Trains, Travels

There was no plan.

That is the single, underlying cause of this season’s ups and downs. Training was leisure time; I avoided strict structure, did what I wanted and had other priorities. It wasn’t without results, apply a stress often enough and it will lead to changes, but directionless it built towards nothing and eventually collapsed. There were compounding factors, but at the core was a lack of psychological investment in my fitness, I was happy to focus elsewhere. It’s not a total write off – I’m not unfit, lessons can be learned and it leads to a different season analysis.

I don’t need to pull data from WKO+ to prove I have trained less, but putting figures into Excel gives me the raw statistics. At this point in the year I have just over five hundred hours training, 60% of my volume from 2010. Besides the large difference in hours, the distribution of training also diverges – this year 85% of my time has been spent on a bike, compared to 63% the year before. Broad overviews hide a lot, 2010 started with huge volume as I cycled the length of New Zealand, I had set myself up for a bigger year.

My analysis begins by considering weekly volumes, with particular attention on cycling. I know this year’s records are not as precise, bike data is reliable, but there are discrepancies in swim and run. As the season had been dominated by cycling I was more interested in comparing bike figures anyway, but the impact of other training can’t be ruled out. Perhaps my improvements on the bike reflected the energy I saved elsewhere?

The dark bars in the chart above show distinctive patterns between the two years. 2010 starting with more volume and has three distinct training blocks built around races. In contrast 2011 begins slowly and builds to the summer, hours tend to be steady from then on. Last year followed my boom-or-bust model, peaks of training with lows in recovery, this year was a little more even. More energy to focus on cycling and a consistent build. But hours say very little about how I’ve trained.

Training Stress Scores (TSS) begin to factor in intensity and potentially give a better indication of how I have trained. As cycling was my main interest I decided to only consider bike TSS. I again have to acknowledge that running and swimming will have influenced cycling; in particular there was a heavy run block during 2010 when cycling was almost nonexistent, weekly TSS would inevitably be lower. Aware of these limitations, comparing weekly TSS shows a similar pattern to hours, except during the summer months the difference between 2010 and 2011 is less pronounced. If anything it looks like I bank more TSS during the summer of 2011.

More bang for the buck. My power data provides more evidence that I have trained harder this year. As the chart above shows twenty minute Mean Maximal Power (MMP), the best effort for that time, was consistently higher over the summer; the same pattern is repeated with sixty minute MMP. More broadly weekly averages of mean maximal powers are around 7% higher this year. I may not have had a plan, but I was pushing myself a little harder.

Considering power output further, I plotted a full mean maximal chart, showing my best efforts over durations from one second to seven hours. Again, 2011 mostly demonstrates higher power outputs. I suspect it is largely indicative of changes in my training regime – fewer long rides, more tempo work, more sweet spot and threshold work. No plan didn’t mean I was riding without thought, most weeks I aimed for a certain mix of intensities in training. Large periods of 2010 lacked that same level of focus within individual sessions, broad goals were in place, but often I simply trained.

All of this analysis leads to some largely unremarkable conclusions:

• You can build fitness without a plan, but you won’t necessarily make the best job of it.
• You definitely won’t deal with injury, layoffs or poor time management well without one.
• Not running or swimming gives you much more energy to put into cycling.
• Cycling harder makes you a better cyclist.

Unsurprising, but a reminder of how being a working athlete and being a full-time athlete differ. The laissez faire approach to training that worked at higher volumes, doesn’t work when I have other distractions. If I want to continue to grow my business and continue to develop as an athlete I need to properly plan. I don’t need to worry about the hours, consistently applying an appropriate level of stress over a long period of time works – riding slightly harder for three months, delivered far better results than a four week burst of high mileage. Next season I can plan, manage volume and intensity more and achieve better results.

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I wasn’t there, but I’ve spent more time analysing Kona data that in previous years. Following my look at Nick Baldwin’s incredibly controlled race I received four more power files from my friend Roger Canham. Roger has raced in Hawaii every year since 2008 and wanted my view on the power data over that period. He’s been incredibly consistent with finish times falling within minutes of each other, and placing as high as seventh in his age group in 2009.

2011

Another text book example of pacing, average power remains consistent across the entire day. There is a little more variability than in Nick’s race, but the difference isn’t huge. What does stand out is the pacing strategy – Nick races at 75% of his FTP, Roger has raced around 80% of his FTP every time. I raised Cap 1 in the chart to reflect this intentionally harder effort.

Breaking out the percentage of time Roger spends above each cap we can see that 65-70% of his time is above that 80% of FTP point. He consistently holds this over the ride with little real drop off, any decline in the third quarter is likely a result of the descent from Hawi. And he ran well afterwards – feeling in control and reducing the gap on the age group winner. The whole race was controlled, but his pacing strategy was more aggressive than Nick’s.

2008

Roger’s first trip to the island wasn’t that different. There is a little more decline, clearly he pushed harder in the early stages of the race, but it’s still well controlled. Again he’s working at around 80% of FTP, but he runs well enough to finish in 9:47. Roger’s strong run allows him to push the bike more and hold on for the marathon.

2009

The second trip to Hawaii was a different affair. There’s a significant decline in power over the course of the race. Overall he managed the same average and normalised power as in 2008, but achieved it through an excessively hard first half. This can clearly be seen in the power distribution below.

It’s worth noting Roger still finished in 9:46 and seventh in his age group. The pacing may look poor, but once again he ran well off of it. I remember running with him along Ali’i Drive until he dropped me a few miles in, the rest of the race all I could do was hold him one minute ahead. The result was good, just not achieved in the way we might expect. I would much rather see the flatter profiles of 2008 or 2011, whether that would have resulted in an even better performance is another question. Potentially his run was aided by recovering at the lower power of the final quarter.

2010

Again the power trends down, but this time it doesn’t start as high. This is his lowest power year in Kona and the only time Intensity Factor (IF) drops below 0.80; variability was up and power down. A fade like that would typically suggest that an athlete worked too hard to begin – the effort was unsustainable. 2010 stands out amongst the other files as Roger never seemed to be up to working at his usual level.

The first quarter was sensibly controlled, then things pick up in the second with the climb to Hawi, after that he never manages to sustain that effort, the final quarter appears to be far weaker than in previous trips. Whatever affected power output on the bike was recovered on the run and he ran to a respectable 9:50 finish. Again a weaker final quarter may have kept him fresher for the run.

Overall

There is remarkable consistency in Roger’s performances, despite changes in the details. Top level power numbers haven’t changed much other than a dip in 2010, but the quality of pacing has and this year saw no real decline. Holding an effort that trended just below 80% of FTP worked and set him up for a new Hawaii PB. The data looks good and given he can run well off the back of it 80% seems a reasonable target to use. There’s no real scope to race at a higher intensity so the next step has to be raising FTP and having more power to work with.

Roger’s position reminds me of my own – we know how to race, all we can do is keep working to raise our power and pace.

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I didn’t enjoy Kona much this year – I wasn’t there. I hate to admit it, but I followed the event with jealousy; I’ve only been twice, but after a few years trying to qualify it has become part of my season. Each blog I read or podcast I listened to made me more determined to return. I wanted to be there. I have unfinished business on the island – I’ve yet to race my best. My first year was good, a surprising result, but the second was marred by injury and performance fell short of expectations. I haven’t managed perfect race execution in Kona.

Checking results on Sunday morning I was pleased to see Nick Baldwin had claimed second in his age group with a time of 9:18:15. I’d met Nick in Hawaii the previous year when he had a solid debut. He wanted more and dedicated himself to improving, his goal was the age group podium. Following Nick’s blog there was no doubt about the commitment or the potential. His hard work paid off and he executed a perfectly paced race on Saturday.

He also logged it and was generous enough to send me his data to examine.

Swim

Nick doesn’t have a swim background. In 2010 he was a similar pace to me, but consistent training this year saw him out of the water in an hour; a good swim by Kona standards. While there’s no GPS or other data to look at, from Nick’s description it was a matter of controlled effort.

If one factor defines the day it was control – Nick was always working comfortably within his ability.

Bike

A text book Ironman bike. No spiking of effort, power comfortably within the cap and increasing over the ride. Nick’s tactics were similar to mine – hold back a little until Hawi, then on return to the Queen K lift the pace. In my experience many athletes push too hard to the turn around and struggle to sustain the effort back to town. Paced correctly you spend the second half of the race moving through the field. Not only do you gain places, but it’s a huge boost to morale.

Nick spent virtually no time above FTP, he rode almost the entire race at 70-80% of it. The most common mistakes I see in Ironman power files are riding too hard initially (see my recent Challenge Henley data for that) and spikes in power, particularly those crossing FTP. The former leads to an inevitable decline in performance as the race wears on, the latter can see a notable fade towards the end of the ride. Both drain the legs and if they don’t cost time on the bike they will on the run.

The final chart shows Nick quickly got his heart rate under control out of transition – the result of good pacing. The early section of the bike on Kuakini Highway is crowded, it’s tough to keep in control up this tough incline. There is a slight upward trend in HR and power over the 112 miles, nothing severe, but it shows how controlled that early part of the race was. Nick never worked beyond his limits and as planned was able to raise the effort for the retune leg.

I already mentioned jealousy – I am jealous of such a text book ride.

Run

In 2010 ! passed Nick about 10 miles into the marathon, it lasted for a mile before he came back. Shortly after Palani I started to fade on route to my detonation in the Energy Lab. Nick remained consistent and finished strongly, but he knew he needed more. One of his focusses for the season was improving his run. This year he stared with a goal of running 3:15, achieving 3:18 shows how carefully he paced himself.

The only change to Nick’s steady pace is when he walks aid stations, otherwise the consistency is impressive. Heart rate settles and holds steady from the start only rising as he lifts the effort towards the end of the race. Pace doesn’t change vastly, but at that point it’s often about being able to hold pace. Clearly Nick did – perfect execution that took him from third off the bike into second overall.

An impressive result from an impressively controlled race. To hold yourself back early on the bike takes discipline, but pays off. Nick spent a lot of time practicing riding above race pace, by race day he was confident he could easily handle the effort. He’s also been working to improve run performance with lots of consistent work to develop his marathon pace. It’s a step up, but running remains the area he has a lot to gain in. There’s ten minutes to the age group winner, something to target for next year.

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