Erik Schlanger's IM Boulder Race Plan
Hi All, here is my race report for IM Boulder. My first IM! I welcome any feedback! I should have had this posted sooner!!! J
Thursday:
Go pick up race packet and attend the athlete briefing… Do a short run stay loose…
Friday:
Take it easy with family, perhaps a short bike or run. Earlier in the week I drove/rode the bike course. I was also able to get in a practice swim in the Boulder Reservoir. Sip on GEF all day, perhaps watered down a bit.
Saturday:
Drop off my bike and other gear bags… I don’t plan to touch my bags on Sunday… Put my feet up as much as possible and relax! Drink GEF all day! Messing with bags on race morning stresses me…
Sunday: RACE DAY!!!
Get up early (Need to finalize the time) and have the same breakfast I’ve been having for the rehearsals:
-2 pieces of toast with peanut butter
-1 cup apple sauce
-drink GEF a bit and a bit of water…
-I’ll sip on GEF most of the morning till the swim, and have a gel at some point… Mainly try to settle the nerves. J
-See list of stuff to bring in the morning below
Head to Boulder HS and take the shuttle to Reservoir. Put GEF on my bike.
-Plan to fill my aero bottle and have two additional bottles on my bike. It looks like it’s 15 miles to the first aid station.
-Air up my tires, I should have someone with me I can give the pump to.
-Put on sunscreen. At some point change in to tri-top, HR Strap, Wetsuit, use lots of body glide…
OK, time to start the race!!!
SWIM:
-line up for a 1 hour 24 min swim, I’ve been swimming an hour and 23 min or so in practice; I expect to be a tad slower in open water even with the wet suit…
-When I start keep it under control and stay calm in my box. Find my groove and stay there. Remember to sight and stay on course.
T1:
-Stay calm and do my thing!! There’s a long day ahead of me!
-Get out of the water and pull top of wet suit down. Leave goggles on for now… Find the peelers and let them do their thing…
-Head to change tent, dump contents of bag.
-Re-apply body glide under tri shorts and at waist!!
-Dry feet and get put on socks and shoes.
-Put salt pills in left pocket of shorts, put 3 bars already opened in left pocket of tri-top.
-Sunscreen tube in right pocket of tri-top, reapply it every 2-3 hours. Important not to bake!
-Helmet & sun glasses on.
-Sun screen from volunteers!
-Get on bike!
Bike:
-Nutrition plan: 2, 24oz bottles of GEF each hour and 1 salt pill each time I change bottles. Half to ¾ of a PB each hour. More GEF in first hour to re-hydrate from swim.
-Based on my expected speed of best case 15 MPH and the fact that some of the aid stations seem to be 15 miles apart I need to look at grabbling 2 bottles of GEF at some aid stations. Not sure how well that will work. More on this later.
-Put my watch on the bike handle bars before I start peddling…
-Remember to take it easy for the first 1.5 hrs, power at Z1 <115 W… There is a small climb at start of bike, take it easy! Nowhere near mile 18 yet!</p>
-drink! And take a salt pill. Remember you need to hydrate after the swim!
-After 1.5 hrs go ahead and move the power up to low Z2, my Z2 is 115-123W… Keep it steady!!! Be smart!!!
-Aid stations appear to be at miles:
15, 20, 30+, 40+, 55, 60, 73, 83, 91, 101
Based on this and my expected slow speed, etc I want to try and grab 2 bottles of GEF at each aid station. I won’t need 2 at all of them but I expect to need 2 at some at least. I need to work hard to drink and stay hydrated!
-Stop at SN (the second time) and pick up more tubes and CO2 if needed. Re-apply sunscreen so I don’t bake! Pick up more bars and salt pills if something has happened to them. Use SN to stretch out my back a bit…
-Keep my power in the right zone and try to finish the bike strong!! Keep calm on the last hills, you can do them.
-When I stop at T2 remove my watch from the handlebars while still standing on the bike! Put it on my wrist!!!
-Keep my shoes on my feet until I get to the change tent…
T2:
-Stay calm! It will be great to be off the bike!
-Stash the helmet and whatever is left of my bars…
-Take off shoes and socks!
-Put on clean dry socks and running shoes.
-Sunscreen!!
-Grab my hydration belt which will be loaded with 6 gels and 2 flasks of GEF.
-Grab my empty ziplock and stuff in my pocket. I will use this for an ice pack as needed!
-Exit the change tent…
RUN:
-Stay at Z1 + 30sec (~11min/mile) sec for the first hour. Also look to keep HR down to no more than say 135-140. Walk as needed to keep this… Check HR with what I saw at end of bike.
-After the first hour move to Z1 (~10:30 per mile) if I can. Keep the HR to under 145 or 150… Walk as needed to maintain this…
-Walk the aid stations, use the short walk at each aid station as motivation when it gets hard. Try not to slow down! Drink at least at each aid station. Fill flasks as needed. Gel every half hour.
-Stop at SN and pick up gels and salt pills.
-My watch words are to stay in box and run my own race!
-If I get to mile 18 and I have anything left then I can think about running faster… If I can maintain my pace I will be happy!!
-Cross the finish line before midnight!!!
Notes on contents of my gear bags:
Bike Gear Bag:
-Tri-Top will be on along with HR strap…
-Socks
-Bike shoes
-3 bars opened already.
-Bag of 20 salt pills
-Sunglasses in hard case…
-Helmet
-Body Glide
-Small towel
-Spare contacts if needed.
Bike SN:
-2 tubes and CO2 cartridges
-3 bars, open them in SN…
-Spare contacts if needed
Run Gear bag:
-Socks
-Run shoes
-body glide, re-apply as needed… Put on feet too.
-hydration belt with 2 flasks of GEF. 6 gels, bag of 20 salt pills…
-Race number attached to hydration belt.
-Spare run shirt in case the tri-top is bugging me too much.
-Regular glasses if needed.
-Spare contacts if needed.
Run SN:
-8 gels
-bag of 20 salt pills
-Dry socks in case I want them.
Morning Stuff I need:
-head lamp, sometime nice to have…
-bike pump
-3 Bottles of GEF and Aero bottle
-Wetsuit
-2 pair goggles, one is extra if needed.
-Body Glide
-EN Tri Top
-HR Strap including the transmitter
-Garmin watch
-Sunscreen
-timing chip
-Swim Cap
-Bike pump
-wear tri shorts and Tevas and lucky pre-race t-shirt… J
-Bottle of GEF to sip on and a gel
-partial roll of TP; sometimes I’ve wished I had this…
-Sharpie, I like to write inspirational stuff on my arm!
Comments
Erik - A couple thoughts....For bike nutrition, to me 1/2 to 3/4 powerbar seems light. You are only looking at 110-150 calories per hour. Have you practiced this in training? If so and it works for you, great, but to me it seems light. As a point of reference i will be racing at around 145lbs and i shoot for 220-240 calories per hour in the form of gels plus as much GEF as i can reasonably handle depending upon the heat.
For hydration, i don't think you will need to worry about grabbing 2 bottles at the aid stations. There are any sections of this course were you can't help but cover those 15 miles at 24-27MPH. Plus if you are starting the race with 3 bottles i think you will have enough in reserve to make it to the next aid station.
On the run, why are you planning on running with GEF? That is what they are serving on the course. Is it so you have something to drink between aid stations? I would just caution you about having too many moving parts that you need to manage and think about. Again if you practiced this and your comfortable with your plan, that's great, but where you can eliminate something or get what you need from the course, i think it makes life easier.
Otherwise, your execution plan looks great. Keep everything in check until it gets really, really hard on the run and then try your best to not slow down. Stick to this plan and you will be good to go. And finally, remember to enjoy the day. Yes, it's hard, and yes, there are times when it absolutely sucks, but it's an amazing experience and it's always strange how quickly the time goes by. See ya later today!