The Best of Slowtwitch: Ask Me Anything about IM Kona
I recently had a offer for all Slowtwitchers out there–they could ask me anything about my race at IM Kona. I got tons of questions. These 5 questions were my favorite. Check out the original thread for tons of other questions and answers. Thanks to the guys over at Slowtwitch for hosting this knowledge exchange session–and to all of the guys that asked so many good questions.
My Favorite 5 Questions & Answers
Q1)
Do you think the race is becoming more and more run focused? There seems to be more and more stress of swimmers to get out with a pack and then stay within that group for the ride since it’s becoming to much harder to break away. Why couldn’t the bike powerhouses break away this year?
A1)
Well we ended up breaking away and you can see the first four guys had a 8 minute gap from the rest of the pack—so it is possible. But, whoever rides over their limit will pay on the run—and sometimes you never know who it might be—good riders can also have a bad day. Lieto broke away for a couple of minutes lead at the end, but at what cost?
Q2)
Great job at Kona and I love to see the pro athletes do this! These are more general vs. Kona questions so not sure if they are o.k. to ask…. Back in 2008 (Olympics) – what were your 10K times like? (In tris and open?) How about now with IM training? Do you think you ran to your potential at Hawaii? How has your training changed from ITU to IM? How has your short course speed changed with the change in training? You had an amazing 314 watt average in 2009 at Hawaii – how did 2011 compare? Willing to share your FTP? Do you reckon Alexander had similar watts to you given almost identical bike times? Can you say anything about the dynamic of riding with the lead group? Are there tactics/surges? Do you take risks and push to stay with the group? Thanks! Dave
A2)
My best ever 10k in a World Cup was 31:37 which brought me to a 15th place overall. Of course I am losing some of that speed since I am focusing uniquely on Ironman—but I raced the Military World Champs and ran a 32, so I guess I’m not that far off even though I haven’t been doing too much speed stuff (see above question).
My training has changed—since the swim is less important in IM and I focus the most on the bike—in terms of training hours there is not much difference—but there is less speed and more base training.
Watts are very individual—even if you have two people with the same weight the watts can still vary a lot—so I don’t know what other people are putting out. It can vary by weight of rider, position, and bike—riders going the same speed can have up to 50 watts difference or more. I have a similar output from 2009, but I will be posting my watts on SRM again this year so you can take a look yourself once it is up.
Of course Kona is a very tactical race, and it’s very important to stay alert out on the bike so you can see when people attack—but you have to decide if you are capable of going, or if you can simply do your own race—which is a risk either way.
Q3)
Dirk, Congrats on a great race! Thanks for being open to all of us on ST at well. These are mostly Kona related but some are because I simply need to ask, feel free to not answer anything you do not feel forthcoming on.
1. How long have you been training with power? 2. Generally what % of FTP you think is your personal redline for an IM distance like Kona.
3. Did you achieve most of this monstrous FTP during your ITU days? If not then when/how? I just can’t wrap my head around how the power your guys push for so long! 4. Is your training now more about holding higher percentages for longer distances? Thanks again! Zev
A3)
Been training with power since 2008. I do have an imaginary red area… but even this year I went beyond that because the tactics forced me to do that.. so I couldnt produce the run I wanted to.. so it’s always a little trade. I don’t want to get to attached to numbers as the tactics are sometimes more important. The short accelerations in ITU are crutial–so a different scenario–the numbers in the acceleration are much higher because it’s more like a sprint–so I learned how to surge and could apply to IM later. My training is all about whatever is necessary for Kona–and that is high power for a long sustained effort. I do a lot of “Ironman Pace” efforts.
Q4)
Do you ever ‘fail’ in a workout? I was watching ‘Training Day’ about a really awesome dude that spends the day tearing shit up. You know, the one on triathlete.com with Craig Alexander (King Kong ain’t got shit on him) and I wondered if guys at your level ever find yourself failing in a workout-specifically during a run where you’re trying to hit your times or your distance (or a combination of both) and just find yourself out there walking and questioning everything?
When I was watching the Kona broadcast on UniversalSports, I saw something I swore I’d never see in my life-Craig Alexander stopping during the run, and walking. I don’t know if it’s because I’m such a huge fan of his or because I view him as invincible-but when he stopped it was like watching Superman sneeze or something. I couldn’t believe it, and it made me wonder. Thanks!
I guess we are all human—and since he rode 14 minutes faster than he ever did before—I was expecting that something would happen—and it did. Nobody is invincible–human vs. machine, remember?
A4)
Not hitting times is one thing—but I never stopped and walked in training cause I couldn’t make it. I might have to adjust the times—but I never give up and walk. I am not sure if any other pros would. That is probably the mental difference between having what it takes to push through our not. Failure is not an option if you have to feed your family.
Q5)
Dirk, Congratulations on Kona. Your website is really very good. I don’t understand a word of the interviews that aren’t in english, but the design and content looks great–a model for other pros. 1. Do you think that was the best run you had in you? A 2:50 would have put you in a Mustang 🙂 2. What are your racing plans for the rest of the year and for KPR?
A5)
Thanks for reminding me about the Mustang—you are absolutely right. The dream will go on….
I have my website in English but try to capture the media from Luxembourg too.
A sub 2:50 was my goal on my run but I had to push harder on the bike than planned so my run was lacking a bit at the end. It was still the right move for me, maybe it will work out next year. If I am healthy and can recover I will race IM FL. If worse comes to worse I will just try to finish an IM this year as I think I have enough points from Kona (4450 I think).