Lynne's race plan
St George will be Ironman number 6 for me with the first Lake Placid 2002 and the most recent Moo 2007. Had good expectations for this one based on my faith in the EN approach(backed up by a MS in exercise physiology) but life, particularly 80 hour work weeks as a 2nd year pediatric resident, said otherwise. Outseason was only about 50-60% accomplished and the Race specific phase closer to 30-40%. I tried to get in the key workouts each week with the Saturday ride, Sunday rides short at 1-1.5 hours on the trainer while at work, and most of the Thurs long runs but I never got over two hours. Swimming continued to follow the OS plan in that I mostly didn't. Did do both RR swims and have proven lots of times from LP to Waikiki Roughwater to RR2 that I can do the distance in less than 1:30 at low effort level with no training so that's what'll happen. So with the stage set, here is the plan:
Weds
Flight from Honolulu leaves at 2:30 and we land in Vegas at 11ish. Have hotel near airport so will collect luggage(read-bike) and rental car and hopefully be in bed by midnight.
Thurs and Fri
Drive over to St George for 4 Keys talk at 10:00, registration, check in to hotel, build bike and drive/ride portion off course to check out wattage on biggest climb. EN dinner and then athlete meeting. Off to bed.
Out to check out Sand Hollow, last spin on bike to check for mechanicals and then check the gear. Vegetate and check out Snow Canyon State Park in afternoon. Dinner and to bed not expecting to sleep much.
Pre-race
Drink either a Naked or Odwalla smoothie depending on what I can acquire at local grocery store as history has shown I don't handle solids pre-race and then walk to T2 turn in special needs.
Bike: 3 hour infinit concentrate bottle
Run: long sleeve shirt and dry socks
Get the bus to Sand Hollow, check the bike including putting the Edge computer on, and vegetate/relax until I absolutely have to get in the water since it'll be way cold for this Hawaiian adapted person. Then deep breaths, listen to U2 Beautiful Day that theyll play on the a/v system right before the cannon and think that no matter the weather, that yeah it will be.
Swim
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Start back and to the outside, expect to swim around 1:20-1:25 based on race rehearsals and five previous IMs. Stay in my lane in the military sense of the phrase and just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. This will be the easiest part of the day. equipment- bluseventy helix plus/minus neoprene or silicone cap under official cap and maybe neoprene booties
Bike
Spin the wheel and turn on the computer. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. With the current weather forecast of high of 67 and rain, I'll take to time to put on arm warmers and either rain jacket or vest. I've done the fifties and wet all day for this distance twice and I've learned that it leads to stupid decisions on my part so I'm preparing for it which I didn't before. FTP approximate 168, so goal is IF 0.7 with gear 1 113, 2 119, 3 127ish, 4 132ish. If I'm remembering correctly anyway. Just got a 11-28 cassette that I'm loving but will still likely hit over gear 4 on a few of the hills just to keep moving. This is really where slow is smooth, smooth is fast will come to play. Will stay in my lane and let everyone ride away. Nutrition will be a serving of infinit every hour in a full bottle of aerodrink plus the concentrate bottle and a water on the frame. I'm notorious for under-hydrating so this is a special focus for me and has worked well with a true race "rehearsal" called Moo 2007. Expect to ride right around 7 hours. equipment- Serotta CXII ti custom with Zipp 404 tubulars with new pro+ rear hub, Edge 500. Will be first IM on this bike.
Run
Ahhh, my bugaboo. This is where my one thing will matter most just to keep going so here it is: I want to 'run' in the loosest sense of the word the marathon. No walking for miles and miles, just the aid stations. This is tough for me mentally and physically because it's where the thrice reconstructed knee will really start to hurt. But my one thing is going to be on a yellow band on my left wrist. I'm doing the run for Andrew, one of my patients with osteosarcoma of the right distal femur. My yellow band is not a livestrong band but Team Andrew that he gave me on his last hospitalization with the yellow signifying osteosarcoma. 11 year old really athletic really nice kid who's life will never by the same. That's my one thing. So pacing, start at 11:30 per mile for the first 6, 'speed' up to 11ish until 18 and then whatever I've got to the finish. 5 hours or so would be most excellent and would give me a healthy Ironman PB.
So my day will be all about 'race execution not fitness.' Thanks for looking and any suggestions. Yes Nemo, I've considered sunscreen in case it doesn't liquid sunshine all day
Lynne
Comments
Lynn,
It all looks good; I have one point for you to consider: given your relative lack of run training you might want to consider walking a bit longer at aid stations, perhaps 60-90 seconds. Better to be proactive about this than be forced to walk later in the marathon.
Lynn,
Looks great. You've been here before and you know what to expect even if your training hasn't been what you wanted/hoped! I had just a few thoughts:
- Are you planning to swim on Thurs/Fri to get a better idea of what gear you'll want on race day? I didn't see a pre-race swim and that might help you settle on the bootie/no bootie decision
- Again, love your "just keep swimming" mantra, it's how I got my nickname. So if it helps you keep warm- think of me!
- If your knee is really likely to cause problems, another option to consider would be intentionally doing run/walk at more frequent intervals (maybe every 5 min) with shorter (15-30sec) breaks. The increased frequency of the breaks may help that knee survive a little longer, even if the walk breaks are a little shorter.
Good Luck! We'll be cheering for you through the internet!
P