Preview Ironman 70.3 Wisconsin

So as you know from my last post going into Wisconsin, although my swimming and biking have been stronger than they have ever been, my running has been a tough go. I have a MRI the week after the race, to determine if in fact I have a labral tear in my right hip, the same right hip that I first injured in September of 2014 which sidelined my for about 3.5 months, then flare-ups of the issue on-off for the next couple years, and then another major flare-up in April of this year. With the previous flare-ups multiple ultrasounds showed calcific tendinopathy in the hip flexor muscles (indicating previous tears), but an ultrasound would not pick up a labral tear or any joint issues (only really good for muscular issues). So it’s possible that for the last 3.5 years these flare-ups were always due to an underlying labral tear, which would also make sense given that the right quadriceps muscle is about 5.5 cm smaller in circumference than the left. That degree of atrophy doesn’t exactly happen overnight. In addition to the hip, although I was running pretty good mileage, and had some good speed workouts from December of last year until the end of March this year, for most of my runs I was unable to run for an extended period of time on pavement due to a nagging hamstring injury. I’ve been dealing with this problem since early November and no physio or doctor has been able to tell me what is wrong, and for some odd reason didn't give me an MRI or even Ultrasound to see what is going on in the left hamstring. It is a very strange injury in that I could do all the speed work I wanted on gravel (even hard packed gravel), and trail, but not on pavement.

This May, after doing only about 4-5 runs since the flare-up in early April, I had to take another 2.5 weeks off running after the hip pain became to much to run on, and my plan was to give it another shot 10 days out from the race last Thursday. Did 5km pretty easy the first day, and on the run the hip actually wasn't really an issue. I was definitely aware of it there, but I think most of that was just being over-sensitive and conscious during the run of what exactly was going on in the hip. The day after the run it was a tiny bit sore, but by Sunday it was feeling pretty good again. After contemplating not running at all before the race this Sunday (June 11), I made the decision to do a run off the bike, at the new conservative goal pace for about 10 km. Some may not agree with the decision, thinking that maybe I should have just left it, but I stand by my decision to try it. The thing is a 70.3 Ironman race will expose whatever problem you have going into the race. There is no hiding from the 113.1km of swimming, biking, and running that lies before you. I think the reason that this is especially true for Ironman's and Half-Ironman's is because unlike a marathon or half-marathon where you are starting super-fresh and literally having to hold yourself back the opening 10 or 20km, in an Ironman event because you are starting the run with the legs already completely wasted after biking for 90km as hard as you can, the strong muscles which normally may be able to compensate for a weakened or injured one, are already tired therefore there is immediate pressure and strain on the problem area. My thought do the run was that I just had to know once and for all whether the hip would be able to hold up both at that speed, and for a decent percentage of the run. I didn't want to be on the bike, having absolutely no idea what running at the speed would make the hip feel like, and have no clue whether or not it could even last for half the run. I rather be on the bike either knowing that I'm doing the swim-bike (handing my chip in after the bike) so therefore emptying everything I have onto the bike course, instead of potential trying to save a little energy for a run which may never even happen. Also for me personally, there is no "Well I'll give the run a try and if it hurts bad I'll stop." I have never DNF'ed a race. If I put my running shoes on in T2, then saddle up cause I'm running the 21.1km. So I wanted to know whether I'm going to even try to start it, or not at all, because I do not want to even start if it means 8km in I'm at the side of the road waiting for medical. Anyways did the bike, did short 1 hour ride with the final 25 minutes above race wattage to put a little bit of fatigue into my legs to simulate the race, and set off for 10km. During the run, the hip again was not really an issue. I was aware of it, but was it holding my stride back - no. It actually was the stupid stubborn hamstring that was the issue during the run. If I was to describe the feeling, it feels like with every stride I'm one degree more of range of motion from the hamstring pulling completely on me, and every 10 or so strides I need to do a butt-kick to shake the hamstring out. So did the run, 10km in 39:30 (3:57/km) which was pretty much bang on what I was now intending on running in Wisconsin in the midst of injuries. Initially, when I set out this plan for Wisconsin my game plan was to run about 1:15 to 1:16 off the bike which would give me about 3:57-8 for the 70.3 and based on previous times on this course would put me on top of the podium. With the hip/hamstring I was thinking 1:23-25 off the bike that gives 4:05-7 range. So finished the run and was saying to myself, well if the hip feels like that in 7 days then I’m running. I was anticipating there was a good chance the hip would be a little sore the next day, unfortunately, the pain in the hip became significant after only 10 minutes post-run, and the following morning it felt basically like it had when the flare-up first came on in early April. I knew I was taking a risk doing that run, but I still stand by the decision. Thing is you may say well if you waited and didn’t run at all the way until race day then maybe the hip would’ve felt like it did on this run and would’ve been okay to go. However, you can’t say for sure that is the case because remember in the race that run, is not only double the length, but also after more than double the length of bike (and much harder), and also an all-out 1.2 mile swim. And the doubt in my mind of whether or not I was running or not would’ve been very detrimental to my performance on the bike. So overall what did it tell me? Well it may sound odd that here I’m defending doing that run because it gives me better insight to what to do, but my answer to whether or not it means I will run or not, is I still don’t know. I do know now that if it feels like it did on Sunday I’ll probably run, and maybe make it to about 10km, but after that not sure. Not sure if on the Sunday if instead of doing 10km, I did 15km at the pace, would that have meant that instead of the pain coming on 10 minutes after finishing the run, would it have come on during, and made the hip just runnable. There are just too many unknowns, and with all the potential implications of one decision or another it’s just stressing me out to no end. For example, if I run, and somehow the hip is manageable for the entire length of the run, I finish in 4:05 and potentially win the whole race (depending of course on the field), I will be absolutely overwhelmed with joy, grabbing my pro card right then and there, and some major notoriety winning an Ironman branded race. But even with that situation, it may not all be positive given that there is a good chance if I did that that after the race and the weeks afterwards the hip is absolutely wrecked, and that would potentially mean running in Racine 5 weeks later would be another “game-time” decision, and so on and so fourth for the rest of the year. However, if I only do the swim-bike there is still no guarantee that the hip is all better and healed for Racine, and the races afterwards. I mean, if the MRI shows a significant labral tear in the hip than that means surgery and a recovery period of 4-6 months post-surgery, not too mention that you wouldn’t likely be in for surgery immediately anyways. So Racine and subsequent races would also likely be in doubt anyways. So for me it’s just tough to say no to running, cause I don’t know at this point how significant the injury is and exactly what it is. It may be a labral tear, but it also may not be. There are a number of tests implicating the labrum, but there are also some rule it out. Anyways so basically couple days out from the race and I’m still not sure what exactly I’m doing, obviously not an ideal situation, but then again before Guelph Lake in September the morning of the race I was walking over to the registration tent to change into the swim bike, and last minute decided to stay in the swim-bike-run and then had my best performance of the year winning the race and smashing some other pros in the race by almost 4 minutes. Now that race was a third of the distance as Wisconsin, but the point is I have left the decision this late and in that case even later before and been successful. Why? Because I can go into a darker place than most and can suffer with the best of them.

Now for the rest of the race (what is for certain – the swim and bike), I’m pretty excited for the most part. I say for the most part because in the last couple days the forecast went from looking like it was going to be pretty hot and muggy with strong winds to now an extreme heat alert with recommendations not to outside for more than 20 minutes and no strenuous exercise and still pretty strong winds. The air temperature is going to be 91 F (33C) feeling 106 F (41C). As Robin Williams would say: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpktBGInl60. That changes a number of things in terms of my preparation from aiming to take in 1-1.5L/hour on the bike to trying to get well over 2L. Maybe the race organizers will be intelligent and increase the amount of aid stations on the bike so that at least a few racers finish without heat exhaustion. Also it means that there is a chance that wetsuits won’t be allowed for the swim. I had taken my new Zone3 Vanquish wetsuit out for a dip up at Lake Wilcox on Wednesday, and my god it is fast and comfortable. No word of a lie, when I put the wetsuit on it felt like my shoulders actually became more flexible, and during the swim I did a few pickups in pace and when going a little harder it felt like I had a jet pack attached to my waist. So it’s a shame that I may not be able to put this beauty to work in Lake Monona. If that’s the case it looks like I just have to swim in my trisuit which I’ve never done before, and little nervous about in terms of it’s performance in water. The suit is aerodynamic speed suit completely geared towards bike performance. However, I don’t know if in the water it will be able to maintain the same tightness around my legs and arms to keep me somewhat hydrodynamic reducing my drag through the water. But again like the running I will find out what’s up for sure on race morning. Right now the water temperature is 71F, the cut-off is 76F, but Friday and Saturday here will also be pretty warm in the mid thirties. In terms of the impact of a very strong S wind, well for that that’s why I race to power. If I hold steady the power I’m aiming for which is to hold 4.75 W/kg if I’m running afterwards, or 5.0W/kg if I’m doing the swim-bike, than whatever the speed ends up being into the wind, will even out on the way back with a tailwind. I know on a ride from a couple weekend’s ago the first 45 km were completely into a headwind and still averaged 40.5km/hr for that segment, and with the amazing Revolver Asymm FWS disc on the bike, I can easily average 45-46 on a calm day, and the low 50s with a tailwind.

Going into the race I have done a simulation bike using TrainerRoad a few weeks ago where I used Best Bike Split.com to create a power file for me taking into account predicted wind speed and direction, and the hills on the course. Essentially you tell the system the normalized power you want to hold, and all of your own data about yourself (your weight, threshold power, position on the bike, the setup of your bike (components, wheels, gear ratios, etc.)), and the algorithm will pump out a virtual power file for you which you can ride to using a smart trainer (which will set resistance based on gradient of climbs), or even upload the file to your watch to have what power you should be riding to at whatever moment to hit the normalized power goal that you set out for yourself. That virtual ride went very well. I had done a swim simulation right before which was 2km at race pace and I ended up doing the 2km in 26:36, which is actually 25:35 for the 1.2 mile swim of the 70.3 race distance (which is 1.93km). This is about a minute and a half faster than I did in Miami, and this was without a wetsuit. For the ride I bike a 2:14:02 immediately following the swim which is about a 40.5 km/hr average. It is an extremely hilly and technical bike course so I think anything 40 and above would put you in a really good spot. Speaking with some of the locals and volunteers here when getting the race kit, most said to be very careful on the middle third of the bike. It gets especially hilly in that area (in addition to just atrocious road conditions), and the problem the volunteers said which not only makes the course slower than most but also dangerous, is that for most of the big hills you climb up the entire hill, but then instead of getting to take advantage of the downhill to help even out your speed, you need to make a left or right turn about halfway down the backside of the hill. Meaning on the descent instead of blasting down at 90 km/hr, you grind up the hill probably in the low to mid 30s, and then by the time you get up to any sort of speed on the downhill you are right onto the brakes to make the turn. Anyways the day here before the race, I will bike that middle third of the course to just familiarize myself with it, and I have full confidence in my biking legs. I have done so many monstrous bike rides prior to this race that my legs are ready for anything. I have done 90 minutes, 105 minutes, 2 hours, and 2:15 rides at 85% FTP, then the same cycle at 85-90% FTP, numerous threshold workouts and over-under workouts, and longer rides outside where I’ve averaged 40kph for 120km including recoveries between the intervals, warmup and cooldown, or averaged 37.4km/hr on a 176km bike going at a pretty easy/steady wattage on a hilly route. Basically, I’m ready to go for hitting the bike leg hard, and even if I decide I’m running afterwards I will try to shred my opponents’ legs to pieces on the bike. Although I know it is a slower bike course, I know that there won’t be many in the field that can go up climbs with me and with every climb I will gain some more time on the field. 

So that is the gameplan for the race: swim fast, bike faster, and then pray to God a miracle happens overnight so that my hip is good enough to even let me give the run a go. In any case whether I do the swim-bike or the swim-bike-run I will leave everything out there on the course and push my body to new heights.

Gear for the Race:

Swim:

·      Zone3 Vapour Gold Goggles,

·      Zone3 Vanquish Wetsuit

Bike:

·      Cervelo P2 equipped with Revolver Kronostok 60mm upfront, Revolver Asymm FWS in the rear.

·       SRAM Red Quarq PM, Garmin Forerunner 920 XT head-unit

·      Rudy Project Wing57 Helmet

·      Compressport R2V2 compression sleeves

·      Fizik K1 Shoes

·      TriRig OmegaX Brakes

·      Infinit Custom Nutrition Formula in my bottles and Hotshot bottles for cramps

·      Xlab Accessories and Flat kit

Run:

·      Skechers GoRun 5s Houston Limited Edition

·      Zone3 Hat

·      Zone3 Belt

·      HotShot bottles

·      Compressport ProRacing Socks (Low-cut)

Thanks to all my sponsors (Infinit Nutrition, Zone3, Revolver, Skechers Performance, Compressport and Rudy Project) for your support and will give everything  I have to represent you well out on the course on Sunday.