Chinook Half Ironman Race Report Part 2
By: Rafael Lopez
The Bike
The bike is my strong suit so coming out of the water so far back didn't rattle me at all. The first few km I settled into my pace and stayed in low zone 2, so heart rate around 150-155, and power around 75% of my FTP.
I quickly started gaining position and was feeling good in the first few minutes but not long after I realized I wasn't feeling 100% internally. I can't really describe it but my legs felt cool and heavy, and for a little bit I was starting to get a stitch. I started to think about my ankle from the night before and was really playing headgames with myself. This lasted for the first maybe 15km of the ride. The saving grace was that at this time I was also making up huge positions.
Around 30km things started to feel better and the field had really thinned out. By this time individual riders were at least 500m apart. We were starting to get into the hills and I was having no issues keeping pace. I kept calling "left!" to make sure the guys I was passing knew I was coming since I really don't like getting over the line on some sections on that roadway.
Approaching the turnaround I counted about 20 riders coming the other way, but couldn't tell who was racing and who was just out riding but figured I was in the top 20 anyways. Reached the turnaround and some confusion with the guy controlling traffic really upset me so I just dropped the hammer and hauled ass on the way back.
I stuck to my strategy during the bike. For the first 1/3 ride in Zone 2 with HR sub 160 with power about 75% of FTP. Then the second 2/3 ride in high Zone 2-low zone 3 with HR in 160's, power at 80-85% FTP. Its a course with a couple big climbs, and a lot of rollers so the strategy on those was to not exceed 110% FTP on the short hills, and 100% FTP on the long climbs which wouldn't last more than 5 minutes anyways. Over 55km/hr I'd just tuck in and get small. Its a tricky course to get a read on power though since most of the time you're either climbing, or spinning out.
Nutrition also went according to plan, 1 hammer gel every half hour, and finish two bottles of Perpetuum, no need to stop at aid stations.
Time: 2:56:12 for 96km. 3119 ft of climbing. Ave HR 160bpm, Max HR 172bpm. Ave Cadence 92rpm. 7th fastest bike time of the day.
Transition 2: 1:07.
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Rafael Lopez is a local Calgarian Triathlete and Blogger.
Read more at http://run-raf-run.blogspot.com/
Follow him @raflopez
The Bike
The bike is my strong suit so coming out of the water so far back didn't rattle me at all. The first few km I settled into my pace and stayed in low zone 2, so heart rate around 150-155, and power around 75% of my FTP.
I quickly started gaining position and was feeling good in the first few minutes but not long after I realized I wasn't feeling 100% internally. I can't really describe it but my legs felt cool and heavy, and for a little bit I was starting to get a stitch. I started to think about my ankle from the night before and was really playing headgames with myself. This lasted for the first maybe 15km of the ride. The saving grace was that at this time I was also making up huge positions.
Around 30km things started to feel better and the field had really thinned out. By this time individual riders were at least 500m apart. We were starting to get into the hills and I was having no issues keeping pace. I kept calling "left!" to make sure the guys I was passing knew I was coming since I really don't like getting over the line on some sections on that roadway.
Approaching the turnaround I counted about 20 riders coming the other way, but couldn't tell who was racing and who was just out riding but figured I was in the top 20 anyways. Reached the turnaround and some confusion with the guy controlling traffic really upset me so I just dropped the hammer and hauled ass on the way back.
I stuck to my strategy during the bike. For the first 1/3 ride in Zone 2 with HR sub 160 with power about 75% of FTP. Then the second 2/3 ride in high Zone 2-low zone 3 with HR in 160's, power at 80-85% FTP. Its a course with a couple big climbs, and a lot of rollers so the strategy on those was to not exceed 110% FTP on the short hills, and 100% FTP on the long climbs which wouldn't last more than 5 minutes anyways. Over 55km/hr I'd just tuck in and get small. Its a tricky course to get a read on power though since most of the time you're either climbing, or spinning out.
Nutrition also went according to plan, 1 hammer gel every half hour, and finish two bottles of Perpetuum, no need to stop at aid stations.
Time: 2:56:12 for 96km. 3119 ft of climbing. Ave HR 160bpm, Max HR 172bpm. Ave Cadence 92rpm. 7th fastest bike time of the day.
Transition 2: 1:07.
-------------------------------------------------
Rafael Lopez is a local Calgarian Triathlete and Blogger.
Read more at http://run-raf-run.blogspot.com/
Follow him @raflopez