Alpe d'Huez Tri
Back On Top
We rarely get a fairytale ending to our story…
…so I've been enjoying it.
The long course should be on your bucket list.
2.2km Swim
118km Bike, 3200m + of climbing
20km Run
A pleasant start time of 9:30am let the sun rise from behind the mountains and we were off with a self-seeded rolling start.
I started 50 athletes back but should have been 100 deep.
I blew myself to bits ~400 meters off the start. It was just like my first Ironman in 1999.
Backstroking
Trying to slow my heart rate
Slowly, getting my breathing under control
It didn’t take too long and I was back in the game. I found an excellent draft for the rest of the swim.
As I told the crew before we began…
The difference between my best swim, and an absolute disaster, is 2 minutes.
I’m going to save that energy for later in the day.
I had the strategy correct but I didn’t execute. This cost me a bit of time but I didn’t know how much as I was racing without a watch, or heart rate monitor.
I was happy to find Albert still in transition. I found out later, he’d experienced the same breathlessness during his swim. Johno was long gone.
I’d had 3 hydro-gels right before the start (300 kcal), had 2 more in my pockets, had 10 precision hydration gels split between 2 soft flasks and 2 large bottles of electrolyte drink (~300 kcals each) on my bike frame.
Having been burned by losing my nutrition at the LT100 bike (2012), I make sure I have more calories than I need when starting.
My plan was to take the first hour as easy as possible.
The “easy hour” was delayed by poor early pacing but was back on track before the midpoint of the swim.
The bike starts with a short climb out of the transition area - where people must have been over 400 watts blowing by me.
After that short climb, it is very fast down a valley, even faster when you’re in bunches of 1 to 2 dozen riders.
I let the packs do their thing, and focused on getting to the base of the first climb using as few watts as possible.
Absent a slack TT setup with high basebar, a road setup with aerobars is essential.
The packs put time into me down the valley but I was able to get another 900 kcal ingested. Unfortunately, I fumbled one of my soft flasks so lost ~500 kcal. Not a disaster, as the aid stations were well stocked and (mostly) placed at slow parts of the course.
That first hour (minus the swim start) was chill. 192 watts NP to start the bike (under LT1).
The ride breaks up into segments:
Down the Valley
Monster Climb
Fast Descending with Kicker Climb
More Descending
Slow Drag To Good Sized Climb
Insanely Fast Descending
Through Town
Alpe d’Huez Climb
To race this course well, you need a strategy for:
Each major section of the ride.
Dealing with packs, cars, trucks, wind and tractors.
Julie1 had me well prepared with a couple scenarios she ran on BestBikeSplit.Com. I’d been testing since arriving in France, and shared with Albert (who taped them to his top tube, and won his AG).
The first Monster Climb is shaded, the only sustained shade for the rest of the day.
Hold back
Hydrate
Relax
About half way, I rode up to Albert and we had a chat.
The smart amateurs were rolling at “talking pace.” This was tempo for me. I suspect the elites, being better conditioned, were on 2nd Threshold, after blazing down the valley.
Into the middle of the course, the packs had shrunk and it was time to use the small groups…
Bridging
Leapfrogging
Slingshotting
Falling back when they’d pass
In this section, I noted a tall Dutch rider doing the same thing and we worked together for a couple hours, a nice advantage and mental reset.
This middle section had vehicles around and there was tactical speed to be made, or lost, with how one used them.
Trending downhill, with a light tailwind, this was my most variable section of the ride, for speed and power (200w NP, VI 1.3). Finished my electrolyte drink and should have slammed an extra liter of fluid.
The big climb before the Alpe starts with a slow grind and was HOT. At this point, elites and ambitious amateurs started coming back to my Dutch partner and me.
The Dutchman smiled and said…
I did this race last year.
We haven’t even started, yet.
From that point on:
90 minutes of climbing, to go
the entire run, to go
That’s three hours of hard tempo, if an athlete has the mojo for it.
Every long distance race has a similar point, the point where the race slows.
As an athlete, your job is to figure out where it lies… given your fitness profile, the competitive environment, the course profile and the conditions on the day.
Go Fast When The Race Is Slow
I lifted my effort (270w NP) and started moving through the field towards the top of the Col d’Ornon.
On the descent a young French rider came through. He was riding well and coming off the TT bars when the curves required braking. I figured (hoped?) he was a local and followed his lead. We made great progress, but my bike computer lost signal so I don’t have speed/power data.
Back onto the flat and a tailwind blew us through Le Bourg d’Oisans at the base of the Alpe.
The bottom of the Alpe was steep and roasting.
Game Time.
I lifted to my highest effort of the day (285w NP) to get out of the heat. The aid stations were well stocked and I kept myself wet. The skin suit I wore (bought on clearance) worked great.
After 15 minutes, I was higher, the grade backed off and I was unsure if hard Tempo was prudent. So I backed off (264w NP) and forced myself to eat (4 gels) and drink (water).
For those of you who ride it on Zwift… the Alpe is tougher in real life (just like Ventoux).
We had crowds cheering, which kept my spirits high.
Backing off was a good call as I was feeling a little average approaching the top.
Others were showing signs of strain and I rode up to a number of female elites (who started the swim 5 minutes before us).
Just after the picture was taken, I got a split that I was a minute down to Johno.
Into T2 and Johno was leaving as I was arriving. Quick transition where I grabbed my visor and a race bottle with 250 kcal. I left another bottle (250 kcal) behind due to the gels I ate on the climb.
The run breaks up::
Transition exit / Lap turnaround
Across the base of the ski area
Steep-Short Hill
Trail to road
Gentle up to the Turnaround
Gentle down
Steep road to the course highpoint
Settle across the top
Down to the airport
Brutal descent of steep airport runway
Back through the ski area
Three day prior, we had checked out the run course.
Time well spent.
With the race-sim rides I did at home, I never ran off the top of a tough climb. I usually felt awful at the top…
…but I had great transition runs when I got home.
…so, I figured, my legs would come right if I stayed calm.
While I was staying calm, two female elites repassed me.
We arrived at Short-Steep Hill and I walked to settle my HR and legs. I drank my race bottle (250 kcal). From the bottom of the Alpe to the finish line (2.5 hours), I estimate a total intake of 850 kcal.
With your race strategy, you need to be thinking:
Carb intake
Hydration intake
Processing!!!
Those early hours, where I was fueling and keeping HR low, set up my late hours when it’s difficult to process.2
If you don’t process then you’ll be forced to drop effort on the run, which is costly to overall performance.
WHAT I JUST EXPLAINED IS MAGNIFIED IN ULTRAMARATHONS AND IRONMANS.
Heading towards the high turnaround, I thought I saw Johno but wasn’t sure.
Turns out it was John, and we connected at the turnaround.
My stoke was sky-high and I shouted…
We shall feast on the shattered dreams of our competition…
…and drink their tears.
Johno didn’t seemed thrilled but he managed a smile. After my exclamation, an elite female, who must have weighed all of 45kg, rolled by us and I pressed on.
For a small frame woman, she was much faster downhill than uphill.
…or
…perhaps
I was pushing the uphills and holding back on the downhills.
My quads and hamstrings felt as if they were a micrometer away from cramping. One false step and I’d seize up.
It’s tough to manage front-back tightness, so I focused on relaxed breathing. In this situation, it’s possible to mentally crack and bring on cramping.
Second lap was my best and I ran with my tiny, elite wingwoman. I saw Albert, Seth, Joel and Scott (S) out there which perked me up.
There was a lady with a hose at the top of the course, which kept my suit wet and my body temp down.
Third lap, I started to fall apart, which hurt but didn’t bother me.
The end of a well-paced endurance race is extremely uncomfortable.
Don’t be in a rush to get there.
Ended up sub-7 hours and thrilled with my overall performance.
There’s a lot in this race report.
Physical pacing.
Mental pacing.
When to eat & drink.
Where to process energy.
Dynamic use of athletes, conditions and race-day variables.
The best way to learn is get out there and practice your race plan.
These components represent Specific Training and I’ve been doing them all summer.
Many athletes, elite and amateur, think “specific” means “hard.” That is not the case for long course racing. Long course races don’t get hard until the end. It takes patience and preparation to get to the hard part.
Give yourself every chance to succeed.
Turns out third place is a former 50-54 Champion at Ironman Hawaii.
…and second place is an accomplished triathlete and ultra cyclist.
Proving myself to be competitive against two athletes of this calibre has implications that I’ll discuss over on Endurance Essentials.
Thanks for following along.
I had a similar strategy when I won Ultraman. The ability to eat, and process, is trainable.
Nutrition problems are pacing issues in disguise.
Great race summary, astonishing performance.
Great write up. Brought back a few memories. Funny - I went breathless in the swim also, felt like a panic attack. I put it down to the cold and a frantic mass start that resembled a UFC contest. Sucha good event.