In any case, during this little hiatus, I have tried my best to completely forget about triathlon. I have been doing projects around the house, etc. I have also enjoyed having both days of the weekend for family time. Usually, I designate one complete weekend day with no training at all and that is family day, but having two for the last couple of weekends has been really nice, especially with Labor day included. Having said that, I still have been thinking about the race and trying to figure out what happened to my run legs. In doing so, I put together this little table to see how I've progressed from my first IM to my second.
| | | Wisconsin | Louisville |
| | Date | Sep-07 | Aug-09 |
| | Finishers | 2206 | 2352 |
| | AG Finishers | 266 | 360 |
| Swim | Time | 1:22:06 | 1:17:01 |
| | OA | 1392 | 681 |
| | OA % | 63% | 29% |
| | Div | 191 | 107 |
| | Div % | 72% | 30% |
| | T1 | 10:47 | 4:36 |
| Bike | Time | 6:44:32 | 5:44:47 |
| | OA | 1336 | 459 |
| | OA % | 61% | 20% |
| | Div | 192 | 91 |
| | Div % | 72% | 25% |
| | T2 | 6:35 | 4:52 |
| Run | Time | 4:07:51 | 4:04:48 |
| | OA | 457 | 482 |
| | OA % | 21% | 20% |
| | Div | 66 | 87 |
| | Div % | 25% | 24% |
| OA | Time | 12:31:50 | 11:16:04 |
| | OA | 868 | 397 |
| | OA % | 39% | 17% |
| | Div | 129 | 77 |
| | Div % | 48% | 21% |
It shows both of my IM races and how I placed in each event in my AG and OA as a percentage, i.e. my placement divided by the total number of finishers. At Wisconsin, my swim and bike weaknesses really reared their ugly heads. In my age group, I was in the bottom third of both the swim and the bike. Then, I was in the top 25% on the run (in my AG). Overall, these numbers are slightly different because my age group is one of the faster ones.
Even though I was disappointed with my swim time, I did improve from 72 to 30% for my AG placement. I still need to get better from a relative standpoint in my AG. Too many guys are just too far ahead after the swim!
I also made huge progress on the bike portion. From an age group standpoint, I basically went from the bottom 1/4 to the top 1/4 or so. That is good progress and I had a ride in Louisville that went basically according to plan. I didn't go hard at all and THOUGHT I was going to be ready to run (silly me), only to be humbled by the IM marathon.
Speaking of the IM marathon, if you look at my progress from '07 to '09, it was basically flat. Not what I expected. However, if you look at the bright side, I was able to take an hour out of my bike ride without impacting my run split. That's good, but after the kind of training runs I was laying down, I really thought I'd be able to "run" the marathon.
Now let's compare this to my half-iron progress, for which I have a good year-to-year set of numbers on the same course.
| Vineman | | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| | Date | Jul-09 | Jul-08 | 1-Jul |
| | Finishers | 1831 | 1734 | 1742 |
| | AG Finishers | 209 | 239 | 261 |
| Swim | Time | 0:38:08 | 0:37:05 | 0:32:11 |
| | OA | | ||
| | OA % | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| | Div | 120 | 143 | 51 |
| | Div % | 57% | 60% | 20% |
| | T1 | 4:00 | 3:05 | 3:38 |
| Bike | Time | 2:57:20 | 2:40:26 | 2:28:48 |
| | OA | | ||
| | OA % | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| | Div | 142 | 54 | 21 |
| | Div % | 68% | 23% | 8% |
| | T2 | 3:39 | 2:22 | 2:27 |
| Run | Time | 1:43:38 | 1:39:24 | 1:31:36 |
| | OA | | ||
| | OA % | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| | Div | 56 | 38 | 5 |
| | Div % | 27% | 16% | 2% |
| OA | Time | 5:26:48 | 5:02:24 | 4:38:42 |
| | OA | 443 | 237 | 57 |
| | OA % | 24% | 14% | 3% |
| | Div | 97 | 50 | 12 |
| | Div % | 46% | 21% | 5% |
In '07, I was bottom half swim and bike and top third on the run for an AG placement of just barely top half (46%). The following year, I made really good improvements on the bike, a decent improvement on the run (27% to 16% AG placement), and stayed about the same for the swim. But then check out the '09 improvement... swimming went from 60% to 20%... not bad. Biking went from 23% to top 8% in my AG. I really made a good improvement, but the biggest thing was running off the bike. My goal for the race in '09 was to try to break 1:30 on the run. I came close and ended up with a 5th-best run split in my AG for a top 2% placement on a really hot day. I was really happy with that and my AG overall was 12th out of 261 finishers. This, with the kind of training I was doing leading up to L'ville led me to believe I was a much better runner off the bike.
So what happened? One theory is I biked too hard. I just don't think that's the case. My power numbers were right on and my RPE was right on - a very easy effort. I was tired at the end, but I was feeling ready to run. Not completely dead like in Wisconsin in '07. My HR was a little high on the bike, but it was reasonably high at Vineman 70.3 also (don't have data, but I recall it being in the 150s most of the ride) and I was still able to run really well. In L'ville, my average HR was 143, which is definitely too high for an IM bike ride, but I felt great and my power was right on target. Perhaps my estimate of my FTP was a little high??? Next year, I'll just have to do a more specific test to see where I'm at. Another theory is that I was overly stressed. This has some merit, I think based on some other evidence. I had cramps during the swim the same way I did at Wildflower in '07. During that race, I also cramped up on the run, just like I did in L'ville. The days before Wildflower were somewhat stressful with the camping and worrying about how my wife was doing with our little girl, etc. They stayed at a hotel and had to drive into the park super-early in the AM that day. Not exactly ideal pre-race activity. In L'ville, even though I had a TON of support and am incredibly grateful, it is more stressful to figure out what 15 people are going to do for dinner the night before. This is just a theory, but next year, I may try to have a more low-key pre-race lead in. I am also considering some kind of supplement to help alleviate the cramps. I have heard Magnesium may help. We'll see after I talk to coach in more detail.
In spite of all this, I did cut over an hour off my previous race time and set a new PR. I just didn't cut as much as I thought I was capable of, but then again, that is the whole addiction with this sport. Always searching for the perfect race where everything goes right. I know I am capable of a LOT more and I intend to find out.
No comments:
Post a Comment