Sunday, May 15, 2011
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Wildflower Race Report: Does It Pay To Go Easy On The Bike During A Half-Ironman?*
*full long course gear and nutrition below this story
I admit it.
I'm a pretty proud guy and I like to pass people on my bicycle.
Especially during Half-Ironman triathlons, I get a huge rush chasing my competitors down like hunted rabbits and blowing by them. Many times, I'll even sneak up within a few meters, chomp down a GU to get my crazy sugar high, then blast myself to extremely high heart rates just to demoralize whoever I'm passing. Eat my dust, homey.
And in the past, that strategy has served me fairly well.
Now don't get me wrong: I'm not cycling my Half-Ironman bike split at an all-out 100% red-hot intensity, but in most of my Half-Ironman triathlons, I traditionally push myself very hard on the bike, respond to my competitors when they pass me by re-passing them and trying to leave them behind, and usually record one of the fastest amateur bike splits…
...then hold on for dear life on the run as my battered and slightly rubbery legs whimper from their Herculean effort on the bike.
But could I be cycling *too* hard?
Could I perhaps run faster or place higher by bicycling easier during a Half-Ironman, or "staying within my limits"?
Granted, I am a case study of just one, but I tried this different bike pacing strategy out in the recent Wildflower long course triathlon - a race at which I was also attempting to qualify for the ITU Long Course World Championships.
In other words, during the bike portion of Wildflower, I didn't look at any "numbers on calves" and didn't try to "ride down" other triathletes. I just checked my pride at the starting line, played the game within my physical boundaries, rode a conservatively aggressive pace, and never let my legs get that rubbery, intense burn I've gotten at all my other Half-Ironman triathlons.
Even on "Heartbreak Hill", the notoriously killer part of the Wildflower course, I never let myself get to the point where I was "sucking air", which I usually do during big grades or steep hills on Half-Ironman bike courses.
'
So it turned out that racing with this style (in atypically windy conditions), my bike split was nearly 9 minutes slower than previous years at Wildflower - or about 1.1 miles per hour slower over 56 miles. By comparing a handful of other competitors' bike splits from previous years with their bike splits this year, it appears the wind was probably responsible for about 2-3 of those minutes - and my conservative pacing was responsible for the rest.
And what happened?
I proceeded to have the "run of my life" at Wildflower, and probably one of the best half-marathon performances I've ever put in during a Half-Ironman triathlon. My legs were turning over at a much higher cadence, I tackled every hill with much greater confidence, and I was only passed once. You'll notice in most of the clips in the video below that I appear to be running strong.
But at the end of the day, that "fantastic" run was only about 2-3 minutes faster than what I typically run on the Wildflower long course. Granted, that's 120% faster pace per mile on the run compared to previous years, but…
By bicycling easy, I lost 6-7 minutes on the bike, and only gained 2-3 of those minutes back by having a "better" run.
So here's the lesson:
During a Half-Ironman triathlon, err on the side of bicycling too aggressively, and pay closer attention to your competitors - allowing their moves to dictate your pace, especially if you're trying to podium.
As it turns out, I *did* podium, placing in the top 1% of the field, getting 4th place in my age group and also qualifying for the ITU World Championships.
But I guarantee that in Hawaii, I'll be biking harder. ;)
I admit it.
I'm a pretty proud guy and I like to pass people on my bicycle.
Especially during Half-Ironman triathlons, I get a huge rush chasing my competitors down like hunted rabbits and blowing by them. Many times, I'll even sneak up within a few meters, chomp down a GU to get my crazy sugar high, then blast myself to extremely high heart rates just to demoralize whoever I'm passing. Eat my dust, homey.
And in the past, that strategy has served me fairly well.
Now don't get me wrong: I'm not cycling my Half-Ironman bike split at an all-out 100% red-hot intensity, but in most of my Half-Ironman triathlons, I traditionally push myself very hard on the bike, respond to my competitors when they pass me by re-passing them and trying to leave them behind, and usually record one of the fastest amateur bike splits…
...then hold on for dear life on the run as my battered and slightly rubbery legs whimper from their Herculean effort on the bike.
But could I be cycling *too* hard?
Could I perhaps run faster or place higher by bicycling easier during a Half-Ironman, or "staying within my limits"?
Granted, I am a case study of just one, but I tried this different bike pacing strategy out in the recent Wildflower long course triathlon - a race at which I was also attempting to qualify for the ITU Long Course World Championships.
In other words, during the bike portion of Wildflower, I didn't look at any "numbers on calves" and didn't try to "ride down" other triathletes. I just checked my pride at the starting line, played the game within my physical boundaries, rode a conservatively aggressive pace, and never let my legs get that rubbery, intense burn I've gotten at all my other Half-Ironman triathlons.
Even on "Heartbreak Hill", the notoriously killer part of the Wildflower course, I never let myself get to the point where I was "sucking air", which I usually do during big grades or steep hills on Half-Ironman bike courses.
'
So it turned out that racing with this style (in atypically windy conditions), my bike split was nearly 9 minutes slower than previous years at Wildflower - or about 1.1 miles per hour slower over 56 miles. By comparing a handful of other competitors' bike splits from previous years with their bike splits this year, it appears the wind was probably responsible for about 2-3 of those minutes - and my conservative pacing was responsible for the rest.
And what happened?
I proceeded to have the "run of my life" at Wildflower, and probably one of the best half-marathon performances I've ever put in during a Half-Ironman triathlon. My legs were turning over at a much higher cadence, I tackled every hill with much greater confidence, and I was only passed once. You'll notice in most of the clips in the video below that I appear to be running strong.
But at the end of the day, that "fantastic" run was only about 2-3 minutes faster than what I typically run on the Wildflower long course. Granted, that's 120% faster pace per mile on the run compared to previous years, but…
By bicycling easy, I lost 6-7 minutes on the bike, and only gained 2-3 of those minutes back by having a "better" run.
So here's the lesson:
During a Half-Ironman triathlon, err on the side of bicycling too aggressively, and pay closer attention to your competitors - allowing their moves to dictate your pace, especially if you're trying to podium.
As it turns out, I *did* podium, placing in the top 1% of the field, getting 4th place in my age group and also qualifying for the ITU World Championships.
But I guarantee that in Hawaii, I'll be biking harder. ;)
OK, here's the specs...
Wildflower Long Course Triathlon Gear:
Wildflower Long Course Triathlon Gear:
Race Kit: Champ-Sys One Piece Custom Triathlon Suit
Wetsuit: Blue Seventy Helix
Bike: Gray Storm TT
Helmet: Gray Aero Helmet
Wheels: Gray 9.5 Carbon Clinchers with Latex Tubes
Components: SRAM Red, SRAM return to position levers, SRAM Quarq crank
Seat: Adamo ISM Road Saddle
Bike Shoes: Specialized Trivent
Running Shoes: K-Swiss Kwicky Blade
Sunglasses: Zeal Slingshots
Fuel Belt: NEW! Using a Spi-Belt, love it. Highly recommend.
3 days leading up to race: 2-3 nuun tablets per day for increased electrolyte intake
2 hours before race: 2 scoops LivingFuel SuperGreens with 1 teaspoon Enerprime, 1 scoop CapraColostrum, 1 banana and 1 teaspoon peanut butter
30 minutes before race: 3 Millennium Sports CreO2, 6 Millennium Sports Carnage, 1 Nutrarev, 1 Energy28 and 1 delta-E, 20 Sprays Magnetic Oil
5 minutes before race: 1 GU Roctane
Every 20 minutes on bike: 1 GU Roctane
Every 30 minutes during entire race: 2 Millennium Sports Athlytes
End of each hour on bike: 4 GU Chomps
Every 3 miles on run: 1 GU Roctane (from a Spi-Belt)
Post-Race: 8 Recoverease
Sunday, April 3, 2011
TriStar Nevis 111 Race Report
It's not often that a guy like me gets to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with champions like Chris McCormack and Olivier Marceau at the starting line of a triathlon, but that's where I found myself on TriStar Nevis race morning - looking over the clear blue waters of the Carribean and thinking:
"Oh crap, I wonder how fast these guys are going to start this swim."
The athlete part of me promised that I could somehow maintain these pro triathletes' blistering speed for the 1000m swim along the shore of Nevis, but barely 200m into the swim, I saw their feet disappearing into the surging waves ahead.
But of course, considering that this race involved a 100 kilometer bike, the 1000m swim seemed extremely short, was over in a flash, and I came out of the water in 6th place without swallowing too much salt water. Pro triathlete Wolfgang Guembel came out 1st, followed closely by Macca.
TriStar threw in some cool perks, like a red carpet coming up the dock and into transition from the swim, so the run into transition felt like being a Hollywood celebrity, albeit a celebrity in spandex and goggles.
The 3 loop island-tour bike got pretty serious right away.
Directly out of transition, the bike course weaves through the tiny town of Charlestown (the entire island here only has about 50,000 people), then starts directly into a brutal 5K climb that the locals call "Anaconda", most likely because it curves up into the mountains, and possibly also because motorists have a high likelihood of devouring small animals like monkeys and goats on the road. I've heard of boa constrictors eating donkeys, and there were plenty of donkeys on the bike course, so maybe that too.
Despite the game of dodging small animals, I felt fantastic on the bike, and rode into 4th place, behind Macca, Oliver, and Wolfgang. I'd learned my lesson about dehydration in Phuket earlier in October, and was going through 30 ounces of water on the bike to keep myself hydrated in the extremely hot conditions. This was promising to be a very good race, and the stiff carbon frame of my Gray Storm TT bike was perfect for the big climbs.
But at the top of Anaconda, on the 3rd loop, I flatted.
Not a big deal.
I changed the tube, grabbed my CO2 cartridge and fitted it on.
Empty. Grr...thanks to the efforts of the TSA to ensure that no CO2 cartridges completely explode and destroy an entire house-sized airplane, I was a bit short on spares.
So I sat and waited, walked around for a little while, watched some chickens playing on the roadside, chatted up some locals, and eventually the 1st place female pro (Emma-Kate Lidbury) came riding up the hill.
I put on my best pitiful, desparate looking face, and begged for a spare CO2 cartridge. She graciously tossed one my direction (thanks Emma), and I filled my tire and was off again, once again wildly dodging goats, monkeys, donkeys and honking motorists!
But just 8 miles later, I flatted again.
Are you kidding me?
In the heat of the race, I forgot to check inside the tire for any sharp objects, and simply changed the flat once more, this time using a pump supplied by a helfpul Nevisian who sat in a car parked beside the road.
Incidentally, another thing I forgot in the heat of the race was properly applying sunscreen to my back - see full results in all their glory below.
So I rode my bike a bit further, and then, as I approached transition, where a final, tiny 5K loop is thrown in, I flatted yet again.
This time, with no more tubes, I figured I was probably finished. I pushed my bike into transition, but a participant from the 33.3K race earlier in the day saw me. He offered his bike, and once again, I was saved by another gracious triathlete! I'm thinking I should probably just hire someone to follow me around races with spare tires, tubes, bikes, and preferably a big bag of the "chicken roti" I've been devouring every day while here on Nevis.
I had already lost nearly 20 minutes, but still wanted to finish the race, so off I went to finish the last little loop to wrap up 100K, riding my borrowed bike.
By the time I finally got off my bike and headed out on the run, race champion Chris McCormack had already crossed the finish line! Of course, 20 minutes feels like 3 hours when you're racing, so at this point, I assumed I was probably dead last.
The 3 loop, 10K run was, for lack of a better word, hot. And yes, there were animals on the run course too - say hello to Bessy the Cow.
My run felt fantastic, especially with my new K-Swiss K-Ruuz racing flats, and I know I would have had a great race if not for the mechanical issues. Despite the challenges, I took 4th place and won the 30-35 age group (my first time ever competing in this age group) so I am very happy about my fitness at this point in the season, and rewarded myself with a nice rum punch from my hotel: Hermitage Nevis.
>
What the heck is rum punch, besides one of my new favorite drinks? Here is the basic recipe, for those of you who'd like to reward yourself Carribean style:
One of sour (key lime juice, or sour orange juice ala Hermitage)
Two of sweet (simple syrup 2:1 sugar to water, heated to dissolve)
Three of strong (rum, obviously!)
Four of weak (water, taking into consideration the ice melting in the drink)
Then add a dash or two of Angostura Bitters to float on top, along with fresh grated nutmeg.
OK, keep reading for the more crucial nutritional info.
Big thanks to Millennium Sports and Natural Vitality Sports (energy28 and Nutrarev) for helping sponsor this race. Also, a big thanks to Zeal Optics for getting me some fog-free Slingshot optics before I left Nevis, and also to Champ-Sys for the awesome racing kit. Full TriStar 111 Nevis race results available at http://www.tristarlive.com/.
Nutrition/supplements for this race:
Breakfast pre-race: Impax Enerprime, can of yams, 5 Master Amino Pattern capsules, 1 nuun.
45 minutes prior to race: Millennium Sports Carnage and CreO2, 1 delta-E, 1 Energy28, 1 NutraRev
During Race: GU Roctane, GU Chomps, Millennium Sports Athlytes, water
Post-Race: Ancient Minerals Topical Magnesium Oil, Recoverease, 5 Master Amino Pattern capsules
So what's next on the race calendar? Wildflower Half-Ironman on May 1. See you then.Saturday, March 5, 2011
She Makes It All Happen.
It's not quite 2011 race season yet (Tri-Star Nevis coming on April 4, in the Caribbean). And when that time comes, you can look forward to more crazy racing and adventure tales.
But in the meantime, consider this post a shrine to Jessa, the hot babe that makes it all happen, and the single, most important person in my life.
But in the meantime, consider this post a shrine to Jessa, the hot babe that makes it all happen, and the single, most important person in my life.
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