Great races not always occur when you have a good result...

Race Report Sucker Brook Cross 09-25-11

by Jorge

As many of you know, back on early 2010, I began experiencing some knee pain to the point I stop training and later that year I got knee surgery resulting in a long recovery. This year I finally was able to train again (mainly ride and run) and decided to focus on cycling while laying down a foundation with easy running (and eventually swimming) for a triathlon comeback on 2012.

My only short term goals was to get in shape within my own limitations to let my knee heal 100% and try to be in somehow ok shape for the coming Cyclocross Season which started this September. At the end of 2009 I did my first ever race and went to complete 10 races total becoming one of my favorite sports.

For those that doesn’t know what it is, cyclocross is a mix of road racing and mtn biking; from Wikipedia: “Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is September–January), and consists of many laps of a short 1.5–2 mile course featuring pavement, wooded trails, grass, steep hills and obstacles requiring the rider to quickly dismount, carry the bike whilst navigating the obstruction and remount. Races are generally between 30 minutes and an hour long, with the distance varying depending on the ground conditions. The sport is strongest in the traditional road cycling countries such as Belgium (and Flanders in particular), France and the Netherlands."

After my very 1st race I was hooked. Why? Well, coming from a triathlon background, riding cross was so much of a challenge I went from finishing on the front of the pack at tris to the back of the pack on cross. The races are tough, the level of intensity is pretty high, the technique skills are pretty important and quick thinking is a must to ride through the course. All this elements are not as important in something as Tris where the efforts are controlled and the races are usually over 1 hr long that quick thinking is not something is needed often.

I like cross very much because somehow I relate it to soccer, a sport I grew up playing and which I practiced semi-professional. I think both sports require similar competitive treats even though the sports themselves are pretty different. You must think I am crazy, but hear me out:

In soccer it is required a lot of practice to master skills handling and controlling the ball. In cross, you need to practice handling your bike to ride through corners, mud, mount/dismount, ride through rocks, roots, rain, hairpin turns, etc.

In soccer you also need quick thinking skills to make quick decisions when making a pass, striking or defending. On cross, you need the same skills to attack a corner, defend your position, pass a rider or prevent that rock that might make you shoot you over the bars.

Finally in soccer, you require the endurance to last 2 periods of 45 minutes each of constant back and forward with efforts where you are flat out sprinting and others that you are going through a steady jog. In Cross, you also need endurance to race 40+ minutes, but also you require explosive efforts to start the race, pass a rider or attacked a steep short climb.

I remember from my soccer years, my best performance days were those were I not only had the necessary skills and endurance to compete, but also, I was able to develop the mental skills to outperform the competition. By that I mean, to be able to make decisions faster than the opposing team and beat them to the “punch”. It was like all of the sudden I had this ability to slow down the game in my head and while everything was occurring in a blink of an eye, I could see things happening in slow motion in my mind.

I mentioned this because yesterday I had a similar experience when racing cross but I am getting ahead of myself. After my 1st experience on 2009, I ended the season with a few good races and hungry for more. But to be honest, back then I never really felt comfortable on my bike. I think I needed to go through the process of learning the races, equipment, etc. This year, I’ve made a point to practice as much as I can to get comfortable on my bike. Having great endurance can only take you so far on a race, if you lack the skills a slower rider can stay ahead of you because he corners better than you.

Some weeks back I bought some stuff at home depot to create small cross courses at a local park and I have been practicing it all as well as riding my cross bike on trails. On my race on Saturday two days ago, it is the 1st time I felt comfortable on my bike and I ended up having a good result. Yesterday I was excited to see what I could do in a big and seemingly competitive field. My fitness is still lagging a bit but I’ve been feeling stronger each week.

Fast forward to yesterday’s race, I somehow miscalculated the started time so I made it late to the staging area hence instead of starting on the 3rd lane as I was supposed to I was only able to squeeze into the 5th lane,which was my 1st mental mistake! Nevertheless I was able to gain ground at the start and made my way to the top 20ish and within the first few corners I was able to pass like another 5 riders.

At that point, things were going well, but then, my mental skills were still lacking and I made my 2nd mistake! Instead of focusing on my race choosing my lanes and seeing the corners, I was focusing on those behind me trying to pass me. It is important in cross racing to remain in touch with the front of the group to have a chance, otherwise, within a lap you can lose a lot of ground with those ahead. While I was trying to stay with them, I was doing it in the wrong way by focusing on what others were doing. This affected my ability to make good decisions with wide turns, excessive breaking or even unclipping to save going over the tape. That cost me a good 5+ spots in a blink of an eye.

I refocused and when I guy that I know is pretty fast passed me, I stayed with him and in fact together we began passing riders again; it seems like things began to turn around and I was ready to attack as my legs were feeling incredible good. Then, back luck stroke; after the run up stairs, I mounted my bike and to stay with the fast guy (and new pacer) I went wide on the course through grassy dirty terrain and just before the hairpin turn all of the sudden I was airborne and picking myself off the ground.

I didn’t know what happened, at first I thought someone touched my wheel but then when I tried to mount my bike again the chain was not moving at all and I realized a branch got caught up on my rear derailleur. I had to take that off, I had to put the chain back on and sort of adjust my breaks before I could keep going. All that took me what it felt like an eternity and quickly saw how a good 40+ people passing me. I went from like top 15 to like 60ish? (This is a guess based on some people I re-passed and how they finished). Still, I knew I was out of contention for a top 10 and quickly became rather disappointed. While riding I began considering quitting the race as there was no reason to ride and finish with a mediocre result.

As I was riding my way back to the starting line to DNF, all of the sudden a rider passed me and touched my front tire. I was going slow and to the outside staying off the way of coming riders, hence all of the sudden I got really mad because there was no reason to pass me that close on a straight. That turned "on" a switch in my head and my only mission was to catch and pass that guy. Within a few turns I was on him like a "fat kid on a cupcake" and within the next turn he was behind me. I then saw a group of 5ish riders ahead of me and soon enough my next goal was to catch them too.

I can’t tell you why but I kept pedaling as hard as I could and every time I would see someone ahead of me I was thinking: “catch that SOB”. I kept hammering; I kept feeling my legs were screaming and my lungs were burning but I didn’t care, I just wanted to pass more people. That’s when I had my 'soccer like' moment; while I had this burning desire to catch people ahead of me, I also had a calm moment. All of the sudden the race was slowing down. I knew I was going hard, I knew I was catching people, I knew I was having a great ride because I was bridging gaps with riders ahead of me with relatively ease, yet I could see all this happening in slow motion.

Usually I catch people on the straights to loose them on the turns, but yesterday it was different. I could see the turns before I was on them, I could tell where the course was heading and I was able to see what I needed to do before it actually happen. It is like I was riding in this tunnel and all I could see was the way to keep moving forward. Granted, I might have not been passing the fastest or most skill experienced riders since I was far behind, but this time around I was gaining ground on the turns, I was passing people cornering and I was able to see a move ahead before it happened.

That was the best feeling I’ve ever had in a race. At that moment, with nothing to lose, with a good placing out of reach and not afraid of going down (again), I just felt I could have been going. I honestly think if the race would have lasted another lap, I perhaps could have made it to the top 20, but it is easy to talk after the fact. The reality is that I finished 28 out of 84 riders on the 35+ Cat 3/4 and while I didn’t have the race I wanted initially result wise, I can say I had the best race ever in my relatively new cross experience in terms of effort and execution.

I still have more races to come and I am very excited to compete as I am still riding the 'high' from yesterday's race. As a coach I understand the physiological demands to train for cross specific fitness, yet as an athlete I feel very much like a newbie in this sport! I don’t know what the results will be, but I am going to try my best to get on the podium at least once before the end of the season. Still, if I continue to have races were I feel so f-ing good like I did yesterday, the result will be the icing on the cake.

Cyclocross, it is a challenging sport that makes me feel like a kid again!

Bad Races Happen To Any Athlete

By Brett Johnston

Last week, I headed to Sharon with a large contingent of my teammates from Boston Triathlon Team to do “The Sharon Triathlon”. I had been shopping on Saturday and picked up my long awaited Powertap and new wheel, but common sense prevailed, and I decided to race with my regular race wheels and not make the far too common error of trying to race on/with new equipment.

Race day was great…up early, to the race site with no problems although I did not have my updated USAT card…but thanks to technology, I was able to get it up on the website on my phone, so I did not have to pay the extra 10 bucks…good deal. There were only 4 or 5 waves for the race, and I was in the 1^st wave, which I think was males 39 and under. There was a long starting line, as it was an in water start, so we were only 1 or maybe 2 deep for the start.

The swim is ½ mile swim in a kind of rectangle shape, so you end close to where you start.

Race started and I went off pretty strong,(which for me is something new this year, as I usually waited towards the back and then started swimming once the “madness” had subsided, but at my last few races, have done the quick start, and it has worked out great).

Nothing out of the ordinary happened, other than the usual flailing arm, foot fist, and the odd gulp of water, but I was already into a rhythm, so all was good. After about 150 meters or so, as I was getting up to the 1^st buoy to make the right turn, I started feeling very restricted in my breathing, almost as if my wetsuit was tightening around my chest.

I rounded the buoy and it started getting harder and harder to breathe, keep my rhythm or focus. Before I knew it, I had switched over to Breaststroke…what? Breast Stroke?... do I even remember how to do Breaststroke?? I would do a few strokes of breast stroke to “try” and catch my breath and then  switch back to freestyle, but to no avail.

What was going on? No matter what I tried, I could not get my breath back, and was really struggling…this was not good. For the next part of the swim, which took me close to the half way point in the swim. I was all breaststroke, and not getting any better. By the time I made the turn-around, I had made up my mind to finish the swim. But I was constantly looking where other swimmers were, and more importantly (because the other swimmers would probably not have been in a position to help me, should I have really needed help)where the kayakers were, and was always trying to keep them close-by and in sight, and making sure that they were aware of me and where I was.

Eventually, I made it to the finish of the swim, and literally stumbled into T1. I had one of my swim teammates who was on a relay team, ask me if I was ok, as she said “you look tired!”, to which I could not even reply and just shook my head. There was an EMT standing there too, who also questioned me to make sure I was coherent.Anyhow into T1, taking all the time in the world, I tried to relax, get my breath back, and see if I could coast through the bike.

No such luck, as soon as I started pedaling to get any sort of speed , I would have a hard time breathing and started coughing. Finished the bike, and went out onto the run…I mean walk. Why did I do the run course? For me it was really just to have a better gauge on what the problem was. I could monitor my heart rate easily, and see where/what was bringing on the tightness in my chest. Essentially I could walk no problem, or do a very slow jog for about a ½ mile, and then needed to revert to walking, which was what I did.

I eventually finished the race, and then spent the next few days trying to analyze it…and here are MY findings.

I am certain that I had the start of some sort of chest infection that had not manifested itself until the start of the swim. ( My wife had been home sick with a throat infection the week before and my 6-year old had a cough for the whole week)

·         If I had known this before the race, I would not have started, and in hindsight, I should have abandoned the swim when I knew that something was "not right".

·         The rest of Sunday, Monday and part of Tuesday, I was coughing a lot.

·         Doing my 1^st workout since the race on Wednesday, which was an open water swim, I was certainly better, but when paying close attention to my breathing, I could still “feel” the wheezing in my chest.

What I learnt:

·         You don’t know what you don’t know J .

·         LISTEN to your body ( I really did this, even in the swim, I was not trying to do anything that would have caused my body MORE stress than what it was already going through, and the same on the bike and run)

·         Sometimes you will have a bad race, and if it is out of your control, then that is not a bad thing.

·         LEARN from experiences. This had NEVER happened to me before, and I hope will never again, but like any experience, you learn from it, and hopefully better prepare yourself for the next time.

·         It is ONLY a race…. I was there to enjoy it and have fun (and naturally to do well), but at the end of the day, triathlon will always be around and there are many more races….My life on the other hand is very special J

About the Author: Brett Johnston is an Endurance and Triathlon coach with E3 Training Solutions.

Jana's Rev3 Race report - coach perspective - part 3 (final)

This is the final portion of the Jana’s race report from my perspective as a coach. On part 1 I shared some information about her training in previous months leading to the race. On part 2 I shared in general her final preparation before Rev3 and also her fueling plan based on data like her energy expenditure and some of the products she uses for training and racing.

In this final portion I’ll focus on her plan before the race and the execution. Before every major race I give each of my athletes a detail racing plan with info regarding their nutrition for the 3-5 days prior an event plus other relevant information about equipment, traveling, etc. I also include specific information about the race (like registration), some DOs and DON’Ts prior a major event, and even some specific things I want them to visualize to make sure they are ready for any challenge during the race.

The main portion of the plan is the pacing plans, that plus the fueling plan we practiced during the specific phase on the weeks leading to the race (like the one I shared on part 2) are the key aspects of proper execution. The pacing plan is developed on all the data collected during training and adjusted due to the last bit of increase in fitness achieved during the taper. Finally, I consider the race course profile and adjust the pacing given the terrain including key points in the race.

With the above in mind, below there are some elements of Jana’s racing plan, keep in mind below is a short version:

Swim

Suggested Pacing: Moderate pace – Time sub 35 min.

Summary: Start at the front of the pack; the first ~200 yards start a bit faster than race pace to attempt ‘catching’ some of the fast swimmers feet. Then settle down into race pace focusing on navigation. Last ~200 yards pick up the pace a bit, begin visualizing T1 and get the legs ready for the run to transition.
Actual Swim Time – 38 min (32^nd place Age Group, 105^th overall female)

Analysis – As mentioned on part 1, we have been focusing on improving Jana’s swim (her Achilles) but we had limited opportunities for open water swim. This probably was the reason for the slower swim. Still, her fitness in the water is better than last year, hence even with a slow swim, she had the energy to tap into for the bike/run.

Transition 1 Suggested time – sub 2 min (actual 1:59min)

For all my athletes, we always try to avoid wasting time in transition as one can really gain on the competition. The run from the swim to the bike was a bit long and Jana is still mastering the ‘taking the wetsuit off’ skill, still she was within the goal and the fastest among the top 5 gals.

Bike

Suggested Pacing: Current Critical Power (CP) – 240watts (230w on my PowerTap wheel*) – Target for the race 180 watts

*My racing wheel which Jana borrowed is a Hed Jet 90 with a Powertap 2.4, usually this wheel reads a bit lower of my other powertaps hence I always adjust my pacing based on that. In Jana’s case even though her CP was around 240watts, I used 230watts to develop the pacing strategy.

Summary: Intensity Factor target - ~79-80% of CP, average watts (AP) – 180-185w, Never exceed 240w!!!

Power on flats – 180-185w, if riding with tail wind – 180w, if riding with head wind – 185w

Power on climbs- If short hill (less than 3 min) 200-205w, if long climb (longer than 3 min) 190-195w

Suggested pace for first 18.6 miles – 175-180watts (actual during the race ~175w AP/ 180w NP)

Suggested pace for first 18.6 miles – 180-185watts (actual during the race ~178w AP/ 185w NP)

Suggested pace for last 18.6 miles – 185watts (actual during the race ~177w AP/ 183w NP)

Actual Bike pacing and time – 177 watts average (AP), 183watts Normalized Power (NP), Intensity Factor 0.79 (IF),  AP/NP = 1.03  2:46 hrs (including run to T2). (2^nd place age group, 5^th overall female). 


Fueling - ~70 gr Carbs (2.5 scoops powerbar perform/24 oz water + 1 powerbar gel + 1 bottle of water per hour)

Analysis – Ever since I started working with Jana I made her a power convert and she has been training with power ever since. She has a PowerTap 2.4 similar to their Pro +. The advanatge of guding her training with power and adjusting on race day based on perceived exertion and racing conditions allowed her to take guessing out of the equation and refrain her from doing any pacing mistakes. She knew based on her current fitness (critical power) and her training, what level of effort you should be able to sustain over 56 miles and common sense adjustments based on 'feel' would allow her to post a good bike split while leaving enough energy in the 'tank' for the run.

Jana did a great job pacing close to her target. Her average watts were within 3w of her race plan target (180w) and her normalized power (the metabolic cost of the ride) was 183w within her race pace range (180-185w). This means she did a great job pacing within her capabilities and she avoid having power spikes that in the long term not only result in a variable ride (AP/NP) but also in general zap the energy out of athletes legs, especially during the run.

This can is more obvious based on the plan recommendation to avoid going over 240watts; on her power file she only went over 240w 7 times during the race all was for less than 10 seconds. On the picture below of Jana's power file you can see this, the top dashed yellow line was the ceiling she was not supposed to pass during the race (240w) and the line below was the power target for the entire race (180w).

I assume the power spikes were the result of some efforts when climbing or passing a competitor. Also we divided the race in 3 segments and she had wattage targets for each based on terrain and strategy (presented earlier). You can see what we planned vs what she actually accomplished; all in all she was very close every segment, though in the end she slowed down a bit, perhaps due to the heat/terrain.

Jana's power file Rev3 Quassy

As a side note, before the race after driving the course and knowing Jana’s bike position (CdA, Crr, etc) we thought she could ride around ~2:45hrs with good conditions, she rode 2:46:47! This plus following the fueling plan she practiced through training yielded her to post the 2^nd fastest bike split of the day among female Age Groupers and 14^th including female pros; it also allowed her to pass 30 gals in her AG and 100 female overall getting back to T2 on 2^nd place AG and 5^th overall female.

Transition 2 suggested time sub 1:30 min (actual 1:05min)

Great transition, in and out! She again had the fastest T2 among the top 5 gals, hence she was able to get some of the lost time on the swim back and exiting T2 ahead on the leading female in her AG.

Run

Suggested Pacing: Pace target 7:10-7:15 min/mile (before I saw the run course). Adjusted to 7:25s-7:30s after seeing the course!

Summary – the day before we drove the run course and realized it was much more challenging that what we estimated from online map courses, hence I immediately adjusted her pacing plan. Usually I advise my athletes to guide all their effort primarily by perceived exertion and use pace/power as a way to assure they are not doing anything ‘stupid’ specially on early stages of the bike and run. In this case, Jana’s plan suggested to start ‘a bit’ easier (7:35s) for the first few miles, then settled onto 7:25-7:30s until mile 10ish and hopefully close at faster than 7:25s on the last 3 miles.

Actual Run pacing and time – 1:39:16 hrs 7:35s min/mile


Fueling - ~45 gr of Carbs (a few cups of sports drink, a few cups of water and 1 powerbar gel per hr)

Analysis - The pacing advised was relative because of the nature of the course. The run was very challenging with plenty of steep hills hence she knew that when going uphill (which that course had plenty of) she would have to adjust her pace by feel. In other words, when going up, the pace would be much slower than the planned 7:25-7:30s because of the inclines/gravity, but her effort should “feel” like she was running 7:25-7:30s on a flat terrain.

Unfortunately we couldn’t collect much run data as Jana’s Garmin died the morning of the race so I only have the splits from the race. She paced the 1^st 5.5 miles at 7:29 min/mile which was a bit faster of what we planned. On the next 5.4 miles her avg was 7:28s min/mile which was on target with the plan. The last portion (2.2 miles) her pace dropped to 8:06 min/mile

Considering the above, I think the fact she started a bit too fast cost het to slow down when she needed to be the fastest. That plus the tough terrain and the heat which increased on the 2^nd portion of the run lead me to believe were the main factors that caused her decrease in speed. Jana managed to exit T2 in 1^st place of her AG which we held for until the end, still, at one point she was as high as 4^th placed overall and eventually she got passed to finished 1^st in her age group and 5^th female overall.

All in all a great result, still, we will continue to address her swim and tweak some of the execution details like starting the run a bit slower to close strong and avoid running almost 1 min slower of what she is capable (for that course). That will be the focus for coming races.

There you have it, a race report from a coach’s perspective. I hope the info provided can be useful for some of you and apply it to your racing! Also, perhaps the info above might make you consider learning how to train with power, of you choose to do so, you should consider CycleOps power meters. They offer great products for a great value!

To learn more about our programs, visit www.e3ts.com , Happy training...