Fort Ritchie race report

Pre-race

OK let’s be clear.  I had absolutely no ambitions going into this race.  Training has been a disaster the last few months and racing hasn’t been much better.  Life, work, and family have all been acting up in ways designed to make racing a chore as opposed to fun.  But, I’m not complaining.  I realize life is like that sometimes, and every season can’t be like my dream season of 2015 when I finished ranked as the #1 duathlete (50-54) in Maryland.

I have been trying to stay positive and keep in mind that my big goal for the year comes later at Ironman AC 70.3.  Knowing this, I decided to race Fort Ritchie with one goal in mind, have a strong second run.  I wanted to prove I can run strong off the bike and if I can’t do it on a 10k, then it will be really challenging to do it in a ½ marathon when September rolls around.

Despite having no ambitions for this race, I have won my age group at this race 2 years in a row. The rational side of my brain, knowing that was unlikely this year was willing to concede the title but the athlete in me was like, “You gotta go all out!  You gotta title to defend!” I pushed that thought aside for the week leading up to the race and was steadfast in my intent to be conservative on the first run and let my power meter guide me on the bike.  That was all well and good until the gun went off.  I saw several my rivals from other races go out at a pace I normally can match.  I had a real internal battle going on.  The rational side saying, “Run conservatively, follow the plan.”  The competitor saying, “Pick it up, stay with those guys!”. Luckily (I guess) my body weighed in and was like, “Today is not our day.  We will not partake in any chasing of said rivals!”  Put another way, I just wasn’t feeling that great.  I attributed this to 3 things.  1) I had a relatively light training week with virtually no intensity.  2) I didn’t do a real warm up since I was “supposed’ to run conservatively.  3) The first mile is a very “un-fun” uphill segment, which made me feel just that much worse.  After what seemed like 10 miles but was only the first mile, I looked down at my watch as it beeped off the first mile. 8:19 pace. That is somewhat conservative for me, the last couple of years I have run around 7:50 or so, still, I needed to pull it back a bit more so I ran 8:24 for the second mile.  The third mile is all downhill so my 7:55 was a lot easier than it sounds, 2 years ago I ran that mile at a 7:28 pace. 

By now all my rivals were out of sight and, to some extent, out of mind.  I zipped through T1 content in the knowledge I could now ride at my own pace.  There is a brutally steep hill right out of T1 and I had originally planned to try and get over it in under 6 minutes, which would be a pretty big improvement from last year. NOPE.  Wasn’t going to happen today!  This let me know right then and there I needed to just enjoy the ride as much as I could.  Luckily, a 3 mile or so descent follows this climb so I could get on top of a big gear and get the legs spinning!  After that descent I was in a valley of gently rolling hills and I began to pick off riders who were ahead of me, it was about this time that I started to feel pretty good. I had downed a bottle of Heed by this time and I was sticking to my nutrition plan to the letter, drinking every 15 minutes and taking in a Perpeteum solid every hour.  I knew the hardest part of the course was still awaiting me so I kept my enthusiasm in check and rode very much within myself.  After leaving this valley the real challenge of the course begins.  An almost non-stop 4.5-mile climb.  There are brief moments of respite, but they are few and far between and there is one beast of a segment that must average 7% for a good mile and a half. I was catching a lot of people on the climb and only 2 people caught me so I felt pretty stoked, and unlike last year I didn’t feel wasted when I crested the top of the climb.  I plunged down the last descent into T2 and was ready for what I knew to be the toughest part of the race.

10K to go!  This has always undone me in this race although, I have improved both years I have done this race and I was hoping this year would be no different.  Last year, just as I started to run up that awful first hill, I cramped badly and had to walk for a bit to shake it out.  This year thanks to a dose of Hammer Endurolytes and Anti-Fatigue tabs, plus the Endurolytes Fizz in my water bottles, no cramps and I felt pretty good over that first mile.  What really surprised me though was how good I felt after getting through that first mile.  I felt strong!  I have usually struggled through my runs, feeling like a run-down battery.  Now I could pick up the pace and maybe even entertain a negative split run (OK so this didn’t actually happen, but even being able to entertain that notion was a step in the right direction!). My mile times started dropping and even the dreaded hill at the 2-mile mark seemed manageable. There were a bunch of runners ahead of me and I was chasing hard and trying to catch them before the finish.  By the 5 mile mark I had caught and passed all of them except for one, and I was pushing hard to catch him.  As we approached the finish I realized it wasn’t going to happen.  This run is a 2-loop course where you must pass the finish to go out on your second loop and I suddenly realized this guy was on his first loop!  I didn’t need to catch him as he was 3 miles behind me!  This lifted my spirits enough that I was able to sprint into the finishing shoot.  I had a new triathlon 10K PR 52:39. 

I had PRed without trying!  Funny thing was I didn’t realize it until I went home and looked through all the data.  What impressed me most was how much of an edge the slightly more conservative run and bike gave me on the final 10K.  I knocked 5 minutes off my final run.  I even out-ran some of my rivals (next time I will try not to give them such a huge head start!) I am now planning to model my 70.3 race strategy by taking a page from this race.  Once again the adage “bike for show, run for dough” lived up to its reputation.  I ended up nabbing 3^rd place in my age group with that run.  Not bad of an old guy!

Peace,

And keep training!

Race Report - Cascade Lake Sprint Duathlon

Race day started cold and dreary.  Wet roads, clouds, and sub 40 degree temperatures meant this race was easily outside of my comfort zone.  Despite the conditions, I was determined to repeat the success of the previous two years in which I had come in 1st and 2nd respectively in this race.  In conditions like these, nutrition is a key element.  This being the case,  of course,  I forgot to check my supply of Hammer nutrition Endurolytes that I carry in my bike bag.  Normally I take 2 Endurolyte tablets 1 hour prior to race start.  However, when I checked my supply I found I had run out!  Never a good sign, I decided to drink a little extra Hammer nutrition Heed prior to starting the race.


Run #1

The race went off on time and and I stuck to my plan of running slightly faster than my training pace since the first mile is downhill.  I went through the first mile @6:52 so I knew I was just about on target.  The next mile is uphill so I expected my time to slow and it did.  I was looking to run a 7:45 to 8:00 pace, but I was slightly off that time and the cold was definitely affecting my breathing.  Despite feeling winded my pace was about the same as last year even though I didn't feel nearly as good.

T1

T1 went smoothly and I made up time on some of my rivals and even passed a few as I left transition.

Bike

I started well, passed a few people in the opening 1/2 mile, which is straight downhill, before you turn onto the first climb of the race.  I was rolling at close to 30 mph just as I hit the first climb and took a few swallows of Heed. Within a few pedal strokes I knew this was going to be a long day.  The Cascade Lake bike course is nothing but one hard climb after another.  I can usually tell on the first climb how I am going, and I knew pretty early on I was not going well.  Despite putting up good power numbers in training, I was unable to replicate those numbers in the race.  Look at the difference in time between the first climb (0.6 miles in length) last year and this year:

• 2015 Climb #1: 3:04 12.6 mph
• 2016 Climb #1: 3:29 11.0 mph

That's a huge disparity coming so early in the race.  Granted there was a headwind, but that does not explain the entire time loss.  I was also none too pleased to see 2 of my age group rivals pass me on the climb.  So I began a chase that would last the entire bike leg.  My times as the race went on got better, but nowhere close to last year.  For most of the bike leg I could see my rivals but whenever I tried to close the gap, it would get a bit smaller then balloon out again on the way up the next climb.  Finally I decided to just pace the bike as best I could and let the run decided the outcome.

T2

T2 was quick and uneventful.  I finished off my Heed from the bike and out I went.

Run #2

My running has been improving greatly the last two years so I felt confident I could close at least some of the gap on my rivals.  I wasn't sure if it would be enough but I was going to give it my best shot.  It really just depended on how much time I needed to make up.  Unfortunately the last run is only 2 miles.  I was running strong right out of transition and immediately passed some other runners.  After about 1/4 of a mile I could see the two guys in my age group who were ahead of me.  They were a good 90 seconds up on me by my estimation.  I needed to run really fast to close such a big deficit.  One guy I passed latched onto me and we ran together until about 1/4 of a mile from the finish, when I upped the pace just to make sure I didn't lose my overall place.  To make a long story short I didn't catch my two rivals and ended up third in my age group.  I did manage to pass other runners and hold off any chasers so the race was not a total loss.

I didn't feel tired at all after the race.  That is a good sign my fitness was there even if my race results didn't show it.  I also stuck to my nutrition plan (with the exception of the missed Endurolytes, which I re-ordered I might add) and I think that kept me in the race.  I downed a bottle of Recoverite to jump start my recovery as soon as I crossed the finish line.  Hard to be too disappointed with third place, especially when the top step was in reach.  Check back in 3 weeks time to see how I manage in my first triathlon of the season.

Peace and good training.

Coach Rob

Hagerstown Duathlon #1

Well the first race of the season snuck up on me!  I was sick for a good part of February and my son decided to share the flu with me, so I missed a bit of early March as well.  As luck would have it, my family was scheduled to go on vacation near the end of March and I got a much needed rest and some great open water swimming in while vacationing in Barbados!  Unfortunately, we had to return back to the cold northeast, but when I got back I was rested and relaxed.  I dove into training with vim and vigor, but I knew I was a bit short of training due to illness.  I decided to race my first duathlon of the season as best I could but I had no real expectations of a great result.

The Hagerstown duathlon is a sprint duathlon consisting of a 1.9 mile run, 10 mile bike and 5k second run.  It's a fast course.  It has now been added to the USAT duathlon series, which in addition to giving some props to duathlon, also attracted a stronger field.  The increased competition is great and makes it all the more challenging to have a podium finish.

The weather started off cool, but warmed up nicely by the time the race started.  I positioned myself in the front of the field and made sure to check everyone's calves for numbers between 50 and 54.

Run #1

The race started off fast, my plan was to run a conservative 7:30 per mile pace and try to keep the competition has close as possible.  However, there were a number of racers in my age group clearly running sub 7 minute miles.  It was tempting to try and pick up the pace and stay with them, but I stuck to my race plan and kept a conservative 7:26 pace (clock time said I ran faster but I swear by my watch!).  I came into transition in 7th or 8th place.

I had an uneventful T1, I was just trying to focus on picking off age groupers on the bike.

Bike

I had the full TT rig for this race, featuring my new PowerTap P1 pedals for transmitting my power data.  I had set a goal of riding the 10 miles @100% of FTP.  This should not have been to hard since I anticipated the whole bike portion would take 30 minutes or less.  I set a goal of 100% FTP for the 10 mile course and I totally nailed it.  Maybe when I re-visit this course in the fall I will shoot for 102%.  The bike course really didn't take too much out of my legs (it is fairly flat with just a few sections to climb) and has some slightly downhill sections where you can really push the big ring.  I managed to work my way up to 6th place on the bike and I could see a gaggle of people in my age group maybe 30 seconds up the rode, but I could never get any closer than that.  Seems they were pushing the pace as well.  Just as I got into T2, I saw one of my age group rivals who I race against frequently still in transition.  I figured with a good T2 I might have a shot at catching him.

T2 was equally uneventful. I switched shoes, ditched the helmet and got out of there.

Run #2

I ran out of transition hoping to catch a few more people (I was still dreaming of the podium) about 1/4 of a mile out of T2 I caught my first rival, thanks to latching onto the heals of a young lady who paced me like she was my own personal rabbit!  I was now in 5th place and hoping to move up.  As I ran downhill toward the turn-around I saw 2 other racers in my age group.  They were at least a minute ahead and did not appear to be waiting for me.  I had to accept the reality that this was as close as I was going to get.  I still kept a good pace as I approached the finish, always weary that someone might be trying to catch me too.  My goal was to run as close to 7:45 per mile as possible and I ended up running 7:40 per mile and running a personal best 2nd run on the course by 10 seconds.  I missed a race PR by 20 seconds but considering I am rarely in my best form this early in the season I am cautiously optimistic.

All things considered, a great way to start the season.  It was all the more enjoyable since one of the women I coach made the podium. I feel a sense of accomplishment, even if I didn't get a chance to stand up there with her.  My next race is 4 weeks out and I already feel good about it.  Check back in a month's time for the full story!

Peace and good training!

Coach Rob

The Year in Review - Looking ahead to 2016

Before looking ahead, very often it pays to look back.  In my role as a coach this is very often the first thing I do with new clients when I start to create a training plan for them. Before I decided to do actually analysis, I tried to remember how I felt about the races I did to see if my perception actually matched reality.  So here is a brief description of my recollection of the 2015 race season.

Race 1 - Hagerstown sprint duathlon: I remember I was not feeling well going into this race.  I got sick a week or so prior to the race.  I thought I did OK all things considered, but I definitely was not pleased with my time.

Race 2 - Cascade Lake sprint duathlon: I went into this race feeling pretty good and rested.  I came in second in my age group in a sprint to the line.

Race 3 - Meals on Wheels Sprint triathlon - I had no real goals for this race, I was "training through" this race. I felt that my run let me down a bit however.

Race 4:  MD Olympic duathlon: This was my A race.  I trained hard and did really well.  I was very pleased with the results.

Race 5: Fort Ritchie Olympic duathlon:  This was a "filler race", thrown in for "fun".  No fun was had, as the course was brutal and I was fighting a bit of a cold.  Despite this, I managed to win my age group.

Race 6: Parks 1/2 marathon: I got hurt 2 weeks before the race, but I am too cheap to give up my entry fee.  I struggled the last 2 miles but still managed a new PR.

Race 7:  Hagerstown sprint duathlon: I was ready to pack it in for the season and recover from my various niggling injuries, but since it was a sprint I decided to have a go at it.  I managed to win my age group, but just barely.


Last year I began paying attention to my training stress balance or TSB.  Training stress balance helps you predict when you are in peak racing form.  Of course there is an element of trial and error when you first start looking at your TSB to know what TSB will produce the best results.  According to Allen and Coggan in their book Racing and Training with a Power Meter, "The majority of personal bests occurred with TSBs between -5 and +15." Based on this statement and using my perception of my training fatigue and perception of the quality of my training I decided to try and hit TSBs that were slightly positive going into my races.  Let's see if my TSBs were at all predictive of my results.

Race 1 TSB: +11

As noted I was not feeling well going into this race so I took the last week before the race off.  Hence my TSB shot up to 11.  Coupled with my less than perfect health I had only a mediocre race.

Race 2 TSB: -2

I had a great race!  Read the full race report here. I ran and cycled to my training potential in this race and it showed with a very competitive second place in my age group just missing out on first in the sprint to the line.

Race 3 TSB: +5

Despite the fact I had no real goals for this race, I felt I underperformed.  When I looked back on my training leading up to the race, I saw I took the 4 days leading up to the race as either totally rest or very easy.  In hindsight, I should have continued training normally right up to the race with perhaps only 1 day rest day.  Since I am racing this race again this year, I will modify the run up to the race accordingly and see if my results are better.

Race 4 TSB: -2

This was my "A" race for the year.  Check out the full race report here.  My goal was to PR the course and I did, so I was very happy with my performance.  Scoring a top 10 didn't hurt either.  I had my best and most consistent training of the year when I look back on my training leading up to the race.  Three weeks prior to the race I hit my highest FTP of the year during my quarterly FTP test. This is probably a good 8 week period to emulate in the run up to future import races.

Race 5 TSB: +2

I added this race late in the season to have something to do.  It was fun and very challenging. Unfortunately I got sick and missed some key workouts so I went in undertrained.  Given that there was a 4 mile climb on the course, this obviously had an effect.  I still managed to take first place in my age group, but I chalk that up more to luck than preparation.

Race 6 TSB: +17

I upped my run mileage significantly going into my longest run of the year and the result?  Hamstring tendonitis.   I had to cut back on my training significantly to even be able to run the race.  Hence the super high TSB.  Luckily I had built up enough stamina to run a decent race and I collected a PR in the process.  Despite that I feel I have a better race in my legs since I was unable to really run fast on the downhills.

Race 7 TSB: -1

Not my best race, but not my worst either.  I was nearing full recovery going into the race but not with the volume of training I normally would have had going into a sprint.  I managed to grab first place with a strong second run, overtaking the leader with about 1.5 miles to go.  In addition, I had a good ride in some very bad crosswinds.

So what conclusions did I reach after all looking back?  My best performances came when TSB was 1 or less.  In addition, in all cases my TSB was increasing, i.e. coming from a lower TSB to my race day TSB.  The races I was most unhappy with were a result of injury or illness which caused me to miss sufficient training and which ultimately sabotaged my results.  It will be interesting to see how low my TSB can be before it affects race performance.  I should note that I always taper a bit before a race, even sprint races, so my TSB is always rising going into a race.  I may experiment with training right through some of my less important races this year.  I should also not that on many occasions my TSB was very negative during training, as low as -40 at one point!  Evidently rest (too much rest anyway) seemed to doom my results so I will up my volume this year assuming I can stay healthy and injury free, which is tough with a 5 year old son running around!

I hope the above analysis proves useful for you own training.

Peace and good training!

Coach Rob

MD Olympic Duathlon Race Report

MD Olympic Duathlon

This was my A race for the year.  After a huge disappointment in this race last year (I became ill 10 days before the race), I returned this year determined to make up for last year’s failure and set a new PR in the process.  I was having a productive season up until this race, and I was psyched and fit going into the event on July 12th of this year. The race consists of a 2 mile run, 26 mile bike and a final 4 mile run.  The course has significant elevation challenges.  Here is what I needed to beat to claim my PR.

2011 race
Run #1: 15:49 (7:54 per mile)
T1: 1:13
Bike: 1:24:30 (18.46 mph)
T2: 1:03
Run #2:  38:48 (9:42 per mile)
Overall: 2:21:20

I set my race goals as follows:
Run #1: 15:00 (7:30 per mile)
T1: 1:00
Bike: 1:25:04 (18.62 mph, 95% FTP)
T2: 1:00
Run #2: 36:00 (9:00 per mile)
Overall: 2:18:04

Before I reveal my actual results, let me discuss the lead up to the race in terms of my training.  For the last two years I have been focusing on the second run portion of the duathlon.  Let’s face it, if you are strong in this phase of the race you will do well.  For the last 2 years I have been getting stronger in this portion of my races.  I knew I would need to be strong at this race since it has a significant climb on the final run which you have to do twice.

My last 12 weeks of training were not without challenges.  11 weeks prior to the race my Dad died. Coupled with the emotional toll and the added responsibility of taking care of my Mom (who is in a nursing home), not to mention arranging the funeral, this could have seriously derailed my training.  I actually found solace in my training during this time, both as a form of enjoyment and a distraction from the stress and turmoil of dealing with my Dad’s death.  Eventually, though, there was just too much to do, and I decided to take an entire week off.  This was a REAL rest week.  When I went back to training a week later I was well rested both emotionally and physically.  I started immediately working to improve my FTP and since my legs were fresh, I threw in some track work, doing 4 x 4 minute intervals at a sub 7 minute pace.  I eased off just a bit in preparation for the Cascade Lake duathlon (read that race report here).  That race went very well, as I just missed out on 1st place in a sprint to the line.  I resumed training that Tuesday just as I would have if it had been a normal training weekend.  I was feeling good after my strong weekend race, so on a whim I jumped into a bike race.  This, of course, is how you screw up your training. Early in the race, I was sitting in the back of the field and a racer blew a tire, crashed spectacularly, took out about ¼ of the field, and while I stealthily managed to avoid the carnage, I got gapped badly off the back.  I now had to chase for the rest of the race, which essentially became a 1 man time trial to catch the field.  I didn’t catch the field, but that may have been the hardest I rode all year!

The last week of May rolled around, and I decided I need to start accessing realistically the pace I would be trying to hold for my A race.  I then went to my one of my key workouts, 2 x 20 minute intervals @ FTP, with a further 20 minutes at the sweet spot; with 10 minutes of recovery between each and a 15 minute warm up and cool down.  For those who are not familiar, this is a tough workout!  Two twenty minutes efforts at your FTP (a power meter is helpful here to make sure you don’t go too hard or too easy) followed, after a brief recovery, by 20 minutes at the sweet spot (the sweet spot is just below your FTP, approximately 88 – 92 % of FTP).  The purpose of this last effort is to build endurance so you can ride strongly as you approach the end of the bike portion.  The first time you do this work out the last 20 minutes may seem like an hour, but the results are well worth it.
I followed this workout with a 2 mile transition run.  The purpose was to begin getting my legs used to running after a hard bike effort, and it did take some getting used to!  I felt pretty crappy the first time I did this run.  After a very challenging weekend it was time to get an idea of where my fitness was so my first 5k run test was scheduled for Thursday (thanks Derrek Sanks for the inspiration) I ran my best 5k in years cranking out a 22:06 (I need to break 22 by the end of the year!).

I am sometimes slow to learn from my mistakes however, or perhaps I just really miss bike racing, but I decided (once again on a whim) to go do a 40k USA Cycling time trial.  This turned out to be a case of Murphy’s Law.  Everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.  After my normal breakfast, my stomach began giving me trouble.  It was a 2 hour drive out to the race and about 45 minutes after getting in the car, I was desperately searching for a bathroom.  Even after finding one, my stomach was still not happy.  I arrived ahead of my start time, got registered and went to warm up; as soon as I got on my bike I noticed a terrible sound coming from the headset of my bike.  This was VERY disconcerting, but after driving 2 hours I was not going to drop out now!  The ride to the start line is 5 miles, so you get a nice warm up before the big test.  The headset was making a horrible sound as I warmed up and it made me more and more nervous.  I tried to put it out of my mind.  I reached the start line a few minutes before my start.  I took in some fluids and tried to settle my nerves.  In a few minutes I was called to the start line.  After a good hold, I was off and rolling.

I got off to a good start.  I was gauging my effort based on my wattage numbers, that is until my power meter stopped working!  So 20 minutes in I am back to using heart rate and perceived exertion to gauge my effort.  Not as good, but I used that method for years before I had a power meter so it’s not exactly a mystery to me.  I now began to notice some serious numbness creeping up my left leg. This was a bad omen.  I have felt this before and it usually is a sign of great discomfort and loss of power further down the line.  Sure enough, about 50 minutes into the ride, the engine room shutdown and I had to struggle to the finish, recording one of the worst times I have ridden in years!

I decided right then and there I needed a new bike fit for my time trial bike.  This made it clear I would need to ride my road bike for the duathlon.  In some sense this was a good, since I now knew for sure that the TT bike was out until I got a good fit.  After that mishap I vowed no more racing on a whim until after my A race.  I went back to my tried and true 2x 20 minutes @FTP with 20 minutes at the sweet spot every weekend in June, even training on the race course itself.  I had a sprint triathlon on Father’s day just to change things up and put my fitness to the test, and even though I didn’t set any records, I had a solid outing.  My run was particular encouraging as I had the best kind of negative split, one where you get faster every mile, but my bike was not where I wanted it and I under achieved to some extent.  I wanted to get a better sense of where my fitness was, so I took 2 recovery days and then re-took my FTP test.  I was elated to find my FTP had shot up 5%.  This was a good indication that my training was headed in the right direction.  With a little over 2 weeks to go it was time to fine tune my fitness and draw up my race plan.

Race Plan:

Saturday July 11th.
Pre ride the course.  One of the advantages of racing locally is being able to train on the course.  This was especially useful since about ½ mile of the course was ripped up to be re-paved.  Knowing this was very useful as this was a dangerous stretch to ride all out in the aero position.

Get registered and check out the transition area.  Knowing the lay of the land helps make for a quick transition.

Check race day nutrition to ensure I have enough.  Nothing worse than realizing on race morning you are out of your favorite food/gel/drink etc.

Make dinner reservations and check breakfast supplies. I wanted to make sure I had my optimal fueling meals for my A race.

Pack race day bag and make sure my race kit is clean.  You want a comfy kit for the most important race of the year.

Get to sleep by 10.  Very early for me, but fully rested beats kind of tired any day.

Sunday July 12th.

Awake @ 4:30

Eat Breakfast @ 5:00 AM

Leave house @ 5:30 AM (another advantage of racing close to home, a short and known commute to the race). Drink coffee on the way to the race.

Arrive at the venue by 6:00 AM (gives me time to get marked, hit the bathroom, set up transition, warm-up, chat with friends.  NO RUSHING….  I like to relax prior to the start.

6:45 AM warm up.

7:00 AM at the start line ready to roll!


First run
And were off!  Guys are moving fast, as am I.  I zip thru the 1st mile in 7:10 (it’s downhill which is why I am slightly ahead of my goal pace) I have run the course enough times to know I can run slightly faster since it’s an easy downhill.  We hit the turnaround at mile 1 and I see some of my competitors from previous races about 10 to 20 seconds ahead of me.  No worries, I am conserving my strength, the real test comes on the last run. I zip into transition with a 7:31 pace, cool, right where I want to be.

T1

Kick off the run shoes, put on the bike shoes and helmet and get out of there. 1 minute 8 seconds, ok but nothing to write home about.  Next year all transitions must be sub 1 minute.

Bike

This is the bike ride I have been concentrating on since last year’s debacle.  I knew the key would be to NOT GO OUT TOO FAST!  The crappy road surface in the first mile made that a lot easier.  I also knew at mile 3 there was a short but VERY steep hill that needed to be respected.  My plan was to stay 3 -4 % below threshold and then take the hill at 100 – 110% of FTP (OK so I went a bit overboard the first time up (note the average and max power) https://www.strava.com/activities/344801782/segments/8196800407, but I was much better the second time up  https://www.strava.com/activities/344801782/segments/8196800861). After that the plan was to settle in at 95% FTP for the rest of the race.  I set my Edge 500 to give me splits every 6.5 miles (the course was 13 miles x 2;  I gauge my effort by dividing the course into 4 parts). The overall race plan is to ride the first ¼ at 91 – 92% of FTP and ramp it up to 95 - 96% for parts 2, 3, and 4.  The idea is to get to the second run with enough left to run a good race.  I went through the first ½ of the race with a PR and was feeling pretty good, and then I had a few bad moments on some of the tougher parts of the course on the second loop.  This is where trusting your training really comes in handy.  I remembered having some of those moments in training and being able to ride through them.  Sure enough, a minute or two later I was feeling OK again.  That mental realization gave me renewed confidence to chase my PR and not back off.  Now I would like to be able to tell you I rode this course as a negative split, but it didn’t happen (next year for sure!) but my splits were not as close as my previous PR, so I guess I still went out too fast.  I’m not going to get too bummed about though it was still my fastest bike split on this course, a PR is a PR! The main thing is when I got back to transition I felt like I had ridden a good race and I felt like I had a good run in me.

T2

Took feet out of bike shoes as I pedaled up to the transition dismount line, hopped off, ran into T2, ditched my helmet, bike,  got my run shoes on and was outta there.  1:19, it is a big transition area but it ain't THAT BIG!  More transition work to come.

Second Run

This is “make or break” for the race and my PR.  Four years ago, I was solidly in the top 10 of my age group when I left transition and ended up finishing 17th when I imploded on the second run. I was determined to run a respectable pace this time.  My training had prepared me to run 9 minutes per mile off the bike, but my heart rate monitor was telling me more was possible and I hammered through the first mile in 7:50.  The next mile is mostly uphill so I watched my heart rate monitor closely and as long as it agreed I wasn’t going to blow up, I kept the pace as close to 8:30 as I could manage. Mile three gave me a bit of a breather as the course turned downhill again and I was just beginning to feel fatigue setting in as I started the last uphill mile to the finish.  That last mile was tough and I focused on holding off anyone who looked older than me.  No sense blowing a good finish by dying in the closing mile.  No one caught me in the last mile and I finished with a course PR.

Actual Results
Run #1: 15:10 (7:31 per mile) (slower by 10 seconds)

T1: 1:09 (I got work to do!)

Bike: 1:23:52 (18.9 mph) (faster by 12 seconds, I call that perfect execution)

T2: 1:19 (I got work to do!)

Run #2: 35:16 (8:25 per mile) (faster by 2%)

Overall: 2:17:30 (beat estimate by 34 seconds)

I’ve done a lot of races but this is BY FAR, my best execution of a race plan.  I learned a lot from training for this race and it has certainly changed the way I prepare for my races.  Here are some takeaways I would like to share.

Stick to the plan!  Don’t go off racing on a whim!  While my forays into races didn’t ultimately derail my race they taught me how easily they could have derailed the best laid plans.

Race at the pace you trained for.  Don’t think you are going to accomplish something on race day that you didn’t train for.  Your training tells you exactly what race day will be like.

Don’t guess!  Find out your heart rate or power data.  I use www.bestbikesplit.com to help me predict how hard I can go for a given race.  I do that in conjunction with knowing my FTP (function threshold power) and heart rate data so I have something to refer to during the race.  I don’t have to guess if I’m going too hard, I know when I am (now if I can control myself  with this knowledge I will have really accomplished something).

Do intervals, lots and lots and lots of intervals.

Enjoy the training every bit as much as the race, maybe more.  It makes the final run to the line that much more satisfying.

Finally, get some rest!  All that training is, quite literally, stressful!.

Peace and keep training.

Robert

Cascade Lake Duathlon Race Report

The Cascade Lake duathlon has had a place in my race program for some years now.  The race suits me.  It's small, short (2 mile run, 15 mile bike, 2 mile run), and has a hilly bike and a flat run.  Just how I like my sprint races.  In years prior, when I did little or no run training the flat run just insured that I would not die during the run portion.  I more recent times (since I actually started to do run training) it has become a way for me to maintain any lead I can create coming off the bike.

This year I had special motivation to do well.  I won my age group last year so I considered myself a defending champion of sorts.  Even though I "aged up" this year I still felt like the title was mine to defend.

It's been a rough few months for me. My first race of the season was marred by looking for a new job and fighting illness, along with all the other day to day realities of life.  If that was not bad enough, I lost my Dad about 4 weeks prior to the race.  The constant travel and need to support my Mom made training that much tougher.  Whether by pure luck and / or coincidence, I came into the race with perhaps my best 2 weeks of training that I had all year.  For the first time all year I was actually feeling fit, and while my training data has been reasonably good all season, for the first time I felt like I had that extra gear I so desperately need when racing.

Good weather was forecast for the weekend so I went about preparing early in the week.  Picking out my race kit, packing my gear, drinking plenty of water and getting some sleep.  I also checked out the winning times in my new age group from the year prior.  Sure enough the guy who won my age group had finished ahead of my time last year so I knew I had a race on my hands.  One nice thing about the Cascade lake race is they post pictures of the racers so I knew what my rival looked like.  I could now keep an eye on him.  Of course, the rest of the age group field was a big unknown, but you can't worry about something you know nothing about.  I would just need to be watchful.

Run #1

I know the course well having raced it so many times, and knowing the first mile is completely downhill I reasoned I could run 10-15 seconds faster than my normal 5k pace.  This translated into a 7:05 - 7:10 pace for me.  I reasoned anyone running much faster than that I would need to catch on the bike.  After a good warm-up, I arrived at the starting line with a nice sweat going.  Since the run is so short, you don't want to waste 10 minutes getting warmed up in the race!  The announcer gave us a 5 second countdown and we were off.  I felt smooth and looked around to check out where the other 50+ guys were.  I saw the guy I was most concerned about (let's call him JD) he was up ahead of me by about 5 seconds or so.  That's fine I thought, if I can keep him within 15 seconds on the run I felt I had a good chance to beat him.  Then I notice a guy with silver hair some 20 to 25 seconds ahead of JD!  This guy was motoring!  Let's just say I was hoping he was over 55!  The turn around comes just after the mile mark and you start running uphill back to transition.  Now my strategy was just to maintain my pace at 7:30 or so and keep my heart rate from getting out of hand.  JD started to pull away a little, but nothing too scary so I let him go.  Silver hair guy was now a good 35 seconds up the road, "He could be a concern." I thought.  1/4 of a mile before you get to transition is an absolutely brutal hill.  It's named anaerobic ridge, and it will put you into an anaerobic state if you are not careful!  Just as I got to the base of the ridge another guy in my age group passed me!  "Well now we have a race!", I thought.  So into transition we went, 3 guys in my age group (possibly being led by another guy in our age group), and so now I tried to make up some time in transition.

T1

My transition have been really good the last year or two.  A few things I have learned:  Don't sit down!  Run into transition!  Run out of transition!  I noticed a lot of athletes treat transition like it is a recovery period!  It's not, it is part of the race, and you can easily lose a podium spot with a bad transition.  Normally I place my shoes in the bike pedals and do a flying mount, but here is where knowledge of the race course can come in handy.  The transition area at Cascade lake is a good ways from the actual mount / dismount line.  In that expanse is gravel and rocks.  I tried to run shoeless to the mount line one year and I am sure I looked like someone walking barefoot over hot coals.  I was not going to do that again!  I put my bike shoes on in transition and did my best penguin run imitation to the mount line.

Bike

Knowledge of the bike course informed my choice of equipment for this race.  I chose my standard road bike with my light climbing wheels, as opposed to the tricked out TT bike which, though more aero, weighs a good pound more.  The road bike also has a few other advantages like slightly lower gearing, a better climbing position,  and is generally more comfortable.  I saw lots of tricked out, disk wheeled, bikes as I passed them on the climbs, and I am happy to say only a few passed me.

The bike course is deceptive because you start off flying downhill at 25 - 28 mph.  However, as soon as you make the first turn, you get a feel for what the course is really like.  The first turn is about a mile in and I could see JD and the other guy in my age group not far ahead (the silver hair guy was nowhere to be seen so I just stopped worrying about him).  Up the first climb I passed both JD and the other guy.  This made me feel good.  I wasn't particularly pushing it, I was just following my race plan courtesy of Best Bike Split .  If you have a power meter I HIGHLY recommend this site.  Best bike split will calculate your power numbers for the course based on your FTP , length and elevation profile of the course, and details about you and your bike (and other factors too technical to go into here).  The next five miles followed this pattern.  JD and the other guy would overtake me on the descents and I would then overtake them on the next climb.  This continued until about mile 6 or so when the other guy made a strong charge on one of the flatter parts of the course.  I followed. Around mile 8 or so I noticed that JD was no longer passing me on descents.  Never one to look back, I kept my focus on my power numbers and the other guy who was about 10 seconds ahead.  On one of the biggest descents, I bombed it and hit 40 mph and caught up to the other guy.  For the rest of the race we remained within 10 seconds of each other on the bike.  We steamed into transition at virtually the same time.

T2

Uneventful and that's the way it should be!  Dismounted, got my shoes off, put the running shoes back on and got out of there in under a minute!  The other guy was right behind me.  JD rolled into transition as we rolled out.  I would have to keep an eye out for him...

Run #2

Bike for show, run for dough that's what I have always been told.  Now I understand why!  The other guy went right to the from as soon as we hit the main stretch of road.  I was running maybe 5 seconds behind him.  He picked up the pace.  I didn't want to give him any confidence so I got right up on his right shoulder.  I am sure my breathing in his ear must have annoyed him!  I checked my watch, 7:30
pace, I can hold that.  He made a small surge just before the turn around, 7:20 pace, I can hold that, I think.  I still felt OK.  Not great but OK.  I was UBER focused.  I thought about upping the pace, but I was bit worried about my recovery.  If he countered would I be able to respond?  We are now running back uphill.  As I think back on it now, I did not noticed anyone else but this guy for the entire last 30 minutes of the race.  I mean this was a REAL RACE!  There was now about 1/2 a mile left.  I was still glued to his shoulder.  All I could think about was anaerobic ridge.  I decided I would make my move there.  I would either have it or he would.  This is where race strategy goes out the window.  The other guy decided to make his move about a tenth of mile BEFORE anaerobic ridge.  I tried to go with him.  It worked for a moment.  He pushed just as the grade steepened and I had no response.  I was at my limit.  I wanted to go but I had nothing extra.  He pulled away as we hit the ridge and then the real pain started as I tried to push with everything I had left.  I STRUGGLED to the line.  As soon as I crossed the line I put my hand out to congratulate the other guy (his name is George by the way, and a nice guy at that), he grabbed me and hugged me.  "Great race." he said.  "You really pushed me."  I take some solace in that, but I see some hill sprints in my future!

Post-race

Turns out the silver haired guy WAS NOT in our age group (whew!).  More interesting than that was he was 64!  Dayummmmmm.  After the race I had some thoughts.  Should I have attacked on the bike?  I had a few opportunities to try and really get away from the other racers, but I rode the race like a triathlete and not like a bike racer.  I often wonder if a little experimentation might have changed the result.  Might have to try that next year........

While it is AGONIZING to come that close to winning I can't be too upset as I annihilated my best time by over 8 minutes, which is huge for a sprint distance race.  Now if I can just drop these last 4 pounds.......

Keep training and have a good race!

Robert