Mark's IMTX Race Plan
IMTX is #5 for me. This race has seen its share of drama over the last 6 weeks and I have done my best to stay focused on training and execution. Training has gone well during this build and I feel good about where I am with my fitness. Body comp I'm 3-4 pounds heavier than what I would like but it is what it is given this race is earlier in the season than past races. My plan below is part checklist and part execution guide. As always any comments or critiques are most welcome. Thanks~
Race Morning – up
by 4AM
Cup of green tea-
3 cups applesauce with 15gm protein power
-
1 banana and 1 honey stinger waffle
-
Sip sports drink
-
Put on race kit/swimskin to waist
-
Put on tattoos
-
P&D on forearm
-
Remove wedding ring
-
Put on Timing chip
-
Put on Garmin 920
-
Put one caffeinated gel in race kit
-
Bathroom duties
-
Place morning clothes bag in shoulder bag and then have packed:
-
swim cap, (2) goggles, and wetsuit
-
garmin 510
-
24-30oz Perform
-
2 gel flasks
-
Pack
extra nutrition – banana and pickle,beet Juice – for right before the race -
Sunscreen
-
Place
gel in bike special needs bag -
Wear
sandals
-
-
Take morning clothes bag, bike & run special
needs -
Leave hotel by 5:00 get to transition by 5:10
-
Know where you are going to park
Transition - Bike
Transition is open from 5:30-6:30
Drop off special needs bags-
Inflate tires (100 psi)
-
Check brakes
-
Put bike in easy gear
-
Attach garmin and start it and allow it to auto
pause -
Calibrate PM
-
Place power bars in bento
-
Attach both gel flask to bike(1 bento, 1 on
downtube) -
Fill x-labs torpedo
-
Hit porta potties several times
-
Be out by 5:45 and start heading to swim start
Swim Start
-
Walk to North Shore Park or get a ride
-
Stretch and loosen up as much as possible on the
walk over -
Apply sunscreen
-
Apply TriSlide/Body Glide
-
Drop off special needs and AM clothes bag and
head to the swim start -
Pickle juice, beet juice and a gel before the
start -
Seed yourself faster than you think – back of
1:00-1:10
Swim: 1:10-1:15
No opportunity for warmup swim – Swim cords in
the hotel room in the AM and then stretching prior to swim start.-
Wear stealth top under your swim skin
-
Know your line and what you will sight off of
ahead of time -
Need to be in the mix to get the benefit of a draft. No advantage to being by yourself
-
Break the swim down into 3rds
-
Don’t fall for the fake right hand turn on the
way back -
On the canal look for the bridge
-
SWIM THOUGHTS: Wide deep entry, feel the catch
before starting the pull – Swim comfortably hard.
T1: (bike bag – Helmet, Sunglasses)
Shoes on Bike if allowed-
Swimskin off and goggles and cap into bag. Helmet on then sunglasses while on the move
-
Put gel flask Velcro-ed on bike in back jersey
pocket -
Carry bike barefoot through mud pit, step in
kiddie pool if convenient -
Cautious on semi -“flying” mount
-
If shoes not allowed on bike carry them from T1
and carry bike to mount line. Put on
shoes and mount bike there at line. Will
be a cluster…
Bike - TBD
-
Keep watts around 210 to start and HR under 125
-
Start drinking right away and eating once you
are underway and safe (Occasional powerbar and gel every 30 min) -
Drink regularly to ensure you are never thristy
-
Remember Rich’s cornering advice. Communicate and think safety first on the
turns. -
Be in the right gear going into the turn so you
can maintain speed coming out of the turn without tossing out huge watts. -
Be aero at all times unless safety dictates
otherwise. -
Make game day decision to deviate from 210 watt
target -
Add specifics after driving the course
T2: (Run Bag: Shoes and Socks (Socks loaded with
Vaseline), go bag consisting of visor, race belt, banana, base salt, beet shot and
gels)
-
Socks, shoes, go-bag & GO!
-
Eat banana while on the go
-
Fill ice bag at first aid station
Run 3:20-3:30
-
Monitor heart rate and keep under 130
-
Fill ice bag and tuck inside jersey. If hot, grab & keep ice in hand exiting
all aid stations. -
If hotter than expected, slow down – trust heart
rate -
3-4 gels by mile 6 stopping at aid stations as
needed then liquid and cliff blocks as needed -
26 (1) mile runs
-
Walk 10 steps at the aid stations
-
Try to avoid getting shoes wet
-
Don’t worry about everyone else racing around
you -
Strong internal focus
-
Mentally manage the 3 loops.
-
Loop 1: focus on nutrition, settling in, and
establishing my aid station routine -
Loop 2: focus on decision making and mental
strength. Middle lap is where weakness
will try and seep in. The pace you set
here is the pace you will hold for Loop 3. -
Loop3: focus on one things and pulling out all
physical and mental tricks to not slow down.
Remind yourself it’s just another 8 mile run…
-
-
Switch to coke or whatever is needed to make it
through the last miles -
Remember your 1 things and keep playing them
over in your mind -
Finish strong like a champion
Comments
The only advice I can give, is that on the first 1/3 of the swim, there is a cell phone tower south of the lake that works well for sighting.
Best of luck.
Hey Mark,
Great plan, as expected. I'm psyched to see what you can do on this course. Your bike and especially your run will serve you well here. Your swim has improved, and you just need to stay focused, don't go off course or otherwise create too big of a deficit. It's a unique swim course and breaking it into thirds is the right thing to do, but don't get fooled into thinking you're "almost done" when you hit the canal. On the second third (where there's the highest potential for going off line), you can use the bridge to sight, and once you get past the inlet that many will erroneously enter, you can start to hug the shoreline to the right. There's nothing scary or strange about the canal; just another place to swim.
T1 presents a great/easy opportunity to sail past a lot of folks who you would otherwise have to pass on the bike (some of whom may ruin an opp to take a corner with speed). As soon as you're out of the water, get the speedsuit down to your waist (use stripper if WS legal), and start the relatively short sprint to your bag. It will be chaos, so count on retrieving your own. Put some bright neon tape on the top of your bag and memorize on race morning exactly where it is. Don't double knot it. You have a very short run to the tent, but just enough time to get your helmet out and on, and probably enough time to drop your goggles in the bag. Upon entering the tent, if you still have your speedsuit on, find a volunteer, hand him your bag, step out of your suit and ask him to pick it up and bag it (just hand him your WS and bag if WS legal). Sitting down = complete waste of time. Run to your bike, where your sunglasses and shoes are attached. Goal here is to pass another 10-20. If it's a true mud pit like last year, walk quickly through the pools. Otherwise a little dirt/grass/mud will be mostly gone as you jog across the concrete. If not, you'll have plenty of time to rinse your feet with sweat and urine. Watch for the poles and other obstacles at the mount - it pretty much is a CF.
As for the bike, just don't be silly and crash. There's no such thing as a good run following a broken clavicle.
T2 is just as simple, although you will have to sit to put on the socks/shoes. Sunscreen and AS are right out of T2, so no need to worry about SPF or nutrition in T2. Most of the competitive guys will do each TA in about 4 minutes, but both are easily doable in under 3 if you plan, simplify and execute. You know how hard it is to shave 2 minutes off a run. Steal those 2 minutes here.
The run is going to be hot. It always is. But there is some shade and there's always some wind. Hopefully you're already down there getting somewhat acclimated. For hot/humid races like this, I'm a big-time believer in hyper-salting the day before and morning of, via Skratch Labs Hyper Hydration. I think JW turned me on to the stuff. Probably pretty stupid to try it for the first time this week, but something to think about next time.
As for the run course, it's as straightforward as they come. If the course is the same, you've got a rough dirt admin section the first 1/2 mile, which is a great opp to turn an ankle. It's especially sketchy the third loop with lots of walkers. I also found the park area at AS2 (around 1.5mi) to be crowded and hectic - just get through it. And the McMansion area on the back side is pretty desolate, slightly uphill, exposed to the sun and seems to go on forever. That's really the only place I had to give myself pep talks. After that, there's an AS right before you head down onto the path where you get great crowd support for 3-4 miles. Make sure you load up at that AS at the end of the McMansions (prob ~5mi) because you won't get another AS for at least 1.5 miles. Which is a long time when it's hot. I just carried an extra cup of water/GA in one hand, cup of ice in the other. Especially during the 2nd and 3rd loops when the AS get crowded, enter each AS with a plan and purpose, find someone in advance and engage them verbally and pointing. Finally, don't get discouraged if you find yourself running 8:15's or 8:30's and thinking your day is sunk. As sure as the sun will come up tomorrow, there will be mass carnage in The Woodlands on Saturday afternoon. I ran a 3:50 and lapped hundreds on the third lap, moving from 18 to 12 in my AG. You can do a 3:50 over 30 miles. In 100 degrees. In your sleep.
Best of luck, my friend. And, most importantly, enjoy the experience.
MR
It is hard to give such a seasoned veteran any useful advice as well as follow up Mike's great comments.
One thing I will just put out there. It is so easy to underestimate the effects of humidity forecasted for race day in the Houston area. Very easy for this to get out of control on a long day. I don't know your pre race day nutrition routine but hopefully it includes about 1500 - 1800 mg of sodium.........
Staying on top of that sodium load hourly (among other things) during race day is going to let you run to your potential later in the day. Get behind and it will be no fun dealing with the effects.
Hold that line, my friend, as you always do so well. The EN team, including myself, will be pushing you along from our virtual seats!
SS
With all the swim you did this winter, im pretty you gonna see great results !
enjoy the race this week end! its payday !
Mike- I like that write up & ideas.
Ya'll really know your stuff
Iron will, brother...
Only reaction: "...3-4 gels by mile 6 stopping at aid stations as needed then liquid and cliff blocks as needed..." The gels plus a banana in T2 seem like a lot of calories in the first 45-50 minutes - I assume you've tried this in a hot IM already?
I'm humbled by the support and encouragement from this team and i am motivated beyond belief to lay it all out there on Saturday then sit back and let the chips fall where they may. Thank you, everyone! You have helped me more than you realize! A couple specific follow-up comments...
@Chris - Saw the tower today. Thanks for the tip!
@Shaughn - Totally with you on the pre-race loading plan. Just a little extra salt here and there and will hit it a little harder each day prior to the race.
@Mike - Freakin gold, brother! Great input and advice especially on the transitions. Hadn't thought about putting helmet on while on the run, but with the word coming down from the RD we can leave our shoes clipped into the bike, the only thing in my bike bag is my helmet. Water temp was 77.4 this AM so all but certain it will be non-wetsuit. Should have very few moving pieces therefore a great opportunity to move quickly through T1. Your comments about the run also resonate. I keep telling myself i may need to summon the courage to run slower than what i'm capable of in the moment in order to run my fastest possible marathon. Running 7:30's for the first 5 miles don't look so good if the last 5 miles are 10 minutes or worse. The plan is to balance HR against RPE and make a call to go at the fastest pace i know i can hold over the course of 26.2. Threading that needle is the trick....
@Al - not in an IM, but in training and i seem to handle the extra calories with no problem. However it has not been possible to simulate the heat and humidity of TX. Will start with the banana and the gels will be watered down in a flask. The plan is to take a small hit of gel a little bit at a time. Will adjust if any signs of distress.
just like Al said, 1 banana and 3 to 4 gels before mile 6 is way too much for me, especially in the heat...but if it works for u...
Good luck
Mark - solid plan. You are ready. The work is done - now it's time to have fun!