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IMLP 18/2 - The Line
Welcome to Week 18 IronMen!!! Making it to 18 healthy and on track , IMO, is a greater accomplishment than making it through the big Day!
RR2 on the schedule this week! Dialing everything thing in, nutrition, pacing, YOUR MENTAL game is what this is all about friends.
In so doing, remember there will be cumulative fatigue building throughout race day. So important to follow your plan, race your race and prepare for THE LINE. RR2 is a chance to show yourself you CAN follow those steps and feel strong at mile 6.
EVERYTHING before The Line is simply about creating conditions for success for when the Line comes to you.
- A successful race = a good run. There is no such thing as a good bike followed by bad run, period. In our world, if you showed up with solid run fitness, had a "good" bike and a poor run, we will ALWAYS assume you messed up your bike pacing unless you are missing a limb or are in the ICU with an intestinal parasite.
- If you think you can ride faster than we're telling you, prove it by running well off the bike first (preferrably not attempted for the first time on race day!).
- Ride your "should" bike split vs your "could" bike split. YourCould split is what you tell Timmy you could ride on a good day, when you're out together for your Saturday ride. If you say you "could ride a 5:50," your Should split is likely 6:00 and defined as the bike split that yields a good run (see #1 above).
- Don't be a Caboose, be an Engine! Ironman in general, but especially the bike leg, is an exercise in consistency. You don't need straight-A's to win your day, you only have to show up with your C game to be at the head of the class. If you find yourself doing the opposite of everyone else, you're doing the right thing. Lots of people passing you in the first 40 miles of the bike? Everyone else sprinting out of T2? These folks are making your race day easier by showing you what not to do; it's up to you to resist the urge to join in!
- Think you made the mistake of riding too easy? You now have 26 miles to fix that mistake. Make the mistake of riding too hard? That mistake now has 26 miles to express itself, to the tune of X miles at 17-18' walking pace vs X miles at 8-10' running pace. Do the math. How is that nice bike split going to look as you are walking/shuffling the last 10 miles of the run adding another hour and forty minutes to your overall finish time?
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I'm taking the day off today. (Well, actually, taking a walk in the mountains with my wife). Last week, I set another new high for TSS in a routine training week, 1229, with my CTL hitting 130 yesterday, and my TSB dropped down to its lowest point since June 1st. I have no injuries, and just a bit of tiredness in my quads, but no real overwhelming fatigue. Since (a) Sunday is a day off and (b) my wife and I routinely swim together on Sundays, I figure today is the best time to take that day off, and get ready for five more days of quality workouts: one each of good intervals in s/b/r, the longish Thursday run, and the RR on Saturday.
Looking ahead to race day in 3 week minus one day, I keep reminding myself this training cycle, and the race itself, are really a part of the build to Hawaii in October. I need to be ready to start IM training again a week after Lake Placid.
http://m.ironman.com/~/media/7cee19bd085d4f58ad853932ceed1c52/im lake placid participant list 6 29.pdf?_ga=1.233971802.518384952.1377176081
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Searching for M55-59 reveals I am one of 136 in my AG
It's a shame that my arms are too skinny for all those numbers....LOL. Hope they write small.
Shaughn has his work cut out for him!
don't think we are going to be racked together if #s all over the place...
So. Pumped.
I've been benefiting from the good advice in these threads, so I suppose it's time for an update. I'll break this into 3 parts; you'll understand why shortly...
Part 1 of 3: The Good
- Really pleased with the fitness bump post-camp. My body seems to be absorbing the training ok with the typical muscle soreness you would expect. Been managing by checking the body in for regular massage / chiro apt's.
What did surprise me, though, was the gift of the 'stupids' from the increased volume. Nothing serious, just a post-workout brain fog that's causing a variety of hand-slap-to-forehead moments, like packing the kids' bottle of Disney Princess sunscreen instead of my own, or calling the kids by one of the dog's names.
I mean, more than usual, that is.
I've had to drop the odd workout every once in a while when life interferes, but otherwise, I'm feeling pretty good about getting to the start line.
- Just for fun, I decided to try out a set of race wheels and managed to get my hands on a demo set of 404's for the long weekend rides a couple weeks back. I had heard the cautionary tales / horror stories of compromised braking or getting pushed around by the wind, so I didn't know what to expect. I also didn't know how much of an impact they would have or if I would be able to tell the difference. Maybe a couple of minutes.
All I can say is... wow. Just... wow.
9 minutes faster over 56 miles, with the majority of that time earned on ~ 25 miles of flat terrain. Unfortunately, I wasn't very scientific about it (I was doing a mini RR to try out the kit and aero helmet I want to race in), so I can't confidently say it was all about the wheels, or maybe it's placebo effect and all in my head, but for me... wow. Just wow.
I also rode in some nasty rain / wind conditions that day, and was relieved that there didn't seem to be serious concerns about handling. The good folks at the bike shop tactfully suggested that perhaps not encountering those issues could be chalked up to me being a 220lb T-Rex on the bike. (Awwww.... you sweet talkers, yew!).
Final impression:
I must have these.
- A small yet significant milestone for me on that same ride: peed on the bike for the first time. Yes, thank you, thank you. Tip of the hat to Coach P for the excellent step-by-step instructions and a big thank you to Kristen for the inspiration from her Tremblant 70.3 race report. Truthfully, I'm a little disappointed. I had hoped for some rich material to tell a good story about, but alas...
- After reading what some of the WSM's had to say about it, I went in for a Retul bike fit. I'd never had a proper bike fit before; everything up until then had been by trial and error, what felt ok, what made me hurt, etc. I really didn't know what to expect from the 3hr session.
Wow. Just... wow.
The new fit moved me forward nearly 2 inches (!!), eased my back angle from a too-aggressive 18 degrees to still-aggressive 21 degrees, opened my hip angle by a degree or two, and more importantly, addressed some wayward knee travel by moving my cleats / addition of some shims. And I love the feel of the new fit.
After the big rides this past weekend, I can identify two major improvements. First, I'm much, much more comfortable and can push out higher watts while in aero which means I'm on the horns less / much later on the climbs which is translating into more speed (yay!). Second, I noticed that after big rides I would start to feel a presence in my right knee... *on the runs*. I never put two and two together, figured my shoes must be wearing, the usual suspects, etc. Still keeping tabs, but that seems to have cleared up after the new fit - just thrilled and starting to hope that I can cross that lingering concern off my worry list.
- Nutrition, bike fit, fitness, execution... everything really seems to have clicked together for me as we head into the last few big workouts. And that has done wonders for my state of mind going into my first IM. I mean, I'm loving the big rides - everything dialed in and humming along like a big old V8 on the highway, *blowing* past roadies on the big descents (climbs are another story, IknowIknowIknow...) and always enormously grateful for the advice/help/support from the team along the way. Or maybe it's just the endorphin's.
Anyway, hoping you guys are also getting a good dose of that, too.
If you read part 1, you'll know that I went into the ride today feeling pretty good about everything. As part of the decision making process on which race wheels to buy, I managed to get my hands on a demo 404/808 combo which I was taking for a spin. The sun was shining, and despite the big volume this past weekend, my legs showed up today and I was having a really good ride.
I was just coming onto a short climb after pushing a small descent, still cruising along at a good 30 mph when it felt as though I dropped my chain, which was odd since I hadn't shifted yet. I came up onto the horns so I could take a look, but didn't get a chance to even take a peek - because that's when my back wheel seized.
All I can say is that I am grateful to my (already overworked) guardian angels that I stayed rubber side down and my sideways skid stopped before the road did. Thankfully there was no traffic around me to worry about, either. With the exception of a much-elevated heart rate, I was unscathed.
My bike, on the other hand...
From what I could see, the bolt hole in the frame for the rear derailleur had sheared clean off; the derailleur had come loose and looped around on the chain and into the rear wheel, shredding the spokes and jamming the wheel in the process.
A visit to the LBS confirmed that the frame must be replaced, so warranty coverage is being investigated and the race to find a speedy replacement is on. And they were really cool about me having unintentionally destroyed their demo wheel, too.
I suppose I could be focusing on the bad luck of having to scare up a new bike, that I recently had perfectly fitted out and tuned, just three weeks shy of the big day. But I'm choosing to focus on the good fortune today. There's the obvious that I could be dealing with a lot more pain than just the logistics of finding a new bike in my size - but most importantly - it occurred to me that if that part of the frame was going to fail, for whatever reason, I'd rather it be on a training ride than have it end my race. So there's that.
Oh... and did I mention that it looks like I'm getting a new bike?
Stay tuned for Part 3 - I'm kind of curious to see how this plays out myself...
thanks
@ Gordon - Yep, I plan to make at least a few laps around town with the EN colors flying! Only thing is I need to come up with a new flag mount system since I now have an Element (no sun roof) instead of the CR-V. Current thinking is to stand it up on my trailer hitch....
This week has been going mucho better!!
Hoping that I don't get my a$$ handed to me by other in the same a/g!
@Evan. Very sorry to hear about your bike, but getting out of that without doing any harm to yourself is good news. Hope that you can get something in the mean time. How is it going with finding something in your size?
As far as the deeper section race wheels...with your size and weight, you should be fine with the deeper wheels whatever you decide.
@ William - you sound a lot like an IM in training............oh wait, .................
LOL
Long run on the books tomorrow all! Be safe and tear it UP!
SS
Bib # 972 and aging up 35-39!!
I just ordered my race numbers from TriTats.com
Last hard week of training be safe and have a great RR!!
Here's the Cole's Notes version of the answer Coach P gave me at IMLP Camp when I asked about peeing on the bike:
As it was explained to me, for some people, it's hard to relax enough to let go in the bike so before even getting on the bike, make sure you:
1. Practice peeing in the shower
2. Practice peeing in a public shower, like at the Y, etc.
Now, on the bike:
1. Make sure you have some kind of waterproof chamois cream or spray on; Coach P uses Tri Slide
1. Find a descent or flat where you can safely coast for a little bit
2. Check to make sure nobody is directly behind you (this is optional, I suppose)
3. Come onto the horns and put one leg pedal-down
4. Douse your front with a bit of water (optional)
5. Pee away
6. Rinse yourself with another dose of water (optional)
We didn't cover this, but I've gotten in the habit of rinsing my shoes after and giving them a good spray of Febreeze. Keeps any odours from getting out of hand (at least for me).
Hope that helps!
@ Evan, thanks for sharing that detail........good stuff. It took me a while and much practice to learn to pee on the bike as well.......I'm always trying to find that window when no one is behind me and far enough back to not see me.......my issue is when I find that window, it then takes me sometime to make it happen and, by then, there are usually bikes coming from the other direction so, I end up In Process, and typically get a "smile" from the oncoming/passing traffic........
All, William posted a great RR2 report and Al gave some invaluable guidance which I encourage all to find, read and re-read............
Looks like a lot of solid Long Runs are steadily coming in on Strava from Don, William, Derrek, Scott D., etc......Way to hold the line guys! Got mine done this morning as well......nothing exciting: https://www.strava.com/activities/342318030
Long swim for me tomorrow and RR2 Saturday.
We are very close!!
SS