Thank you Sarah for putting up with me all these years. I know I’m awesome at being a PIA, often.
You should swim more than I do. You being everyone. Trust me.
Embrace the boredom and take low risk risks.
If I lost my bike computer did the race even happen? Do I have to do it again. fwiw my AP was somewhere between 190-195 at mile 70.
When you have to pee so bad on the bike that you can’t ride aero bc bending over hurts, it’s time to stop and pee at the next aid station or tree…for 67 seconds. Why can’t I pee on the bike? Why? Why are there no trees on this course? Why?
It wasn’t too shabby and it could have been a lot worse
Some longer training days aren’t a bad thing when doing IM, by longer I mean 6+ hrs
Shit happens you need to roll with the punches, or sharts. I saw a few people who had that problem, rather glad it wasn’t me.
Don’t be an asshole in the swim. Yes lady wearing the red Orca who swam somewhere between mid 58 and 59:10 or so, I’m talking to you, you Asshole. My guess is she’s an asshole in real life as well. It takes a lot to get me to call someone an asshole that many times.
If you’re going to do the minimum get the maximum benefit out if it.
IM’s are ridiculous. It’s all about going slow as fast as possible.
There were some great bicycle performances from the local cohort. (At least they seem great given what the weather was like in Tucson on that day).
Any thoughts about how much faster an “average day” might of been?
Do you feel that you handled the race well (given the wind and your fitness)?
Any thoughts as to how a lighter/fitter/weaker triathletes should approach the wind?
Also why is it that the pro bike times were pretty fast? (There must be an additional explanation besides from time of day).
Congrats on the fast time and PR. It’s good to hear from some more experienced athletes who also can’t pee on the bike. I looked the fool at IMFL, standing up on the pedals and slowing to 4mph while trying to pee.
Sucks about your computer. What type was it, and what type of mount was it in?
Low risk risks are things like pushing the bike on the areas of the course you know you go well.
from the aero testing I did I know I’m one slippery bastard. I can ride the same watts as someone else and go faster then they can into head winds and cross winds. That’s a risk I can take, push into the parts where I’m the most aero and recover in the easiest parts of the bike leg.
deciding to walk an aid station to drink 3/4 of a bottle of whatever nasty drink they had. Did I lose time? Yes, but did I save more time by getting 10 or 12 oz of that down vs 3oz in a cup? probably.
everything in a race is a risk/benefit. the idea is to take the smallest risks with the biggest benefits.
On the bike a 52 year old dude blew by me like I was standing still breathing hard. This was as soon as we rolled off the ramp onto the road. You can not win the race or set PB or anything like that in the first 5k of the ride, pro or age grouper. Why risk going like a bat out of hell for 5min right at the front. I passed him coming off the first bridge. Coming down the hill I was already 4min up on him. Did his initial 6 min bat out of hell effort save or cost him time overall. I’d argue for cost. High risk/low (no) benefit.
I think an average day would have been 2-5 min faster per lap. but that’s a guess. I just rode my target watts and the time was the time.
Yes.
I saw a ton of athletes who rode sitting up out of the aero position into the wind. That is not conducive to going faster. There were a lot of people who would have been better off on the drops vs aero. When your aero position puts you so upright that you are going to be slower that is the sign of a bad fit and/or the wrong bike for you. Poor equipment choices. tufos, gatorskins, jackets billowing in the wind, 5 bottles on their bikes.
some of the decision making that went into their equipment choices was appalling and perplexing. Maybe I should start doing more equipment consults with everything I’ve learned from my 3 testing trips and the reading I do.
The wind got worse as the day went on. Their first trip up the bee line for the pro’s wasn’t as windy as the Agers first trip up.
EDIT: In regards to the local population, sometimes you shouldn’t be afraid to put your strongest event(s) on the back burner for 2,3 or even 4 months in order to make your weakest event less of a liability.
Joule GPS and the OEM mount. yeah I’m bummed would have been nice to see the data on how I rode compare to how I felt I rode. Then I could tell myself if my feelings were wrong or right.
Plus now when I get another computer I have to reprogram that. Total PIA imo
When I raced IMAZ in 2013 my heart rate spiked on the ascents but my “perceived” exertion went down.
The exact opposite was the case on the descents. Heart rate went down but perceived exertion went up.
This made for an entirely tolerable ride.
You mentioned wind on the ascents this year. This is what seems to happen at Kona. This creates the worst situation.
One where perceived exertion and heart rate goes up on the climbs. Heart rate goes down on the descent but perceived exertion stays really high. Making for an intolerable ride. With an inevitable blow up and pity party.
It makes sense that heavier, more powerful riders would be well suited to this condition. To them the hills always felt harder, descents felt easier. The just need to balance. This might explain the fast bike splits of Lieto, or Weiss (at Kona).
But what about Rapp or Kienle?
I think they know something I don’t.
I think a lot of people chase time on the descents. It’s easier so they ride harder. The risk/benefit ratio becomes at what point are they riding too hard for he marginal speed they gain. Is that 50w extra worth it to go 1.5mph more on the downhill.
I don’t think I went above 50w on the downhills the first two trips (was trying to pee) and never dropped below 26mph on the descents. For the 3.5 minutes I spent going downhill did I really lose that much time to someone doing 33mph? What about the into the wind on the ascent. I lose more time riding 4mph slower than someone bc the time going uphill was much, much longer, more than 2x longer.
I think you need to be more aero on your bike. I don’t remember your position though. Email it to me if you have some good shots.