being part of the group and should have tagged back in a long time ago, but...

Done racing for the summer with only 3 Tri's for the whole year, but that's what life has allowed up to this point.  It's been a very down year for me, but I was happy with the Tremblant race and pretty much held it together until the last 5km of the run - had a bad Oly after that, skipped the next race, and then finished with a good longer Sprint a couple of weeks ago.  I really have no plan or any real direction right now but saw the Muskoka 1/2 is next July and thoughts have started to creep in to try it for the 5th time and see if I can finally figure this course/distance out.  Truthfully the course doesn't suit me well on the bike as I do better on longer less graded climbs than the short punchy ones in Muskoka, but it's close, and I won't have the budget to travel to a race next year so this may be in the cards.

Lots of racing left in the year for others, so I hope that goes well for folks - hopefully with less dramatic outcomes than Jason's.  I'll be bugging people for advise in the near future about what I need to do to reduce my bike time by 15min in Muskoka.  And manage a better swim and run as well..

I'm back from IMMT -- phew that was terrible race weather.  Cloudy on the swim but the water got really choppy halfway.  The bike, it poured rain most of the time with big wind gusts.  I pretty much just slowed down and avoided passing people on any of the narrower sections.  I was happy to get off the bike without a wreck -- and I ride in this kind of stuff where I live!  It's just dangerous on a crowded course.

Now that I've done both, I will say the Whistler bike is tougher by a good margin.  You really need to be a strong cyclist there to have any chance at running.  Mont Tremblant's run is harder with the hills it has in the early part, but the bike won't blow you up so much.

I did a 40k TT back in June and I warmed up on the trainer.  I did about 45 minutes total, with 6-8 intervals at 110-120% for 20 seconds with 40 seconds recovery.  I thought it was a good warmup that got my legs sufficiently ready to put down a hard hour long effort, without burning any matches.

I'm not sure what your weather is like, but it was a heat index of over 100F by the end of the race, so I brought on bottle (BTA) and drank the whole thing.  Not much aero penalty for a BTA bottle, so I'd probably bring it regardless of temp.

Hope you have a great race!

Looks like I did 15' easy w/u, followed by 8x20" @ 110-120% on 40" easy, followed by 22' easy.

At 80F, I'd bring hydration.  Even if it doesn't actually do much to hydrate you, having something when your mouth gets dry is always helpful.  I drank my entire bottle (and a couple before the race and during my warmup) and was starting to get some signs of dehydration (goosebumps when it was hot out!) toward the end of the race.

Good luck with the TT!  I don't know that I really have it to put myself that deep in the pain cave without it being a race!  Hell, even in a race, I get to a point where I start thinking that was enough and I could just limp it in....but I never do!

I have been strongly considering shorter cranks but am hesitant about loss of leverage during sprints and hard attacks more common in road racing.  Do you notice any difference in those aspects?  I know you may not try those efforts much, but any experience?

I didn't notice anything going from 172.5 to 165.  I don't do many of those types of efforts either but I did do some 10s all out efforts on the trainer yesterday and my peak power was only 20-30w lower than the max wattage I've ever hit.

I suspected it wouldn't make that much of a difference, if any...but that's somewhat reassuring...especially for a guy of your height.  I actually think 172.5 is way too long for me sprinting anyway.  When I really stomp on it, I get really sloppy and sometimes my rear wheel skips off the ground because I'm pulling up so hard.

I was already thinking of trading in my 975 for an Elsa with 165 or 162.5 under Quarq's loyalty program which would have cost me $899.  Now that the DZERO is out now for $1079 (the Elsa had a MSRP of $1299), I'm hoping I can get a DZERO for about $799 or an Elsa for maybe $699.  I'll have to call them and see.  My Quarq is still working, but just having battery issues where it's not properly going to sleep or waking up from sleep.  Thus my battery is draining a lot faster and sometime I have to flip the battery for it to wake up.

Marc, that's some seriously cool stuff.  Can't wait to hear more about it!

Did you get to see the new Stages bike computer.  DC Rainmaker had a preliminary write up on it and it looks pretty cool.  Any idea on what the benefits or applications are for recording power multiple times per second?  Is this to help identify power across the entire pedal stroke (ex. 12 o'clock, 2 o'clock)