Ironman Boulder Prep -- 2016 vs 2018

Summary

I am writing this summary to provide a comparison between two seasons to help understand the foundation of performance, which is health, training, and general preparation.  There is good deal of similarity between the two seasons, but also some enhancements preparing for Ironman Boulder this year.  For example,

• Going into Boulder, 2016 I had three months of reasonable heath upon which I was able to add training.  Coming into Boulder this year I have a full five months of solid training and health
• I am currently about 8-pounds heavier than in 2016; extra weight is gained muscle mass, which has manifested in more swim speed and bike power
• I am now swimming in the top 3-percentile of the age-group, versus 20-percentile in 2016, which means about a 5+ minute faster swim split
• I was still able to accumulate a greater bike training load as compared to 2016
• Also, at the same effort level, I am producing ~12 more Watts as compared to 2016, with equates to about 7-minute faster bike split
• My running base is "deeper" now as compared to 2016
• In 2018, to enhance late-race fitness, I included 3-4 big acute training blocks of 3-days vs only one in 2016
• My swim, bike, and run performance during Half Ironman races in 2018 is showing significant improvement over 2016

General Health

Early-2016 was when I started noticing something was wrong with my health and engaged NourishBalanceThrive for help.  We started to peel the onion, discovering and addressing layers of issues.  May-2016 was when I started to regain some footing on my health.  Part of the intervention involved going gluten & dairy free and doing Whole30.  By June, I felt like things were moving in the right direction and my training & race performance reflected that.  Thus, going into IM-Boulder, I had three months of training on reasonable health.  Attempting to train while ill is like over-stuffing a bag -- things will overflow and the bag will burst.

In 2017, I had to completely pull the plug from training and racing; my training and racing was just not progressing well.  I went back to the Lyme doc that was treating me in 2012 and we discovered I still had two co-infections, which were likely the cause of the issues going back to 2016.  After the first 3-month treatment protocol, the more dominant of the co-infections, Babesia, had been beaten back.  The next three months killed the second, Bartonella.  Also during this time, we discovered the crawlspace in our house had three mold species that were at extremely elevated levels, which were surely not helping matters.  So, we engaged an incredible local firm to mitigate the mold, which was present throughout the house.

Toward the end of 2017, I started to feel like I could slowly resume training.  I was sleeping better, and able to add a progressively greater training load.  I started with the swim, then resumed running -- after having completely stopped running for three months.  By the end of January, I had established a training load greater than all prior seasons.  Without good health, that is not possible.  Since then, I have been able to add both intensity and volume.  Thus, coming into IM-Boulder, 2018 I have a full five months of solid training and health.  Different from 2016, my diet is far more "relaxed" now; I am enjoying my burritos and burgers, and cocktails on occasion.  I am currently about 8-pounds heavier than in 2016.  One might think that the different diet could be to blame, but I am at least as lean as 2016, which means the extra weight is gained muscle mass, which has manifested in more swim speed and bike power.

Nutritional Prep

While my diet has been far more relaxed in 2018, I have still maintained regular & frequent carb-fasted and/or cab-restricted training sessions with no carbs since the night before, including:

• a few 18-20 mile morning runs
• nearly every Monday morning swim/spin session (~2-hours)
• nearly every Wednesday swim/torque-interval session (~2.5-hours)
• each of the longer brick days, including the 100-mile ride + 5-mile run on 250kCal or carbs

So, I am perhaps even more nutritionally prepared to burn fat as compared to 2016.

Mental Training

A month prior to Kona, 2016 I started meditating with Muse.  As I note in the Kona race recap, I did not appreciate the benefits until in the midst of the race, which was perfect!  However, as I did not start this practice until later in the year, I did not have the benefit of this mental training going into Boulder-2016.  I have noticed this year that tap into the regular, relaxed breathing technique practiced during meditating during threshold interval sessions.  While I have not maintained a regular practice of meditating, I had resumed a few weeks ago.  I suspect this "refresher" may come to my aid on race day this year.  

Swim

Similar to 2016, I established a big swim block in the winter, which culminated with a 10k swim on New Years Day, 2018.  Different from 2016, I have been swimming with the "masters group" at the Y, which has surely helped my technique and speed.  I started 2016 with a 500yd time-trial time of ~7:00.  This year, I was able to reduce that time to 6:36, which represents about a 6% improvement in speed.  This improvement in swim fitness has translated into the races as well, where I am now swimming in the top 3-percentile of the age-group, versus 20-percentile in 2016.  What this means at the Ironman distance is about 5-minutes improvement in the swim.

Bike

In general, the bike training between the two seasons has been very similar.  What's new in 2018 is that I am teaching spin class twice a week now.  What that means is I am teaching a high-intensity spin class the day after my long run.  It's been tough, but I think it's helped build more bike strength.  I have also transitioned my torque intervals from a solo activity to a spin class.  I have enjoyed helping other folks get stronger too!

What is different this year is that the early season (February - April) were solely intensity focused.  Every single bike session was intensity based, including:

• Monday: 1-hour spin (IF ~ 0.90)
• Wednesday: 1-hr VO2max intervals (IF ~ 1.00)
• Friday: 1-hr Threshold Intervals (IF ~ 0.90)
• Saturday: 90-min Torque Intervals (IF ~ 0.90, but at 60RPM)

It's likely a small impact, but worth mentioning, that I started using my first road bike outfitted with PowerCranks for my sessions at home.  I was surprised at how quickly I was able to adapt to this setup and am confident it has made my pedal stroke more efficient and strong.

Also different from 2016 is that I deferred the longer bike sessions until just 6-weeks prior to IM-Boulder, where in 2018 I started 9-weeks out.  While the longer-bike phase was shortened, the number of longer rides was just one fewer than 2016 (6 vs 7).

Additionally, while I tried to keep the torque intervals throughout the season in 2016, there were only two such sessions in the day before the long rides.  However, in 2018 I have been able to do 5x torque interval sessions the day before the long rides.  These back-to-back sessions surely accumulate to additional bike strength, especially in long-course racing.

While the long ride phase was shortened, I was still able to accumulate a greater bike training load as compared to 2016.  The bike Performance Management Curve (PMC) shows I hit a peak bike bCTL of 72 (~81 in TrainingPeaks) in 2018 vs 64 (~72 in TP) in 2016.

What is also different about 2018 is more bike power at the same heart rate (HR).  That difference is clearly seen in the chart below.  For example, at 135BPM I produce 220Watts vs 208Watts (NP), in 2018 vs 2016.  To put this into Ironman bike split perspective, this 12 additional watts result in a 7-minute faster bike split on the IM-Boulder 2018 course for the same level of effort. 

Run

I ramped the running volume pretty quickly in early 2018, which allowed me to achieve and maintain a peak load for a full 12-weeks prior to IM-Boulder.  That is, I did not need to "cram" the run volume in to prep for the race this year.  In 2016, I ramped more slowly and only held the peak load for 4-weeks prior to IM-Boulder.  I think that the longer training load base will result in more robust legs for the run this year.  Also, as a result of the faster ramp I was able to get in 6x 20+ mile runs in 2018 vs 4x in 2016.

While my running base is "deeper" now as compared to 2016, I don't feel as confident in my run training as I did at this time in 2016.  I have been more fatigued for many of the longer runs, and as a result, the heart rate and pace has been depressed.  Also, the pace is about 10-seconds per mile slower at the same heart rate in training as compared to 2016.  That said, my race performance this year has surely surpassed that of 2016, including the run (see below).

Bigger Days

While IM-Boulder 2016 was a HUGE breakthrough and a near-perfect race, I still faded on the last 6-miles of the run (I slowed to an 8:22/mile pace vs 7:37/mile on the ascent).  The limit I faced was general, central fatigue.  In order to stave off that slowing, I decided to build a training plan that involved longer days than I had in 2016.  These longer days took a few different forms, including adding a run at the end of the longer bike sessions -- something I did not do in 2016.  Also, I ended up including a longer ride than I had done in 2016 -- a single 110-mile ride.  I also did a moderately "big day", where I swam 4km, rode 80-miles, then did a 1-hour heat training run later in the afternoon.  Lastly, I extended my long run to a single 22-mile run.  These various sessions resulted in a higher acute training load, which may be seen in the image below.


This graph shows the rolling, cumulative 3-day Training Stress Score (TSS) for the 90-day period preceding the race.  I chose 3-days because I have found that whatever I can do in 3-days of training, I can do in a single-day of racing.  The farthest-right blue point for 2016, was IM-Boulder, which was a TSS of 690.  In 2016, I achieved a TSS > 690 only once at about 6-weeks out of the race.  In 2018, I have achieved a TSS > 690 4 times, including in the last two and three weeks.  I believe these higher acute training loads, closer to the race will leave me fresher toward the end of the long day.

Heat Training

In 2016, I completed 8x heat training sessions.  This year, heat training has been challenging because it's been so mild.  Nonetheless, I have been able to log 4-5 sessions so far, including some infrared sauna time.  With a few more days remaining before I need to remove all stress, I should still be able to get some good heat exposure.

Race Performance

In 2016, I had a great race at Ocala in March, where I recorded a personal best (PB) half-IM (HIM) power on the bike.  I raced next at St George in May, where I placed 20th in my age-group, which was the best I had placed previously at that venue -- another PB.  Then, in June I won my age group at Boulder HIM (a first) by 7-minutes, with a solid run.  All signs were looking positive for IM-Boulder.

So far in 2018, I had a fair race at Ocala, where I went in quite fatigued from training.  The next weekend, I won my AG at TX70.3 by 8-minutes with a huge PB in the swim time & placing, bike power -- 10-Watts higher than in Ocala, 2016 -- and PB in the run split.  Five weeks later, I set a huge PB at St George, placing 2nd in my AG -- cutting 27-minutes off my prior time, with another PB bike power and run split on that course.  In short, my swim, bike, and run performance in 2018 is showing significant improvement over 2016.

Summary

As compared to 2016, I am swimming faster in the pool and riding with more power.  Also, I have established a higher training load for biking, and held my running base for 12-weeks.  Early season was marked with a higher level of intensity and I deferred the long bike sessions, allowing me to peak closer to the race.  I have also established some bigger days as compared to 2016.  Race performances indicate that there is even greater potential for IM-Boulder as compared to 2016.