Bill Bejin IMLP RR plan v1
IMLP RR v1
5’ 10”; 141 lbs. FTP: 210 vDot: 48
Just like the race, I plan on focusing on hydration and fuel leading up to the race rehersal.
Friday: Swim 2.4 mi at the 50m pool – have a swim location close to the ride / run but don’t have a partner and don’t know if anyone will be swimming (NOT swimming alone)
Saturday: Wake at 5am. Oatmeal w/ raisins and flax seed – eat in the car on the way (it’s a 1hr drive to Kensington Metropark – lots of cyclists and runners – very safe for the most part and much hillier than home). Drink coffee and water in the car.
Bike course: Hilly 5 mile loop and 2 out and back segments that are more flat. One loop consists of the 2 out and back and two hilly loops. The truck will be staged at the top of the hill and I will pass it no less than 2 times per hour.
Bike: 6 hours- 6 loops. Bike nutrition will be 20 oz of Hammer Perpetuem mixed as 5 scoops (675 total cal.) per loop (second bottle staged at truck) and ½ Clif bar (125 cal.) each ½ hour. 1 Salt per hour. 20 oz of water in aerobars. Goal is to empty water each hour. I will wear my camel back so the goal will be to stop at the truck once around the 3 hour mark when I will reload the camelback, aerobar bottle, exchange Perpetuem bottle and restock Clif bars.
Bike Execution: First hour – nice and easy, low zone 1 working my way up to my goal .68 = 143. Try to keep it as constant as possible up the hills. Practice the soft pedaling and getting gears back on the down – the bike suggestions from camp.
Run: 1 hour. Run nutrition is 1 Powerbar tangerine each ½ hour. One “mouthful” of plain water each mile.
Run Equipment: Hokas, hat, sunglasses, water belt with 1 bottles of water, 2 gels and a bag of salt tabs.
Run Execution: Goal is first 30 min at 8:05 – 8:15 pace but not let the HR get above 129. This is the pace I did first 1.5 hours of the 18 miles (Ave HR 126). Second 30 min. push pace to 7:45 – 7:50 pace and HR below 145. Really need to focus on coming out of the bike too fast – just like at camp.
I have found that I lose spirit as I dehydrate / run out of fuel. Will focus on mental outlook for ride. If start to think about what is ahead then it will be fuel / hydration / salt time. Spirits always good if properly fueled and hydrated.
Saturday evening: Cowboy Ribeye; broccoli; wild rice; hydrate and maybe a beer.
Comments
Bill...I hope this doesn't mess with your head, but I've got to make a few comments. Most especially on your planned pace for the run. On the plus side, your pacing plan for the bike is spot on.
Now I may be wrong about this, if so, forget my comments, but this year you've done a 1:34 half marathon and a 20:24 5K, right? Five years ago, when that was my speed for those races, the best I could do for an IM marathon was 4:02, or about 9:15 a mile. Like you, I was able to do my final long runs in the range of 8:05-8:20 per mile, but, come race day...
As a general rule, to figure your IM run pace, especially if its your first IM, start with your VDOT as based on a recent HM and/or 5K, then subtract 2-3 points. Use the long run pace from that to guide your expectations.
The three most common reasons people have poor IM races (defined as walking a substantial portion of the race from miles 15-24) is:
Points 2&3 are linked. If you go slower during the first part of the run - literally STUPID SLOW - than you will be able to absorb more fluid early on, and stave off the arrival of the dehydration. So its imperative to take in about 40 ounces of fluid during that first hour of running.
And - are you gonna be wearing a camel back during the race? I hope not, so why not just prepare six water bottles in a cooler, and exchange them at the car as needed, since you will be going by it every 30 minutes or so.
Bill, first kudos to you for getting this out there early. Very well planned RR2.
Consider Al's guidance - huge value and wisdom coming from a man that has raced over 30 IMs......I think he gives SOLID input.
You have nailed the training bro. Good luck on the RR2, you are on the way to a HUGE race performance!
SS
On the RR run, I am really shooting to keep the HR down in the low 12o's - and not worry about pace. I agree 100% on the blow out in a marathon and there is NO going back after you have f'd it up. I have run 20 marathons and screwed my fair share of them up with bad strategy / poor hydration etc. I really took Coach P's advise about HR and have focused on that since camp.
Question: Is there any value in the RR to allow the HR to creep in the last half hour or should I just sit in the low to mid 120's the whole time? If the rehearsal goes well, I will follow the 120's HR for the WHOLE run on race day per the race guidance.
While HR is a great metric to use during the IM run to control your pace, you might benefit from an additional thought, considering your experience racing all distances in the run. I tend to use Rate of Perceived Exertion as my primary focus, with HR as a back-up, and simply observe my pace which results. The RPE method goes something like this. For the first 6-8 miles, I'm running STOOPID SLOW, meaning it feels *easier* than even my LRP during training. Literally feeling like my first mile warm-up in a long run. Then, from mile 6/8 thru 15 or so, it *feels* as if I'm running a stand-alone marathon. But my pace is usually a tick slower than my LRP. Starting about 16-17, my effort level feels more like a half marathon, and that slowly increases through about mile 21/22, when I find myself feeling like I'm working as if I'm doing a 10K. BUT I'M STILL RUNNING AT THAT LRP! By mile 24, it feels like a 5K, and the last mile or so seems like a sprint. But I never speed up. If I kept my RPE at, say MP, I would find myself slowing down over the latter half of the marathon. This is the secret of performing well in the Ironman: it's all about who slows down the least, and the way to accomplish that is to continually ratchet up the effort level on the run. That's what separates the racers from the participants. Getting that right in your first time out the chute is a monumental task, but it can be done if you set yourself up with proper pacing in the early parts of the bike and the run.
When run off RPE as described above, I find my HR stays in Z1 for the first half of the run, then hits low Z2 somewhere in the second half. Nowadays, I'm hitting 114-116 at the end of the bike, and running at that HR during the first 10 miles or so; I watch that go up to and thru the 120s over the course of the later half.