Bob Hiller's 2015 Hawaii 70.3 Race Plan
Bob Hiller’s 2015 Hawaii 70.3 Race Plan. Race on Saturday, May 30th.
Thanks in advance for reading my Plan. All suggestions and comments will be greatly appreciated.
BACKGROUND: I live near Cincinnati and joined EN during OS of 2013. 64 in Triathlon years. 5'10" 172#. Doing Tri's since 1983, and this will be my 60th Tri. Did Hawaii IM in 1989. (I remember seeing Mark Allen and Dave Scot running out together on the Queen K while I was biking back. I thought at the time: “Hey, they’re having a good race!) My super supportive wife Mean Jean and I will celebrate our 36th anniversary this summer. We have 3 sons, ages 26, 29 and 32. They all did Ironkids and the youngest was on his College Tri Team (Northwestern).
The numbers: My 2,200 yd RR swims in the last month have been 30:46 and 30:56 (1:24/100). In February my FTP was an all time high of 276w. My last vDot was 39, but training tells me it’s more like 41. For various reasons, all of my running since March has been on a treadmill except the last RR 6 mile brick run which went fine.
We will be arriving on Big Island on the Saturday before the race the following Saturday, so some time to acclimate and make sure my bike is in good order. (My oldest son is a local bike mechanic and my bike will be in tip-top shape as I leave town.) I plan to follow my EN training plan for the last week and watch what I eat, especially starting 2 days before the race. I paid close attention to the recent Core Diet webinar and will incorporate their suggestions including the morning of the race and my execution during the race.
RACE DAY:
SWIM: There are 5 waves. I am in the 3rd wave with the over 50 y/o men. 2 waves of women start after our wave. In my last 3 HIM swims I have been in the top 3 in my age group and my swim training has been going very well. I hope they let us warm-up before, but if not, so be it. I will watch where the lead swimmers in the 2 waves ahead of us go to decide what line I will take. I swam and played water polo in college, which helps me in sighting and I don’t have much anxiety about getting bumped or swum over by others. I will start in the front of our wave. I know some women will catch me, but other than possible wind and weather factors, passing younger, but slower men, will occupy more of my attention. I don’t anticipate being able to draft much given my situation. 
T-1: I will be proudly wearing EN Tri top, and a speed suit, so exiting the ocean, I will unzip the speed suit and pull it down to my waist and put my goggles on my forehead as I run to my bike. Not sure how far that is yet. If they let us have our shoes clipped in, I will (in order): complete stripping off my speed suit and put my suit, goggles and cap in my bag, put on my sun glasses, put on my helmet, stuff 2 GU’s in my side tri shorts pockets and run with my bike to the mount area. (No socks) Garmin Edge on bike will already be On, so I will hit Start once I am on the bike and safely pedaling.
BIKE: On board I will have my BTA and down tube bottles filled with Infinite Go Far. Once those are empty, I will switch to the on course Gatorade Endurance. My X-lab bag thing on my top tube will have 3 GU’s and several Salt Capsules. I plan to: drink minimum 1.5 bottles per hour, eat one GU every 40’, and take one salt cap each hour. Maybe more of each if it seems like the wise thing to do. Should whiz on bike 1-3 times. 
Under my saddle I have an extra tube. In the rear cage behind my saddle in a container, I will have an another tube, valve extender for rear 80mm wheel, 4 CO2’s, tire lever, patch kit, piece of Clif Bar wrapper, and 4 Allen wrenches. Using regular rim front wheel in case of strong side winds. Compact front rings and 11-28 cassette, with Di2.
I plan to be conservative on the bike wattage-wise. The first 20 minutes will be 182w. The next 1:40 will be 188w and the last part will be 190w, if it seems appropriate. I will try to stay aero, and keep my watts steady up and down hills as much as possible. I recall it is pretty fast downhill from Hawi, so I need to keep my watts up there. Sometimes I get significant low back pain when I ride hard a long time in aero. My bike fit is good, but my back is not. I will treat adverse winds as if I am on a hill, not chasing mph.
My goal is to have a good, not remarkable, bike ride followed by a good run. The latter has alluded me lately. 
T-2: Ease up and stretch a bit on the bike in last ½ mile or so. Feet out of shoes before dismount and coast on left side of bike if not too much traffic. Take off helmet as run n T-2. Find bag. Put on socks and shoes. Grab Ziplock bag with hat, race belt with number and two pre-filled 8oz Fuel Belt bottles. Race belt has Fuel Belt pouch added with 3 Gu’s and several Salt Capsules. As run, put the 2 bottles in the side pockets on tri shorts. (They fit nice and snuggly.)
I assume it will be hot. 
I anticipate I will be drinking at least 12oz of G-ade per mile. I will try to save the G-ade I carry in my pockets for the areas between the aid stations, and re-fill my bottles as best I can as I run away from AS’s. Drink G-ade and grab Gu’s as needed as run thru AS. Drink early and often, if can. GU early then every 30’, if okay with stomach. Salt caps every 40’. Water with Salt if G-ade not agreeable. 
First 3 miles at 9:13-9:20. Next 7 miles at 8:50-9:00. Last 3 miles at 8:30 (or faster?!!). May walk through AS for up to 30 seconds if HR gets above 133 during miles 4-10. Last 3 miles I should be able to handle HR up to mid 130’s to 140.
If you got this far without dozing off, thanks again. Bob
Comments
12oz of GE every mile on the run? If you drink a twelvie of that stuff and don't hurl, your first couple of Longboards after the race are on me.
@Mike. thanks. You're right about the GE. I mis-calculated in my head as I was writing my RP (and I did so well on the math SAT.
Of course that was in 1968!) On my RR brick run last week I only drank about 24oz in 6 miles! 
I don't think my fit is too aero, but we will see how things go and I may get someone else's fit opinion in June. I have something called spondylolithesis at L3-4 which I think is the main contributor. But if RnP didn't keep me in such good shape all around, it would be worse.
I would mention how much I enjoyed reading your analysis of your journey to an awesome IM swim time in NZ. I know many of our teammates will benefit greatly from your thoughtful and diligent research, experimentation and writing.
@Mike (additional response) The "spondy thing" is a sliding forward of one vertebrae over the one below.
Recently, the low back pain has been more of a problem during the bike than the run because I back off later on the bike.
@Stephanie. Thanks. We should have a terrific trip. About the technique. I get my speed up - going down a hill (if available), stand without pedaling, relax enough to get the flow started. Then you should be able to sit down and keep it going.
Anyway, that's what works for me. (p.s. my mom lives in Pompano Beach, so I'm down in your neck of the woods a few times a year. I'm thinking of leaving a bike at her place if she'll let me.)
On the swim, you probably can find some strong young fifty year old to draft behind, I bet. That may require a burst at the start.
@Al, If I have an edge in swimming, I need to give my parents the credit for getting me into swimming at such a young age. In my first swim race when I was 5.
I guess you're right. Four is overkill. Two CO2's should be enough. If I need more, the competitive aspect of the race may already be over. Somebody will toss me one to help me at least get the Finisher's medal.
Thanks for the hydration suggestion. With all your experience on the Big Island, I will definitely put upping the fluid on my Plan B list.
Good luck in your training for Kona. Looking forward to following you online when you will be going toe to toe with the other guys in your AG.
Al already called you out on the 4 co2's...
@Bob and MR - I get the back thing , I have had low back issues for over 20 years now L2-3, two herniated disc's .... Reference bike fit - Lower , slammed , drop whatever you wanna call it does NOT necessarily mean more AERO.... There have been people that have shown up in the Velodrome for AERO testing and actually tested more AERO after raising up the position... Of course this is not very common and usually lower is better but something to think about....
I'd review race reports here (Jenn Edwards races there every year) and consider walking the hills on the golf course to keep the HR down...have run!
@Tim - thanks for your 4 cents (your insights are worth more
) I don't think I'm too aero, but I may experiment raising the front of my body after this race. good luck in your training and say hi to Heather.
@Coach P - 1st congrats on another great IM and glad to see you're going back to Kona. The Athlete Guide says they give Roctane on Bike and Run. I'll yell out for those. In training I take a salt cap every hour. I will re-do my sodium calculations throwing in Roctane.
BTW, when we spoke during one of the early water cooler chats, I was only "running" on my bike, because of some pain in knee and from back. Thankfully, you suggested I run on TM, which inspired me to give that a chance. I have done every run wko since that talk. I built up consistently onTM from 3x1(3') to 11m straight!! (other than quickly resetting at every 35' which is max time on our Y's TM's). I feel I will be ready for the run in Hawaii. I will read Jenn's Race Report. Thanks and enjoy your girls this holiday weekend!