IMLP Race Execution Plan - Jonathan Brown
Hello All,
So I thought I would share some race execution plans with you all. Can you please give me some feedback on everything?
Morning of the Race:
3:30 wake up time
Breakfast at 4:00:
- Packet of oatmeal,
- 1 tbs of peanut butter,
- 1 tbs of honey.
- Infiniti drink,
- two glasses of water,
- monster energy drink (sorry, I have to have this)
Things to focus on:
- Swim execution and mentally walk though the swim
- Bike Execution – mentally walk through the bike course
- Walk though the course and think of the gearing that is needed
- Walk though nutrition and outline when and what to eat. Set timer on the bike computer every 30 minutes for feed cycle.
- Run Execution – Mentally walk thought the run course and point out key areas. (ski jump hill, end of river road, townie hill, turn around by the brewery)
- Start to mentally prepare for the long day ahead. Focus on why you are doing this. What this race means and how you have overcome more than you have thought just to get to this start.
Double check bags to ensure everything is in there.
Transition:
- Get to transition around 5:15ish
- Setup bike with food and water bottles.
- Double check tire pressure
- Hit up the bathrooms
- Break out the wetsuit
- EN team picture
- Find a nice and quiet section to relax with Christopher, Josie, my family, and my friends.
- Take Gel 10 to 15 minutes before
The SWIM:
- Line up with the 1:10 to 1:15 Group.
- Once in the water, relax on the outside left side for the first 300 yards. This start shifting towards the tow line for better sighting.
- Take my time and do not push too hard. Remember keep form, count strokes, and sight every 10 to 20 strokes. Based on how well I am able to keep a straight line and stay on that tow line, I may stop sighting or sight only every 30 or so strokes.
Things to focus on:
- Counting strokes
- Reviewing bike plan and execution
- Sing a song in your head. (Any good old song will do)
- When exiting the swim, remember to look happy and strip the wetsuit down to the waist so the strippers can peal it off better.
Transition from Swim to Bike:
- Grab the right bag (Superman and Neon Orange)
- Grab out a gel and take that right away while you grab stuff from the bag.
- Put on head band, helmet, and sun glasses.
- Drink some water
- Get slathered with sun screen
- Put on bike shoes or hold them until you get your bike
The Bike:
BE CAREFUL THE FIRST 2 MILES!!!! (It is a tricky start)
Climb out of Town:
- Focus on keeping cadence and power low. The goal is to stay around 130 to 140 watts for the first hour.
- Drink fluids and get a gel in you on the climb.
- People will pass you, do not worry, they will be hosed on the run
The Decent:
- Relax, stay to the right and pick a line.
- Let the crazy people fly by you
From Keene to Jay (Au Stable Folks out and back):
- Stay within the 130 to 140 watts.
- Eat and drink as much as you can.
- Relax the shoulders and neck.
Jay to Wilmington climb: (repeat for the Climb into town)
- Try stretching the back before you start to climb
- Stay within the 140 to 150 watts (yup repeating)
- Drink and eat!
- Relax the shoulders and keep in aero as much as possible (winds will pick up later in the day and on the second)
Special needs bag:
- Refill water bottles with Infinit
- Grab what you need and chuck the rest
- Do not rush; take your time because this is where accidents happen when you rush too much
Nutrition:
- Take Gel every 30 minutes (alarm will be set as a reminder)
- Drink Infinite every 5 to 10 minutes
- Eat Cliff bar every 2.5 hours (max two Cliff bars)
Things to focus on the bike:
- Relax the shoulders
- You are not winning the race; do not worry about people passing you on the bike. Grandma is going to beat you up that hill so deal with it.
- STAY IN YOUR BOX!!! Focus only on things you can control. People acting stupid, winds, heat, or anything out of your control is just that… Out of your control
- YOU ARE NOT AT THE LINE, SO STICK TO THE PLAN!!!
- This is your race not anyone else’s
Bike to Run Transition:
- Deep breaths, relax, and thank god you are off the bike
- Collect hat, shoes, socks, bib and gels
- Put some extra glide on the nips and crotch
- Shed the heart rate monitor.
The Run:
WOW, OK, you made it this far. Now don’t screw it up.
- Run the first 6 miles at an 11:00 minute per mile pace. This is slow and it will feel like you are crawling. YOU ARE!!! But this will set you up for the remaining 20 miles.
- Miles 6 to 18 – RELAX!!!! Try to maintain a 10:15 to 10:45 pace. Based on how you feel after the first 6 miles, you can tell how the next 12 will go. Do not go below a 10:15 pace
- Miles 18 to the finish – DO NOT SLOW DOWN. Stick with a pace and do not go fast or slower.
Nutrition:
- Take Gel every 3rd water station (roughly miles 3, 6, 9, 12*, 15*, 18*, 22*) (* means if you can get them down)
- Alternate Coke and Perform every other water stop
- Dump water on head only… Don’t drink the water!
Things to focus on:
- DON’T SLOW DOWN!!! Also don’t speed up!
- Going steady makes the race end sooner
- Slow pace on the hills (walk if you have too, keep the heart rate down)
- Walk the water stops, nothing more
- Smile
- Turn the brain off, and just focus on the mile you are on and nothing else
- Jon, everything will hurt, shut down the brain and just focus on getting to the next water stop.
- At one point your brain will say/scream/demand/require you to walk, we know this will happen. Do everything you can to make it to the next water station. Remember, the less walking you do, the faster you will be done.
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Comments
Will you have a separate bottle of infinit at BSN, or will you try to mix it there? I like to freeze my 2nd bottle and leave it in an insulated bag inside my BSN bag. It's nice and slushy to start the 2nd loop of the bike.
Why do you remove your HRM in T2? And if you do, how do you know you are doing this: (walk if you have too, keep the heart rate down)
I'm likely going to my goal watts (140-150 for you) at the bottom of the big hill in Keene, No harm going easy longer, but I would expect you'll be relaxed and dialed in for that long flat section especially after the long descent.
Don't forget to Zip your jersey up before the finish and smile from ear to ear. Take it all in.
See you in a couple of weeks.
GREAT layout of your day! You might be surprised to find that it doesn't hurt as bad as you'd expect - ESPECIALLY if you're smiling (LOVE that you included that!) and having fun!
Can't wait to meet you!!!
Thanks, Lots of good stuff.
The reminder to not speed up just as important as not slowing down. Nice and steady.
Something I noticed, maybe not triathlon related at all. You used the word "Relax" 8 times. I too am doing my first IM at Lake Placid this year, and it was refreshing to take a second to think about that. To relax and let the day come to you. You have done a lot of work to get there, now enjoy the ride!
@john, I would rather take the ride from Keene to Jay slower on the first loop to ensure i take it easy on the ride. I may gain 10 to 15 minutes but it could also burn me out and put me in a world of hurt later in the day. My goal for the day (since this is my first) is to be conservative as much as possible because i know the run will hurt.
@Jess, we will need to grab a drink (adult beverage). Are they kids coming?
Comment about double checking bags on race morning must refer to BSN and RSN. Your T1 & T2 bags get checked with your bike on Saturday.
Do you practice low cadence for low power? I usually only resort to low cadence when I run out of gears that let me spin up a hill.
BSN - refill water bottles or replace them? Replacing may be a lot faster.
Not sure I understand about not drinking the water on the run. All liquids from Perform and Coke? Is that enough?
Great plan, I think you will do great.
Usually, I'm able to visit my Swim-to-Bike and Bike-to-Run bags in the transition area race morning. I take a quick peek to (a) make sure they are still there, (b) confirm what I put in the day before is still there and (c) sometimes add things like nutrition or sunglasses which I need to put in at the last minute.
As long as we're being complete about race morning to dos, for those with power meters and computer head units, those can be added to the bike, calibrated, checked, whatever. And make sure bike is in the proper gears for heading out.
As to "shed the heart rate monitor", I went through a phase when I did indeed try to do that during IM runs, going without any HR data, just looking @ mile splits. I found that its kinda hard to get the damn strap off easily in T2, so I stopped doing it. If you have a two piece (I was using one-piece suits at the time), though, you can just slip the strap down to waist level and un-hook one side or drop it all the way to the floor. I myself ignore my HR during IM runs, but then I've done over 20 of them, so I think I've got a pretty good read on my HR/RPE/pace relative to heat and hills.
Regarding nutrition on the run ... something I always point out is to make sure you understand just how many calories there are in each sip of Perform or Coke. Those can add up real fast on you, and give you way more calories then your GI system can absorb while running in high Z1/low Z2, leading to all sorts of stomach issues like cramping, bloating, vomiting, etc. At the level of detail you are planning, go look at the nutrition labels (available online) for each and translate to calories to ounce, then consider how many ounces of fluid you are planning to take at each aid station, how many aid stations you'll hit per hour, and figure out your calories per hour. You probably don't want more than 250 per hour on the run? I've found for me, 1 sip = 1 ounce more or less. Also, if you're not used to taking in fizzy warm coke after being on the road for 10 hours, it's something you need to be ready for. I usually end up having to dilute my coke and perform with ice and water to keep the calorie count under control and the taste tolerable.
And if chicken soup appears at an aid station ... give it a try.
@Steve - I have found if i start to drink water, i typically drink too much and i get bloated and feel like i am sloshing around tons of fluid. But like usual, i will take ice and chew on that. thus some water. Now, if its bloody cold like the temps are say, i will inhale chicken broth.
@Al - HMMMM, chick broth!!! If it is on the course i will take it. I love chicken broth. Also, my kit is two piece and i can get the HR off pretty easily. Also i do not believe that i will take perform or coke every stop. because i need to cut back on it so i do not have sloshy stomach. My biggest issue is that i need salt and i would get that from Perform and Gels. but that is it.