That Ironman finisher's medal is still dangling just out of reach. The good news is, I got a lot closer this year and felt better than ever doing it. And I got a finisher's shirt, hat, and beer. Just no medal. This was the first time I got to start the run. I did not make the first loop cut-off time and had to stop there. The officials seemed worried, as if I would throw a fit or something. Actually, I was ecstatic at having done so well. Already at that point I knew I was going to do it again next year.
Cut-Off times
The Honu cut-off times have become quite complex. From the Athlete's Handbook:
INTERMEDIATE RUN CUT-OFF
Athletes who have not reached the halfway
point of the 13.1 mile run by 2:23 p.m. will not
be permitted to continue the race.
SECONDARY INTERMEDIATE RUN CUT-OFF
Athletes who have not reached the 10 mile
mark by 3:13 p.m. will not be permitted to
continue the race.
Each athlete or relay team will have 8 hours
and 30 minutes to complete the entire course.
The run is a loopy two lap course, so the first cut-off is at the start of the second lap. That odd looking time of 2:23 p.m. is based on the last swim wave starting at 7:22; so seven hours after the last swimmer starts. Me being in the third wave, I got a little extra time. The point here is that the race director does not want runners spread all over the course who have no chance of making the only cut-off that really counts, 8:30 overall for the course. At the start of the second lap my overall time was 7:57 (Garmin) and that first lap took almost two hours. Since there was no way in the world I could have run the second lap in thirty minutes, my day was clearly over.
What improved
In comparing this year with 2016 and 2018 what stands out are- Better bike gearing
- Better swim technique
- Better fuel and hydration plan
- Better strength training
- More specific training plan
For this year I decided I had been spending too much time below 60 RPM while climbing. I needed a bigger cassette. Dura-Ace does not have one, but Ultegra does. The larger cog would require a long throw derailleur, so I installed an Ultegra RD-R8000 and a CS-HG800 11x34. This made a huge difference in climbing. My average cadence on the long, steady climb to Hawi this year was 72 RPM. Last year it was 62, and in 2016, 65. Beyond those numbers, it felt much easier.
In both of my previous attempts at Honu I felt totally exhausted after the swim. Standing by my bike in T1 putting on my shoes and helmet, all I wanted to do was sit down and take a long rest. Not this time. This year I actually swam about the same time (2016 = 1:07:45, 2018 = 1:06:32, 2019 = 1:08:29) but where in previous years my effort was full gas, this year I had much better feel of the water and could regulate my effort, so that I had plenty of energy after the swim. A huge improvement.
This year my fuel strategy was simple. Start the bike with normal dilution Infinit, one bottle in the XLAB Torpedo between the aerobars and one on the down tube. I decided I would not need a bottle in the behind-the-saddle XLAB mount, so I used a Shimano PRO storage bottle there with a second spare tube and CO2. When my Infinit ran out I would switch to the course drink, Gatorade Endurance. Very close formula to my Infinit. Both have ample salt, but I packed a few Hammer Endurolytes just to be sure. I also carried two Bonk Breaker bars, good old Peanut Butter and Jelly, and some Hammer gels for a little caffeine.
Previously I carried concentrated Hammer Perpetuem, which meant that aid station stops required stopping and fiddling with mixing. I stopped using Perpetuem because my stomach would eventually balk at having to break down the maltodextrin and protein. Another reason why my previous bike segments sucked; by Hawi I was not absorbing enough energy and my gut felt bloated. This year I actually did the bottle snatch without stopping and had no problems with fuel or hydration. I did discover that the aid stations are come often enough that I did not need the down tube bottle. I dragged a full bottle all the way up to Hawi. Oh well.
A consistent, well thought-out strength training plan really paid off. Dorian worked me hard all year and it shows. Not only am I buff and handsome, I have more energy. I can feel it out on the course, in all three disciplines. This was another huge improvement. And, let's not overlook the contribution of strength training to injury prevention. I never had any overuse injuries this season. My last physical setback was losing both big toenails after the marathon last December, probably due to a bad shoe fit. I have switched to Danny Abshire's new shoe and love them.
When I started doing triathlon I read Joe Friel's Triathlete's Training Bible cover to cover. When I decided to try for Honu I purchased his training plan, and used it again last year. This year I got hooked by Matt Fitzgerald and his 80/20 philosophy. At first for running, but then his triathlon book came out and that pushed me over the edge. I do find his training zones hard to get used to, but I am getting it, and everything else is superb. His Half Ironman plan comes with carefully constructed, detailed workouts that use the new TrainingPeaks structured workout feature. What a joy to use.
Every training plan will need a few nips and tucks. This one happened to fit my schedule with very little adjustment. The one big change I made was towards the end. The plan had a nice progression of long bike rides followed by short runs. I chose to do these on Pineapple Hill instead, to simulate the long, steady, hot and dry climb to Hawi. I did follow up with a run around Kaiaka Park.
My progress as charted on my TrainingPeaks Annual Training Plan. The solid blue curve is the planned fitness and the dark blue line is actual. I came in high after the marathon, then settled in nicely.
Race Day
My first surprise of the day was how close I cut my swim pace. My goal was to finish the swim without the overwhelming exhaustion I felt in previous races. Trying to make up time in the swim by “swimming harder” is a big mistake, as only a small increase in speed costs a fortune in energy. The cut-off time is 1:10. I hit the timing mat at 1:08. I really did not intend to make it that close, but I was pleased I did.An important lesson I learned from Terry Laughlin is that the key to improving your swim time is to increase efficiency through better technique. In previous years I had to swim full gas to make the cut-off time. This year, with a lot of time in the water and careful monitoring of pace and RPE, I was able to swim easier and have more energy for the bike.
The greatest equipment improvement this years was the new cassette. I knew from my first trial ride up Pineapple Hill that the larger cogs would make a difference. Even at Hapuna Beach the ride from T1 up to the Queen K was noticeably easier. Previously I spent too much time grinding at 45 RPM. Now I rarely go below 60. That makes a huge difference in the leg muscle fatigue, even pulling the same watts.
To continue the saga, I felt good all the way to Hawi. I did have a little gut issue. It turned up by Kawaihae and at first I thought it was the waistband of my tri kit shorts. I did all my long training rides in normal bike kit, bib shorts and a jersey with plenty of packet space for food and stuff. I thought what I was feeling was the normal but unfamiliar pressure of the elastic waistband. The dull ache never got worse. If it affected me at all it was to spend a little more time up on the base bar, but that was it. By Hawi it was gone. Maybe I just got used to the shorts.
I will get into some details in a bit, but first I just want to give an overall description. Throughout my ride I was passed on climbs, and I passed others on the descents. For about a mile just after the 180 at Mauna Lani I was following a guy who would pull ahead on the climb, then I would catch his wheel on the descent. I did not want to pass him because I did not want to work that hard at that point, but I finally got tired of riding the brakes going downhill. On the long climb to Hawi I was passed by many riders, and on the way back I went flying past many of them. How is it they go downhill so slow? Maybe they need more practice off the turbo trainer.
I worked out my climbing pace on the Pineapple Hill outings. I had to stay between 110 – 135 watts. That does not mean a steady 133 is good. Try to stay closer to the middle, around 125. That should get me through the ride ready to run.
The times I ran off the bike, the Pineapple Hill outings and the Haleiwa Metric Century Ride, I found that my stats would all red line. Including pace! I would try my best to slow down but I could only run too hard and too fast. My solution was to begin walking then introduce a the run bit by bit, returning to a walk whenever things got too far into the red zone. After about fifteen minutes my run would show up.
First, try to understand that I was shocked I even got to start the run. That was one of the high points of the day. The picture of me on the run is right after I came out of T2; you can see how happy I was. It wasn’t long before I had to walk. I was expecting this, confident that after a few more walk breaks my run would show up.
My next big surprise; the run course is not flat. Not at all. Everyone I know who has done Honu talks about running on grass. How it lacks bounce. How you have to train running on grass. At Kaiaka Park I always spent time running on the grass. Oh, and they always mentioned Hell’s Kitchen, where the asphalt – straight and flat -- is so hot your shoes melt. Nobody ever mentioned that the run course is mostly cement golf cart trails that twist and turn and go up and down like an amusement park ride. I would call this course a runner’s worst nightmare.
This elevation map is from my Garmin 935. Yes, there is a bit of drift, so the end looks higher than the start. Just for fun I added in the temperature plot. The course really does go up and down that much.
My run never showed up. I was patient, I kept trying, but every time I tried to run the results were the same. Everything red lined. Here is a snippet from my run data that shows what happened, over and over. What you can’t see here is respiration. As soon as I started running it would climb up as if I was running a twenty minute lactate threshold test. I knew there was no way I could sustain that.
After the race I wrote to David Warden, who co-authored with Matt Fitzgerald the training plan I followed (shameless promotion here, and their website here). Mostly I wanted to thank him for getting me to the start line healthy and injury free, ready to have my best race ever. But, I also wanted to ask about running off the bike. His plan only had five bike/run bricks. One a bit early, then four at the end.
Dave was kind enough to answer at length. He said most people complain there are too many bricks. His reason for limiting the number is injury avoidance. Well, he has a point. Running after a long bike is risky.
Then he surprised me by asking for the key data, to see why I had so much trouble with the run. He asked for my bike LTHR, Average HR for the bike segment, and the bike peak 20 minute HR.
Bike LTHR: 144
Avg HR: 127
Peak 20 min HR: 136
His comment:
Gary, thank you. OK, average 127 on the bike was right on, that is upper Zone 2 for you, that would be ideal for strong run off the bike on a 70.3
It's the peak 20 that was the killer. 136 is one beat away from your Zone 3 (note these are 80/20 zones, Friel zones. --gd), you red-lined for too long to recover later on the bike or on the run. Well, that's a pretty broad statement, but I can say that 20 minutes in Zone 3 will ruin your run.
I propose adding more running off of the bike, why not? for 15 minutes once a week after a long bike ride. That little volume is not going to harm you. Plus, next race pace it that you never hit even Zone X on the bike (maybe Peak 5 min in low Zone X as a max for a goal), all upper Zone 2 for 95% of the ride. That will make the biggest difference.
This is incredibly nice of Dave, definitely above and beyond. Later I told him I wanted to go for it again next year. His reply, “I approve of this journey. Next year you'll go under 7 hours.”
So, yeah, I’m going for it!
Just a few more numbers. I was curious if my HR was as high on the Pineapple Hill workouts. To simplify I just looked at my longest day, two weeks before Honu, two laps in four hours. Here I also compare some power numbers. (Here is that workout. The plan is from the original training plan and has no relevance to what I did.)
It seems to me that I executed Honu exactly as I planned based on the Pineapple Hill data, only my HR was a lot higher. But I know that happens to me in races.
What needs improvement
Not very much time has passed so this list may be a bit premature, but here are some areas where I need to improve:- FTP
- Weight
- Run
- New bike
This year I did my best ever at holding a good effort level on the bike. The problem is I am just too slow going uphill, even with the improved gearing. An increase in Functional Threshold, both for bike and run, will make a big difference in top speed.
A really effective way to climb more efficiently is to drag less weight up the hill. The low hanging fruit as far as the bike is concerned is to not carry unnecessary fluids -- that extra bottle on the down tube. Lighter wheels will help, but cost increases exponentially. The most dramatic weight savings will come from me losing ten pounds. Last October I was up to 190. Just before Honu I was down to 184, and that is with a big increase in muscle mass. Just think how much better I could bike and run if I weighed 170? That is actually a healthy weight for me. Now is a good time to lose a few pounds.
I already mentioned getting agreement from my training plan's author to do more runs after bike workouts. I need to make this the norm.
Losing weight can be an impossible challenge without a reward. What better reward could there be than a new bike? Every triathlete's solution to whatever the problem is. My P3 is getting a bit long in the tooth. Its most notable shortcoming is its inability to accommodate wide tires. I could barely get the HED rims with 23mm tires to fit. When I upgraded to 25mm I could not get rid of wheel rub. The frame clearances are just too tight. As it turns out, Cervelo has brought out the new P3X, little brother to the P5X. It looks fast, has great built-in storage, and comes with disk brakes, which means no problem with wide tires. In even comes in colors that match my Bike Works kit.
