{"id":259,"date":"2019-01-28T04:32:06","date_gmt":"2019-01-28T04:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/?p=259"},"modified":"2019-01-28T04:32:16","modified_gmt":"2019-01-28T04:32:16","slug":"fiesta-island-tt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/28\/fiesta-island-tt\/","title":{"rendered":"Fiesta Island Time Trial – race report"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Under advisement of my coach, I participated in the first of the 2019 Fiesta Island Time Trial Series in Mission Bay. She thought it would be a great experience builder and way to re-baseline my FTP for training zones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

FTP stands for ‘Functional Threshold Power’ and represents the amount of power output you can sustainably expend for an hour. It is usually estimated by putting in a maximum effort test for 20 minutes and then calculating 95% of the average power. I base my training zones from this number, much like one would for heart rate training but instead of tracking how fast my heart beats, it’s how hard my legs will pedal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a pretty cold morning in Mission Bay; by my start time of seven-forty-one-and-thirty-seconds (rolling starts every thirty seconds) it hadn’t warmed to more than 55 degrees – which feels pretty cold when going 25 mph on a bicycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The track was a mess. Long, unavoidable stretches of silty mud and sand that added to the element of danger, especially when trying to pass other people on the course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 20 kilometer race against the clock was over in three laps around the island. Being my first time participating in an event like this, I didn’t have any specific expectations or, and possibly to my detriment, a specific plan of attack. Coach Dea said to take “lap one hard, lap two harder and lap three hardest.” I figured I should be able to finish in under 30 minutes if I can average about 24-25 miles per hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the first lap I did as I was told and went hard. On the second lap, I still went hard but not really harder. I found myself sliding into that triathlon mode of conservation – steady pacing just below FTP in order to save some energy for what’s to come, either more riding or a run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the third lap I realized I wasn’t performing at a level any higher than normal so I committed to not letting my power drop under 270 watts on the final lap. The wind picked up a bit on the second half of the lap so I was pushing over 300 watts just to to keep my speed above 23 mph. One last splash through the mud and cross the finish line – wherever that was. there were some cones set up to indicate a finishing chute and a timing table off the side of the road, but I wasn’t really sure when to start slowing down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I finished in 5th place for the 35+ age group, in 29 minutes and 46 seconds. I averaged 275 watts for the 30 minutes, which means when calculated out for FTP, I didn’t raise the bar at all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was fun yet very much a learning experience. Next time I will have more specific goals and plan out power zones to hit in timed increments in order to reach said goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the drive home I felt pretty good, had a good time and established some new goals to work toward. It was a beautiful day, traffic wasn’t bad, sun was out, winter seemed to be subsiding, birds were chirping… I was almost home, my freeway exit was coming up next… then suddenly there was a noise coming from my roof. Before I could slow down and pull over to see what had come loose, my side-view mirror revealed a HED brand bicycle wheel bouncing into the bumper of an SUV in the lane next to me. Then in the rear-view I see it roll back across the freeway into the ice-plant abyss, never to be seen again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was justifiably upset about the mishap, but my friend Matt reminded me that it was lucky I hadn’t caused an accident or any other damage. Of course, he was right and I have plenty to be thankful for. But now a new goal has been set to find a way to afford a new set of race wheels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Under advisement of my coach, I participated in the first of the 2019 Fiesta Island Time Trial Series in Mission Bay. She thought it would be a great experience builder and way to re-baseline my FTP for training zones. FTP stands for ‘Functional Threshold Power’ and represents the amount of power output you can sustainably… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":263,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[9,10,6],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/img_0867.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9IVlY-4b","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":216,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/02\/missionbaytri2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":259,"position":0},"title":"Xterra Mission Bay Triathlon 2018 - Race Report","date":"October 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Xterra Wetsuits Mission Bay Triathlon, 2018 - International distance triathlon official time: 02:03:33 1k swim: 00:16:43 38k bike: 01:02:49 9k run: 00:40:12 overall: 23rd of 246 military division: 4th of 15 \"If you ain't first you're last\" ~Reese Bobby I'm writing this while sitting in the waiting room at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Triathlon"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_0526-e1538544254184.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":179,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2018\/07\/31\/solana-beach-triathlon-2018-race-report\/","url_meta":{"origin":259,"position":1},"title":"Solana Beach Triathlon 2018 Race Report","date":"July 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Solana Beach Triathlon - Sprint Distance July 29, 2018, Solana Beach, California The path to calf strain recovery has been long, longer than I thought it should have been. After a week of carefully running at 8-8:30 pace, I started to think I was back and ready to do the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Triathlon"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":138,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2018\/03\/06\/new-blog-category-triathlon\/","url_meta":{"origin":259,"position":2},"title":"New blog category: Triathlon","date":"March 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"As I described on the about me page, I started this blog at the beginning of my deployment to Afghanistan in 2016. But, by the time I reached the second half of my time there, I was too busy to stop and write about my experience. Now that I have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Triathlon"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":302,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/08\/oc-triathlon-2019\/","url_meta":{"origin":259,"position":3},"title":"OC Triathlon 2019 - race report","date":"June 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Official Time: 02:36:061.5k Swim: 00:33:03T1: 00:01:5040k Bike: 01:11:02T2: 00:02:1210k Run: 00:48:02Overall: 48th of 41635-39 AG: 2nd of 30 In 2014, after completing my third sprint distance race and getting completely hooked on the sport, I decided it was time to do a longer event. The Olympic distance (1.5k (.93 mi)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Triathlon"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/chrisdonlon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/SCS_5543-ZF-1408-05527-1-001-001.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":247,"url":"https:\/\/chrisdonlon.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/13\/newport-dunes-2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":259,"position":4},"title":"Newport Dunes Triathlon 2018 - Race Report","date":"December 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"November 4, 2018 Olympic Distance Official Time: 02:16:251500m Swim: 00:23:10T1: 00:01:3640k Bike: 01:04:51T2: 00:01:2410k Run: 00:45:24Overall: 9th of 18335-39 AG: 3rd of 24 I\u2019m 2 races behind on my blog now, so I\u2019ll try to be brief to get through them both. 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