IMLP Week 19/1 - The Box
During my RR2 I tried to build a BOX as big as I could for the day.
I prepared up front visualizing nutrition and pacing.
I looked at the weather forecast noting I would start at 5:30 with 80 degrees and 83% humidity and most likely finish the bike at 90+ degrees. I noted I would have 15+ mph headwinds for the back half of my ride and mentally prepared for that as much as possible. That influenced my nutrition plan and reinforced my need to follow my watts plan.
I focused riding at a steady pace as much as possible, as the hours wore on I told myself to stay steady, re-committing every 15 - 20 minutes. I recorded a 1.01 VI for the total ride.
I kept my BOX as big as I could focusing on the things I could control as much as possible. When it came time to run, it was hot as expected.
I ran first two miles at a goal of 9:45 pace (trust me, no one wants to post that pace on Strava) - felt unnatural, and very hard to do but I was all over keeping my BOX large.
This week think about YOUR box, what you learned in RR1 and RR2 and how you can keep the box as large as possible come showtime!
Have a great week all!
All day long you are going to race inside a box defined by what you can control. Ask yourself "What do I need to do right NOW to create the conditions for success at The Line? Is what I'm doing right now counter to this goal? From what we've seen first hand on the IM courses this season, we believe you should ask yourself "Am I participating in some short-term tactical masturbation?" If yes, STOP!!
Advice: On the swim, the Box is the space your body occupies in the water: focus on your form and the rest will come. On the bike, the box is probably about one aid station long. On the run, the box begins as 2-3 aid stations long but often diminishes to "from here to the next lampost/manhole cover/mail box." Regardless:
- Keep The Box as big as you can for as long as you can.
- Keep in The Box only the things you can control. Let go of the rest.
- Exercise this decision-making process inside your Box: Observe the situation, Orient yourself to a possible course of action, Decide on a course of action, Act (OODA Loop).
Comments
In principle, I would think that there should not be much difference in terms of accuracy between the two PM's, except the Stages measures left leg power only, whereas the Quark reads crankset torque.
I have done all my testing on the Stages - how concerned should I be that the Quarq will be reading higher/lower than my zones? Should I re-test on the new power meter?
Thanks in advance for the feedback!
Evan,
The most recent episode of the DCRainmaker podcast had a nice summary of the factors that could be in play by just measuring power on one side. The link is here: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/podcast. Would be nice to do a test ride or two to "calibrate" the new power meter to your old one? Some smarter members then me can chime in on that.
Jim
@Evan .... I'd say no biggie if you can get in minimum of about 3 rides on the new PM... even better if you could validate it somehow against he old PM via comparing on a CT or straight up... but even a couple watts can make a difference.... I have lost my PM prior to a race before and had numerous EN peeps offering up PM's/Wheels etc (thats just the kinda peeps they are) but I politely declined and raced without rather than not having enough time with the new PM...
TAPER- finally... after my big weekend .... I slept like crap sunday night , got up at 3:30 am on monday , went for my easy morning swim when the sun came up and cut it a little short , my body felt fine but could tell I was tired/fatigued, I had my head up my A$$ all day for some reason , somehow managed to bumble my way thru the day without killing myself , unloading the groceries from the car I walked into the door jam and scraped my shoulder pretty good , then while I was drinking from a bottle I walked into the edge of a screen door , managed to keep all my teeth , while walking the dogs I was swatting some horse flies with the chucker/stick I use to throw the ball and whacked myself in the head , and then I wrapped up the day picking up the recycle bins with the truck and having the lids blow out of the back on my way home.... Slept much better last night , got in some nice SBR wko's and more importantly didnt have any bumbling episodes today :-)
http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/19175/Default.aspx
@Tim - you are a master at pushing it to that very fine line and staying healthy! Following up your RR2 on Saturday with a SOLID long run on Sunday and cumulative fatigue from the week is perfect timing to max out the stress load on the body given the race date. Now, as you absorb all that WORK up through race date, we'll see the Tiger unleash at IMLP!
@Don, I'll take a look at that Race plan soon!
My goals for the week are to Stay in My BOX by:
1) Focus on staying healthy
2) Following the plan and not falling to the temptation of doing more than the plan
3) Focusing on positive thoughts and not allowing anxiety or the "What IF" monster to occupy my time
4) Planning, packing, visualizing
Have a great Taper week all!
SS
56 years old, 135 lbs. IMLP is my first full IM.
I have sensed that my FTP had increased some since I last tested, a week before IMLP camp, when I tested at 165 with the 5' all out and 20' test at 95%, then the 20', 2', 20'. For the last four tests, my VO2 max (5 minutes) has been within a point or two of 120% of my FTP result. (20' NP X .95) I didn't want to do the whole test this close to the race, but I wanted some supporting data before adding a few points to my FTP number. I estimated 170-175. So, I went out this morning, headed slightly uphill and into a steady wind and went all out for five minutes. I figured that would give me a VO2 max I could divide by 1.2 and see if it confirmed my estimated 175. I didn't look at the power, just pedaled and looked where I was going. The result was quite a bit higher than I expected, 5 minutes, 243 NP and Avg. P. Divide that by 1.2 and I get 202.5. I can assure you, my FTP is not that high. Even if I use 95% of that (192) it's quite a bit higher than I expected. So, my alternatives, as I see it:
1. Just ignore this morning's data, go with my last solid test, 165, and ride at .68 of that.
2. Go with my estimate, 175, and ride a little faster.
3. Go crazy, ride at .68 of 192, and risk moving my line (crash and burn) to mile 6 of the run. Nah, not gonna do it.
4. Do the 5 and 20 test tomorrow.
The reason this is important is that I will be over 7 hours on the ride at .68 of 165. This builds up so much TSS that my run will already take everything I've got in the way of execution and exertion. If I can get the same TSS but be a few minutes faster on the ride, I could end up in better shape at mile 18 than if I take more time on the bike.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Neil
What was your 5 hour power curve on the last two RRs?
At this point, the RR 5 hour Power is the most relevant number you have vs. a 20' FTP test IMO.
.68*192 = 131
.68*175 = 119
RR 5 hour = 100
You had a lot left on the run you say for RR and it was most likely a lot warmer in TX than it will be in Placid.
I would be inclined to target 120ish using HR ceiling as a secondary backup vs. the 130 above suggested.......
SS
@Scott Dinhofer if you think I'm going to eat those 13 boxes of every OREO cookie known to man that arrived at my house today so that you can beat me at IMLP you have another thing coming... I have discipline :-) Thanks ! I'll be bringing a few boxes to Placid !
@ Scott - if I want to stay in the same Zip Code as you during Placid, my only hope at this point is to get some rest during this taper - I'm focused!
@Tim - love that tune!!
SS
@Shaughn - do we need a side bet?? - you still crush my volume (and everyone elses) on strava - KMF!
@Tim - So everyone can know, my GF & I shipped Tim & Heather a box of every kind of Oreo known to man as we learned during our visit that Oreos are not only VEGAN, but Tim's weakness :-) we shipped the box before we discovered the Key Lime ones, so more coming at yah!
@Pen - the donations come with an attachment, no more lurking, time to contribute, every one counts here!
Today's WO brought to you by the letter "O" as in oy vey, why can't I put on a tire without pinch flatting my tubes! So maybe a timely reminder to you all that if you are adding relatively new gear (like new tires) to your bike, do it in advance so you can get in a shakedown ride to test everything out. Fortunately, I put the tires on last night and put air in the tubes so I would know by morning whether I pinched the tube or not. At least my trip to the LBS for another spare tube won't be in a panicked rush either. Be safe out there this last week!
@ Gerry - I popped two Latex tubes this week doing exactly what you described below. Like you said, reminder to pay attention, be careful, slow is smooth / smooth is fast.....
@Bill - how are you? Better I hope?
I had a slow swim SLOG Friday of 1X4000M and a decent 3 hour bike followed by 3.1M Z4/Z2 run yesterday. Was brutally hot/humid here for that one.
Closing this week out today with a shorter recovery swim only.
All, some great Race Reports being posted from Al, Ed, Steve, Don, and others.......encourage you all to read them and post your own as soon as possible, refining as needed, going over and over so that it is all about patience, discipline and execution come next Sunday morning.
Enjoy the day off and get your head right!
SS
Just a reminder, last month Coach P collated and posted in the wiki an exhaustive (ten pages!) Ironman Prep Checklist, in both PDF and XLS formats. Everyone should review this to make sure they are not forgetting anything. I found that I had to be selective in how I used it, but its a good starting point if you are doing your first IM or otherwise wondering if your own list is missing anything:
http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/91/Default.aspx?topic=Triathlon+Checklists