-
That’s a very fast bike split compared to your run and swim splits… part of the challenge of middle distance and above is finding the pacing strategy that gets you to the finish line in the fastest time and that might mean backing off the power 20 watts and losing 10 minutes but not cramping, and running 30 minutes quicker….
There’s a useful phrase bike for show, run for dough!
Other thoughts are that it might be that your position is quite far back and quad heavy, shifting everything further forward has meant I recruit my glutes more which means I can run pretty comfortably off the bike, I spent a good few years with a tt type position that was super fast but meant that I ran like a donkey and lost all the time I’d made up on the bike and more on the run..
And finally hydration, have you weighed yourself before after a practice swim and bike in race kit… it might be that even if you’re doing well on salts etc you’re just getting really dehydrated through sweat loss…
Good luck with challenge London!
Sainsburys_Ed-
I think I read that Warsaw was very flat and fast which got interest and might explain some of the time imbalance?
Re the 58cm frame I’d say there’s loads on eBay, which I keep finding when I look for a 60cm for me! Filter for 58 and large
-
Normally I'd suspect that I overdone the bike too, but these watts/paces are not quite what they should have been on paper / what I could do in training. That bike split was 195W NP / 185W avg, with mid-Z1 average HR.
I started the bike with ~225W (Z2), and it took 10mins for HR to settle after the swim but it was all stable, low Z2 watts and matching HR. Then after an hour of this I just felt that lingering feeling that I might cramp up if I continue that pace. As for my normal running pace, in training I could consistently do 4:50/k off a bike session in Z2 hr, but the bike sessions were shorter of course. Thats why I dont think the pacing was the issue here, everything other than the cramps felt perfect, I didnt feel exhausted getting off the bike at all.
Im kinda torn if I should try to get in as much time as I can on the TT bike before challenge London and tweak the position, or do it on my road bike to see if same issue came up.
Tallboy
kiskubai
So, first middle distance in the bag from Ironman Warsaw 70.3. Puncturing your tubular rear disc 17 hours before start is not a great experience, 0/10, would not recommend. But we resolved it just in time to check in the bike to T1.
I dont have a good framework for comparison, but I would call the swim "choppy AF" and according to our supporters a handful of people had to be rescued out, and plenty gave up. With that in mind, I'll take my 46 minutes of fighting for survival disguised as swimming :D
3:30 for T1, not great but not bad.
Onto the bike. I've put a huge focus on electrolytes, micronutrients, and hydration for the past week (and on the day) to rule that out if I cramped up again on the bike. Which I did, about 1.5 hours in, just like last time on my 90k bike split in the relay. Its either a bikefit issue, or not enough strength work went into my training. Ended a bit windy bike split with 2:24:50 (for 86.5km).
4:35 for T2, including some stretching as I could foresee what was coming:
On the run. I dont wish anyone the feeling of changing into running shoes, run 50 meters, and then both your quads immediately cramping up, knowing you've got 21kms to go. Still managed to somehow nurse it home from there with a very-very slow 2:16:32.
Next up: Challenge London!