I was wondering if someone with experience would give a suggestion here.
I am racing 70.3 New Orleans, first time at half ironman distance. It is a “B” race on my calendar and I am in Build 1 period. I have done all my training in winter temps and conditions with some bricks in near ideal temp of 50-60F. No race simulations yet, but a lot of long ride/run bricks.
The weather forecast concerns me a little as it is going to be on the hot and humid side, 85F. My heat acclimation is generaly poor, I sweat a lot and my sweat is very salty. I am adressing that through Infinit on the bike and salt tabs and gels on the run.
I need some guidance in scaling back my goal run pace for 1/2 mara split of the race, compared what I was doing in near ideal conditions. As a starting point, I have put several 80-85mi bike rides in Z2-3, avaraged 22mph (no power meter) and ran after that 8-9mi at 7:15-7:20 pace and kept Z2-3. All of this in ideal weather. 7:15-7:20 is what I established as a goal pace for ideal weather. How much slower pace should I be looking at to start and be able to keep for even splits through out hot and humid 1/2 marathon.
I very much understand that bike pace and nutrition will greatly influence the run ability after and plan on pacing the bike conservatively. My ideal wx time goal for this race was somewhere between 4:35-4:40 and a half mara split of 1:35. All of my training has been consistent, all key workouts completed so far and a volume of avg 16-17hrs/week with a peak in
Base 3 of 19hrs, with 18mi long run, 85mi/9mi long brick.
Thanks.
My 1/2 IM run pace is the same as my stand alone marathon pace or 30 sec/mile slower than stand alone 1/2 marathon. That tends to be true regardless of race priority. If I really try to peak for a race it seems to affect my bike more than my run. That’s what I see after the fact, during the race I just run as fast as I feel like I can.
Id agree w prev poster- my HIM run is almost exactly 30 secs/mile slower than my half mary run.
I do the first 6-7 miles of run staring at my garmin GPS to keep my pace down -then if im having a good day, i try to reverse split and speed up a bit from mile 7-10, and if its a bad day i push as hard as i can to not slow down much in mile 7-10. Last 3 miles are done at survival speed, however fast that turns out to be.
For heat- be sure to keep speed under control- your pace will be dictated by heat managemetn, not by fitness on the run- doesnt matter how high your vo2max is if you are cooking yourself- be sure to keep the first 7 miles EXTRA under control.
Be sure to get an insane amount of salt in.
The only thing I may add is that you might consider bringing along a handheld bottle of gatorade. I don’t think pace should be a problem. Z2/3 is a conservative half pace (I push mid-high z3 and manage to barely survive). Just keep in mind that your heart rate will jack up quite a bit as you start getting behind on your hydration.
Jodi
you sound like you have put a great deal of training in! I think you are very well prepared-I would like to hear your race report when you are done.
The combination of heat and humidity around here can be a real eye opener if you’ve been training in good conditions. Even though you sound like you’ve got good conditioning and a solid base, 30 sec/mile off of a stand alone half mary might be optimistic if we get the currently predicted temps in the mid 80’s. I’d take the first few miles closer to 1:00 off the HM time until you make the first two bridge crossings then pick it up if you feel the pace is too slow. Expect a survival fest if it gets into the mid 80’s and pace accordingly.
JJ
Here is a link to a ST thread that someone had done up. It had a whole chart done up for comparision times for HIM to IM compared to your stand alone times.
The table shows the 75-80% range for the IM Run and 90-95% range for the HIM Run using 10k and HM times from Daniels VDOT Tables:
Darren
I’ll bet the chart assumes comparable conditions from event to event. Not the case here with the OP.
JJ
Am I the only one who can’t run a full mary close to 30 seconds off what my half is? Geez I qualified for Boston my first try and was proud, but I have to say if I scale my half mary up it shows I’m a freaking terrible marathoner. I run a 1:21 half and in comparable conditions ran a 3:07 mary. I knew I was off, but I didn’t think I was that far off. Things like this are just depressing.
Am I the only one who can’t run a full mary close to 30 seconds off what my half is? Geez I qualified for Boston my first try and was proud, but I have to say if I scale my half mary up it shows I’m a freaking terrible marathoner. I run a 1:21 half and in comparable conditions ran a 3:07 mary. I knew I was off, but I didn’t think I was that far off. Things like this are just depressing.
The charts are fairly accurate for very high mileage runners. If you’re running 60+ miles a week for many months I’d say that in like conditions you’ll come close to the “comparable results”. If you’re a 30-35 mpw runner your fullM time will likely be slower than the charts claim.
JJ
The combination of heat and humidity around here can be a real eye opener if you’ve been training in good conditions. Even though you sound like you’ve got good conditioning and a solid base, 30 sec/mile off of a stand alone half mary might be optimistic if we get the currently predicted temps in the mid 80’s. I’d take the first few miles closer to 1:00 off the HM time until you make the first two bridge crossings then pick it up if you feel the pace is too slow. Expect a survival fest if it gets into the mid 80’s and pace accordingly.
JJ
Thank you all for great responses. While all of you have provided excellent suggestions, this response directly answers my question. While I have only one open 1/2 marathon behind my belt, this past November, 1:36:00 time, it is not what I was trying to base my goal pace on. The goal time for my half marathon split of 1:35 for HIM is based on current level of fitness with data supported from my long brick sessions. After riding for 80-85mi I was very comfortable at 7:15-7:20 pace for a 9mi rolling hills run. I used that as a ceiling or top of my performance estimate. From there, I start scaling that initial mile or two pace adjusting for less than ideal weather of the race forecast, 85F, into the avg wind of 13mph, high humidity. I was thinking about a minute slower from my ideal target pace as I experienced past summer slowdown in heat and humidity of Kasnas City of about 45sec-1:00/mile on my long runs. It took me literary about 2 months to be able to take some of that time back, heat acclimate to it.
Thank you all for your support as this is my second tri season and my first HIM/70.3 event. I consistently trained during the base period, descent volume ( 11500-14000yd/week, 130-160mi bike, 40-50mi run), all key workouts have been completed. I was hoping for 4:35-4:40 but if the forecast holds, I will be happy with a finish.
Gatorade advice is great, but my stomach does not agree with it. I count on water stations for water, roctane and salt tabs on the run. Bike is all Infinit.
I can provide a race report, should I survive.