RR2 for IM 70.3 TX
I executed my RR2 for IM 70.3 TX in Galveston. Here's how it went down and what I learned.
Due to logistical issues, I ran my RR on Friday. This interfered with my long run on Thursday so per coach Patrick's instructions I cut my Thursday run short and tacked on the extra time at the end of the RR.
I have a local bike 14 mile loop in pancake flat bayou country where my RR took place. When I ran IM TX, I WAY under hydrated. In fact I never peed once in 6 hours on the bike. This time I've really taken hydration to heart. Also last time I trained for Ironman, I used zero calorie NU tabs as my hydration. That didn't work for me on the course. This time my plan was to train using Gatorade, since that is relatively close to Ironman Perform.
My FTP is 219 and my MP is 7:48
My plan was to
- Fuel with Gatoraid and a PowerGel every 35 min. I've tried every 40 or 45 and I get hungry.
- Bike the first 20' at 153 W, then the remainder between 180-182 W.
- Lap every 5 min or so to make sure I didn't try to chase an average power.
- Stop every loop (14 miles) to pee and refuel as needed
- Load the bike back into the car and start my run
- First 3 miles at MP + 30" = 8:18
- Next 3 at MP
- Then tack on the remaining time from Thursday's run at a EP of 9:02
Here's how it went down
My first 20' had a NP of 147 (Average Power of 148??)
The remaining bike time I had a NP of 174 and average power of 173. I spent 8 min on three bathroom and refuel stops. I used the 182 as a hard barrier. There were a number of turns covered in rocks where I just focused on avoiding rocks instead of pedaling.
I came off the bike, packed it up and headed out on the run. To my shame my first mile was an 8:02 pace :-(. My next 2 miles were much better with 8:33 and 8:30 averages. I ran near the 8:18 pace and added the 30 walking steps every mile.
My next three miles I pushed the pace to a 8:07, 8:15 & 8:57 (This mile included a refuel stop as I forgot my gel flask).
Brick complete I began my "extra" miles. I put down 3 miles at a 9:20 pace.
Total time = 4:21
Total Fluid consumed = 115 oz
Fluid per hour = 26.5 oz
Total Calories = 1647
Calories per hour = 378
Major lessons learned.
- The first mile of the bike is really hard to go slow
- I've got to learn how to pee on the bike
- Not sure how to hit my bike targets without spending some time above my goal watts?!?
- I take in a lot of calories from fluid. Didn't have GI issues.
- My favorite sound from my watch was when it beeps telling me to eat.
Thoughts?
Comments
Let me drop some words on some of your "issues" you pointed out:
- 1st mile on the run is hard to control pace if you're not familiar with it so just pay close attention to your GPS watch and look at it very frequently especially after going out of T2! On my IM it felt like I was jogging supereasy but after a few 100m I looked at the pace and I was running near my Z2 pace instead of my Z1+30!!
- Going above your goal watts is something you can't avoid totally. Just try to minimize big power surges (outsprinting someone) or going above +5% for too long. If you can't stay within the sort of "limits" on some hills you should get out of your saddle to reduce cadence so your power-output will also go down!
- I'm sure you used the EN calculator for finding your target calories/h. I prefer to consume MORE on the bike as I barely eat anything on the run (1-2 gel is maximum). So I shoot for about 40kCal higher on the bike to compensate for that. That said I'm eating something (gel, 1/2 a powerbar) every 20' in addition to fluid (no water!).
- I don't pee on the bike on half IM distance either
1 - you won't pee that much on race day -- hotter and you will have lost fluids in the swim.
2 - you were only off 6-8 watts from your goals. That's like 4%. Not too shabby...and a real race course, with other racers, will have you riding a bit harder I think.
3 - on race day I'd suggest you pee on the bike....just wait until you can coast a bit (tailwind, slight down hill), out of the saddle, weight on one pedal/foot..and think about water...then use water to wash off that pee if you can!!!
Nice work!
@Stefan - thanks for the feedback. I didn't know there was a calorie calculator. Where is it? I looked and was unable to find it. I have been using the assumption that I need 280-300 cal per hour.
If I remember correct this are the formulas:
Bike: Weight in pounds * 0,625 * 4 = kCal/hour
Run: Weight in pounds * 0,5 * 4 = kCal/hour