Prestige Ultra 2008
March 15th, 2008 by Robin Frankland
Well my ‘B race’ for the year has come and gone and I am satisfied with the progress so far. A new PB for the Half Ironman (70.3) distance is good motivation to make a final push towards the big one, Ironman South Africa.
Despite its name the Prestige Ultra may not be the most prestigious event on the calendar anymore but it does hold a special place for me as it was the very first triathlon I competed in back in 2006. The venue has changed as has the route but one thing remains the same and that is the fact that the river is dark, dirty and possibly border lining on unhealthy, the wind will undoubtedly blow on the bike and it most certainly will be excessively hot on the run. All of which make for a testing race and for me the opportunity of testing my progress thus far.
The date was originally set for February 10th and I was excited by this as it would have allowed me to give it all and still have time to recover for Ironman. Unfortunately it was subsequently changed to March 9th because someone thought that made better preparations for Ironman? Given that the one race is held under the auspices of TSA and the other WTC, added to the recent animosity between the two organisations, I am not entirely convinced but will accept that the date change was made with the best interests of the athletes in mind.
My race start was a little frantic because despite arriving with plenty of time to spare, I somehow got a little too caught up in greeting everyone and found myself running down to transition to setup with only a few minutes to spare (and I still needed to put my wetsuit on). I would just like to comment on one rule though and that is the need to have my swimming cap in my hand when entering transition. Firstly, the fact that the transition area was not directly on the water meant that everyone would leave there and walk down to the water and secondly, most people put their wetsuits on elsewhere. Surely they would be better served checking swimming caps as everyone enters the water? As it turned out I had to run back to the car and get mine before I was allowed into transition, which really got my heart racing and I only made it into the water with 60 seconds to spare. All of which was pretty much a waste of time when it was ripped from my head 500m into the race! Don’t get me wrong, I am all for rules but they must at least be practical and serve a purpose.
My intention was to swim hard, bike hard and then run easy but without having a chance to warm up I started the swim slowly and picked it up as I went along. I still managed a respectable 30min swim and was out of T1 about where I expected to be. Given that this was training for IMSA, I kept the first 10km of the bike steady, allowing my HR to come back down to 75% and then kept it there for the duration of the bike leg. At the turn around I realised that I was going pretty well and had moved up to the front of the field. Into T2 I was officially 3rd fastest (2h22) just behind the two Storm brothers (2h20) but Phillip van der Leeuw was quicker although he didnt finish the race due to a calf injury.
As I said earlier I wanted to take the run easy so that I was still able to train hard this week. Of course there is nothing easy about running 21km in 35deg heat but I managed to avoid being drawn into a race with everyone that passed me and ran a comfortable 1h36. Overall 4h28 which is a PB by 10 minutes.
As for the rest, Brad and Anton Storm basically had their own race out on the front, entering T1 and T2 together and it was only a last burst by Brad that gave him the win. Mention must however be made of Brand du Plessis who ran a 72 minute half marathon to secure third place. On the ladies side, Kathryn Cronje was sublime and was only challenged by the men on the day.
Women
1. Kathryn Cronje 4:32:2
2. Natasha Gorrie 4:50:34
3. Lorraine Barry 5:05:35
Men
1. Brad Storm 4:11:58
2. Anton Storm 4:12:09
3. Brand du Plessis 4:14:17
Full results available at Spectrum Sport
March 17th, 2008 at 4:35 am
Need to work on that run - 1:36 (approx. 4:30min/km pace) is extremely disproportionate to your cycling and even swimming. Either cycle slower or work a bit more on your running.
March 17th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Hi Nikola.
I see a common theme in your posts that you feel that there is a relationship between peoples cycling speed and running ability - maybe it is because you are such a strong runner.
But the sports are vastly different - it is possible for people that can bike half an hour into you, that would not be able to run as fast.
However, triathlon is about 3 sports and not about the run. I would rather be able to put down Robin’s 2:22 bike ride and 1:36 run, than a 2:30 bike ride and 1:30 run - which would probably be more in “proportion” - according to your calculations.
Why?
Because Robin would still win - it’s about who covers the distance the fastest, not the most “proportionate” athlete.
I find this a common theme amongst strong runners.
Everyone has their strengths.
March 17th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Congratulations on a brilliant result - beating respectable world class duathlete times I would be proud of both my run and cycling times especially since you were holding back…….. all the best for Ironman PE. I am sorry I will also not be competing. Hope this is your first of many PB’ s this year!!! YOU ROCK
March 24th, 2008 at 11:06 am
paragon
I do not think my comments was subjective. Propotionate means in relationship to best times. He is much closer to best (winner) cycling time than he is in running. That is very obvious.
Also I am not a strong runner at all. I am a disproportionate triathlete.
However I have been focusing on my weakness - cycling - for past two seasons and I hope this or next year my results in all three disciplines will be proportionate (same % of the winning/best times).
It does not matter if I swim 60, cycline 5:30 and run 3:10, or swim 60, cycle 4:50 and run 3:30. Both results are not proportionate which means there is a weakness which means that the athlete should focus more on this discipline and maintain others, if possible.
However training is very subjective so it is up to a coach to decide what is best.
Most extreme examle of disproportionate triathlete is Bjorn Andersson which is totally silly super fast bike splits after which he is not able to finish a run.
Also many people think that Stadler is a strong biker - this is not true. He is a super strong triathlete that cycles a bit faster than the rest. His results are still quite proportionate but a bit more speed on the bike gives him an edge. He himself wants to be recognized as a triathlete and not as a fast cyclists amongst triathletes. He himself says in an online interview that he could run sub 2:50 in Ironman if he cycled just a bit slower.
So you missed the point of my comment as it has nothing to do with me but objectively with his relationship between his results in each discipline. The more proportionate the results the better.
March 24th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
paragon
here is a useful collection of information that touches a bit on balance in triathletes: cyclists vs runner etc - by coach gordo
for more go here
March 25th, 2008 at 2:23 am
There is no doubt that I am an unbalanced athlete. I come from a cycling background and despite having taken 10 years off, it was natural for that ability to return quickest. As such, I used this to my advantage in order to establish my passion for the sport since I was getting a hiding from everyone else on the swim and run legs.
The last time I ran competitively was at school (20 years ago) where I was a handy 1500m runner, not exactly useful for Ironman. As for swimming, well I have never been competitive at that although I surfed most my school daze and thought that this must count for something.
As such I had a lot to learn and since swimming was technically the most difficult to master, despite yielding the lowest net gain in terms of Ironman, I chose to start here. I figured that getting out the water closer to the front would allow me to use my cycle strength to put me near the front of the race and that excited me. While I still have some way to go, I have made huge inroads in this area and am now able to start the bike leg ‘within sight’ of the leaders.
The next thing is to bring my run speed up to where it needs to be in order to achieve that balance that Gordo and Nikola speak of. I believe it can be done, I am also of the opinion that it doesn’t necessarily have to compromise my swim & bike times. With a little more focus and race specific training I will get there, and when I do, the sky is the limit.
Being somewhat driven by statistics and modeling, I took the results from the Prestige Ultra and calculated, by using the results of the other athletes, that in order to achieve a ‘balanced race’ but still have finished in the same time (4h28) I would have had to do the following (actual times in parenthesis):
Swim - 00h29, (00h30),
Bike - 02h30, (02h22), and
Run - 01h29, (01h36)
The swim time is insignificant since its actually a few seconds before rounding. That leaves the bike and run times that need major adjustment. As I said in the report, I took the run ‘easy’ and am of the opinion that I could have gone 5 minutes faster if I had raced to the finish (4h24). If I apply that to the model then I should have done the following times:
Swim - 00h29
Bike - 02h28
Run - 01h27
It comes back to the same thing, 5min slower on the bike and 4min faster on the run. Now what I want to achieve is 4min faster on the run and the same bike speed. If I did that it would have resulted in a top 5 position overall. All theoretical of course and we all know that a lot can happen out there on the road but at least I have something to aim for.
So now that this is as clear as mud, I agree with Nikola that I am unbalanced but also with paragon that at this point in time I am making the most of my strengths to compensate for my weaknesses and that at the end of the day I am doing alright.
Thanks for the kind word and motivation, bring on Ironman South Africa
March 26th, 2008 at 3:51 am
Hi Nikola.
Thanks for your input.
I still stand by my point though - running has a lot more variables than cycling, and being “balanced” is different for everyone, and not merely a product of time.
World class cyclists will never be world class runners, regardless of how much they train (and vice versa).
WRT the article from Gordo - Bjorn will never run a 2h40 marathon in an Ironman, but Gordo and Jonas will never place top 10 at Swedish National TT champs. Horses for courses - balance is an individual thing, and everyone should strive to find their own.
My point: Proportionate is not something that can be put on paper and defined by times, it is an individual marker each athlete must discover for themselves.
March 27th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Wildflower Half Iron Distance 5 May 2007 1 0:24:36 2:15:05 1:26:04 4:07:53
Wildflower Half Iron Distance 3 May 2003 8 0:23:33 2:25:43 1:23:53 4:15:11
the example was Bjorn right? I like Bjorn. He hangs it out there and hopes for the best. True viking style. Above are his times from Wildflower in 2003, and 2007. he has improved around 7minutes, even tho he is running slower and swimming slower. its 10min on the bike faster, and he was lucky that he won in a year when the big guns didnt show at Wildflower, and in the year when the record was set, 2006, here are Bozzone`s splits…
1 Terenzo Bozzone NZL 0:23:34 2:16:20 1:11:57 3:53:43
1:11:57 run on a 21.1km trail run that hardly has a flat section in it. Bjorn would have gotten 5th with his best split in 2006. Terenzo I salute you - you are incredible. that time on one of the toughest 1/2 IM races in the world is really smashing.
anyway…….. back to the point.
Balance is merely a set of values that relates to your peer group. If you hang with the runners, then thats your balance, if you hang with Bjorn and the Swedish Doods, then running isnt all important. Their culture is more about going full tilt and hanging on and seeing if you finish. Bjorn has run 3:05 at an Ironman, so the guy can run.
Its very personal and shouldnt be driven into a specific box, thats just stereotyping.
I hope you all achieve your personal balance.
For interest sake, here is Terenzo`s splits from 70.3 world champs last year, pan flat course…
9 Terenzo Bozzone NZL 0:23:08 2:02:51 1:20:44 3:50:10
clearly, that pop we all heard from this side of the atlantic on 10 November last year was Terenzo around the 10k mark on the run……….
ciao guys. play nice.