Big Day advice - indoors?

helen.king@invis.co.uk

Saturday is due to be my first "Big Day" which equals a 1hr swim, 3.5hr bike, 1hr run. Not too worried about the big day aspect but I am worried about being outside in the cold for 4.5 hours and getting ill. This will be first time outside on road bike this year. Whilst it’s not that cold here if I do the big day starting early in the morning it looks like it’s going to be just above freezing for most of that time. I’ve just done my 45 min across town slow bike commute home and I am cold, my legs are bright red/stiff from the cold and I am thinking maybe I should do Saturday’s ride indoors.

I am feeling slightly coldphobic at the moment, I spent almost 3 weeks of March ill with a cold that turned into a sinus infection which has messed up my training and knocked my confidence

My plan for the day was to cycle 2.5 miles to pool, do swim, then do endless 3 mile laps of Regents Park (it’s mindless but fairly safe and easy to get home from if I have bike problems, plus other cyclists will be doing the same - although probably not for 3 hours), leave bike at pool get changed and do run, cycle home.

I am now thinking that my best plan is to cycle commute to pool, swim, cycle home, cycle for 3.5 quality hours on trainer, run outdoors.

I could always mix and match, possibly cycle to gym, swim, cycle for an hour or so, stop and collect stuff from pool, cycle home, set bike up on trainer for rest of time, run outdoors, bit this feels messy.

Would really welcome your suggestions about what to do. I know this sounds wussy but having spent the last few weeks not being able to train due to illness the last thing I want to do is get really cold and make myself ill again.

tim cronk

I'm a freeze baby so for me it would be an easy decision. Slightly above freezing?

Drive to swim.
Drive home.
Cycle on trainer.
Run outdoors.

Your day is going to be long enough , minimizing travel, changing clothes , freezing , nutrition simplification etc , will make it all a little smoother and shorter.

Nate Parady

As a guy who ignored the temperature for my 2nd RR for IMFL last year, it's ok to be worried about getting cold. I had 7 layers on and was hypothermic after an hour..had to warm back up in the car. I would guard against your admitted cold a phobia as you probably still have a lot of time left to train for your race.

If it was me, I would do exactly what Tim said

Satish Punna

I did my first ever big day last Saturday. Swam at pool, drove home , biked on trainer 2.5 hrs, ran outside. It was cold outside. I had no regrets staying indoors for the bike. I did try to stay in aero almost all the time ( even used my aero bottle system ), and tried to replicate exactly how I would handle nutrition . I doubt I would have been successful doing that outside. Although being cold wont necessarily make you sick with a cold, I wholeheartedly endorse keeping the training fun and comfortable ( temperature wise ) .

Coach Patrick

great advice...i agree with drive/swim, then ride/run....also, please check wiki / self coaching / new big day video!

helen.king@invis.co.uk

Thanks all, the ride is going to be indoors. It's just started to snow... again... for heaven's sake I live in central London this time last year it was 20C. I don't own a car so the driving option is out. Will check out the videos and wiki.

helen.king@invis.co.uk

Thanks again everyone for your advice. I rode indoors and am glad I did. Made lots of mistakes and have plenty of things to do better next time, write up below (really for my benefit, not expecting anyone else to plough through this!).



Prep

• Big pasta meal late on Sat night.
• Slept through the alarm and ended up getting up much later than I had wanted.
• Did organise nutrition for the day and recovery drinks/food but forgot to organise breakfast. Ended up eating half a big bag of salt and vinegar crisps (around 400 cals) as there wasn’t much else in the flat and had a glass of water.
• After much faffing (despite sorting my stuff out the previous night) cycled 2.5m to pool.

Swim 1 hour

• 1k swim test = 21.30 reckon I must have miscounted/got time wrong. Last test was 23.09 and I was knackered at the end.
• Pool was pretty empty for test but for the rest of the hour my lane was plagued by breaststrokers 
• Didn’t drink any water during swim to replicate race. Was ravenous afterwards so stopped at shop for chocolate bar on way home (approx 280 cals). Remember to take food next time. Don’t usually feel hungry after open water swims.
• Total swim distance 2400m

3.5 hour bike on trainer

• Not ideal but I was trying out a number of things for the first time during this ride including new aerobars and a different type of nutrition/hydration plan.
• Aerobar set up seemed to be ok, back surprisingly ok at the end of the ride, forearms very sore from rubbing on pads/towel, wrists felt uncomfortable but nothing major.
• Saddle position was a killer and needs changing, nether regions very uncomfortable and bruised, last 45 minutes spent mostly sitting up.
• Hydration, drank just over 3.5 litres over the ride, way more than I would normally drink but I was sweating a lot. Thought I would be sloshing around on run but it was fine. Lost 1lb at end of bike leg compared to start of the day
• Pacing, rode 56 miles. Last 90 minutes harder than the rest, too hard I think, hr around 150-160. Rest of time hr around 130-140 which felt about right but is on the low side. Possibly need to rethink HR zones. 
• Shorts, felt like I was riding in a wet nappy because I was sweating so much. Investigate other options, I don’t think I had as much padding for previous races.
• Music, audiofuel 60 min turbo trainer track played twice then Chrissie Wellington’s 90  min ride harder track – would have been better sticking to first track again for a more consistent pace with enough short intervals not to get too bored.
• Shoes, right foot unhappy and started to go numb but this had cleared by the end of the ride.
• Nutrition, cocked this up. Was going to try some solid food rather than usual concentrated infinit which I get tired and a bit sick of drinking during a race, however, with new aerobar set up solid food just wasn’t appetizing so nutrition ended up being a bottle of IronBru (230 calories).

Run

• Nightmare, I had forgotten how horrible it is to run off a long bike ride. Almost went head over heels going down the stairs as legs tried to adjust. Very observant of what was going on in my body, odd niggles in back/arms/legs which disappeared quickly.
• Right calf painfully tight, not had this before, probably due to riding a bit oddly/sitting on one sit bone because of saddle issues.  Stopped to stretch and it after 1 mile and it eased a bit, pain more or less gone after 2.5 miles.
• Left foot went numb, numbness went briefly walking down ramp to the canal. Left calf too tight/more stretching needed? I've had this before but I had forgotten the running on stumps feeling.
• Mentally I wasn’t in the mood for running, felt embarrassed (and envious) running past people sitting outside in the spring sunshine in the park by the pub. Once I had got my shuffle going and picked myself up and said you’ve just cycled 56 miles, you are an athlete, you can run, it doesn’t matter what you look like or how fat you feel, I was actually ok but couldn't pick the page up (running 11.15 pace. (Z1: - Z1/LRP: 11:49 Z2: - Z2/MP: 10:15) but by then I had spent a good 40 minutes, walking, attempting a jog, stretching, feeling sorry for myself.  5 miles covered in 1.12 :-(  Not too worried, running mojo is always a  struggle for me, today was a learning experience).
• Nutrition/hydration, didn’t take anything with me. Considering I had consumed less than 1000 calories all day I felt surprisingly fine. 

Went dancing in the evening and felt fine. Suspect I should have worked harder/lack of running made my legs feel better than they should have. Stiff legs on Sunday but they are fine today.

helen.king@invis.co.uk

Big Day 2 write up

Same set up as last Big Day but I needed to start the training in the afternoon (I knew Friday would be a very late night and I knew I needed to catch up on some sleep from the rest of the week so decided to start late. As I watched the hail come down mid bike ride I was glad I was indoors.

 Breakfast: Ham and cheese sandwich and some Coca-Cola 

Cycle 2.5miles to gym

Swim - 1 hour swim – 2300m

• No issues other than lack of focus at times. Pool was a bit busy at times but that’s life.
• Nutrition - Snickers bar snack post swim and bottle of IronBru. No drinks during swim. My usual post training/night of dancing snack which I know will keep me going for hours. Never tried in race situation but think it will suit me provided I can stop it melting. Not sure eating immediately after chaos of swim/transition in a race.

Cycle 2.5 miles home

Bike 4 hours – 60 miles – on trainer no resistance

• Knee still felt a bit tender (feels like overuse issue) so decided to keep resistance light and focus on nutrition and position.
• Decided to ride by RPE rather than focus on HR or speed which resulted in a rather unfocussed milling along sort of ride. Splits: Hour 1: 13.22 miles, Hour 2: 15 miles, Hour 3:16.08 miles, Hour 4: 16.05 miles.
• Hour 1 I was trying to do my college course reading at the same time and wasn’t focused on what I was doing. Last 2.5 hours I was keeping HR around 135. I took things far too easy.
• Have changed bike position from last time, feet ok, knees okish, shoulders a bit sore, nether regions ok. In aero position most of the time but needed to sit up to drink and eat. Also wore proper cycling shorts.
• Nutrition – Been experimenting using strips of coconut to eat and sports drinks. Combo seemed to work well. I was thirsty the whole time (thirsty before I started) but was drinking plenty and needed hourly loo breaks. Had some Coca-Cola 1 hour before end of ride. Not sure how I will replicate this race day, I like a caffeine/sugar boost towards the end of a ride.

Run - 1 hour - 5 miles

• I had a lovely run (does 12mph count as running?).
• Tried a new strategy of deliberately walking the first few minutes and it worked well, more of a mental reset than just a walking break, thinking about body position and consciously relaxing body.
• The walking break probably helped but I have never felt that good getting off a bike (unsurprising given I was just making the wheels go round and not doing much) but it’s made me think that I am pushing far too hard on a normal ride. Usually my legs and body feel like cr*p and it’s hard to move let alone run.
• Run done by RPE because too dark to see watch [good practice, it will be dark in Austria when I get done], slightly slower than it should have been and I didn’t manage to pick the pace up second half, probably would have been faster if it had been light.
• Beautiful sunset after the storm. Ran through the park as it was getting dark and felt very much in the moment, senses heightened because of the dark and stillness , you could really smell the blossom on the trees.

Recovery

• Followed legs up wall protocol and did a bit of stretching followed by a curry and a beer. Legs felt a bit stiff the next day but nothing major.