Mike R's IMFL Race Plan
Apologies in advance for the length, but I really do write these things as a thorough plan and as a personal pep talk. Most of my race-week activities live inside of a list, so I haven’t included most of that. For those of you who want the short version, check back with the IM Tracker next Saturday night. For those who have nothing better to do and decide to read on, I would greatly appreciate any comments, suggestions or other input.
Ironman Florida
Personal Stats: 47yo, 148lbs, 260 FTP, 51 vDOT
This will be Iron #8, third with EN. I also did IMFL in ’04 (11:36) and ’07 (10:38). Had a somewhat disappointing race in New Zealand this past March (I have a ton of canned excuses, including travel, injury, weather, PM fail, no heart), but the reality is, I made too many mistakes and didn't handle the tough conditions well. I didn’t care at the time because it was the beginning of a great two-week vacation. Once back home, however, IMFL was to be my ’15 comeback IM, and training was going great through May (over 4w/kg for first time ever). Then a job offer I couldn’t refuse landed in my lap. I knew it would likely scuttle my triathlon plans for the rest of the year, so I immediately took my remaining two weeks of vacation at the old job and flew off to Europe with my boy (totally worth it). The rest of June and July were nothing but leaving a good legacy at old job, selling a house, buying a house, starting a big job in a new city, and getting in an occasional workout. Five days after moving into the new house, I raced Steelhead for fun on stupid-light training (sub-50 CTL) and surprised myself with a 4:48, proving that 20 years of base + good execution (ran exclusively by HR for first time) can overcome some race-specific fitness shortcomings. Was leaning towards bailing on IMFL, but after Steelhead I made a deal with myself to try a minimalist 7-week build that would still allow me to work 60 hours, be at home at night, and be available to the kids most of the weekend. The big injury danger in such a rapid increase lies with the run, but the month-long increase into the high-30s went pretty well. Swim volume was light and only semi-structured (hate my pool, need to find a new one), but I did bump it up in Weeks 16-18 (11k, 14k, 15k) and plan to go pretty big again this week. Almost all my riding was done on the trainer, although I did ride a single outdoor century this past Saturday (w/ 5,200 feet of climbing, approximately 5,100 more feet of elevation than at IMFL). I’m confident I have enough fitness to get through this thing and, more importantly, I’m healthy (I’ll take 70% fitness and 100% healthy over the inverse any day). But I also know that I don’t have any excess fitness to overcome any race-day mistakes. Thus, there won’t be any. If the weather is cooperative, I probably have a shot at my 10:22 PR. But, really, I just want to have fun at an EN Key Race and finally have the IM run I know I’m capable to having. Here’s how I plan to do it:
Pre-Race:
Week before: Cut out caffeine. Watch diet. Resist the temptation to try some new watt-saving trick or gadget. Do not over-taper (TSB hit a ridiculous 49 the day before IMNZ). I’ll try to target 20-25, with all three disciplines separately being in the positive.
Wednesday: Fly late afternoon, arrive at condo around 7pm. Probably track down my old friend Shaughn Simmons, who’s staying in the same complex, grab dinner and make wagers on which mile marker he’ll roar past me on the bike.
Thursday: Salt and hydrate all day. Check in early, take advantage of one of the true benefits of AWA status. Take bike out for a good spin, make sure it’s race-ready. 4 Keys. Go for a 2,000yd swim in the Gulf in full kit and wetsuit. 30-minute run with 3x2’@MP). Organize gear and bags. Team dinner.
Friday: Big breakfast. Check in bike and bags early (another AWA goody), note their exact locations, and carefully plan exactly how and where I’ll get through both transitions (counting steps, taking photos). Salt and hydrate. Feet up the rest of the day. Dinner at 6pm. In bed by 8:30pm.
Race Day: Wake by 3:15am. Eat a Clif Bar, banana, some applesauce (800 calories), 3x beet juice. Start walking to transition around 4:30am, top off tires (300tpi tubies on 808/disc at 100/105psi), attach Garmin 500, but don’t turn it on, load food into bento, fill aero bottle and one on the down tube with something other than orange GE. Put on thick throw-away socks and head toward the swim start, which is a corral-based rolling start at 6:15am. Do whatever it takes to get to the front half of the sub-60 corral. Sip sports drink until 5:45, then take 2 x no-caf gel with water.
Swim: Goals: Get near the front early, stay there, but do no harm to my bike. Never go anaerobic. If the water and sea life are kind, should be a few minutes either side of :60.
• 100% focus on the swim. Seriously, my only box is the next 60 minutes, and it’s all about swimming. The triathlon doesn’t start until 7:15am.
• Take time to get the wetsuit on properly and get in a solid 10-minute warm-up, with 4-6 good race-start sims.
• The rolling start should reduce the opening sprint/scrum somewhat. But I anticipate there will be several 1:15 dummies seeded where the :50 swimmers should be, so there will be contact and passing. That’s ok.
• Early focus is simply on exhalation. Because of the splashing, contact and overwhelming adrenaline, most of us hold our breaths for the first several minutes. I’ll come up with a key word on race morning and say it every time I put my face in the water, forcing me to exhale underwater for the first several hundred meters (“patience” and “discipline” are oldies, but goodies). It’s a cool little trick I didn’t invent, but it’s worked well for me in getting me calmed down and into a groove (I also like to count to 100 out loud under water).
• Settle into the relaxed, aerobic 65 SPM rhythm I’ve beaten into muscle memory. Good catch at 10 and 2 with high elbows, power generated through rotating hips and shoulders, pulling horizontally all the way through the hip, relaxed recovery. Toes pointed. Counter-clockwise course, so breathing to the left. Tinted goggles.
• Get in the primary line of swimmers, right on the buoy line, and relentlessly follow the bubbles (which are easy to see in the clear Gulf). Take no crap. Minimal sighting.
• First loop should feel easy.
• Try to drink a cup of water or, preferably, GE on the sand between loops.
• Running on wet sand is way faster than swimming, so run until the beach is parallel to the first buoy (i.e., don’t swim a diagonal thinking that will somehow be faster), but don’t send HR through the roof.
• If everyone has started 15 minutes after the cannon like the RD predicts, the only swimmers I should lap on my second loop are those slower than 1:30, which shouldn’t be that many. Worst case, the last ¼ may be a little congested.
• With 200m to go, target the exit chute and begin lightly kicking to move some blood to the lower body, but do not allow heart rate to rise. Mental focus now shifts 100% to T1.
T1: Goal: Best in class (~3:00), but no HR-jacking sprints. Simple, smooth and with purpose. Saving 3 minutes on the swim takes 50k yards of really hard work in the pool. Saving 3 minutes in transition only takes planning, focus and commitment. I’ll take the latter.
• Wetsuit stripped.
• Yell out my number, maybe a vol will grab and hand me my bag. Otherwise, find my own neon-taped bag, enter the tent, find a volunteer to stow my wetsuit, buckle my helmet while I continue jogging (do not even consider stopping or sitting), then run to my bike while (maybe) putting on arm warmers [yes, I do have the gear and a plan if it’s really hot, cold and/or rainy].
• Run with bike across mount line, strap into shoes already attached to the pedals once I’m underway.
• Very few moving parts to this transition; no excuse not to blitz it.
Bike: Goals: Zero mistakes, execute the key parts of the plan during Miles 1-40 and 80-104. If the wind is kind and I don’t visit Stupidville, 5:10-15 is possible.
• As soon as I’m a good half mile away from TA and am not surrounded by dozens of other power meters, turn on Garmin and let it acquire. When it does, do a manual re-calibration.
• Next order of business is getting my HR down. Way down. It’ll probably be in the 140s or 50s, and the goal is to get it down to the low- to mid-120s ASAP. When I went a tick above race watts in training (i.e., ~200w), my HR generally started at 120 and climbed to 127-33 by the end of two hours. When I trained at race wattage (175 on trainer, 180-85 outside), my HR generally started at 109-12 and moved to 115-20 after two hours. With a hard swim and fast transition, I expect my early bike HR to look more like my tick-above profile, so I will be targeting low 120s, before I even start thinking about watts.
• Garmin set to auto-lap every 5 miles. Once HR is down, start building the watts into the 170s and self-assess. Nail each 5-mile window with good watts and low VI. If feeling good, slowly build the watts, with an early watt target range of 176-80. HR should settle into the low-130s by the second hour, with a 2-hour hard cap of 135. The first 40 miles are very fast . . . be smart and conserve energy for the tough part later on.
• Audible Garmin alerts every 15 minutes remind me to drink, stand up and stretch every beep, eat every other beep.
• Nutrition:
o Target 1.5 bottles of GE (36 oz., 63g of carbs, 220 calories, 900mg or sodium) every hour for the first 3.5-4 hours, then moving to water + salt. Early hydration is critical, and a mistake here can’t be fixed later.
o Two GE chews every 30 minutes (31g, 120 calories, 105mg per hour) for the first 3.5-4 hours. If hungry, I can supplement the first couple of hours only.
o I always lose focus at around 3.5 hours, so at Mile 80 I’ll have a caf gel that should jolt some life and focus back into me. Two more gels on the 30 minutes thereafter, but no food after the turn onto Front Beach Road at Mile 104. After that, I’ll only allow myself a few sips of water and salt before dismounting.
• The race at IMFL really does start at Mile 80. At that point, we turn around and head south for 25 miles into what is usually a head wind, which will build as we get closer to the gulf. After 3-4 hours in the aero position with no up/down to coast or change position, things can get a bit dark here. And historically, I tend to fade a bit from here in. But if I fueled and paced properly to this point, this is when I’ll really need to focus on keeping the watts (180-85) and HR (135) UP. At the same time, I cannot lose focus on fueling and staying aero the last 32. Fortunately, this stretch is Knucklehead Alley, which means I’ll be passing tons of riders who skipped the 4 Keys. That’s always fun.
• The goal is to pee at least two times, preferably three. It is extremely difficult for me to do this at IMFL. There’s a good bridge climb/descent at Mile 12 and again at 100, and only a brief set of rollers in the middle. Coasting is indeed a rarity, and without coasting, there’s no going for me. When I hear a convoy of cheaters getting ready to pass me, I’ll try standing and coasting to let them pass. If I can make it rain on a few dozen of them in the process, all the better. Worst case: pull over when it’s safe to do so and pretend to be adjusting the front brake. Yeah, it will cost me 30 seconds, but way better than a 2-minute porto stop.
• If the wind is strong, it will be my friend. I’m more aero than 90%, and I’ll ride a better power/HR profile into the wind than 90%.
• If I can maintain watts over the last 30 miles, my average HR should grow from 133-35 to my cap of 140. The snapshot of these late-bike heartbeats will create my first run target window.
T2: Goal: Best in class (under 2:30)
• Jog with purpose while unbuckling my helmet.
• Yell for my bag or, if no assist, grab my sparkly pink bag, enter tent, find volunteer to stow my bike stuff, put on (pre-rolled and pre-lubed) socks and shoes, grab my run bag, go.
• From my run bag I’ll put on my visor and sunglasses, pocket some salt, gels and a banana, put on my race belt and clip my Garmin 910xt to the wrist strap I’ve been wearing all day and turn it on. Carry go-bag unless temps are below 75
Run: Goal: Finally run the race I’ve tried to 7x, but never have despite good fitness – 3:4x. Execution and going beyond what my brain says is possible and what my legs think are doable are the keys.
• For some reason, I really love this run course. Yes, it’s flat-as-can-be and has some admin, but it also has long straightaways, and I really enjoy the variation of moving alongside the high-rise condos, past the outdoor bars, into a few different neighborhoods and then around the sand dune park. Get to see all my teammates and competitors coming/going the other way all afternoon. Last time they had a naughty nurse-themed aid station, which you had to go through four times. I thought the display was in poor taste and very disrespectful. I really, really, really hope there’s nothing like that on the course this year.
• For the first six miles to the turn-around in St. Andrews Park, I’ll run in a HR window with average bike HR being the floor and average HR over the last hour of the bike being the ceiling – probably something like 135- 140. I will try to slowly build from the low end toward the top as I progress. This will feel really slow and it will be slow. People will pass. Which is good. This is critical.
• I will flip a semi-race switch at the turn-around in the park, and allow my HR to move into a second window that’s capped at 144-45 (the average HR of my last eight long runs was 144.6). My history suggests that the problem won’t be trying to stay under the cap; rather, it will be trying stay up into this 140-45 window.
• I’ll eat a banana coming out of T2 and chase a caf gel with water at the first aid station. Target additional gels at Miles 5, 10, 15 and 20 (on-the-5’s is easy for me to remember). Front-load the calories during the first 13 when I feel pretty good and whenever hungry, as the food won’t be going down later in the run. Regularly add salt to get in 1,000mg per hour, depending on heat. GE at every non-gel aid station.
• Yell what I want as I approach aid stations, walks limited to 10 steps. Turn go-bag into a mobile ice transporter if warm.
• Besides HR and nutrition, the other focus will be on form. Run tall, high hands carrying eggs, knees driving forward in sync with elbows, relaxed shoulders, feet light and quick on the ground, no surging, nothing that requires quad or hamstring contraction at turns-around, curbs, etc. Conserve all matches.
• Run all tangents, constantly looking for simple ways to pick up a second or two. Over a long day, they add up.
• Miles 14-20 are tough at IMFL because with every step, you’re getting farther away from the finish line, and my dreaded Bermuda Triangle at Miles 16-18 is in a quiet neighborhood. Must continue to focus on keeping my HR UP into the 140s. Once in the park again around 19-20, probably switch to Late-Ironman Crack (i.e., Coke) for the duration.
• Garmin auto-laps every mile, Screen 1 set to HR, HR Lap, Pace, Pace Avg. Screen 2 is set to Time of Day. Around Mile 20 in the park, I’ll start messing around with what-if scenarios based on time of day and average run pace. If I can start the run at 6:30 into the race, I’ll need a 3:50 marathon to go 10:20 and PR, so I’ll do the math and shoot to get home before 4:35pm. Sun sets at 4:50pm, so if I can beat the sun down, I can beat my IMFL PR of 10:37. If I start the run at 8:15 into the race, I’ll probably just drop out and cheer on the rest of the team with Coach Rich, presumably near the nurse-themed aid station.
• I usually pick up the pace around Mile 23 and am always surprised how good it feels to use new muscle groups. This time, I’ll flip that switch at Mile 20. This is where I’ll have to break through previous mental barriers that limited my late-race success and go to a new dark place. Walking won’t be an option. I’ll live aid station-to-aid station, trying to maintain rhythm and form. Will start visiting my one-things, including the chase of a time and/or sun goal. If you’re in the top 200 or so, the spectators at IMFL can easily identify those heading toward the finish vs. those shuffling their first lap, and because many of the spectators will have been drinking all afternoon, you get a lot of personalized, over-the-top, goose-bump-generating cheering. Soak up that energy. Enter the chute on fumes of Coke and adrenaline.
• Crossing an IM finish line is still one of the coolest things anyone can ever experience. Make sure to experience it.
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Comments
Garmin 500- What is the purpose of NOT turning on in the AM? Sounds like you have had issues with it staying connected to your PM? I have always turned my Garmin 500 in the AM , as long as its linked to my PM , it grabs satellites, calibrate, auto-off set to OFF, and the battery lasts all day NO problem...
T1- plan on stripping your own wetsuit... last time at IMFL they had everyone laying on the carpet but covered with sand to get stripped... was much better off running past them and removing the bottom half by myself in T1 building....
Going on the Bike - I hear you on flat courses... with IMFL there should be at least two down wind legs... standing/coasting on a flat with a tailwind is a much smaller time penalty...
Your number estimates are very conservative and thats OK because you absolutely will just execute and let the time take care of itself... But I want you to re-read your own words below... If you find yourself late in the day and you are way ahead of those conservative numbers, DO NOT settle... I won't re-write what I think your numbers will be but lets just say I cut several minutes off each leg with the exception of the transitions, putting you deep under your PR and even a 9-handle perfect day !
"Execution and going beyond what my brain says is possible and what my legs think are doable are the keys. This is where I’ll have to break through previous mental barriers that limited my late-race success and go to a new dark place. Walking won’t be an option. "
Wishing you good skill, the perfect day, and the mental game breakout you are ready for !
Ironman # 8 ... this is your breakthrough. You've got all the pieces wired, and, like Tim, I fully expect you to put them together in this race. I hope you find that the "dark place" is really a room full of light with feelings of power and mastery; as you note, it's always surprising when you find you can actually run with intention in that last hour of the day. Training + knowledge = success.
Mike, Your plan is what I expect from you. I will be stealing from it as I prepare for my first IMFL. I can not find any holes in it. I am immediately taking your old thick socks idea and Tim's wet suit stripping in T-1 idea. I can't wait to get together in Panama City Beach.
Our HR targets are the same. it will be interesting to me to compare notes and strava feeds with you after the game is over to see if we hit them and what we netted as a result.
Thanks for all the help so far. See you out there!
Mike, you and I have a dinner date Wednesday night!
I'll just plagiarize this report including the PEE strategy and update with my numbers. Its obvious it was written by a IMFL veteran.
Given your history, your workout ethic, your knowledge and your mental capacity, you are ahead of 99% of the field when it comes to recognizing and managing through the dark period on both the bike and the run.
Remind yourself of that very point, leverage that strength and execute on it come 11/7.......I'll be right there reminding you during the run as I watch you pass during one of the loops my friend.
For me, the best thing about going into IMFL 2015 is being there soaking it all up and getting through it with you and the team!
KMF!
Awesome that you are IM #8 w0w!
good luck and be safe until race day !
Why the need to calibrate once you clear the masses? Seems to me it would take a bit time/attention away and not sure what you get as return? I know most people keep the auto-off, off and just jump on and go. If it's something you are used to doing and works...nothing wrong with it however just worry about the possibility of picking up someone else's, or just general distraction.
Overall I think your head is in the right place....ensure you have a smooth race to get you to the run and then make sure to keep your head in the box. You already know the tail end is going to be a challenge so just keep up with the mental determination at that point in time and you will nail it.
Good luck at the race and will be following you.
- I always turn my Garmin on in the morning. I set it so that it will not turn off and I let it do an y calibrations that are needed. One less thing to worry about when I get on the bike.
- Everything is on my bike except my helmut. Last race, the only thing in my T1 bag was my helmut. Arm warmers on aero bars., Shoes on the bike. Throw wetsuit in bag and pull on helmut while running to bike.Run with bike to the mount point, then get on and start moving. Everything else can be managed on the road and the distraction helps you to hold the power down at the start.
- If wind is your friend, I imagine you will beat your bike estimates - here is my BBS with similar numbers to you: bestbikesplit.com/public-race?r=28077
I think you will crush this race - please don't drink all the cold beverages before I finish!
Thanks for all the supportive and inspiring words, team. Finally having a chance to sit down and read through it all again, I'm so thankful to be part of EN and am super pumped for this race. A few short years ago, I would read the exploits of AT and TC and wonder how they race execute so incredibly well with such great results. Now, I find myself in a position to follow in their considerable wakes and do stuff in IM I never thought even remotely possible. Which is pretty cool.
Garmin/Quarq: This combo has worked for me 99.9% of the time, day-in and day-out, on hundreds of training rides. But on race day, the combo has been a complete failure. And just reading other team members RRs where they very frequently describe their shock to see no power or very off power readings on race day, it just confirmed my conclusion that a couple of thousand devices all communicating in a cramped TA is a bad idea. At NZ, every time I looked at the 500, it would read something like 836 or 0, putting my NP Lap at either 340 or 26. Needless to say, not helpful when you're climbing for 30 minutes right out of T2. Things settled out later in the ride, but still had lots of 500 and 0 readings. My Garmin has picked up other people's HR monitors (i.e., when I see 195, 20 points higher than my max). And when EB's PM battery died on a training ride this summer, her Garmin immediately picked up my power numbers - "Roberts! What part of 'steady 160' do you not understand"?! I just think my Garmin is a lot like my college roommate - it will mate with anything at any time. After the race in NZ, some Aussies confirmed that this happens all the time, and they said the solution is not to turn on the Garmin until you're a mile out of T2. So, I tried it at Steelhead, and it worked. I will test this in PCB the days before the race, but the only real downside I see is a 111-mile Strava entry. Which is not a concern.
T1 - I've had my WS stripped at FL when there was sand all over the carpet (1:07) and when it was sand-free (1:01). It all depends on how many pairs of sandy feed precede you. If I have a decent swim, sand on the backside shouldn't be an issue.
Plus, I'm wearing bibs, so the number of sand-entry points is reduced by a very important one. I've never had my WS vacuum to my legs, so don't know how to deal with that. I guess that's one of the benefits of having scrawny, marginally-muscled chicken legs.
Time predictions. Funny that TC called me out for sandbagging when I threw out times that, when combined, would produce a 10-hr finish. Which would be a 22-min PR. I'm not anywhere near the swim fitness level I was for NZ, so :55 isn't happening again. I still think a couple minutes either side of :60 is the 90% probability window. BBS is deadly accurate for me, and it has me between 5:04 and 5:12, and I'm always 5-10 watts on the low side on race day. So, on a good day, that 5:08-12 window is pretty realistic, with anything under that a sign of a great ride or, more likely, a terrible ride. Either way, that would be a 15-min bike PR, so no sandbagging there. Likewise, my 3:40-something goal would be a 10-min PR and very close to within 30 minutes of my standalone mary time (I'd guess 3:18 right now). I'm probably being a bit too bold with my time goals and may have been better served by going with the standard "I just want to finish." But this makes me accountable and provides an additional one-thing late in the run ("$hit, I told the world I wanted sub-3:50, didn't I? Better HTFU and go.")
As for the intangibles, I've got a few things going for me this time. I'm fit and healthy. Thus, I'll have no ready-available excuses to use late in the game to explain away a crap run. The course and weather usually support cruise-control racing, and steady robot racing is my thing. My kids won't be there, so none of that "don't let them see dad in pain, throw up or unconscious" will be present. Finally, I chose this race in part because I've done it twice. A third finisher's medal with a palm tree on it doesn't mean that much to me. I won't know if I'm really racing to my fullest unless I take things a bit too far, pull back a tad, and then try to race on that fine line all the way to the finish. But the search for that line is incompatible with finishing upright with a smile. By eliminating the latter as a goal, I give myself a legitimate shot at finding the former.
Thanks again, everyone.
Chicken legs - (especially calves) - sign of a potentially fast runner.
Yesterday, I read an article in Velo magazine by Matt Fitzgerald, which included a statement that resonated, seeing as how it was what I would keep in my mind when trying to race to my limits: "maintain the highest intensity [you] feel capable of sustaining through the full race distance." Note the word is "intensity", not "power" or "pace". This is an RPE based method of racing. When I've had my best races, this was my primary metric. Only after the fact did I attempt to correlate more objective data with what I was doing at any point in the race. This article is all about the mind's seeming ability to use time targets as both a whip and a rein. If you believe you can achieve a certain time, you probably can.
That belief is probably based on two sets of data. One is what you've been able to accomplish in training. Another is what you've been able to do in similar races. EG, someone who has done 20:01 for a 5K can probably find the wherewithal to do a 19:59 in the next race. Also, he cites a study which showed than marathon finishing times tended to cluster about "round" numbers like 4:00 or 4:30. When people have a specific targets, they are more likely to achieve it, apparently. But the target needs to be data-driven, not a pipe dream.
IM FL should eliminate the environmental factors which usually confound our ability to predict times: hills, temperature. So what you've done in training (3800 swim TT, 4-5 hour rides, long runs) should give you a reasonable data set to predict times, as well as deal with your self-perceived issues with not being able to get in an ideal training cycle due to life changes this summer. Don't disparage your chances for a good swim; "50% of swimming is 90% technique", according to Yogi Berra. BBS seems to work for you. And a 3:48/9 run seems achievable IMO.
Given all that, I'd say an IM PR should be your expectation, while sub 10 hours would be stretching the realm of possibility. I'd opt for somewhere half way between: 10:10 +/-
Mike, stick to this plan and you are well ahead of 90% of the field. As you know it will all come down to those last 6-8 miles on the run and it sure seems like you are mentally prepared to dig deep and put it all on the line. Will be watching and sending positive vibes your way! Time to go make it happen, man!
Good skill to you this weekend!