Even keel

A humbling and happy day at 70.3 Des Moines

After a shock to the system at 70.3 Des Moines in 2023, I knew I had to make a return to prove to myself that I could handle a long-distance triathlon. Most of my racing has been sprint or Olympic distance and I have had success marked by year-over-year improvement since 2021. This is great! The longer stuff takes development and that is a path I am currently on. It is hard to hit a home run on your first at-bat with this sport.

Last weekend, I got to take another crack at the course in Des Moines, Iowa, and it was a step in the right direction with a clear picture of what needs to change to be competitive in the age group ranks.

The lead in

The month of May was a confidence boost of a month. I already have touched on my performance at the Kansas City Triathlon where I proved to myself that the fitness was high. The following few weeks were focused on tying up loose ends and putting in one more big brick workout. This workout performance was similar to the level I delivered on race day in Des Moines. The final 10 days were all about letting the body absorb the winter and spring of work. I’ll admit, I can do better with resting. It can be a mental chore!

Swim

In the 2023 race, I smacked the swim hard, doing 23:40 for 1900m. As a result, I suffered in the back half of the bike and the run. Therefore, this year, I backed off the intensity and sat on the feet of fellow physical therapist Evan Culbert. Evan is a speedy swimmer and an incredible all-around athlete. He provided a great lead out as we both swam ~24:20. Evan was out of T1 in a flash and I never saw him the rest of the day. A controlled T1 for me allowed me to gather my wits and approach the bike with a clear mind.

Bike

The first note for the bike: No apparent wheel issues! This was a major relief considering my luck in some of my recent races.

I set out with the expectation that I would ride a steady 230-235W for the entire ride. No spikes, no surges, and a priority on not falling apart in the final 45 minutes like in 2023. Out at the first turnaround, I was right on the intended effort. There was a slight headwind that put me behind schedule, but knew I would make that time up easily on the way back. The legs felt great and the return trip tailwind allowed me to get on top of the gear. While my pace was not as rapid as the guys up front, I was not getting passed at the rate I was in 2023. This helped pad the ego.

Still in a good mood, I hit 2 hours and was still feeling steady. I look at mood during a race to be an indicator of nutritional status, pacing success, and realistic race execution.

The back half of the course features some short hills which is a challenge, but on each hill my legs responded to the slight surge in power over the race pace target. The final 30 minutes had me excited to get to the run.

Bike stats:

• 56 miles/90km—2:28—232W normalized power

This was 8 minutes faster than 2023. A big improvement, but I still believe I can get more for my dollar at that power given that I am 68kg. That is a decent power-to-weight ratio, but the speed is still an issue.

Above is the power file from 2024 (top) and 2023 (bottom). A noticeable decline in the back half and a lot more variability. I averaged 200W in the final 45 minutes in 2023, feeling terrible, and 230W in 2024.

Run

A long run on pavement into T2 was not my idea of fun. I stayed relaxed again and probably could knock off some time with this transition to improve my overall time.

One of the most difficult parts of triathlon is running fast early in the run but still holding back to avoid blowing up. I ran the first 5K entirely on feel and the pace was right on with my performances in all of my big bricks throughout the spring. You cannot expect to race way faster than you train.

The next 5K was all about settling in, running strong, and using the ice at the aid stations to stay cool. It was a warm day!

Still rolling the 3:45-3:50/km pace, I told myself “Stay right here. You are doing it.” I did not expect that I would be able to ramp up the pace much in the back half given my history in longer races, so holding steady seemed like the best option. I know my limits and once you go above them 3.5 hours into a race, it can end very poorly.

This ended up being a great choice because I kept this pace rolling for yet another 5K, getting very hard, but similar to the difficulty of the training sessions.

Now I was confident I could bring this home. The entire back half of the run in 2023 was miserable and I had already gotten past halfway feeling strong.

16K, 17K, 18K went by very slowly and I knew I was headed for ruin at this point. Legs were heavy and quads were blown apart. The pace slowed to 4:00/km which was still not bad. The pace ballooned up to almost 5:00/km in 2023 when I started to lose my luster.

The final bridge on the course is where the lights went out, both this year and last year. It is a steep overpass that crushes you. I tried to pull it off the coals on the downslope and did so despite the quads screaming at me. The final 10-minute stretch through downtown was agonizing, but I pushed with everything I had. There was a volunteer with a garden hose and cold water and I literally soaked up this opportunity for a pick-me-up before a final 3-minute push. Quite helpful!

Legs hammered to the hilt, I crossed the line with a 1:22 run split and a finish time of 4:23. A 16th overall finish on the day and a 12-minute overall improvement from 2023.

• Similar swim

• 8 minutes faster bike

• 4 minutes faster run

• A more evenly-paced day

• A performance very similar to the training data

What it means

It is hard to justify criticism of yourself when the end result of the race was consistent with training data. However, the critical eye keeps you coming back for more and finding new ways to improve. After all, I improved by 12 minutes this year. Who is to say with more critique and refining that I can’t do that again?

Self-coaching

Self-coaching is tough sometimes. I received some consultation heading into this season which was a key element to improving my bike/run combo. Part of what I think limits me as my own coach is being afraid of screwing the whole thing up and taking myself out of the game. As a result, I’m not applying the right stimulus and instead playing it safe and reinforcing old (and maybe bad) habits. This does not mean I am not doing the training, but rather my “coach” mind is on one path when it should be on another. Too much of the wrong thing so to speak.

Cannot ignore the winter

Part of the reason why May was a confidence boost was that I had a rough January—March. I took a big bite out of the apple trying to do a lot of training and also finishing up school. A foundation is laid in the months before a big race, and I can’t help but think I could have been better at managing myself during this time to get an even better result last weekend. It was not that I did not do the work. It is more likely that the work was not absorbed to its fullest *see self-coaching from above.

I know I have more in the tank.

Bike speed vs power

At the end of the day, riding faster is going to come down to pushing more power. My ability to ride easily has improved quite a bit in the past year. I have expanded my so-called “Green Zone” and recent improvements in my bike/run combo was evidence of that.

While I did plenty of workouts this winter/spring where I was performing at “threshold” for longer than ever before, the absolute number was not going up. Part of this was due to the focus for the year. The limiter in the past was durability, and as mentioned, my durability improved. Equipped with a bigger base in the legs, a focus on raising the ceiling is a worthy next step. Raising the ceiling in all 3 disciplines would not be a bad move. Get fast.

Still having fun

Each year in triathlon continues to be more fun. I am showing signs of improvement even if I am not on a meteoric rise to elitism. I have been asked many times if I have professional aspirations in the sport and my answer is always that I am too far from that level to consider that a pathway. I never want to be in a position where people see me and think ‘That guy thinks he is good?”.

The search for a high-level performance may not need to be the big goal. A more fulfilling goal is to keep having fun and to expand my reach to working with more people in the sport. Performance sometimes takes care of itself when that happens.

---

As for the rest of the season, a return to some shorter triathlon racing might be the best approach. If I am going to try to raise the ceiling on the bike, racing in a way that reflects that is the best way to check my work. Once the weather cools down in the fall, a road running race campaign could be a fun way to close out the year too.