Ironman CDA Race Plan - What am i missing?
Background
CDA will be first full distance IM, so very difficult for me to set a realistic time based goal. Obviously, I want to finish and place well within my age group, but I’m trying to be careful in terms of how I define success. I want to execute to my potential in terms of managing whatever the day has in store for me, as best I can. I have internalized the 4 keys and I feel I’m as ready as I’m going to be in terms of fitness and knowing what I need to do. The build-up has been great and very exciting and I want to ensure I remember to enjoy and savor the day. After all, this is supposed to be fun!
Saturday:
Goals Saturday are to drop off bike and bags, get family setup for Sunday in terms of activities and places to view the race. Plan is to sleep in as long as possible and then have a big high carb breakfast. Throughout the day I will drink sports drinks and supplement with the occasional salt stick. I will make an effort to stay off my feet as much as possible. I will eat a lite lunch and dinner and will be in the hotel ready for bed by 8:30. I will ensure all items on my Saturday checklist have been completed and then will try to sleep as much as is possible.
Race Day:
Up by 3:45am. I will start with 3 cups of applesauce and 1 scoop of whey protein, a banana, and a bottle of perform supplemented with a salt stick. I will follow my morning checklist as planned and will get to transition by 5:00am. I will work through my transition checklist smoothly and efficiently and then get out of transition. At St. George I suffered calf cramps at the beginning of the swim. To avoid that here, I plan on stretching more prior to the start of the race and doing a 10-15minute lite jog. I will also sip on a bottle of perform with an extra salt stick after exiting transition and I will plan to eat another banana or gel, prior to my swim start. I will get into the water for a swim warm up if possible. Because of the new swim start protocol, I’m not sure how that will play out, but I’m expecting to swim around 1:20 +/- so I plan to try and seed myself into about a 1:15 group. My goal for the swim is to start out very easy, focusing on form and to try and not get rattled by contact when it happens. I want to focus on a steady stroke, and not wasting energy by poor sighting. Hopefully, my calf will cooperate and I won’t experience the same cramping that I did in St. George, but I if I do I will roll onto my back take care the cramp and then keep moving forward.
Bike:
Plan is to settle in nice and easy for the first 15 or so miles during the out and back through town. Plan will be to drink as much as possible prior to the first aid station and eat ½ of 1 powerbar within the first 30minutes. My nutrition plan is 1 gel every 30 minutes and ½ of a powerbar every 90 minutes. I’ll have 2 flasks with me each containing, 4 gels and 1 salt stick and I will also be carrying 2 powerbars (both cut in half and ready to go). I will have another flask with the same mix in special needs. I plan on drinking approximately 32 oz of Ironman Perform every hour during the bike. I will have my A2 Speedfil filled at the start and then plan to live off the course for the rest of my hydration.
My target watts are 172 and I’ll be happy with any number from 170-175. I plan to ride in aero as much as possible, only coming out when I am slower than 12MPH or when I need to stretch. I hope to pee a minimum of 3 times on the bike. I plan to ride as steady as possible throughout the ride even if I feel strong and feel like I could push it harder. If I am still feeling strong at the last turnaround at approximately mile 85, I will ride a bit harder here because it is a net downhill heading back to town. If not, I will try to stick to my target watts as best I can. As I approach T2 is will try to spin faster and take my feet out of my shoes so I am ready to move quickly through transition.
RUN:
My Z1 pace is 8:32 so I plan to run my first 6 miles at a 9 minute pace - even though in both race rehearsals it has proven extremely difficult to run this slowly off the bike. I will be carrying a fuel belt with 2 flasks of concentrated gatorlytes that I will use to spike my drinks. I plan to walk the aid stations and drink water or Gatorade and hit it with little bit of my concentrated solution. After mile 6 I’m hoping I can pick up my pace to 8:30 and can then start to settle into my run. As much as possible I plan to approach the run as 26, 1 mile runs. I will walk each of the aid stations and get what I need nutritionally and what I need to keep cool. I will carry a couple caffeinated gels and will use those if I start to fade. I will also be carrying a pack of cliff blocks and additional salt sticks for when I run out of gatorlytes.
I’m hoping that I will steadily be able to build my pacing after the first 6 miles and I’m looking forward to mile 18 to see how I feel and see if I have put myself in a position to race or to see if it’s just about making it through the next 8 miles. It might be a bit of both.
Please, if you have any feedback hit me up with the good, the bad, and the ugly.
I really feel without all the guidance from the haus I would not be in such a great position heading into my first IM. Now all that’s left to do is to go out and execute and make it happen! Thanks all!
Comments
John and Dave - Just want to acknowledge and thank you for your feedback. Having both your thumbs up for my plan was a definite confidence booster! Thanks again!