Sunday, September 28, 2008
The Witness Trees
The riding in the Willamette Valley is pretty amazing. I like the quiet roads, the decent road surfaces, varied terrain and of course the great scenery.
In particular, even when I'm out on a jog I'll notice some extremely old oak trees here and there.. They are witness trees, that is a demarcation of someone's property line/boundary from ages ago.
I've been meaning to get some pics for awhile... The riding out here follows some roads that takes me by Youngsberg Hill (and a winery on top of it), Maysara, and Coleman wineries (all of that pictured above actually, sans the Glacial Erratic).. Along with a glacial erratic and at least a couple of pioneer cemetaries (which I haven't visited in bike shoes)..
I'd love to say I taste on the rides but it's training.
Last November I did get out there with some friends and other interesting people, and came back with some wine.. The Coleman Pinot wound up out in Boise with a couple who I stayed with last June, hopefully they liked it !
The pics are just o.k. anyhoo, enjoy !
In particular, even when I'm out on a jog I'll notice some extremely old oak trees here and there.. They are witness trees, that is a demarcation of someone's property line/boundary from ages ago.
I've been meaning to get some pics for awhile... The riding out here follows some roads that takes me by Youngsberg Hill (and a winery on top of it), Maysara, and Coleman wineries (all of that pictured above actually, sans the Glacial Erratic).. Along with a glacial erratic and at least a couple of pioneer cemetaries (which I haven't visited in bike shoes)..
I'd love to say I taste on the rides but it's training.
Last November I did get out there with some friends and other interesting people, and came back with some wine.. The Coleman Pinot wound up out in Boise with a couple who I stayed with last June, hopefully they liked it !
The pics are just o.k. anyhoo, enjoy !
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Week of 9/21
Pretty "normal" looking week and I'm even back to working again...
Swim-4
Bike- 4
Run- 3
Monday-
Run- 45min steady on BG
Swim- ECMT Session.. 2000. long warm up set, then 4x200.
Tuesday
Bike- 60min, squeezing a ride before dark.
Wed
Run- 45min lunch time jog
Swim- 9x100 (1.25-30)
Thurs
Bike-90min steady on BG, about 180w avg
Friday-
Run: 42min
Weights- Some random upper & lower body work
Sat
Bike- 55min aero base/200w/70rpm
Swim- A couple thousand yards.. 2 pull sets + 3x300 on 30 sec rest (easy pace 4.47s)
Sunday
Bike- 90min & 27 miles on BG
Swim- Prolly about 1800 yards, 2 pull sets + 4x200 at 3.05-7, 30 sec rest. These are feeling "normal" even with the weight work.
Swim-4
Bike- 4
Run- 3
Monday-
Run- 45min steady on BG
Swim- ECMT Session.. 2000. long warm up set, then 4x200.
Tuesday
Bike- 60min, squeezing a ride before dark.
Wed
Run- 45min lunch time jog
Swim- 9x100 (1.25-30)
Thurs
Bike-90min steady on BG, about 180w avg
Friday-
Run: 42min
Weights- Some random upper & lower body work
Sat
Bike- 55min aero base/200w/70rpm
Swim- A couple thousand yards.. 2 pull sets + 3x300 on 30 sec rest (easy pace 4.47s)
Sunday
Bike- 90min & 27 miles on BG
Swim- Prolly about 1800 yards, 2 pull sets + 4x200 at 3.05-7, 30 sec rest. These are feeling "normal" even with the weight work.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Back to typical Seattle weather...
Argh.. Apparently Seattle is colder than Siberia.. (see link)
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004470662_webweather11m.html
So basically summer in Seattle is July to August, plus *maybe* a week or two in September.
I've been up here since '07 and it really just is cool, wet and dark from Fall through early Summer.
It's already time to get winter gear out.. Winter work clothes. Winter workout gear. Yikes.
Lately, I've been kicking around the idea of SF (East Bay, Palo Alto, Mtn View), Boulder or back to Pdx. All good choices, but honestly, all of that is dependent on job.. Anybody got leads?
Seriously though, this is just not inviting weather to live in, let alone workout in.. Holy Moly.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004470662_webweather11m.html
So basically summer in Seattle is July to August, plus *maybe* a week or two in September.
I've been up here since '07 and it really just is cool, wet and dark from Fall through early Summer.
It's already time to get winter gear out.. Winter work clothes. Winter workout gear. Yikes.
Lately, I've been kicking around the idea of SF (East Bay, Palo Alto, Mtn View), Boulder or back to Pdx. All good choices, but honestly, all of that is dependent on job.. Anybody got leads?
Seriously though, this is just not inviting weather to live in, let alone workout in.. Holy Moly.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
Bellingham Bay with pics..
Last weekend rode 80 miles (unintentionally!) up in Bellingham, started in downtown Bellingham riding to the famous Chuckanut Drive which winds along the bay for a good twenty miles give or take providing some great views of the bay.
The ride off Chuckanut was interesting too. The farms meet the bay and you can ride along quiet roads catching views of the North Cascades and I assume Mt. Baker background. It's the first time in Washington I've actually been thrilled to be riding because there were almost no cars on the country roads.. To get back you can wind through some small towns just south of Bellingham and ride the back side of Chuckanut Mtn on old Chuckanut road, also pretty cool since it's windy and hilly.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Follow up to WTC & Ironman branding, merchandising, licensing issues
To recap that last post on this subject, my feeling is that the WTC doesn't consistently align the brand with products and services that build image and expose the brand to channels where it could garner more "good eyeballs".
When I was in Penticton it was more of the same in terms of observations. For example, in the race literature the official apparel sponsor was listed in a full page color as Adidas. However, at the expo under the giant souvenir tent the apparel was anything but that, Sugoi was the main provider of IMC cycling gear and then several other producers whose names I don't recall.
At the finish line I was not surprised to see I received a Zorrel "technical tee" and a Headsweats cap.
Sweet. I guess. I'm not complaining about the swag mind you..
Just chuckling at what appears to be lack of attention to alignment of large corporate sponsorships on one hand and legacy agreements with vendors to provide & produce individually branded product.
What to do about it if you're WTC Corp?
Well, for starters you can sell your entire outfit to a private equity firm and hope that they bring some expertise to the table. :)
http://usatriathlon.org/in_the_news/article/17801
Whoops !
Or you can work more closely with North America Sports (NAS) who produces all the Ironman events (excluding 70.3 events) in North America to align their partnerships with the WTC corp sponsorships. Or, just lay down some non-negotiables around who, how and what gets thrown on the event banner.
Also, and again per the previous post, as WTC you'll need to stop pedaling the sponsorship opportunities to just anybody who can pony up the dollars. Just because you can collect sponsorship dollars from some entity doesn't mean you should, if you feel your brand image means anything.
How about some decent market research and a long tail marketing approach? The market research WTC throws around doesn't seem that updated, other than median incomes.
Some of the comments to the previous post on this were really insightful.. I'd say I agree with some of it in spirit; I read them to mean that as WTC wouldn't you want to build out the 70.3 series as a spring board to full-length IM events?
And I also agree that many people are excited about having that premium experience with less commitment that goes with preparing for a full IM.
However, the posts aren't about that.
It's about what WTC is doing with the brand. The 70.3 series is potentially more an issue over the mid-term because unlike the full IMs that NAS manages in North America the number of event managers for the 70.3 is not just one manager, there are several entities managing and promoting the events.
Some may be wondering why I haven't addressed the events outside North America, well it's because the problem is, in many respects, mostly like the problem with 70.3 events, that is, many orgs running & promoting many events.
It has to be hard as WTC for example to correctly assess whether or not the local sponsors & partnerships lined up for Ironman Malaysia really support and build out the brand. They can make reasonable guesses at it but that seems like a poor strategy.
Needless to say, it will be very interesting to see what happens at WTC going forward under new ownership.
When I was in Penticton it was more of the same in terms of observations. For example, in the race literature the official apparel sponsor was listed in a full page color as Adidas. However, at the expo under the giant souvenir tent the apparel was anything but that, Sugoi was the main provider of IMC cycling gear and then several other producers whose names I don't recall.
At the finish line I was not surprised to see I received a Zorrel "technical tee" and a Headsweats cap.
Sweet. I guess. I'm not complaining about the swag mind you..
Just chuckling at what appears to be lack of attention to alignment of large corporate sponsorships on one hand and legacy agreements with vendors to provide & produce individually branded product.
What to do about it if you're WTC Corp?
Well, for starters you can sell your entire outfit to a private equity firm and hope that they bring some expertise to the table. :)
http://usatriathlon.org/in_the_news/article/17801
Whoops !
Or you can work more closely with North America Sports (NAS) who produces all the Ironman events (excluding 70.3 events) in North America to align their partnerships with the WTC corp sponsorships. Or, just lay down some non-negotiables around who, how and what gets thrown on the event banner.
Also, and again per the previous post, as WTC you'll need to stop pedaling the sponsorship opportunities to just anybody who can pony up the dollars. Just because you can collect sponsorship dollars from some entity doesn't mean you should, if you feel your brand image means anything.
How about some decent market research and a long tail marketing approach? The market research WTC throws around doesn't seem that updated, other than median incomes.
Some of the comments to the previous post on this were really insightful.. I'd say I agree with some of it in spirit; I read them to mean that as WTC wouldn't you want to build out the 70.3 series as a spring board to full-length IM events?
And I also agree that many people are excited about having that premium experience with less commitment that goes with preparing for a full IM.
However, the posts aren't about that.
It's about what WTC is doing with the brand. The 70.3 series is potentially more an issue over the mid-term because unlike the full IMs that NAS manages in North America the number of event managers for the 70.3 is not just one manager, there are several entities managing and promoting the events.
Some may be wondering why I haven't addressed the events outside North America, well it's because the problem is, in many respects, mostly like the problem with 70.3 events, that is, many orgs running & promoting many events.
It has to be hard as WTC for example to correctly assess whether or not the local sponsors & partnerships lined up for Ironman Malaysia really support and build out the brand. They can make reasonable guesses at it but that seems like a poor strategy.
Needless to say, it will be very interesting to see what happens at WTC going forward under new ownership.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
J Lo & Phelps part deux... "No you deeedn't ! "
Unfortunately, she did. J Lo finished the Nautica Malibu Triathlon, which sadly seemed to be mostly about her than any fundraising effort on her part.
Pictures here:
http://bittenandbound.com/2008/09/14/jennifer-lopez-nautica-malibu-triathlon-photos/
Her blog rarely mentions the fund raising piece and mostly emphasizes her ego which is the same size, shape and density as a Jupiter sized watermelon with empty toxic gases.
I'm pretty bummed about this because this woman has more power, leverage and influence at her disposal than most folks who get involved in fund-raising for say, Team in Training and could have made a difference.
It's not abundantly clear how much J Lo personally raised but I think it's odd that the entire event raised about 127k and that the 20 celebrities weren't really on the hook for anything, other than to show up.
Incidentally, my arch-nemesis, Andy Baldwin (who gave me a weird freakin' stare at Escape From Alcatraz when he thought I was checking out his then, fiancee' from The Bachelor, Tessa) won the celebrity race.
Anyway, weirdness.. I wonder if Marla Maples was there?
Pictures here:
http://bittenandbound.com/2008/09/14/jennifer-lopez-nautica-malibu-triathlon-photos/
Her blog rarely mentions the fund raising piece and mostly emphasizes her ego which is the same size, shape and density as a Jupiter sized watermelon with empty toxic gases.
I'm pretty bummed about this because this woman has more power, leverage and influence at her disposal than most folks who get involved in fund-raising for say, Team in Training and could have made a difference.
It's not abundantly clear how much J Lo personally raised but I think it's odd that the entire event raised about 127k and that the 20 celebrities weren't really on the hook for anything, other than to show up.
Incidentally, my arch-nemesis, Andy Baldwin (who gave me a weird freakin' stare at Escape From Alcatraz when he thought I was checking out his then, fiancee' from The Bachelor, Tessa) won the celebrity race.
Anyway, weirdness.. I wonder if Marla Maples was there?
Monday, September 15, 2008
Week of 9/14
Back to a mostly normal week... I'll be making some decisions pretty soon about how much more racing I do this season. Things really seem to be coming back around re swim/bike, and I'm mildly bummed that I tried to race off weak arms and legs last weekend when I could have been strong and really gone for it at another upcoming sprint, or even Olympic.
In any scenario, I need to find out at the track if there is any life left in my legs at L pace. If so I'd like to race another Half Iron, however I just planned a hike into the Grand Canyon in early Nov which means all those crazy plans around either Soma Half, Worlds 70.3, El Tour de Tucson and signing up for IMAZ have to be planned around that.
Complicating all of that is work.. Yes, it appears that I will be working again. If all goes well, and it appears that it is, I'll be doing some consulting over the next 90 days or so to a very small startup in Seattle.. A bit of hassle to drive all the way over there from Redmond but hey, that's life.
So, if I can't travel to race because of work and other commitments I'll try to plug in one or two more races locally, if possible. Again, if my legs aren't coming back around I'm not doing it... On top of all that the hip tightness came back last week which is pretty annoying because it's not an injury per se though I'm so ginger with any ache that I'll cut back the activity until I feel safe to raise intensity/volume again. Sadly, a month before Canada the hip was bothering me enough that I sacrificed some volume I'd planned on, e.g. I had some huge run weeks planned and outside of a couple of planned long runs I skipped that.
At the moment, I won't plan on any fall run racing which could be fun but dead legs combined with wonky hip is not conducive to fun racing.
Weekly totals
Swim- 3
Bike- 4
Run- 3
Monday-
Run- 45min, 2 moderate loops around Greenlake..Must be feeling a little better
Swim- Random Swim at Samena in the indoor pool.. Not much of a set, in there about 45min
Tuesday-
Bike- 27miles, 1hr 30min-ish on Burke-Gill
Wed-
Bike- Ride around Lake Samm, abour 1hr 30min give/take
Run- 30min out and back on BG
Thurs
Run- 45min
Friday
Bike- 1hr 30min on BG
Swim- 4x200 (3.02, 3.06-08) on 30 sec rest
Sat
Swim- 3x300 mod (4.45-4.55)
Run- 40+ min run on trails near Samena
Sun
Bike- 5hrs+ up in Bellingham around the bay and on the farm roads..
In any scenario, I need to find out at the track if there is any life left in my legs at L pace. If so I'd like to race another Half Iron, however I just planned a hike into the Grand Canyon in early Nov which means all those crazy plans around either Soma Half, Worlds 70.3, El Tour de Tucson and signing up for IMAZ have to be planned around that.
Complicating all of that is work.. Yes, it appears that I will be working again. If all goes well, and it appears that it is, I'll be doing some consulting over the next 90 days or so to a very small startup in Seattle.. A bit of hassle to drive all the way over there from Redmond but hey, that's life.
So, if I can't travel to race because of work and other commitments I'll try to plug in one or two more races locally, if possible. Again, if my legs aren't coming back around I'm not doing it... On top of all that the hip tightness came back last week which is pretty annoying because it's not an injury per se though I'm so ginger with any ache that I'll cut back the activity until I feel safe to raise intensity/volume again. Sadly, a month before Canada the hip was bothering me enough that I sacrificed some volume I'd planned on, e.g. I had some huge run weeks planned and outside of a couple of planned long runs I skipped that.
At the moment, I won't plan on any fall run racing which could be fun but dead legs combined with wonky hip is not conducive to fun racing.
Weekly totals
Swim- 3
Bike- 4
Run- 3
Monday-
Run- 45min, 2 moderate loops around Greenlake..Must be feeling a little better
Swim- Random Swim at Samena in the indoor pool.. Not much of a set, in there about 45min
Tuesday-
Bike- 27miles, 1hr 30min-ish on Burke-Gill
Wed-
Bike- Ride around Lake Samm, abour 1hr 30min give/take
Run- 30min out and back on BG
Thurs
Run- 45min
Friday
Bike- 1hr 30min on BG
Swim- 4x200 (3.02, 3.06-08) on 30 sec rest
Sat
Swim- 3x300 mod (4.45-4.55)
Run- 40+ min run on trails near Samena
Sun
Bike- 5hrs+ up in Bellingham around the bay and on the farm roads..
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Bring Back Jan ! (Sign the Petition)
If Lance is coming back, let's bring Der Kaiser back!
Jan says in an interview with CyclingNews if Lance is at the start line he should be too.
What would the TdF be like if Lance did not have Jan and vice-versa?
http://bringbackjan.blogspot.com/
And here I very nearly gave away my prized Jan Ullrich bib shorts. :)
Jan says in an interview with CyclingNews if Lance is at the start line he should be too.
What would the TdF be like if Lance did not have Jan and vice-versa?
http://bringbackjan.blogspot.com/
And here I very nearly gave away my prized Jan Ullrich bib shorts. :)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Wattage data from IM Canada
Quick Stats:
Watts- 163avg
(Max 500w) - Meaningless number
Cadence avg- 76. Meaningless
30min avg- 203w
60min avg- 188w
120min avg-177w
Now that we have that stuff out of the way, let's move on to the good stuff..
Recently I've read a few AG'er reports who also used power. What I'm struck by is total adherence to power numbers during their race and under performance relative to their stated Functional Threshold.
I've sought out other athlete reports who have about the same functional power, and similar body type as mine (relative to drag coefficient) to compare strategies.
After all, I was pretty happy with my bike split and rode well within myself but curious how others approach it and what their results were.
So getting back to commentary on these other strategies..
The general rule of thumb for IM distance racing is to pace the bike using 70% of your Functional Threshold (which represents 100%).
For example: My FT is about 270w.. I was looking for an average of about 190w (=70% of 270w)
Most folks (including these athletes whose reports I read) will operationalize this advice as riding the bike at exactly 70% all day with few exceptions.
This is probably not the right way to do it..
Here's why:
At IMC the first 40miles of the course are mildly downhill with some exceptions, the course is packed and it's difficult to breakaway from other riders, as a result wattage figures are lower because athletes are forced into coasting and unintentional (legal) drafting.
Why work like a maniac to keep wattage up on this stretch when you'll get free speed to the start of Richter pass?
I didn't !
The next stretch is a long, steady climb up Richter pass. You can climb at your threshold or at your average.. I chose to climb just under the threshold but above my goal wattage.
That was about 220-240-ish all the way through the climb..
Nobody passed me and I rode a "heavy" set-up.. Disc wheel with Powertap hub.
The next stretch of the course is a set of rollers, you can't keep wattage up going downhill so why bother? (Over 25mph I tend to coast or soft pedal to keep legs loose/prep for an upcoming hill.)
Going up the rollers shouldn't be an exercise in punching up big watts, it is a measure of riding them quickly and smoothly using the least power to top them, and begin the next descent.
(Incidentally, the descents are scary fast, and windy)
After the rollers the course flattens a bit, (but still rolls a little) is mildly windy (cross and head winds) on a series of roads with bad pavement.
This is where the Powermeter is key, yes you have wattage goals, but no you shouldn't be glued to those.. I was riding at over 20mph avg to this point (but under my avg wattage goal) and that meant in the Cawston/Keremos section I was doing between 20 and 25...
Instead of looking at my PM and worrying that my watts had dipped I was happy that I was using less power to achieve the speed I wanted to.
In this section a racer should have imagined himself like a solar powered car, going as fast as possible but using almost no juice to keep and maintain speed.
The next section is the gradual climb to Yellow Lake, nothing an athlete can do here but ride tough, your PM is a good guide because keeping speeds high is tough, and it's easy to go way over FTP in effort to keep speed at "race pace"... Setting a cap on your effort makes sense.
The other reports (with regard to this section) I read were mildly confusing.
I think that most folks simply didn't have good fitness as they could barely maintain watts and then struggled on the actual climb on Yellow Lake.
Unfortunately there is nothing a PM will do for an athlete if they don't ride long consistently..
Lots of folks have good "short-term" power meaning they can ride pretty well for a couple of hours, even up to three hours.. But the four + hour mark is where the ability to stay strong on the bike is really linked to those long rides.
Practice keeping up race pace wattage on 4hour + ride prepares you to do that in race which should be obvious, but maybe isn't.. My guess is that folks just assume big wattage values on the trainer will hold up on really long rides, but they don't hold up if you haven't conditioned to the effort.
Off track: Not to offend anybody, but the IM bike is different than pulling off a good Half Iron bike split..
I've bonked hard in a 100mile training ride, and it's alot different than bonking on a 50mile ride, once your legs go in IM you don't bounce back during the race.
The last bit of these reports indicated folks were sore and tired coming off the bike after following some pre-designated power pacing plan and then walked the marathon..
What happened to them?
- They may have over-estimated their Functional Threshold.. And then rode at too high of target number as a result.
Guys usually do this.. It's all ego, doodes wanna throw out decent sounding numbers in casual Tri Guy talk but then I guess they believe their own hype on race day.
- They rode too hard in sections and blew their Chi instead of measuring out the effort as if it were a finite resource
- They under fueled on the bike.
I did this !
Yes.. Even with an "easy" 5.30 bike split, and feeling just fine off the bike I left myself short on the run..
I didn't feel it until mile 9 but still I slowed down from a 3h10min pace to a 3.50 pace! That's dramatic and most likely related to bike fueling.
Folks need to be looking at 200-300kcals an hour on the bike to start the run properly.. I personally erred on the low side, simply doubled my Half Iron plan and added a little (half can of coke and candy bar at bike special needs)..
My takeaways this year born out in a good bike:
Stick to wattage numbers like glue in training when it counts.
Ride like a fast miser in the race.
Watts- 163avg
(Max 500w) - Meaningless number
Cadence avg- 76. Meaningless
30min avg- 203w
60min avg- 188w
120min avg-177w
Now that we have that stuff out of the way, let's move on to the good stuff..
Recently I've read a few AG'er reports who also used power. What I'm struck by is total adherence to power numbers during their race and under performance relative to their stated Functional Threshold.
I've sought out other athlete reports who have about the same functional power, and similar body type as mine (relative to drag coefficient) to compare strategies.
After all, I was pretty happy with my bike split and rode well within myself but curious how others approach it and what their results were.
So getting back to commentary on these other strategies..
The general rule of thumb for IM distance racing is to pace the bike using 70% of your Functional Threshold (which represents 100%).
For example: My FT is about 270w.. I was looking for an average of about 190w (=70% of 270w)
Most folks (including these athletes whose reports I read) will operationalize this advice as riding the bike at exactly 70% all day with few exceptions.
This is probably not the right way to do it..
Here's why:
At IMC the first 40miles of the course are mildly downhill with some exceptions, the course is packed and it's difficult to breakaway from other riders, as a result wattage figures are lower because athletes are forced into coasting and unintentional (legal) drafting.
Why work like a maniac to keep wattage up on this stretch when you'll get free speed to the start of Richter pass?
I didn't !
The next stretch is a long, steady climb up Richter pass. You can climb at your threshold or at your average.. I chose to climb just under the threshold but above my goal wattage.
That was about 220-240-ish all the way through the climb..
Nobody passed me and I rode a "heavy" set-up.. Disc wheel with Powertap hub.
The next stretch of the course is a set of rollers, you can't keep wattage up going downhill so why bother? (Over 25mph I tend to coast or soft pedal to keep legs loose/prep for an upcoming hill.)
Going up the rollers shouldn't be an exercise in punching up big watts, it is a measure of riding them quickly and smoothly using the least power to top them, and begin the next descent.
(Incidentally, the descents are scary fast, and windy)
After the rollers the course flattens a bit, (but still rolls a little) is mildly windy (cross and head winds) on a series of roads with bad pavement.
This is where the Powermeter is key, yes you have wattage goals, but no you shouldn't be glued to those.. I was riding at over 20mph avg to this point (but under my avg wattage goal) and that meant in the Cawston/Keremos section I was doing between 20 and 25...
Instead of looking at my PM and worrying that my watts had dipped I was happy that I was using less power to achieve the speed I wanted to.
In this section a racer should have imagined himself like a solar powered car, going as fast as possible but using almost no juice to keep and maintain speed.
The next section is the gradual climb to Yellow Lake, nothing an athlete can do here but ride tough, your PM is a good guide because keeping speeds high is tough, and it's easy to go way over FTP in effort to keep speed at "race pace"... Setting a cap on your effort makes sense.
The other reports (with regard to this section) I read were mildly confusing.
I think that most folks simply didn't have good fitness as they could barely maintain watts and then struggled on the actual climb on Yellow Lake.
Unfortunately there is nothing a PM will do for an athlete if they don't ride long consistently..
Lots of folks have good "short-term" power meaning they can ride pretty well for a couple of hours, even up to three hours.. But the four + hour mark is where the ability to stay strong on the bike is really linked to those long rides.
Practice keeping up race pace wattage on 4hour + ride prepares you to do that in race which should be obvious, but maybe isn't.. My guess is that folks just assume big wattage values on the trainer will hold up on really long rides, but they don't hold up if you haven't conditioned to the effort.
Off track: Not to offend anybody, but the IM bike is different than pulling off a good Half Iron bike split..
I've bonked hard in a 100mile training ride, and it's alot different than bonking on a 50mile ride, once your legs go in IM you don't bounce back during the race.
The last bit of these reports indicated folks were sore and tired coming off the bike after following some pre-designated power pacing plan and then walked the marathon..
What happened to them?
- They may have over-estimated their Functional Threshold.. And then rode at too high of target number as a result.
Guys usually do this.. It's all ego, doodes wanna throw out decent sounding numbers in casual Tri Guy talk but then I guess they believe their own hype on race day.
- They rode too hard in sections and blew their Chi instead of measuring out the effort as if it were a finite resource
- They under fueled on the bike.
I did this !
Yes.. Even with an "easy" 5.30 bike split, and feeling just fine off the bike I left myself short on the run..
I didn't feel it until mile 9 but still I slowed down from a 3h10min pace to a 3.50 pace! That's dramatic and most likely related to bike fueling.
Folks need to be looking at 200-300kcals an hour on the bike to start the run properly.. I personally erred on the low side, simply doubled my Half Iron plan and added a little (half can of coke and candy bar at bike special needs)..
My takeaways this year born out in a good bike:
Stick to wattage numbers like glue in training when it counts.
Ride like a fast miser in the race.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Aluminum Man Triathlon
I drove all the way from Seattle to The Dalles, Oregon (4 hour drive!) on Friday, crashed at a cheap hotel to do a fun Sprint Tri that I'd done 6 years ago in my first season to see if there was any life left in my legs..
Oh man, in some ways it was great, and in others in might have been a sign that I should rest a bit..
So.. Not much to say about the race.. The distances are slightly off kilter in spite of what is advertised on the website, I suspect AA Sports advertises those "standard" distances and the good folks in The Dalles that host the race just put the race on the way they always have in the last twenty years..
Quick stats:
4th overall, 3rd in age div
(Results as of Saturday. I looked this morning and AA messed the whole top ten, surprise. Not.)
800m swim- 12min (eh, good for me)
14 mile bike- 39min (First time at 23mph avg for any Tri or bike race)
5k Run- 19min 40-odd secs (sloooow)
_______________________
The swim is in a protected area of the Columbia river, and I guess it's about 800m given how long it took me: 12min... (top guys were out 9-10min)..
A tiny bit of redemption for me because this is a decent time (for me!), it wasn't messy, I didn't get trapped and moved well..
Any "top-end" I had is loooong gone. I was swimming as fast as I could but I'm just slow as a molasses, holding water and moving better than 1.30 100/y pace in the pool is so much work at the moment. I know it will come back but Canada did a number on me.
I thought I came out in sight of the leaders, I didn't expect to lead it out or anything, just wanted to keep them in sight..
Ran through transition quickly, yanked off the wetsuit, jumped on the bike in a under 2min, good for me.
Bike- Decided not to use the Powertap wheel with disc cover and used the Zipp 440 with the PT set to "bike computer" mode, it will read the magnet off the rear wheel...
(At one point the PT wasn't reading the magnet properly and was giving speed readings that were way off, like 87mph- have to fix that otherwise it's pretty useless)
I was actually most worried my legs would have the biggest issue riding pre-race.. At any rate felt decent enough and swallowed up a bunch of guys in the first two miles on a rolling course.
At one point I caught and passed a guy who then rode back to me and asked:
"Are you in the race?"
I said, "Yeah Doode."
He, "I just didn't see any numbers, that's why I was asking".
I mean, that was a little weird.
I did wear the famous green togs and extra short Manzier, did he think I was a local who was dripping wet just out mowing Tri-tards down for fun?
The next doode I passed was even better. As I go by he jumps on my wheel. I say, "You're supposed to drop back and then re-pass if you like."
He says, "Thanks" and two min later re-passes on a little descent..
Gosh I get passed on descents so much these days, at 62kg (140lbs) I guess I'm a bit light to really move. Incidentally those two guys blew and that was the last of them.
Half way to the turn around I think I've maybe caught most of the guys in front but worried that there are others... Sure enough.
I see about ten guys coming back, not sure if they are Olympic distance racers since they started 30min before us but I didn't take any chances.. I picked it up and rode hard the rest of the way back, though I only caught one guy.
T2: As I'm rolling in I see some guys headed out onto the run so I'm pleased I made up some time and figure I can run my way pretty high up the standings, maybe even to first overall.. out in 52 sec
Run- Oh boy.
Sure my run split was fast for this race but I split slower miles here than I did at Troika Half Iron (13.1mi run) vs. only 5k in Aluminum Man. :)
I was actually thinking I could run a 17min 5k off the bike, heck I was doing mile repeats comfortably in 5.20 a month ago..
Well, that was a wake up call. I'm obviously running off tired legs at the moment.
Anyhoo, I mowed over a bunch of pedal mashers and just before the turn around I saw 1st through 5th on the way back, I was pretty sure I could run to third without too much extraordinary effort.
On the way back I was making up distance on third overall, and then with about a half mile left I thought it didn't matter too much, they weren't handing out awards for the podium so why kill myself?
(Another sign I need to take time away from racing?)
So I finished just behind him and pretty happy with the result...
Oh man, in some ways it was great, and in others in might have been a sign that I should rest a bit..
So.. Not much to say about the race.. The distances are slightly off kilter in spite of what is advertised on the website, I suspect AA Sports advertises those "standard" distances and the good folks in The Dalles that host the race just put the race on the way they always have in the last twenty years..
Quick stats:
4th overall, 3rd in age div
(Results as of Saturday. I looked this morning and AA messed the whole top ten, surprise. Not.)
800m swim- 12min (eh, good for me)
14 mile bike- 39min (First time at 23mph avg for any Tri or bike race)
5k Run- 19min 40-odd secs (sloooow)
_______________________
The swim is in a protected area of the Columbia river, and I guess it's about 800m given how long it took me: 12min... (top guys were out 9-10min)..
A tiny bit of redemption for me because this is a decent time (for me!), it wasn't messy, I didn't get trapped and moved well..
Any "top-end" I had is loooong gone. I was swimming as fast as I could but I'm just slow as a molasses, holding water and moving better than 1.30 100/y pace in the pool is so much work at the moment. I know it will come back but Canada did a number on me.
I thought I came out in sight of the leaders, I didn't expect to lead it out or anything, just wanted to keep them in sight..
Ran through transition quickly, yanked off the wetsuit, jumped on the bike in a under 2min, good for me.
Bike- Decided not to use the Powertap wheel with disc cover and used the Zipp 440 with the PT set to "bike computer" mode, it will read the magnet off the rear wheel...
(At one point the PT wasn't reading the magnet properly and was giving speed readings that were way off, like 87mph- have to fix that otherwise it's pretty useless)
I was actually most worried my legs would have the biggest issue riding pre-race.. At any rate felt decent enough and swallowed up a bunch of guys in the first two miles on a rolling course.
At one point I caught and passed a guy who then rode back to me and asked:
"Are you in the race?"
I said, "Yeah Doode."
He, "I just didn't see any numbers, that's why I was asking".
I mean, that was a little weird.
I did wear the famous green togs and extra short Manzier, did he think I was a local who was dripping wet just out mowing Tri-tards down for fun?
The next doode I passed was even better. As I go by he jumps on my wheel. I say, "You're supposed to drop back and then re-pass if you like."
He says, "Thanks" and two min later re-passes on a little descent..
Gosh I get passed on descents so much these days, at 62kg (140lbs) I guess I'm a bit light to really move. Incidentally those two guys blew and that was the last of them.
Half way to the turn around I think I've maybe caught most of the guys in front but worried that there are others... Sure enough.
I see about ten guys coming back, not sure if they are Olympic distance racers since they started 30min before us but I didn't take any chances.. I picked it up and rode hard the rest of the way back, though I only caught one guy.
T2: As I'm rolling in I see some guys headed out onto the run so I'm pleased I made up some time and figure I can run my way pretty high up the standings, maybe even to first overall.. out in 52 sec
Run- Oh boy.
Sure my run split was fast for this race but I split slower miles here than I did at Troika Half Iron (13.1mi run) vs. only 5k in Aluminum Man. :)
I was actually thinking I could run a 17min 5k off the bike, heck I was doing mile repeats comfortably in 5.20 a month ago..
Well, that was a wake up call. I'm obviously running off tired legs at the moment.
Anyhoo, I mowed over a bunch of pedal mashers and just before the turn around I saw 1st through 5th on the way back, I was pretty sure I could run to third without too much extraordinary effort.
On the way back I was making up distance on third overall, and then with about a half mile left I thought it didn't matter too much, they weren't handing out awards for the podium so why kill myself?
(Another sign I need to take time away from racing?)
So I finished just behind him and pretty happy with the result...
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Week of 9/7
First week of training after an entire week down after Canada, it was obviously light..
Swim- 3
Bike-2
Run-3
Monday-
Run- 30min easy jog, making sure all is working post IMC
Tues-
Swim- Samena session.. Just random mix of paddles, continous swim.. 5x100m, then 2x200m.. All o.k. but considerably slower than pre IM.. Trying to slow the stroke down, hold good water.. Second session in pool since this past weekend, it felt better this go around.
Wed-
Bike- 27mi, 1hr 35min.. Just shaking legs out, seeing if pushing bigger gears will work for me.. Seems o.k.
Thurs-
Swim- Mid-day at Samena- still shaking things out, and stroke seems to coming back.. Same as Tues with 2x100 hard about 1.25-ish then 200 steady in a touch over 3min... I think next week should be good to go in the pool
Run- Wow. Yes, I did a double.. Hillarious. Easy 30min run.
Friday- Off.. Driving to The Dalles
Saturday- Race
Sunday- 3hr 30min hike around Mt. Rainier
Swim- 3
Bike-2
Run-3
Monday-
Run- 30min easy jog, making sure all is working post IMC
Tues-
Swim- Samena session.. Just random mix of paddles, continous swim.. 5x100m, then 2x200m.. All o.k. but considerably slower than pre IM.. Trying to slow the stroke down, hold good water.. Second session in pool since this past weekend, it felt better this go around.
Wed-
Bike- 27mi, 1hr 35min.. Just shaking legs out, seeing if pushing bigger gears will work for me.. Seems o.k.
Thurs-
Swim- Mid-day at Samena- still shaking things out, and stroke seems to coming back.. Same as Tues with 2x100 hard about 1.25-ish then 200 steady in a touch over 3min... I think next week should be good to go in the pool
Run- Wow. Yes, I did a double.. Hillarious. Easy 30min run.
Friday- Off.. Driving to The Dalles
Saturday- Race
Sunday- 3hr 30min hike around Mt. Rainier
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
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