70.3 Run Analysis Chart

I was pretty happy to set a personal best for the run at the 70.3 World Champs in South Africa.

Previously, my standalone-half marathon personal best was 1:43. This was done in the tropical heat of Singapore. I had tried to beat it a few times in similar conditions but both times only achieved 1:44s.

So how did I hit a 1:38 after the swim and ride? The obvious answer was that I benefited from the cooler weather and of course more training.

But to be sure, I did an analysis of my past five 70.3 runs.

Objective:
Determine why my WC run was so much faster than my previous personal best.

Hypothesis
The run was fast due to the cool weather and my bigger base of training, which included speed work.

Items to look for

1. Do the VIs from the bike leg prior have any affect on the run?
2. Was there any correlation with heart rate?
3. How did the CTL, ATL, and TSB affect the run, if at all?
4. Did nutrition play a role?

In the chart above (broken up into two for easier reading) it is clear that the variable contributing most to the faster run, is indeed the weather.

I can't find any correlation between other items (see list above).



Definitions
RPE: Rate of Perceived Exertion, on a scale of 1-20. 20 = being so hard that you leave nothing in the tank. Basically, you are in a world of hurt.

HR: Heart rate

VI: Variability Index. This shows the smoothness of your power output on the bike. It is calculated by dividing Normalized Power by Average Power. A VI of 1.05 is considered the highest acceptable for the ride segment of a triathlon. Anything higher shows that you 'burned too many matches' or made too many power spikes, which will detract from your run.

CTL: Cumulative training efforts over the last 42 days. The higher this is, the more trained you are.

ATL: Fatigue over the past week.

TSB: Form. TSB = yesterday's fitness - yesterday's fatigue. The higher this is, the more rested you are.

Riding & Running in 2013: An Infographic

Riding & Running in 2013: An Infographic

2013 is over and was the first year I both ran and rode. I thought it might be cool to do an infographic of my riding and running using my Strava data.

Click on it to read it clearly:

Running in North Korea

Back in September I took a trip to North Korea, or DPRK, just for fun. I had read a lot about it for the past decade or so and I wanted to see what it was like for myself...my thoughts on that are long and not related to cycling or running.

So while there I just had to run. Problem is, visitors are not allowed out much on their own. Luckily, I was allowed to go out alone just around the parking lot of our hotel, Yanggakdo International Hotel. It's not big, but it was enough to get a mild workout done.

Situated on a tiny island on the Taedong river, the river that runs through Pyongyang, the Yanggakdo has a guarded gate. That was the limit to where I was told I could wander / run.

Google Maps view of the Yanggakdo Hotel

I explored the limits, running up to the gate, as far as I possibly could, without crossing it - despite the fact that the 'guard' was asleep.

It wasn't clear whether or not I could leave the boundaries of the hotel and go right up to the water, on the sidewalk along the river. This would mean leaving the hotel but where could I go? So I tried it and found it to be a great run - a well-maintained waterfront walkway, circling the outermost edges of the hotel.

A fairly pleasant place to run

Of course I recorded the run on Strava. No GPS devices are allowed in DPRK, so instead of bringing my Garmin 910xt (the watch) or the much-more-GPS-like Garmin Edge 705, I brought my phone, and used it in airplane mode (GPS signals are still available).

I created a segment from the hotel entrance to the gate, and I believe this was the first segment ever created in North Korea - I could find no others. Check it out here: Escape from Yanggakdo. However, others had run this route before I had, as evidenced by the segment results. There was even one other tourist out for a morning run while I was.

Turns out Pedro Queiroz has me beat by 10 seconds.

Here's a short video I shot of my run:


The locals run too, but they do it more freely. (I suppose "freely" is a relative term.) On a trip around the city I spotted a cool picture of a runner in front of one of the many stadia.

A painting of a heroic runner at the Kim Il Sung stadium

Also, the Pyongyang marathon is on 13 April, two days before Kim Il-Sung's birthday. Unfortunately, I will not be able to make it, but would love to.

Trips to the Pyongyang Marathon are run by Koryo Tours, the same group I went to DPRK with. Find out more on their site.