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IMCDA Race Plan: Jason Brandt

IMCDA Race Plan

Jason Brandt M40 IM#2  

Thanks in advance for your feedback, suggestions and critique. I'll try to edit this post as folks share that with me.

 

I have separate documents not listed here which is my hour by hour itinerary, packing list and projected split times for my family to help them watch for me on the race.  Document below is my Race Day Plan.

 

Wednesday--Pack

 

Thursday, Jun 26th

Arrive CDA Athlete Check In

Afternoon Ride 18 mile section of bike course (start mile 20)

Athlete Check In and/or Hotel Check in & shower and relax

Depart for EN team dinner  Crickets Steakhouse, Coeur d’Alene



Friday, June 27th

8AM Swim Recon 30 minutes

Morning Run 30 Minutes ~0930 AM (maybe on course) park at anthony’s

10:30am. 4 Keys Talk by Coach Rich at Coeur d’Alene

1215 Lunch at F.A.P.

Lunch Carb Loading begins 456g for day

Race Check In if not done Thursday

Hang out hotel or see a movie or go see Spokane

6PM Dinner in Post Falls

 

Saturday, June 28th

 

760g carbs today, low fiber, low nutrient density (bagels, sports drink, pretzels)

20 Minute Run

10AM-UTC Bike Check In & Bag drop off

Lunch at Great Harvest Bread Co, CDA

Grocery Shop

Hang out with Bill & Kris or feet up or watch TV or lounge at hotel or Coeur d’Alene

5:30 PM Early Dinner

8PM Early bedtime for Jason

 

RACE DAY

 

Goals:  Execute my plan like a ninja.  Sub 10:45.  Stretch Goal:   Secret race time goal that I’m not sharing publicly.

 

Bags:

Morning Clothes:  Wetsuit, Goggles x 2, ear plugs, race cap and silicone cap, body glide, headlamp

T1 Bag:  Socks, Bike Shoes, Helmet, Sun Glasses, Sunscreen

T2 Bag:  Socks, Newton Running Shoes, race number belt, 1 gal Ziploc (hat, salt tabs in bag, sunscreen, 1 gel)

Bike Special Needs: Tube, CO2, Tire

Run Special Needs: Not used

 

RACE DAY Specifics

0330 Breakfast 3 cups applesauce, 1 scoop whey protein, 1 banana, 1 bottle sports drink.  Think about how great you feel and how great of a race I’ll have today.

0430 Race Day Outfit:  EN Tri Top, Desoto Bike Shorts, Timing Chip.  Sunscreened.  Light pants and long sleeves for wear before wetsuit and post race.  3 Gel and 2 Sports Drink to take with.

0450 Leave Hotel w/Family –Park at CDA resort lot or if pressed for time have family drop off and meet up via cell phone.

0530 Body Marking, Check Tires, Fill drink bottle, Put 2 gel on bike.  Drop special needs bags.  No nervous energy, stay quiet, find a place to be in my own zone.

0600 Don wetsuit, drop morning clothes bag. Visualize the great swim I am about to have.  You’ve done this several times and last triathlon you validated this.

0615 Make way to beach and seed in the 1:06-1:08 vicinity

0640 Swim Start Begins expect to be in water NLT 0650

 

 

Swim:  Plan 1:08-1:10 swim. Plan to seed with athletes around me looking to swim 1:06-1:08.  Light jog into water until knee depth and start swimming.  Plan to swim harder than race effort for first 200-400 yards.  I’ll be a little anxious but know that will subside when I slow down and get into my groove.  Yes, I’ll get hit…it is all part of the experience, just keep making strong progress and maintain form.  Will be looking for the right set of feet to follow (ones that I can swim my planned effort with and don’t constantly run into their feet)  Sight every 6-12 strokes depending on my perception of fellow swimmers swimming the right direction and aiming for shortest line swim distances.  End of lap one, expect legs to be a little wobbly but just get right back in and do it again.  Don’t look at watch during swim, let the time be what it is and remind yourself this is the only place you are significantly using your arms so you can push a little harder than you think.

 

T1:  Goggles, Cap come off and remain in wetsuit sleeve, find big burly stripper, jog to T1.  Look for family along the way.  Find volunteer, shout out number, assume I am retrieving my own bag.  Find spot outside of tent.

Socks, Shoes, Helmet and Glasses.  If volunteer assist have them lather sunscreen.  Run with bike past mount line.

 

Bike:  Focus on getting heart rate down, lots of folks will pass me.  Think of it as entertainment and just smile knowing I will pass most of these folks because I execute better than they do.  Aim for 190-200 watts for first miles.  Remainder of race is target 207 watts (an intensity factor of .74/.75 validated in two race rehearsals).  Don’t exceed the 207 for any lap or you’ll pay for it in the last 20 miles.   No surges, no competing with others, let them pass me, eyes glued to road and watch.  Aero the whole way except for turns and aid stations.  Follow EN hill guidance, smooth out the hills and keep pushing on crest and downhill until speed hits 35 or my comfort factor for conditions.  No sightseeing….you can do this with family …no conversations except short words of encouragement to others …don’t get bored in the second half…Stay on target watts.

 

Drink and drink often.  Drink until I am about burping the perform back up.  Goal will be 2 bottles of on course perform per hour and no qualms about peeing while I bike.  Watch will beep when it is time for my on course gel (every 45 minutes)

 

Mantra:  Stay on target, Stay on Target, Don’t worry what those around me are doing.  I am going to ride my race.  No draft except the legal kind when passing, Ride the smooth asphalt of main road not the debris strewn shoulder

 

Coming back in town prepare for upcoming transition.  Feet on top of shoes, easier gear and faster cadence. Don’t make the blooper reel dismounting.

 

T2  Hand off bike, jog to transition and call out race number to get bag, sit down, fresh socks, shoes on, helmet in bag and grab Bib Number & Ziploc with hat, salt tabs, gel, sunscreen.  If there is a sunscreen volunteer stop because its like a 20 second quick massage.  Be wicked fast in transition, it is just a footwear change.

 

Run.  9:00/mile for 6 miles.  Put on hat, take 3 salt tabs, and either sunscreen or chuck it.  4-8 ounces of sports drink or coke every aid station.  Plan to hit that 9:00 pace in my very first mile even it means some strategic walking.  Mantra:  I’m light and strong and save the racing until mile 19. Breathe comfortably.

Mile 7-18 8:30/mile.  Continue nutrition routine, add 1-2 salt tabs every 5 miles.  Don’t refuse sponges or ice when offered.  Run my comfortable long run pace…if this turns out to be 8:10 and HR is <160 then go with it.  If hot feel free to back it down according to heat factor</span>

Mile 19—Certainly don’t slow down.    You worked way too hard to give in to an early celebration or negotiation in your mind that XX time is still a great performance. Rather this is the time to get gutsy and focus on leaving it all out on the course.  I will not be passed, I will be doing the passing.  Passing folks will give me energy.  Plan to run a heat adjusted 8:00 mile.   Be grateful that I am able to do this and have the loving support of my family.  Revisit the multiple “one things” you’ve thought about which is going to keep you from giving in to race day discomfort or negotiation.

 

Don’t sprint in the finish chute, enjoy the glory, be emotional, thank the volunteers and most importantly my family!  Find what food is appealing, get the massage unless the line is long and Thank the family for they too have had a really long day out in the hot sun.

Comments

  • Jason: solid, complete plan. Just three comments

    Swim: Based on my experience with the start @ IM LT, things will move a lot faster than you expect. I was seeding myself @ 1:16, and I got to the water about 2 minutes after the gun went off! Also, I discovered that you can't sneak under the rope into the line at your seeding spot - you have to start from the rear and move forward to where you want to be. So you are seeding yourself with about 80% of the field behind you, meaning if you show up @ 6:25, there's a good chance you'll be walking through 1500 people to get to your spot. You might want to consider an earlier schedule for putting on your wetsuit and getting into the cattle chutes. Maybe the process will be different @ CDA? But it will probably be a linear thing - get in at the end, walk up to near the front in your case.

    Bike: you don't mention your expected bike split, and I forget what you did in the RR's. But a planned IF of 0.74/0.75 means you expect to ride no slower than 5:15 for the 112 miles. The "safe zone" for that effort level - the zone which *assures* you of a good run is if you are able to ride @ that effort level and complete the course in 5 hours. Briefly, here're the recommended IFs for anticipated bike splits:


    • 5:00 - 5:15: ~74-75%
    • 5:15 - 5:30: 73-74%
    • 5:30 - 5:45: 73-72%
    • 5:45 - 6:00: 72-70%
    • 6:00 - 6:15: 69-70%
    • > 6:15: 67-69%

    Counter-intuitively, the *conservative* rider would be someone who demonstrated in the RR that he was able to run well after pushing that IF for the shorter time. The longer one tries to hold the IF, the riskier the plan is.

    Finally, and I know you're aware of this, don't get locked into time goals. If race day dawns clear, and expected temps on the run are into the 80s, put those goals out of your mind. They ain't gonna happen, and you'll risk running yourself into dehydration by mile 13-15.



  • Hey Jason, good luck and have fun. No real detail about your nutrition plan, so hopefully you've got that well planned and practiced. Not vDot info to confirm that your run pace strategy is sound (probably is). The big issue is the bike. No FTP or RR numbers, but if 200w is 75% IF, then FTP should be in the 265 range. If you do weigh your goal weight of 159, then your w/kg is ~3.6?? If true, on that course, I suspect going sub-5 isn't likely. Which means . . . 74/75% is a very risky proposition. How sure are you about FTP and your ability to ride that long at 200w? Hopefully your FTP is higher, maybe Garmin Connect or Strava doesn't reflect higher FTP and 200w is actually closer to 70%.
  • Thanks for the feedback so quickly after my post. I really appreciate it.

    At IMAZ 7 months ago I rode a 5:17 at .70% IF and my FTP at the time was a 256. I ran great and in hindsight felt I should have pushed a little harder.
    My FTP for the past 3 months has been 276.
    I've done both of the last race rehearsals at the 207W or .75% and most recent race rehearsal was completed in 5:26 counting stop lights, sections thru town, mostly chip seal vs smooth, etc... The runs following the race rehearsal 112 miles have been really good.
    So by my calculations I'm on the high end of the "green zone" EN Power guidance table based on previous performance and higher FTP now. With that explanation does that seem to be on the acceptable/high end of the "should" bike plan?

    Thanks Al for the notes on run pacing. I fully agree with you and will be monitoring a blend of RPE, HR and known paces from my training runs. The unknown for me is the heat effect as most all of my runs have been in temps <70 degrees based on where we live. I've looked at the heat calculator and it suggests about a minute slower at 80 degrees and another minute slower at 100 degrees. <br />
    Mike--thanks for the query on nutrition. My plan is all oncourse nutrition and all liquid at that. My target is 423 calories per hour which I'll achieve thru 2 bottles of perform per hour biking with one gel every 45-60 minutes. The run is 1-2 4oz cup of perform per aid station. I'll have salt tabs with me. I feel like my stomach really tolerates this or anything pretty well. This was the plan I used for IMAZ and in both of my race rehearsals leading up to this race.

    Please keep the feedback coming and if you think I'm off track after my explanations above I'd appreciate the challenge so that I can continue to refine my plan.
  • Jason, great plan. One suggestion from doing CDA last year. Have your family drop off your special needs and morning clothes bags. The area around transition and on the walk way just belond the beach gets super crowded in the morning. Let your family get your bags where they need to go. This should allow you more time to seed yourself appropriately.

    Otherwise great plan. You're going to kill it!!'
    Mark
  • Great plan Jason! You have proven the .74-.75 IF in your RR's twice so I am not to concerned for you on the bike. You have also proven the bike nutrition, but you are smaller than me yet you are taking in 20% more calories than me, that sounds like a lot. But then again this has worked for you on two RR's.

    Looking forward to meeting you at the dinner Thursday.
  • Hey Jason, looks like you've got everything planned, thought out, and (most importantly) practiced.  Didn't mean to raise doubts about your 74-5% plan, just wanted to make sure you had it down.  Which you clearly do.  The fact that you can and have held tose watts for 112, with the ability to run well afterwards, is a testament to your fitness.  Which will yield big dividends on race day.  Hope you have a perfect race.
  • Mike--No, I didn't take it that way at all in fact I really appreciate the feedback as it does make me double check and provide my reasoning in the forum to see if it passes muster with my peers. I see that as the really beauty of race plans and this forum to share them with so many smart members that can provide me feedback.

    I want to have the fastest race possible but I hold a very healthy amount of respect for the could vs should bike and what that will do to my run.

    It is interesting the difference between a .75 effort and a .74 effort is 3W and a .73 effort another 3W. Speaks to a small difference multipled by a lot of time at that effort does really turn into a big difference
  • Nit-picky thoughts to a well thought-out plan.

    You may as well do your swim practice at ~7am so you can see the light the same way you will when you race. This will help you pick out landmarks, etc.

    As you know, the weather and water temp can fluctuate in CDA. I wore arm warmers (technically long socks with the toes cut off) in 2012 for the first 30 mi or so, and tossed them once it got warm. You may want to consider having gear for a cold morning.

    For T1 - I had a long run from tent to bike. I mistakenly put my shoes on at the tent, and in retrospect should have waited until I got to my bike.

    For your recon, I suggest seeing both the significant hill on the run and the one significant climb on the bike. After that climb, there isn't much to recon on that bike course.
  • Jason, solid plan. What were your watts in your RR's?

    We use math to set the IF target for RR's. From the first RR we get normalized power and IF for the ride. We then use those two data points, Pnorm and IF, to refine it further for the 2nd RR. Do that and extract another set of Pnorm and IF numbers.

    Against this, you have your IMAZ numbers as historical data, which you could probably adjust for changes in your FTP since that race.

    Sorry, you may have already done this and/or mentioned it above, still kinda early out here for me :-)

    My point is that when I was prep'ing for IMWI'11, I had my FTP, math, historical RR's, and historical performances at IMWI that all pointed to a Pnorm on race day of 215-217w. To me, this number held more importance than the IF that produced that number. All that said, if I were you, I'd ride .7 or a tick less for the 30' or so, call it to the first out and back by the lake. Then dial in .73-74. Then pick a landmark on the course, say the bottom of Mica Grade on the 2nd lap, to start seeing .74-75.

    IM courses always get harder across the day and it's always a good idea to save a little something for the last ~90-120'. You may not even use it, but always good to have that reserve to apply to late in the day hills, winds, etc. Also a big mental boost to know that you are turning the gas up while those around you are struggling.

    On the run, critical to chill the first ~6mi. This course makes it very easy to run too fast in the first 6 miles, until you get out to the hills at the end.
  • Thanks everyone for the continued feedback

    Coach Rich--I went back and confirmed. Both race rehearsals were done at 208W NP which with with my calculated FTP of 276W put me at 1 W over the 207W (.75 IF). I felt great with both RR and ran great (although too fast) in the 6 miles after the bike segments. Perhaps my actual FTP is a few watts higher.

    But what I'm hearing from my peers is this maybe a little too high and perhaps a .73 or .74 might be better and if I had any left, I could expend it all during the last 8 miles of the run. I think I'll adopt Rich's suggestion to do the .73 in lap 1 and if the stars are aligned pick it up on second lap.

    I'm learning a lot from all of us posting our race reports and I keep updating my copy as I see suggestions I like.
  • Yeah, it's just my gut feeling that .75 for the length of time of your RR's would leave you feeling a touch more spent than your narrative indicates, which tells me you may be underestimating your FTP? When I've done RR's at .74-75 I've done about 4:55-5:00 (very flat ride) and I didn't feel spritely getting off the bike. Not worked, in a good place, but .75 for 5hrs is a solid ride.

    At this point I think I'd roll with what you know works, call it 205-208w, and don't worry about what exactly your FTP is and a super accurate IF. You'll just go in circles, this close to the race.
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