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
Friday, April 22, 2016
Sunday, February 21, 2016
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
Friday, October 30, 2015
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
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
Monday, May 18, 2015
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
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
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
The year in review
The coach in me is writing this year in review, the athlete in me will now sit back and listen ( I promise).
Goal: I started the year with the goal of becoming a full time duathlete. No triathlons or bike racing this year. I had begun seeing good results as a duathlete and I decided to see what I could do if I focused on the discipline.
Let's start with the race reviews and then work backwards looking at the training that led up to the race and seeing why the races went the way they did.
Race #1: Hagerstown duathlon #1 - read the race report here.
Grade: C
Too many mistakes for someone who has been racing as long as I have. Add that to the fact that I was racing a duathlon with a mere 25 TOTAL run miles on my legs and that explains the C grade somewhat. Despite those facts I had a decent race for the first race of the season. I had a fair amount of bike training under my belt, but not much outdoor riding due to the bad Maryland winter. I actually road faster over the course than I had 6 months prior, mostly due to a lot of VO2 max work and functional threshold work on the Computrainer. My second run let me down a bit, but this was to be expected owing to the few miles I had run in training. I paid the price for the hard effort and within an hour of finishing the race my calves were already getting sore; a sure sign of too hard an effort on too little training.
I had little time to recover as the next day I was off to a 5 day training camp in the Blue Ridge mountains. Peaks Coaching group offers a power training camp where you ride in the morning and then analyze your power files when you return. This was a great camp, but I suffered greatly the first few days, having not fully recovered from the race the day before. I put in over 17 hours and 240 miles on the bike that week. Needless to say I was tired when I got home! I took it easy most of the week and then re-tested most of my key metrics. Just as predicted, all my metrics, FTP @ 20 mins, 5 mins, 1 min , all rose after the huge workload and some active recovery. I now had 4 weeks until my next race.
Race #2: Cascade Lake duathlon
Grade: A-
Unfortunately I never did a race report for this race so I will do a brief synopsis now. The short of it is, I won my age group and placed 7th overall! So why the A-? I was unhappy with my bike split as I had predicted a faster split having raced this course faster previously. Still, it was hard to be too dissatisfied with a win! So how did I get there? After my huge workload from the training camp and my recovery week I started working on longer, tougher workouts on the bike and run. I ran more miles in the 4 weeks between this race and the first race then I ran in the first 3 and 1/2 months of the year. Cascade Lake is known for its short, but very tough (read hilly) bike course. I was toughening up for the hard effort ahead. I added a long run every week and a run / bike brick every other week to get ready. In hindsight, I should have added some hill climbing on the bike and perhaps that bike split would have been closer to what I expected.
Race #3: MD Olympic duathlon
Grade: C-
This was my goal race for the year and it was a major disappointment. I had raced this race 3 times prior, so I know the course (it's hard) and I should know what is required to do well. Now a major reason why this race went as badly as it did was I got sick two weeks before the race and could not train at all week leading up to it. I arrived at the race medicated up to my eyeballs, with an upset stomach and slight case of vertigo. The smart athlete would have just used this as a training race and moved on, but alas since this was my goal race and I tried to race it anyway. Bad idea. I was lightheaded and dizzy and really out of it to start the race and about an hour in, even though I was feeling better, I could feel my energy levels fading. The last 2 miles of the bike really took their toll and although I transitioned quickly and started off at a reasonable 8:30 per mile pace as soon as the road spiked upwards the wheels (or legs in this case) fell off. The heat coupled with being sick brought on a wave a nausea that forced me to stop and walk. After the wave subsided, I would start running again only to be hit with another wave of nausea. This went on for the rest of the race. I finished with my worst time ever in this race. Even though I was sick I went back and looked at my training over the 7 weeks between races. Most of my training was bang on, but I did note one glaring omission. I had no long runs! My longest run in the seven weeks was 5.5 miles way too short for such as hard race. I need long runs of at least 75 minutes to harden up for a race with 10k of running over hot, hilly terrain. I will definitely rectify this next season.
At this point in the season I had no other races planned. Since my A race had turned into a disaster I decided to target the second Hagerstown duathlon as another A race. I had quite a bit of time before this race so I scheduled another duathlon about 3 weeks ahead of the final race to test my fitness. With my race schedule set for the rest of the year a new wrinkle emerged. I had to go to Florida for a month in August! Its freaking blazing hot down there! I found this out the hard way as I tried to start my long run around 9 am in the morning. I was fried in 45 minutes and had to walk a fair amount of it. After that experience I was on the road by 6:30 AM every morning! Being forced to get up so early forced me to get every workout in because I knew if I missed the morning opportunity I would not get a second chance again that day. This was by far my most consistent training of the year and my results were incredible. By the time I returned back to Maryland I was in the best shape I had been in a few years. The addition of the long runs had made my run really strong and the bike workouts even included a Strava KOM. After a nice recovery, I headed off to my next race. Oh yeah one other point of note; my run mileage TRIPLED between races.
Race #4: Central Park Duathlon - read the race report here.
Grade: A
One of my goals for the year was to get to the point where all of my duathlon runs were sub 8 minutes per mile. The Central Park duathlon was where I made that goal a reality. I also started using a new tool for pacing on the bike; Best Bike Split. Best Bike Split helps you predict your pacing based on your FTP and a profile of your bike and the race course. It will then create a Garmin (or PowerTap Joule) workout that you can follow during your race to ensure proper pacing. I tried it out as a test in the race and it worked fairly well. Best Bike split predicted a time of 34:36 for the course, and my actual time was 34:56. Given the conditions on the course (read the race report for details) this was startlingly accurate. I subscribed to the service the next day. Against a very tough field I finished 4th in my age group and 27th overall. Even more importantly to me, my first and second run splits differed by only 25 seconds. This is significant because it showed I paced the bike perfectly and was able to have a strong run off the bike; a significant improvement over previous years. This left 3 weeks to get ready for my last race of the season.
Race #5: Hagerstown duathlon #2 - read the race report here.
Grade: A
This race was as close to perfect as I have been in a while. My planned time was 1 hour ten minutes which would have been a PR by about 2 minutes. Instead I went 1 hour 8 minutes 9 seconds! I demolished my PR and I actually think I may have underperformed on the bike! Best Bike split had predicted a split of 27 minutes and 16 seconds based on a normalized power of 225 watts. My actual split was 29:07 with a normalized power of 196 watts. The Hagerstown course is back loaded, meaning the toughest part of the bike is the last 3 miles. Even though I rode fast, I was somewhat conservative in the opening part of the course saving my strength for the end. In retrospect, I probably could have pushed harder on the bike. I know this for my next race in Hagerstown, which incidentally will be my first race of 2015. I once again used Best Bike Split to pace my race and for the most part it was pretty good. One gripe I do have, for courses with lots of grade changes some of the segments are very short requiring frequent changes in power output. For instance, look at the first five race intervals for this race:
Race #5: Hagerstown duathlon #2 - read the race report here.
Grade: A
This race was as close to perfect as I have been in a while. My planned time was 1 hour ten minutes which would have been a PR by about 2 minutes. Instead I went 1 hour 8 minutes 9 seconds! I demolished my PR and I actually think I may have underperformed on the bike! Best Bike split had predicted a split of 27 minutes and 16 seconds based on a normalized power of 225 watts. My actual split was 29:07 with a normalized power of 196 watts. The Hagerstown course is back loaded, meaning the toughest part of the bike is the last 3 miles. Even though I rode fast, I was somewhat conservative in the opening part of the course saving my strength for the end. In retrospect, I probably could have pushed harder on the bike. I know this for my next race in Hagerstown, which incidentally will be my first race of 2015. I once again used Best Bike Split to pace my race and for the most part it was pretty good. One gripe I do have, for courses with lots of grade changes some of the segments are very short requiring frequent changes in power output. For instance, look at the first five race intervals for this race:
#1 00:00:36 0.22 mi 0.22 mi 21.37 mph 180 watts
#2 00:00:33 0.13 mi 0.35 mi 14.45 mph 273 watts
#3 00:00:32 0.2 mi 0.55 mi 22.74 mph 172 watts
#4 00:00:48 0.32 mi 0.87 mi 23.89 mph 219 watts
#5 00:03:03 0.99 mi 1.86 mi 19.43 mph 237 watts
#2 00:00:33 0.13 mi 0.35 mi 14.45 mph 273 watts
#3 00:00:32 0.2 mi 0.55 mi 22.74 mph 172 watts
#4 00:00:48 0.32 mi 0.87 mi 23.89 mph 219 watts
#5 00:03:03 0.99 mi 1.86 mi 19.43 mph 237 watts
Trying to dial in a certain power output for 30 seconds is pretty tough, by the time you get it dialed in you are switching to the new power output. Its not until interval #5 that you can really dial into a pace (perhaps a better strategy would be to find a reasonable mean value for a series of short intervals and use that instead). At any rate, I plan on giving the guys over at BBS some feedback and seeing what they say. The other notable improvement in my training leading up to this race was a commitment to weekly run intervals on the track. This allowed me to have my best run splits of the year and maintain my goal of sub 8 minute miles for both runs. My run splits were also quite close in this race, only about a 20 second difference per mile between the 1st and 2nd run.
After I reviewed the year, I went back out of curiosity and skimmed over my races from other years. I noticed an interesting trend. My best races always seemed to come in September and October. Interestingly, a lot of my goal races were in May and June. I have decided to change this for obvious reasons! One of the things I have struggled with, is getting my athletes to keep good training journals. I think a lot of them don't see the point or the value. Hopefully this will give them some insight into just how useful this information can be. So I am gearing up for the new season using this data, I hope everyone takes the time to look into their data as well. If you have questions or comments I would love to hear them. Have a great 2015!
Happy New year!
Coach Rob
After I reviewed the year, I went back out of curiosity and skimmed over my races from other years. I noticed an interesting trend. My best races always seemed to come in September and October. Interestingly, a lot of my goal races were in May and June. I have decided to change this for obvious reasons! One of the things I have struggled with, is getting my athletes to keep good training journals. I think a lot of them don't see the point or the value. Hopefully this will give them some insight into just how useful this information can be. So I am gearing up for the new season using this data, I hope everyone takes the time to look into their data as well. If you have questions or comments I would love to hear them. Have a great 2015!
Happy New year!
Coach Rob
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Hagerstown duathlon #2 - The season is over!
Yay! The season (for me anyway) is over! It was long, it had some highs (first age group win), lows (complete debacle at my "A" race), and some unexpected twists (training in Florida for 3 weeks). But when all was said and done, I finished the season with 2 impressive performances and a huge amount of knowledge gained (more on that later).
Hagerstown duathlon #2 - Race report (1.9 mile run, 10 mile bike, 3.1 mile run)
Pre-race:
One of the things I really like about this race is it does not start until 9:30! Despite that fact, I still need to be at the race site by 8:15 or so to get registered, but at least I have ample time to wake up and warm up. This is the fourth time I have done this race. The race is run two times a year, once in April and then again in October. This race is my first and last race of the year. As such, it is a great way to gauge my progress from the time the season starts through the end of the year. I spent the hour or so before the race chatting with other racers and testing out a new tool in my racing arsenal. I recently started using Best Bike Split . Best Bike Split will devise a Garmin workout based on your personal function threshold power (FTP) data, the course you are riding and your bike specs. After entering the data, Best Bike Split will then generate the power numbers you need to hold based on the elevation profile and your FTP. It will tell how much power to use and how long to maintain that output. This was my first race using the workout generated for me, so I wanted to do a brief test run prior to the start of the race. After seeing the numbers appear on my screen I felt ready try it out for real. There was still a some time before the race started so I watched the kids duathlon that they run prior to our race. It's great to see the future of the sport with their bikes with baskets, and watermelon helmets! As the kids were finishing their race I was getting ready to start mine. I was definitely seeking the podium in this race so I made sure to position myself near the front at the start at keep an eye on the competition in my age group. There were a few racers I knew would be tough competition so I made sure to keep an eye on them when the gun went off.
Run 1:
The first 5 minutes are always the worst. Going from standing still to 7 minutes per mile is never pleasant. So I can only imagine how hard it must be for the guy in my age group who was lighting it up with 6 minute miles! Oh well, maybe I'd catch him on the bike (I say this merely to console myself, I don't think I really believed that). A number of racers went out really fast. Despite this I stayed well within my planned pace and finished the first 1.9 miles in 13:35 (7:09 per miles). As I entered transition I figured I was about 40th overall and maybe 4th in my age group. But I was in contention! With the exception of that 6 minute mile guy everyone else was within striking distance. So into transition I ran.....
T1:
I'm usually pretty quick in transition, but someone must have hit my bike and my helmet got all messed up. It took me some time to get the whole strap thing straightened out and that jacked up my T1 time by about 20 seconds. Still I got out of there in 51 seconds and onto the.....
Bike:
I guess you could say this is the portion of every event I ultimately live for. I turned on my Best Bike Split workout and the numbers started pouring in. So now I had a plan to follow as I turned the pedals. One thing about the workout plan is that some of the power numbers are for very short periods of time. So you might be asked to maintain, say, 225 watts for 1 minute, but by the time you get dialed into said 225 watts, it may be time to dial in another wattage, and with wattage as chaotic as it is, dialing in the right amount can be quite challenging. Needless to say I saw quite a few, "low wattage" and "high wattage" alerts. Despite the challenge, I felt really strong on the bike and was reeling in cyclists left and right. About 3 miles in a guy in my age group went by me like the TGV! Dude was moving! Despite that, I felt pretty good and no one else passed me. OK that is not quite true, one other racer did pass me but I re-caught him later in the race. With 1 mile to go I saw one other racer in my age group up ahead, I passed him briefly only to have him re-pass me on a steep hill. I kept him within site, took my feet out of my shoes with 1/4 mile to go, and zip passed him in....
T2:
Perfect T2, 29 seconds, 8th fastest in the race. Need I say more ?
Run 2:
This is the make or break part of every duathlon. I knew I would need to run really fast to maintain what I thought was my current 3rd place (turned out I was wrong I was actually in 4th, but whose counting...). My legs felt pretty good as I left T2, but I knew it would still be a few minutes until they loosened up completely. I was running pretty well (7:43 pace) when M45-49 #4 raced past me. I tried to stay with him and I managed to for about 1/10 of mile before I realized his pace was not going to relent but mine would need to. Despite my desire, I had to let him go or risk spontaneously combusting. I still believed I could catch him (delusional I was obviously). Now I was determined not to let anyone else catch me. A few young speedy guys did pass me around mile 2, but I didn't feel to bad about that. With about 1/2 a mile to go I was strangely alone. I could still see M45-49 #4 but he was too far ahead of me to think about trying to close on him. I glanced behind me but no one was in site (the course is sort of curvy here so it hides any chasers pretty well). At this point I just decided to make sure I got the PR I had planned (I was shooting for 1 hour 9 minutes and 30 seconds). I ran hard to the finish and almost coughed up a lung upon crossing the finish line. Not a great feeling, but not altogether unexpected either. I gave up my timing chip and went over to check my splits.
Post race:
I finished 5th in my age group, but amazingly I was 24th overall! This means that old guys between 45 and 49 made up an astounding 20% of the top 24. Pretty impressive for us old guys! I was right about that 6 minute per mile guy, I never did see him again, but I did out split him on the bike so it was a small victory. I can also console myself with the fact that I had the 12th fastest bike split in the race. I was very happy about that. I also was happy with my overall time of 1 hour 8 minutes and 9 seconds. This was better than 4 minutes faster than my previous best race in Hagerstown. It's gonna be tough to PR next April, but I will cross that bridge when I get there.
Post race analysis also showed that my power output was somewhat lower than I am capable of. What does that tell me you ask? Well a couple of things. For one, I can do a faster bike split. The Best Bike Split workout seemed like it had the right numbers (in fact, it predicted a faster bike split). It was, however, difficult to hit the correct number constantly due to the quick changes. I intend to give this program another shot, perhaps on a longer course with fewer elevation changes, to see how accurate the program really can be. By and large Best Bike Split was still helpful for preventing me from going too hard and perhaps that accounted for my good second run off the bike.
Its now time to take a break for a few weeks and take in all that I have learned this season. One thing that has become evident is that I seem to race better later in the year, so next year I will target all my major events later in the year. Live, learn, enjoy and best of luck to all those still racing.
Peace
Rob
Hagerstown duathlon #2 - Race report (1.9 mile run, 10 mile bike, 3.1 mile run)
Pre-race:
One of the things I really like about this race is it does not start until 9:30! Despite that fact, I still need to be at the race site by 8:15 or so to get registered, but at least I have ample time to wake up and warm up. This is the fourth time I have done this race. The race is run two times a year, once in April and then again in October. This race is my first and last race of the year. As such, it is a great way to gauge my progress from the time the season starts through the end of the year. I spent the hour or so before the race chatting with other racers and testing out a new tool in my racing arsenal. I recently started using Best Bike Split . Best Bike Split will devise a Garmin workout based on your personal function threshold power (FTP) data, the course you are riding and your bike specs. After entering the data, Best Bike Split will then generate the power numbers you need to hold based on the elevation profile and your FTP. It will tell how much power to use and how long to maintain that output. This was my first race using the workout generated for me, so I wanted to do a brief test run prior to the start of the race. After seeing the numbers appear on my screen I felt ready try it out for real. There was still a some time before the race started so I watched the kids duathlon that they run prior to our race. It's great to see the future of the sport with their bikes with baskets, and watermelon helmets! As the kids were finishing their race I was getting ready to start mine. I was definitely seeking the podium in this race so I made sure to position myself near the front at the start at keep an eye on the competition in my age group. There were a few racers I knew would be tough competition so I made sure to keep an eye on them when the gun went off.
Run 1:
The first 5 minutes are always the worst. Going from standing still to 7 minutes per mile is never pleasant. So I can only imagine how hard it must be for the guy in my age group who was lighting it up with 6 minute miles! Oh well, maybe I'd catch him on the bike (I say this merely to console myself, I don't think I really believed that). A number of racers went out really fast. Despite this I stayed well within my planned pace and finished the first 1.9 miles in 13:35 (7:09 per miles). As I entered transition I figured I was about 40th overall and maybe 4th in my age group. But I was in contention! With the exception of that 6 minute mile guy everyone else was within striking distance. So into transition I ran.....
T1:
I'm usually pretty quick in transition, but someone must have hit my bike and my helmet got all messed up. It took me some time to get the whole strap thing straightened out and that jacked up my T1 time by about 20 seconds. Still I got out of there in 51 seconds and onto the.....
Bike:
I guess you could say this is the portion of every event I ultimately live for. I turned on my Best Bike Split workout and the numbers started pouring in. So now I had a plan to follow as I turned the pedals. One thing about the workout plan is that some of the power numbers are for very short periods of time. So you might be asked to maintain, say, 225 watts for 1 minute, but by the time you get dialed into said 225 watts, it may be time to dial in another wattage, and with wattage as chaotic as it is, dialing in the right amount can be quite challenging. Needless to say I saw quite a few, "low wattage" and "high wattage" alerts. Despite the challenge, I felt really strong on the bike and was reeling in cyclists left and right. About 3 miles in a guy in my age group went by me like the TGV! Dude was moving! Despite that, I felt pretty good and no one else passed me. OK that is not quite true, one other racer did pass me but I re-caught him later in the race. With 1 mile to go I saw one other racer in my age group up ahead, I passed him briefly only to have him re-pass me on a steep hill. I kept him within site, took my feet out of my shoes with 1/4 mile to go, and zip passed him in....
T2:
Perfect T2, 29 seconds, 8th fastest in the race. Need I say more ?
Run 2:
This is the make or break part of every duathlon. I knew I would need to run really fast to maintain what I thought was my current 3rd place (turned out I was wrong I was actually in 4th, but whose counting...). My legs felt pretty good as I left T2, but I knew it would still be a few minutes until they loosened up completely. I was running pretty well (7:43 pace) when M45-49 #4 raced past me. I tried to stay with him and I managed to for about 1/10 of mile before I realized his pace was not going to relent but mine would need to. Despite my desire, I had to let him go or risk spontaneously combusting. I still believed I could catch him (delusional I was obviously). Now I was determined not to let anyone else catch me. A few young speedy guys did pass me around mile 2, but I didn't feel to bad about that. With about 1/2 a mile to go I was strangely alone. I could still see M45-49 #4 but he was too far ahead of me to think about trying to close on him. I glanced behind me but no one was in site (the course is sort of curvy here so it hides any chasers pretty well). At this point I just decided to make sure I got the PR I had planned (I was shooting for 1 hour 9 minutes and 30 seconds). I ran hard to the finish and almost coughed up a lung upon crossing the finish line. Not a great feeling, but not altogether unexpected either. I gave up my timing chip and went over to check my splits.
Post race:
I finished 5th in my age group, but amazingly I was 24th overall! This means that old guys between 45 and 49 made up an astounding 20% of the top 24. Pretty impressive for us old guys! I was right about that 6 minute per mile guy, I never did see him again, but I did out split him on the bike so it was a small victory. I can also console myself with the fact that I had the 12th fastest bike split in the race. I was very happy about that. I also was happy with my overall time of 1 hour 8 minutes and 9 seconds. This was better than 4 minutes faster than my previous best race in Hagerstown. It's gonna be tough to PR next April, but I will cross that bridge when I get there.
Post race analysis also showed that my power output was somewhat lower than I am capable of. What does that tell me you ask? Well a couple of things. For one, I can do a faster bike split. The Best Bike Split workout seemed like it had the right numbers (in fact, it predicted a faster bike split). It was, however, difficult to hit the correct number constantly due to the quick changes. I intend to give this program another shot, perhaps on a longer course with fewer elevation changes, to see how accurate the program really can be. By and large Best Bike Split was still helpful for preventing me from going too hard and perhaps that accounted for my good second run off the bike.
Its now time to take a break for a few weeks and take in all that I have learned this season. One thing that has become evident is that I seem to race better later in the year, so next year I will target all my major events later in the year. Live, learn, enjoy and best of luck to all those still racing.
Peace
Rob
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Central Park Duathlon Race report
I think its official, I am a duathlete. I have been doing duathlons longer than I have been doing triathlons but I was using them mainly to strengthen my run and,to prepare for longer triathlons. Over the last few years however, I started to see results. Second place, third place, a bunch of fourth places. I even won my age group earlier this year at the Cascade Lake duathlon in Westminster, MD. I guess all the work on my run actually paid off!
I spent a fair amount of time last year devoted to improving my swimming, and while I did see improvement, it did not significantly impact my placings in most triathlons. So this year after some careful planning, I decided to ditch triathlon for a season and make a go of it as a full time duathlete. When I initial chose my races I did not include the Central Park duathlon, mostly because I was trying to race locally as much as possible. That said, I have a soft spot for racing in Central park. It was where I did my first bike race, I have had some of my best races there, and the course is a good mix of up, down and curvy. Just what I like. Since my A race for the summer was a disaster, I got sick 1 week prior to that race, I planned to use the Central Park race to build for my next milestone the Hagerstown duathlon in October. As luck would have it, I had the best 6 weeks of training prior to the Central Park race I have ever had. I came to NYC race ready and I brought out the Colnago for good measure!
The weather had been great this week so I should have known it would rain overnight. It wasn't terrible, I have certainly trained and raced in worse conditions, but it did put a damper on my mood. I was going over in my head all my wet weather tactics: Avoid the white lines, pedal though the curves for more traction, no standing and sprinting. I got to the race early and encountered issue #2. I was registered, but as a FEMALE! Ok, I'm thinking this is an easy issue to fix. The woman registering me says I need to see the race director. "Sure, no problem", I say. I walk over to the race director. I explain the error. He says, "So you made a mistake when you signed up." I say, "No, at least not knowingly." He says," Well we don't touch the computer you must have a made a mistake!". I am thinking, "This is dumb! Obviously I am not a woman and I am not trying to race as a woman can we just change the "F" to an "M"?", I just say, "I am not arguing, just tell me what I need to do." He looks at me a bit surprised and then calls over an assistant. "Change his registration from female to male." I am thinking, "Really? You went through all that and you could have just told someone to change the damn thing ?" OK enough time wasted, I get my packet, my chip, race numbers , etc. and set up my transition area. I got to the race early (which I usually do) and had unfettered access to the bathroom (real bathrooms, no Porta potties!). This turned out to be a great strategy since there are only 3 toilets. Late arrivals had long waits for the facilities. Since this is a short race ( 2.1 mile run, 12 mile bike, 2.1 mile run), I go to warm up. The run starts straight up a hill so I don't want my heart rate sitting at 90 when the guns goes off. I am trying to podium in this race, which I know will be a tough task, since there are some fast old guys in NYC. All the same if you want it, you have to believe you can do it.
First run:
Bang! The gun goes off and folks are flying up this hill! I don't feel so great at the start (this is pretty normal for me though) I stay positive for the first mile and by the turn around I am starting to feel ok. But there are A LOT of people ahead of me! Experience tells me some of these people went out to fast, I am running right where I need to be right around a 7:45 pace. As I approach transition, I notice it has taken me a bit longer than I expected. I begin to wonder, "Did I slow down?" I focus back on the race, run #1 is over, worry about the details AFTER the race!
T1:
My bike is racked right near the run entrance, I wore my shades on the run so I don't need to put those on. Helmet goes on first, check. I decided NOT to mount my shoes on my pedals since it was wet and I didn't want to attempt a flying start on wet pavement. Shoe change went ok, or so I thought. I get to the mount line and I can't clip in, "Weird I just rode yesterday with no problem..... hmmm, feels like something is on my shoes.... SHIT! I left my cleat covers on!" OK definite faux pas there. I feel dumb now, never did that before! Off the bike, take both covers off, I was about to just throw them away when I remembered how much they cost, I stick them in my tri-suit back pocket. Now I am thinking, "Let's get this party started!"
Bike:
I am a cyclist. I raced my bike for 15 years straight before I even considered doing multi-sport and this is where I have the most fun. I am psyched , but a mere 1/4 of a mile into the bike there is a terrible accident as a another racer has hit a person jogging in the park. I am hard on the brakes slowing down to get past the accident without causing any physical harm to myself. For the next 3 miles I feel as if I am riding an obstacle course! Dodging slower riders, joggers, tourists, dogs (yes dogs!). Central park is used much more than when I raced here in the 80s and 90s. The twisty descent to the 110th street hill is harrowing with riders not holding their line, slower riders in the wrong lane, and yes, DOGS! I managed to move up a bit then came the 110th street hill. Here is where my hill repeats and consistently hilly rides really paid off. I caught or closed on numerous riders which helped me get clear of those speedy runners who left me on run #1. The west side of the park was a bit less congested than the east side but only marginally. I was still more or less picking my way around slower riders for much of the first loop of the bike. As I approached the end of loop #1 I checked my split time. I was about 75 seconds ahead of my projected pace and I felt pretty good, event with all the grit and grime I was picking up from the wet roads. I now remembered the fallen rider and was preparing to ride to the far right to avoid the accident only to find that an ambulance and a fire engine were now blocking virtually the entire road! Hard on the brakes again, I ease over to the left of the road, and being totally mindful of all the runners, I managed to squeeze past the accident scene. Back on the gas, full on now, looking only at the road and my power meter numbers, I am prepared to go full gas until 1 mile from T2. On the twisty descent before the 110th street hill, a racer took and incredibly bad line and basically crossed the whole road forcing me and and another ride to slow to avoid her. Much to my surprise, she then starts explaining to me ,"This isn't my race bike... I had a flat.... blah blah blah." I am really trying to race here, give me the details later, "OK?" After that much of the ride was uneventful until we got about 1/2 a mile from T2. Spread across the entire road were 4 people on their bikes; stopped in the middle of the road, 4 across, just chatting! All I can think is, "Where are the course marshals?". OK I am close to T2, I drop a gear or 2 to prepare my legs for that last run. I open my shoes, slow down, and another racer goes inside me on the left to get into T2 before me. I was a bit annoyed at that, I mean its transition not the finish line.
T2:
Almost flawless, I missed the rack on the first attempt at racking my bike, but other than that uneventful.
Second run:
I felt about 7 out of 10 when I left transition. I was determined not to give too much back to anyone I passed on the bike. I felt slow getting up that first hill, but once I crested, the legs began to loosen up. My bete noire for duathlon, and triathlon as well, has always been the final run. Today I broke through. All those transition runs and track work suffering paid major dividends. I was finally able to run sub 8 minute pace for the second run and actually accelerate to the finish. I had a kick! I could close on people! It was awesome! I also felt good about only being re-passed by 2 people instead of the steady stream of runners I usually see. I know for certain how I will be training for the Hagerstown duathlon!
Post race:
It was great performing up to my training. My power numbers and run pace was dead on. Even though I did not podium (4th place again!), I felt I raced my best race and that's really all you can ask. As for that first run taking longer than I expected a quick check of my watch revealed the course was actually 2.27 miles and not 2.1. Ok I feel better now! I am looking forward to that last race of the season and a well deserved rest after that.
Peace and keep training !
Rob
I spent a fair amount of time last year devoted to improving my swimming, and while I did see improvement, it did not significantly impact my placings in most triathlons. So this year after some careful planning, I decided to ditch triathlon for a season and make a go of it as a full time duathlete. When I initial chose my races I did not include the Central Park duathlon, mostly because I was trying to race locally as much as possible. That said, I have a soft spot for racing in Central park. It was where I did my first bike race, I have had some of my best races there, and the course is a good mix of up, down and curvy. Just what I like. Since my A race for the summer was a disaster, I got sick 1 week prior to that race, I planned to use the Central Park race to build for my next milestone the Hagerstown duathlon in October. As luck would have it, I had the best 6 weeks of training prior to the Central Park race I have ever had. I came to NYC race ready and I brought out the Colnago for good measure!
The weather had been great this week so I should have known it would rain overnight. It wasn't terrible, I have certainly trained and raced in worse conditions, but it did put a damper on my mood. I was going over in my head all my wet weather tactics: Avoid the white lines, pedal though the curves for more traction, no standing and sprinting. I got to the race early and encountered issue #2. I was registered, but as a FEMALE! Ok, I'm thinking this is an easy issue to fix. The woman registering me says I need to see the race director. "Sure, no problem", I say. I walk over to the race director. I explain the error. He says, "So you made a mistake when you signed up." I say, "No, at least not knowingly." He says," Well we don't touch the computer you must have a made a mistake!". I am thinking, "This is dumb! Obviously I am not a woman and I am not trying to race as a woman can we just change the "F" to an "M"?", I just say, "I am not arguing, just tell me what I need to do." He looks at me a bit surprised and then calls over an assistant. "Change his registration from female to male." I am thinking, "Really? You went through all that and you could have just told someone to change the damn thing ?" OK enough time wasted, I get my packet, my chip, race numbers , etc. and set up my transition area. I got to the race early (which I usually do) and had unfettered access to the bathroom (real bathrooms, no Porta potties!). This turned out to be a great strategy since there are only 3 toilets. Late arrivals had long waits for the facilities. Since this is a short race ( 2.1 mile run, 12 mile bike, 2.1 mile run), I go to warm up. The run starts straight up a hill so I don't want my heart rate sitting at 90 when the guns goes off. I am trying to podium in this race, which I know will be a tough task, since there are some fast old guys in NYC. All the same if you want it, you have to believe you can do it.
First run:
Bang! The gun goes off and folks are flying up this hill! I don't feel so great at the start (this is pretty normal for me though) I stay positive for the first mile and by the turn around I am starting to feel ok. But there are A LOT of people ahead of me! Experience tells me some of these people went out to fast, I am running right where I need to be right around a 7:45 pace. As I approach transition, I notice it has taken me a bit longer than I expected. I begin to wonder, "Did I slow down?" I focus back on the race, run #1 is over, worry about the details AFTER the race!
T1:
My bike is racked right near the run entrance, I wore my shades on the run so I don't need to put those on. Helmet goes on first, check. I decided NOT to mount my shoes on my pedals since it was wet and I didn't want to attempt a flying start on wet pavement. Shoe change went ok, or so I thought. I get to the mount line and I can't clip in, "Weird I just rode yesterday with no problem..... hmmm, feels like something is on my shoes.... SHIT! I left my cleat covers on!" OK definite faux pas there. I feel dumb now, never did that before! Off the bike, take both covers off, I was about to just throw them away when I remembered how much they cost, I stick them in my tri-suit back pocket. Now I am thinking, "Let's get this party started!"
Bike:
I am a cyclist. I raced my bike for 15 years straight before I even considered doing multi-sport and this is where I have the most fun. I am psyched , but a mere 1/4 of a mile into the bike there is a terrible accident as a another racer has hit a person jogging in the park. I am hard on the brakes slowing down to get past the accident without causing any physical harm to myself. For the next 3 miles I feel as if I am riding an obstacle course! Dodging slower riders, joggers, tourists, dogs (yes dogs!). Central park is used much more than when I raced here in the 80s and 90s. The twisty descent to the 110th street hill is harrowing with riders not holding their line, slower riders in the wrong lane, and yes, DOGS! I managed to move up a bit then came the 110th street hill. Here is where my hill repeats and consistently hilly rides really paid off. I caught or closed on numerous riders which helped me get clear of those speedy runners who left me on run #1. The west side of the park was a bit less congested than the east side but only marginally. I was still more or less picking my way around slower riders for much of the first loop of the bike. As I approached the end of loop #1 I checked my split time. I was about 75 seconds ahead of my projected pace and I felt pretty good, event with all the grit and grime I was picking up from the wet roads. I now remembered the fallen rider and was preparing to ride to the far right to avoid the accident only to find that an ambulance and a fire engine were now blocking virtually the entire road! Hard on the brakes again, I ease over to the left of the road, and being totally mindful of all the runners, I managed to squeeze past the accident scene. Back on the gas, full on now, looking only at the road and my power meter numbers, I am prepared to go full gas until 1 mile from T2. On the twisty descent before the 110th street hill, a racer took and incredibly bad line and basically crossed the whole road forcing me and and another ride to slow to avoid her. Much to my surprise, she then starts explaining to me ,"This isn't my race bike... I had a flat.... blah blah blah." I am really trying to race here, give me the details later, "OK?" After that much of the ride was uneventful until we got about 1/2 a mile from T2. Spread across the entire road were 4 people on their bikes; stopped in the middle of the road, 4 across, just chatting! All I can think is, "Where are the course marshals?". OK I am close to T2, I drop a gear or 2 to prepare my legs for that last run. I open my shoes, slow down, and another racer goes inside me on the left to get into T2 before me. I was a bit annoyed at that, I mean its transition not the finish line.
T2:
Almost flawless, I missed the rack on the first attempt at racking my bike, but other than that uneventful.
Second run:
I felt about 7 out of 10 when I left transition. I was determined not to give too much back to anyone I passed on the bike. I felt slow getting up that first hill, but once I crested, the legs began to loosen up. My bete noire for duathlon, and triathlon as well, has always been the final run. Today I broke through. All those transition runs and track work suffering paid major dividends. I was finally able to run sub 8 minute pace for the second run and actually accelerate to the finish. I had a kick! I could close on people! It was awesome! I also felt good about only being re-passed by 2 people instead of the steady stream of runners I usually see. I know for certain how I will be training for the Hagerstown duathlon!
Post race:
It was great performing up to my training. My power numbers and run pace was dead on. Even though I did not podium (4th place again!), I felt I raced my best race and that's really all you can ask. As for that first run taking longer than I expected a quick check of my watch revealed the course was actually 2.27 miles and not 2.1. Ok I feel better now! I am looking forward to that last race of the season and a well deserved rest after that.
Peace and keep training !
Rob
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