Archive for category Race Strategy

Race Strategy: Oceanside 70.3

Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Ironman Training, Race Strategy on March 25, 2010

Less than 48 hours from now, I’ll be half of Ironadam. Well, not really. Like 13.1 + 13.1 <> 26.2, I’m sure 70.3 + 70.3 <> 140.6.

Either way, I have a long endurance event to complete very soon, and I’m eager to have the experience. Here’s my strategy:

PreRace: Transition opens at 4:45. I plan to get there around 5:30 since I have an hour to setup before it closes and another hour before my wave starts. Therefore, I’m going to get up at 4 AM, eat a granola bar, have some cereal, maybe have some muscle milk, and go through my usual 4 potty breaks before leaving the hotel. 15 minute drive, so I’ll leave around 5 AM.
Transition setup: the rules said we cannot clip our shoes into the pedals and slide them in the first leg of the race. That sucks, but I’ll clarify this with the rules official tomorrow at the expo. This definitely impacts my transitions strategyI plan on having one towel, a bucket of water to wash my feet in very quickly to make sure no rocks get between my feet and the shoes, race belt, sunglasses, gels, bloks, water, cytomax, and running shoes.
Swim: When the swim starts, I’m going to just try to avoid the chaos, but I’ll be aggressive as long as I don’t use up too much energy. Since I’m starting in the last wave, I don’t know how many people will be going slow from previous waves. I guess we’ll see. My goal is 30 minutes here, which equates to about 1:33 / 100 meter. I don’t think that’s unreasonable since I’ve been swimming a lot. My stroke has improved since my olympic distance tri where I did 1:36 / 100 meter. To be honest, even if I was a lot slower, 10 seconds, that’s only about 2 minutes 30 seconds more, so not a big impact on overall time. I plan on getting into a consistent groove and making a nice swim without a lot of hard grinding. I’m surprisingly not that nervous for the swim.
T1: Pulling off my wetsuit as I run to transition, I plan on doing this in under 2 minutes assuming the in/out of transition isn’t too long. Wet suit off, race belt on, sunglasses on, helmet on, shoes on, bike and go. And this time, I won’t let my GU and Bloks fall out of my pockets
Biking: 56 miles is no easy task, and due to the late start, we may get a little bit more wind then the other waves. Hopefully it’s not too bad. My goal here is to do 20 mph. I don’t know if that’s reasonable or not since I haven’t done this bike course, but my training dictates that if I didn’t have to stop, I could pull that off. I plan on having a heart rate in the mid 150s, and I’ll save most of my energy for the hills in Pendleton and try to maintain a cadence of 100 for the first 5 miles. Goal here is 2:45, but I’m expecting something between 2:50 and 3 hours
T2: So the big debate is do I continue to go sockless? I’m bringing socks, but at this point, I plan on using my Zoots shoes and hoping for the best. I may even slip the socks into my back pocket in case it gets bad on the course. I hope to do this also in less than two minutes. Run in, park bike, helmet off, bike shoes off, running shoes on, grab more GU, GO….
Run: This is where the race will get interesting. It feels like it will be over, but there’s a half marathon left. However, running is my strong suit. I was explaining this to a friend this week. Because I’m about 50 percentile swim, 50 percentile bike, and about 30 percentile run, then I end up being about 25 percentile triathlete because a lot of people are terrible in one sport, awesome in another, and mediocre in the third. I tend to be mediocre at all three but upper third on the run, but then again, I need more races to test my skills. My runs off the bike have all been under 7:30 minute miles. I’ve even had a number of them less than 7 minute miles. BUT, I’ve never had to swim before the bike, and I don’t know what that will do to my legs. I’m shooting for 1:45 minutes, but my goal is 1:40. That will put me at mid to high 7 minute pace. I think I’ll maintain a low 160s heart rate and really try to push it the last 5 miles. We’ll see what happens
T3: CELEBRATION! Drinking, eating, looking forward to days off ahead, and a little massage at the resort before a wonderful evening with AK

That’s it. I guess we’ll see how it goes. Good luck to everyone participating. I hope for good weather, good competition, and a nice challenge.

70.3, ironman, oceanside, Race strategy

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Race Strategy: Surf City Half Marathon

Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Race Strategy, Running on February 6, 2010

Tomorrow is my first race since the MCM marathon at the end of October. I’m excited. This is a very low priority race for me, which means no taper, but it did fall within a rest week (meaning only 7.5 hours of training – wow, real restful), so I feel fresh relative to past weekends. I’m really looking forward to this. My running has been much faster since I switched to forefoot running, so this will be a good test to see if I can keep up some of this speed for 13 miles.

I haven’t done too many runs beyond 8 miles (two that I can count) in the past few months because of blisters from switching the landing spot on my foot, but given the endurance work I’ve done on the bike AND that I’ve put in 20-30 miles of running a week each week for the past few months, I think I’ll be ready. I’ve done a lot of speed work, tempo runs, and drills to improve my running, and I have seen a noticeable improvement in my pace. My 8 mile runs have been in the low 7 minute range, and when I push it, it’s been in the high 6s.

I feel like I could bring the 7 min/mile barrier tomorrow, but I’m not going to try to do it as a goal given the low priority status of the race. This year is all about endurance and triathlons, so that is my focus, but of course, it’s a race, and it’s not easy to, well, take it easy. I must be somewhat careful though since I have a century ride next weekend in Palm Springs.

I don’t have much experience in the half marathon category. My history in half marathons: one. I did the OC half last year, and I did a 1:39:52. One thing that is cool is that this will be my first race as a Brooks ID member. I’ll be sporting Brooks shirt, shorts, and shoes (the Ravenna’s, which are also known as AA – funny, my first/last initials – WOOO). I’ll try to post pics later! I love my brooks stuff. And although I like my launch shoes better, I still don’t feel comfortable doing a long race in a neutral shoes, and that’s why I like the Ravenna’s mild support (FYI – i’ve been in stability shoes forever, but now that I’m doing more forefoot running, I can handle neutral shoes without much pain).

So with that being said, here’s my strategy:

13.1 miles doesn’t seem difficult anymore. With 80 mile bike rides and 3 marathons under my belt, I’m not nervous about the distance. However, I still want to treat it with my usual race prep. I plan to leave at 6:30, so I’ll get up at 5, eat, walk the dog, move around a bit, and drink LOTS of water. I’ll have some bread with peanut butter on it. And hopefully have 2-3 bathroom visits before departure
I plan to warm up by running from the drop off spot to the starting line. Mix it up with some strides but most of it will be an easy jog.
I’m carrying a water bottle filled with cytomax. No GUs, no Clif Blocks. That should get me through all 13.1 miles so I don’t have to stop for water/food.
I plan to start in wave 1 (<1:50), which I imagine may be crowded since a lot of people will be in this group.
I’ll go out at about 145 heart rate or 7:10 pace. That is generally my heart rate at that pace. It may be higher from the crowd, so if it is, I’ll let pace dictate where I stand. If I do get in the first mile at around 7 min or a tad less, that’s ok, but I want to settle in at that heart rate and pace after mile 1
I hope to keep up that pace until mile 9. At mile 9, there is a straight away for the next 4.1 miles with a slight elevation gain. If I’m feeling good and not too tired, I’m going to start pushing it. If I can, I’ll do it progressive style, increasing about 10 seconds per mile for the last 4 miles.
If I can stick to the strategy, I should be somewhere between 92-95 minutes. That would be awesome

Of course, I’m not running on rested legs, especially after my rolling hills simulation on my trainer today, but I’ve achieved similar paces on tired legs, so I might as well give it a go. If I can’t keep up the pace or bonk in the last 2 miles, then hopefully I can beat my PR of 1:39:52.

Good luck to everyone running races this weekend, and if you’re in Surf City and see me running by, wave and say hello

13.1, c priority, half marathon, Ironman Training, PR, Race strategy, surf city, training

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Marine Corps Marathon: Race Strategy

Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Marathon, Race Strategy, Running on October 18, 2009

Marine Corps Marathon is one week from today, and I’m excited but also a bit indecisive how I want to approach the race. This will be my third marathon and my second this year. My last marathon was San Francisco at the end of July. On a jet lagged body, I ran a 3:36, which I was really happy with. Since then, I stepped up my training, took a VO2 test, focused entirely on heart rate training, and really stepped up my cross training since I did the SD triathlon last weekend.

My mindset is that my time should improve by 5 minutes because of a flatter course then SF. That puts me at about 3:30, and I believe I want to cut out 10 minutes because of my training. My goal is to beat 3:20, which is 7:38 pace. It’s a pretty big step up from the 8:16 pace of my last marathon, but here’s why I believe I can improve:

My half marathon time in the OC marathon, a flat course, was 1:39:51, or 7:37 pace. In that race, I got horrible cramps around mile 8 and had to walk for a minute (you can see this elevated heart rate and spike in this graph). So I know I can do this pace
Since the OC marathon,I’ve run 90 times for 659 miles. That excludes the number of times I rode and swam. My body can certainly handle distance
The SF marathon was hard, but I had negative splits. I didn’t push it because of the jet lag, but I finished with a lot more tolerance than my previous training runs or races.
I did a training run of 19 miles at 7:45 pace, but nearly passed out at that point. It was also in 90 degree heat. I also did a 23 mile run at 8:40 pace with ease
The weather should be cool. I perform much better in cool weather
My music playlist is AWESOME!
I’ve become more comfortable with eating on a run, which should help with fueling through the race, improving my chances of overcoming the wall

Ok, so that gives me some confidence in breaking 3:20. Here are some of my concerns:

I don’t know the course. I really think this has an impact in my mind of knowing what’s beyond the curve ahead and feeling out the distance. Yes there are mile markers. Yes it’s always 26.2. But there’s a different sense of confidence in knowing a course.
I’ve never run on the east coast before in a race. Yes, this seems simple, but I remember when I used to travel for golf, it always took me a few days to get used to weather, the feeling of a new place, etc…
Triathlon last weekend may have damaged my body a bit more than expected, but I’m hoping two weeks is enough time to heal. I am still a novice in racing, having completed only four races so far, so I think I’m still a year away from recovering quickly from long distance
3:20 is effen fast

So now that you can read my mind , here’s my strategy for race day.

Race starts at 8AM. Will get up at 6AM, eat a peanut butter granola bar, a banana, and a bare naked bar. I’ll begin to stretch. I’m hoping for my usual stomach clearing before leaving the hotel. Prep with body glide and race wrist band for timing
Warm up for 10 minutes to get my heart rate up to 140. Run around the hotel on the way to the race
Get in an early wave to avoid crowds. Find the 3:20 pace person and introduce myself. Find Matt to start the race with.
Go out at a 145 heart rate, hoping for about 7:50 pace. Don’t get caught up in the rush. Go out easy and stay to the inside track of the course.
At 2 miles, speed up to 7:35 pace. Check heart rate. If heart rate is less than 150, maintain pace. If more than 150, switch to tempo style running where run 2 miles at heart rate of 150-155, then cut back to slower pace at 145. This can change up my pace
At mile 13, check times to see how I’m doing. If legs feel good, mind is right, and I’m still pumped, take it to 155 heart rate consistently
At mile 18-20, heart rate will begin to creep. This is where I’ll dig deep within, feeling my body, focusing on finishing, visualizing that 3:19:59 time.

I’ve had some tightness in my hamstrings, so that’s my biggest concern in failing to meet my time. If they tighten up around mile 22, I’ll have a tough time achieving negative splits and beating 3:20. Worse comes to worse, I have a rough “wall” stretch from pushing too hard and do a 3:50 marathon. But I’m hopeful for the best.

For hydration, I’m debating on whether I want to carry a water bottle and give it Adrienne when empty and pick up another from her since she’ll be following me on the course. I will definitely get water at every station, but I will run through the stations this time, pinching the cups and pouring it into the side of my mouth. I plan to GU at mile 8 and mile 16, and CLIF Blok every 3 miles or so in between and after. I have to figure out how to carry it.

I also want to mentally have fun in this race because I will be seeing DC on foot with blocked off streets – not many opportunities to do that. Given my science training, having fun is sometimes the hardest thing to achieve. Then again, achieving goals through study and perseverance is pretty satisfying.

Good luck to all those racing this weekend and next!

marathon, Marine Corps, MCM, Race strategy, Running, Washington D.C.

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Race Strategy – First Olympic Tri Tomorrow

Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Cycling, Heart Rate Monitoring, Race Strategy, Races, Running, Swimming, Triathlon on October 9, 2009

Sorry for my lack of responses to my previous blog post. I will follow up later with a final list of elements that can impact workouts, but work has just picked up so much lately that I haven’t had a chance to think it through!

Tomorrow is my first triathlon – the San Diego Tri. I’m a bit nervous, and I can really feel it in my stomach today. Had trouble eating breakfast this morning – one of those, I know I’m hungry, must force down food mornings.

I’ve always believed in coming up with a race plan / strategy and goals. I feel like it makes every race meaningful for an individual irrespective of where you place against the competition. This triathlon is a “C-Priority” race for me. I’ve defined priorities as

A-Priority: I expect to peak for this race
B-Priority: This race is a training step for an A priority race
C-Priority: This race is practice to learn and improve

I gave this a C-Priority because it is my first triathlon and I don’t want to obsess over time goals. To be honest, I have no idea what times I could achieve, but I’m going to set some high level time goals based on reviewing the mission viejo triathlon results and my general training. Given this is my first triathlon, my goals are simple:

Total transition time of less than 4 minutes – thank you Rod Clark
Overcome open water fear – swimming without vision is a challenge for me, especially with people all around. Plus, I have general fear of the ocean (the “unknown underneath”). I want to be comfortable with this after 7-8 minutes of swimming
Learn biking in a race – learn the norms and etiquette. This is my limiter and I must learn to improve it
Finish the race in under 2 hours, 45 minutes (true goal is 2 hour, 30 minutes, but I must be realistic) – split goals: 30 minutes swimming, 1:20 biking, 50 minutes running, 4 minutes transition

Those are my goals. My strategy to achieve those goals are the following:

Take it easy on the swim. Enter the water on the outside of the pack and slowly with a willingness to lose a minute or two to get comfortable
Switch to breast stroke when tired on the swim
Transition quickly
Eat on bike to avoid eating on the run
Ease into first two miles of the bike to settle into a low heart rate – small ring, easy gear – high cadence (90-100)
By mile 5 on the bike, start pushing into higher gears while keeping a high cadence – keep cadence between 85-95
Settle into my run for two miles at 140 bpm – push to 150 bpm by mile 3. Do not exceed 159 bpm to save legs for marathon in 2 weeks – this is NOT a high priority race

So there are some specifics there, but I want a plan to stick by so I make sure I learn what I need to in this race. I hope to do another tri or two before my half ironman in March, so I will have other opportunities to learn. I know I’m much weaker in swimming and biking than running, so I must expect those two sports to also impact my running performance, which is why I’ve lowered my running goal. These goals assume no hiccups (leg cramps, flats, etc..).

My long run goals for the off season are to improve my cycling force and endurance as well as my swimming technique and endurance. I want to improve my run cadence, but this is third priority. This race will be a good benchmark of a starting point, and I’ll move forward from here.

I have trained enough to survive this race. FYI: in my last 30 days as of yesterday, I’ve run 20 times for 155 miles, biked 12 times for 212 miles, and swam 13 times for 7 hours. I love Garmin Connect! Next time, I won’t put a marathon two weeks after because i know that really limited the amount of time I could put into the bike and swim since I spent so much time running.

T – 2 hours until San Diego departure!

UPDATE: thanks @jpitkin – another goal: have fun

Goals, heart rate, olympic, olympic tri, racing, san diego, strategy, Training Blogs I Read Regularly, triathlon

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San Francisco Marathon: day before

Posted by Adam Ainbinder in Ironman Training, Race Strategy on July 25, 2009

It’s 6:17 AM the day before the SF marathon. In less than 24 hours, I’ll embark on that lovely 26.2 mile adventure that feels fine for about 18 miles, and then is an absolute struggle for the last 8.2 (yes, that .2 matters cuz it’s so damn painful at that point in the race).

I was talking to a friend last weekend about the strategy in a marathon. It’s very different than the strategy of a half marathon because there is so much more distance to cover that you usually don’t practice in your training runs. And for those who don’t run, yes, there is a plan of attack.

For example, tomorrow I would like to break 3:40. I think it’s a very achievable goal in a marathon for me, but this one may be tough because I have jet lag from my trip this past week to Germany AND this course is not an easy one (SF = hills). Plus, because of this taper period of lowering mileage in the last 3 weeks, I feel generally inadequate. Fortunately that is mental!

So I have to debate what event wave to start in, the starting pace, the mile 7 through 17 pace, and at what point should i feel comfortable speeding it up. Suprisingly a lot of factors to consider. Plus there are the dietary factors like should I drink electroytes on the run, what to eat 2 days prior, do I take goo, walkig through water stations, etc..

So here’s what I’m thinking…i can go out at 820 pace and maintain that pace the entire time for a 3:38 to 3:39 marathon. My 20 mile training run was just over this pace, an all long runs other than my 20 miler were under 8:20 pace. If I feel good, I pick up the pace. If not, I don’t beat my time. Only concern here is my lack of rest from jet lag and totally dying in mile 20-26.2. I’ll walk through water stations, drink water at EVERY station, take salt pills every 6 miles, and drink electrolytes

The hiccups: bathroom stops, walking through water stations, or getting behind a group of people on the golden gate bridge that slow me down (tight lane there).

I guess I just have to hope for the best! Worst outcome is I don’t meet my time. Guess there are worse thIngs in life. Time to get up and hit the race expo so I can waste more money on running stuff I don’t need!

Ironman Training, jet lag, marathon, preparation, san francisco

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