I have just completed my second Half Ironman race, the Ironman 70.3 Luxembourg, and I must say that I am happy with the overall result. After my race in Mallorca earlier last month, there were a lot of lessons that I have taken away from there, a couple of tweaks I've made to my training and racing strategy, and the training race in London three weeks ago, and it seems to have worked. There is still plenty left to be desired, but what I'm pleased about is that I can see that I'm on the right path. In this post, I discuss some details of these lessons, as well as an account of my race.
Starting with expectations, I did apply my new pacing calculations that I've collected (mentioned in post from 3rd June). As the run and the swim pace can be predicted, it is usually very hard to predict the bike pace accurately, due to different terrain, wind direction and speed, etc., so the pacing of the bike depends more on heart rate and power output. My goal was to finish with a time between 5 hours 45 minutes and 6 hours. Since my race a few weeks ago was completed in 6 hours 4 minutes, I didn't think that only few weeks of training, including an Olympic distance race in the middle, would make too much of a difference, so my focus was more on improving on things that went wrong in Mallorca.
I started with the tri suit. One problem I had in Mallorca was needing to go to the toilet while on the run, and with a one piece tri suit, this proved quite a challenge, and it took away quite a few minutes from my run time. I changed this by getting myself a 2-piece suit, which also had pockets for my run nutrition, another minor issue I could fix.
Pre-race routine was standard. I arrived a couple of days early in Luxembourg, registered, bought my CO2 canisters, bought the different nutrition bits I needed, and took a drive around the bike course to make sure I don't have any surprises on race day. I then met an old friend of my wife's who was also doing the race (in my same age group), and we went for a walk along the run course.
Bike checked-in and race nutrition prepared, I had my chicken pasta plate and went to bed early. The race was not to start the next day until after 2pm, so I didn't set the alarm for the morning, but I still woke up at 7am, which was somewhat annoying! Went over my race plan one more time, had my breakfast, and then headed down to the race area, which was just a couple of minutes away from where I was staying.
The pre-race area was actually really good. It was a large open air swimming pool with a large green area surrounding it; ideal for warm-up. I went for a light jog around the pool, followed by a few lengths in the pool, along with tens of others who were also warming up. Before going, I wasn't sure about this warming up in the pool, but actually I found it to be perfect. Brownie points for Luxembourg on this one.
Went down to the river for the race start, this time making sure I was on the side and not in the middle. The whole swim felt terribly easy! As I finished the swim and looked at my watch, I found out why. I was 6 minutes slower than my swim time in the pool!!! Normally, with a wetsuit, I should be a few minutes faster, but I just held back so much that I ended up swimming slower than my slowest pace on a slow day! Not great! I now do realise that I have a problem when it comes to my swimming during races. I have consistently been slower than my usual swim pace during races, so this is something I really need to work on seriously. My time would have been at least 8 minutes better just by swimming at my normal pace.
Anyway, moving on to the bike, transition went fine. Definitely faster than Mallorca, but still can be better. On the bike and off I went. The first 39km were all flat, although 29km of those were with against a strong headwind. Then came the 40 some kilometres of hills. A steep hill to start with, just for 2km, then an undulating course with a total gain of 800m, before a gentle downhill and then a flat 10km to finish the 90km. Nutrition went fine, no mechanical issues or punctures, and just a big bump that sent my spares pod flying that I had to stop and someone kindly crossed the road and picked it up for me. My target numbers were to average 167 watts in power and a heart rate of 141bpm, and my averages were 167W and 140bpm, so exactly as planned.
Bike to run transition went ok, but could have definitely been much faster, but still, not too bad. My plan was to go to the toilet in transition before setting off on the run, but I forgot. I remember as I made the first turn out of transition, so I thought that if I needed a toilet, I would use one on the course by one of the aid stations. As I started running, I felt fantastic! My legs got into a decent rhythm straight away, and I felt very strong. I kept thinking to myself that I should take it down a notch just to make sure I have enough energy to finish the whole half marathon at an acceptable pace. As I approached the first aid station, I asked for toilets, but they said there were none! I saw people going behind the bushes but I wasn't prepared to do that, so I just kept going, with the hope that it will go away. It didn't, but I was able to keep it in until the end.
The run as a whole was three laps, and my first two laps felt really good. I slowed down a bit too much at the aid stations, but not because I was too tired, just to make sure I got all the water I needed in me and on me. At the final half leg of the third lap I started to get a stitch, so I slowed down a bit more, but then when it didn't really go away, I just pushed on regardless. I just wanted to get to the finish line by then. As I got my last wrist band (you get a wrist band towards the end of each lap so that they make sure you have done all 3 laps), I just sprinted for the finish line, which was around 300 metres away. My target for the run was anywhere between 1:46 and 1:50, and I did it in 1:49, so I was fine with that. I could have easily taken off a good 5 minutes just by going at a slightly faster pace without much more effort, but the time was still more than fine for me.
My total time was 5:43, so I did beat my target of 5:45. I felt very strong throughout the race, without really any huge slumps at any point. My energy levels were quite high all the time, and the few tweaks I did to my nutrition plan seemed to have worked perfectly. I obviously need to work on my swimming, and the lack of strength on the bike still leaves a tonne to be desired, but I am going in the right direction. As for my run, I am very happy with my progress, both in endurance and speed, so I shall just keep doing what I'm doing there.
As I finished, I went to pick up my bag, which had my recovery drink ready in it, but as I took the first sip, it has gone off! Yuck! Something to note for my next race, that I shouldn't mix it before the race, and just have everything ready to mix AFTER the race :)
Now I have a whole month of not much training that I can do. The fasting month of Ramadan starts on Saturday, so I shall probably be training only late evening, so not much swimming will be done. I'll just try to maintain my fitness and speed in running and cycling, with some upper body swim specific strength training to prevent those muscles from going to sleep.
Next race: The London Triathlon on 3rd August (Olympic distance), then a long summer of family holidays and training, before deciding on, maybe, doing another half in December.
In the mean time, this coming slow month should give me the chance to focus a bit on the business side of things, trying to bring triathlon gear into the Middle East, as well as try to help as many people as possible achieve their triathlon goals!
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| 2 minutes under my target. Happy! :) |
Starting with expectations, I did apply my new pacing calculations that I've collected (mentioned in post from 3rd June). As the run and the swim pace can be predicted, it is usually very hard to predict the bike pace accurately, due to different terrain, wind direction and speed, etc., so the pacing of the bike depends more on heart rate and power output. My goal was to finish with a time between 5 hours 45 minutes and 6 hours. Since my race a few weeks ago was completed in 6 hours 4 minutes, I didn't think that only few weeks of training, including an Olympic distance race in the middle, would make too much of a difference, so my focus was more on improving on things that went wrong in Mallorca.
I started with the tri suit. One problem I had in Mallorca was needing to go to the toilet while on the run, and with a one piece tri suit, this proved quite a challenge, and it took away quite a few minutes from my run time. I changed this by getting myself a 2-piece suit, which also had pockets for my run nutrition, another minor issue I could fix.
Pre-race routine was standard. I arrived a couple of days early in Luxembourg, registered, bought my CO2 canisters, bought the different nutrition bits I needed, and took a drive around the bike course to make sure I don't have any surprises on race day. I then met an old friend of my wife's who was also doing the race (in my same age group), and we went for a walk along the run course.
Bike checked-in and race nutrition prepared, I had my chicken pasta plate and went to bed early. The race was not to start the next day until after 2pm, so I didn't set the alarm for the morning, but I still woke up at 7am, which was somewhat annoying! Went over my race plan one more time, had my breakfast, and then headed down to the race area, which was just a couple of minutes away from where I was staying.
The pre-race area was actually really good. It was a large open air swimming pool with a large green area surrounding it; ideal for warm-up. I went for a light jog around the pool, followed by a few lengths in the pool, along with tens of others who were also warming up. Before going, I wasn't sure about this warming up in the pool, but actually I found it to be perfect. Brownie points for Luxembourg on this one.
Went down to the river for the race start, this time making sure I was on the side and not in the middle. The whole swim felt terribly easy! As I finished the swim and looked at my watch, I found out why. I was 6 minutes slower than my swim time in the pool!!! Normally, with a wetsuit, I should be a few minutes faster, but I just held back so much that I ended up swimming slower than my slowest pace on a slow day! Not great! I now do realise that I have a problem when it comes to my swimming during races. I have consistently been slower than my usual swim pace during races, so this is something I really need to work on seriously. My time would have been at least 8 minutes better just by swimming at my normal pace.
Anyway, moving on to the bike, transition went fine. Definitely faster than Mallorca, but still can be better. On the bike and off I went. The first 39km were all flat, although 29km of those were with against a strong headwind. Then came the 40 some kilometres of hills. A steep hill to start with, just for 2km, then an undulating course with a total gain of 800m, before a gentle downhill and then a flat 10km to finish the 90km. Nutrition went fine, no mechanical issues or punctures, and just a big bump that sent my spares pod flying that I had to stop and someone kindly crossed the road and picked it up for me. My target numbers were to average 167 watts in power and a heart rate of 141bpm, and my averages were 167W and 140bpm, so exactly as planned.
Bike to run transition went ok, but could have definitely been much faster, but still, not too bad. My plan was to go to the toilet in transition before setting off on the run, but I forgot. I remember as I made the first turn out of transition, so I thought that if I needed a toilet, I would use one on the course by one of the aid stations. As I started running, I felt fantastic! My legs got into a decent rhythm straight away, and I felt very strong. I kept thinking to myself that I should take it down a notch just to make sure I have enough energy to finish the whole half marathon at an acceptable pace. As I approached the first aid station, I asked for toilets, but they said there were none! I saw people going behind the bushes but I wasn't prepared to do that, so I just kept going, with the hope that it will go away. It didn't, but I was able to keep it in until the end.
The run as a whole was three laps, and my first two laps felt really good. I slowed down a bit too much at the aid stations, but not because I was too tired, just to make sure I got all the water I needed in me and on me. At the final half leg of the third lap I started to get a stitch, so I slowed down a bit more, but then when it didn't really go away, I just pushed on regardless. I just wanted to get to the finish line by then. As I got my last wrist band (you get a wrist band towards the end of each lap so that they make sure you have done all 3 laps), I just sprinted for the finish line, which was around 300 metres away. My target for the run was anywhere between 1:46 and 1:50, and I did it in 1:49, so I was fine with that. I could have easily taken off a good 5 minutes just by going at a slightly faster pace without much more effort, but the time was still more than fine for me.
My total time was 5:43, so I did beat my target of 5:45. I felt very strong throughout the race, without really any huge slumps at any point. My energy levels were quite high all the time, and the few tweaks I did to my nutrition plan seemed to have worked perfectly. I obviously need to work on my swimming, and the lack of strength on the bike still leaves a tonne to be desired, but I am going in the right direction. As for my run, I am very happy with my progress, both in endurance and speed, so I shall just keep doing what I'm doing there.
As I finished, I went to pick up my bag, which had my recovery drink ready in it, but as I took the first sip, it has gone off! Yuck! Something to note for my next race, that I shouldn't mix it before the race, and just have everything ready to mix AFTER the race :)
Now I have a whole month of not much training that I can do. The fasting month of Ramadan starts on Saturday, so I shall probably be training only late evening, so not much swimming will be done. I'll just try to maintain my fitness and speed in running and cycling, with some upper body swim specific strength training to prevent those muscles from going to sleep.
Next race: The London Triathlon on 3rd August (Olympic distance), then a long summer of family holidays and training, before deciding on, maybe, doing another half in December.
In the mean time, this coming slow month should give me the chance to focus a bit on the business side of things, trying to bring triathlon gear into the Middle East, as well as try to help as many people as possible achieve their triathlon goals!
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| Lost my swim cap. Rubbish time! |
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| Starting the 90km on the bike |
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| Second run lap. Still feeling strong |
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