Execution Errors and Mishaps At Steelhead 70.3

In previous years I managed about a race a month, sometimes more, so there was plenty of opportunity to fine tune my execution and pacing. However, this has been a slow year for me. Up to this point I've only done 3 triathlons and two running races. It's mostly due to the cost of Ironman and the cost, both monetarily and training wise, of doing these other races. Plus, more family events have seemed to come up this year than I remember in previous summers. This just makes the lessons learned from the 3 triathlons this year that much more important.

This is a quick write up on what happened for me at the Steelhead 70.3 and actions I can take in the future to prevent as large of an impact on my race.

Mental I must admit that my focus has mostly been on Arizona and I didn't give the other races the attention that I would normally. It's not that I wasn't physically prepared for them but there was a clear lack of mental preparation leading up to the start. Typically the week before each race is spent going over a mental check list of what I'm going to do and what I have with me at each portion of the race. However, that didn't happen for any of these races. They were all treated like training days and I went into them with that attitude.

Mental Adjustment This is my A race and why I've given up weekends partying and cookies. OK, not really cookies. The adjustments will be made starting with the race rehearsals, the first is towards the end of September, and from there my focus will continue to sharpen.

Power Failure Before the race I calculated my wattage ranges (4 Gears for the Endurance Nation folks) to use as pacing on the bike. Coming out of the first transition I jumped on the bike only to find that my PowerTap hub was not detecting. Which meant no wattage readings. Which meant no pacing on the bike. I didn't even have my Heart Rate (HR) strap let alone HR zones calculated. The end result was riding old school: completely by feel.

Power Adjustment The wheel and computer are on their way back to Saris right now for repair. Other than having the HR zones calculated and in the bento box, does anyone have any suggestions? Has anyone had the PT fail on them in a race? What was plan B?

Lost Nutrition on the Bike Somewhere around mile 20 of the bike I launched a nutrition bottle out of the back bottle holder. After finishing the other nutrition bottle I switched to Gatorade and almost puked on my handlebars. Not fun.

Bike Nutrition Adjustment I've installed a bottle cage on the down tube and now keep all of my nutrition there. The bottle holders behind the seat are still mounted but I will remove them for race rehearsals and the race. At this time they are still mounted and I'll continue to use them to hold spare water but that's about it. Also, I don't think I'll ever drink Gatorade again. That stuff is foul!

Run Pacing A week before the race I did a 5K run test and earned the right to train at faster paces. Almost a minute faster at some paces! I didn't want to go out and use the new paces without getting any time to train at them so I turned to the wicked fast and wicket smart members of my team for help. They helped me with a pacing strategy that should have worked well. Knowing myself and knowing that I wouldn't be able to remember all the paces and at what mile I was to speed up to them. So I thought I'd program the Garmin GPS with the intervals and paces. What was I thinking?? Not only did I keep to strict of a window on the pace (10 seconds faster/slower) but after the bike where I had no pacing guidance and 20+mph winds it was just too much. At first I was OK but after a fairly steep hill I was well out of range for the pace I was supposed to hold. That caused the Garmin to beep at my every 15 - 20 seconds. After resisting the temptation to throw it in a bush I cycled through the program and just ran as I could.

Run Adjustment I'm working with the team to get guidance on how they determine the pace they should be running and at what mile.

Followed Nutrition Plan Into A Wall After losing a nutrition bottle on the bike and almost puking Gatorade on my handle bars I wasn't taking in nearly enough nutrition to keep me moving as fast as I should have been. I tried to drink a little Gatorade and water at each aide station on the run but always came close to losing it. For some reason I had it in my mind that I had to drink what they were giving. It wasn't until mile 11 of 13 that I realized they were also serving gels and switched. Man, what a difference.

Run Nutrition Adjustment I use Infinit Nutrition on the bike and have ordered a blend to use on the run. I plan on picking up a fuel belt and running with my own mix of sports drink, one that I've tested in training and know works for me. The idea is to concentrate it and mix it with water at the aide stations.

This has taken longer to write up than I had anticipated but work and life gets in the way. Still, I've been going over everything that happened pretty often and have several things sorted. There are still some pieces that I need to figure out and will update this entry as they become more clear.

Steelhead 09 Race Report

Steelhead 09 Race Report

Last Saturday was my 3rd Half Ironman and my first time racing the Steelhead 70.3. While it wasn't an A race for me I viewed it as a chance to practice what I've been learning from my coaches and on-line team (Endurance Nation). This race was also the A race for my friends EX and again, she asked me to beat him. This time I had a couple days of rest going into it so I was pretty confident.

Race day Plan:

Wake up early to allow time chug an Ensure, shower/shave (helps to get my head right), and use the bathroom. At the race site, power on the Garmin 305 to give it time to sync and set up transition. One new thing this race was to bring my Blackberry on the bike and run so friends back home can test tracking me with the GPS. Then hit the beach to get water in the wetsuit and a good warm up swim.

On the bike drink Infinit from bottles behind seat, gulp every 10min, and water as thirsty from aero bottle. Follow the EN power pacing from chart and to helll with what everyone else is doing. The weather report said 15 - 25mph winds so no expecting a fast bike!

Bike Pacing:

Gear	Half Ironman Wattage Guidance		Max
1st	0-.5hrs, slight downhills	GW - 5%	174
2nd	Goal Watts (GW)	GW	183
3rd	Long hills (>~3')	GW + 5%	192
4th	Short hills (<~1-2')	GW + 10%	202

On the run drink Gatorade and water at each aid station and walk for just long enough to take in the nutrition. Follow the run pacing based on new and older VDot. After mile 10, start counting the people passed. :)

Run Pacing:

Miles	Half Ironman VDot Guidance	Pace
0-3	VDot 42 Marathon Pace + 30sec	8:55
3-6	VDot 42 Marathon Pace	8:25
6-9	VDot 44 Marathon Pace	8:06
9-12	VDot 44 Half Marathon Pace	7:48
12-13.1	Whatever is left	ou:ch!

Race Day Reality:

Did a poor job of planning out how much time would be needed with 4 people and one bathroom so was rushed and didn't get the shave in. Did get one Ensure in and was sipping on second as we drove to race site. Set up the race site in the dark, powered on the Garmin, placed blackberry in bento box to test tracking, and relaxed with a few friends. Started the walk to the swim start and ran into friends from the Element tri club, as well as Team In Training, and even Matt Sullivan from EN. Got on the wetsuit and waited. And waited. And waited. My wave wasn't until 8:24 which is the second latest start I've had. The latest being at the Chicago Tri where I just took a 90min nap before the start.

The Swim:

I've only been in the open water a few times this year and really haven't been doing too many swim workouts compared to previous years. Overall the swim wasn't bad. Towards the end there were some pretty large, rolling waves that were slowly getting worse until I turned the corner and used them to almost body surf in. Quick jog up the sandy beach while getting much luv and support from friends who came out to cheer and I'm in T1.

SteelHead 40:31

Vineman 08 41:15

EX 44:46

T1:

Forgot that my bike was the second rack in which cost me a few seconds but it was strange seeing all of the bikes gone from transition. I was in the second to last wave so I should have expected this. Carried my bike shoes across the super long transition and put them on just before the mount line and away I go!

SteelHead 2:45

Vineman 08 2:53

EX 3:17

The Bike:

First thing I did on the bike was turn on the PowerTap (PT) to start getting in my wattage zones and do some ridding! Then the (PT) doesn't detect the wheel so I try it again, and again, and again. No dice and no power readings. OK, no panicking I've been training with power for a while now and should be able to gauge what the ranges are, right? So I take it super easy for the first 30min and just drink a little water here and there. Watch timer is set and i'm drinking the Infinit every 10min. Mile 18 there was a section of road that was cut out and filled with sand and gravel. No big deal except I launched an Infinit bottle on the bump and stop to go back and get it. Slightly frustrating but no biggie. Then later after rounding a turn another racer catches up to me to let me know I launched another bottle about 1/4 mile back. DAMN! I determine that 1/4 mile is too far to back track and I can just drink the course Gatorade. This decision will haunt me on the run. The bike goes on and the wind gets worse and worse. I'm trying to take it easy but am not really sure what's going on. I don't trust the Garmin form MPH because the wind will throw that off but I'm still passing people and being passed. Oh well, just take it easy and trust that I'm saving my legs for the run. I'm done with the Infinit bottle (1.5hrs worth) and on to Gatorade. Bad mix in the gut and it tells me pretty quick. I try to take in more water but that isn't really helping. Finally the bike is over and I'm headed into transition.

SteelHead 3:03:50

Vineman 08 3:02:51

EX 3:31:28

T2:

Rack the bike, grab the phone and shoes, and I'm out.

SteelHead 2:28

Vineman 08 4:53 (hit the bathroom)

EX 3:17

The Run:

Thinking that I was going to be smart about the run I programed the run pacing into the Garmin like I would a workout. Little did I know about the hill that is just outside of transition. I don't include any hills in my run workouts and really have no hills around me to train on so I walk the hill. This throws the Garmin pacing completely out of wack and despite picking up my pace, mistake, to compensate the damn thing won't stop beeping. Finally I end the workout and just keep my pace about 9:30 to recover the legs a bit from the higher paces. Ultimately, I end up only able to keep around a pace of about 9/mi and my stomach is letting me know just how much it enjoys Gatorade. I walk the big hill and try to keep running the course but end up stopping at a couple points. My left calf/achillies is bothering me and I have no energy to keep going. The whole time I'm passing people left and right, and on my second loop I can see my friends ex about 1/2 mile away. He's clearly struggling and I start thinking that keeping my current pace I'll over take him. I get within a 1/4 mile of him and I think he spots me because he starts to really pick up the pace and he slowly pulls away. About mile 11 I realize that I don't have to keep hurting myself with Gatorade because the aid stations have gels! Yes, I was so bad with my nutrition that it took me 11 miles to realize this. WTF!?! Finally ran into the finish were there were many friends cheering and crossed the line about 5min before the storm hit.

Steelhead 2:16:54

Vineman 08 2:13:00

EX 2:12:17

The Summary:

Between the wind and the storm, this was a rough day for racing. I'm not sure which failure affected me most: the powertap or my nutrition. Either way, I'm glad to have raced and will review what happened to come back stronger. The silver linings are that on a horrible day of racing I managed about the same time of a well raced HIM last year and I managed to beat my friends EX for her.

SteelHead 6:06:27

Vineman 08 6:04:53

EX 6:36:01