Ironman Lake Placid race report

Eric Kenney's IM Lake placid race report



“You're not gona make it.”
3 miles of the 140.6 to go and I could barely hear Chris any more. At only 6 miles into the run there were about 10 guys in my age group within 2 miles. Say 14’ max. For a guy with his 2 strongest sports behind him and a spot to the world championships in Kona, Hi falling away with every one that pasted me I knew the next 2:30+ hours would be the hardest of my life. Physically and mentally. And I was slowing down.
“DO NOT WALK! RUN ERIC RUUUUUN!!”, Chris said. And then there was that hand with the lightest push at my lower back.

That last miles of an ironman can be… well, a mind game. Just keep moving. It’s so easy to stop, so easy to start walking. And when you do the response is immediate. Relief.
Leading up to lake placid was your standard peaking affair. Nerves. Am I feeling horrible or just peaked and ready? But it was all there. The training, the mental readiness, experience, knowledge, tools. It was all in place. I just had to wait 2 more weeks for the gun to go off! Ahhhhh!

Race morning. “you guys know the drill right? No wetsuits.” the water was 77 degrees. Right at the, to warm for wetsuits rule. So it was wear one if you want. You’re not counted in prizes or Kona spots. If you want to go to The Big Dance on Oct. 8th, no wet suits. No worries I didn’t care. No use in caring at that point. I had about 3 minutes of “should wear my race top or not? What about the guys with speed suits, how will I know who wore one and who didn’t? oh my god, OH MY. OHH MY GOD!!! ITS ALL GOING TO CRAP! WHAT THE F- “YO! Eric!” Chris chimed in. Most of you know him, if not see the Canada race report from 2010
“Dude I can’t believe you got me up this early, You’re pathetic.”
"2 people said wearing your race top would be fine. But your gona freak. Everything loosens up when it gets wet. Get help with it in transition. Put it in your T1 bag, stop whining call me when you’re at mile 30 on the bike”

Ok done. Telling myself I’m not cold. Trying to tread water with people packed in like a Metallica concert, 5 minutes to go. Wow that’s a long time… “30 seconds everyone” blared over the loudspeaker.
wow that went fast. Gun goes off and the next 400 meters of the swim were the roughest I have ever experienced. Lake placid is tight at the start. Add in no wet suits and your sinking. I was a bit surprised but head down, nothing fazes you, just go. It thinned out and more so on the second lap. I had some feet for a while but not right on them. I swam right next to a guy for ¾ths of the entire swim. I mean stroke for stroke. For 45 minutes, there he is, not there now. There he is, not there now… get me to my bike! PLEASE! I swam hard. I didn’t feel great but I got a grove that I was maintaining and just pushed.
My swim was all right. 58:50ish… slow, but 12th in my AG no wet suits so… remember my article on how to analyze race results? “Never use time! Ever!” I had no idea during the race about my time and I’m glad.

I was surprised at how long T1 is at IM LP. You have to run like 2 blocks around to get your bag , into the tent, out the other side around the far end of a football field, get your bike and out the other side again. I got help with my race top (impossible to get one when you’re wet) my bike was handed to me, no need to go to the end of my row, and I was off. 4:30 ish, not bad.
Off on my bike.
I settled in nicely. Still riding a bit to hard on the hills but grabbing every chance to coast or noodle as possible. Which wasn’t much. It was all ready windy. And we had a head cross wind for the first section of the loop. Then the hills started, so… no recovery spots on the bike today.

My execution plan:
with a threshold of 320, (weight 156ish) goal was to do 230 norm power give or take for the bike leg. 70% of thresh. I would love to do 72% but I don’t have that crushingly huge endurance engine that some have. I know from training that 70, maybe 71% is tops. Especially with a hilly run course.
~nothing over 250 for an extended period of time.
~get over the first set of rollers as easy as possible. Relax.
~200-210 on the flats until Jay Rd where the hills start.
~again, easy up this the first set of hills on Jay Rd. Grab coasting time every where I can.
~from rt 86 (mi. 45 or so) it was 240 watts all the way to mi 65 or so. (to the big decent past transition) 75’- 90’ effort I figured
~2nd time through same thing except start the steady effort on the hills at Jay rd and start to back off a bit as I get closer to T2 on what few down hills and flats there where.

Nutrition, water, pedaling, don’t draft. The standard. The thing I noticed was I wasn’t picking up any big packs, even down on rt. 9 when you can see far ahead there weren’t big lines of riders down the rd. Was I farther off the back than last year in Canada? Did the first 25 minutes of hills break it up more? Was I farther up in the field? What the hell is going on? I wanted to know. I’m racing. My goal a spot to the ironman world championships. Yes I have to race MY race. But I can still work some tactics into the race plan.
time went. First turn around is mile 25ish I started to count riders coming the other way. 1-2, pro’s, some pro women, he looks like an amateur, bamb turn around. Nice! I’m up. Close to top ten over all amateur now.
Chris is in my head. “OK chill. This is perfect. Better than we planed take it easy over the Jay rd hills, then steady, NOT HARD, up the long climb to mile 65. And we need to stretch out the legs. Your hip flexors and hams are really tight”
I was gona just ignore the tightness in my legs but it had to be addressed. It was far less than ideal. I mean the race just started.
Chris treated our body like it was detached, something else. Like a car or a machine that one could just fix or tune a different way. If it didn’t work well one day or the way we wanted it to we just tried to fix it and went for it again another time. I talk about this to all our clients. Depersonalize your ego, your brain, your goals, and your physical being. If your legs suck one day, you’re not a bad person, it’s ok, life goes on. Be mad, sure, but only for so long. Then, it’s over let it go. Fix the weakness and move on. Be grateful you’re here doing this to begin with.

Up the long climb I pushed, much to the dismay of my hip flexors and hamstrings. Steady, “250 tops! Ek.”, 220 felt good. The flatter sections with the now tail wind had me moving well. Easy for a few minutes on the down hills through the finish area, and back up the starting hills. Windy now, keep on the gas. Push, push. A little recovery and food at 50 miles per hour on the big decent to Keene and back to the not so easy flat rd. with a head wind.
Ok , system check: one of the keys of race execution is staying on track. “think where are you now in the race, what are you doing and why? Then think about what is coming up and what you will do when you get there. As this may affect what you do now”
If you do this you are in control. I see people grabbing for food and water on hills, being surprised and un sure what to do at feed zones, etc. if you eat when your hungry, drink when your thirsty, ride hard when you feel good easy when you don’t you’re a victim of the course. The course is dictating your race not you.
~How’s fuel? good, on track.
~Water? Seems ok I missed a few stations early but was keeping bottles I got in my jersey that were not empty from filling my aero bottle.
~Legs? well they are not getting worse. That’s good. My heart rate was (this is the only time you will hear me talk about HR) very responsive. Which is good. Despite the tight legs, as soon as I would let up or coast, it would drop.
~Race strategy check. Over all I’m good, not fatiguing too much, and no one has really caught back up to me that I dropped on the long climb up 86. Another count of riders on the out and back. OK I have to be like at the Front of the race. I mean like THE front, I thought.
Chris. “eric”, he doesn’t capitalize my name as he feels I have not earned it, “lets ease up earlier than we planned, your legs are still really tight. We need to fix this now or we are totally fuc***.” he was right. My position was great. And while I didn’t feel bad, It felt harder than a good peaked effort should feel.
I went eaiser on the Jay rd. hills than planned, stretching at every oportunity I could find. I pulled ahead of the last rider to stay with me at 8 miles to go or so. “hey lookin good, number 2 amateur!” I had heard this 3 times now, it was just registering. Whole crap! I was 10th of the bike in Canada last year.
Every flat section and short downhill (yes there are a few on the climb up 86) I would ease up. Finished off nutrition, stretched, stood up a lot, easy, but out of the saddle a lot in the last 2 miles.
Coming into town was just epic. Huge crowds. I mean F’n HUGE! Up and around into the outdoor oval athletic center that is transition and the finish of the bike leg. I was the 2nd amateur off the bike overall there was 2700+ racers behind me. This felt amazing. I love being at the front. Racing, not just going. Thousands of eyes on me, cheering, yells, screaming. Just amazing in every way.
In the 1:30 I spent in T2 I handed my bike off, shoes, got rid of the bike gear, trash, arm warmers, running shoes on, switched HR straps, got my watch, asked what the temp was “79” ehh hot for me, and was out. I ran out with a focused but calm look on my face, fixed my hair, checked my run form an…
“YO!” ,chris, “pat yourself on the back later pretty boy, last year you were ranked 260-somthing on the run”

Power File:

225 norm power. 156 lb's you can see i did not negitive split the ride. but as I said above i was in a beter possition than i thought, and the tight legs... i ease up eariler than planned.
This is a great example of adapting your race plan. Adapting to the conditions and the way I felt and getting an end result very, VERY close to the original plan. Gotta be dynamic on race day! ohh I did just over 300calories an hour on the bike. the bike was windy. winder than i thought it would be and more so than the last few years I heard. the bitch about the wind was it was a head wind on every downhill and fast section of the course. you could never relax. if you look at the run time this year you'll see some slower times than normal. why? I feel its because folks rode to hard/ the ride just tock to much out of them and the cracked. Hello? racing dynamically! if you even think about MPH and doing xyz MPH for this section and that section, your F'd. it just doesn't work.

Ok time ro run.
System check.
~ legs tight
~running fast 7:30’s,
~feeling good energy wise.
~stomach was tight. Not cramping but a bit tight.
all right, so where am I now, what am I gona do in 3-6 16 miles…”
Stomach is tight, hum, I am gona push nutrition. Normally for me I need more electrolytes with a bad tummy which is rare so if it doesn’t get better I’ll get some pretzels so something. Within 3 miles the stomach was back to 100% and legs loosened up a bit. Back on track.
Run Plan:
~8’ miles, anything better was gravy. Hills, go by PE 100% don’t worry about pace. Imagine Steve Johnson in front of me running with his 400 cadence shuffle that I can barley match.
that’s it.
Most of you know my run training philosophy. Frequency, Quality, Varied/ different types of intensity, and long runs aren’t really “long”. 90’ is a long run. Longest runs I did were 1:50 at 14 miles. This 2:30-3 hour running this is BS. Recovery is to long and you’re just teaching your body to run slow. Now, there is this “train to get tough” and “train to get fast/ for quality” seesaw, ying-yang thing. My feeling is that one should focus on quality most of the time, but like everything in life, you can’t over do it. If you train when everything is ideal ALL the time, I’m not betting on you on race day. One HAS to be dynamic. so go ahead and mix in those crazy long brick workouts… once in a while! Not every freaking weekend! Mix it up! What happens when you try and do some threshold intervals after 2+ hours of riding? It’s a bit different huh… it’s so hard in the sport of triathlon to be complete and dynamic in every sport. Impossible really, but there are a few places that you can be. Biking, start here. It’s the most dynamic sport of them all. Last think you want to be is a one trick pony on the bike. Especially on a course like LP.

The run is an out and back you do twice. More down hill on the way out, more uphill on the way back. I was running fast. too fast. 7:09 first mile. Then settled into a 7:30-7:40ish pace. I went through waves of emotions here. From you’re going to catch the guy in front and win the amateur race, to my legs are tight and I’m gona loose everything, to maybe I can do it, no I can’t, on and on. Just noise. You have to focus on… what? “Where you are now, what you’re doing and what you’re going to do next.”
Turnaround 1, 6 miles. The leader was like 2 miles ahead of me. This guy had 11’ on me coming off the bike. You’re my hero! No one has pasted me yet. This is good. I started looking at race numbers to see what kind of buffer I had. Not much after a mile I had seen 10 or so guys in my field. So, here I am, 7 miles into the 26.2 mile run or 800 mile run as it feels in and Ironman, running to fast with the whole field right on my heals. Back to the, this just isn’t going to happen today, feeling
Sponges.
who ever thought of sponges in ice water for running is a genius. I grabbed them every aid station (every mile) over the head and arms. Water every time. And Infinit Nutrition. My custom mix is 200mg sodium/ 100 calories. (they have a great blend of all 5 electrolytes) I did about 200 cals/ hour on the run.
Up the hills to mile 13 doing good. Pace still strong. On the way back I thought let the legs go a bit, issue here was on this “fast” easy section of rd I was having trouble staying under 8’/ miles. Crap. Still I was 3rd in my AG at this point. It was getting harder to see who was behind me at turn arounds. It seemed like the pack of chasers was… thinning out? I didn’t believe it. 8 miles to go, 7. I thought it doesn’t matter if I don’t qualify, my friends and family will still love me, my grandfather would still be proud. (he died last year 3 days before I did IM Canada) it’s ok just keep moving. 6 miles to go. Aid station I walked. What the F… why am I walking? It was totally involuntary. Water, ice down the pants, shorts, sponges. And I was passed, again by a guy in my AG. I started to run right away and re-passed him immediately. I can’t do this I thought. I’m not a good, dynamic enough runner to get into a shoulder to shoulder battle in the last miles on an IM.
Chris, “OK ek here we are, this is an IM, this whole day is just to get to here. We hold 8’/miles here. On the 2 short steep hills, keep running, if you hit 12’ miles walk and pick up the run as SOON as it flattens out, 2 miles flat from mile 22-24 crush it, as hard as you can. Last steep hill same thing, last mile 1.5 miles run, just run!”
Sounded good to me? I didn’t want anyone to see me and gain hope. First hill I shuffled. Like an old man barely moving. Never went slower than 10’ miles for the short steep climb. Ok crush EK, run, RUN! I saw a few folks I knew, they were screaming my name. I don’t’ respond. Couldn’t, at all. My face felt like those Lemmon headed aliens in the movie critters. Just blank. Nothing there, last hill into town, still in 4th in my AG I figured. (I was really 3rd) Half way up my legs just stopped. “I’m not gona make it”, I thought. “ I can’t do it. I just can’t run anymore.” The crowd erupted, as if they felt like it was their fault for not being loud enough or encouraging enough. It was so load I couldn’t hear my own thoughts. Now I would love to tell you that I could hear my grandfather talk to me and push me along but I’m not. What I did do is imagine that he was next to me with his hand on my lower back, and I did feel lighter.
I started to run. The steep climb turns and false flats. I stopped again, run eric, I said to myself, Run… RUN! I started to run again. 1.5 miles, last aid station. I stopped again, COME ON RUN!!! Water, sponges (yes I was still drinking) nutrition, yes still taking calories, turn around, my legs stopped. FU** eric RUUUUNNN I saw Patrick McCrann, he was a little ways back, he won’t’ catch me? If I can beat him I have to be in a kona spot. Patrick is what comes up when you search for “rock solid” his nick name should be ice man. I was 3rd in my AG and the 8th over all amateur. Coming into the finish is amazing. Huge crowds.
finish line, I couldn’t believe I pulled it off. The last 6 miles were harder than I imagined.

A few mistakes here, first 6 miles were way to fast. But everyone did the same. It looks like everyone slowed down, I just slowed down a small fraction less. Not the best run execution but it got the job done. Down hill or not. You HAVE to be carful with the run. NEVE back time. It never pays you back. The lake Placid run will crush the best runners if you go out to fast. I ended with a 7:51/ mile pace.
Run file: http://tpks.ws/tphDu5fQ
Kona here we come.

Results, Goals and the Real World.

With racing season under way many folks are now starting to look at results and assessing their performance. This can be a tricky process. Whether it's simply a training race or a more important event, there are many things to take into account. And some things that should simply be left out on the course.
With times, rank in each event, your over all placing, wattage, run pace, and more, how does one analyze their results and performance correctly?

The hard data:
One of the best ways is to measure you and just you. Forget about everyone else what did you do? In the end you can only do what you can do. Sounds silly but many forget this simple fact. Measuring your wattage and running pace are very definitive ways of measuring your performance. "last yr. i did 250 watts at the Boulder sprint, this year 275!" that is progress. Your running pace is also something to look at. I would recommend going by your GPS watch however. Running courses can be off more than you think. Even at the most recent WTC, 5430 sprint tri the run course was short. This can skew times quite a bit. Swim times, be careful here as well. I have never heard of an open water swim course that was perfect. wind, choppy water, etc. can all led to very different swim times. This is why we never, NEVER, ever use time to measure our performance on the bike. MPH mean nothing. A breath of wind, new pavement, and 100 other things will affect your average speed. you must use wattage!
Even with all the correct data it is some times used wrong. I have heard athletes be angry with there run time because "it was slow." Yet they have no idea what they should be running (what they can run) coming off the bike. "well in 2001 I ran a 5k with some friends and I did 19 minutes flat! Today i'm better shape and I raced 19:50. i sucked!"
Heard this before? where do we start! First of all its not 2001. You just did a sprint triathlon not a stand alone 5k, if you PR on the run of a triathlon your not swimming or riding hard enough, or, you are much faster than you were before.
The courses could have been short, long. wind, surface, motivation, or maybe you just had a good/bad day.
find out what is a reasonable goal for YOU. not some obligatory time.


Results:
Because of issues like the ones above comparing results can be a great way to measure your performance. "but Ek I don't' race the people that win my AG, I race for my own goals, to be as fast as I can be i'm not on that level." That's great! This method is still very usable for someone in that mind set, stay with me for a bit.
This year an athlete I am working with has been working a lot on his run. However, his bike and swim have been improving as well. In the first few races this year his bike wattage has been exactly the same as last year. Effort level also the same yet his bike rank (and his over all placings) are higher. If this happened once I would think nothing of it but so far (4 races) all with the same scenario. he is going faster. A new bike and better position is proving to be gaining him more time than we thought. we'll take it!
Another client of ours just this last weekend said, "my run was awful, a horrible placing for me." really? are you sure? they placed inside the top 8 in their AG and last yr. they were 18th. also their run pace was faster and at the fast end of where I like to see athletes run in a sprint tri... so.... what was bad? it hurt? it's a race it's not supposed to be easy!

Also if your goals are competitive ones than this is realy what your aiming for right? Top 50%, Top 5% etc. At the end of the day a race is just who was best on that day, at that moment. You can work towards having a faster run, better power on the bike but,
"on race day you must race with what you have, not what you want to have"

Again I would urge caution here as well. things don't always match up 100%.
At the last race I did my swim placing was worse than last yr. but when you compare my time with the fastest swim time I lost less time than last year. ie. I was closer to the leader. My "time" (last thing we care about) was faster and the water rougher. Which is strange because a rough, slower swim would suggest bigger time gaps?? hummm...

This is why we prefer to use well executed races and more than one when ever possible. the more reference points you have the better.

Goals:
In the end you need to ask your self, what are your goals? what are they specifically for this race? And what are your bigger goals for the season or year?
Your goals for this training race should be:
1. a stair steeper to build on towards the bigger goal
2. everyone should have the goal to execute the race to the best of there ability on that day! maybe you have a goal to focus on the bike portion or the run portion, maybe its simply to finish your first triathlon strong. what ever it is race execution is KEY!
~see: your first triathlon. even if it's your 101 race!!
~and the race execution seminar HERE

Most importantly realize that this event you have just done is one thing. One day, one race. you might have just had a bad day, or for that matter a good one. Maybe you got lucky? But when you have your threshold set for all 3 sports, they are better than last year, your data says you executed the race well and within the proper parameters and you're doing better against the competition at more than one event,
you are looking at the products of progress.

Going pro

"How do you go from being ranked number 1, to number 101 over night?
Turn Pro." ~Nike.

One of my favorite television ads. However, Going Pro is not about me. As with most of the blog posts here this is about someone else.

We have recently started working with Gavin Anderson, first year pro. This is very exciting for me. Being asked to work with a professional is something that has been a dream for a while. Am I ready? We'll let Gavin's competition decide as the year goes on.
"I really wanted someone I could work with, as a team. I've been an athlete for a while but at this level you just can 't do it alone." Gavin.

On the June 11, 2011 Gavin cracked the top 14 at IM 70.3 in KS. A very competitive race. He raced while leading the entire pro field out of the water and running a very aggressive first 1/2 of the 13.1 mile run until living on a edge became to much. We are excited about this result and are looking to build!
"I just couldn't hold on to my run pace. I knew it was aggressive but I'd rather go down with a fight!"

The challenges we face are a many.
1. We did not get to work over the winter together. trying to train weak areas in the middle of race season can be tough!
2. being a pro triathlete doesn't mean he gets a pay check! you gotta earn it with BIG wins. Gavin has a full time job, a wife and 2 great kids! All of which are priority number one. and you thought you sch. was busy...
3. Gavin's race schedule is jammed! later in Aug. he will have back to back 70.3 race weekends. recover much!

Whats in our favor? lots really.
1. Gavin and I are both here for the long haul. We know this takes time and are willing to do what it takes!
2. Teamwork. we are both open minded and work as a team. This is not crab fishing boat. This is two smart, experienced people working to make 2 minds far better than one.
3. Gavin has an enormous ability to handle and absorb workload. Gavin's normal training week would have many injured or sleeping through more than one meet at work.
4. Work ethic. when a workout say's ride 4 hrs in Zone 2 that's what happens. not 3:30 or a 3:45 hr ride.

Gavin plans and executes a training block in a smart, planned, thought out way. Now some of you are thinking "I have heard this before." you have, HERE and its not surprising. I did not make Gavin who he is. HE DID. He turned pro all by himself. Can we make him even better? yes, we can.

"All my sponsors I use, I love them all, I don't have any sponsors attached to me because they pay well. I really use their product or service."
Follow Gavin's blog to find out more about his sponsors and the Erin Baker's Elite Triathlon team. As well as stories from the front end of the race are all ways amazing!

First True Test

This past Sat. was the first true test of my training for the 2011 season. seems late I know!
and yes, I have done threshold testing for this and that and yes my "feelings" and pace at a given PE is different than last year and I do feel I am running faster swimming faster and even riding a bit better too. But,
until you lay it on the line, put it all together, in a race, with everyone else doing the same, you don't truly know how or where you have improved.

now, for some this is a bit much. One of our athletes did her first duathlon this weekend. was she concerned about the others racers? no. her placing in here A/G or over all? no. but showing up on race day is different than going hard in training and PR'ing when ever you happen to feel good one day. even for the newbies performing "their" best on race day is still important.

Michelle, did great by the way. running a bit faster than planned in the first run. her bike felt strong and steady, and even on the 2nd run dealing with a hot day and some calf cramping due to her lack of riding (big run focus for the Boulder Boulder) she finished strong not slowing down to much on the sec. 5k run.
For me this "training race" became much more important that originally planned. the summer open sprint had to cancel the swim last min. and we raced a duathlon. while I did better there than I thought I might, I was a bit disappointed with my running pace. The distance was a format I have never done but still I felt I should have run faster.

This past Sat. was an Oly. distance race. having a strong swim/bike combination its a good distance for me. The Boulder Sunrise tri is a smaller race and doesn't draw a huge fast guy field but I wanted to see what my body could do when I put all 3 sports together and realy emptied the tank.

The swim was lack luster. After having to back stroke a bit to get my breathing under control I started sighting off the wrong buoy. In the end not to much time was lost and I was able to get on the feet of the first group coming out on the water. I think I was 4-5th out of the water. so, not bad. makes me wonder what a GOOD swim would have produced.

lessons learned: if everyone else going left, then EVERYONE is likely correct.
I am never wearing a long sleeve wet suit, ever. regardless of how cold the water is.

The bike felt good. I waited a bit long to get up to my wattage range, but, then again maybe that's why I felt so good? Norm power was only 281 but for many of the steady riding sections I was sitting on 300 pretty well.
This felt much beter than last year and the summer open sprint a few weeks ago. Not forced at all. tiring in the last 5-10 miles? yes, for sure, but in control.

Things Learned: same one as always, being patient and not rushing to your goal power always pays off. Always.

Now the run. At this point I was told one guy was still in front of me with about 3 minutes. "OK so racing for second it is." who ever Drew Scott is he only 20 and crushed me by 5 minutes!! national team coaches, someone call this kid! I had a chance to chat with him a bit. very nice humble guy.
I found a rhythm faster than normal and was running sub 6:30's. perfect. what I wanted. The first 3 miles went well. my gap on 3rd looked good. I posted 1 or 2 6:40+ miles but got back to a 6:20 pace or so for the last of the 6.2 mile course and ended up with a 2nd place over all, running a 6:31 avg. pace per mile.

Lessons learned: be nice to your wife/significant other in the few days leading up to race! (see last comment of this post)
no mater how good the first few miles feel be carful. it always gets harder.

I was pretty pleased with this. having botched my last threshold running test I didn't have any hard data as to what I could really run. In my race execution planning I thought "if i can run 6:30/mile that will be great." so task achieved I guess! the run training has worked pretty well so far. with a 6:31 pace off the bike in an Oly dis. race that is going to put my threshold around 6:20 or better. training objectives for the run are all very close to being achieved.
"But Ek what about the longer running distances?"
good Q. can you correlate my run threshold pace to IM pace 100%.
No. but the race does tell us 2 things for certain about my running

1. My Threshold is faster than 6:30/mile.
2. I am running well off the bike. as I am pretty sure running a 6:10 pace would be unattainable. which means I am losing less than 4% or so off the bike. This is great.

Congrats to all the first timers who got out there and the race organizers for doing a great job. The race was much bigger than last year and I feel it has a great place in the CO race calendar.
Also, a big thanks to my wife who after getting up at 5am to come watch turned around half way there per my phone call on me forgetting my garmin running watch. despite getting there after the race started she found my stuff in transition, and got the watch placed in my running shoes. no clue how she did this as transition is closed to non racers.... humm....

Your First triathlon

As mid summer approaches there are many of you about to take on your first triathlon. You might be apprehensive or simply downright nervous and there is no shame in that, it can be overwhelming at times. Swimming is fairly intimidating for many folks, especially when you add a few hundred other people getting in your way! Here we’ll discuss a few ways to keep your day in perspective and ways to avoid the mistakes that are so common and could ruin your day.

Over all strategy and pacing for your race day.

Even for the Elite athletes you will find that in triathlon there are far more things to do wrong then right. What I mean is whether you’re finishing your first triathlon or winning Kona its more about not messing up, not making a mistake rather than being supper tough or “pushing through the pain” or mustering up some magical effort on that day. So, let’s talk about the big picture.

Don’t do something you haven’t done before. You’ve probably seen a few people come off the bike into T-2 leave their shoes on the pedals, swing one leg back over the seat and hit the ground running right as they arrive at the dismount line all in, what looks like, a very easy, fluid motion. Stay away from this! Unless you’ve done this 100 times in your every day rides stay away! Some other things to avoid include:

1) don’t ride up a hill harder than you have in training
2) don’t take a turn faster than you have before or are comfortable with.
3) don’t grab your water bottle with a different hand.
4) don’t eat or drink something you haven’t previously consumed during or before training.
Race day is about executing the skills you have on that day as well as possible, not thinking of something else at the spur of the moment. You will also notice that all of the things listed will not gain you much time. And if its your first time, don’t try to set any records.

Lets Break the race down.

Transitions/pre race: “You can’t win the race here but can certainly lose.”
You’re not racing to win today but the same ideas apply here. Take your time, relax, catch your breath, try to recover a bit from the swim or the bike, and focus on not making mistakes. And most important of all, breath… before you leave do a double check. Is your helmet on and buckled? Got all your water, anything else you need? OK… you sure? Ok, now go.
Keep things simple. Organize your gear by your bike in a small area. Less is more here. The less “stuff” you have to deal with, put on, take off, buckle, strap, flip over, the better.

I put the transitions section first because I see more errors and mistakes here than anywhere else. At every single race I hear about or see someone bolting out of transition to the run at mach 3 with their cycling helmet still on. Don’t be that person! And if you are its OK just laugh because it’s pretty funny.

Visualize: When you’re done with set up, walk down to the beach or wherever the swim start is, walk over to the swim exit, then walk up to the transition area (like you will in the race) take note of everything. How far is it? Look around, do some visualization. I am going to come out of the water, WALK up the beach, take the top of my wet suit off, into transition here and my bike is… ummm where’s my bike? See why we do this! Finding your bike is easy when there is no one else there and you’re right next to it. Finding it when you come into this huge transition area from another direction with hundreds of bikes around and water in your ears is a completely different animal.

Our 4 key tips for each section of the race:

Swim:

1) If you’re a bit worried about everyone crawling over you start at the back.

2) Go easy! The swim is designed to blow your race. Swiming is a hard full body sport. Relax, find a rhythm and go. You’re pumped up, you’re excited it’s the beginning of the race, you will likely go to hard. Try and relax. Swimming too hard will have you hyperventilating in 3 minutes or less. Focus on form and breathing.

3) Keep moving. You’re going to contact other racers, they are going to contact you, and it’s ok, this is what happens when 100’s of people all need to get around the same buoy in the same few square feet. Just keep swimming.

4) Look where you’re going every 3-5 strokes. If you get a good feel for going straight go longer (5-10 strokes) before looking.
Bike:

1) Make sure it works and is safe. Are the tires in good shape and pumped up? Do the brakes work and is everything is tight and in order?

2) Pay attention!! If another rider does something dumb and you crash down its still your fault and it’s your road rash. Take responsibility! Watch for Dirt on turns, other riders, glass in the road, cars, pot holes, rocks, and more. Just like you do every other ride. Take responsibility for yourself!

3) Stay steady! YOU dictate your pace, not the road. Don’t ride too hard on hills and in head winds. These elements will be harder than the flats but stay steady. Conversely go easier on fast sections; down hills, tail winds, etc. and recover a bit. Keep your cadence up, use all the gear on that bike. Don’t sprint out of turns and up short hills.
4) Fuel up! Remember, you still have to run. It’s easier to eat and drink on the bike and fluids are most important here. Just keep a steady, consistent flow in regards to fueling.
Run:

1) Relax! The first few minutes will be the hardest. Your legs will take a few minutes to adjust. Go slow and stay positive. Find a sustainable rhythm. Find a pace you know you can finish. If the fastest 5k you have ever run is an 8 min/mile pace don’t start at 7:30’s. In fact don’t start at 8 min/ miles. You will likely lose 7%, maybe more on your run from a standalone running race.

2) Focus on form. Keep your head up, smile, keep a short stride and quick cadence. Stay light on your feet. If you start plodding along and hammering the road you’ll just make it harder on yourself. Run forward, not up and down.

3) Keep cool with water over your head, on the legs and in the system! You may be only a few miles from the finish but it’s going to take much longer than the last few miles on the bike, way longer! Stay hydrated and cool. Water in the system and over your head will help keep your core temperature down.

4) Walk for 30 sec. -1 min. before you blow up completely. Don’t push yourself to the brink before you compromise your pace. Walking through feed zones is a common practice. Relax, get your water and/or calories with ease and less stress, catch your breath and then get back to work. You’re almost there!

So remember this is YOUR race, your day. Don’t get sucked into trying to catch the dude with the disk wheel on his/her bike. Don’t let a few people bumping into you on the swim ruin your whole day. Be ready for it. Stay relaxed but ready. Be in the Now. Look and think about where you are and where you’re heading in the next 30 seconds to a minute or so. If you’re on the bike, don’t worry about the run… yet.