First race of the year - Hagerstown Duathlon #1

So I arrived at the first race of the year cautiously optimistic.  This one of my favorite races for a couple of reasons:  1) It's short!  I mean the whole race is over in about 75 minutes for me.  Hell, the ride to the race takes an hour.  2) I have done well at this race.  I have a 2nd and a 4th place in my age group in this race.  3) It's fast!  The bike is mostly downhill for almost 6 miles, and the run is basically flat.

I was only cautiously optimistic mostly because I hadn't really been running.  I mean, I really hadn't been running, I had logged all of 19 miles running, which is not a recipe for a success.  On the other hand, I had LOADS of cycling miles, lots of intervals, and a healthy amount of confidence.

Perhaps I had a bit too much confidence.  I decided to eschew my normal race day ritual.  No checklist, no race day plan, I would just wing it.  So you probably know how that turned out.  Among the things I forgot: Race number belt, extra jacket (to keep warm before the race), and water bottles!  Now the first 2, were annoying, but not really a problem.  The water bottles, now that was problem.  I actually had remembered them, but I put them in the freezer to stay cold for the ride to the race and forgot to take them out.  Of course, I would have remembered them if I had my checklist which I normally check before I leave the house, but you know why that didn't work.

The first race of the year is actually the easiest for me.  I usually have nothing to lose.   That was definitely the case this year due to the tough winter Maryland experienced.  I was mainly interested in getting some racing data to get an idea of where my fitness was.  I found out.  The Hagerstown duathlon is a sprint basically, 2 mile run, 10 mile bike, followed by a final 5k run.

It was a pretty good day weather wise.  Cool and calm winds.  Since the race is short I started warming up 30 minutes before the race went off.  I got up a good sweat and when the gun went off I was nicely warmed up.  Maybe too nicely warmed up, I went out at a 6:30 pace!  Luckily I had NOT forgotten my Garmin and I realized I need to quickly reign in the pace or my legs would be jelly by the second run.  I eased my pace back to a very respectable (considering my lack of run mileage) 7:45 per mile.  I finished the first 2 miles in 14:21.

I didn't feel too bad after that effort and I was really looking forward to getting on my bike.  I ditched my shoes, and had my bike shoes already clipped into the pedal and did my first flying mount of the season.  I took 5 or 6 pedal strokes to get up to speed, and then eased my feet into my shoes.  You make a tight right hand turn and you are out on the bike course.  My bike strategy was to ride at my functional threshold power for the entire ride.  I also wanted to break 30 minutes for the bike if possible, even though I knew the last 3 miles would make that tough.  I was feeling pretty good, and started to feel really good when I went through the 5 mile mark in 14:30!  I was 30 seconds ahead of my dream pace (my actual goal time was 31:00).   Just after the 6 mile mark, a guy in my age group, passed me.  This is always a challenge for me.  I decided since it was the first race of the year I was going to push a bit and stay with him.  We spent the next 4 miles trading passes and about a 1/2 mile from T2 he pulled ahead for good.  He didn't get so far ahead of me that I couldn't see him so I just kept him in my sites.

I zipped through T2 in 55 seconds and caught sight of the guy who had passed me.  I ran past him about a 1/2 mile into the run.  Despite this I was no longer feeling so great.  My legs were getting heavy, my muscles were starting to feel like they could cramp at any moment.  So now I had to pay for all that lack of running.  I downed as much Gatorade as I could at the next rest stop then set about just trying to hang on and not feel to bad.  I was now running about an 8:35 pace, give or take 5 seconds.  I was just looking for the mile to go marker, which meant I would only have to survive another 8 minutes or so.  I was in survival mode and just wanted to maintain my pace when I heard footsteps.  Crap, someone in my age group was trying to catch me.  Much as I hated to, I increased my pace.  The footsteps got a bit louder, I had about 1/4 mile to go.  I picked it up a bit more.  The footsteps seemed to quiet a bit.  I could see the finish banner now.  At that point, I just kicked for the line with everything I had.  As a crossed the line, I turned around to see the footsteps turning the last corner, I had managed to hold off his charge.

I finished with a very respectable time (about a minute slower than last year's best, but a better bike time).  There were some FAST old guys in my age group though.  I finished a respectable 6th in my age group and left with the realization that a lot more running was in my future.

Later that day my calves started complaining.  This normally would not alarm me, but I was scheduled to start a 6 day training camp the next day.  I was starting to think this training camp would be way more interesting than the race.......... see my next post for the gory details....

Keep training ......

Peace

Robert

Race Report - Hagerstown duathlon #2

Those who know me, know I was on a quest to win my age group in this race.  I raced this event earlier this year and came in second; that motivated me to enter the race with the goal of actually winning.  Normally I enter races with some sort of performance goal.  Not necessarily a PR, but a substantially improvement or a new technique aimed at improving my racing in the long run. Here is a progress report on how my training went as I tried to claim first place.

After racing the NYC triathlon in July I took a week off.  I was debating what to do with the remainder of the summer.  Work was crazy and I had a plethora of family responsibilities, so I knew I couldn't attempt anything too grandiose.  I thought maybe a 1/2 marathon or century,  but I decided I wouldn't undertake any event that would necessitate needing to train more than 2 hours at any time.  The week after NYC I got an email from the promoter who ran the Hagerstown duathlon series not to forget about the race coming later in the year.  I remembered liking the first event and thinking this event is short enough (2 mile run, 10 mile bike, 3.1 mile run) that I could train for it and not severely impact the rest of my life.  When I made the decision to try and win, however, this meant a lot more detailed work to get ready for the race.

When you are racing to win everything matters. All those thing that are normally overlooked must be scrutinized.  Old habits need to be evaluated and tweaked or perhaps thrown out completely.  Transitions need to actually be practiced!  Race nutrition must be honed to a science.  I even created a race day plan, documenting exactly what I should be doing right up until the race start. So I now find myself one week out from the race, here how its gone so far......

Week 0: Establish baselines before training starts.

So before I even started training for the race I did a few tests to see where I was and what I need to work on.  I determine my lactate threshold wattage on the bike and my lactate threshold pace on the run.  Next, I looked back at the race in which I came in second place.  The guy who won, finished in 1:15:55, he beat me by about 2 minutes.  So my first thought is, make 1:15:00 my goal in case that guy shows up again!  Right there I know I need to lose roughly 3 minutes off my time of 1:18:11.  So where can I get it?  Well I know I was not at my best on the bike when I did this race so I will try and recoup 2 minutes on the bike and another minute over the 5 miles of running (which is about 12 seconds per mile faster).  My transitions are generally pretty good but I figure with practice I can shave 10 seconds off each.  So that's my game plan going in.

Week 1 - 5 See my previous post here.

Week 6 -10

Work has been extremely busy so I had a lot of late night workouts.  Big thumbs up to @TheSufferfest for making my cycling training challenging.  If you have to get on the trainer for any length of time, have a Sufferfest video ready!

My running was really nothing but interval work.  I didn't have time to do many long runs but I made every run pretty intense.  I was doing my interval work at 7:05 to 7:15 pace, well below what I ran in the first race.  Training was brutal, but I could see the improvement, and despite a very harried last two weeks of training, I went in race ready.

The Race:

I got to the race early, set up my transition area and started warming up.  I was expecting rain for the race, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it reasonably dry and warm.  Since I was racing to win, I started scoping the people in my age group.  I started near the front of the pack so anyone running faster than me would have to run past me and I would see them.  The race director started the countdown and then we were off!  I noticed 1 guy in my age group immediately go to the front.  He was running F*CKIN#& FAST! I didn't want to let him get too far ahead but when I looked down at my Garmin I was running at a 6:44 per mile pace!  Way too fast!  I slowed down to a more reasonable 7:15 pace only to watch 3 more guys in my age group go by me!  Having never really raced a triathlon like this I made a decision that I would bank on my bike strength. I was not going to try and run these guys down only to blow up spectacularly.  I zipped through transition with just one mistake, I left one bike shoe on the wrong side of my bike, that probably cost me 5 seconds.  

The Bike:

I was riding my road bike in this race since that's what I had been training on.  I have a Colnago Flight TT bike but I had been having trouble getting comfortable on it lately so I went with comfort at the expense of aerodynamics.  I was moving quickly, but holding back just a bit as planned.  Problem was, apparently no one told those 4 other guys to hold back.  I watched as they pedaled away into the distance.  I was using my power meeting to measure my effort and it worked out perfectly.  At the end of the 10 miles my normalized power was dead on my lactate threshold power.  My coach would be proud!  I felt pretty good coming off the bike and zipped through transition in 1/2 a minute.  

Run #2:

Coming out of transition my legs felt  a bit heavy, but I knew from experience it takes me about 1/2 a mile for them to loosen up.  I expected to run somewhat slower than the first run and I lived up to my expectations.  I still felt strong and I felt even better as I passed a guy from my age group at the mile marker.  This got the adrenaline pumping and I picked up the pace to slightly under 8 minutes per mile.  I grabbed some water at the turn around and started trying to close on the nearest competitor I could see.  It was a woman who had passed me on the bike just before coming into transition.  I set my sites on running her down, but every time I closed just a little she would open up the gap back up ( I later found out I was chasing the woman who finished 3rd overall, yeah I didn't catch her).  She turned out to be a good rabbit and I ended up with a very respectable 25:02 for the 5k run.

At the end of the day I ended up fourth in my age group.  I can't complain though I annihilated my previous best time on the course.  I dropped almost 6 minutes since my race in April.  I ran over 30 seconds per mile better on each run and knocked 3 minutes of my bike as well as almost cutting my transitions in half.  I think this course suits me, so I look forward to returning next year.  Hope to see some you guys out there next year.

Keep training ......

Peace

Robert

A Strange Training Week

Well week 5 of training for the Hagerstown race is in the books, and it has been quite a strange experience.

Week 3 was a GREAT week of training, I managed to survive two very tough Sufferfest training videos (Blender and Hell Hath No Fury), get in a brick workout, ride in the rain and feel good while doing it.  The highlight of the week was watching the ladies of OnPoint Fitness conquer the IronGirl triathlon in Columbia, Maryland. I have ridden and run parts of that course while doing the Columbia triathlon and I can tell you it is not easy!  Through training and sheer strength of will they all came through with flying colors.  Way to go ladies! It was very inspiring to watch all of you cross the finish line.

It must of been the emotional let down that hindered my training in week 4.  I started the week off by missing my strength routine, my legs were feeling heavy, so I decided rest was a better option.  Wednesday rolled around and I just couldn't pull it together enough to get off the couch ( I was tired and stressed from work) so I skipped my planned run.  Thursday and Friday were tough Sufferfest videos (The Wretched and Local Hero) which I managed to survive, but somehow I managed to miss my Saturday workout (still haven't figured that one out....).  So finally Sunday rolled around and since I was light on running I went out for a long run.  This was probably the highlight of my week as I managed to hold an 8 minute and 20 second pace for the first 4 miles and ran 7:32 (with some effort) for the last mile.  It was nice to see my running was finally starting to get a bit faster.

This week brought a mix of ups and downs.  I missed my Monday strength training again (no excuses this time) and my Tuesday brick was uninspired.  So Wednesday rolled around and I procrastinated and procrastinated and proc.... you get the picture.  Next thing I knew it was 10 PM and I hadn't worked out!  Rather than try to do the long workout I had planned I opted to do a 30 minutes lactate threshold test to see if I have made any improvements over the first 5 weeks.  The week before I started my training I did a test which put my power numbers slightly below where I ended last year.  I was hoping for a 5% improvement.  After a good warm up and bit of reluctance I started the test.  I used the Sufferfest training video (The Long Scream)  as motivation.  You get to time trial against the best riders in the world.  Very humbling.....  Anyway after 15 minutes I was slightly ahead of my output from 5 weeks prior and decided to turn up the power.  15 agonizing minutes later I walked  crawled away from the trainer with a nice 6% improvement. I was happy, but shattered, I need to do these tests before 10 PM rolls around.  To make things worse I was now WIDE AWAKE!  I ended up not being able to fall asleep until after 2 AM.  This did not improve my daily 8 AM conference call any I can assure you.  It also left me tired for most of Thursday so no workout again.  Today ended up being my long run day since I wanted to ride the next few days.  Needless to say that did not go well.  I put in 7 miles or so, but it was ugly.  The heat did little to help and the steep hills, well I have never liked steep hills so all around it's been a rough training week.

I am bloody but unbowed!  Tomorrow is long easy ride day.... I can't wait!  Sunday will be negative split brick day (I can certainly wait for that) and Monday will be a strength session (I'm gonna do this one I promise!)

So goes the very topsy turvy world of training, still when all is said and done, I can see the improvements, even with the hiccups.

Hope to see you on the track or the road.

Peace... and keep training.

Robert





 

Week 2 - Be on the lookout for GERMS!

Week 2 is in the books.  It was a tough week.  As much as I love my almost 3 year old son, he is somewhat of a walking petri dish.  True to form, he managed to infect me last week although this toddler born disease was weaker than most.  Still it caused me to miss a key workout and made me take two days off.  While the week was not a total loss, it made me re-shuffle this weeks schedule a bit.  I had to add back last weeks critical workout and add an extra recovery day to the mix.  No biggie, training is nothing if not an exercise in flexibility and consistency.

The one critical workout I made sure not to miss was my long ride.  This workout is important for a number of reasons.  First it teaches my body to use fat for fuel more efficiently.  Secondly, it helps me maintain or drop weight by increasing my fat burning metabolism for the remainder of the day. Thirdly, it forces me to FOCUS on my pace for a long period of time.  This skill comes in handy during races when hard efforts can cause the mind to wander.

The first 4 weeks of my training plan is a build up for the hard workouts to come in the later weeks.  I am counting on a 2 to 3 pound weight loss to help build some running speed so I am also paying special attention to my diet.  I start each day by monitoring my weight and then eating a good breakfast, oh and before I forget.... by getting a good night sleep (minimum 7.5 hours).  Lunch is my "wild card" meal where I will give myself a little leeway for eating something "fun".  That said I am eating lots of fruit for snacks throughout the afternoon to ward off those hunger cravings.  Dinner is a balanced meal, but I am cutting the calories back by about 100 to help with the slow weight loss I am trying to accomplish.  In addition, I am trying to drink more water (I hate water, I really do) and so far that seems to be working.  On average I have between 7.5 and 8 hours of training a week planned.  This may seem like a little, but it is a short race!  I expect the whole race to take between 1 and 15 minutes and 1 hour and 17 minutes.  At least that's the goal.  I will know better when I start doing some testing this week.  

Key Workouts:

This week one of the key workouts I will undertake is developing my power profile.  I will be testing my power output at 5 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, and 20 minutes.  The idea behind this is to see what kind of rider my physiology says I am.  Once I have the results, I can begin to bolster my weaknesses and focus on the types of workouts I need to schedule for the race.  The other key workout will be the aforementioned long ride (with hills this week).  Great fitness here I come.....

Random Thoughts:

I want to wish good tidings to the triathletes from OnPoint Fitness who are racing the Iron Girl triathlon this weekend.  You ladies rock!  I will be there to cheer you ladies on (after my ride of course!)

Peace and great training to all......

After years of racing a new goal

I'm going to try something new for my last race of the season.  I am going to try to win.  OK so I am NOT going to try to win the race overall, I am realistic, but I am going to try to win my age group.  I have had some success racing shorter sprint triathlons and duathlons in the past.  In fact, this year I came in second in one and third in another.  But this race has one MAJOR difference, I am training to WIN this race.

What's the big difference?  Normally I go into a race with a goal, sometimes its a time goal, other times it's a training goal, and often it's just an I love to race goal.  But there is a fundamentally different mindset required going into a race with THE goal of being first.  To start, training quality becomes paramount. What do I mean by this?  Every training session takes on a distinct role, as you build toward your higher fitness level.  It is no longer good enough to just get out there.  Each training session has a specific purpose and fits into a specific part of my race plan. Oh and did I mention I have a race plan!  I will approach the weeks and days leading up to this race as a rehearsal.  I will not be satisfied with merely getting fit, I will perfect and practice disciplines I normally take for granted (transitions anyone).

OK, so I put it out there, now I have to execute.  As I write this my training journal is informing me that I have 9 weeks, 4 days, 13 hours, 22 minutes, and 56 seconds until the race.  I already have week one of my training / race plan in the books and it went exceptionally well.  I missed one workout, but I managed to adjust my plan to compensate somewhat.  I didn't stress over missing that one workout.  I have been at this long enough to know that flexibility is just as important as sticking closely to the plan.

My plan involves getting significantly stronger on the bike in the next 9 1/2 weeks.  How will I do this?  With a couple of cool tools!  My Compu-trainer is the main weapon in my arsenal and I have been monitoring my wattage very closely over the last 8 weeks.  As I embark on my race plan, I am just below my best watts / per kilogram ratio and the goals is to hit a new personal best 2 weeks prior to the race.  I am relying heavily on training videos by The Sufferfest (if you haven't used these training videos, you are missing out).  I also plan to drop 3 - 4 pounds which should help immensely.

I am setting my time goal to be slightly faster than the guy who beat me earlier this year.  Now of course, someone faster could show up at the race, but I will tackle that problem during the race if necessary.

My race and training analysis has told me if I am going to win this race, it will come down to the second run.  This has always been my Achilles heel in the duathlon.  Looking at my second place from earlier this year was very enlightening.  I was 1:25 behind the front runner after the first run ,which I ran very conservatively (so maybe I won't do that this time....).  We basically had the same bike time ( I was definitely not at my best in April so I plan to take back some time on the bike) and I out transitioned my nemesis (sounds much better than the guy who beat me) by 35 seconds.  So after the two legs of the race I was 50 seconds behind which means, I would have needed to run about 20 seconds per mile faster than him to win.  Of course that didn't happen and in fact I gave back 1 minute and 16 seconds over the last 5k.  One glimmer of hope in my analysis was that my nemesis ran a full minute per mile slower on the last 5 k where as I ran 38 seconds per mile slower, perhaps I had a bit more left relative to when I started.  This give me hope (although as my boss like to tell me, "Hope is not a strategy").  So it's pretty obvious a big part of my plan will be doing a lot of track work over the next 9 + weeks.

I am looking for some training partners as well, so if you need some very challenging workout (or some really easy ones) look for my posts on Facebook and come join me for a winning good time.

See ya out there......


Robert

Columbia Triathlon Race Report

As a coach I am always telling my clients that they are capable of more than they think they are, but their training is the best measure of what they are capable of right NOW!  I say this not so much to motivate them, but because I think it's true.  Since I am my own coach, I have to remind myself every now and then that it also applies to me.  So before I give you the race report let me give you a brief training report.

Training report: Murphy's Law......

This was a winter which typified Murphy's Law:  "Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong".  It made me realize how lucky I have been in previous years.  In addition to a new, very hectic job, I had a bad lingering cold for most of January,  and then was hit with a bad case of patella tendinitis, which forced me into 10 days without running and limited biking.  Even when I came back from that forced layoff, I had to go easier than I had planned for.  My goal race, the Eagleman 1/2 Ironman, was still some months away but my endurance training was a bit behind schedule.  Given that reality, I made the decision to emphasize endurance on the run and swim (at the cost of some speed) and emphasize speed and strength on the bike (since I have a lot of miles on my legs).  I scheduled the Columbia triathlon as a test race 3 weeks out from Eagleman as a checkup.  Here's how the checkup turned out...

The Columbia Triathlon


As courses go, Columbia would have to be called challenging, if not outright difficult. The bike is very hilly and the run is brutally hilly (the last hill is 1/4 of a mile from the finish).  I know this since I have done the race twice before.  I typically train in the same area as the race so I know it pretty well.  While that doesn't make it any easier, it does give me an idea of what to expect and how to pace the course.

The Swim:

As open water swims go, Centennial lake probably falls somewhere in the middle.  Not the cleanest body of water I have ever jumped into, but certainly not the worst either.  This year the water temp was a balmy 70 degrees and felt warm compared to past years. For the first time we actually had good weather for the race!  I was in a rather large swim wave but I stayed near the back since I was not planning on being one of the faster swimmers. When the horn went off I battled through the usual bunch of people who swim slow but start near the front anyway.  Columbia is a U shaped swim, but a lopsided U, with the longest side of the swim being the last leg.  I hate that since it's almost impossible to tell how much further you have to swim, making it more difficult to gauge whether you can pick up the pace of not.  I therefore swam a very pedestrian 36:52.  This was in line with my swim from 2010 (36:39) but still short of my 2009 time (35:45).  I fully attribute this to the fact I was paranoid about not being able to complete the swim in 2009, so I spent lots more time in the pool, where as now, I know I can complete it.  I have just started working with a swim coach, so tune in in 3 weeks and we will see if I can make any improvements.....

The Bike:

This is where I shine.  I do bike power tests and VO2 tests fairly regularly (every 4 to 5 weeks) and my numbers all year have been good despite missing some training time.  I recently broke my long standing 3 mile time trial record by 8 seconds and my power at lactate threshold has been steadily rising ever since I started working out on the Compu-trainer.  My power at threshold was the best it had ever been, when last measured, so I had reason to be at least a little optimistic.  I had a pretty good transition with the exception of my wetsuit getting stuck on my ankle due to my timing chip.   When I got on my bike, however, my glutes felts really tight.  My plan was to hold back for the first 25% of the bike before I picked up the pace.  This is in line with my plans for racing Eagleman.  I planned to take it easy before settling into the rhythm I want to maintain for the entire race.  Even though I was not full bore on the pedals, I was steadily picking off riders ahead of me.  I wanted to wait until about mile 8 where the road flattens out a bit before I really turned on the power.  I absolutely LOVE going fast on my Colnago Flight!  When I get in the aero position, I can easily pick up a 1/2 mph with the same amount of power.  I stayed in my aero tuck except on a few of the rollers where I got out of the saddle and punched over top.  I was going so fast at one point I actually had to slow down because a car on the road was going too slowly! Right before the 12 mile mark, the course kicks up again in a series of very nasty rollers.  This is the make or break point for a lot of racers.  If you burnt your matches earlier on the course, this is where you will really suffer.  This series of seemingly endless rises continues for the next 6 miles or so.  This is where I passed a bunch of racers.  On this series of climbs riders bunch together as if looking for comfort in numbers, so I guess misery really does love company.  I paced this section really well and when I got back on the flatter portions of the course it was full gas until the finish.  I knew with a concerted effort I could get a bike split PR.  As I the made the turn back onto MD 108 I needed to make it back to transition in 9 minutes or less, 8 minutes later I was hopping off my bike and heading for the run course, a new bike PR by about 1 minute!  I was psyched!  Now I mentally prepped for the hard part.....

The Run:

The Columbia tri run is the hardest I have ever done. It is an almost endless series of short steep inclines.  A mere, 1/4 of a mile out a transition you hit a brute of a hill and that sets the tone for the rest of the run.  I ran the first 2 miles in just under 18 minutes.  This was slower than I wanted but I knew the worst was still ahead.  Slowly but surely the continuous hills and rising temperatures began to take their toll and I slowed mile after mile.  I was never tired really, I just had no OOMPH.  I was missing that extra gear that you need to maintain your pace as the hills keep coming at you.  This is where the lost training time really took its toll.  My speed and power or the run was missing from lack of speed work and interval training.  I know I need to get some of these in before Eagleman so I will not fade in the much longer (and possibly hotter) 1/2 marathon that awaits me that day.  I reverted back to my 2009 run form, but more from insufficient training time than to the inexperience I had the first time I did the race.  All in all a decent race, I mean you can't PR every race, right?

Post Mortem:


Although Columbia is often the toughest race I do all season I encourage everyone to come and experience it first hand.  The race is extremely well run, has a great history, lots of pros show up, and it is right in our back yard!  I think this is the premiere race in our area and we need to come out and support the excellent organization that puts it on!  Hope to see you all on the start line next year, I know I will be there, looking for a better swim and a much better run!

Peace and keep training....

Rob

Run, walk or crawl, but get to the finish....

By now most of you have heard of the tragedy at the NYC triathlon. Two fellow triathletes lost their lives while competing. While these types of events are always tragic, it should be noted that you are far more likely to die on the car trip to the race, than in the race itself. My condolences go out to the families and friends of these athletes, though I didn't know them personally, I know the apprehension we all face when we jump into an unfamiliar body of water; none of us are immune from these possibilities.

While many triathletes (and one Tri Unify member) were up north tackling the raging Hudson river, I opted to stay close to home and compete in a brand new race. The Du the 2 Duathlon had its inaugural running this weekend in Howard county. As it turns out I was talked into doing this race by my training buddy Miguel. I had finished my race program for the year, and initially when he suggested we do this race, I actually developed a training plan specifically for the race. But then malaise set in and I decided I had enough race fitness left over from my previous training to just wing it. Now I should know better. Actually I do know better. I should have just done the race as a long training day, but as the my wave start approached, the competitive juices started flowing and well, I'm sure you can guess the rest........

The Race

So the race starts and I tell myself, "Hold back a bit". I check my watch after 1 mile and I'm running 7 and 1/2 minute miles, WAY TOO FAST! I slow down and finish the first 2 mile run in a very respectable 15 minutes and 49 seconds, but not exactly holding back. Still, I didn't feel to bad and I zipped through T1 in 1 minute.

The Bike

So one of the reasons I agreed to do this race was because I train regularly on the course. Many of my training rides criss-cross the bike course so I was intimately familiar with every hill and turn and I figured this would work to my advantage. Since the bike course consisted of two laps, my plan was to take the first lap relatively easy and then pick up the pace for lap 2. The idea was to ride a negative split for the bike course, finish strong and still have a little in reserve for the last 4 miles of the run. Well I started fairly easily, and I got passed by numerous people in the first 2 miles. All the while I'm telling myself I will catch these folks later in the race. I also was aware of a very stiff climb that was coming up around mile 3.

I yelled some words of encouragement to folks struggling up the climb as I went past and then as I crested the hill my plan totally when out the window. I developed some sort of "bike racer tunnel vision" where every cyclist in front of you is merely someone to chase. While it was fun for the next 10 miles, I averaged 19 mph for the first lap, when I hit the first tough climb of lap 2 I immediately realized I was about to pay for my efforts. For the first time all year I felt tightness and pain in my lower back from all the climbing (1345 feet to be exact). Coupled with the pace I was trying to keep I was seriously beginning to doubt the whole negative split thing. I soldiered on, but my second lap was almost 2 minutes slower than the first.

The Dreaded 2nd Run

This is what makes the duathlon special. You get to run again. In a triathlon, you can spare your legs and generate power with your upper body, but since a duathlon starts with a run you've already used up some of your run energy by the time you get to run #2. I was in good position coming off the bike, probably top 10th in my age group when I started the second run. Then I felt the old heavy legs syndrome kick in. Now I fully expected this, after all, I had just hammered for a little over 26 miles, and by a 1/2 mile into the run my legs started to feel a little better. That lasted until I hit the first uphill on the run. Then the wheels (or perhaps my legs) fell off. I experienced what can only be called a full system shutdown. No power in the engine room. My legs felt like barrels of concrete. From this point (about 1 mile in) it was merely a matter of will whether I would get to the finish or not. At mile 3 I did something I hadn't done for many races. I walked. No shame there, you do what you must to reach the finish, and my training dictated I start walking. The walking actually helped, and about a minute later I started running again. It was short lived, however. I took another walk break and then I just decided I was going to run to the finish if it killed me. Be careful what you wish for, I got to the finish feeling more than a little spacey. I needed a full 15 minutes just to recover from that last 1/2 mile of running. Of course this should have been no real surprise since my training had been woefully short of long runs in preparation for this race. So much for winging it! I lost at least 7 places in my age group on the run and ended up finishing 17th.

Post Mortem

I still have a ways to go about being disciplined when racing. I had a plan, I just failed to execute it. Having a plan was good, not being disciplined enough to follow it, not so good. I also suffered a sore right knee (probably from lack of distance training) and a sore Achilles tendon. Now had I just ridden this race as a training ride, I probably would have finished unscathed. One more reason to race to the level of your training. So now I have some forced rest before I start working on my next race build up.

Coaches Corner

I was talking to some athletes this week about their opinions of their race performances. Many were unhappy with their performances, DESPITE having achieved personal bests! So why might this be? Well it seems lots of athletes THINK they can achieve times in racing, that they don't do in training. They go into races with unrealistic time goals. One athlete asked me how I determined my time goals. The answer was simple. I go back and review my training diary. If I didn't run 6 minute miles in training, it is pretty unlikely I'm going to run them in a race. On the other hand, if I have run 8 minute miles frequently in training, it's a good bet I can repeat that feat while racing. Keep your training journal accurately and you will know what to expect on race day.

Random Notes:

I raced this duathlon with a power meter which yielded a plethora of information. Power meters are fast becoming the preferred method of training intelligently. They are fast supplanting heart rate monitors as the "scientific" means of training. While heart rate monitors are still very useful, power meters give you unbiased information about your race. No excuses! I hope to use this data to race better in the future (such as knowing exactly what power output I can sustain for say 25 miles.) In a future post I will show you how to use a power meter to improve your performance.

Keep tri-ing out there and I hope to see you on the road/track/pool.

Peace

Coach Rob