I'll add to the plethora of IMAZ reports hitting the forum today. I'll keep this brief and add a longer description on the blog (that I will get updated this weekend) which will have a detailed analysis of my build & taper program.
Quick hits:
- 2nd IM
- I loved the venue, didn't mind the dirty water, 3 loop course kept it manageable not boring, wind kept it fair, race is super convenient to "civilization" with a town large enough to absorb all competitors, volunteers and spectators
- showing up the race healthy is half the battle. This would haunt me.
RACE DAY:
Work up @ 4:15, fairly well rested. Quickly made my pre race breakfast: 2 slices whole wheat bread, ~4 spoonfuls of Nuttzo and 2 spoonfuls of strawberry preserves. + water with 1 Gu electrolyte tablet. I made 1 cup of coffee which I drank on the drive into Tempe. Prior to swim I had 1 pack of Gu Chomps. + 15 ounces of Gatorade with another electrolyte tablet. I worked my way through the crowd and was one of the first 50 age groupers in the water. It was a little chilly but the body warmed up in 10 minutes or so. I positioned myself on the front line and fairly centered, maybe just a tad too far left.
Cannon went off and I had a fairly clean few 100 yards as I moved toward the right, trying to hit the tangent and follow the course as it mirrors the shore line. Another athlete was directly on my right and tryign to move to the buoys, so I sat up & let him move in front. I regrouped and put in some effort to catch the lead group on my desired line. As I made the catch, I put in some hard strokes to get ahead and prevent anyone from getting a free ride on my feet. I think I had the overall lead as we rounded the first turn buoy with a 10 second gap to 2nd. I held a wide right line again on the way back, but may have cut it too wide, as I ended up finishing the swim in 2nd, down 5 seconds. I'm content but not thrilled with the 52:50.
On the bike, I took over the lead of the amateur race abut 5 miles in and felt fantastic. I held onto this for the next 10 or so miles and was passed about 3x before the turnaround. I maintained my position descending the beeline on the first 3 loops until Rob Gray passed me on the 3rd loop (nice custom PI Octane). The wind was challenging but I focused on staying in the tuck, eating/ drinking/ and keeping the power even. I was surprised at how I held up my wattage on the way back into town the 1st loop (thanks to the 54 big ring), so I ended up over my target (AP 220) @ AP of 233. The next two loops were much of the same, except that I had to navigate the traffic and was passed a few more times by studs. I nailed my power target in lap 2, purposefully backing off until I hit the beeline and being forced to coast a bit more to find safe opportunities to pass. Lap 3 was also similar, except I spent about 2.5 minutes fully coasting while relieving myself, and this + the extra traffic caused AP to drop to 219. Overall, I felt very fresh coming off the bike. AP 225 NP 229 per strava, total bike 4:58. The wattage was higher than I expected, but I felt great. I think my FTP is calc'd too low @ 290.
Also - I'm apparently as aerodynamic as a friggin schoolbus, http://www.finisherpix.com/...a-2014.html#50412109. I run a very clean setup on the bike, BTA, shiv bladder, 404/808 + tight fitting castelli stealth. However, my position is way more detrimental than I had anticipated. Some low hanging fruit to be addressed this offseason (although it's going to be a challenge on my current bike).
I came off the bike in 10th, passed a dude in transition & was 9th on the run. I went out a little too quick holding 7:15s for the first 4 miles, but the legs felt great! I backed down to 7:30s until I hit a pit stop for 2.5 minutes @ mile 6. Post the pit stop, I was back in the 7:40s until curry hill and then solid thru mile 10. At mile 11, the IT band started to twitch, and by mile 13 it was very painful. I held on the next 2 miles while backing off the pace to 8:20. I passed some Team EMJ guys spectating, I figured they were getting some splits for their teammate & my competition Brad Austin, and asked how far back he was. I had about 3 minutes on him at mile 14. Unfortunately there was no escaping the fact that my knee wanted no part of the rest of the race. I felt aerobically fine, but couldn't handle the ITBS. My pain threshold finally was overcome on the descent to the dirt path after the mile 15 turnaround, the competitive part of my race was over. I was passed within the next mile by 2 guys in my age group. I spent the last 10 miles with a 70/30% walk/ run split to a 4:11 & 10:07 finish. A PB by over an hour, but a letdown considering at mile 15 I FELT that I could have maintained pace around 8min miles to bring it home. That would have put me right in contention for the age group win. It's tough to play hypotheticals with the IM run, because I just as likely could have spectacularly bonked and DNF'd or crawled to a slower time. I overtrained in the last week of my build phase, getting injured at the worst possible time, and had to pay the consequences.
As I mentioned earlier, I'll have an even more indepth view on the blog, if only because writing this out helps me put things in perspective and move onto the next goal (IM Tahoe, IMMOO or IMMD perhaps?).
Thoughts on being an Urban Triathlete
Quick hits:
- 2nd IM
- I loved the venue, didn't mind the dirty water, 3 loop course kept it manageable not boring, wind kept it fair, race is super convenient to "civilization" with a town large enough to absorb all competitors, volunteers and spectators
- showing up the race healthy is half the battle. This would haunt me.
RACE DAY:
Work up @ 4:15, fairly well rested. Quickly made my pre race breakfast: 2 slices whole wheat bread, ~4 spoonfuls of Nuttzo and 2 spoonfuls of strawberry preserves. + water with 1 Gu electrolyte tablet. I made 1 cup of coffee which I drank on the drive into Tempe. Prior to swim I had 1 pack of Gu Chomps. + 15 ounces of Gatorade with another electrolyte tablet. I worked my way through the crowd and was one of the first 50 age groupers in the water. It was a little chilly but the body warmed up in 10 minutes or so. I positioned myself on the front line and fairly centered, maybe just a tad too far left.
Cannon went off and I had a fairly clean few 100 yards as I moved toward the right, trying to hit the tangent and follow the course as it mirrors the shore line. Another athlete was directly on my right and tryign to move to the buoys, so I sat up & let him move in front. I regrouped and put in some effort to catch the lead group on my desired line. As I made the catch, I put in some hard strokes to get ahead and prevent anyone from getting a free ride on my feet. I think I had the overall lead as we rounded the first turn buoy with a 10 second gap to 2nd. I held a wide right line again on the way back, but may have cut it too wide, as I ended up finishing the swim in 2nd, down 5 seconds. I'm content but not thrilled with the 52:50.
On the bike, I took over the lead of the amateur race abut 5 miles in and felt fantastic. I held onto this for the next 10 or so miles and was passed about 3x before the turnaround. I maintained my position descending the beeline on the first 3 loops until Rob Gray passed me on the 3rd loop (nice custom PI Octane). The wind was challenging but I focused on staying in the tuck, eating/ drinking/ and keeping the power even. I was surprised at how I held up my wattage on the way back into town the 1st loop (thanks to the 54 big ring), so I ended up over my target (AP 220) @ AP of 233. The next two loops were much of the same, except that I had to navigate the traffic and was passed a few more times by studs. I nailed my power target in lap 2, purposefully backing off until I hit the beeline and being forced to coast a bit more to find safe opportunities to pass. Lap 3 was also similar, except I spent about 2.5 minutes fully coasting while relieving myself, and this + the extra traffic caused AP to drop to 219. Overall, I felt very fresh coming off the bike. AP 225 NP 229 per strava, total bike 4:58. The wattage was higher than I expected, but I felt great. I think my FTP is calc'd too low @ 290.
Also - I'm apparently as aerodynamic as a friggin schoolbus, http://www.finisherpix.com/...a-2014.html#50412109. I run a very clean setup on the bike, BTA, shiv bladder, 404/808 + tight fitting castelli stealth. However, my position is way more detrimental than I had anticipated. Some low hanging fruit to be addressed this offseason (although it's going to be a challenge on my current bike).
I came off the bike in 10th, passed a dude in transition & was 9th on the run. I went out a little too quick holding 7:15s for the first 4 miles, but the legs felt great! I backed down to 7:30s until I hit a pit stop for 2.5 minutes @ mile 6. Post the pit stop, I was back in the 7:40s until curry hill and then solid thru mile 10. At mile 11, the IT band started to twitch, and by mile 13 it was very painful. I held on the next 2 miles while backing off the pace to 8:20. I passed some Team EMJ guys spectating, I figured they were getting some splits for their teammate & my competition Brad Austin, and asked how far back he was. I had about 3 minutes on him at mile 14. Unfortunately there was no escaping the fact that my knee wanted no part of the rest of the race. I felt aerobically fine, but couldn't handle the ITBS. My pain threshold finally was overcome on the descent to the dirt path after the mile 15 turnaround, the competitive part of my race was over. I was passed within the next mile by 2 guys in my age group. I spent the last 10 miles with a 70/30% walk/ run split to a 4:11 & 10:07 finish. A PB by over an hour, but a letdown considering at mile 15 I FELT that I could have maintained pace around 8min miles to bring it home. That would have put me right in contention for the age group win. It's tough to play hypotheticals with the IM run, because I just as likely could have spectacularly bonked and DNF'd or crawled to a slower time. I overtrained in the last week of my build phase, getting injured at the worst possible time, and had to pay the consequences.
As I mentioned earlier, I'll have an even more indepth view on the blog, if only because writing this out helps me put things in perspective and move onto the next goal (IM Tahoe, IMMOO or IMMD perhaps?).
Thoughts on being an Urban Triathlete