Leventhal's 2014 IMCDA Race Plan

David Leventhal · June 19, 2014 12:13PM

This will be my 1^st IM. I’ve completed two HIMs (mostly recently Oceanside in March where I finished in 5:40 with major calf cramping during the run from mile 6 on. Best I can tell I was not taking enough fluids – this has been rectified in my training for the full by more than doubling my fluid intake per mile).

Stats:

· 40 years old

· 185 lbs

· FTP 238

· VDOT 47.2

6/24 (Tuesday)

· Fly in from Dallas to Spokane

· Pick up rental and drive to rental house in CDA

· Grocery Shopping for the week

6/25 (Wednesday)

· Lay low with family

· Short recon run near Anthony’s Restaurant near the start of the hill at the far end

6/26 (Thursday)

· 10:00 a.m. – Check in – get in and get out

· 1:00 p.m. - Pick up bike from Tri-bike transport

· 1:30ish - test bike out / recon ride

· 5:30 p.m. - IronKid’s Fun Run for 4 or 5 of my kids – City Park

· Head to team dinner at Cricket’s as soon as my kid’s finish their fun run

6/27 (Friday)

· 8:00 a.m. – Recon swim – meet at the flag pole out on the point

· 10:30 a.m. – Four Keys Talk - Couer d’Alene Resort

· Get bags together

o Morning Clothes – Wetsuit, googles (x2), earplugs (x2 pairs) race cap, neoprene cap, GU, spare tire, spare tube, bottle of Perform

o T1 – Helmet, bike shoes, sunglasses, sunscreen, spare pair of contact lenses, 2 power bars, small towel to dry off face/feet

o T2 – shoes, socks, visor, race belt w/ bib, sunscreen, 4 GU, throw away water bottle with 50/50 perform/water (using the grab & go big ziplock bag method)

o Bike Special Needs – CO2, tube, bottle of Perform, PowerBar

o Run Special Needs – extra pair of socks, small tube of body glide, mole skin, throw away water bottle with 50/50 perform/water

· 7:00 p.m. – Athlete Welcome Center (may skip this) – Bandshell City Park

6/28 (Saturday)

· Big breakfast

· Bike & Gear check in – City Park

· Lay low with wife and kids; feet up

· 2:00 p.m. – Athlete briefing (may skip this) – Bandshell City Park

· In bed early

6/29 (Sunday – RACE DAY!)

· Up at 3:30 a.m. for breakfast

o 3 cups of applesauce with 1 scoop vanilla whey powder

o 1 banana

o 12-24 ounces of Perform

o Small coffee

· Leave for Transition at 4:30 a.m.

o Set up bike – fluids, fill bento box (7-8 S!Caps & 5-6 GU), check tire pressure, etc…

o Sip on Perform

o Seed myself near the 1:05 group

o 6:30 – 1 GU (non-caffeinated)

o 6:40 – Game on

· Swim

o Swim steady start to finish

o Be aware of those around me that I can draft off of…focus on form

· T1

o Out of the water – use the wetsuit strippers

o Helmet on; sunglasses on

o Put Sunscreen on or preferred look for a volunteer to help with this

o Carry shoes to bike mount line and put on

· Bike

o Target for first 45 minutes is 159w (67% of FTP) - get HR down...JRA...get comfortable with people flying by me...stick to the game plan.

o Target rest of ride at 167w (70% of FTP) - Try to smooth out the hills...stay in the saddle...spin up...avoid power spikes (a task I'm not super skilled at yet).

o Garmin is set to auto-lap every 5 miles - dial into the Lap-NP field & time alerts are set for every 30 minutes

o Nutrition (I’ve tested this on both RRs & felt fine)

§ Will have Perform on my bike so start sipping as soon as I can.

§ Goal is to take in 1 ½+ bottles (30 ounces) of Perform per hour

§ 1 GU per hour at the 30 minute mark of every hour

§ 1/3 Powerbar per hour at the top of the hour (If needed)

§ 1 S!Cap per hour at the top of the hour

§ TOTAL PER HOUR: 363-442 calories; 1104-1170 mg sodium

· T2

o Put on shoes / socks (pre-lubed)

o Grab zip lock bag & go

o Put on visor, race belt

· Run

o Will be reviewing the weather & the heat adjustment calculator to determine how I need to tweak this based on potential heat.

o Miles 1-6: Z1 + 30 seconds - 9:28 per mile pace

§ RUN SLOW – be disciplined, be okay with people passing me; pay attention to my pacing; no excuses for going faster than Z1+30 seconds

o Miles 7-18 – try to dial in at 8:55 per mile pace

o Miles 19-26.2 - Best effort to not slow down

o Nutrition:

§ Walk every aid station

§ 4-6 ounces of Perform & 4-6 ounces of water at each aid station

§ 1 Gu per hour at the 30 minute mark – I’ll start with 4 from T2 and then feed off aid stations as needed

§ 1 S!Cap per hour at the top of the hour (I will monitor my sweat to & decide on the fly if I need to take an additional S!Cap in between my normal schedule)

§ TOTAL PER HOUR: 275-310 cals; 866-961 mg sodium

§ If needed hit the Coke

Mike Roberts · June 19, 2014 1:10PM

Hey David, great plan. I like your pacing and nutrition plans, which are the two big drivers on race day. This reads like it's from someone who has paid attention to his coaches and has been doing IM for years. The only thing I would add would be a suggestion that you not overlook the mental aspect of the day. It's a long race, and strange/bad stuff does happen. And when we're too focused on a regimented plan, anything out of the ordinary can throw us off our game. In 6 of these suckers, I've been punched, kicked, stung by a jellyfish, flatted (2x), launched special nutrition and various other bottles, had someone crash into me while dismounting at T2, blistered badly, chafed to the point of tears, cramped (every race), thrown up, laid down with the intention of sleeping for a bit, overcame (6x), and finished (6x). In short, there's a 90% chance you will hurt at some point, question why you're doing this, wonder if you'll finish. Yeah, it may suck. But the Suck always passes. Hopefully, your day will be nothing but rainbows and lollipops. But have a mental answer if/when the bad guy shows up with a bat. Most of all, make sure you take the time to smile and enjoy the accomplishment. Looking forward to tracking your progress/success.

David Leventhal · June 19, 2014 4:49PM

@Mike - thanks for the feedback - that's great stuff to process. I've thought a lot about the mental aspect of the day but wasn't quite sure how to articulate that in the race plan. My assumption is that there will be ample opportunities during the race to have to adjust expectations, make decisions based on things not going the way I'd hoped they would, etc.. If there is a silver lining to the cramping I've been wrestling with it's that I have been forced to re-evaluate what success for this race looks like...and truthfully, I'm probably in a better spot now than I was a month ago.

Al Truscott · June 20, 2014 12:29PM

D - +1 one on everything Mike R sez. Especially his second to last sentence. Its easy to over analyze and worry - the time to do all that is almost over. Your head's straight, now turn off that brain and just go out and race.

jaleslie · June 20, 2014 10:22PM

David. Plan looks solid and well thought out. This is your first right? As MR says, remember this is just a plan. You will probably have to alter something along the way, esp on the run depending on your gut, etc. As I finished IMTX recently and submitted by Race Report, the most consistent feedback I received was to trust my instincts a little more and relax and not be TOO regimented in sticking to my plan. That said, when it's your first, what else is one to do! (next time I'll loosen up A LITTLE!)

For me, the takeaway was to allow some adjustment (intelligently) on the latter part of the run. I think the swim is basically just not doing anything stupid and making sure your pre-race nutrition plan works for you. The bike is really where people dig a hole that ruins their day (bad nutrition, inadequate hydration, riding too hard, hammering up hills). If you ride your numbers and eat/drink on schedule, the run should be set up for success.

Plus, if Al approves your plan, you should be on auto-pilot!

Best of luck (execution). You will be amazed at how many people you pass on the last half of the run if you execute. It is hard to believe. I was running 10:20/mi and passing people left and right. Looking forward to following you next weekend.

Leventhal's 2014 IMCDA Race Plan

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