AMT IM LP 2015 Race Plan
INTRODUCTION
This is IM # 29 (of which 3 were DNS, and 3 were DNFs) and first of three this year. I’ve never done IM LP although I did train for it in 2002. A week before the race, my mother (87 @ the time) fell, broke her hip, and went in hospital for her second hip replacement. I chose to be with her, rather than race. Last year, when EN had its lottery for spots, I went for it, and here I am. My primary goal is to meet all my sport specific process goals. Since I’m unfamiliar with the course, I have no firm time goals/expectations. And since there are at least three others in my AG who have been to Kona, (and I already have my slot for this year), I have no specific place goal. But I do have the primary goal of being satisfied with my performance at the end of the day. I will identify those Process Goals, with target metrics in this plan.
RACE WEEK
Monday: Pack bike, gather clothes for rain, and racing, as well as visit to NYC after race.
Tuesday - Fly all day Seattle to Newark. Purchase GoGo Inflight, and watch that day’s TdF stage. Rental to LP, arrive late evening (after 11 EDT, 8 PDT), head to Head to rental I’m sharing with 4 other EN athletes. Crash.
Wednesday - Build bike. I’m considering riding the course from miles 44-54 @ 11-12 (Three Bears and into town), and maybe run for 20 minutes late afternoon.
Thursday - Main tasks today: Swim 20 minutes; register; ride DOWN Keene hill x 4 with house-mates; possible Athlete’s briefing @ 1100 or 1400; ? Scout the bike course; Team Dinner @ 6 PM
Friday - Main tasks: final bike check (bolts, chain, etc); Four Keys Talk 1000-1200; Review Four Bags; run a bit in the afternoon and scout the run course; scout movie and Sat dinner possibilities; evening dinner with coupon.
Saturday - Morning swim in lake. Lunch out. Prep bike and T1, T2 bags. Drop off bags and bike @ transition area. Cover bike drive train with Hefty bag. Ponder journey from swim exit to bike to Bike Out, and decide where/when to put on socks. Scout porta-potties. Afternoon movie: “??”. Evening dinner all liquid, then prep Special Needs bags and nutrition, final bag check for morning, listen to IM LP 2015 Playlist.
RACE MORNING
If I wake up after midnight, drink one bottle of Ensure.
4 AM Wake up. Go through usual routine. Start breakfast of oatmeal, OJ, maybe another Ensure. War paint, race kit. Leave @ 5-5:15.
5:30: Body mark, drop off Special Needs
5:45-6:00: Prep bike: 1 x 32 oz frozen bottle of Infinit, Joule, Fenix - calibrate to bike, Solids, EFS to Bento box, check tires, wrist band and possibly arm coolers to aerobars, shoes, sunglasses on bike, remove Hefty bag (if needed), confirm gearing is set to start out.
5:55:
6:00: start to don wet suit, drop off morning clothes. Gulp some gel.
6:15: Little warm-up swim until allowed to enter holding area.
6:20: Line up with 1:10-1:20 corral, more towards back than front.
6:35-40: In water, go.
EQUIPMENT
Morning clothes: Convertible pants, EN Race Team T shirt, warm top as needed, sandals, headlamp.
Race kit: Black Forza tri bibs, EN race top, Garmin HRM.
Swim: Xterra Vendetta full sleeve wet suit (usually I use DeSoto First Wave, but I think it will be too warm for that), Tyr transition goggles, WTC issue swim cap. Ear plugs; Body Glide.
Bike: trusty Frankenbike. Zipp 404 wheels, no wheel cover this race? Bento box on top tube, tools under saddle. Three bottle cages, two on frame, one as torpedo mount on stem cap.
Run: Saucony Type A5’s, Feetures socks, EN visor, wrist band for my nose.
BAG CONTENTS
Morning tri bag: goggles, body glide, swim cap, wrist bands, arm coolers, bike nutrition - 2 x 32 oz frozen bottles of Infinit, bottle of 6 Perpetuem Solids, flask with 4.5 oz of EFS gel, Joule, Fenix, glasses (in case), run nutrition - one flask of EFS gel, travel pump, tire, tube, special needs bags (see below)
T1 Bag: Helmet, socks, spare contacts, Fenix.
T2 Bag: Shoes, spare socks, spare glasses. Go Bag containing: wrist band, EFS flask, Visor, Sunscreen spray-on, number belt with # showing through, sunglasses.
Special Needs Bike: 32 oz, frozen bottle of Infinit, 4 oz EFS gel, spare tube and CO2.
Special Needs Run: Wrist band
NUTRITION PLAN
In Transition before race: swig of gel, about 6 oz of water.
On bike: Infinit - 64 oz with 840 cal and 1.5 gms of Na, Gatorade Endurance 160 cal/bottle, assume 2-4 bottles during bike leg, for 320 - 640 cal, 1200-2400 gms Na . Water as needed based on temps, hydration status; 7-8 oz of EFS gel for about 700 cal, 700 mg Na. Perpetuem Solids, one tab an hour: 200 cal, 100 mg Na. Totals: 2200 cal/355 cal available per hour for anticipated 6.25 hour ride; 4-5 grams of salt.
On Run: 6-10 oz of fluid each aid station depending on temps. Start with diluted GE, no more than 4 oz of per aid station. 1 oz EFS gel @ miles 6, 12, & 16-18. Coke, again diluted, whenever I need it.
PACING
Swim: anticipate 1:16 in water time. Bilateral breathing in general may use alternate side every 50-100 strokes, if sun or crowds are too intense on one side. I know how to swim, I’ve been doing it for 5 decades now, just lock in and ignore everyone else. No real sighting needed, just follow the crowd and keep the effort up. Process goals (since I have no metrics while swimming, these are of necessity subjective): Be prepared to work the whole way, up to but not past the point of stroke disruption. Points of emphasis: maintain stroke turnover, find and follow feet when at all possible.
T1: WALK out of water, removing top of wetsuit, to strippers. RUN to bag. Helmet, socks, put on and start Fenix, pee. Those are my only jobs until I get to the bike
Bike: Anticipate 6:10-6:20 ride time, but do not use this as a goal or metric. FTP is 212. Try to forget it was 262 8 years ago and ride based on my current capabilities. That would be: initial admin to start of Keene descent (Cascade Lakes): ride in the 130s, or .61-.65 IF. Going down the hill, my first goal is to maintain balance and sense of comfort. Attempt to ride @ 25 mph for the steepest sections, 35-40 for the straighter, not so steep parts. The next 20 miles are cruising @ 145/0.68 IF. An any event, NEVER see 160 on the watts dial. Key section will be miles 37-41. These are hills, and that’s what I’ve been doing all year. Again, try and stay under 160 at all times. IF for this section can be in the low 0.7s. After a bit of a flattish respite, Miles 44-54 will be more climbing, witht he same process goals for Power/IF. Keys to success on this course: ride within myself down the long hill; ride steady remaining aero at all times, from there to the first set of hills, then repeat over the last 22 miles. I will be hitting the lap button every 15-20 minutes, or more often if terrain feature dictates. Drink 4-8 oz every 15-20 minutes, one Solid @ 15-20 minutes into each hour, (eg top of Keene descent), then one oz EFS @ :45 past each hour, eg the flats after Keene. Avoid drafting, blocking.
Display on my Joule: Two columns, four rows, left to right: Mph, Watts; Cadence, IF; % grade, interval time; bottom row toggled. On Fenix: HR; Fenix is back-up Power Meter with other fields available.
T2: My tasks are: Get out of shoes 1/2 mile or so before Bike In. Grab bag. Take off helmet. Switch glasses if desired. Put on shoes. Grab Go Bag. Pee. Switch Fenix to Run mode.
Run: Anticipate 4:10-20 run time, dictated by temps. Start out of transition fiddling with Go Bag; by second mile, should be below 10 min/mi unless temps are above 75, then go with HR. First 6 miles in the 115-119 range; stay in the low-mid 120’s through mile 16-18 on the second lap, then allow to rise up and over 130. After mile 16, start using as needed the mantras of “No more half-assed races”, “This is who I am, this is what I do,” “Slowing down is not an option”, etc all the way home. Trust my training and my taper.
Fenix will display on two screens: Lap time, Lap Pace, HR, Cadence; Total time, Total distance, HR, Current Pace.
RACING STRATEGY
My goals in this race are: Swim: Emphasize turnover. Build effort to the end. Don’t slow down. Bike: IF of 0.68X, VI of < 1.06. Maintain nutrition plan with minimum of 1750 calories, 120 oz fluid. Don’t ease off after mile 100 as measured by IF in miles 100-110, keep constant effort all the way thru the last set of rises. Run: Even or very slight negative split; HR building from 108 to 132 thruout entire 26 miles. Final one thing: in order to be prepared for a good race in October, I have to demonstrate to myself that I am willing to actually race to the limits of my capabilities, something I haven’t done in an Ironman since Nov 2013.
Comments
You may find that none of the descents are very technical, meaning they're more sweeping curves than tight switchbacks. Road surface may be more of an issue than turns.
Looking forward to finally meeting you and seeing you on the course.
1. A frozen bottle on the bike pre-race - does that always work? I like cold drink too, but curious if it ever fails to melt in time to use it, if the temp is not so hot in am.
2. Running in a bib (by bib I am assuming shoulder straps) - no shoulder burn due to the straps/friction?
3. I am so curious about a flask with gel in it. I am envisioning myself trying to licking the gel out/pounding the gel out, like a bear with a small honey pot, and missing out on the actual calories while wiping out. Is that going to happen? How do you even get the gel in there??
4. Re: wheel cover. My understanding is a wheel cover only hurts the racer in super winds, otherwise there is no downside to it (though there may not be an upside either). Weather being unpredictable, how does one decide on the wheel cover issue?
Al, thanks for generously sharing. I'll just copy this one, adjust for my fitness level and caloric needs and highlight in bold the section regarding no more half ass performances........
KMF!
SS
Final one thing: in order to be prepared for a good race in October, I have to demonstrate to myself that I am willing to actually race to the limits of my capabilities, something I haven’t done in an Ironman since Nov 2013.
Every step of this stuff is about 'Do the next thing right'.
Sometimes that next thing is predictable, sometimes it's a curve ball that comes out of nowhere.
Here's to you having a great week and race in Lake Placid! Enjoy!
1. socks for the bike- you'll be running through the grass for a while but you get to the concrete oval prior to the bike mount line. I'd put the socks on then, well before the bike line as the mounting area is very narrow and heads straight downhill to a hairpin turn in less than 40 feet.
2. find someone to drop off your special needs bags. While it's not crazy long from the swim start, it's enough of a walk up mirror lake drive to the special needs area where it may disrupt your flow.
3. I don't remember there being a morning clothes drop off in LP during my 2 times there. That could just be me missing it and not paying attention since I had a sherpa, but double check.
1. socks for the bike- you'll be running through the grass for a while but you get to the concrete oval prior to the bike mount line. I'd put the socks on then, well before the bike line as the mounting area is very narrow and heads straight downhill to a hairpin turn in less than 40 feet.
2. find someone to drop off your special needs bags. While it's not crazy long from the swim start, it's enough of a walk up mirror lake drive to the special needs area where it may disrupt your flow.
3. I don't remember there being a morning clothes drop off in LP during my 2 times there. That could just be me missing it and not paying attention since I had a sherpa, but double check.