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'16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB.
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It has been a couple weeks since Ironman Arizona, where I had a personal best performance in 8:48. I haven't written any race reports for quite a while, but with the PB, I wanted to put some thoughts down.The race itself wasn’t particularly exciting, which is usually a good thing when it comes to Ironman age group racing. I just went out and did my thing, which looked a little like this:

Swim: 58:42 (2nd best IM swim, best since 2012).

Lined up in the queue behind the fence to the far left and was first down the stairs on the left side and dove in. Clear water and good line, which meant taking it wide of the buoy line almost the whole way. No contact until the very last 100m or so when we converged back to the stairs to exit the water. If there was a difference compared to most of my IMs, it’s that I swam it a little harder than usual, but felt strong from start to finish…racing at an elevation 4,000 feet lower than at home in Colorado is GREAT!

Bike: 4:42.55

Rode pretty steady from lap to lap, but the way each lap was split shows a little excitement on the first outbound lap and what I perceived to be slightly different wind conditions on the second and third laps. RPE was steady from lap to lap.

1) 219/228 (230/237 outbound, 204/212 back to town)
2) 219/223 (225/229 outbound, 211/215 back to town)
3) 217/223 (223/227 outbound, 208/217 back to town)
4) Full ride: 218/225

Each lap was right at about 1:34, so quite consistent. I wasn’t really paying much attention to my power output, and more or less just rode on autopilot. This was however, my highest power output out of my prior four IMs.



Run: 3:02.09

This was my third best IM run, with my top two being at 3:00.26 and 3:00.40, and all three of these being at IMAZ incidentally. I’ve also run 3:02 twice in Kona and 3:03 once at Coeur d’Alene. The biggest thing of note with the run was that I ran completely by feel – I had planned on turning on my Garmin in T2, but it never fired up and I left it there. Judging by the splits on SportStats, it appears that I came through the halfway point in exactly 1:30.00, which is a bit quick. I prefer to settle into my IM runs and finish stronger than I start. If I had a functioning watch, I likely would have run the first half a little slower with the hope of running the second half a little faster. Who knows if the outcome would have been a time in the 3:00-3:01 range, or even breaking 3hrs. But I’m not complaining about a 3:02, especially with having run 3:10, 3:16 and 3:12 in my last 3 IMs!



Where my “secrets” lie with regard to prep for this race and how I feel like they influenced my outcome:

Swim: This was my 3rd IM in 3-1/2 months (Boulder and Kona were the two prior). Heading into Boulder and Kona, I basically did “just enough” to feel like I could get by with a respectable swim. After Kona, almost all of my swims were with neoprene shorts, primarily because Arizona is a wetsuit swim. But this also allowed me to swim a little harder from a “catch and pull” standpoint and not have to be too concerned about what my lower body was doing energy expenditure wise. I knocked out a couple 5500m swims heading into Arizona and felt like I could have gone another 1000-1500 during those workouts. Heading into the race, I felt 58:xx was totally within reason.

Bike: All year, I rode exactly once in excess of 4hrs during training, and that ride was about 4:10. After Kona, I loaded all my weekly riding into 3-day blocks, knocking out 9-12 hours of riding in three days and not doing any other riding the rest of the week. I did a crap ton of 3-4 hour rides this year. This wasn’t necessarily by design, but due more to my “life schedule.”

Run: I think the biggest difference with my 3:02 run was that I took the Q-Rings off my bike and went back to round rings. The Q-Rings were new this year and they felt great while riding, BUT I’ve had quite sub-standard runs off the bike in all my long-course races this season for no apparent reason (nothing glaring with training or nutrition)…I just had no “pop” in my legs straight out of T2 at Boulder 70.3, IM Boulder or Kona. At Arizona, I felt like my normal self again coming out of T2. As with the bike, I wasn’t pounding out any big miles this year. Longest run all year was 18 miles, longest after Kona was 13. Put in four weeks all year in excess of 35 miles.

How was I able to have such a strong performance on my 3rd IM in a fairly short window of time? I don’t feel like I really hammered either Boulder or Kona – they were more like long training days and representative of my fitness at the time of those races. Neither of those two runs were particularly stellar, which is where the real “damage” can happen – so I didn’t feel all that beat up after those two races, either from training or the races themselves. Couple that with the great fall weather we had in Colorado and I was able to put in a very strong block of training after a couple weeks of downtime after Kona.

I’m pretty stoked to have been able to string it all together and have my 13th IM - and 3rd at age 40 - be the best one yet. I think the pic below pretty well captures what I was feeling when I finished...pretty overwhelmed!



_________________________________
Steve Johnson
DARK HORSE TRIATHLON |
Last edited by: darkhorsetri: Dec 8, 16 12:39
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [darkhorsetri] [ In reply to ]
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Awesome race Steve, thanks for sharing. Could you tell us a bit more about your nutrition (both bike/run)? I see flasks in both hands on the run.
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [darkhorsetri] [ In reply to ]
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Awesome result !

A few questions if I may 1) how much do you weigh 2) have you been to the wind tunnel as you are clearly very aero.

Cheers Steve
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [snaaijert] [ In reply to ]
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snaaijert wrote:
Awesome race Steve, thanks for sharing. Could you tell us a bit more about your nutrition (both bike/run)? I see flasks in both hands on the run.

No problem: this year I decided to switch things up and ended up going with the most convenient option, which was to move to the course-supplied Gatorade on the bike. I supplemented with GU chews that I had in a bento on my top tube. I took one Chew every 15 minutes in addition to the Gatorade and was taking in anywhere from 250-270cals/hour combined. I also grabbed a water bottle at each aid station and drank as much as I could before reaching the "last chance trash" at the end of each station.

On the run, I had ~3 GU caffeinated gels in each flask and filled the remainder with water so it was less viscous. I had two flasks in my T2 bag and grabbed a third at special needs. At nearly every aid station I grabbed a cup of water and got in as much in my mouth as I could.

Thanks!

_________________________________
Steve Johnson
DARK HORSE TRIATHLON |
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [UKINNY] [ In reply to ]
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UKINNY wrote:
Awesome result !

A few questions if I may 1) how much do you weigh 2) have you been to the wind tunnel as you are clearly very aero.

Cheers Steve

Thanks!

I weigh 170lbs....and have never been to the tunnel, nor tested my position/equipment. I have just read this forum and have gone with a lot of the "works for most people" options with regard to equipment and position. Super unscientific, I know - but it was worked for the most part.

_________________________________
Steve Johnson
DARK HORSE TRIATHLON |
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [darkhorsetri] [ In reply to ]
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Congratulations! amazing performance!

Seems like few run volume for a 3:02. Do you include a lot of intensity in your runs and work @ or above threshold?
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [pabloarc] [ In reply to ]
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pabloarc wrote:
Congratulations! amazing performance!

Seems like few run volume for a 3:02. Do you include a lot of intensity in your runs and work @ or above threshold?

Thanks!

I turned 40 this year and promptly developed Achilles and high hamstring issues, so intensity was virtually non-existent. During my Kona build, I did more hilly routes during training to toughen up my legs a bit.

I've never been a high volume runner and up until a couple years ago after I ran my first 3:02 IM marathon, most of my weekly volume was in the mid 30s. Over the last few years I added more mileage, doing more 40+ mile weeks and getting into the 50s a couple times. Honestly, I think more mileage for me did more harm than good.

When I'm out running, I'm always trying to be on-point with my form, with my favorite mental cures being cadence, firm core, running tall, staying loose with hands and shoulders. Running economy will go a long way with regard to performance in long course racing.

_________________________________
Steve Johnson
DARK HORSE TRIATHLON |
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [darkhorsetri] [ In reply to ]
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Nice information about the things to focus while running.

High intensity for the run doesn't help me neither, so have included Hill repeats as well since some months ago.

Thanks
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [darkhorsetri] [ In reply to ]
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Did you have this post in mind when you put your occupation as "Dream Crusher" for IMAZ? (IIRC.) I always assumed your results were attained through high volume and/or high intensity and therefore within reach if I kept working hard. Only 30-some miles/week; only 9-12 hours/week ... consider my dreams crushed ;)

Kudos on another great race. I did almost all my swims the last 8 weeks before AZ with neoprene shorts as well (never before). It allowed me to swim faster and harder for longer. I had my best swim ever at IMAZ--by a big margin.

It is interesting to contrast your calorie intake with Joel Maley's ~400cal/hr, especially considering your relative size. Thanks for sharing.
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [darkhorsetri] [ In reply to ]
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darkhorsetri wrote:
...have never been to the tunnel, nor tested my position/equipment. I have just read this forum and have gone with a lot of the "works for most people" options with regard to equipment and position. Super unscientific...


this is actually pretty scientific, and the preferred way to do things. A good fit will get you a long way. Congrats Mr. .220 CdA.

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Last edited by: ericMPro: Dec 8, 16 11:46
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [pabloarc] [ In reply to ]
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pabloarc wrote:
Nice information about the things to focus while running.

High intensity for the run doesn't help me neither, so have included Hill repeats as well since some months ago.

Thanks

The hills we have around here can vary from loooong, consistent 2-mile grades to really short and steep pitches on dirt roads at 8,500 feet. You have no choice to pay attention to form if you want to conserve your energy and not injure yourself by just plowing ahead. Running in CO is pretty awesome. :)

_________________________________
Steve Johnson
DARK HORSE TRIATHLON |
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [mdm81] [ In reply to ]
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mdm81 wrote:
Did you have this post in mind when you put your occupation as "Dream Crusher" for IMAZ? (IIRC.) I always assumed your results were attained through high volume and/or high intensity and therefore within reach if I kept working hard. Only 30-some miles/week; only 9-12 hours/week ... consider my dreams crushed ;)

Kudos on another great race. I did almost all my swims the last 8 weeks before AZ with neoprene shorts as well (never before). It allowed me to swim faster and harder for longer. I had my best swim ever at IMAZ--by a big margin.

It is interesting to contrast your calorie intake with Joel Maley's ~400cal/hr, especially considering your relative size. Thanks for sharing.

Haha - I try not to take myself too seriously. I like to have a little fun with the occupation field while registering for races.

More than anything, I'd say my results are a result of being consistently active since I was a teenager. Years and years of consistent 30 mile weeks (granted I chose the right parents), will pay off in the long run. I've also never lost much time due to injury; the ~6 weeks earlier this past winter from my Achilles was the longest (by far) setback I've ever had from an injury.

As to the neoprene shorts, I've used them for the past three years or so and much prefer them over a pull buoy - more wetsuit race specificity, and allow for kicking and better rotation and balance than I can get with a pull buoy. I won't use them if I have a race on the horizon that either won't be wetsuit legal or is usually borderline. But for a race like IMAZ, for me it was a no-brainer.

_________________________________
Steve Johnson
DARK HORSE TRIATHLON |
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [darkhorsetri] [ In reply to ]
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Congrats! Saw you coming back across the bridge as I was heading out and figured you were crushing it.
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [darkhorsetri] [ In reply to ]
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Five more years (til I'm 40) of consistency and maybe your swim and bike splits are attainable (you had me by ~7 min in each at AZ), but that run is something special.

Spectating at IMAZ 2014 and watching you, Scott Iott, Rob Gray, and a few others really race that day was a big turning point and eye opener for me. It moved me from treating IM as a gran fondo type thing to a competition. So thanks for that--I think.
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [ericMPro] [ In reply to ]
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ericMPro wrote:
darkhorsetri wrote:
...have never been to the tunnel, nor tested my position/equipment. I have just read this forum and have gone with a lot of the "works for most people" options with regard to equipment and position. Super unscientific...


this is actually pretty scientific, and the preferred way to do things. A good fit will get you a long way. Congrats Mr. .220 CdA.

I still feel like there are still gains that can be made....maybe the next time I'm in CH - my sister lives in Durham, after all.

_________________________________
Steve Johnson
DARK HORSE TRIATHLON |
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [darkhorsetri] [ In reply to ]
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I weigh 170lbs....[`Quote]

And how tall???


"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [mdm81] [ In reply to ]
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mdm81 wrote:
Five more years (til I'm 40) of consistency and maybe your swim and bike splits are attainable (you had me by ~7 min in each at AZ), but that run is something special.

Spectating at IMAZ 2014 and watching you, Scott Iott, Rob Gray, and a few others really race that day was a big turning point and eye opener for me. It moved me from treating IM as a gran fondo type thing to a competition. So thanks for that--I think.

You're welcome?

This year was almost deja vu with Scott. We had identical separation at both miles 2 & 15 this year, which was close to the margin we had in '14 at the same points - 2-3 minutes. Fortunately for me, I held on to it a little better during the last 10 miles than he did this time around. Now only if Rob would quit doing that crazy ultra man stuff and Scott Bowe and I would sync up the years that we race at IMAZ, then well - that would be a lot of fun!

_________________________________
Steve Johnson
DARK HORSE TRIATHLON |
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [ericmulk] [ In reply to ]
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ericmulk wrote:
I weigh 170lbs....[`Quote]

And how tall???

6 feet on a good day.

_________________________________
Steve Johnson
DARK HORSE TRIATHLON |
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [darkhorsetri] [ In reply to ]
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darkhorsetri wrote:
ericmulk wrote:
I weigh 170lbs....[`Quote]

And how tall???


6 feet on a good day.

Wow, 6' and 170...I was guessing 5'11" to 6' but only 155-160 at most as you look quite thin. Anyway, obv that ht/wt works very well for you.


"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [darkhorsetri] [ In reply to ]
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Tremendous work Steve!!!
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [ericmulk] [ In reply to ]
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ericmulk wrote:
darkhorsetri wrote:
ericmulk wrote:
I weigh 170lbs....[`Quote]

And how tall???


6 feet on a good day.

Wow, 6' and 170...I was guessing 5'11" to 6' but only 155-160 at most as you look quite thin. Anyway, obv that ht/wt works very well for you.

I've been this weight since high school. I was a lightweight rower in college and during the summer sprint season for Nationals and worlds trials, etc, I was always the boat "fattie" - was always a major struggle to get below 160 to make weight.

_________________________________
Steve Johnson
DARK HORSE TRIATHLON |
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [darkhorsetri] [ In reply to ]
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darkhorsetri wrote:
ericmulk wrote:
darkhorsetri wrote:
ericmulk wrote:
I weigh 170lbs....[`Quote]

And how tall???


6 feet on a good day.


Wow, 6' and 170...I was guessing 5'11" to 6' but only 155-160 at most as you look quite thin. Anyway, obv that ht/wt works very well for you.


I've been this weight since high school. I was a lightweight rower in college and during the summer sprint season for Nationals and worlds trials, etc, I was always the boat "fattie" - was always a major struggle to get below 160 to make weight.

I guess the reason I was surprised is that I'm about 6'1.5" and 175 but I think our weight distro is diff. I have your typ swimmer's build with long arms and long legs, big hands/feet, broad shoulders, etc, but with thinner legs than yours. You appear to have more muscle in your legs which is part of why you're faster on the bike whereas I'm faster in the water. :)


"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [darkhorsetri] [ In reply to ]
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Congratulations on a great race! Thanks for sharing.
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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [darkhorsetri] [ In reply to ]
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Great race Steve. It's was great meeting you.

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Re: '16 IM Arizona RR - Lucky #13...with an 8:48 PB. [jmaley] [ In reply to ]
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jmaley wrote:
Great race Steve. It's was great meeting you.

Thanks to everyone who has commented here - good discussion.

Good to meet you too, Joel. I must admit that when I saw you coming like a freight train at the mile 8 turnaround, I thought there was no way you would be able to keep up that kind of pace/effort for another 18 miles. I figured I'd be seeing you walking somewhere after mile 20. ;)

Congrats on a fantastic race yourself!

_________________________________
Steve Johnson
DARK HORSE TRIATHLON |
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