Race Report: Tour of Sufferlandria

Race Report: Tour of Sufferlandria

I’m putting this under race reports even though it’s not technically a race. But it felt like one. And it worked my body more than any other race.

After nine days of suffering, I’m left with just enough energy on my first day off to review the tour. My oxygen debt has cleared for the most part, and the screams from legs are at least somewhat muted.

For starters, a review of what the Tour of Sufferlandia was supposed to be, in the words of the tour organizer, the Honorable Mr Sufferfest Himself, Dave@thesufferfest.com.

“According to Grunter von Agony, race director, “The course is carefully balanced between agony, misery and despair. So, yes, the Tour of Sufferlandria is a worthwhile target for anybody looking for an early season goal. You really ought to have some solid training behind you before you start it, and you’ll surely go through a roasting in hell during the race. When you come out the other side? With a solid 9 days of effort behind you, you will be able to take an ox, tie him to your bike, drag him up and over Mt. Sufferlandria while he tries to run the other way, and drink a flagon of ale made from the bikes of all those you crushed on your way to a glorious victory. Or the Minions will eat you for lunch. But, whatever.”

To Participate:
To join the ToS, you must simply commit to following the schedule above and ride yourself into the ground each day. Join the community on our Facebook page for inspiration in those dark moments between stages to hear stories of HONOR GLORY AND VICTORY. Those who complete and register their 9 days with our partner, TrainerRoad.com, will be be eligible for daily prizes and thrown into a pool of prizes from the ‘fest, TrainerRoad and others at the end of the event.

Aahhh, yes. The expectations were SO HIGH.  I actually got really excited for this thing. My wife thought I was going crazy, probably from too much inside time with the kids and not enough outside time in the backcountry skiing. Anywho.. I NEEDED a good consistent stretch to get me to the next level on the bike, which currently sits at about 50% of the standard triathlon racers, amongst a 10% swim and a 30% run. So, you can see that my bike leg SUCKS. I need to learn how to suffer. I need to get faster, and….like immersion training for languages, the only way to get truly faster is to go to Sufferlandria and spend some time there…suffering.

The Tour beat all my expectations in much the same manner that it beat the heck out my legs over the  nine days. Truly, on the last day…a Sunday….I stood in my church during prayers, and I think everyone could hear my legs begging for mercy as they knew what was coming up on the last day of the tour…after the crushing effort put forth on the “Revolver.”   Yeah.

I had about 5-6 weeks of mostly consistent, relatively low volume and medium intensity bike riding in me, this after a two month break from the bike but with a 24-mile-per-week run average. When I started biking again in mid-December, I quite the running but added weight lifting. I hadn’t done any really hard efforts to prepare for the tour.

On the tech side, I signed up for TrainerRoad.com, which has turned out to be quite an impressive software; I will do a separate review on that later but for now JUST SIGN UP AND DO IT because it is pretty cool. 

I also bought the ANT+ Garmin cadence/speed sensor and then near the end of the Tour got the heart rate monitor after I saw how cool the data presentation is inside TrainerRoad software.  And I just now, before sitting to write this review, bought Timex Global Trainer to read the ANT+ devices when off the trainer. The ANT+ stuff is pretty easy to work with, so any non-techie can certainly figure this stuff out.

The TrainerRoad.com software was easy to install and all that, but the numbers looked really weird on the first day. I thought it was a data smoothing problem. In reality, it was a USB wireless mouse causing the problem. I’m also learning now that the i7 quad-core laptop I bought in August to make the MountainCruises bike videos in Yellowstone National Park is good for this sort of thing; I’ve seen some references to an i5 processor having some issues.

So, let’s get to the Tour stuff!  Each day already has its own write-up on the AmphibOps.com blog.   I’m  just going to write out my basic thoughts in no particular order.

1.  The idea of this Tour of Sufferlandria is pretty darn cool.  I owned all but two videos before the tour and never thought of a daily workout for that many days in a row.  The timing was perfect; right in the middle of the winter for me in southeast Idaho without much snow on the ground right now to lure me away for skiing.

2. I applaud anyone who did all the videos at 100%. I did them at 90%, and it really took all I had to finish the Local Hero on the last day (but I did finish! And I WON! IN GLORIOUS FASHION!). 

3. The Slowtwitch.com forum for the tour has 12,137 views and 322 comments on Monday afternoon. That’s A LOT! A few years ago I had to cut out my slowtwitch.com reading because it was a huge yet incredibly useful addiction that I needed to step away from (and that was just reading with very little posting). But I checked it out to see what the word on the street was.

4.  Plan out your schedule and nutrition and clothes BEFORE the tour starts. Nothing sucks more than letting bad organization ruin your chances of finishing the tour.  You WILL have to change your shirts because they will stink from all the sweat, tears, snot, and yes maybe some blood (if you had a slight sinus infection like I did, but that’s another story).  Don’t run out of nutrition, especially Recoverite because you will need it if you are doing the workouts correctly and you have a good FTP set.  

I recommend you set a nighttime or solid afternoon time to do the workouts each day. If you plan morning workouts and oversleep just once, you’re probably screwed. However, if you do evening workouts after all the kids are in bed and such and you can force yourself to just get on the bike, you’ll do well with consistency….except now you have to deal with how to get to sleep quickly after the workouts and your body is flush with endorphins and such. Have all the videos inside one single folder on your computer before you start, or already loaded into the TrainerRoad software. They take a while to download, so it’s something you have to think about before-hand.

  - Have that beer and chips or whatever already on-hand in your house BEFORE you start Local Hero. You won't feel like going anywhere when it's done.

5. Commit to this as if it was really a race that you paid big bucks to enter. You WILL come out of it a better bicyclist. I am fairly certain my FTP has gone for 230 to 240 at least.

6. Have fun with it. Laugh at the screen prompts. Dig into the story line. That’s the beauty of the Sufferfest videos; you can really put yourself into the race with just a little bit of imagination.

7. Think about ditching all your other workouts during this week. You’ll need the energy.

8. I wonder how this might have helped me in my running? I haven’t ran in two months, and I have 20 mile trail run race in early June. I guess it can’t have hurt it.

9. At some point in the future, I’m going to do this on my own again using the same schedule.

10. At some point in the future, I’m going to do a double-version that includes 2 – 2.5 hours of video time spread across probably 4-5 days (Thursday – Sunday) to prep for the 70.3 triathlon I want to do in September.  The easiest way to do this is to be ready whenever there is 4-5 days of rain in the forecast and then just hit that whenever the weather looks crappy.

11. I think I’m going to buy the poster that’s available. It’s just too cool. And…hey Dave!....where’s my finisher shirt?

12. 1024 registered riders. 519 finished. 505 dropped. That’s almost 50% attrition. WOW!

13. Given the above numbers, I honestly feel like I accomplished something with this. I don’t have a huge sense of pride about it, but I have the same sense of accomplishment as I did when I finished my first Olympic triathlon.

14. I didn’t win any of the daily prizes, but I’m in the running for some of the overall prizes, all of which are pretty cool. The ROCKR trainer looks pretty neat, and a year of TrainerRoad will be nice.  Of course, any of them would be really nice addition to my pain cave.

15. For anyone wondering what videos might be a good recovery, checkout MountainCruises.com to cruise through Yellowstone National Park for an hour and twenty minutes on your bike trainer.

Pocatello Tri race results

Race day came and went. Nice course. Chip seal wasn't bad. Swam in my own lane in a second of two waves, then biked basically all alone, then ran basically alone, too. 6am start was EARLY but ok; would have been really hot otherwise. Only 20 people in the olympic distance, 120 or so in the sprint distance.

Completed the olympic distance in 2:25:XX. Kind of slow but a nice race.

This was the inaugural Olympic Distance race for Pocatello. Lance and crew did a GREAT job with it. Very informal, with a kind of show-n-go feel to it.

Details in a few days.

Pacific Crest Olympic Tri Race Report: Part 3 Detailed Review

Below is my detailed review of the Pacific Crest Olympic Triathlon 2011. The black text is the race plan, and then I added my post-race comments in red text to match reality to the goal.

This is the type of detailed planning I like to do to get rid of the nerves and wondering if I'm ready in the last week. By writing all this out, I have a good idea of where I want to be and if I'm truly capable of doing that.

You might notice this looks alot like a military SMEAC order (Situation, Mission, Execution, Admin/Logistics, Command/Signal). You are correct, sir! This is my adaptation of a Marine Corps order format to my own planning process for triathlon.

Finally, I should note that this is part of a bigger picture thing. I have an overall triathlon philosophy and goals plan, an annual training plan, a race plan, and then they all go back to make the next year's training and race plan. It's the standard project management cycle, really, applied to triathlon.

Anyway, enough of me talking. Here's the detailed review.

Questions and comments are encouraged! Does anyone else put together something like this?

Race Plan

Pacific Crest Olympic Triathlon

Sun River, Oregon

June 26, 2011

Situation

I’m excited about this race! It is a family weekend trip in a great venue. Unfortunately, it’s the first race of the year, and I haven’t done any open water swims. Then there is the driving factor, hopefully only ten hours of driving on Thursday. I hope that Paul will do the little kiddies’ triathlon on Friday night.

Venue/Course: This race is an Olympic Distance race in the mountains of Oregon. Elevation of the swim in the lake is about 4700ft, with a 28-mile bike course starting at 4700ft, rolling up over one hill that has 400ft of climb in 2-3 miles beginning at approx mile 12, and then down into Sun River at an elevation of 4200ft.

            Course Advantages For Me

·         The swim is in an alpine lake, which is what I normally swim in, and others from Oregon, specifically Portland, may not be used to that kind of swim.  Seems correct. Swim went well.

·         The run is at 4200ft elevation, which is the elevation that I live and train at in Pocatello. The elevation won’t be a problem for me. Elevation wasn't a problem. Didn't confirm that it was an advantage other than seeing myself pass people on the bike for the first time ever.

            Course Disadvantages For Me

·         The longer bike course is definitely a disadvantage for me because my bike leg sucks. Not sure how to think about the bike. It was fast, but it killed my run.

·         Originally, I thought the weather was going to be a disadvantage because reports say it can get hot on the run. With no hot days yet in Pocatello this year, any type of heat will be a disadvantage for me because I’m not used to any heat. Current weather reports of highs in the mid-70’s are favorable for me, although that is still on the warm side for what I’ve trained in so far. Swim went well, so this was probably "just nerves."

·          

Overall Training: I’m not happy with how the months of April and May training went. With the trainer breaking and so much travel, I lost consistency and it felt like I was restarting a training cycle nearly every Monday morning. Yet again  this year, I lost the ability to get up in the morning beginning with the time change in March, and that threw plans off. Noah came in March, and he has been less of an impact than expected (and he’s so cool!). Winter months went great, but spring months fell apart with bad weather and a broken trainer.

Swim: Swim training was sporadic at best. I didn’t get in any open water swim yet, and I don’t see that happening until I maybe get one in at the race venue. Pool temps at Reed Gym are way too hot to get any good volume at good intensity. I haven’t put my wetsuit on yet this year! This swim is going to be tough!

Bike: Trainer broke, and then I lost all consistency. With the time change in March, I lost the ability to get up in the morning for early morning workouts (although I did great January, February and early March!). I haven’t had nearly enough time on the roads as I want, but I have done several 28 mile road rides to the ski-hill turn, and I think those will pay huge dividends during the race when I start struggling mentally; having done the full 28 miles, I’ll have that confidence that it is really only ten minutes longer than the regular ride.

Run: I ran great all winter, with great consistency, and into spring for the most part. In May and early June, I lost some consistency, but my lunch-10k time kept coming down, so I guess I was doing something right. I haven’t done a full race brick at a hard pace, so I don’t know how the bike will affect my run during the race; I suspect I’ll be hurting at the end of race, which is how it should be anyway. Earlier this year, I ran a lifetime PR of 17:40 3-mile on my PFT, so I’m certainly a better runner than last year. I ran a 10 minute 1.5 mile off a 110% effort on a 10k bike ride, and that included a tough first .75 miles and a negative split of 20 seconds on just a .75 mile out/back…so I should definitely look at getting faster from miles 1 to 4 or 5 and then just hanging on and pushing every possible bit for mile 6 in the race.

Equipment: Nothing significant is new this year. I replaced my cleats but haven’t actually put them on yet; not sure I want to at this point because then they are new gear on race day.  I didn’t get new goggles, so racing with the face mask again, which is probably a good thing.

Psychology: Confidence is hit and miss this year. I feel strong and confident on some days, and then I start thinking about the inconsistency of my bike riding and no hard race-distance bricks done yet,  and any confidence is quickly shattered.  Also, I know that the swim is going to be difficult and painful, so that is concerning to me and affects confidence. I’m surprised at how I am becoming a much better runner, so maybe that will kick in the confidence levels for the last mile or two push into the finish on race day.

Mission

On June 26, 2011, finish the Pacific Crest Olympic Triathlon in under 2:30 while maintaining a weekend focus on having fun with Tera’s family and ensuring safety at all times.

Intent: This is a family trip combined with my “A” race for the year (and so far only race except the Bengal Tri). Stay safe. Have fun. Race my best, finishing in the top 15% of my age group and top 10% overall. If that means a podium in my age group, that’s awesome, but it’s not a big deal if I don’t place in my age group.

Mission accomplished except for the overall time goal. Family remained priority. We stayed safe. I raced my best, certainly didn't give up and things went pretty well overall (no flats, etc). About 18% in age group, so missed that just barely. Met 10% overall; no podium.

Objectives and Tasks

Goal Times (Perfect World / High Realistic / Average)

	Perfect	High Exp	Avg Exp	Actual
Swim	0:22:00	0:23:00	0:25:00	24:31
T1	0:01:45	0:02:15	0:03:00	3:30
Bike	1:18:00	1:23:00	1:27:00	1:21:46
T2	0:01:15	0:01:45	0:02:15	1:23
Run	0:43:30	0:45:00	0:47:00	49:30
Total	2:26:30	2:35:00	2:44:15	2:40:40

 

*61 40-44 males registered on June 20, 2011

Top 10% overall in 2011 was 2:37:23

Top 10% Males 40-44 in 2011 was 2:27:40

3^rd place in Males 40-44 in 2011 was 2:24:31

4^th place in Males 40-44 in 2011 was 2:27:40

Execution

Travel Safely

-          Vehicle PM before leaving. Yes

-          Rotate tires before leaving. Yes

-          Pack so I don’t have blind spots. Yes

-          Drive the speed limit. Mostly

-          Stop driving if I’m drowsy. Yes

Have Fun

-          Try to get Paul to do the kiddie triathlon. Yes but didn't do it. Not really ready.

-          Don’t be so serious about the race that I don’t have fun on Friday and Saturday. Yes

-          Go out and cheer others on. Spread the good vibes. Yes

-          Remember that family comes before the race on the overall priority list. Yes

Finish the Race in under 2:30

            Pre-Race

-          Eat healthy as possible but don’t starve myself. Maintain normal diet as much as possible. Yes

-          Setup T1 appropriately the night before. Things have to be neat and tidy and minimized, ready to be thrown in the bag quickly right before I leave with nothing left to chance being left laying around on the ground. Yes

-          Setup T2 appropriately. Minimize the area. Flag it if rules allow. Should be just shoes and gel with a shot of HEED available. Yes

-          Understand and practice the morning logistics of travel to the lake and not being able to go back up there easily. Yes

-          Try to get a short swim or two in the wetsuit in the lake on Friday or Saturday. Yes

-          Set bike gear correctly…big ring, two from top on the back. Yes

Swim

-          Goal Times: 22:00 – 23:00 – 25:00

-          Goal Average Heart Rate = 148 (kind of guessing on this; it seems high) 153

-          Get a good ten minute warm-up before the race begins, with a bit of water down in the suit to warm up. Yes

-          Don’t forget my defog gel! Or Earplugs, Or Goggles. Yes

-          Relax on the first 500 yards. Start with a MODERATE pace and BREATHE. Yes

-          Find someone to follow so I don’t have to site, drafting if possible. Yes

-          LONG and STRONG strokes.  Yes

-          Pick up the pace going 500 – 1300 meters, then cruise in for last 200 meters. Yes but had to pick my way through swimmers at the last 200 yards.

-          If panic comes on, immediately begin backstroke to gather myself mentally. No panic!

-          Brush toes and keep knees close together to keep streamlined. Yes

            T1

-          Goal Times: 1:45 – 2:15 – 3:00 3:30. Slow but went ok, had to ensure everything was in the transition bag, and I needed to grab extra water.

-          Run to the bike area with suit on, start unzipping 20 yards away from bike. Yes

-          Use right hand to undo the neck, left hand to unzip. Yes Worked well. Faster than normal.

-          Rip that sucker off…don’t worry about tearing it. Yes. stuck on ankles again(!).

-          Socks or not? TBD morning of. Socks

-          Jam everything into the bag and then into the transport bag. Yes

-          Smooth is fast. Yes

-          Shot of gel before leaving T1. Yes

Bike

-          Goal Times: 1:18 – 1:23 – 1:27 for 28 mile course with a big hill and elevation. Very difficult to gauge my goal times on this course until I see it. If I average 22mph over a flat course, it should take about 1:17. This course has a big uphill and then a long downhill, so I don’t know how to calculate expected speeds. 1:21:46 Got into the high expectations on this one. Felt good, was worried how it would affect my run, but it was going really well so I went with it.

-          Goal Average Heart Rate = 156 160 actual

-          Out of the gate: Get on and get going. Set cruise early on at heart rate of 156. No. HR was 160 the entire way with very little fluctuation. I came out of T1 at 148, and immediately went to 160.

-          Head down, choke up on the seat, stay low and narrow. Yes

-          Turn the circle, lift the knees. Yes

-          Gels at Miles 4, 14 – TA, 22, 26. Mostly.

-          HEED at Miles 6, 15, 24 No. No water bottle! Water at 6 and 12, then no other. Dehyrdration caught up with me at mile 4 on the run, combined with the heat.

-          If I flat, take a split and then fix it and move on. Don’t let it upset my day. “Start Over” with the new split. No Flat

-          Push hard on the uphill to take advantage of “speed percentages” it’s easier to be 10% faster on the uphill than on the downhill. Yes

-          Remember to keep pushing even on the downhill. Head down and go, just like the trainer. Yes, lots of fun.

-          Left Arm Notes: Gel: 4, TA, 22, 26. Bike TA=39  Push UP, Hard Cruise, AHR=156 No arm notes. I'm able to remember what I need during teh races now.

            T2

-          Goal Times: 1:15 / 1:45 / 2:15  1:23! Good job!

-          In and out. Yes

-          Shot of Gel and HEED before leaving. Yes

Run

-          Goal Times:  43:30 / 45:00 / 47:00 No. Died at mile 4. Very tired by mile 3. Dehydration and heat got me.

-          Goal Paces 1-7:30 2–7:20 (14:50) 3–7:10 (21:50) 4–7:00 (28:50) 5–6:40 (35:30) 6–6:40  (42:10) What a joke. Came out of the gate at 7:04 and the slower from there. Didn't get good splits after the first mile because I wasn't tracking the correct mile marker signs.

-          Goal Average Heart Rate: 164  No, 168 actual. Fluctuated alot between 164 and 171 but 168 looks like average.

-          First half mile: get breathing under control and get the brain in run mode. Yes

-          Get into a good groove early and build from there. No. Never got the groove really, certainly didn't build.

-          Gels at 1, 2.5, 4 Yes

-          Right Arm Notes: Gels 1, 2.5, 5 Build to Strong Finish AHR=164 Run T/A=22 No. didn't put notes on arms.

-          Good strong finish such that I’m completely DUN at the end. No strong finish but I was definitely DUN at the end...DUN squared times ten is probably a better description.

-          Dump water on head at aid stations. Yes

-          Sips at stations, no big drinks. Yes

Equipment

-          Soak wetsuit prior to putting on. Yes

-          Test ride after race tires put on. Yes

-          Clean bike = fast bike Yes, Friday afternoon

-          Clean chain = smooth chain Yes, Friday afternoon

Psych

-          Have Fun! Yes

-          Enjoy the race. Encourage others. Yes

-          Thank volunteers. Yes

-          Don’t get pissy about the results. This is a family fun weekend.  Yes, except for first hour right after race when I was hurting really bad.

            Post-Race

-          Relax. Yes

-          Review plan; compare plan to reality. Immediately write it down, along with corrective actions. Yes

-          Thank Tera. Yes

Admin / Logistics

Packing List: use standard gear list. Travel with everything for the race in one pack, and then split it into T1 and T2 packs on Friday. Transitions are separate locations.

On the bike

Need two flasks of gel. One for bike. One for run.

One bottle of HEED on the bike.

Repair kit on the bike, with hand pump taped under upper frame bar. 2xPitStop taped on, too.

Clothes

-          Wetsuit, Goggles, Ear Plugs, defogger

-          Tri shorts, green compression shirt, socks TBD – gels in pocket from T1

-          Sunglasses

-          Nike running shoes.

Timeline and Tasks

Event	Time / Day	Note
Depart Pocatello	0400, Thursday
Arrive Sunriver	1500, Thursday
Check-in for race Attend Expo View lake / drive bike course	0900, Friday
Setup bike and T1 bag	1400, Friday
Kiddies Triathlon	Preps @ 1500, Friday Race  @ 1600, Friday
Bike Transport	1000, Saturday
Setup T2	1500, Saturday
Race Day Reveille	0530, Sunday
Ride to lake	0630, Sunday
Arrive at lake	0700, Sunday
Recheck T1	0715, Sunday
Wetsuit on, warmup	0730 – 0800, Sunday	Have to get out for other races to start.
0910	Game-On!

Maps

Swim

Bike

Bike Elevation Profile

Run

Budget

Race Fee	$93
		$80	race fee
		$5	active.com fee
		$8	taxes
		$93	total race cost
Gas	$221
		$4	$/gal
		1200	RT miles
		19	avg mpg
		$221	total gas cost
Billeting	$500
		$125	nightly
		4	nights
		$500	total billeting
Food	$120
		$30	$/day
		4	days
		$120	total food
Misc	$200
		$50	$/day misc
		4	days
		$200	total misc
Total	$1,134

Command and Signal

Race Website: www.racecenter.com/pacificcrest

Race Bib Number:

Registration Confirmation: