Tom's IM CHOO race plan
Tom’s IM CHOO race plan
Background: IM chattanooga will be my 11th ironman (12th started), 2nd with EN. I’ve been training with EN since 1/14. My PR is 11:32:XX at IM Arizona in 2013 placing 6th in my age group. I followed that up with another 6th place age group finish at Texas 2014. So one of my goals this year has been to place on the podium. I’m almost there. After Texas, I realized there were some things I needed to work on, in particular with my bike. My time in the aero position was an area I focused on this year. I approached this with a new saddle (adamo race), fine adjustment to my bike fit, switched to trislide silicon spray instead of chamois creams (sprayed on until dripping which has nearly eliminated all chaffing issues I was having), and concentrating on increasing time in the aerobars during training rides (trainer rides had my iphone timer set up next to my bike and hitting the pause button every time I sat up). The other area I wanted to focus on was my running volume and durability. My goal was to get up to running 6 days a week after the NOS. I did have a little set back after racing Florida 70.3 in April. I injured/tore a fascial band in my hip during the race which forced me to do no running for 6 weeks. So at the end of May, I started running again, increasing the weekly mileage by 10% per week and adding a day of running to the week every month so that by August I was up to 6 days/week. In addition I tried to run most of my miles on the hills around my house or on the treadmill at an incline. Swim work was with the wetronome to increase my stroke rate from about 48 to about 60 and working on my catch after seeing problems on some video.
Metrics: Weight 156 lbs/70.9 kg. ftp 264 (see bike discussion below). CTL peak 142.6 2 weeks, 2 days before race. vdot 45.
Equipment: Trek speed concept 9 w/ di2, 11-28 cassette, zipp 808’s w/ power tap hub, Tufo S3 lite tubulars, Rudy Project Wing 57 helmet, xlab BTA torpedo, one rear cage
Race Week: Since this is my 11th, I kind of know the routine of travel and check-in. My plan is to use check lists for every day starting a week before the race through race morning. Travel plans have me arriving on Thursday. Unfortunately travel from the West Coast doesn’t allow me to arrive in time for the team dinner so will have to meet the team at the 4 keys talk. Friday will be register, 4 keys, course recon and short rides of key sections (will serve as bike check as well), athlete meeting, shop for food/supplies, organize transition bags, and relax as much as possible.
Saturday: Sleep in if possible, big breakfast, final items/packing of transition bags, charge electronics, big lunch, mix perform, drop off bike and transition bags, walk through/memorize transition flow and bike location, off feet as much as possible, early dinner, lay out race kit, in bed by 8, lights out by 9 at the latest.
Race Morning: Awake at 3:30, shower to wake up, breakfast (applesauce, bannana, bagel, gatorade), sunscreen, trislide, timing chip, HR strap, kit, to transition by 4:30. Timing on arrival depends a little bit on how they will plan to if the swim start will be go to the end of the line upon arrival or some sort of self seeding. I’m a little torn about what to do if it’s just go to the end of the line. From previous race reports, it sounds like it’s pretty congested on the bike for the first 30-50 miles so getting towards the front of the line (which means very early arrival at the swim start and then sitting for a couple hours) would help avoid some of that mess. On the other hand, I’m not particularly worried about making the course cut off times and don’t necessarily want to sit in line for two hours in the dark. Opinions welcome. Team picture before heading to swim start. Speedsuit/wetsuit on while in line to help stay warm. I will sip gatorade while in line and try to stay warm. Since there is no warm up will probably do some push-ups to get the blood moving shortly before the start. Beet juice about 30 minutes before start and gel about 10 minutes before start with water chaser.
Swim: I don’t really know about goal times because with the current and if it’s wetsuit legal, times for everyone will be fast. I usually finish in the top 10% of my age group so if I had a preference it would be non-wetsuit legal and keep the water on the other side of the dam. In looking at the water release times over the dam, there could be some strategy involved in where to be in line. Some days they open the water up early and then open more later in the morning which might benefit the later starters depending on the timing of the water releases. More water over the dam means faster current in my book. Release times are usual posted on the web site the day before. I plan to take a gel 10-15 minutes before I start washed down with a little water. Once in the water, swim comfortably hard. Keep thinking about my form (high elbows, rotate hips, one eye out of water for breaths, tight core). Draft whenever possible.
T1: (goal 6:00) Wetsuit/speedsuit to waist after exit, wetsuit strippers as needed. Goggles/cap off on way to bag. Open bag on way to tent, sunglasses and helmet on if possible while running to tent. Dump bag in tent. Trislide to lower regions. Ask volunteer to put belongings in bag. Leave with shoes in hand and go bag. Sunscreen by volunteers. On way to bike, open go bag which will contain arm coolers if predicted to be hot and a gel. Take gel and slip on rolled up arm coolers on way to bike. Grab bike. Run with bike to exit, find some space and put on shoes, mount bike and go. T1 bag will contain sunglasses, helmet, trislide, go bag, and shoes (may have shoes on bike vs putting them on in tent vs carrying to mount line depending on lay out of transition and what seems fastest)
Bike: (goal 6:00 for 116 miles) The bike is all about execution and setting myself up for the run, especially the hills on the second loop of the run. This will be a continual thought throughout the day, “is what I’m doing now potentially hurting my run?” The first 30 minutes will be riding at my .68 IF power and replacing the fluid loss from the swim. After that settle into power of .71-.72 which should be in the 185-190 range. Execute on the constantly changing grade by shifting frequently to keep my power constant. Goal for my bike split will be a VI of 1.04 or less. Ignore what people are doing around me unless it affects my safety. Catch the “legal drafts” as much as possible by coming up directly behind people I’m passing before going around them. Stay aero as much as possible. If I have to come up on the horns then stay low and small. Garmin 500 will be turned on in transition before the race, synced with power and satellites and left on during swim. Display on 1st screen will have 3s power and lap norm power. Second screen will display HR. No looking at speed or time, just concentrate on hitting my power numbers. It will be set to lap every 3 miles.
I have not formally tested since May which showed my ftp to be 264. I think that is probably a decent ballpark figure but I will base my power targets more on what I have done on all my 5+ hour rides (7 since the beginning of August). Normalized power for those rides have ranged from 188-200. RR#1 was Npower of 194 followed up the next day by another 6 hour ride at Npower 193. RR#2 was Npower of 188. Goal targets for the race will be about 180 for the first 30 minutes and then 185-190 after that. If after about mile 90 I’m feeling good then may bump that up to 195. Cap for long climbs of greater that 3 minutes will be 210. Short climb (less than 1 minute) cap will be 230. HR average for all those long rides was mid 120’s so if I see HR climbing into 130’s then make an assessment as to why (dehydration, hotter than expected day, power too high) and adjust appropriately.
Nutrition on the bike will consist of 36 oz per hour, about 360 cal/hour, sodium ~900 mg/hr. Set up is a torpedo BTA bottle and one behind the seat cage. I will have the torpedo filled with perform and one bottle in the cage with perform. Garmin will alert every 5 minutes to remind me to drink. 3 sips every 5 minutes means 3 ounces every 5 minutes and therefore 36/hr. Will have 3 powergels with me on the bike, Roctane or GU after that from aid stations. Plan is a gel at mile 10, 30, 50, 70, 90, and 110. Once I finish the perform grab a GE at each aid station. If it is cooler or hotter than expected then adjust sips up or down. Cooler temps in the 70’s means 2 sips, hotter temps in upper 80’s 4 sips.
T2: (goal 4:00) Shoes off, jog/run to bag and into tent. Dump bag, socks/shoes on, reapply trislide to known chaffing areas, ask volunteer to put belongings in bag, out of tent with go bag. Port-a-potty stop as needed, sunscreen and run out with go bag. Go bag contains, race belt, hat, garmin watch, beet juice, 3 powergels with caffeine and arm coolers if not used on bike.
Run: (goal 4:20) As I begin the run and getting my running legs, put on belt, hat, watch and put gels in pockets. If beet juice is still cold from freezing the night before drink it, if not drink at first aid station with ice. Use the bag for ice at aid stations. Settle into my pace which will be determined by my HR over the last hour of the bike. This is expected to be in the mid 120’s but could be up to 130. The first 6 miles of the run will be at this HR. After mile 6, will let HR drift up to mid 130’s as long as I feel I can sustain the pace for 20 more miles. Pacing will be primarily determined by HR and my breathing rate. If it’s one breath every 4 steps then I’m going too fast. Remember that everything through the day is leading up to the hills on the second loop which start at about mile 21. Dig deep at this point and know that most people will be walking these hills.
Nutrition on the run will be 5-6 gulps of GE at each aid station walking only long enough to consume nutrition. Gel at miles 4,8,12,16 and 20. Will start coke as soon as I feel I need to boost. If this comes at mile 6 so be it. Plan will be to alternate GE with coke when I start the coke. Gel aid stations will be water with the gel. Supplement coke aid stations with salt especially if starting coke early rather than later. I typically don’t require more sodium than I get in GE and gels.
Those last few miles of the run will be the hardest and will require extreme will power to keep running. I will need to use the crowd, family, teammates, and my one things to push through and finish strong. Goal will be to not slow down as much as possible and keep pushing. I haven’t focused on HR late in the run in previous IM’s so will try my hardest to keep the HR up in the last miles.
Thanks for reading and I welcome you observations.
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