my first RR (for Eagleman 70.3)
Hi ya... I read the wiki, listened to the bike and nutrition podcasts and, all in all, I'll call the day a success but would love your thoughts and feedback.
Made a yogurt and fruit smoothie before I went be bed bc I just didn't see doing any serious blending in the 2am hour... besides, I don't plan to travel to Cambridge with a blender... I wanted to be sure a several hour sitting in the fridge smoothie would be AOK. My guess is that totaled about 500 calories give or take (fat free greek yogurt, oj, flax seed oil, banana, frozen blueberries and strawberries). Drank that down about 2:30am... then laid down again.
Got up between 5:15-5:30... made 2 pieces of raisin toast with light pnut butter and had a cup of joe. Probably somewhere in the 250 calorie range.
I had made the infinit (3 bike bottles, 1 run bottle) the night before so all I had to do was fill up the aquacell, the fuel belt, etc... pumped tires and was rolling by 7am.
I had also programmed my garmin for both run and bike segments. I'm an HR athlete (I know... I'm saving for a PM). 30 minutes of Z1 on the bike followed by 2.5 hours of the range of Z2-Z3 - the recommendation varies (Z2 versus Z3) depending on projected finish time. I'd like to break 3 hours - so I should stick with Z3. That said, this is my first RR and only my 2nd outdoor ride of the season (bc of a Jan hand surgery...) so I didn't know how I'd feel, so I left the zone wider open.
Bike: My first 30 was easy-peasy! as the coaches said, I could have read a book or eaten a pizza... averaged 13.1mph, rode 6.57 miles avg HR 123 (I don't recall what my Z1 is, but I know I wasn't too high or my watch would have beeped). The watch wouldn't take 150 minutes as a segment so I broke down the rest into two 75 minute stretches. 1st stretch: 22.82 miles, avg pace 18.3mph, avg HR 144 (this is mid Z2, my Z3 is 150-159). 2nd stretch: 22.97 miles, 18.4mph avg, avg HR 149 (high Z2). There was a foot race on my loop as well as lots of cars, etc... and 3 turns... so there were times when I had to slow down, etc... I think I could have done better... and want to try to program my watch for Z3 only in the next RR to see how it goes.
nutrition: I am very surprised to say that I only drank 1 bottle of infinit and some water. I was consciously drinking ... but I should, per the directive, get through 1 bottle per hour... I never felt thirsty, did have to stop to go to the bathroom after 26 miles, and never felt a bonk come on. I also went to the bathroom starting off on the run... so I was hydrated.
Run: wow, getting hot outside... I changed, had some gel, took an S cap and got going. Hard to stay in Z1+30" for the first few minutes (I was going too fast, that;s like an 11:00 pace for me) even though my legs felt like lead but eventually I settled in... the legs did loosen up... when the 3 miles were up, I bumped it up to my HMP (or whatever the directions call for, 9:20) and except when I walked to drink infinit, I did fine. I pretty much got through the 6 miles in exactly 60 minutes... so I guess that's about right. My legs actually felt okay, but my low back and my right shoulder were both really stiff...
nutrition: hammer gel to start with a water chaser. got through 1/3 bottle of run infinit and 2/3 bottle of water. I was tired by the end... and HOT... but bc of the heat (over 80) I really just wanted the water.
all in all I think it went okay.. not sure what I'd change, other than to try to stick to Z3 in the MS on the bike and try to get more nutrition...
your thoughts?
also, I should note that I did take yesterday off... although there was a short run and swim on the schedule... my IT band wasn't down with the run and after work I thought the swim would get me to bed too late (after eating, packing, etc...)
I did take pics, on FB, will add them when I can...
please weigh in if you can help! I did EM last year with a 5:50 and then I didn't know what I was doing... had a good swim (35min) a great bike (sub 3:00) and a ehh run) somewhere around 2:10... I melted, it was hot as the sun)...
Comments
The EM course is flat, but can be windy. Just hold your HR steady in the headwind and don't feel tempted to power through it to make up for lost speed.
For nutrition: So how many Cal/hour on the bike and on the run? How many mg of sodium/hour? I did the 2007 EM with perfect conditions: no wind, 70 degrees. Then in 2008, it was Tarzan hot and humid. I really, really hope you'll get 2007 conditions this year, but if it gets warm you will need to be mindful about taking in more fluid and sodium. If it gets stinkin' hot, your HR will be elevated making it difficult to keep down any nutrition---in which case, you'll need to slow down, bring the HR down, and hydrate.
It will be very important to run those first 3 miles "that slow"---it will determine how well you run your last 3 miles!
How was your hand?
good questions - just got all my stuff to check the labels... :
my bike infinit mix is 232 cal, 381mg sodium, 55g carb, 3g protein. I only drank 1 bottle on the bike (20 oz). Based on how much water I threw out of my aquacell, I'm guessing I drank about 20oz of water....
between the bike and run I got a good swig of my gel flask - (hammer gel: 90 cal, 25mg sodium, 23 carbs), and took 1 S! cap.
During the 1 hour run, I drank 1/3 of my run infinit mix (which breaks down to: 59 cal, 126 sodium, 15 carb), and had about 12 oz water.
The bike was pleasant, but the winds picket up as the morning went on. It was very warm (80+) by the time I was running... and it got to me... it was hot and miserable last year for the EM run... I walked through every stop to drink and grab ice to stuff in my sports bra. I will definitely work on nutrition, hydration, and sodium intake for the next RR and of course during the event.
Oh, and thanks for the tip about the naked juice! good thought!
The hand was stiff... and sore. I tried to remember to relax... I don't think I was holding too tightly (not like my last ride with gale force winds), but my bike mojo is still pretty low so I'm sure I was a bit grippy. I did try to straighten it out a bit and wiggle my fingers. It swelled pretty good for the rest of the day (the center knuckle is the big problem, fluid isn't moving through really well... and it's pretty crunchy along the sides of the finger...which reminds me, I'll do PT now)!
OK- highly likely it will be hot on the run- it's just the way it is at Eagleman. The biggest piece of advice I have is to make sure you nail your nutrition/hydration plan on the bike. It's just a killer to try to make it up when you get to that run. If you set yourself up with good nutrition (well hydrated) going into the run, you can pretty much run that 13.1 miles on nothing but water and you'll be fine.
I'm hoping I can stay healthy and run as fast as you this year. It will be a stretch, but it would be awesome to run with you on the course at some point! I can't believe I'm actually looking forward to that evil race!
¦150-200cal/hr, and we highly recommend liquid.
¦500-1000mg sodium per hour.
¦1-1.5 bottles (36-48 oz) of fluid per hour.
There's a webinar that's downloadable (is that word?) about it from the wiki too. I'd carry some extra S caps on the bike and work on getting in more liquid.
One more thing to consider for race day: If it is super hot, the water temp may be pretty high too. Even if it's measured to have AGer's okay to wear a wetsuit, consider wearing a sleeveless or a skin suit. The water temp in 2008 was measured at 72 degrees, but it was reallly more like 76-78 degrees. I completely overheated in my full wetsuit, then continued to bake my noggin in my aerohelmet for the run. Fun times.
Thanks, Kit... I listened to the nutrition podcast (and took some notes)... and had everything ready to go... it just didn't get drunk. I felt okay, never felt thirsty... but it was surprising to me how little I take in. I know that will be something I work on - even during my drainer and regular training rides...
Patrick
thanks, coach... when the directions called for the first 3 miles at easy/long run pace +30, I just dialed in Z1+30 - I'll fix that for sure... that will be a much more comfortable pace for me (even off the bike). The second 3 mile segment was at MP/Z2, so I had that segment programmed correctly, I just called it the wrong thing in my initial email, I had the pace right, though.
@Kit - I wore a john last year... and felt fine. I was on the fence about whether to wear the full or a john, but felt totally fine without sleeves (except for all the darn jellyfish - but the sleeves wouldn't have saved my face from the sting I got on the last turn anyway).
Becky- I've seriously considered wearing a rash guard at Eagleman. Haven't done it yet- but Its an option. The jellies last year were not bad at all compared to other years. It's a crap shoot. With all the cold & wet weather you guys have had, we can only hope that the jellies will stay in salty waters farther south. There's also this "Sea Safe" stuff you can buy which is supposed to help. I used it last year- not sure it really helped 'cause I still felt stings (mostly on that last turn). Then again, maybe that's why I didn't think they were so bad last year. Hmmmm, might need to put in an order for some of that stuff!