With a few days perspective, I feel like I’m in a good place
to look at my race and judge what went well and what could have gone better.
I’ll say at the outset that I definitely want to do this distance again, though
not this year! As much as anything, I’m confident in my ability to improve.
What I Did
The Swim
There’s not much to say here. I had a goal of 35:12 and I
finished in 38:39. However, the swim
course was long—0.2 mile long to be specific. Adjusting for that, I swam it a
little over 33:06. I’m swimming well. I may spend the off-season doing things
like working on form and attempting to learn the flip-turn, but as far as open
water goes, I’m where I need to be.
The Bike
I rode about five minutes faster than my conservative goal
of 3:15. I didn’t want to be too aggressive about how fast I was going, considering
the long run that awaited me after the finish. I’m pleased that I was able to
stay well-hydrated and well-fed during this stage. I may have been tired and
hot when I got to the run, but I never bonked. It’s always great to finish
ahead of a goal, but I’m also satisfied to have essentially done what I planned
on doing.
The Run
Ah, the run. What can I say about it? Through three races
this year, I did better than expected. I was much faster at Summer
Open Sprint. I was faster still at Greeley. I was surprisingly faster at Boulder
Peak. Finally, I was slower than expected at HITS. I’m not too unhappy
about that, however. I saw a lot of folks struggle on that hot, dusty run and
since it was my first time at that distance, I’m giving myself a break on what
was my slowest half-marathon on record.
Running strategy has been a tricky for me. It’s the area in
which I’ve seen the greatest year over year improvement. It’s also the area
that concerns me the most. I want to run more and run faster, but I also feel
especially vulnerable to injury. What’s clear is that at 10K or less, I’m doing
pretty well. The time of 52:23 at the Boulder Peak
What I Would Do Differently
The Swim
What would I have done differently? In all honesty, there is
not much. I can probably squeeze a
minute or two off my 1500 time and that might help me reach a new PR in the Oly
distance, but other than that’s about it... I did a lot of open water training
this year and I expect to do that again next year.
The Bike
To improve on the ride portion of any race, I need to do
more long rides and increase the maximum distance of my longest ride. Having my
bike breakdown on a 50 mile training ride was not helpful, but that should have
been just one in a string of long rides. In actuality, the long rides were more
like a handful.
Next year, I’ll plan on building up to the long mileage. I
found myself discouraged or not motivated when a 60 mile ride came up on the
training schedule. I can avoid that by doing several 40 to 45 mile rides first.
Additionally, I need to plan for those long, most-of the-day type rides just to
over-distance for the race. 56 miles ought to look like a walk in the park
after going 70 plus.
Additionally, I need to find a good interval plan. I did
pretty well with that earlier in the year but let it go as I focused on longer
distances. That may not have been entirely wrong, but perhaps it would have
done me some good. I suspect that my intervals may have been a little too
aggressive and ended up wearing me out rather than effectively training me.
It’s worth looking at for next year.
The Run
My run is the tale of two distances. On 10K or less, I’ve
improved significantly over 2011. I’ve lost about 10 pounds over last year and
I’ve developed my strength to the point that I’m able to run at paces in the
7:00 range for sprints and 8:30 or better for the Oly. At longer distances, my
endurance clearly is not where it needs to be.
Earlier
this year, I swore off bricks. They did me some good last year when I had
never done any multi-sport racing. If nothing else, they mentally prepared me.
Through three races, the lack of a brick did not harm me.
However, I think a modified brick would do me some good in
preparing for the 70.3 distance. The point of such a race is endurance and
nothing drives that like riding and then running. I don’t think I need to build
up to a 56 mile ride followed by a 13.1 mile run, but perhaps doing five or six
after a long ride might help. I’ve heard BRICK stands for Biking and Running,
It Can Kill. But done properly, I suspect it can be especially valuable.
At this point, I don’t see a lot of value in hiring a coach
or paying for a training plan. Experience is still the best teacher and I think
I’ve developed some good perspective on how to approach this distance in the
future.
For the rest of this year, there are two more major events
for me. First the Rattlesnake Triathlon on August 18. This is an Olympic
distance race that includes a ride portion on East Quincy Road where I’ve done several
training rides. The run course appears to be flat and on a paved trail which
also favors me. Heat, as it always is, will be a concern, but I’m confident in
my ability to combat it.
Once that one is over, I’ll be focusing on the Rock and Roll
Half Marathon on September 22. My goal for
that one is to run a sub 2:00:00. I feel like I can do that, but I’ll be doing
a lot of prep in anticipation.
Before all of that, though, I’m off for a few days in the Napa Valley
Thanks for reading!
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