Race Simulation

So how many race simulation workouts have you done? For most, like me, that would be a big fat ZERO! Somehow I guess we just think we can determine pace like we always have in shorter races.In my first Ironman this year, this is exactly what I did. The plan goes something like this...I want to swim X minutes, bike about such such an average and run X minutes per mile. This has certainly worked in the past and I think for shorter course Tri it is probably fine. I know I got where I could predict my short course times pretty closely last year, even my Half IM distance races. However, since I started training for a full distance IM, I have learned a FULL distance IM is nothing like any other race. You train differently and you have to "think" when you race.

Well, think about it, do you really think you can simply say, OK I am going to try and average 20.5 on the bike for a 112 mile ride. Here are the factors that make that next to impossible. You could swim too hard due to rough conditions or poor pacing, the wind could be howling at 20+, the course could be hillier than you realize, the temp could be unexpectedly hot or cold on race day. Bottom line, you have to race no matter what race day brings, so how do you learn to judge your pace correctly? I have been reading many articles about race pace training and everyone seems to suggest it, but few actually do it. So I decided this weekend I would try just that. Here is my plan for the weekend.

Saturday - I will ride about 65 miles with my normal "roadie" group and do "some" work at the front but simply try to get in some good work but make sure I do not trash myself for the next day.

Sunday - I have roughly a 30 mile loop marked. I will ride the loop 3 times with a stop after each loop just long enough to grab nutrition. Dan, one of my training buddies is planning on joining me (maybe I can talk someone else into this madness before then). NO drafting allowed, ride side by side when possible but no drafting. I plan on riding this like I would the race. First lap VERY easy, drink and eat more on this lap. Heart rate goes no higher than zone 2. Lap two pick up the pace to "steady tempo" which is zone 2 reaching into zone 3. Lap 3 I will push a little when I feel good but mostly steady with "some" upper steady zone 3 and possibly 4. Hills do not exceed 155bpm (That HR is for me, others will be different). Bottom line you should still feel pretty good when you get off the bike, remember you have to run a marathon on race day.

Once I have completed the bike I will transition no longer than 5 minutes to a 1 hour run, 2 x 30 min loops. Again hitting nutrition between loops.

Here are my goals for the workout:

1. Learn how to pace the distance BEFORE race day.Try to negative split the bike and run.
2. Learn pace by Heart Rate and Effort, NOT average speed - the average speed will be what the average speed is due to conditions beyond my control.
3. Run off the bike for 1 hour and see what my Heart rate does and what pace that translates to. This is the "real" test, seeing what effort I can actually do on the bike and how that translates to the run.

I would love to have a power meter to add to my data, but plenty of people did Ironmans long before the invention of a power meter so I should be fine.Not to mention those things aren't exactly cheap!

There are plenty of things that are not accurate with this test such as, the course is NOT the one I will be racing on, the conditions will not be exactly the same and most of all I have been hitting the training pretty hard for a few weeks now and I may be getting tired, but I have a recovery week planed for next week. Race day I will be all tappered up and feeling great. However, with all that said, my EFFORT should not change that much. For example: if I can hold X Heart rate over the chosen distance and I am tired then holding that same effort on race day when I am fresh will simply translate into a faster average. Therefore, the test helps you gauge your effort better on the bike while still understanding you have to run a marathon after the bike. How much difference can this make? A whole lot. If you back off the bike say 5 - 10 minutes you "could" actually easily make that up and then some on the run. So that is the idea and the plan. The other HUGE win with this type of workout is determining how much nutrition you can actually absorb per hour. The average is 200 - 500 calories but everyone is different and if you go too hard you will shut your stomach down and your race is over.I have also recently read that it is important to eat when you are not working as hard. One of the lines in the article said... When you feel good don't go harder EAT!

There is some good proof for the pacing argument in the recent CDA Ironman. I went out and looked at the results for my age group almost no one negative split the bike or run but the top 5 guys appeared to do the best job riding and running steady across all distances. You can clearly see where many of the top 15 guys have a bike split that is anywhere from 2 - 10 minute slower than the top 3 competitors, however their marathon time is anywhere from 20 - 40 minutes slower. I guess you "could" say they may not be as good a runner but I suspect the answer is... they probably went too fast on the bike. If they would have eased off just 5 minutes on the bike they may have picked up 10 minutes on the run. Is this easy - no way, but the better you get at the pacing game and the steadier you can ride and run the distance the better result you will most likely have. Anyway that is what all the so called "experts" say - ME not included! Anyway that is my goal for the weekend and I plan on doing 1 or two more of these before Louisville. I also plan on a swim / bike brick before Louisville as well. I will have to figure out how to do that one.

If nothing else I am sure I will learn something and still get in about 150 miles of riding this weekend and probably 8 or so running. Certainly cannot complain about those numbers.