Mike Roberts' IMTX '14 Race Plan
Mike Roberts, 45
Been doing triathlon since 1995, but have never taken the sport, training or myself all that seriously. Just a fun, social, healthy hobby. Historically a good swimmer (for a triathlete), weak biker, and pretty good runner, which usually puts me towards the front of the MOP and occasionally semi-competitive (4:47 HIM PR, 10:38 IM PR). This is my 6th go at IM, a distance and event I really love. A (former pro) friend made me promise that I would look up RnP if I ever did another IM so I could learn how to train for the bike. Here I am. Still not a strong cyclist by any stretch, but with a 40% á in FTP since joining the team, I think I’ve shaken the “weak” label, at least for now.
October: 165 lbs, Swim T-pace – 1:35/100yds, Bike FTP – 180 (2.41 W/kg), Run– 47 vDOT
Now: 150 lbs, Swim T-pace – 1:23/100yds, Bike FTP – 255 (3.75 W/kg), Run– 50 vDOT (51 per 5k speed, but this ≠ 5k)
Wednesday: Travel day. Land before noon. I’ve been living off IM checklists for a decade, and it’s a lifesaver for me. Drive to race site, check into the race, buy CO2, hit grocery store, then check into hotel. Build bike and take it out for a good road test. Meet team if an event materializes. After dinner, assemble bags, affix stickers.
Thursday: Short run and ride. Attend 4 Keys. Lunch with Simmons, Dr. Leslie and anyone else who’s willing. Back at hotel, get in a short swim in the hotel pool. Relax in the afternoon. EN Team dinner @5:30. After dinner, practice transitions with the race bags. Sleep before 10.
Friday: Sleep in, attend team breakfast, drive to Race HQ to drop off bike and bags. Do walk-through of transition, visually planning for S-in, B-out, B-in and R-out. Meet family at the Volunteer Check-in (they land at 10 a.m. and are renting a car on their own, as I don’t want to deal with traffic and IAH the day before a race). Lunch, then back at hotel to rest, hydrate and snack on pretzels and sports drink. I’ll encourage family to go to a movie (or two). Chicken Noodle Soup at 6:30, prepare everything according to checklist, in bed by 8:00, sleep when I can.
Saturday: Up by 4:00 to eat breakfast (bagel, Muscle Milk, and Naked Juice smoothie). If I can reach it, I’ll BodyGlide it. Dress and prepare for 5:15 a.m. departure. Carry everything the list tells me to. Once at T1, fill bike tires, add nutrition, fill aero bottle, then install and turn on Garmin, calibrate PM. Check SB and BR bags. All the while, sipping some sports drink. Off towards the swim start for body marking and sunscreening. Gel at 6:00. Drop off bags. At 6:30, I’ll put on the wetsuit (or, more likely, the speed suit), consume another gel with some water, and head in.
Swim: 1:02-08
Find a good place to line up in the first row near some 60-minute folks, aggressively go all out for 300m looking for clean water and fast, straight feet. Take no crap. When I start to really tire, I know everyone else is too. The key here is to get ahead of a couple thousand folks who are back there beating the snot out of each other. But I have to keep assessing whether I’m in a good line. Get on the wrong feet, in the wrong group, and you can get swallowed up by the masses (been there). When things settle down and everyone’s found their “place,” the focus will turn to breathing and long, smooth strokes. I’ve got several form-checks that I go through in my mind, a big one being rotating the non-breathing-side hip once bi-lateral breathing goes out the hypoxic window. I’ve gone :59 and :61 before (with a wetsuit) and I’m in good swim shape right now. But the TX swim course has run very slowly the first three years, with no wetsuits, bad visibility, congestion, and chop in the canal. So, if I can successfully escape the human washing machine, I should be able to get near 1:05, plus or minus a few. But time really doesn’t matter much, as top 200 out of the water in :59 = top 200 in 1:11. I typically really enjoy the last ¾ of an IM swim, so I plan to do the same here.
T1: 3:00-4:00 Simple, smooth, fast. Be top 10% in AG (I was #3 at IMFL, so it’s doable). This is free time, and it astonishes me that people will train hard for months to shave a few minutes off their bike and run times, then sit in TA for 13 minutes. I won’t disrespect the guy who was running 2x1M@Z4 in the rain at 5am three months ago. I’ll add some colored tape to my Bike Bag per a great EN tip. Once in the tent, empty bag, place suit and goggles in bag, put on socks (not going to burn my feet coming into T2) and shoes, arm coolers around the wrists, run. Put aero helmet and sunglasses on en route to my bike.
Bike: 5:15-25
Set Up:
- Specialized S-Works with 808/disc, Quarq compact/12-25
- Garmin 910xt
- Xlab Torpedo drink system
- Xlab Stealth Pocket on the top tube (carrying nutrition and salt)
- Cage on the down tube
- Saddle bag (carrying my spare tubular, Pit Stop, 2 x CO2, inflator, disc valve adaptor).
- Top two Garmin fields are 3sec P and NP Lap, with it auto-lapping every 5 miles (this creates a reasonably small box within which I can work and, if I screw one up, it’s quickly erased and replaced with a new 5-mile opportunity). The lower fields show lap cadence and distance (so I know when to expect the bad parts to start and end).
Bike SN Bag: Another spare tubular, some more Pit Stop and some more CO2. I really, really hope I don’t need this bag. But in over 100 triathlons, I’ve only flatted 2x while racing. Both were IM’s. Always be prepared for the unexpected/worst.
Nutrition: Assuming it’s warm/humid (it will be), I will target 2 bottles of Perform every hour, with early hydration being one of the keys to a good race. Audible alerts on the Garmin every 15 minutes remind me to drink every beep, supplementing between beeps according to thirst. If it’s very hot and I need more liquid, I’ll add water + salt pills between the bottles of Perform to keep the calories and sugar under control. I’ll eat a quarter Clif Bar (60 calories) every 30 minutes for the first 1:30 starting right out of T1. After that, I’ll eat 3-4 blocks/chews (60-80 calories) every 30 minutes for two hours. At 4:00, when my hunger usually starts to go away, I’ll eat a caffeinated gel. I’ll add another gel at 4:30 or 4:45.
Execution: Riding the TX course 2x during the EN Camp (1x with Coach P) was extremely valuable. And I now know the wind and heat will dictate much of what the course will give. I’m just going to go out easy, settling into my 175-80 watt range (68-70%), doing no harm the first 40, executing precise gearing and low-VI watt control (183NP) through the difficult rolling and bumpy northern portions with my course knowledge about exactly when it will suck and when there’s opportunity, up until Mile 83 when the roads get smooth and point downhill, then racing the last 29 miles (at no more than 186NP or 73%) while 99% aero (I’ve done 6 outdoor rides of 100+, so the back, neck and undercarriage are well trained to go the full 112 in the bars).
T2: 3:00-4:00 Take the Garmin from the bike and snap it to my wrist (will wear the watch strap all day), empty bag, place helmet in back, put on shoes, grab zip-lock bag, run. From the zip-lock bag, I’ll put on my hat, place salt and sunscreen in tri top pockets, put on race belt, toss zip-lock. I’ll re-apply sunscreen after I settle in.
Run: 3:40-4:05
Run SN Bag: Extra salt. If rain is in the forecast, I’ll probably put some zip-locked socks and some duct tape in there. If cold is in the forecast . . . who am I kidding? I’ve never stopped at a Run SN and don’t plan to so this time either.
Execution: It usually takes me a ¼ to ½ mile to shake the cement out of the legs. After that, I usually find myself running 7-minute miles even though it feels like jogging. So, I’ll force myself to go really slow for a mile or two to get the HR down and gradually settle into my 8:25-30 pace (adjusted if heat/humidity dictate). I’ll smile as people sprint past me, knowing that I’ve always passed several hundred on the IM run, mostly in the second half. Garmin will show actual and lap pace, auto-lapping every mile. In addition to pace, the primary focuses will be on hydrating and keeping cool. I will eat what I can/when I can, with a deadline to eat a gel before 5, 10 and 15 miles. Lots of ice (head, armpits, groin and hands are they prime cooling points), water with the gels, Perform rest of the way, supplementing with salt pills (they don’t upset my stomach). I’ll walk 20 steps at the aid stations until the third lap, when walking starts to feel so good, and starting to run again becomes so painful. Things will get difficult as I embark on Lap 3, but that’s when I have to get race-tough, not slow down, live aid-station-to-aid-station, use cola as my prize for getting to 20, and deal with the Suck that will likely appear between Miles 21 and 23 on the gradual uphill through the totally exposed, spectator-free neighborhood of McMansions. Once back on the waterway and crowds at Mile 23, I’ll be fully hopped up on sugar, caffeine and adrenaline and will use that energy to high-five my way through the last three. I’m relatively light, have done 90% of my workouts outside in hot/humid South Florida, and tend to run pretty well in the heat. Even with that, I am under no illusions whatsoever – this run course will test me, especially on the last lap. But I’ll be ready. I’m not dead-set on a particular run time, as the weather conditions again will dictate so much. I'm in 3:15 standalone shape. Obviously, a 3:40 on a nice day = a 4:00 on a hot/humid day = a 4:20 death march on the surface of the sun.
My Things: I have a handful of motivational mind tricks I’ll play on my small, susceptible brain when/if I have to. Additionally, my wife and son will be on the run course, probably moving location-to-location to maximize sightings, and they will be extremely supportive as always (well, the wife will be). Anyone in an EN kit will get to know her for sure. But my secret, late-race weapon is my daughter who will be volunteering at the finish, placing medals on finishers. If that doesn’t drive a dad to the finish line, he’s a little dead inside.
Goals: The above times are estimates, not goals. I’ve set time goals in the past, and they don’t really work for me at this distance. Missing them causes a letdown; meeting them doesn’t provide much lift. There’s simply too much variability and unpredictability – which are the unknowns that actually draw me to the IM distance. Kona isn’t even a remote possibility given my horsepower deficiency and refusal to draft/dope, so that’s never been a motivator. But if I’m having a good day at the start of the third loop and a PR is within the realm of possibility, I won’t hesitate to push the envelope. I really like to race and have driven myself to some pretty dark places before when I’ve occasionally found myself at the front end of the field, willing to force the issue to see all I can get out of this aging vehicle. I go into this one healthy, really fit (10:00-15 shape) and will just execute, smile and grab every second the day will let me steal. These truly are special days, it’s foolish not to relish them, so I plan on fully celebrating it with my family, friends and great teammates. Can’t wait to see how it all unfolds.
Comments
Will be fun racing with you.
Counselor (if you're gonna refer to me as Dr. Leslie....
)....very well thought out, as expected...Every detail. Of course, I have nothing to add, given my lack of experience, etc. I REALLY like your mental approach to this whole thing as something at the end of the day that we do for "fun". Non-triathletes, friends/family/etc often don't understand why we do these things...sometimes I question myself too. But, there is just something about it that is hard to put into words that somehow makes it "fun". As you said to me once, these things are very expensive, require tremendous time commitment and sacrifice, yet sell out in a matter of minutes (or never even open to the general public) for 3K athletes/event....and it is growing like wildfire. I appreciate your frequent reminders to me (usually when I'm struggling with something again) that this is for fun...it should be fun....it WILL be fun (not always, but mostly!). I like your "perspective". I have appreciated and learned from your advice and posts many times (and "LOL'd" many times).
Looking forward to racing with you (you'll be RACING, I'll be racing) and meeting your family. Totally cool that your daughter will get to put on your medal and give you the first sweaty hug.
You know this course. You're in better shape than the prior MR. You have practiced and tested yourself in heat and humidity. You're mentally and physically ready. You have a plan and lists for your lists. Now you just need to EXECUTE. See you in a few days.
MR, there's not a thing wrong with having high expectations and holding yourself to it. As Tim says (and leads by example):
"Ready , willing, and able to lay it out there..... Accepting and learning from the outcome no matter what....If you’re gonna race, then race, and don’t be afraid to lay it all out there…………………"
You have a seasoned Race Plan, you have done the work................You have a great mind and you will do well as you dial in that 5th discipline come Saturday and "Get it Done!"