Train with Data, Race by Feel: Finding Flexibility in Your Race Day Plan
One of the most challenging aspects of triathlon is proper pacing.
While the goal of any race is to get to the finish line as quickly as possible, you can’t go “balls to the wall” right out of the gate and burn all your matches at the start, or you risk not finishing at all.
That’s where pacing comes in. While pacing is essential in any running race, it’s even more important in triathlon where you have to budget your energy across three different disciplines.
Through training, we get a general idea of the effort level we can sustain for swim, bike, and run across various distances. There’s a number of ways to quantify this effort. We use metrics like pace, heart rate, speed, and power.
While this data is important to establish training zones and provide a general guideline, over reliance on the numbers we see on our devices is one of the biggest mistakes most athletes make on race day.
Why?
That’s what we’ll be talking about in today’s post!
Read on to discover:
Why it’s important to learn what an effort feels like
How over reliance on metrics can get you into trouble on race day
How to build confidence in decision-making
Actionable tips to develop the ability to race by feel
Why it’s important to learn what effort feels like
When you read “race by feel”, your mind probably went immediately to RPE (rate of perceived exertion). This is a 1-10 scale that’s used to identify how hard, or easy, an effort feels.
Here’s a RPE scale with descriptions.
1- Little to no effort, like walking your dog.
2-3- Active recovery, you can talk and breathe freely.
4-5- Aerobic pace- All day pace, breathing isn’t too labored and you can speak in sentences.
6- Tempo pace- Breathing is somewhat hard, can still speak in short sentences.
7- Lactate threshold- Challenging, focused breathing, can only speak a few words.
8-9- Time trial- Can’t speak. Hard effort with deep, labored breathing.
10- All out effort. You can’t sustain this effort for more than 30 seconds- 2 minutes.
For example, if you’re racing a sprint triathlon, the short distance might justify a 7-9. But if you’re racing a longer distance triathlon, like a 70.3, that effort level would be too high. Instead, it might be more like a 5-7, depending on your ability. An Ironman might be 4-6.
Why do we care what an effort feels like?
Shouldn’t we focus on metrics like speed and pace- the things that are going to get us to the finish line faster?
Not necessarily.
This is because metrics don’t actually do anything for you. They’re simply a reflection of the effort and energy you’re putting forth.
For example, if I’m racing at a 10 out of 10, that’s max effort. It’s all my body has to give in that moment, on that day, regardless of what the numbers say. Even if my heart rate is 5 beats lower than my supposed max, or my power is 10 watts lower than I can supposedly hold for that distance, it doesn’t make a bit of difference to my body.
“The thing to understand about endurance performance is that perceptions don’t just indicate our limits; they are our limits. When you feel you can’t run any harder, you can’t, and when you feel you can, you can- no matter what the numbers say.”
- Matt Fitzgerald, How to Run The Perfect Race
Also, RPE helps us learn how to gauge effort without relying on technology. Have you ever had your watch fail during a race? I have. Ever had your power meter run out of battery on a training ride? It’s happened to me.
If all your technology fails, you need to know what it feels like to train or race at a certain intensity.
To learn more about triathlon training metrics like RPE, watts, heart rate zones, and benchmark testing, read this.
Read: Understand the Triathlon Training Triad
Also, here’s a reality check about those beloved numbers we all focus so intently on in training. Benchmark testing, like a time trial run or FTP test on the bike, are valuable to set training zones. You need some basis for which to analyze training data.
But it’s important to take the results of those tests with a grain of salt. Even the most accurate testing in the world can’t provide you with a guaranteed number you can sustain on race day. It’s only an estimate.
And that estimate will vary depending on factors like your fatigue headed into the test, how you fueled the day before, and even your ability to take a test. Also, if you repeated the same test once a week, you would likely see different results.
“Working with power and heart rate can put a ceiling over the athlete’s head, and they miss all the magic that’s just above, that’s totally achievable… I want my athletes empowered, confident, and knowing exactly what a certain effort feels like, so they’ll go for that feeling on race day and reach levels they couldn’t imagine.”
- Siri Lindley
How over reliance on metrics can get you into trouble on race day
Now, I’m not advocating that we turn off our watches and not use power meters and train all willy-nilly, wherever the wind takes us (although it’s good to do that sometimes).
This is about cross-referencing data with feel and intuition to make smart decisions.
“Mastering pacing is not about learning how to run completely by feel, paying no attention to numbers. It’s about finding your limit, which requires a fine calibration of subjective perceptions against objective measurement.”
- Matt Fitzgerald, How to Run The Perfect Race
I interviewed a friend of mine, Mark Saroni of Paragon Coaching, for an article in Triathlete Magazine- Why 70.3 Times Don’t Translate to 140.6 Times. And I absolutely loved this quote.
“The more you can get an athlete to learn how to think and not follow a cookie cutter plan and turn their brain off, the better they will be. That’s where a coach is important. I worked with a coach who said, we train with data, not by data.”
- Mark Saroni, Triathlete Magazine
What does he mean by that? How are we supposed to train with data, not bydata?
Let’s say that according to an FTP test, the estimated power you can hold for a 70.3 triathlon is 160 watts. This is helpful information to have for training purposes, because you get an idea of how you can train in and around, above, and below that number to target different training adaptations.
So now you head off to your race. You might think, My 70.3 bike power is 160w, so all I need to do to have the best race I can is hold 160 watts for 56 miles, right?
There are a few problems with that approach. First, you didn’t swim 1.2 miles before you did your FTP test. Also, you probably weren’t tapered at the time you did the test and had some training fatigue. And we haven’t even discussed the course profile yet.
Is it flat where you have to push steady power yourself with no assistance from descents? Or is it rolling hills or climbs that will affect your power numbers?
Where metrics can be helpful is with large discrepancies. For example, if your target is 160w and you consistently see 180w, that’s likely going to be a problem in the later stages of the race. It’s the same thing on the run. If you’ve only ever seen 9:00 min. mile in training and you come blazing out of T2 at 8:00 min. mile, you can probably imagine that isn’t going to last for very long.
Where metrics can cause problems is if you focus so intently on hitting the numbers that you ignore other factors. What if it’s a hot and humid day? Your heart rate will probably be higher. What if it’s windy on the bike or hillier than you’d expected? Your speed and power numbers might look higher or lower than you’re used to.
What if you’re so tied to that 9:00 min. mile that you keep glancing at your watch, slowing down when you run a bit faster, even though the effort level feels good? Maybe you could’ve run an 8:50 or 8:45, but you didn’t give yourself the chance because you lacked confidence in your ability to pace without help from your watch.
Although it’s great to hit your target power on the bike or goal pace on the run, that isn’t the point of a race.
The point of a race is to reach the finish line, first and foremost, and to do so in the fastest way possible. The prize isn’t given to the athlete who hits their target metrics the best.
Therefore, we train and race with data, but we aren’t governed by it. We make decisions based upon the effort level we feel, instead of blindly following numbers or stubbornly refusing to budge from what we’re “supposed to be able to hold” during a race.
Here’s a real-life example. Coach Mark had an athlete who raced at IRONMAN Cozumel in November. Let’s call him “Miguel.” Heading into the race, Miguel had a specific plan for pacing that he and his coach fine-tuned in training. Miguel was confident. But race day conditions threw him a curveball.
“He got out on the bike and the day was warmer and more humid. He noticed that his heart rate was staying more elevated than normal,” Mark says. “So he adjusted his pacing plan and lowered his power for the whole race.”
“He made an audible call and ended up having a great race where he ran really well and consistently even split the marathon. Looking back, he definitely rode less power than we thought he could, but he was pretty confident in making that decision.”
If Miguel had ignored his instincts and refused to adjust his effort level on the bike, his run likely would’ve suffered as a result. That’s how epic blow-ups happen, and you end up walking to the finish line.
It’s a costly mistake in short-course racing, and doesn’t feel that great during a 70.3 either, but it’s definitely something you don’t want to happen during an Ironman.
How to build confidence in decision-making
Mark explains that this was a call Miguel had to make for himself. He couldn’t pick up the phone during the 112-mile bike ride and say “Hey coach, what do you think if I…”
How did he know if it was the right decision? He didn’t, with 100% certainty.
But by developing his ability to judge what an effort should feel like, in training, he was able to make a confident decision on race day.
What are the signs he needed to adjust his plan?
it was hotter and more humid than normal
his heart rate was more elevated than normal
the effort level felt harder than normal
In this way, elevated heart rate, low energy, and environmental factors required a shift in strategy so he could execute the best race possible.
“It's hard to just give that confidence to an athlete,” Mark says. “Through the coaching process it’s about communicating after workouts and analyzing things. It’s about learning not to just chase numbers, but treating it as ‘How did that feel? Did your energy feel stable?’”
“It’s about not judging every workout as high is good, low is bad. Ask questions like ‘Did you feel in control? Did it feel appropriately hard?’ By having those conversations through the training process, you give an athlete the confidence and ability to do that on race day.”
A coach certainly helps with this process, but if you don’t have one, this is something you can do for yourself. After a workout, ask yourself these types of questions.
How did that effort level feel?
Was it easy, appropriately challenging, or hard?
Could you have ran 20 more minutes at that pace?
How did those swim intervals feel? Were they 60% or 80%?
During a race, you can ask yourself similar questions, like: “Can I sustain this effort for the rest of the race” or “Am I feeling how I should at this point in the race?”
When I interviewed Matt Fitzgerald about his latest book- How to Run the Perfect Race: Better Racing Through Better Pacing, he talked about the most common errors athletes making with pacing.
1. Bad planning or not having a plan
2. Not sticking to the plan
3. Sticking too much to the plan
Ultimately, you should have a well-thought out plan and stick to the plan, but you should be able to adjust the plan when needed.
By learning what different effort levels feel like in training, you can develop the ability to make confident decisions on race day. In this way, you’re not just pacing. You’re actually racing!
This is something I’m working on, myself. Developing the ability to feel different effort levels and learning how to race, instead of pace, is one of my main goals for 2025.
Is this something you’re working on too? Drop a comment below.
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