Race Different

by Gordo Byrn

It’s been a strange summer for me. I have a goal of being “fast” in October/November so have not put a lot of pressure on myself in training or nutrition. Like my buddy Slater, my main goal is to hit each sport at least once every three days.

That said, I’ve noticed that my fitness is quite good and was thinking that I might as well “use” some of it outside of my masters swim workouts! Dropping $1000 (entry, hotel, airtix, car rental) to race a marquee event away from home seems like a waste of time and money.

So what to do?

Race different.

My first race last week was the Boulder Stroke and Stride. 1,500m swim (2 laps) with a 5K run. I like this format because it trains a number of different things that are useful for triathlon.

Swim start: My last swim race (where Chrissie dropped me during BoCo Camp) didn’t go so well. This time I went back to my normal tactic of starting moderate and seeing what happens. The main group split in two with the old guys going left and the young guns going right. I decided the young guns were a better bet and bridged over to them. Good call, I won the race due to my swim (or perhaps it was my choice of sleeveless Blue Seventy with no swim cap -- the previous week’s winner overheated in his fullsuit).

High HR transitions: As a new triathlete, it would take my heart rate forever to settle after I transitioned to the bike. Most of that was going bananas on the swim (with weak fitness) but some was my body simply not being used to the transition. Transitioning from fast swim to fast run is a lot tougher than moderate swim to moderate bike. If you can sort yourself in an aquathon then it will make your races easier. For what it’s worth, I walk/jog transition... even in a 40-minute race, I think that it’s quicker to the finish line, if i don’t spike early on the run.

Mentally easy pace work: For me, the best-effort, 20-60 minute duration is the weakest aspect of my athletic portfolio. I find it tough mentally to sit between VO2max and functional threshold. So I tend not to do it unless I’m racing (or ). The aquathon is 40 minutes of high intensity and doesn’t require a lot of mental mojo. In fact, even if I crack a bit, I’m still getting powerful training stimuli for my triathlon goals.

Specific pace work: As I mentioned last week, because we’re always running “tired” in a race, it’s useful to simulate that in training. The swim portion of the aquathon loads our upper bodies (I felt like the Incredible Hulk) and we have to manage that fatigue while we hold our best run technique. Because the pace is “on,” we never really feel great but our mind is learning to cope.

If you don’t have access to a local aquathon series then I put together an aquathon article for you. The article explains how to build your own events. Hope it helps.

Centurion Colorado
While I’m a fan of riding fast, I’m not a fan of crashing. For this reason, I’ve stayed away from bike racing. However, the Centurion Colorado course opens with over 20 miles of climbing, at altitude. I figured that would thin things out of a bit...

This race was a blast!

We were escorted out of Lyons (the start town) and the draft from a couple hundred people was outstanding (20 minutes at 25 mph at 168w). I decided that sitting 12 deep (and 12 abreast) probably wasn’t the safest place so I worked my way to the front of the group. Burnt a couple of matches doing that but I know Monica would have approved.

The first climb was a little under 4,000 feet and I averaged about 15 mph (85 minutes, 149bpm, 281w AP). There’s no way I could simulate that in training and the group sucked me along. The climb kicks towards the top and I made a strategic decision to let the “speedies” ride away. It was a good call and I managed to hook up with some solid riders for the second loop.

The second loop was a lot tougher and it proved sub-optimal to place my season high 90-minute power inside the first half of a five-hour race...

There was suffering and whimpering as I struggled up SuperJames (7.5%, 30 minutes, 160 bpm, 244w AP). My time was about 10 minutes off my personal best and I was using the easiest gearing that I own (34/28).

When I reached the 95-mile mark (after a sweet, safe, high-speed descent), there was a slight uphill and my legs cramped to the point where I had to stand on my cranks and glide. There was simply no position where I could pedal without cramps! At this stage I had two thoughts: I was really disappointed that I was likely to miss going sub-five hours on this course, and what a fantastic training day!

Here’s what I mean by great training:

All up I had 30 minutes worth of VO2max effort and 90 minutes of threshold effort across the race. I didn’t need to think about it, it just happened.
While my bike position wasn’t specific to triathlon, my total work (4400 kj) is very close to what is required for me to hit my goals for triathlon racing.
Taking the two points above -- I had two hours of high intensity work, inside a tough, continuous workout which lasted 25% longer than my goal race duration.
I was forced to cope with dehydration, decoupling, glycogen depletion and cramping.
Most important, I had fun!

Because of the sustained nature of the climbs, my VI (a measure of variability) was 1.05 across the entire race! So the ride didn’t have the stop/go that makes most group cycling less valuable for a time-trialist.

I think the 100 is great training for a half ironman athlete.

For an ironman athlete, I think that you need the run off the bike. So I’d consider racing the 50 then running back to Left Hand Canyon using Heil Ranch Trail. That would make one heck of a duathlon.

A final note is that triathletes that most enjoy bike racing need it the least. In other words, if 9,000 feet of climbing scares you then facing your fears can be very valuable in itself.

Support your local races!
gordo