Ironman Couer d'Alene Race Plan- Steve Swanlund
Ironman CdA Race Plan
I will be 48 on race day and this is my 4th Ironman. Its actually my birthday (I told myself that i would race CdA next time it fell on my birthday and this is the year) Second time in CdA, last time was on the old bike course. I rode this course during camp week (224 miles) , so I am pretty familiar with it. I have had a very good build to this race, since racing Boston in April (had the flu during the race and suffered for it). Bike FTP was just tested at 278 w and run Vdot is 50. My swim RR's yielded consistent 1:11:xx. I am 5'11" and weigh 185 lbs for a w/kg of 3.31. I will be the Race Captain for this race as George had to back out due to an injury.
Arrive Wednesday evening, staying with my son in Spokane (45 min away)
Thursday morning- 8:00am easy bike ride on the first out and back with IF of .65. Do the expo thing and packet pickup. Team dinner at 5:30 at Cricketts.
Friday- 8:00am open water swim on the course. 10:30 am Four Keys Talk. Put together all race bags and do a final inventory allowing enough time to fix any problems. Eat on schedule.
Morning Bag- wetsuit, goggles, swim cap, body glide, 2 GUs, Perform, run watch, sunglasses and sunscreen.
T1 Bag-Towel, helmet, bike shoes, socks, chamois lube, spray sunscreen
Bike Special Needs- 2 tubes, 2 CO2, 2 shot bloks, chamois lube
T2 Bag-Small towel, run shoes, socks, run shorts, (hat, run belt, shot blok, arm coolers and spray sunscreen- all in gallon zip lock bag)
Run Special Needs- 2 shot blocks, Advil, S caps,
Saturday- 9:00 am take bike to the racks and T bags to drop off. Walk the transition areas several times to know the route. Sports drink all day. Lunch before noon and then early pasta dinner. Sleepytime tea at 7:30 then in bed by 8:30.
Race Day- Awake at 3:45. Eat 4 cups applesauce with protein powder and a banana. Arrive at city park by 5:30. Body marking and special needs and race day bags delivered by 6:00. Check tire pressure on bike, put sunglasses on bike, mount Garmin 810 and fill hydration bottles and put nutrition in bike compartments. Put running watch on the bike handle bars. Waterproof sunscreen on. Put on wetsuit over bike shorts and tri top. Wear flip flops around to protect feet, wife will take them at last minute. 20 minutes before swim eat 2 gu's. Count the bouys on each leg of the swim.
Swim- seed in the 1:08- 1:10 group. Start swim smooth and easy, counting strokes if needed to stay in box. No reason to go out hard and fast. Sight every 10-15 strokes to maintain direction and not go off course. Come out water and strip off goggles and cap, use wetsuit strippers to get out wetsuit. Find T1 bag and run to tents. Time- 1:12
T1- dry off feet, put on socks then bike shoes. Spray on sunscreen. Apply Chamois lube. Put swim gear in T1 bag. Run to bike. Turn on Garmin and hit start button. Put helmet on and run to mount line. Time- :05
Bike- start riding easy out of transistion put glasses on once the crowd lightens up. Ride easy up lakeside hill. Maintain .65 IF (180 w)until return back to downtown. Once hwy 95 is reached take IF to .69 ( 190 w). Do not exceed 200 watts on any climbs using smart shifting and controlled efforts. Computer display is 10s Power, IF, Lap NP, Time, Distance, Grade. Shift and maintain power over the top of all hills. 8 ounces of perform every 15 minutes. 1/2 of a Bar (100 cals) on the bottom of every hour for the first 4 hours, GU (100 cals) on the top of every hour to 4 hours then every 30 minutes for the remainder. Total calories 340/ hr. Total sodium is 985 mg/hr. Bike special needs bag will have 2 tubes and 2 CO2's and 2 Shot bloks and chamois lube if not needed I won't stop. After the last decent (right before northwest blvd) start to stretch and prepare to run. Put on watch and turn it on. Slow to dismount line and stop before dismounting. Get off and hand bike to volunteer. Run to T2. Time- 6:00-6:10
T2- remove shoes and socks. Change bike shorts for running shorts. Put on running socks and shoes. Grab GO BAG and run- Spray on sunscreen. Put on arm coolers, hat, race belt on the first mile to keep pace down.. While running hit start button on watch. Time- :05
Run- maintain 9:00/ mi pace for first 6 miles. Drink 1-2 cups of perform/water at every station. Walking for 15 seconds. GU's when needed from aid station. If fueled right on the bike won't need much. After 6 miles maintain 8:30-8:45/mi pace drinking water or perform at every station walking 15 seconds. Run special needs bag- 2 Shot Bloks, Advil, S caps. I won't be skipping this one. Second loop of the run- start reaching for coke as needed. Time- 3:55
Total Time- 11:17-11:27
One thing is to finish run in 3:55
Comments
Swim: Are you going to draft off feet, would it be advantageous to start out a little harder? I liked Al's suggestion about getting start position well before the start time
Nutrition: Is there benefit from hydrating more in that first hour on the bike to compensate for lack of hydration during swim. Coach Patrick remarks after HR settles to drink to the point of burping it up and then hitting your planned targets. For me, this quantity of fluid you list wouldn't be sufficient and I'd rather get more of my calories from liquid.
Run: I'm sure you are mentally tough and prepared to go hard and hit your run specific goal. I found that the "one thing" or a lot of one things like they mention in 4 Keys works well for me.
Time Savers: Can you save time by making transitions more efficient? Do you have to change shorts for the run, need chamois, take the sun screen, arm coolers, hat, glasses in a ziploc and put them on as you run. Could those special needs items be in the ziploc to avoid a stop there?
Thanks for being our race captain and look forward to meeting you at EN Dinner. Focus on being strong and healthy for race day!
I did read your report last week, and pondered your goal of 3:55, concluded that your time goals were all conservative - I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at your end result if you stay controlled on the bike, which I know you will.
I realize that I am in no danger of making it to Kona, to this I won't cut a few seconds in transitions at the price of a little comfort on the bike or run. Or certainly not pee myself throughout the day. This may be blasphemy to many of you, but to me this is just fun. I would like to make my time goal, but if I don't I would rather enjoy the day. 2 years ago I was hit by a car while riding the IM Tahoe Course and probably should have been killed if it weren't for a lucky landing, so to be able to race next week is just a bonus.
Jason- As far as hydrating on the bike in the first hour I will adjust as needed, good call.
Al- Based on my RR's I'm not sure those times are that conservative, I've lost a bit over the past two years.