During this past week which happened to be a down week, I spent a considerable amount of time reflecting on last weekend’s Buffalo Springs Lake Triathlon 70.3 around what went well and what I could have done differently. In the end, I don’t think I would have changed anything in light of my strategy going in, my goals for the race and the time targets I felt I could achieve. While a 5:21:48 is by no means my fastest at this distance, it was a respectable time (for me anyway) on what was a pretty challenging course on what turned out to be a very challenging day weather wise. Going into the race, I had low expectations of even being able to run. Due to an improper bike fit (seat to high) and some biomechanical issues (left leg shorter then right), I developed some tendonitis in the Achilles tendon that brought my running to an abrupt halt. Being a coach I probably should not have been in this position in the first place, but we all make mistakes from time to time. The fortunate side of it was I recognized this early enough and was able to correct the issues and was able to continue to ride but decided to play it safe on the running. BSLT 70.3 just became a “C” race for me. I did have a time target of sub 5 hours for this race originally and with about 5 weeks out this was very achievable. The key factors would be how well I could fuel on the bike and how hot the run would actually get. My #1 goal for this race was to pace and fuel throughout the swim and bike so that I could run well and finish strong. With about a week and a half to go I was able to start getting in some shorter (15-25 min runs) and managed to get in a 45 min (run/walk) about 6 days out all with no pain. Those sessions gave me the confidence that at the minimum I could at least run/walk the half-marathon portion of the race. When we arrived in Lubbock, TX on Friday and the mercury was nearing 100 degrees. To say it was hot was an understatement. While we have had some warm weather here in Colorado, it has been nothing like this. It felt like a furnace. We spent some time walking around and acclimating to the temps mentally preparing for the worst on Sunday. We awoke on Saturday morning to cloud cover and temps only in the 80’s and when we awoke on Sunday, it was cloudy and in the 60’s. We went from one end of the spectrum to the other. Now in the past, I spent a considerable amount of time worrying about the weather when in reality, it is out of my control. I learned to let this go…and coincidentally my last 2 races have been in the rain since I started doing this. Maybe my worrying had some control over Mother Nature but it came at a very high price. What I did know (but did not find out until 10 minutes prior to the race start) was that the forecast was calling for 80% rain and 100% wind. I added a new goal for the day which was to just roll with it and be sure to stay upright and don’t crash.After a 20 minute delay starting the race, we started the swim. Pretty uneventful overall. Found some open water and grabbed onto the feet of some unsuspecting soul that fortunately for me swam a straight line and I just hung on and saved all of my energy.
Out of T1 and on the bike but still no rain but sure enough at about mile 20 or so, the heavens opened and the rain and wind came and stayed with us for the duration of the ride. There were people flatting and crashing all over the place due to the conditions. I am not sure who was “racing” this course as I was just trying to keep things vertical and not get hit. The fueling strategy that I had worked out in the weeks leading up was working well. I am now on a 100% liquid diet trying to consume 300 kcal per hour on the bike and about 100 kcal per hour on the run. Some folks can tolerate more…I can’t and it gets significantly less as the day wears on so I have to be sure and have a lot of fuel in the tank at the start of the day and keep it topped off for the run. It goes back to not worrying about a lot of things and staying relaxed. Worrying burns calories. Period. At the conclusion of the bike I had no clue where I was time wise but the ride felt fast and I felt well rested with a lot of snap in the legs. The goal on the run was to hold back till the 6.5 mile turnaround and then let it rip on the way back trying to negative split the time. In hindsight, I held back a little too much since my average splits were 8:35/7:46 respectively for the out and back but I am not going to complain considering the lack of running I had on the legs. It was fun to run from behind and pick off a few folks in my age group towards the end. The day was a success despite missing the targets I had originally set. But targets are merely that, targets and sometimes we hit them and sometimes we are off the mark a bit. The real meat is in the goals you set for the day. If your targets are grounded in reality and aligned with your goals chances are you did not miss them by much if at all. So in short, know your body and what it is capable of in training. Define targets that are within your capability. Define a racing strategy with specific goals for each segment and execute the plan within the constraints of the conditions. You may hit your goals but miss your targets and you may hit your goals and exceed your targets. Either way, hit your goals and relish in the success of that and continue to learn about your body and most importantly learn from each race.
Out of T1 and on the bike but still no rain but sure enough at about mile 20 or so, the heavens opened and the rain and wind came and stayed with us for the duration of the ride. There were people flatting and crashing all over the place due to the conditions. I am not sure who was “racing” this course as I was just trying to keep things vertical and not get hit. The fueling strategy that I had worked out in the weeks leading up was working well. I am now on a 100% liquid diet trying to consume 300 kcal per hour on the bike and about 100 kcal per hour on the run. Some folks can tolerate more…I can’t and it gets significantly less as the day wears on so I have to be sure and have a lot of fuel in the tank at the start of the day and keep it topped off for the run. It goes back to not worrying about a lot of things and staying relaxed. Worrying burns calories. Period. At the conclusion of the bike I had no clue where I was time wise but the ride felt fast and I felt well rested with a lot of snap in the legs. The goal on the run was to hold back till the 6.5 mile turnaround and then let it rip on the way back trying to negative split the time. In hindsight, I held back a little too much since my average splits were 8:35/7:46 respectively for the out and back but I am not going to complain considering the lack of running I had on the legs. It was fun to run from behind and pick off a few folks in my age group towards the end. The day was a success despite missing the targets I had originally set. But targets are merely that, targets and sometimes we hit them and sometimes we are off the mark a bit. The real meat is in the goals you set for the day. If your targets are grounded in reality and aligned with your goals chances are you did not miss them by much if at all. So in short, know your body and what it is capable of in training. Define targets that are within your capability. Define a racing strategy with specific goals for each segment and execute the plan within the constraints of the conditions. You may hit your goals but miss your targets and you may hit your goals and exceed your targets. Either way, hit your goals and relish in the success of that and continue to learn about your body and most importantly learn from each race.
My Goals:
- For the day: Relax, don’t worry, roll with the challenges.
- Swim: Pace myself to conserve energy.
- Bike: Go at a pace that I can fuel early and often.
- Run: Negative split it.
Targets vs. Actual: 5:00:00 (5:21:48)
- Swim – 31:00 (30:05)
- Bike – 2:45:00 (2:58:42)
- Run – 1:40:00 (1:47:41)
- Transitions – 4:00 (~6:00)
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