IMCoz Race Plan - Draft
Looking forward to any comments, suggested improvements and humor at my expense!
Rich Stanbaugh
IMCoz Race Plan
2014
|
|
Strategy |
Personal Best |
Goal |
|
Swim |
Balance, good form, follow bubbles |
1:18 – IMLC 2014 |
1:20 |
|
T1 |
Shoes + Helmet – don’t stop |
Slow |
Fast |
|
Bike |
PNORM = 175, VI ≤ 1.02 |
5:48 – IMMT 2014 |
5:30 |
|
T2 |
Shoes + Ziplock – don’t stop |
Slow |
Fast |
|
Run |
HR ≈ 150-155 à 165-170 ending |
4:31 – IMMT 2014 |
4:00 |
IMCoz will be my 4th full Ironman. Previous races were:
- Lake Tahoe – September 2013 – 13:55:30
- Los Cabos – March 2014 – 13:30:11
- Mont Tremblant – August 2014 – 11:52:40
Tahoe was hard. I didn’t manage hydration/nutrition at Los Cabos and was recovering from a broken foot at Mont Tremblant.
I feel awesome going into IMCoz and hope to use this race pull everything together after a couple years of hard work.
Goals
1. Have fun & enjoy the week with my family
2. Execute a pre-race week that gets me to the starting line 100% ready
3. Execute the plan and adapt as needed
4. Leave everything on the course
5. Achieve time goals above
Training
Following IMMT, I struggled mentally to look at another IM training plan. I spent about 6 weeks on a run-focused get faster plan to try getting my run back in order (broken foot in June). I entered a modified version of the EN plan in October culminating with a “camp week” in southern Florida four weeks pre-race leading into a taper based on shorter, faster, high-intensity work outs – all indoors.
Acclimate
Arrive in Cozumel Tue of race week. Hydrate & acclimate daily. Swim 30m Tuesday – Friday. Run bike in the sun & wind. Short run/bike intervals raising heart rate and core temperature above race pace.
Pre-Race Nutrition
- 120 oz sports drink daily (incremental workout replacement fluids)
- 8 oz beet root juice daily
- High carb diet Wed-Thu-Fri
- Reduce fiber Fri. Nearly zero fiber Sat.
- Big breakfast Sat. Switch to “nearly race food” from Sat afternoon.
- Sodium loading starting Sat
Swim Gear
- Tri shorts
- Speed suit
- Goggles
Bike Gear
- Bike shorts (still need them for long rides)
- HR Monitor & EN Jersey
- Helmet on way to bike
- Shoes & socks @ bike
Bike SN
- Tube & CO2
- Glide
On Bike
- Garmin 500
- Spare tube
- 2x CO2
- Tire tool
- Gel flask with 8x gel
- 2x Salt stick dispenser w Salt Stick Plus
- Shiv Integrated hydration full
- Extra bottle full and racked in seat
- Tylenol & Imodium tablets
Run Gear
- Shoes
- Ziplock
o Visor
o Number & belt
§ Sun glasses
§ Couple gels
§ Salt Stick Plus, Tylenol tablets & Imodium tablets
§ Sweat towel
- Fresh socks / jersey (spares / if needed)
- Vaseline & glide (in case of blisters / chafing
Run SN
- socks
- 2 caffeinated gels
- Glide
Race Day
- 3:30 alarm
- S3
- Banana, apple sauce, Power bar, 20 oz sports drink, 2x honey stinger & a Red Bull
- - First in / out of T1
- Go to swim start, hit the head, then sit down
- Warmup swim, gel 15’ before swim start
Swim
Never been in a non-wetsuit swim and only 1 mass start. Started 3 people back and it was a zoo – hard to stay horizontal. Try to get close to the front and swim ahead of crowd, let faster folks pass me and try to jump on some bubbles. Swim straight lines! Hope the current is fast, enjoy the view, site off bottom, stay long and finish it.
T1
Speed suit down on way to T1, HR monitor and jersey on, helmet on while moving, shoes/socks at the bike. Keep moving.
Bike
FTP is 250. Ride at 175 for first two laps, can bump to 180-185 on L3 of everything feels awesome. Target VI ≤ 1.02 for the entire ride. Stay aero. Watch for snaky riders in the crosswind. Cadence 90+. Heart rate 145ish climbing to 155ish. Unless it is running higher – sometimes it just does. A bottle & a gel every 30 minutes (10 miles). Pee 2x. GET THE CALORIES AND FUILD IN EARLY!!
T2
Shoes on – grab zip lock and go.
Run
Target starting hear rate 150-155. 9:15-9:30 pace for 6 miles. 9:00 pace thereafter. Don’t let heart rate climb above low 160s in first half, mid 160s to mile 18 try to finish 165ish. No coke before mile 18. Use ice, water and imagination to stay cool. Mix sports drink and water to keep fluids up. Walk a couple steps at aid station if needed to manage heart rate. Smile. Look for teammates. Try to run downhill on the last loop.
Comments
I'll be well behind you on race day, but with the run course being 3 loops hopefully I'll see you out there!
Comments:
Just some things I wish someone had told me before my CDA race in 95F temps in 2003, when I was so fried I didn;t even start the run. And which I'd learned by '05, when I kept running (slowly) on my next very hot IM in Wisconsin.
Rich Stanbaugh
IMCoz Race Plan
2014
Strategy
Personal Best
Goal
Swim
Balance, good form, follow bubbles
1:18 – IMLC 2014
1:20
T1
Shoes + Helmet – don’t stop
Slow
Fast
Bike
PNORM = 175, VI ≤ 1.02
5:48 – IMMT 2014
5:30
T2
Shoes + Ziplock – don’t stop
Slow
Fast
Run
HR ≈ 150-155 à 165-170 ending
4:31 – IMMT 2014
4:00
IMCoz will be my 4th full Ironman. Previous races were:
- Lake Tahoe – September 2013 – 13:55:30
- Los Cabos – March 2014 – 13:30:11
- Mont Tremblant – August 2014 – 11:52:40
Tahoe was hard. I didn’t manage hydration/nutrition at Los Cabos and was recovering from a broken foot at Mont Tremblant.
I feel awesome going into IMCoz and hope to use this race pull everything together after a couple years of hard work.
Goals
I have put specific time goals in the chart above. I did this because I think about them whether or not I say them. I’ve chosen to acknowledge this and use them as inputs to my pre-race planning. Writing them down gives them life and makes them possible.
Having said that – these time goals are not a part of my race-day execution strategy. There are too many factors outside my control (temperature, wind, etc.) for them to be useful. In that spirit, I have listed them last in terms of my goals for the race week.
1. Have fun & enjoy the week with my family
2. Execute a pre-race week that gets me to the starting line 100% ready
3. Execute the plan and adapt as needed
4. Leave everything on the course
5. Achieve time goals above
Training
Following IMMT, I struggled mentally to look at another IM training plan. I spent about 6 weeks on a run-focused get faster plan to try getting my run back in order (broken foot in June). I entered a modified version of the EN plan in October culminating with a “camp week” in southern Florida four weeks pre-race leading into a taper based on shorter, faster, high-intensity work outs – all indoors.
Acclimate
Arrive in Cozumel Tue of race week. Hydrate & acclimate daily. Swim 30m Tuesday – Friday. Run bike in the sun & wind. Short run/bike intervals raising heart rate and core temperature above race pace.
Pre-Race Nutrition
- 120 oz sports drink daily (incremental workout replacement fluids)
- 8 oz beet root juice daily
- High carb diet Wed-Thu-Fri
- Reduce fiber Fri. Nearly zero fiber Sat.
- Big breakfast Sat. Switch to “nearly race food” from Sat afternoon.
- Sodium loading starting Sat
Swim Gear
- Tri shorts
- Speed suit
- Goggles
Bike Gear
- Bike shorts (still need them for long rides)
- HR Monitor & EN Jersey
- Helmet on way to bike
- Shoes & socks @ bike
Bike SN
- Tube & CO2
- Glide
On Bike
- Garmin 500
- Spare tube
- 2x CO2
- Tire tool
- Gel flask with 8x gel
- 2x Salt stick dispenser w Salt Stick Plus
- Shiv Integrated hydration full
- Extra bottle full and racked in seat
- Tylenol & Imodium tablets
Run Gear
- Shoes
- Ziplock
o Visor
o Number & belt
§ Sun glasses
§ Couple gels
§ Salt Stick Plus, Tylenol tablets & Imodium tablets
§ Sweat towel
- Fresh socks / jersey (spares / if needed)
- Vaseline & glide (in case of blisters / chafing)
Run SN
- socks
- 2 caffeinated gels
- Glide
Race Day
- 3:30 alarm
- S3
- Banana, apple sauce, Power bar, 20 oz sports drink, 2x honey stinger & a Red Bull
- - First in / out of T1
- Go to swim start, hit the head, then sit down
- Warmup swim, gel 15’ before swim start
Swim
Metric: RPE
Never been in a non-wetsuit swim and only 1 mass start. Started 3 people back and it was a zoo – hard to stay horizontal. Try to get close to the front and swim ahead of crowd, let faster folks pass me and try to jump on some bubbles. Swim straight lines! Hope the current is fast, enjoy the view, site off bottom, stay long and finish it.
T1
Speed suit down on way to T1, HR monitor and jersey on, helmet on while moving, shoes/socks at the bike. Keep moving.
Bike
Metrics:
- Primary: PNorm = 175w (FTP = 250w)
- Secondary: HR ≈145 increasing to low 150s
Nutrition (300 cal per hr, 1,000 mg Sodium per hour):
- 1 Sportsdrink + 1 water (40 oz total) per hour
- 1 gel every 30 minutes
- 1 salt stick+ every 30 min
- Garmin Alarm set to go off every 30 minutes to check progress
Approach:
- GET THE CALORIES AND FUILD IN EARLY!!
- Stay Aero. I’m comfortable there – just stay Aero
- Ride at 175 for first two laps, can bump to 180-185 on L3 if the ride is fast, drop to 170 if the ride is 20+ minutes slow (protect TSS for the run).
- Target VI ≤ 1.02 for the entire ride
- Cadence 90+
- HR ≈145climbing to ≈155
- Watch for snaky riders in the crosswind
- Pee 2x
- Hydrate for the run start during the final 30 minutes
Wind:
Expect best case of 10-12 mph; 20+ mph and gusty is not unusual. Prevailing winds are ENE and will have the largest impact riding from S to N (quartering headwind). I’ve practiced in winds like this and learned:
- I can maintain PNorm targets and VI targets
- It is mentally exhausting and becomes hard to focus
- Very strong, gusty winds require that I hold at least one bull to maintain control of the bike.
- Many people will not be prepared for this and that section of the course will be dangerous.
- High winds will result in a slower ride. A slower ride at the same IF will result in a higher TSS. If pace slows by more than 20 minutes, drop power by 5 watts
- Trust the windy, S Florida practice rides that I did to prepare for this
- I cannot control the wind, but I can adjust
T2
Shoes on – grab zip lock and go.
Run
Metrics:
- Primary: HR ≈ 150 to < 160 on Lap 1, ≤ 165 on Lap 2, ≤ 170 at finish
- Secondary: Pace
o Miles 1-6 @9:30
o Miles 7-17 @9:10
o Miles 18+ @ ≤ 9:10
Nutrition (200 cal per hr, 800 mg Sodium per hour):
- Calorie target of 200 because I tolerate fewer calories in the heat
- 1 Sportsdrink (4 oz) every other aid station
- 1 water (4 oz) alternating aid stations
- 1 gel / hr
- 1 salt stick+ every 30 min
- Coke instead of sports drink after mile 18
Approach:
- Start running at target pace of 9:30
- Force HR to settle to ≈150
- Target 9:10 / mi, but adjust according to HR
o < 160 on lap 1
o ≤ 165 on lap 2
o ≤ 170 on lap 2
- If HR climbs, walk 10-15 steps at aid stations to settle / lower it
- Try to run downhill on the last loop
- Smile & look for team mates
Heat:
- Temperatures likely in low to mid 80s with heat index +3-4º
- Hi temperatures will slow the run by 60-90 sec/mi
- Keep HR in target zones
- Cooling strategies
o Hand towel for ice water on neck and face
o Ice water in visor
o Ice sponges in shorts and neck
o Water on head, arms and jersey (keep feet dry)
- I cannot control the heat – but I can adjust