| Success with CompuTrainer!
by Ray Britt |
 CompuTrainer had Ray qualify for two Kona slots in one summer! |
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Every Triathlete has their moment when they know they have to do the
Hawaii Ironman. For me, it was the televised broadcast of the
1994 race that transfixed me. After seeing it, I knew I wanted
to get to Kona for the Ironman World Championships, but I didn’t
know where to start. Barely a runner, and with no previous swim or cycling experience, I was the last person you might expect to go. I did my first triathlon in 1995, worked my way up to Ironman distance by 1997, and had completed twelve Ironman races by July 2001. On advice of friends and two-time Ironman Canada winner Michael McCormack, I had purchased a CompuTrainer in 1998, and found it to be an invaluable training tool. I immediately liked the wide range of data provided for real-time feedback: speed, watts, cadence, heart rate, spin scan. What they told me was that I needed a lot of improvement. But the good news was, when the improvement happened, the results were right there, on screen. I’m convinced that without the CompuTrainer for indoor training, I could not have finished all these Ironman races in reasonable times – 11 to 12 hours range – averaging less than seven training hours per week. Unfortunately, by summer 2001, I was still easily an hour away from a Kona qualifying time. The goal seemed completely out of reach. But in November 2001, I finished Ironman Florida in 10:40 about 40 minutes from a Kona slot. That’s when I decided I would make a serious run for it, once and for all. I immediately signed up for the 2002 Ironman New Zealand, and designed a plan to train hard through the winter. And those plans leaned heavily on CompuTrainer; Chicago winters allow few comfortable outdoor rides. One of the great features of CompuTrainer is the ability to ‘ride’ your next race course. Nearly all my training for IMNZ was indoors on CT, including seven late-night indoor rides on the ‘course’ of 56 miles or more. An epic 112 mile indoor Ironman New Zealand CT course ride, from 9:30pm January 10, to 3am the next morning, provided me a huge mental and physical edge the months later in New Zealand on my way to a 5:46 ride in cold, rain, and wind on the real course. I felt I knew every hill, every nuance of the actual course, despite training nearly 8,000 miles away. And I had made a full 50-minute improvement over my previous Ironman New Zealand bike split. I was getting closer to the goal: in New Zealand, I missed a slot by twenty minutes. Inside, I vowed to close the gap at Ironman USA four months later. The Ironman USA bike course is technical, with continous rolling and turning terrain, and requires strong cycling skills to do well. I stepped up my CompuTrainer sessions, alternating strength and interval work with long course rides. It made a difference. Once on the bike in Lake Placid, I rode based on fee, and it felt aggressive. I just wanted to attack. Out of the saddle on the crests of hill, I drove past other riders. They may have thought I was crazy, but most weren’t able to catch me to let me know. Near the end, I had energy to spare, and had no problems powering through the hard climbs between miles 101 and 111. My 104 CompuTrainer sessions, over 111 hours and totaling 2096 miles between 2001 and July 2002, helped me finish with the 246th best bike time overall at 5:41. This was my best bike positioning ever, and I passed 288 racers along the way. Better yet, a 53-minute bike split improvement at Ironman USA on my way to a 10:33 personal best. I had earned my ticket to the 2002 Ironman World Championships in Kona. But the Season wasn’t over yet. I had also signed up for Ironman Wisconsin, to be held in September. Turns out this race was a qualifier for the Kona 2003. Could lightning strike twice in seven weeks? The Wisconsin course was chock full of short hills, the kind not found in my immediate training area. So I modified my rides to build strength for this kind of course. They paid off. In at IM, I rode steadily and with strength. When I finished the ride 5:37, I had passed 607 riders, nearly 1/3 of the field, and had the 157th best bike split on the day, my new best ranking ever. Like Lake Placid, I came off the bike fresh and ready to run. Fast enough to nab a slot in Kona, 2003. A few thousand indoor training miles. Fifty-minute bike split improvements. Two Ironman qualifying efforts in seven weeks. CompuTrainer. Ray Britt is an age-group triathlete training for the 2003 Ironman World Championships.
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