Rian's Race Plan
Mental Approach:
Gratitude. Approach this day and week with gratitude, love, and smiles. You love this sport, and this race. Love it for all its difficulty, challenge, and messiness. Be grateful that you can do it, that your body has complied and flourished this summer and isn’t being held back by the hypothyroid. Be grateful for the support of your Family and Friends. Be grateful that they are all still ‘here.’ Love that they support you doing this race. Love that there is always something more to do, someone faster to chase. When you begin to stress and suffer remember to change it with smiling, focus on loving what you are doing and be grateful that you can!
Race Week:
Remember to eat thoughtfully: lots of greens and fruits, stay off the beer, drink lots of water. Double check you take your synthroid, and take it early, 30min before anything, lots of time to absorb it. Take your vitamins. Sleep full nights, no short changing. Start salting and carbs Thurs / Fri, tapering through saturday. Rest. See a movie.
Race Goals:
Main Goals: Execute fully, keep to the box, and repeat last years focus. You are an endurance machine, race again like one. Press your limits this year, leave nothing on the course, have to courage to commit to running the red line when the time comes. If you blow up, so what, then you’ve learned where your limit was. PR the course and each discipline. Ultimate goal (1 thing): Sub-10hr.
Bag Prep:
Morning Bag: Wetsuit, Goggles, cap, ear plugs, 3 bottles of perform, 11 gels for bike. Dry socks.
T1: Shoes, aero helmet, number belt, flask of pickle juice.
T2: Socks, Asics, Visor, Flask of PJ, Fuel belt w/ PJ flasks and Gel flask.
Pre-Race Morning:
4am wake up, Meds, sunscreen, vaseline, dress, then eat. 2 ensure-plus vanilla, small oatmeal, banana, coffee. Dress: HR strap, Garmin. EN top, Desoto shorts, calf compression socks. Wear En Jacket and warm-up pants for post race. Pocket a Gel for swim start. Get to start, put pickle juices in T bags. Check Bike and tire pressures. Pump? 11 gels in bento. A2 pre filled with perform, 2 performs on rear cages. Find En'ers and suit up. Relax.
Swim:
Position same spot as last year, half-way between wall and line, about 10yd back. Start strong easy strokes, you always swim fast to start, and it feels much slower than it is, so dont swim too hard. Count your strokes and sight every 10, swim straight! Count on 10-12 minutes of congestion. Find the draft, keep it. Remember the swim will feel tougher in the last 1000, remember your rhythm and roll, grab the rungs, press it, work hard to maintain pace. You’ve done 1:10 in the pool multiple times, you will go sub 1:10. Goal sub-1:10.
T1:
Lap. Smile. Dont rush, smooth is fast. Strip off top, on the jog. Do I stop for help with speed tube? RUN to the T-zone. Grab bag on run, stop before the tent, dump your bag, strip speed tube, on with shoes, start moving, helmet on, suck down pickle juice. Goal: under 5min.
Bike:
Relax, settle in, get a gel after you get moving. Take 10-15min to wind up to watts. Goal 190NP (.72 IF). Keep to your gears, no more than 208 watts on the climb. Keep after the watts on the downhill, coast over 32mph. 30oz of perform (~3 bottles per lap) and 2 gels per hour. Relax your shoulders and back, stay streamlined. Even splits. Do not get sucked into the passing games and draft packs. Jealously protect your watts, only pass if you have to -- take the full 20s to do it, make them pass you if necessary. Smooth and steady. Goal: sub 5:15.
T2:
Feet out of shoes, dismount barefoot. Hand off bike, take off helmet on run. Get to your bag, dump it, socks, shoes, fuel belt, visor. Move. Pickle juice. Smile. Goal under 3min.
Run:
Settle in, hit the first porta potty if necessary. Take the first 3 mi sloooow. No excuses: 8:30 pace. Give it some time to get a feel for your legs. Let them start to wind up if they still want to go after this. Drop the pace gradually. Sip your gel flask every 3 miles. Walk every aid, take a cup of water on the head and perform in the belly. This is a just a workout with 26 1-mile repeats at easy pace and short rest. Focus one repeat at a time. Press on the gas for the hill to maintain pace, stretch it out on the downhill and relax, recover. Smile. Half-way mark: switch from gel to coke. Every aid: walk, water on the head, sips of coke and perform. Keep it steady, pick off the runners one at a time. Be the Terminator machine. Mind the form cues and cadence, smile, stay tall, smooth, and pick up the knees. Remember if you are doing it right it the pace will feel harder by the end. Remember to enjoy the finish-line this year, slow down a little...SMILE. Goal sub-3:40.
Comments
Rian - enjoy your new-found strength.
Comments:
Thanks guys. Writing this thing always helps clear my head pre-race week.
@Al, good point on the extra perform, will pick those up as I go. I just don't like to do bike aid very often, if I can help it. As for the wetsuit, I have the speedtube pants without the shoulder straps, so theres not much for a helper to grab onto anyway. It may make for more confusion than speed trying to use the strippers. I've always done it myself. Getting below the hips for them though might work. Maybe I'll practice it.