I did the California International Triathlon in Pleasonton (very well run, by the way) last Sunday in preparation for the upcoming Vineman 70.3. To put it simply, my result was not very good. I cramped a bit during the swim, and while my bike split was good for me, I felt absolutely miserable during the whole run and I was damn near walking at the end. My overall time was worse than any other Olympic I’ve done, and it was just a god awful experience.
I’m trying to be objective, and I can note the following:
-My training has been bike heavy, and light on swim (maybe 1500-2500 meters a week). Runs have been about 12 miles a week, 4-5 miles per leg, and my pace is about 20-30 seconds faster than ‘normal’.
-I’ve only had a few bricks, none very long.
-I drove to the race that morning getting up at 4:30, and I drank more coffee than I normally do during the race.
-I didn’t have gels for my bike leg, and I probably could have hydrated more.
Considering I’m basically doubling the distance in a week and a half, I wondered what I could do to pick up the pieces on the swim and run…scratching is against my nature and I just want the Vineman to be not as miserable as my race was last weekend.
I did the California International Triathlon in Pleasonton (very well run, by the way) last Sunday in preparation for the upcoming Vineman 70.3. To put it simply, my result was not very good. I cramped a bit during the swim, and while my bike split was good for me, I felt absolutely miserable during the whole run and I was damn near walking at the end. My overall time was worse than any other Olympic I’ve done, and it was just a god awful experience.
I’m trying to be objective, and I can note the following:
-My training has been bike heavy, and light on swim (maybe 1500-2500 meters a week).Runs have been about 12 miles a week, 4-5 miles per leg, and my pace is about 20-30 seconds faster than ‘normal’.
-I’ve only had a few bricks, none very long.
-I drove to the race that morning getting up at 4:30, and I drank more coffee than I normally do during the race.
-I** didn’t have gels for my bike leg, and I probably could have hydrated more**.
Considering I’m basically doubling the distance in a week and a half, I wondered what I could do to pick up the pieces on the swim and run…scratching is against my nature and I just want the Vineman to be not as miserable as my race was last weekend.
Sounds like you overbiked your fitness. Nothing to do at this point but revise your pacing and learn your lesson for the nex time.
Well considering you’re about to do your weekly volume in one day at Vineman, you should be prepared for it to suck.
With that in mind, just focus on going out and having fun. Enjoy the bike course, it’s very scenic, and take it very easy on the bike. For the run, try breaking it up by walking the aid stations and running in between.
I know a few people, including myself, that would consider CIT the worst performance of their life. I’m going to go against the majority and say I believe course conditions definitely played a role…or at the very least, assure you not to be so hard on yourself.
I did CIT last year and didn’t know a single person who felt they performed well. The sun is extremely strong this time of year and the hills on the bike course take a bigger toll on the legs than expected. Also…was the 10k trail run described in any race communications? I wasn’t informed until I was face-to-face with a 9% grade dirt hill outside transition. Definitely would have taken it easier on the bike if I knew.
A great deal of racers were walking the run…it was easily the most painful run of my life (any distance). I had to pull off to the side of the trail to cry…not from disappointment, simply from sheer misery. However, I won my AG with an embarrassingly slow run time I cannot repeat. Point is – I wasn’t the only one feeling the pain.
I, too, used CIT to train for a summer 70.3 with conditions similar to Vineman called Timberman and had a great race there! It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume you just had a bad day. Don’t let it get to you…it will only hurt you for what lies ahead!
Saw your post. I was at that race this past weekend.
I’m not sure how your performance exactly was compared to your typical race performance, but here’s some encouraging observations I made:
That was a pretty competitive race for a ‘local triathlon scene’ low-key race. Almost no newbies, and TT bikes were the norm. Top 11% in my AG required you beating a multiyear KQ guy. I’m not a triathlon stud, but I’m not slow, and I was surprised to see that this was the lowest AG race placement I’ve had in awhile.
Tough course on the run. I think everyone suffered there. I had my slowest Oly run of any race I’ve ever done by a fair stretch (and I’m in as good if not better shape than previously), and I passed a lot of folks out there on the run. The guys in my AG have times that look awfully slow for an Oly run considering the # of KQ caliber there.
I think the fast bike due to all the fast folks out there made the run even harder. It’s hard to dial it back on the bike when you’re getting passed. I was doing 23+mph and I felt like I was going backwards a lot of the time.
Swim may have been a hair long according to some folks I talked to. Not a lot longer, but enough to add a minute or so. I placed higher than I ever have in the swim split getting to the top 20% (thanks Vasa erg training!) in my AG, but if you look at the time elapsed it looks like I’m swimming BOP pace, so I think it was a bit long too.
I’m doing the same as you - HIM (Vineman) next week, and while at first I was a bit disheartened by my performance at this race, on talking to some folks at the finish and reviewing the results, I feel a lot better. I actually looked up what the USAT performance score for someone in last year’s 2013 CIT race who finished with the same time I did this year 2014, and it was actually spot-on my “A” performance at a HIM last year, so I suspect that this is just a challenging course.
Basically, I think you should trust your training and don’t get discouraged. We both could totally blow up next week at Vineman, but I’ve put in pretty solid training too and I don’t think that’ll happen as long as we pace it right. CIT was just a tough, competitive race for a local no-hype event.
I know a few people, including myself, that would consider CIT the worst performance of their life. I’m going to go against the majority and say I believe course conditions definitely played a role…or at the very least, assure you not to be so hard on yourself.
I did CIT last year and didn’t know a single person who felt they performed well. The sun is extremely strong this time of year and the hills on the bike course take a bigger toll on the legs than expected. Also…was the 10k trail run described in any race communications? I wasn’t informed until I was face-to-face with a 9% grade dirt hill outside transition. Definitely would have taken it easier on the bike if I knew.
A great deal of racers were walking the run…it was easily the most painful run of my life (any distance). I had to pull off to the side of the trail to cry…not from disappointment, simply from sheer misery. However, I won my AG with an embarrassingly slow run time I cannot repeat. Point is – I wasn’t the only one feeling the pain.
I, too, used CIT to train for a summer 70.3 with conditions similar to Vineman called Timberman and had a great race there! It wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume you just had a bad day. Don’t let it get to you…it will only hurt you for what lies ahead!
Hah! I hear you on the run.
I actually knew this course from doing the “Tri for Real” on the same course last year, so I was ready for the short but steep pitches.
I walked all of those ascents. Every single one of them. And that was still fast enough for me to nearly equal the run splits of several multiyear KQ guys at the same race. I’m all for steady effort now - if walking those steep areas requires LT HR effort, nothing wrong with walking!
I passed every single person who ran past me on those climbs by a fair margin,even those who tried to drop me on the final climbs. On those crazy steep parts, humble steady efforts are winning.
Thanks for this (you too, Lightheir), I think you’re right. One note, they changed the CIT course a little so you don’t have to climb Vallecitos, but it still has a long, gentle grade in the middle.
It was a mix of the course and me I think. The Vineman was a lot better than I thought it would be.
Did you feel confident in your conditioning for Oly? Vineman 70.3? Are you already a good swimmer and runner, so you focused on the bike? I’d increase the swim and run workouts distances. 2500m/wk surely may not be enough for you. Bump up the swimming to 2000+m every workout 3x+ a week. I’d also bump up the running to at least 20+ miles/week.
Let me see if I get this straight. You not training enough, and should be coming off a solid training block for your upcoming 70.3, so not fully rested and you wonder why your performance was sub par?
What is your baseline for a “good” performance and how was your training and recovery before that race?
I has an Olympic this weekend, but came into it knowing that my legs weren’t going to be there after a very hard block the previous 4 weeks and only 6 days of recovery. When you dig a really deep hole in training, it takes time to get to the surface. So while I did very well and had lots of great things to take away from the race (that was the primary purpose, and it’s a fun local race), I also know that I’m capable of going faster and that’s always in the back of my mind. But every race can’t be a Break through PR. You can really only pick 1-2 “A” races to do that in. Maybe a 3rd if it’s on the front end of a taper.
The fundamental problem is you are barely running.
Good grief - no kidding.
What are people thinking, BEFORE they sign up for these really long races. Yes, a 70.3 is a really long race.
They have barely any training and they expect miracles to happen.
Endurance sports “success” is not miraculous - it comes from putting in many hours, weeks, months and years of training. There is no “over-night” success or ability to cram for the exam. It’s really not that complicated. At a high level, it’s really very simple and straight forward. Train more and train longer both in the micro and the macro.
Also going off on another tangent, many don’t give themselves enough chances - they load up on one big race and that’s it. When the reality is if you race 10 times, you might have 2-3 races that are awesome, 4 - 5 that are average and 3 -4 that are a bad - that’s just the way it is. Many newbies think it’s 2 + 2 = Awesome races all the time! That’s not the way it works.
Boy do I agree with you. So many do things in life, once and they are out. Many things takes years of trial and error, mistake after mistake before results start to be seen. I really cannot think of any top
racer in our sport that just came out of no where.
Oh well, seems to just be our society, how to take the easy way out on everything it seems.
Well, what I was thinking a year ago when I signed up didn’t happen. So, I went into a HIM as part of a team, doing the “run” having not done anything longer than 8Km this year. So, jumped from 8 to 21.1. But, I had no illusions and finished about where I figured I would. In fact, I ran more of it than I thought I would.
Now, fast forward one week. During that fast forward, I did one swim, a 5Km run at my race pace and a 40 Km ride at race pace plus as easy 5 Km ride.
I’m now in an Oly and my swim, while I’m in the lower third, is still a good pace for me. But then things come apart. I start the bike and I cannot generate any power, my legs are heavy and dead. I can only hold Aero for a couple of minutes, strat to generate some power and then ther isn’t anything there. I “finally” get off the bike, go to run and nothing. I start out walking, drink a bit, shuffle along. It does not get any better, there is nothing there, I’ve had gels and water but they do no good. I figure I’m DFL. Turns out I’m not, 1 person is behind me and apparently he looked to me for inspiration to continue. That is my only solace in the slowest Oly I’ve done.
At this point I don’t know what happened to derail things that much. I figured the run a week earlier would take something out but my mid week rides, run and swim were fine.
And I have a HIM in 2 weeks. I’ve revised my goals to “see if I can run” after “see if I can do 80% of FTP on bike”.
There is no such things as “see if I can do 80% of FTP on bike”. You either bike at 80% or your FTP is way lower than you thought it was and you go too hard.
Honesty with your fitness will result in a much better result than misguided pride
Saw your post. I was at that race this past weekend.
I’m not sure how your performance exactly was compared to your typical race performance, but here’s some encouraging observations I made:
That was a pretty competitive race for a ‘local triathlon scene’ low-key race. Almost no newbies, and TT bikes were the norm. Top 11% in my AG required you beating a multiyear KQ guy. I’m not a triathlon stud, but I’m not slow, and I was surprised to see that this was the lowest AG race placement I’ve had in awhile.
Tough course on the run. I think everyone suffered there. I had my slowest Oly run of any race I’ve ever done by a fair stretch (and I’m in as good if not better shape than previously), and I passed a lot of folks out there on the run. The guys in my AG have times that look awfully slow for an Oly run considering the # of KQ caliber there.
I think the fast bike due to all the fast folks out there made the run even harder. It’s hard to dial it back on the bike when you’re getting passed. I was doing 23+mph and I felt like I was going backwards a lot of the time.
Swim may have been a hair long according to some folks I talked to. Not a lot longer, but enough to add a minute or so. I placed higher than I ever have in the swim split getting to the top 20% (thanks Vasa erg training!) in my AG, but if you look at the time elapsed it looks like I’m swimming BOP pace, so I think it was a bit long too.
I’m doing the same as you - HIM (Vineman) next week, and while at first I was a bit disheartened by my performance at this race, on talking to some folks at the finish and reviewing the results, I feel a lot better. I actually looked up what the USAT performance score for someone in last year’s 2013 CIT race who finished with the same time I did this year 2014, and it was actually spot-on my “A” performance at a HIM last year, so I suspect that this is just a challenging course.
Basically, I think you should trust your training and don’t get discouraged. We both could totally blow up next week at Vineman, but I’ve put in pretty solid training too and I don’t think that’ll happen as long as we pace it right. CIT was just a tough, competitive race for a local no-hype event.
If he trusts huns training he is in for a crap day.
1500 metres swimming per week. 12 miles running per week…
There were a few things I left out of the original post:
-I was traveling a bit for work on trips that made it hard to even get runs in (meetings all day with required work at night). Two kids at 5 and 3 also bites into training time when I’m home, even with a supportive wife.
-I did fit in 8 hours a week of workouts, but 4 would be bike, and about 2 and 2 of run and swim, unless I couldn’t get to a pool. I was hoping some of the bike conditioning would carry over to the run and I already know my swimming is a project.
-I intentionally lighten up the runs because of recurring knee issues.
As far as my standards for success, considering 18 months ago I was about 235-240 pounds and using IM Tahoe as a bucket list reason to drop to my current 195-200 lbs, I just want improvement. I know many of you posters are in the upper 20% of your age groups, but I’m actually starting to like it enough to feel a little competitive, if only with myself for now. Later, when I dump the final 20-30 lbs, then I’ll go after you.