Kilkee Hell of the West June 27th 2009

savaloy

Bambaata wrote: »

great event, great setup, great day...... huge failure for me! I'm still upset at how bad i did. The swim was ok. I know i need work there. Bike went ok too but i wasnt as strong as i'd generally be on it but the run was atrocious. I could just about manage a jog at best and never got running. I was passed by god knows how many people (i'd say about 30 or 40) and only passed one or two people myself. Still dejected from it and it was one hell of a kick in the arse. What made me realise how badly i did was looking at times of competitors i've been finishing close to or ahead of all year. I was 10 mins down on them yesterday!!

Huge amount learned though so at least i can take a lot from that. It was my 2nd Olympic distance and i know now my stamina obviously isn't the greatest. Over the sprint distance it hasnt been an issue but i died a death on that run yesterday.

I wouldn't beat yerself up about the run as it was a challenging ask. Whilst the conditions were good you've got factor in that you'd have been on the bike for longer before starting the run based on a 45k loop

Bambaata

ah yeah. i learned loads too anyway and it has spurred me to try harder next time. there's a huge step up from sprint to Olympic distance and the experience will only benefit me in future. congrats on your result, that was a fantastic time. i think i remember you steaming past me near the end of the bike. Recently started following your blog on TT so congrats on achieving what you set out to achieve. Am i right in saying you're based in England? And if so how come you're coming over here for so many events?

savaloy

Bambaata wrote: »

ah yeah. i learned loads too anyway and it has spurred me to try harder next time. there's a huge step up from sprint to Olympic distance and the experience will only benefit me in future. congrats on your result, that was a fantastic time. i think i remember you steaming past me near the end of the bike. Recently started following your blog on TT so congrats on achieving what you set out to achieve. Am i right in saying you're based in England? And if so how come you're coming over here for so many events?

Ta. Yep, based in London. A number of reasons for travelling over. Main reason is to qualify for European/World AG champs (hence picking National Series races). I also enjoy travelling over and spending time with my dad now he's retired and its good practice getting used to packing/flying with bike. I also like doing new races in different places. The fact that the majority of the races aren't at an unearthly hour on a Sunday morning helps - the three prep races i've done in the UK this year have involved getting up at 3am/3:30am on a sunday to eat breakfast for starts at 7am, 6:25am and 7am respectively :eek: what's next for you?

Bambaata

wow and i thought we had early starts sometimes!! Next up for me is Athlone Sprint and i'm glad its a few weeks away. I'm wrecked after the past few weeks so i'm going to do some easy sessions for a few days before getting back up to speed. I think i go out too fast so sprints suit me fine so Athlone should go ok. Getting a HRM soon (Garmin 310XT) once its released so that might help me know if i am going too hard to start.

This year for me is mainly an experience year, check out the courses, see how training goes and hopefully learn a little so i can race much faster next year. I'll certainly be going back to Kilkee for revenge as it wont sit good with me until i get a time there i am happy with! I'm a little concerned with some of the remaining races though as they are all standard distances after athlone but I'm also looking forward to them.

savaloy

That makes sense - the XT looks like a good piece of kit. I run with a 305 and love it. Hopefully get to put a face to a name at Athlone as i'm doing the sprint too

Spins

savaloy wrote: »

Jeez, the run lived up to the billing, but the conditions were great. Pleased with the result - managed to win the 40-44AG and came 8th overall, but my run wasn't pretty. Chatting to someone afterwards about the Beast of the East and they said that HOTW was tame in comparison :eek: What about you?

Kilkee was my first Olympic yesterday and I suffered badly on the run, passed by at least 40 people, possibly 50+.... And I had passed about that many on the bike, doh! Really enjoyed the event though, will be back (as a better runner!). huge step up from sprint to olympic though....

My next olympic in three weeks time is Beast of the East so you've really scared me now about the run...... Can anyone else out there confirm if it really is that bad in comparison to HOTW please?

Bambaata

exact same as you spins. i passed 50+ on the bike but most of them then passed me on the run.

I decided against BotE for that very reasdon. Doing Carna instead.

Yeah would be great to put a face to the name savaloy.

tunney

Spins wrote: »

Kilkee was my first Olympic yesterday and I suffered badly on the run, passed by at least 40 people, possibly 50+.... And I had passed about that many on the bike, doh! Really enjoyed the event though, will be back (as a better runner!). huge step up from sprint to olympic though....

My next olympic in three weeks time is Beast of the East so you've really scared me now about the run...... Can anyone else out there confirm if it really is that bad in comparison to HOTW please?

most likely they weren't better runners you just went too hard on the bike. For most people a winters solid biking doesn't affect their bike splits too much but their run splits get alot faster and they think the bike training was a waste and thy they're now better runners.

it's all about pacing.

Bambaata

is pacing something u get over time or can the HRM's help? I'm sure my pacing is terrible for multisport. I'm fine in 1 discipline but cant seem to get it right in Tri. I've exploded in the two standard distances races i've done to date

tunney

tunney wrote: »

most likely they weren't better runners you just went too hard on the bike. For most people a winters solid biking doesn't affect their bike splits too much but their run splits get alot faster and they think the bike training was a waste and thy they're now better runners.

it's all about pacing.

As requested an elabaoration.

In a straight 10k the better runner will win.
In a 40km bike/10km run the fastest run split will go to the better biker/runner and not to the better runner.

if you don't have the bike fitness you effectively dip into you run fitness and you are shagged starting the run and won't run well.

Being shagged starting the run comes from two things:
1) not being bike fit enough. understandable enough. solution is to do better bike training.
2) is much more common and more ignored. Pacing. Going hard on the bike is fun. its great. but its also the best way to ensure that you cannot run off the bike. If you overcook the bike you will suffer and struggle on the run. Triathlon - especially over sprint distance is all about pacing. To use Ironman racing as an example. Its very common for people to push hard to try ang get under 5 hours. If they just rode they might come in 5:15 (this is typically the example used). They have a "great bike leg and come in in 4:59 but then they "run" 4:15 for the marathon. The convincing argument made is that the 15 minutes saved on the bike cost them 1:00 on the run.

Basically what I am saying is if you bike to hard you suffer on the run.

As for finding the ideal pacing strategy, there are tricks and things you can try in early season racing to learn where your personal limit is but mainly its all about experience.
Remember its not a swim + a bike + a run it is a swim,bike,run. The legs cannot and should not be viewed in isolation. Don't think you want your fastest bike split and then your fastest run split. You want your fastest bike/run split. If that means taking the foot off the gas on the bike 5% then do it. Its all very personal and specific.

MCOS

savaloy wrote: »

Jeez, the run lived up to the billing, but the conditions were great. Pleased with the result - managed to win the 40-44AG and came 8th overall, but my run wasn't pretty. Chatting to someone afterwards about the Beast of the East and they said that HOTW was tame in comparison :eek: What about you?

Savage! Well done!

MCOS

Bambaata wrote: »

This year for me is mainly an experience year, check out the courses, see how training goes and hopefully learn a little so i can race much faster next year. I'll certainly be going back to Kilkee for revenge .

Me Too! Well done Saturday, it was a tough one. Everyone commented on how tough the run was..

Bambaata

Well done too MCOS. that was a sore one!

smcgui

Congrats to all who took part in this race. I was a spectator on the day and took a rake of pictures, so if you would like to see them, I may have caught a few of you on camera, they are available at http://pix.ie/smcgui/album/347596

savaloy

smcgui wrote: »

Congrats to all who took part in this race. I was a spectator on the day and took a rake of pictures, so if you would like to see them, I may have caught a few of you on camera, they are available at http://pix.ie/smcgui/album/347596

cheers buddy, managed to find one of me coming in off the bike

smcgui

savaloy wrote: »

cheers buddy, managed to find one of me coming in off the bike

Glad to be of service!;)