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Pacing an IM if swim is cancelled

novaavantnovaavant
in Racing Forum 🏎

I'm racing IMFL in November and last year's swim was cancelled because of bad weather and rip currents.  I'm certainly hoping that is not the case this year but want to be prepared if it happens.

What is the collective guidance on pacing the bike and run if there is no swim.  Does anything change or does the same pacing guidance still apply with only two events.

I appreciate any thoughts.

Attila

Comments

  • jpmarchewkajpmarchewka
    Good question! Following this one. I was wondering the same for Louisville with all the algae in the water currently.
  • Coach PatrickCoach Patrick
    I hope others chime in...the answer is really not at all. Bonus of no swim is that your bike HR will start off low, just like a long ride.
    So your breakfast might be a bit later (delayed start?) and you might not need to drink a ton early on the bike...but given the lower HR, you should have bandwidth to ride a bit harder than in a normal IM...but that only means you'll be right at your target watts vs typical performance (Aiming for target watts but coming in 5 to 10 watts lower).

    Same for the run...it's still a crazy long day with tons of work...you just have a "simpler" start.

    But, to reiterate, you do not get to ride like a fool / bonehead / Ricky Racer -- your 5 hour power hasn't magically changed just b/c you didn't swim!!!!
  • steve Beyersteve Beyer
    Did IMFL last year and would totally agree with Coach.

    Targeted same IF as in RR's and hit it, whereas the year before in IMFL came in a few watts below RR's IF. Peed like crazy on the bike, but don't know if that was do to not needing as much fluid early in bike like coach mentioned, or just because it was a cool day temp-wise. Had a good run....not any faster than planned, but right in-line with what expected based on RR's.

    So I would say approach it just the same as planned if your unlucky enough to have that happen again....it will just be simpler like coach said.

    Ohh....I didn't start the bike until 1:40 after they started the pro's (upwards of 2.5 hours after planned swim start), so made sure took in some extra calories just to keep blood sugar up.
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