How to race (and taper for) a B-race HIM?
In 2.5 weeks I'll be doing Ironman 70.3 California but my main focus is on IM 70.3 St George first weekend in May. I've done the November OutSeason and am currently in week 13 of the Advanced HIM plan. I live near Cleveland, which means I've done little to no training outside (a grand total of 3 outdoor rides so far this year).
So I'll be doing the HIM in 2.5 weeks but I want it to be a really good training event. This would mean:
- minimum training loss (=fitness build) prior to the race
- minimum training loss (=fitness build) after the race, so short recovery
During the week of the race, I'll be flying to California on Thursday and the race is on Saturday. I'm thinking Monday and Tuesday doing the regular workouts as prescribed in the plan. What about Wednesday, usually it's some sort of brick? I think I should do that also. Thursday is about flying and probably resting as much as possible. Friday would be some typical pre-race routine, i.e. a ride and / or run, max 30' combined, something like that. Thoughts?
Second question is the one about race execution, there seem to be a couple of things I can do. For the swim, I think it's easy, swimming as fast as I can for as long as I can without losing form. Simple rule that really determines the speed and effort. The bigger question is the bike and run. I see two options:
1) max effort on the bike i.e. slightly above the 85% FTP recommendation and take it easy on the run (say, zone 1 run). Benefits would be it allows for a solid bike training, and since it would force me into a slow(er) run I'd probably recover faster meaning less training loss on the back end.
2) lower effort on the bike (not exceeding 80% FTP) with intend of having a better run. So this would mean a race with constantly building intensity pretty much. May provide a great run training, starting reasonably fresh, but risking trashing the legs on the run if I go all out.
3) Execute according to the general guidelines and as if this were an A-race. I.e. close to 85% FTP on the bike, a run that starts in z2 and ends in z3 or faster, or until I throw up or crap my pants. I.e. race like it's a race. Benefit is that it will give me the best indications about my fitness (I can compare versus other years) but it may impact the recovery on the back end.
Not quite sure what to do, I think option 3 is my least favorite. Option #1 seems to make sense, but may be difficult to execute (I'd be getting passed A LOT on the run which would suck). Option #2 also makes sense but I would probably have to put a max pace limit on my run.
Any thoughts or recommendations, or related experiences? Again, this is a race I look at as a training opportunity with heavy emphasis on minimizing training loss on the front and back ends. But if there is some way to get a reasonable result that would be great also.
Comments
Just a thought.
FWIW, I think the good racer (with sights on a prize later in the season) could pull it off. I think the expert racer could pull it off without mentioning, "this is only a B race for me, I'm training through" to every dude/dude-ett that passed him. I'm not sure I'm big enough to do either.
Either way, good luck and post some pics of sunny California for us!
Difference now is that my fitness is not where it was last year, having moved to Cleveland and hence lacking outdoor and riding endurance (plus I've been training for a half, not full IM).
Carrie - I could treat it as a race rehearsal or long training day, but race rehearsals typically only do half the run distance. The other part is the learnings may be somewhat different than what I expect to see on race day in SG as that is a much harder race.
Recovery from a HIM is not that bad. Looks like you have 4 weeks between them? YMMV and need to evaluate your past recoveries after HIM's.
If your A race HIM bike target is .85 , it makes no sense to go with A. and over bike forcing a lousy run, or B. under biking and not really knowing how you can run.
It makes more sense to execute via HIM guidance and see what you got.
Once the race starts , if your like most of us, the horns and fangs will come out and you will go into race mode anyway.
I will second Tim's response...no other approach makes any sense....for race execution.
Week before taper seems about right...IMHO the key is really about how you recover /what you do the week after...What you don't want to do is TIP the training stress balance and go over the peak...you want to allow yourself to absorb this effort as kind of a Big Day Training effort...and follow the post race guidance in the Wiki...don't expect to dive back into plan "as is" on Monday....aborb the work...back up and into full swing by the following weekend and this race will pay dividends 4 weeks hence.
Good Luck!
If it is downstream fatigue that concerns you, most of that will come on the run, especially the second half.
The only other advice I'd suggest is to honestly evaluate your fitness on race day and lens all your expectations based on what fitness you bring to the start line. You're not going to be a 100% if you go with a short taper.
Best of luck.
Ben,
I'm with option 3 as well, why:
Option 1 & 2 are not executed at race paces, what are you getting out of this for your A race. Set your race goals and go in. If you need to dial back the bike a % or 2 on the because of a shorted taper then so be it but don't crush the bike then take it easy on the run or the other way around. Option one may give you some data about what your going to feel like if you push too hard on a bike. Either that or you will know you underestimated your FTP and cruise in. Option 2 I don't suggest as running hard will have more downstream effects on training if that's you concern.
Finally for option 3 if you need to dial it back in the latter half of the run fine. If you are concerned about recovery then make sure you don't bury yourself in the final 3 miles of the run.
Gordon
x4 on what TIm says... Option C is your best option IMO. Something to consider, I trained with Mark Allen before joining EN and he told me that racing a HIM is equivalent to 2 solid weeks of full IM training in terms of the fitness you gain (how he came to that conclusion I have no idea, but hey it's Mark Allen).
Last year I raced 3 HIM's in 6 weeks (2 weeks apart) all with option C. I bonked on the first race and set consecutive PR's on the last two. I was less concerned about recovery time after the race and more concerned about pushing the envelope EN execution style race day reminding myself what Mark told me (12 wks of fitness gains for IM in half the time). This was all a part of my build to IM and worked very well. After 2 of these races I took 3 solid days off, trained hard for the next 7 days and tapered for 4 days, that worked well for me.
I would be less concerned about the recovery time from pushing the last 6.5 miles of the run vs. the fitness, confidence, execution experience and pain management gained.
My thinking has been around next weeks taper, but now you have me thinking about race execution. My original goal was to drive down, have a fun local race before Easter and get an MDot finishers medal. I am with you on the swim. The ride will likely be 80-85% and the run will be Z2, I think. It could be faster if I have it in me, but like your indoor season, I am in worse shape. 8 weeks mending broken bones in December an January and then 8 weeks of "proper" training....
- Monday swim
- Tuesday swim/run but cut the run to 30 min
- Wedensday ride 90' (extended the ride b/c I knew I'd miss my weekend long rides that weekend due to the race)
- Thursday swim/run instead of long run. I did the taper week swim from the HIM plan week #12 and a 30 minute run.
- Friday biked 30'...shakeout ride to make sure race wheels on properly, no pinched tubes, etc...
- Saturday off...as is my practice before any Sunday race
In terms of pacing, it's a RACE. I would never dial back on the swim or bike because that kind of race-pace practice is invaluable and you shouldn't ever waste the opportunity. On the run I did race pace with the one exception that in the last 3 miles I made an explicit decision not to bury myself and try to pass the one guy in my AG who was within striking distance. Of course it pissed me off because he only beat me by 18 seconds at the end of the day, but I know that really crushing those last 3 miles would be the difference between a qucik recovery and not being able to walk for 3 days after the race. FWIW I set a half-iron PB in that race, probably because I wasn't pressuring myself.
I think my approach was effective because although I took Monday off, the rest of the week was a normal training week other than not running until Thursday and shortening the Thursday long run a bit. I did all 5 hours of weekend biking that next weekend including a brick run.
This is a great thread for me. It is 3rd time racing Oceanside but first time racing it EN style, pretty excited. Can't wait to see everyone out there.