Carole Harbison IMLP RR and plans
Recapping last week's RR#1 and camp weekend-
The plan: Do the RR up in LP so I could train on the actual course. First day follow the camp week plan of full swim, full bike, and 1 hour run. Second day 56-70 mile bike and 30 minute run. Third day: 1 loop of run course ~2h.
The swim: this was the first time I'd done any distance longer than 3500 yards, so the goal was steady after an initial quicker "race start" simulation in full wetsuit. Normal pre-race oatmeal breakfast (but closer to actual start time than it will be on race day, no issues with that though). While swimming I followed the cable, sighting only occasionally to make sure no one was coming from the opposite direction. What a treat! I got out in between loops and had some Gatorade endurance, then quickly back in. I felt like I could push the pace slightly on the last leg of the second lap without negatively impacting the day, so did so with no ill effects. Felt great after exiting the water, no issues, and my pace was slightly better than what I was expecting (goal 1h 20 mins, actual 1h 15 mins). Learning issue: don't forget the Tri-slide. Ouch on neck wetsuit chafing.
The bike: I've done the course before and knew what to expect, but was nervous after I gave myself some nice road rash in a skid-out the previous weekend so wanted to ride the huge descent into Keene conservatively--up on the handlebars and feathering the brakes to keep the speed <35mph. I followed the EN recommendations of JRA the first 90 minutes, then steady trying not to spike watts on the uphills.<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 18px;">I wanted to ride along at 120 watts and up hills not above 140-150, which I felt like I was able to do ok on the first lap and did not feel so good about on the second lap (see power notes below), though I was surprised to see my first and second loops were a positive split of only 10 minutes. Nutrition was an experiment to see how long I could keep solid food going--and determined that i should NOT consume clif bars after the first loop. Maybe 1 or 1.5 bars during the first loop then switch to something not so heavy as I was a bit off feeling by the end of the ride and I had to take ~30 mins to recover before setting off on the run. Otherwise, the gatorade endurance and clif shots seemed to be ok, though hard to know on top of my failed bar experiment. So--even with the nutrition effects I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my power numbers if anything. I came up with a total IF of only .61 and a crappy VI of 1.19 (avg power 98 (!! gur?), normalized 117), speed of 17.3 mph. And other bad news is despite the low IF I was a bit wiped at the end. It's making me think my power meter was not calibrated correctly cause I've done other rides with higher IFs (and similar VIs) and felt great at the end--I did forget to zero it out at the start so will have to do that for RR#2 for sure. I also don't love this 4iii system, i have a quarq on my other bike and may (after IMLP) try to switch it out. I have heard the 4iii reads a bit lower so that's why i chose these target wattage numbers given my current FTP of ~200 (have not tested on this power meter....I know, I know...) Anyhoo, glad I stlil have a few long rides to fiddle about with all that.
The run: after the shortish break to let me stomach settle down, I headed out for 2 flatish loops around mirror lake as i didn't feel up for running hills. I was a bit slow at the start but did warm into it. Had pretzels, clif blocks, and just water on the run and after a couple hard-feeling slow miles (TRP+30 seconds) I was back up to TRP. I forgot my salt tabs, so couldn't practice that aspect of nutrition, but did well with my plan at Quassy so will stick to it for future long runs--irregularly alternating gatorade and water/salt/blocks at the aid stations.
Remaining camp weekend days-- did 70 miles the second day with similarly low power numbers but felt better at the end since i only had one clif bar (still super tired but not totally laid out like the first day). Can't exactly compare times from the first day to the second as i had to adjust the course based on a few external factors and it was much windier, but anyway it was likely slightly slower. Second day run was also pretty slow but steady and manageable, only 30 minutes so not much to analyze there. Third day long run I was worried about because I was pretty sore, but I managed to hit the progressive pace numbers so that was a good confidence builder! I also stole a salt packet from the hotel breakfast so I was able to mimic more what i would do race day, also re-tested clof shots and re-learned that those are a bad idea. Will stick to blocks, gatorade, and water/salt tabs.
Overall-- feeling good and no lasting fatigue effects from the weekend, nutrition is reasonably in place with what I have done before, and just have to keep working on the bike and sort out the power issues. Regardless I'd be happy with that pace so as long as I can run after, we're in business.
Comments
Carole, looks like your RR was very worthwhile. Some good things and a few things to tweak. Good job and good luck at IMLP.
RR swim 2: significantly slower than RR#1 (likely lots of fatigue from the first day's bike and run), but still finished in 1:20 so I guess even worst case scenario is not so bad, swim wise. Remembered the Body glide this time, so bonus.
RR Bike 2: picked a course with similar total elevation change and planned to do about 108 miles again. Changed my nutrition from last time, away from dense clif bars to lighter luna bars and only gels/blocks in the second half. By the end of the course Gatorade was not doing it for me, so may need to alternate with water or dilute on the course and supplement with salt tabs/electrolyte tabs, especially if it's hot. I'll have both these options in my special needs and can tuck them in my pockets for fluid nutrition modification on the fly. Overall I still felt way better stomach wise after the ride, despite temps being up in the mid 80s by the end of the ride. Pacing also went way better the second time, I lowered by VI to 1.14 (still needs work of course), raised my IF to .65 with a TSS of 268 and speed of 16.8. I focused on increasing my watts slightly on the flats and really making sure they didn't spike on the hills.
Run RR#2: Done immediately after bike with only a long enough break to change. SLOW and kind of painful. I have never run that slowly in my life, 11+ minute miles where most of my training has been 9:30-9:45. Legs just wouldn't move and stomach felt on the verge of being off. Hoping that's just fatigue from a long run 2 days previous possibly combined with a bit of dehydration from not being able to get as much gatorade in as I wanted on the bike. I remembered my salt tabs this time and just had water+ blocks for calories, so was able to get borderline GI issues under control by the end of the hour but not the legs. Other factor is I was mostly on trail, which is always slower for me....
Overall lessions-- don't overdo it on the bike despite not being thrilled with where my bike fitness is I need to be honest about it, keep working on even power output, use different fluid options to stay hydrated and salt tabs/gels to manage different pieces of nutrition independently.
Pre LP: check bike flat kit with tube, Co2. Ensure garmin lap pages are set up for tracking key race parameters.
Thurs:
AM mystic lake short swim in boston then drive to LP, check into VRBO.
Into town for team dinner at the Plaza at 6.
Fri:
Short SBR with last check on bike: swim in AM before 4 keys talk, bike and run before or after depending on time and if I can sleep in at all! Check out particularly the bike transition exit with the sharp/steep turns.
4 Keys talk at 10-12. 12pm athlete pro panel if feel like it.
Athlete check in from 9-5—need ID and USAT.
Get Quarq tracker thing for race day.
Pack on Friday:
Morning clothes: Timing chip, tritats, sunscreen, heart rate strap, sports bra, tri top and swimsuit bottom, cheap long sleeve and flip flops, sports drink bottle, 910 watch, bike pump, bottles w sports drink x3- two recycled commercial water bottles (one for aero bottle, one to drink in the morning), one old sports water bottle
White Morning bag: wetsuit, 2x goggles (darker and less dark), cap, body glide, leggings, light long sleeve, 1 gu, water bottle to discard,
Blue T1 bag: Bike shorts, Tube socks for arm warmers rolled into a tube, regular socks, helmet, sunglasses, bike gloves, bike shoes, towel, rain jacket, 2 gus
Orange Bike special needs: Frozen bottle of scratch, electrolyte tabs, salt tabs, fig newtons, tube/CO2.
Red T2 bag: small towel, change of socks, tri shorts, arm coolers, puma running shoes, small sunscreen to top off, running hat, number belt, 2 gu, salt tabs in ziplock.
Black Run special needs bag: long sleeve tech shirt if getting cool, bandaids, small towel. 1 Gu packet.
Sat:
Morning: bike and gear bag check in 10-3 (plastic bag to cover handlebars if needed, aero bottle on bike), walk transition ins and outs. Athlete briefing 11 am?
Bulk of day—chill out, grill back out the house with family/friends.
Evening: set up oatmeal (protein powder, chia, walnuts, berries, almond butter) for overnight cooking, coffee, GE. Charge garmin 910, 800, disable auto-turn off.
Sun:
Wakeup: 3:30 Toast and PB immediately w coffee, hydrating. Apply tritats, sunscreen, heart rate strap, sports bra, tri top and swimsuit bottom, timing chip, 910 watch, wear cheap flip flops and long sleeve/leggings if cold. Assemble oatmeal and grab water bottles/pump for bike.
4:15 Eat oatmeal during drive to LP, moderat coffee and sports drink.
5:00 Put garmin 910 and bottles of ½ strength GE on bike, pump tires and hand off pump to BF. Turn on garmin, load in course. BF to drop special needs bags (4:30-6). Body glide on neck, arms, legs before wetsuit (hopefully). Handoff flip flops/shirt to BF or discard.
6:15 Gu with water
Swim, maintain mental focus throughout and stay in box:
Seed with goal time: 1:15-1:20 group. Start watch, Do not panic at the crush of people at the start, you are not drowning. Easy steady breathing and calm. If necessary, swim wide for the first lap until establishing a rhythm, then try to be closer to the cable. Even effort, focus on form- hand entry directly in front of shoulder, fully extend the arm using the power from the hips with fingertips down, slight elbow bend with high elbow, push the water back as though pressing myself out of the pool, graze the side of my hip with my thumb. Hips high in water, soft 6 beat kick with slight bend in knees. When entering the second lap, hit lap button on watch and check pace, then no epic dive to prevent goggles from coming off. Give it a few minutes to reestablish a rhythm after the change in body position.
T1:
Goggle on head and take off wetsuit top as exiting swim, stop watch. Wetsuit strip, bundle up like a football for carrying from there. Handoff cap goggle, wetsuit, swim bottoms to volunteer. Shorts, socks, arm warmers, gloves, helmet, sunglasses, shoes.
Bike - Goal time – 6:45
Start garmin when safe to do so. Start easy until down from Keene. Take descent up on hoods and feathering brakes as needed, watching for yayhoos blowing by or riding erratically. Maintain target power steady on the flats and minimize spikes on the hills- down to lowest gear before decreasing below 90-95 cadence. Nutrition: 1 bottle of Gatorade per hour, plus additional water at aid stations to take solids with and toss the bottles there. Food: start with 2 mini clif bars in first two hours, then shot blocks alternating with gels. Fig newtons for treat at bike special needs. In second half, have electrolyte/salt tabs and scratch single serve ready in special needs bag to switch out GE for drink backup plan.
T2: Take feet out of shoes near t2 to leave on bike. Helmet, gloves, socks, shorts to volunteer. Run socks and shoes on, put salt tabs and gu packet in jersey pockets. Arm coolers if hot, top off sunscreen. Hat and run belt as taking off, watch to run mode and start.
Run – Goal Time – 4:30
First six miles at 10:10
Balance at 9:45
Walk aid stations, steady effort otherwise watching speed on downhills. Don’t get stressed on slow pace on the hills and maintain form. Nutrition: alternate GE and water, salt tab every hr, clif blocks ½ every mile alternating ½ gu packets or pretzels every 3-4 miles as can tolerate, not to exceed 150 cals/hr.
starting bike pace hr/watts for the first 20' or 30',
hr/watt pace after things settle out
drinking and eating intervals within each hour.
For T2 I would suggest a go bag for all your run gear. Put it on while you run out and then you have a bag to hold ice.
Have a great race
It was my first time using one and it reduced the number of decisions I had to make down to: put on socks & shoes, grab go bag, jacket or no jacket. Done.