Rockman Half Race Review

I went into this race with big expectations. I have been working hard on my swimming technique with Kari, have improved my functional threshold power in the off season by about 20w on the bike, and have been getting in some good volume on the run and really hitting the key sessions well.

Race Day

My parents and Lauren came to the race with me which always gives me a boost. However, no boost was occurring this morning. I had some issues with sleep for a couple of nights and I may have been feeling the effects of that on race morning. However, I figured, once the gun goes off and we get swimming, I will be good. Breakfast was also a bit light with one can of ensure and I wonder if that played a role in the outcome later in the day. I did a short 20 minute run and then fetched my wetsuit and got in the water to get a bit of a warm up in.

Swim-29:40/15th OA
The gun went off and it was pretty tight and hectic in the water, as usual, for the first 200m or so. However, that was the most energy I was going to use for the next 4hrs or and I settled quickly into a good pack of about 6 people. I got towed around the lake for the rest of the swim and came in nice and relaxed ready to bike. Got into T1 stripped off the wettie and had a pretty quick transition.

Bike-2:29:50/20th OA
On the bike I had specific goals. The first 10-15mi I stayed in my Ironman power ranges then after that section I raised my power range to half ironman (230-250w on flats and up to 290w, FTP on hills). At about mile 12 on the rollers, some riders came through pretty quickly. I knew that I would have a buddy to pace off of and work together through the bike leg. I went with my first potential buddy but he was working a bit too hard for me and I thought he was just more fit but I ended up seeing him again at mile 52 or so on the bike and never again on the run. Another guy told me that I could get over the hills and that I was doing great as he blew by me standing on the first section of rollers. Yes, I saw him later as well. The third little piggie was a charm and as he came by and I knew he would work as a good pacer. So, I took off with him, saw low watts and good speed and stuck with him until he totally slowed down and let me by...WTF!!! Well, it turns out that he knew his game and then I went back and worked for awhile up front. The rest of the bike we shared duties at the front and I was stoked to be riding with someone that understood that when you ride together you don't need to sit on my wheel but can keep it legal with great consequences. The rest of the ride was rather uneventful. However, I believe that the ride lead to the demise of my run as I was just not attentive and only was able to get in about 500 calories on the bike. Other than my nutrition (which was HUGE) I paced the bike perfectly from a power standpoint and raised watts on the second half.

Run 1:30:36/7th OA

On the run, once again I was a man with a plan. The first two miles I used to jog and figure out where my running legs were once again. I didn't want to see anything over 150 on the Heart rate monitor. The next 5 miles were my cruising miles where I would just cruise in zone 3 and then the final 10k were my do work miles where it was time to race hard. I also planned on walking every other mile for 15s and then 45s at the 7mi mark. Last year at Racine I pulled this strategy off close to near perfection. This year was the opposite.

When I got off the bike I jogged and only saw the heart rate go over 150 on some steeper hills. However the heart rate remained low and was very reluctant to come up at all. I should have realized at the time that this was most likely a lack of nutrition issue and I should have grabbed a few gels. However, I didn't have any gels and there were none on the course (BIG LESSON). I did have my camelback full of Infinit and was able to drink a bunch of that (I've become a huge fan of the camelback since Lucho prescribed it back in 2005 and use it for all races half and longer). The rest of the run I struggled just trying to make my way through the course and get to the line. Since it was pretty humid I after the first 2 miles I decided to walk 15s each mile instead of 15s every other mile up to the 7mi mark and then re-evaluate. I never really came out of my funk and couldn't raise the HR when it was time to work. I ended up walking 15s each mile throughout the race and this probably prevented me from cramping any worse than I already was. I was glad to be done with this run.

Take Home
#1 Make sure nutrition is nailed...since this race I have gone back to my notes from other races and coaches and have checked in on what has worked in the past. I will NOT make this mistake again.

Otherwise, I was very happy with my swim, my bike was paced exactly according to plan, and I learned a lesson from this race.

Bike Data

Duration: 2:29:20
Work: 2012 kJ
TSS: 160.9 (intensity factor 0.804)
Norm Power: 231
VI: 1.03
Pw:HR: -1.31%
Pa:HR: 1.9%
Distance: 56.384 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 427 225 watts
Heart Rate: 129 151 142 bpm
Cadence: 29 188 81 rpm
Speed: 4.5 38 22.7 mph

1st half:
Duration: 1:14:10
Work: 981 kJ
TSS: 75.9 (intensity factor 0.783)
Norm Power: 225
VI: 1.02
Pw:HR: -1.62%
Pa:HR: -12.35%
Distance: 27.997 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 398 220 watts
Heart Rate: 129 147 140 bpm
Cadence: 36 174 84 rpm

2nd half:
Duration: 1:15:10
Work: 1031 kJ
TSS: 85.1 (intensity factor 0.824)
Norm Power: 237
VI: 1.03
Pw:HR: 4.62%
Pa:HR: 2.83%
Distance: 28.387 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 427 229 watts
Heart Rate: 129 151 144 bpm
Cadence: 29 188 79 rpm
Speed: 4.5 38 22.7 mph