NOLA race report

niemsco · Apr 20, 2011

Originally I signed up for this race last year as a training race for my build up to Ironman Coeur D'alene. From late January to early March, I sustained a leg injury that kept me from running or putting much pressure on my leg. I had decided at that point to pull out of CdA and NOLA, though I didn't officially pull out. Actually I did send CdA a message about pulling out but apparently they never got it. 
Second week of March I was able to run ok, but certainly didn't feel like I could pull off a half iron in a month, but at the end of March I seemed to gain a lot of strength back and was doing ok in my workouts. I decided early April that I would go with my original plan for the year and was confident I could keep getting stronger up to CdA to pull off a great race. NOLA was just a test to see where I was at. I had only been running a month or a bit more, so I wasn't planning on blazing a trail. I had not been on my TT bike at all outside. I had been swimming well, as while I was injured I kept up the swimming, core work and bike work. The bike work took a small hit with the leg injury but was ok coming into the race. I had a huge training week the week before and didn't really back off the week leading to the race, until two days before. My goal is CdA, so I went on a minimal taper. 
Swim: The swim ended up being cancelled do to 25mph winds, so they were unable to get the safety crew out there and unable to set up buoys. My goal for the swim was 31-33 minutes. 
Bike: 2:25:02 (23.2mph). The bike was a time trial start, where they kept us in transition and when our AG was called, we got our bikes and got up to the bike mount line and then took off. 

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 I didn't have a warm up and I was concerned about that as it typically takes me awhile to get into the swing of cycling. We were caged up in transition and there wasn't really anything to do. One thing that motivated me however was that I was freezing! I planned to just go hard for a few minutes to warm up. That worked out well actually. 
I had one major problem on the bike and that I was under geared. I had a compact and a 12x25. Because of the extreme wind, when it was at our back, I was geared out in the 12. Instead of trying to pedal at 120rpms, I kept a sensible cadence rather than try to hammer it, so I lost some time by not having an 11 or going with a standard crank. I didn't do much (as in zero) research on the course and didn't expect the wind. I used a disc cover, and despite what people were saying about us disc people going to be blown all around the course, I held up fine. In fact I couldn't really tell I had a disc on. I road with no technology. I had a powermeter on the bike, but left my computer at home. No GPS, no HR. It was an experiment and I thought it worked well. I stayed steady and strong throughout. I would let it rip on stretches and then remind myself it was a 56 mile bike race and ease back some, then rip it again

. I wasn't passed by a single person until the end where the top guy from 25-29 I think passed me up. Two waves back. I started at the end of M35-39 by accident because I was late to get into line.
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 The wind did play a big part in this bike race. Basically all the way out to the half way point you were cross wind or into the wind. I just focused on being patient until the turn around. The roads were not very good in my opinion, plenty of opportunity to get into trouble. Not having to watch watts or HR, kept my eyes on the road and on the racers I was passing. I was about 14 waves back, so I passed quite a lot of people. I felt real strong on the bike throughout which was great considering this was my first outdoor ride on the TT bike. 
T2: about 2 minutes. I did a flying dismount, went through fairly casually. I always have trouble finding my rack. Once I got my shoes on I realized I had some juice in the legs and I bolted out of transition. 
Run: 1:34:xx (7:15pace) I really wasn't sure what was going to happen here. I went fairly hard on the bike, and there points on the bike where I was not looking forward to running. But I felt great once I touched earth. Running felt easy and I was under control. I did have a simple timex watch where I decided I would try and take splits. Typically I have a Garmin on. My first mile was 6:56. My leg did not hurt at all. I just eased back and ran comfortably and hit 7:01 and 7:03 in my next two miles.
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 Typically in these races I run even splits or negative splits because I take it out at a pace I feel like I can hold. This felt like that, and I honestly felt like I could hold this pace, and I did for miles 4-6. Then I don't know, I broke down mentally. I slowed way down to like 7:40, my leg started to hurt for a stretch and even stopped behind a tree to take a leak. Part of me wanted to just stop to get my head together. When I got back to running I had a lot of thoughts in my head, none of them very positive. At mile 10 finally I got it together after remembering a quote from Emil Zatopek I have on my FB page "Its at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys". Come one man, time to get it done! Maybe too late, but I finished the last 5K at 7min/miles like I started off.
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 Total time: 4:01:54 (15th AG out of 300+) 
But you know what, I thought with my running volume, if I broke 1:40 that would be great. I should be able to break 1:30 when I get it going. I have 10 weeks to get it going before CdA and I should be in good shape to break 3:30 in that marathon. I need lots more miles in run and bike. 
I was only 3minutes 30s from a IM 70.3 worlds slot. To be honest, if I wasn't coming into this injured, had proper gearing on the bike and even with a 31-33 swim, I could have dropped lots of time and gotten it. Coming into the race i wasn't concerned about that because I'm doing IMWI in September, and I'm more interested in Kona. But it would have been nice to get that slot here, I would have been attempted to take it. 15th in M35-39 all broken up, isn't bad though, and its a good confidence booster. All I have to do is keep it up, and NOT get injured again, and I should be in good shape for Cda.
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Thanks to my great support crew, Rachel and Kayla who without them none of this would be possible. 
Next up Galena.

em73 · Apr 20, 2011

nice job, Scott!
 
glad the leg held up!

Thor · Apr 20, 2011

Nice speed, Scott, and way to pull it all together.
 
Few comments:
 
You know, I've had many things come up back when I was training for Ironman where I couldn't run well or much at all. During those times, when I was finally able to run, it didn't take me long to be where I had been pre-injury, and I pretty much hit the ground running with an honest pace, and it was all because -- in my estimation -- I was hitting it hard on the bike on the Trainer. I mention hard on the bike and Trainer because both of those together is how you get biking to help your running. And you had that going for you!
 
Glad to hear that you experimented a bit with going without technology. For me the single biggest thing I love about these sports is my ability to operate my body as if I were the pilot, going only by feel and what I can sense. My Ironman marathon runs are something I am so proud of in how I ran so effectively going only by feel. Not to say that this is the way to do it, but I feel it really enhances your awareness of self and body and even gives you a more prideful experience.
 
You're in a really good place right now. You may not feel like it, but think about it. You can right now, without all that much additional training, rip off a decent enough Ironman. Because you know what you need to do, and you have the base to do it with minimal work. So think about getting healthy and then putting in the real work so that you have that Ironman you know you have in you.
 
Be well. And nice job.

KitKat · Apr 20, 2011

Awesome job. If you can hold those injuries at bay, you'll rock IM CdA. A few people from my masters group, including my lanemate, were there too.
 
So even with a cancelled swim, they give out world slots? That seems surprising to me.

mrscoby78 · Apr 20, 2011

Wow! Stay smart and stick with your plan, CdA will be awesome!

SpartyGirl · Apr 20, 2011

The way you bounced back from this injury speaks volumes about your abilities and your base (at least in my opinion). You are one tough athlete, both mentally and physically. I really love how your confidence shows through in your RR. Congrats on a fantastic training day, CdA looks good from here! <img alt="icon_cheers.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/icon_cheers.gif">

Alaska Mike · Apr 20, 2011

Damn fine effort here Scott! It sounds like your work with the new Tri Team is paying dividends, I've always been a believer that working out with high quality athletes causes you to push yourself harder.
 
Can't wait to see what you turn out in CdA! Good luck with the training for the next few months.
 
Mike

AdCo · Apr 20, 2011

Wow, Scott.. what a great effort.. You will get that slot one day and you will rock it!

Tri-Tammy · Apr 20, 2011

Great job Scott. Sounds like your training is setting you up with for Cda!!

niemsco · Apr 20, 2011

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by em73 <a href="/forum/thread/73542/nola-race-report#post_1995649"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a> nice job, Scott!
 
glad the leg held up!
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Thanks Monica, I'm surprised it did as well as it did. 
 
 <div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by Thor <a href="/forum/thread/73542/nola-race-report#post_1995669"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a> Nice speed, Scott, and way to pull it all together.
 
Few comments:
 
You know, I've had many things come up back when I was training for Ironman where I couldn't run well or much at all. During those times, when I was finally able to run, it didn't take me long to be where I had been pre-injury, and I pretty much hit the ground running with an honest pace, and it was all because -- in my estimation -- I was hitting it hard on the bike on the Trainer. I mention hard on the bike and Trainer because both of those together is how you get biking to help your running. And you had that going for you!
 
Glad to hear that you experimented a bit with going without technology. For me the single biggest thing I love about these sports is my ability to operate my body as if I were the pilot, going only by feel and what I can sense. My Ironman marathon runs are something I am so proud of in how I ran so effectively going only by feel. Not to say that this is the way to do it, but I feel it really enhances your awareness of self and body and even gives you a more prideful experience.
 
You're in a really good place right now. You may not feel like it, but think about it. You can right now, without all that much additional training, rip off a decent enough Ironman. Because you know what you need to do, and you have the base to do it with minimal work. So think about getting healthy and then putting in the real work so that you have that Ironman you know you have in you.
 
Be well. And nice job.
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Thanks Thor. I liked the no technology thing on the bike a lot. I got to really get in the zone and race rather than looking at numbers. But on the run, I'm not sure it worked out. I did not have a sense of how I was really running, and according to the ironman.com splits, I was going more in the 6:40s those first 3 miles. Now I know those timing mats can be off, but I know mile markers in some of these races can really be off too. All I know was that I was passing people very quickly, so maybe I was running that fast. The garmin would help me start off where I need to be. I think for CdA I will bike on feel and run with a Garmin, not sure yet. 
 
 <div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by KitKat <a href="/forum/thread/73542/nola-race-report#post_1995723"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a> Awesome job. If you can hold those injuries at bay, you'll rock IM CdA. A few people from my masters group, including my lanemate, were there too.
 
So even with a cancelled swim, they give out world slots? That seems surprising to me.
 
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Thanks. Its not surprising, at least for my AG if you think about it. First a lot of people pay a lot of money just to compete for those slots. In my AG with over 300 people, the top 5% or even the top 10% in the AG are going to be the top 5 or 10% regardless if there is swimming or not. The guys that are putting in the work to bike 23-24mph through 56 miles then running near 1:30 or faster are putting in 3-5swims a week 10-15K. At worst those guys are good swimmers. But it does change the dynamics of course as the guy who places 5th, if we swam, may end up placing 10th and not qualifying. At least that is the way I view it. My teammate, who was trying to qualify, missed by 5s. If we swam he probably would have gotten it. Now in an AG were they only have say 1 slot to give, because there are only say 50 people, I'm not sure, its still probably the same 5 people competing for that one slot, disadvantage to the swimmer unfortunately.
 
 <div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by mrscoby78 <a href="/forum/thread/73542/nola-race-report#post_1995744"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a> Wow! Stay smart and stick with your plan, CdA will be awesome!
 
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Thanks. Smart is not always a word you can use with my training/racing

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by SpartyGirl <a href="/forum/thread/73542/nola-race-report#post_1995748"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a> The way you bounced back from this injury speaks volumes about your abilities and your base (at least in my opinion). You are one tough athlete, both mentally and physically. I really love how your confidence shows through in your RR. Congrats on a fantastic training day, CdA looks good from here! <img alt="icon_cheers.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/icon_cheers.gif">
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Thanks Alicia for the kind words. I think also another factor was I actually took an off season this year from October to December, so I had more in the tank when I started training. Unfortunately took it too hard, got hurt, so I still had lots of energy once the leg was good to go, rather than being tired from training hard for 3-4 months already. 

 
 <div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by Alaska Mike <a href="/forum/thread/73542/nola-race-report#post_1995750"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a> Damn fine effort here Scott! It sounds like your work with the new Tri Team is paying dividends, I've always been a believer that working out with high quality athletes causes you to push yourself harder.
 
Can't wait to see what you turn out in CdA! Good luck with the training for the next few months.
 
Mike
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Thanks Mike, me too. Yeah the team really puts a different perspective on things. There is an unspoken need to compete and do well. Very competitive, but good people at the same time.
 
 <div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by AdCo <a href="/forum/thread/73542/nola-race-report#post_1995760"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a> Wow, Scott.. what a great effort.. You will get that slot one day and you will rock it! 
</div>
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Thanks Dude! That sounds good to me. 

 
 <div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by Tri-Tammy <a href="/forum/thread/73542/nola-race-report#post_1995765"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a> Great job Scott. Sounds like your training is setting you up with for Cda!! 
 
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Thanks Tammy, so far it is, now I just need to start getting some longer stuff in.

Yo Sake · Apr 21, 2011

Awesome job, Scott, Congrats on the confidence-boosting performance! And you even predicted the bike/run times so closely. Happy to see you bouced back from the leg injury very quickly. Please stay away from injuries until your goal race!

niemsco · Apr 21, 2011

<div class="quote-container">Quote:
<div class="quote-block">Originally Posted by Yo Sake <a href="/forum/thread/73542/nola-race-report#post_1995805"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a> Awesome job, Scott, Congrats on the confidence-boosting performance! And you even predicted the bike/run times so closely. Happy to see you bouced back from the leg injury very quickly. Please stay away from injuries until your goal race!
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 Thanks Yosh! Yeah... maybe I should have guessed faster and I would have went faster... who knows

I do a leg test every week in my basement. One legged hops on a step. I did it yesterday and I did ok, still not 100% but getting there slowly, maybe 92 or so. Its just that my hops on the bad leg aren't as easy to do as my good leg, gets painful if I try to go really fast.

pcsronbo · Apr 22, 2011

Eh, keep layering in the strength - are you focusing on recovery stuff too? sounds like it's coming back well though.
 
Good race. Too bad about the swim, man what IS it with early season swims being Cancelled.
 
So how did you feel your nutrition/hyrdration went? do you think that is what screwed you up on the run? Not like the run was bad, hell, smokin' but you know what I mean.
 
So no tech on the bike eh... wow, awesome. No way I could do that. I'm still not dialed in enough to my body, I'd go to hard and blow up on my run. Eventually...
 
Glad to hear that stupid leg is getting better, I was bummed to hear it went south and messed up your plans.

niemsco · Apr 22, 2011

@ron - Thanks. I recover on Monday's with nothing to do, then easier days on wed/friday. I do some strength work on wed/frid, more for maintenance, taking amnio acids which help me with recovery
 
My nutrition was great I thought, I drank a bottle and half of Perform every hour on the bike and ate a gel every 45 minutes which had a 120 calories. so I drank much more than usual and got my 300 in. In the run I was find with coke/perform/water. No headaches, no dizzy, no problems
 
If you want to run fast off a fast bike split you have to be 100% committed and motivate and just know you are going to do it. I was like that at Steelhead, I had no doubts. I had some doubts because of my training here, and on wednesday I had a bad run where I had to stop because of the leg, so lots more doubts than I would have liked. I honestly think it was all mental. I came back though. I don't think that will happen again though now that I can get some solid runs.

NOLA race report

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