Gerry Gordon's IMLP RR2 Report
As usual, thanks for reading and any of your thoughts are welcome!
IMLP Race Rehearsal “2” Report (b/c RR1 was @ IMLP Camp)
Week 18 of intermediate IM Plan
Keeping it real simple – the fewer moving parts, the better.
Pre-Race Nutrition:
1st Breakfast @ 3 hours before start: 12 ox Gatorade Endurance Formula, applesause, banana
2nd Breakfast @ 1 hour before start: 1 bonk breaker, sip GEF
15 min before start: GU (decaf) & 8 oz H2O
Results: No real challenge here & carried out to the T. If anything, I probably need to eat something more solid as I was feeling hungry at the start of the swim. This may have been a result of a less than ideal dinner the night before (ended up having to take my son to the ER to have a concussion check after he got hit in the head with a pitch at his baseball game – I doubt we’ll have a similar issue the night before actual race). Fix: proper dinner the night before & ½ bagel with PB at 1st breakfast (no problem clearing out the pipes so more solid food will not be an issue that far in advance of start).
Swim:
Planned: 2.4 mile OWS; wet suit, cap, goggle, garmin, HRM strap, tri kit, glide; expected time: 1-1:05.
Results: 2.4 miles in 1:02; pace was a perceived HR and form allowed - comfortably hard. Fix: none needed.
T1:
Planned: No rush (but no dawdling); strip wetsuit, sunscreen, helmet, shades, arm warmers (if needed), shoes; garmin on bike.
Results: 10:25. No way to set up an actual T1 but things were organized in the car as close to possible as it will be on race day. Didn’t need arm warmers. Forgot sunscreen (doh! Luckily no sunburn by end of day). HR from swim came down pretty quickly b/c of the lack of race day conditions and movement with more purpose; HR will still be elevated on race day, so movement should be purposeful but not a sprint.
Bike:
IM Plan indicates no longer than 6 hours, but podcasts indicate closer to actual time on bike. After listening to IMLP webinar and asking about this discrepancy, I decided to aim for 6.5 hours. Race day may be closer to 7 depending on conditions but on my planned RR course, 7 would be way over 112 miles.
Planned: 1st hour @ high zone1-low zone 2 (<2.2-2.3), remainder @ low to mid zone 2 (2.3-2.7); nutrition: 1.5-2 bottles of orange GEF/hr, GU every 45 min (alternating decaf and caf); if hot/humid and sweating more than usual, may add salt tab every hour.</span>
Results: Drawing back on IMLP Camp info/recommendations, high z1-low z2 (<2.2-2.3) expanded to first 35 miles (about 2 hours).</span> On race day, this should bring me to the cross-over section (after the Ausable Forks out and back) from Jay to Wilmington, which is where it was recommended to be in the gumdrops and rainbows phase.
The remainder at low-mid z2 (2.3-2.7) worked very well. If anything, I was afraid that I was at the high end of the range and even a 10th or 2 over for too long at times. I dialed back where able and put faith in the fact that my HR dropped back to normal ranges very quickly after spiking from these over-efforts and after climbs (my RR course is pretty hilly in certain sections. I know the guidance calls for a flatter RR course, but to take out the hilly portions of my route would put me on roads that, while flatter, would be significantly more trafficked and have surface conditions that were far worse. With that, I opted for the hills. The benefit, I have no doubts in my ability to handle the IMLP hills – early and late.)
6.5 hours on the bike would be 13 bottles. 11.5 was actual. Started at a solid 2 btls/hr for first 3 hrs. Regular pee “breaks” (I pee on bike). Was burping and felt full with some twinges of stomach discomfort after that. Cut back to get things under control for next 1-1.5 hrs. This did normalize things, but didn’t pee for about 2 hours with the cut back. It was getting warmer and I have historically had issues with hot runs after the bike, so while I may not have been dehydrated (I was sweating), I may have been close and was concerned. After I felt better, I got back to the 2 btl/hr pace. Started peeing again, so hydration clearly improved. Popped a saltcap at 5 hours. This may have helped settle my stomach and move fluids. This would certainly put my sodium intake way above 1000mg/hr but I’m not sure what the damage would be other than maybe make me thirstier (I didn’t feel thirstier and it helped my stomach, so I’m running with the no harm/no foul theory).
GU intake as planned. Alternated decaf with caf. No issues digesting and looked forward to the “food” on top of all the GEF.
Took another saltcap while coming into T2 in preparation for the run.
Fix: I think I addressed the stomach issues well. I could try to get the fluid intake levels back up earlier by taking a saltcap earlier to settle my stomach faster. I was happy that I was able to settle my stomach and get things back on track before too much time had passed though. Unless the orange GEF (which I already could easily live without) at aid stations isn’t warm (nothing worse than orange GEF, than warm orange GEF), I have a feeling my stomach my get funky for a bit. If I keep my head, recognize the issue and do what I did, then I am confident that I’ll pull things back together.
T2:
Planned: No rush (but no dawdling); shades stay on, socks, run shoes, hat; garmin on wrist.
Results: 7:19. About as expected. Legs felt pretty good after bike (I’ve been doing all Saturday’s runs post-long ride to get used to this transition). On race day, I will use a go-bag for hat, race belt/#, saltcaps, a couple of GUs (just in case aid stations have issues) and keep the bag for ice.
Run:
Planned: 6mi or 1hr (most likely will hit 6mi first) – z1+30” (has been between 1.5-1.8); will walk 30 steps every mile; nutrition: 2-4 oz GEF/mi, GU every 3mi, saltcap every hr.
Results: 6mi in 1:03 (I know, I didn’t stop at an hour, but the extra 3 minutes got me back to where I wouldn’t be walking to my car forever – and where I was really looking forward to my post-RR reward: cool lake and chocolate milk!).
My legs felt good from the start and even felt like peeing (so I guess my fluid intake on the bike got back on track). Took a real effort to get my HR down to Z1+30”. I think some of this was due to the 1st mile incline on my course. IMLP starts down hill so I know this will not be an issue on race day. Even so, my RR HR was not super elevated just slightly and not coming down as quickly as I would like. Remainder of run, HR came down and into my range. My only concern was that I was at the high end of my range for most of the 6 – not an issue for a 6 mi run, but could be on race day with another 20 to go. Took 30 steps every mile (nice reward for the last mile of running). GEF (lemon-lime! A marked improvement), GU and saltcap in-take all good. Some sloshing around in my stomach after drinking; usually stopped after a couple of minutes. Didn’t have to pee but felt like I could, so I felt that my hydration level was good. Marked sweat increase and feeling the heat – expected after the cooling breeze on the bike.
Fix: Getting and keep HR down for the 1st 6mi/hr is a concern. Will be hyper vigilant to this on race day. Down hill start will help (I have no problems controlling downhill speed to control HR, unlike reigning in HR on an uphill). 30 steps at aid stations always help. Ice and availability of water to dump on me will help – no available on RR and I know that heat had some impact on my HR control.
Overall: Very happy with my RR. I’ve known since IMLP camp that my fitness was where it needs to be for race day. RR2 just sealed that knowledge (note to self: read this when the tapper-time doubts creap in). Its mostly about execution at this point. I’ve exploded during races before (pre-EN) so I know what that’s about. With everything I’ve learned with EN, that is not going to happen on race day. Still, the areas of concern listed above pose real threats. Having gone through the process and being aware of them will make it much easier to address on race day. Looking forward to tapering and final preparations for the race.
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