Francis Picard - IMMT 2016 Race Plan
This is my second time racing IMMT and my second 140.6 race distance. This is also the first year training within EN plan, last year I used a plan found on the interwebs and you can see the results below and the difference in difference fitness data figures.
I enjoyed the training this year even if im not happy where my biking is, but it is what it is. I’ve been waiting for that race since the moment I crossed the finish line last year as I had the feeling of achievement.
Context data 2015 VS 2016 :
|
Items |
2015 |
2016 |
|
|
|
|
|
Age |
34 |
35 (no shit!) |
|
Weight |
188 |
154 |
|
FTP |
N/A – no PM |
270 |
|
Watt/KG |
N/A – no PM |
3,8w/KG |
|
Vdot |
46 |
52 |
|
CTL – 14 days prior race |
97,5 |
161,6 |
2015 Results :
|
Items |
|
|
Swim |
1:16:10 |
|
T1 |
0:07:57 |
|
Bike |
5:50:42 |
|
T2 |
0:03:32 |
|
Run |
3:53:02 |
|
Total |
11:11:23 |
Division rank : 51/246
Goal : top 45 AG, Time : 10:45-10:50.
We will arrive in MT on Thursday night after dinner, kids will then sleep during the drive.
Friday:
1k ironkids;
Check in, expo, admin stuff. AWA, should be quick
Register for 2017
30’ swim at the lake to the coffee boat
30’ bike ride on Duplessis and Montée Ryan (the 2 most difficult sections of the bike course)
30’s brick run
Go back to the beach, eat, sleep while the kids play
Team dinner or get together?
Saturday:
·Prepare swim, bike and run bags, stickers, charge garmin 520 and 920
Bike & T1&T2 bags check in
Hydrate with coconut water; carb load, feet up, relax, read, listen to music
Drop kids at my father’s house – 20’ drive back & forth
Lunch: pasta, fish, avocado, - usual pre-race lunch
Dinner: not yet decided
Bed early, around 9PM
T1 Bag:
Helmet
Bike shoes
Ziploc with food for 2nd loop
Food will already be in the bento box for the first loop
T2 Bag:
Shoes
GO BAG : hat, sunglasses, fuelbelt with bid attached and run saver bag
BSN Bag:
CO2 and tube
Turkey wrap with double-triple Dijon mustard in it
No extra gels as I can eat those on the course.
RSN Bag:
I don’t use that bag, If I need more gels, I can eat those on the course
Sunday-morning
Wake at 3:30am
Applesauce, coffee, bagels with almond butter, banana, 2 eggs, coffee
Wake up shower before heading to transition
4:50 – head to transition, 5’ drive
Install bottles
Pump tires
Calibrates PM
Pre-open cliff bars and cliff shot blocks
Install shoes
Put the right gear for an easy start
6:15 walk to the beach, stretch, warm up
6:27: eat a caffeine gel, finish sport drink bottle
Relax with ghetto music until my swim wave gets in line
Vaseline on the neck
Swim starts at 6:45
Swim:
Goal: 1:05-1:12 – RR swim was 58’ but im a conservative person
Line up in the middle, will keep right to avoid everyone.
Depending on how is the sun on race morning, I will choose the appropriate swim googles, sun can be an issue on the way back to the beach.
Focus on technique, don’t forget “climb the ladder”. When near the beach, repeat in my head what I need to do next
T1
Goal: same as 70.3 – 4:30
Run after wetsuit is off
Throw everything where it has to go
Hemet on
Put Ziploc in the back pocket
GTFO
Bike:
Goal: 5:50 – same as last year, don’t have the feeling I improved on the bike this year.
FTP: 270
5hrs power in the last 2 RR: 162W
Stats from the 2 last RR are:
|
BIKE RR 1 |
VI |
0,94 |
|
|
IF |
0,66 |
|
|
AVG SPEED |
29,3 |
|
BIKE RR2 |
VI |
0,91 |
|
|
IF |
0,65 |
|
|
AVG SPEED |
28,7 |
Target: IF : 0,65 for the full 112M, will try to go harder on the downhill on the 2nd lap (I need to be more confident on downhill since I crashed at 60km/h I can’t mentally go faster than 35km/h on downhill but no problem going 50km/h on the flats. Don’t be worry by people passing me, stay calm in the box, I will catch those guys later
Auto-lap is setup at 5km.
Don’t be stupid on the climb to avoid power spikes and burn matches
Pee 2-3x on bike
Be mentally ready to change tube if puncture, don’t panic nobody going to die!!
Eat turkey wrap in the BSN to change taste in the mouth
Stay positive even if my speed is not what I want.
Every aid station, gotta ask myself if I need anything, they are announce 2km before we arrive, so that gives me time to think, If I don’t need anything, keep left, careful of people that may decide at the last moment to move, keep hands on brakes.
Take salt pills at the turn around in town and throw in the BTA.
Be ready to adjust plan in order to protect the run, stay in the box I built
Nutrition:
920 is setup to ring as follow:
10’ – drink 400C
35’ 3 pieces of shot blocks 50
45’ gel 110
Total per hour : 560
Repeat
Each 100’ eat half of cliff bar that are already cut
T2
Goal: same as 70.3 – 1:30-2:00
Bike to the volunteer
Throw everything where it has to go
Hemet off
Put shoes, grab go bag
GTFO
Run: Goal 3:20-3:30
This is where the fun begins for me, this year was breakthrough on the run for me and I’ve seen it in 70.3MT where I PR’d the run by 4’. To get my time goal I have, all the money is on the run.
First six miles to settle HR around 130-135, take everything I can from first aid station, ignore the crowd here
Old men run for the first climb before the beach, don’t get too enthusiasm by the crowd, they will help me only on my 2nd lap.
Divide in my mind the course as 7X6KM –
Grab ice in the race saver bag and place it where I feel its confortable, on head, kidney etc.
Encourage EN teammates on course
Miles 7-14 are to settle my pace to the pace I was able to hold during RR and long runs RR – which is about 4:45/km
Continue to hydrate, eat gels and shot blocks. - gel every 45 mins, 3 blocks at each 35, take fluid at every aid stations
In the village, do not run fast on the downhill even if the crowd is asking for a show! NOT NOW!!!
Miles 14-20 keep speed, focus on breathing, watch HR, its ok if over 145 at this time… only 6miles to go, keep going, we are on the bike path, no shades, that’s gonna hurt. Drink coke if need a boost
Last 6 miles, give all what’s left in the tank, when passing someone from my AG, accelerate when passing, at this moment HR should be around 150. We are on the way back home.
Be ready to adjust if everything goes wrong, try to laugh if shit hits the fan, stay focus, I did that race already.
Finish : Look for my wife, she has champagne!
Comments/suggestions ???
Comments
I don't have much to add here FP.
I see from the year over year comparison, a man who has gone from a rookie to a veteran in one year on several fronts:
Weight loss - HUGE ~30 lbs improvement
w/kg - 3.8 current - amazing,
VDOT - huge improvement to 52
CTL - Just look at that chart and the steady climb of WORK done over the cycle with a CTL in the 160s vs. last year's 97!
The one thing Tim Cronk taught me is that you get faster the more you race. You learn with practice how to apply that fitness to your race day under race conditions. Your plan is well written, but it will most likely not address all of the uncontrollables to be thrown your way on race day and racing frequently, as Tim has shown, give you a lot of practice at how you make choices and react to those uncontrollables in the application and execution of your fitness during this day.
How do you prepare for or manage that? Think about keeping your BOX as big as you can as long as you can. Asking yourself frequently, "What do I need right now, pacing, nutrition, etc., etc....?" I wish I could follow my own advice as I very much appreciate how difficult that becomes as the day gets longer......but it is probably one of the most talked about and least correctly implemented principles on race day that can have the biggest impact on your performance.
At mile 18 - 20, with your current fitness level, assuming things have gone well, IMO, the gloves come off, I forget about HR and all other data points and spend every last bit of passion I have left..........in other words, I am prepared to turn myself inside out at that point.
I'll be sending every kind of KMF vibe I can muster every hour tracking you my friend. Remember, that no matter what transpires during this day, your family and all of us here in your EN family will be watching, rooting and super damn proud!
SS
@Francis,
Great stuff. You've worked so hard and have gotten so fast and smart. I hope you have fantastic race.
Swim: Because this is a wave start, there's going to be that sprint for the first 400 or so meters. Make sure you get a legit 10-15 minutes of warm-up beforehand, including 5-10 intervals of 10-30 strokes each, building up to nearly full sprint. 5-10% of the field, at best, will start the race really ready to sprint that first 400m. Be part of that 5-10%, use that as an advantage. The farther ahead of the field you are at 400m, the farther away you are from the scrum.
T1: Make it your goal not to sit down. Find a volunteer, hand him your bag and wetsuit, grab your helmet and shoes (leave them on the bike if you can), and get out. Sitting down feels good, is addictive, and leads to 5+ minute transitions.
Bike: I still believe that the three biggest mistakes people make on the bike - and probably 90% of the field will make at least one of them - are pacing improperly, drinking too little and eating too much. Your plan has you nailing the first two, but puts you at risk on the third. Average-sized guys like you and me should target 80-100 grams of carbs per hour, as we really can't process any more. Core Diet says 0.6 g/hr per pound of body weight, which puts you somewhere around 90. Close enough. If you really plan on putting down two bottles of Gatorade each hour, that's 88 g right there. Throw in 3 blocks (17-20) and a gel (22-24) and you're looking at more than 125 g/hr. Not terrible, but if you do that for 5 hours straight, then toss on top of that a solid Clif Bar (45g), you're asking for trouble. At a minimum, I would advise either dropping the Clif Bar altogether or, when you do eat a half of one, drop the gel and maybe even the blocks for that particular hour. And I would also recommend easing up on the calories the last 90 minutes or so, replacing one of the Gatorade bottles with a bottle of water, and no eating the last 30 minutes. And if you start to burp up stuff or feel bloated, etc., cut back immediately on that food, even if you have to go all liquid for the last 2 hours. Most of us are best served getting off the bike with a quiet, semi-empty stomach, even if you're a little hungry. You can satisfy your hunger at the first run station. If you're like me and have read hundreds of IM race reports, I've read countless accounts of bloating, burping, dizziness, vomiting, and multiple trips to the portos. I've still yet to read or hear of a single story of someone bonking on the IM bike.
Run: You're a really great runner. Still, 3:20 on that course, in only your second IM, is probably a stretch. I like stretch goals, but I don't want you to be disappointed with a 3:35 or 3:39, which would be outstanding run splits on that course. Heck, I'd be ecstatic with a 3:50 on that course. I would also drastically reduce your planned caloric intake. 5 gels and 15 blocks during an IM run just isn't going to happen and, if it does, it may not be pretty. I plan on 3-4 gels, usually only get down 2-3. If you're hungry, eat. If not, don't force it.
Best of luck out there. And enjoy the prize for all your hard work.
MR
Speaking as an Old Man, I prefer that you run @ Stoopid Slow pace early in the run, not "old man pace". Don't want you shuffling, all bent over. (I.m thinking of getting a T sort for running races that says on the back, "You've just been geezered"
FP,
Great points from Shaughn, Mike and Al. I learn something every time I read their comments! The ones that jumped out at me were the comments on too many calories. Great advice that Mike had on that. I would also ditch the turkey wrap (as Al mentioned), but maybe that works for you. What SS said about the BOX is huge!
Also, I think you are going to be surprised at how good you feel on the bike tapered (I was at Texas), so just be careful when you see mega watts and feel really good!
Stay on plan! I've been following your wkos on Strava since November, and you are one of the hardest working athletes I have seen. If you follow your plan, you are going to surprise yourself!
Good luck!
@SS - For sure I will stay in that box which will be wired attached, nothing will come in - Thank you for all the kudos and good vibe during that cycle ! really appreciated it my friend
@MR - Thank you very much for flagging this, I didnt at all look at it this way, I looked back at all values and will drop the blocks, that will bring me around 90, I'll probably keep only cliff bar cut in 6 pieces (45/6) = total around 100 (I love white chocolat taste). Your comment regarding the last hour is something I already apply, just didnt mentionned it, cold water taste so good after 5hours.
On the run, I'll drop the blocks and I am like you, I plan 5 gels but only eat 2-3, usually KM 10, 20 and 32
@AL - Thanks for the comments, hope I didnt hurt you with the old man comment
I was referring to an old man running in my area and love the style hah. Will see regarding the BSN, I know its a waste of time and my target to sub 11hrs is stretch.
@Brian - i hope the bike will be there, I feel its been a limiter for me ! - thanks
and yes the WSM always have great comments & suggestions, we have alot to learn from these guys!
@TC - for sure I am not letting that chart dictacte anything during that taper, I follow the plan, as for your comments regarding the bike & run, you might be right, 2016 will be my reference year for future since its my first year on alot of matters - thanks !
-- regarding Shot Bloks ... if you wind up using them ... I believe three of them have 100 calories not 50
Also, bring a pair of scissors to open the Clif Bar and Shot Blok packs. They slide out much easier that way.Champagne at the finish line ... we'll need a picture of that!
Francis, great detail in your report. I don't think I can add much to what's been said except that you might want to consider wrapping your clifbars in rice paper. See the deets here http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/91/Default.aspx?topic=Simplifying+Bike+Nutrition+with+Rice+Paper It makes handling and eating them so much easier on the bike. Good luck out there. I can't imagine that you won't improve on the bike after loosing that much weight.
You have been put in lots of very strong work and a great ethic as well this season. I'm looking forward to meeting you in Tremblant and wish you a superb race!
The only things I have to add are…
Do you go sockless on the run? I didn’t notice you putting socks on or in either of your T-bags.
For T2 make sure that your your hat, glasses and runsaver bag are also in your go bag. You can save a few seconds by taking those things out on the run.
Good luck and have fun out there!
Mark : everything will already be pre-open and put in a ziploc in the bento
Brad : Thanks ! will cheer you on the course, its your revenge !!! at this time in a week we will be running the marathon
Doug : yes everything will be in a "go-bag", as for the socks I am putting on during T1 and will keep the same for the full day
Dawn : Thanks and see you in a week !! PS: where is your plan ??