Jeff Leslie IMTX Race Plan - Final
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Background: 42 years old. Completed 2 HIM previously, several Olys/sprints. Never run a marathon. First IM. TARGETS: FTP: 220 VDOT: 44 WEIGHT: 156LBS 3.1w/kg TIME: Sub 13:00 HRS (SWIM: 01:20:00 – T1: 8:00 – BIKE: 6:00:00 – T2: 06:00 – RUN 5:00:00– TOTAL:12:34:00) Other goals: finish in daylight. Run the whole marathon. Do not crash.
BIKE w/aero disc cover on back wheel (Zipp 101) and Flo 60 front wheel Front: Garmin 800 / Speedfill A2 with perform Frame: XLab Aero Bento box, 6 gels (caff and noncaff), 2 bottles of perform in triangle Behind Saddle: 1 tube, 2 tire levers, 2 CO2, multitool, valve extender & tool, crack pipe
T1 BAG Helmet Bike shoes Sunglasses Gloves Arm coolers
BIKE SPECIAL NEEDS BAG 2 Salt Sticks 1 extra tube 1 extra CO2 1 Power Bar (frozen/cold) (emergency use only)
T2 BAG Shoes Socks Garmin 310XT Trucker Hat Go bag with: race belt, Gel flask (full of PB gel 1x caffeine), Mini salt stick dispenser, Cooling towel, Small water bottle
RUN SPECIAL NEEDS Flask with Power Gel 2X caff Socks Extra salt sticks
Wednesday Before Race Leave SA in AM Check into hotel, unpack, etc. 20th Anniversary dinner with wife
THURSDAY BEFORE RACE Sleep in Attend 4 Keys at 11:30, 2101 Lake Robbins Drive (Library) Lunch and Packet Pickup in afternoon/EXPO purchases EN Team Dinner at 5:30 at Cheesecake factory Prepare T1/T2 bags, gear, put stickers on helmet, bike, race belt
FRIDAY BEFORE RACE 8:00 Big breakfast 10:00 Head over to Marriott for mandatory bike and gear bag check-in (T1/T2) 12:00-13:00 Big Lunch (pasta) after lunch -- Stay in hotel with legs up as much as possible. Tapering meals throughout the day. Prepare special needs bike/run bags, bottles, lay out clothing, etc., ending with a light dinner no later than 7:00, Lights out by 9:00
RACE DAY: Wake up 4:00am and have breakfast: Mountain Dew, Ensure, powerbar, banana. Apply sunscreen, body glide, Chamois butter Leave hotel with:Garmin 800, HR monitor, goggles, swim skin/wetsuit, flip flops, jacket, hat, Gatorade, power gels (2), timing chip, swim cap, morning clothes bag (extra under wear, shirt, shorts), bike/run special needs bags, iphone, wife Arrive T1 (Town Greene Park) at opening time of 5:30am, set up, inflate tires, double check bike. Exit T1 ASAP and head off to deliver special needs bags drop off at North Shore Park 06:00 eat one Clif Bar , one gel, drink Gatorade….pee, etc…… 06:45 take one power gel (non-caff) w/8oz Gatorade and seed left mid portion of the group.
SWIM(TARGET 01:20:00) Follow EN protocol pushing first 400M with controlled kicking and then settle into race pace, totally focused on FORM AND SIGHTING!!. Go only as fast as good form is maintained.During the swim, keep the buoy markers to my left. Remember not to be fooled by the first large peninsula on the right. Use the Woodland Pkwy bridge/buildings for guidance in. After passing the DECOY inlet, use the shore for guidance into the waterway. Once in the waterway, veer to left side and swim there being careful of depth and stroke – remembering this is not the end. Try to avoid drinking Woodlands lake water in waterway. Ignore the contact.
T1:(00:8:00) SLOW IS SMOOTH>>SMOOTH IS FAST Immediately start working on unzipping swim skin, headed to gear bags.Run from the wet suit strippers to the gear bags, then find a clear spot on the grass.Glasses on, helmet on, gloves on, suit in bag, grab shoes, run thru tent. Grab bike and find a clear spot (outside tent) to put on bike shoes, then run along the OUTSIDE of the bike racks to the shortest row, thru that row, and out onto the bike course,past all the folks struggling to mount/clip in”.
BIKE(TARGET 06:00): FLATTEN THE COURSE!!! DRINK-EAT-DRINK-EAT ACCORDING TO PLAN.Stay in my box. Garmin displaying: 3s avg power & HR in BIG font; lower smaller fields with IF, lap NP, cadence, time Skip first aid station (use bottles on the bike) and grab Perform at all stations from there on. Eat a gel every hour beginning at 30mins. Drink >12 0z perform every 15 min, adjusted to temperature.Garmin beeps every 5 miles (15-17mins). Make sure 1//2 of speedfill is in my stomach at every beep. Remember the first 30-40 miles are free/downwind. Focus on bringing HR back down after transition. Ride first 20-30 minutes @ 68% (150W) or until HR is in low 120s. After 30 minutes or if HR back to “normal” settle into 70% IF overall (154W).Miles 50-75 are the hardest… Chip seal and headwind, make sure to be smart, stay in my box, focus on holding 154 watts and staying aero. PATIENCE & DISCIPLINE every minute, every hour. **Top off fluids** Do not skip aid stations. Just before each of the aid stations top off myself with Perform from cage bottles. Discard empty cage bottles first. At the aid stations, point and communicate with volunteer with Perform who is not a child or other dangerous looking person. Grab and rack Perform first (keep cage racks full to refill A2), then grab water and stay cool. Be soaked as much of the day as possible. Don't squirt face as glasses will smudge. Down my back, my neck, into helmet spout, etc. Stay aero, stay aero, stay aero, stay aero. Refill A2 on slower climbs when sitting up is less penalty.
T2:(TARGET: 00:06:00) SLOW IS SMOOTH>>SMOOTH IS FAST Don’t change in tent!.Grab bag, and drop somewhere outside of tent to put shoes, socks, watch and hat on. Put helmet, shoes, gloves in bag. Grab GO BAG, stand up, out jogging through the tent. Once on course, open GO BAG, and finish dressing.
RUN(TARGET 05:00:00) Miles 1 – 6 @ 10:00/mile...absolutely NO FASTER. Walk 30 steps all the stations and use them to stay 100% within nutrition plan. 1/3 gel flask (equal to 1 PB gel) every 6miles (1 hour). 4oz perform every mile. One saltstick every hour (on the half hour/3miles). Ice in hat and hands and arm coolers and shorts and anywhere else I can! Go very easy first 6 miles, targeting avg HR from bike (usually upper 120s/130). Focus on form each time it gets hard!!! Use the sponges and water and ice. Sponge in kit, then focus on nutrition, and if possible leave the aid station with a full cup of ice. Hold the ice in hands and ditch the cup. Also chew on the ice on the go. If I feel good, I will drink more rather than running faster. Miles 7 – 18 @ 9:30 depending on HR and Heat index...adjust accordingly…ask HOW DO I FEEL? WHAT IS MY HR? Do I need nutrition? Salt? Fluids? Am I overheating? Mentation? If hot like usual, will probably not speed up. If I feel good, will drink a little water (not much though). Focus on keeping core temp down by taking advantage of ice (hold it, put in hat), water on arm coolers, cool towel on neck. Focus on form when it gets hard. It’s 26X1 mile repeats at easy pace. Break up race in 3 loops. Hold off for coke until third loop 20 if at all possible. Walk only 30 steps or enough to get fluids/ice at aid stations then start running immediately. Walking is contagious. Do not walk it in. Keep forward lean. Try to keep cadence >86 minimum.
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Comments
@JL, good plan. You've trained really hard/smart for this, so you're ready. Forget about that "I've never run a marathon" stuff. This isn't a marathon. Time to rest, relax and prepare for the fun. Remember, after the MMA start, an IM swim is really fun. The TAs are fun. The first 80 miles of the bike are fun. And the first 16-18 and last 2-3 on the run are really fun. Don't get too caught up in the minutiae of the plan such that you don't enjoy what's going to be an amazing day.
P.S., After you've done a handful of these things, good luck getting the wife to leave with you on race morning at 5 a.m.
@ TC....thanks for all your support. Truth be told, I have not been able to "practice" my breakfast in any of my RRs. With 5 kids in variety of activities, full-time job with call every 4th weekend, and desire/necessity to train in heat of the day on Saturday afternoons, I just haven't been able to do that. What I HAVE done is planned to use the breakfast that I used for HIM Austin last year. I removed the applesauce at your advice (and I don't want the squirts for sure). I am confident that ensure, MD, banana, powerbar, then clif bar/gel will not give me any GI upset.....at least more confident about those choices than any others, which would be even less "proven". These are my usual breakfast choices before a century ride or long training ride that I do happen to do in the AM on a weekend. I also used this for one of the IMTX camp rides, with no problems. None of these items are "new" to me. What is "new" is a 1:20min (hopefully) MMA match in open water before a long ride! As far as the workouts next week, I hope to be able to do them as written, but Coach P has me in jail for the next 2 days, with very light day saturday (90min easy bike, 30min run), then re-connecting via micro thread. It is driving me nuts to not be able to run today, but he is the coach and I am not. (I may still swim Friday?....I swam last night and I think it helped my nagging dry cough, as I was basically forced to stop coughing....I did long sets on purpose b/c once I stopped between sets a coughing fit (small) ensued). So, I hope to do the workouts in the plan next week. I have to get rid of this coughing stuff and my legs were/are just shelled. I agree that I would do well to shake out any cobwebs next week though.
@MR.....thanks for all your advice as well. I will TRY to enjoy myself. Pretty apprehensive right now, but I will try to relax and enjoy the day. The way I see it, if I were fast/competitive, my only chance to podium/KQ would be to execute like a ninja and have the stars align and be able to suffer more than a few others. But, I'm not fast/competitive.....nevertheless, the best/only way for me to enjoy this and have a great First is to.....wait for it....execute like a ninja, suffer after mile 18 better than a few others (and not crash).
Jeff - just another plug for the One Thing (or maybe 4-6 of 'em). The concept may sound hokey outside the context of miles 15-25 of an IM marathon, but within that zone, it has often been a race saver for me. IMO, it's every bit as important to have an acknowledgment of its use (not necessarily the actual words) in a race plan, as it is to have a good nutrition plan.
I hope that I see you out there.
Jeff - I have been following your training in the forums and on Strava and i'm happy for you that your day is finally at hand. You seem very well prepared and i have nothing additional to add other than remember to enjoy both the race day and the build up throughout the week. Also, don't be tempted to second guess yourself or over think things. Trust the work you put in and the plan you have put in place. Have a great race!!