Tallo 2016 IM Kona Race Plan
(Edits 22/9 for input received to date. 30/9 based on on-course RR)
Dave Tallo, 46
Ballpark Numbers: FTP 270, weight 147, VDOT 51
Goal: Sub 10
Strategy:
1. Execute with respect for the course
2. No drama; keep mentally and emotionally levelled all day, in all circumstances
3. Leverage training process and achievements to let the performance come to you
4. Remember every standout race has materialized after mile 18; don't give up when there are early setbacks
Biggest lesson from past efforts: Kona demands humility. If you don't volunteer it, it will be imposed.
Race Week - General
-safety first. You’ll be distracted, flighty and tweaked and at the greatest risk carelessness and an accident.
-per above: No sandals. Closed-toe shoes only.
-Handwashing and purel; if someone sneezes, run the other way.
-approx 2300 cals/day plus replacement of training cals. Green, lean and clean.
-Follow Couzen’s meal plan (sort of – don’t neglect glycogen stores). Don’t fill time or boredom with junk food and mindless eating.
-In all situations, ask "Is this adding to, or depleting my energy?"
-Go into hibernation mode. Don’t move very much.
-lots of sitting. Avoid walking / riding anywhere if you can drive. Monitor and enforce time on your feet – if it means some cutesy iphone app to cap it at, say, 2 hours a day, that’s good.
-stay in control of all situations. Have an exit plan for any outings.
-Daily, 3 x 2 minute (or more) visualization exercises.
-In bed by 10pm nightly, and have good groceries in the fridge all week. Avoid buying your meals at the ABC.
-Buy a scale on arrival, and have a daily weigh-in. But don’t get freaked out by weight gains – just track these for future information and general feedback.
-Practice shoes-on-pedal transitions until it’s a fluid movement (bike mount / dismount).
-Continue consuming no-cal electrolyte drinks all week.
-use post-it note ‘burn-down list’ of things to do during the week, on wall. Go the full Carrie from Homeland.
Day before race
-in advance, write itinerary: where to go and when, menus and venues for meals, follow schedule using 15min blocks.
-big smile all day
-Denny's team breakfast. Pancakes. Last coffee no later than 1030 am.
-salted everything.
-sip electrolyte drink all day
-Lunch as small 'clean' pasta or burritos w flour tortilla, chicken, mild salsa, rice. OR Jamba Juice if time is tight.
-approach check-in as get in, get your t-shirt, get done, get out. Then physically leave the area. (add: make iphone video of the T1 walk from swim exit to tent to bike to mount line to exit. I love this idea.)
-230 / 3pm arrive at check in, work from list
-squirt chain lube the day before
-iPod as isolation mode-keep stimulation at a reasonable level
-physically walk route from water to bags to bike to exit. Think about places to run fast, run slower, shortcuts. Don’t be rushed by the patient volunteer during drop off.
-Look for 2x landmarks and markers for bike rack position. Note, and write down the row/column.
-afternoon: stretch / light yoga, DL movie from itunes in room and relax.
-take out pasta dinner with garlic bread at Italian place in mall. Sit for dinner by 6:30, be grateful!
-put on timing chip, left ankle, safety pinned, before bed
Sleep by 9-10PM - "I'm grateful to be racing and damn lucky"
Race Day
-wake at ~2/3am for 4 x Ensure
-wake 4:00
-mirror: "I feel great"
-Get to race Time TBD
-quick list of admin (more to add later): water bottles, salted gatorade on bike; 3 x clifs and 6xgels onboard, inflate tires to (????), wipe chain, bike in easy gear, attach sunglasses to bars w elastics, elastics on shoes, and get outta there
-find somewhere quiet to sit, chill, light stretch, put on sunscreen
-continue sipping water
-heavy throwaway sweatshirt to stay warm
t minus 30
-roll down triskin to waist, swimskin on, make way to water
-spash around with warmup including 4-5 x 'hard' intervals and practice breathing out in water, and hand as “paddle” for pull
-caffeinated gel at 10 mins to start
Swim
-Seed near r and outside -get ready for cannon, cuz it’s deafening when you’re next to it.
-avoid sea urchins hanging off Kaulua pier
-warmup swim – practice exhaling bubbles, tall stroke, “windmill” arms turnover
-find big dude to get behind at start, gauge speed, use his big draft
-wetronome (? Is this legal? WTC ipod/electronic device rule?) under cap (edit: not going to do this. RR with wetronome was slower than without.)
-go
-hard for first 400 (NTD - approx marker for 400m is past Kona Inn). Quick strokes, hard pull, natural kick, exhale like practice. Hard pace based on muscles, form and fitness ... NOT adrenaline. Be in control.
-you'll get hit; hold your ground and keep making forward progress.
-muscle fatigue: first 400 will be over soon, just keep hard pace
-settle into race pace with longer taller pulls, lift heels to kick and maintain body position, count strokes
-keep key 3 in mind: tall, catch around the barrel/jonny-o elbow, strong pull.
-get on a hip and enjoy the ride.
-Prepare for 'swim to nowhere' section on return
-REALLY stay on hip on return. Lots of the fast women start to catch up here, so there are some bridging opportunities in the drafts.
-effort: remember ... it's a race. Mike Roberts: “swim like a swimmer.”
Exit and T1
-Look at personal / AG T1s of previous years and aim for fast. Reverse-engineer them in your walkthrough and recon (“I’ll spend 10s here, then 20s there …&rdquo
if possible.
-wash eyes under hoses, run outside of tent – watch pegs - and toss bag wherever (… they’ll find it!)
-roll up trisuit top while en route from the tent to the bike.
-HELMET ON AND BUCKLED BEFORE EVEN TOUCHING BIKE
-grab bike, run guiding bike by holding saddle (not bars) and go
Bike
-12-25 with compact crank. Flo90 on front and 808PT rear (note: I've done Kona with (a)front and rear 808s, (b)Hed 90s, and (c)Bonti Aeolus 65s on a variety of wind days. I prefer the deep wheels as long as I have practiced on them a lot ... I installed mine back on Labour Day weekend, and will have 2 weeks of Queen K riding pre-race, so I should have ~ thousand (?) miles of 'getting acquainted' time.)
-Planned IF .74, approx TSS 270, Goal time irrelevant (Note strategic choice here: early in the season I had plans to Set The World on Fire and micromanage the bike with BestBikeSpit-like “descent at x watts; etc etc.” I’ve mellowed, looked at past race reports and mindsets from HI, and will instead execute bike with a view to a strong run.) RR was 'comfortable' 5:18 in full gear, minus skinsuit and Supersonics/latex tubes.
-think "range of watts" - 190 to 193; 200 to 203; etc. Outbound, lower range. Inbound, make a determination on how you feel.
(addendum: 190 / 210 / 220 out; make decision at gas station at bottom of Hawi descent whether to switch to 193/213/223, or stay with current numbers.)
(addendum: ensure higher cadence throughout entire ride - but especially up to Hawi - to avoid muscle pull along inner R thigh)
-Bike is a 5h conversation with your powermeter. No siteseeing. -shoes on pedals, flying mount and go, pull on shoes once moving forward on bike (using Giro Empires, will test optimum lacing and practice foot in / out).
-Stay low all day with head tucked down and turtled, and helmet high on forehead when down. Stacked hands, hunched shoulders and low head outperform even the fastest of superbikes’ gains.
-visuals through ride: "I get small and punch through the wind." This is your ideal, with a *low* top of head. Throughout day, cue of the chin being horizontally below the notch between the bicep and deltoid.
-Safety first … the Queen K has divots and some serious reflectors. Head’s up ball at least until you get to the numbered highways.
-but find tangents on shoulders, even on long sweeping curves. Actually, especially on long sweeping curves. Think about the difference running the outside and inside lap on a track, then multiply x 30-40.
-Hide from crosswinds behind rock formations as they appear
-for position, remember that wind speed is important … not necessarily ground speed. So, if you’re only going 10 into a 30mph headwind, don’t sit up.
-pull “plug” from helmet as ground speed (or wind speed) dictates: plug in below ~28mph, plug out above that.
-First 5 mins / industrial park as 190, easy spinning, very much heads-up riding, glasses with arms inside helmet straps.
-Safety first.
-DRINK!
-climb Kuakini Highway at 210-13 max
-190 out along Queen K to 30 min mark
-keep very very very low in this section and ensure helmet is flush against back, stacked hands, narrow shoulders.
-coast 2 x large downhills
-eat early - stomach is normally settled right away and harder swim will have taken more cals than normal
-1 /2 Clif every half hour with water. Gatorade on the :15 and :45. Switch from Clifs to gels at about 3.5h. A minimum two full bottles of water plus Gatorade every hour.
-make sure you're still peeing hourly at 3+ hour mark
-1 lava salt every .5 hour
-high cadence on climbs if possible
-Do what you need to in order to ensure there is the mental real estate to keep making good choices all morning. There’s frequent decision making all day. Tactically, do what you can to keep your head clear (caffeine, mental queues, keep nutrition going).
-Climb to Hawi: stay aero at all times (until you get to the shaded part with the ghost bike at .5 mile out). Climb as 200 / 220 for the "sawtooth" start for the first 15 minutes, then progress to 210 for longer climbs in aero.
-take on a lot of water for the climb. It's worth the weight.
-grab 2 water bottles at bike turn immediately after turn at Hawi
-descent first drop from Hawi as full coast. Others as easy pedal, gear 1 as appropriate. Remmeber that there's a lot of time spent in race ways / gear 2 on the descent - it isn't all downhill.
-Overall, descent SAFETY FIRST in full aero, plug 'out' of helmet, turtled head, shoulders rolled in, weight of upper body on elbows and armrests. Keep pedals level with weight on feet/pedals to lower centre of gravity. Watch the line of riders ahead to predict gusts. But expect unpredictable gusts as well.
-pick a landmark around the 3/4 point that will coincide with your normal point of losing focus / drifting mentally. This is the cue to get your head back into it. Have a caffeinated gel around this time. And (as goofy as it sounds) force yourself to have a big smile for a full two minutes. This will improve your physical performance.
-at Moana Kao resorts, get this song and the visuals in your head.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l8zU4N8tFg
-from 30mins in to bike finish: keep on watts, with terrain features at 213 and climbs at 223. Stay on gas steadily, don't come up during descents until 40mph or so. Look for opportunities for free speed = keeping momentum on rollers, legal drafting, etc. Lots of people will go out too fast on the bike = Free Wind Shadows from pretty much first half of lap 1 onwards.
-After airport, make decision about output recognizing a net elevation loss and need to run a marathon
-consider setting 240 watts alarm on Garmin to ensure a power ceiling.
-Nearing finish: you'll never be happier to see a "Ross - Dress for Less" store in your life
-Turn after Aquatic Centre: unstrap shoes, drop to gentle 190, easy light spinning, remove Garmin, “light legs” and your mind into t2 game
-make sure you protect your back all day – remember lower back problems that emerged during Canada and WI.
t2
-aim for a “best in class” t2 time based on past races (~1:30?) Reverse-engineer them in your walkthrough, if possible – i.e 60s running from chute to tent, 30s in tent, etc.
-t2 flying dismount, drop bike and gogogo
-helmet unstrapped once past dismount line, take off while running, roll off the top of M-2 suit
-grab a chair near exit of transition tent, not entrance. Hand volunteer empty bottle from T bag and ask them to fill w water.
-sit down, dump bag, socks and shoes on, grab hat / baggie of sunscreen bundle, pull on man-bra and stand into race number belt, then get movin'
-just carry hat and sunscreen (add: and packet of anti-chafing stuff for inside of arms as they rub against armholes of shirt) until everything is settled, then put 'em both on when you're underway. If this is hard, you're going too fast.
Run
-"focus"
-assume hot, with continued hot.
-don't break stride for pee breaks - keep moving forward.
-run smart: take tangents, follow the shortest paths anywhere.
-be prepared for real discomfort I've experienced in last few RRs for the first few minutes, but know this passes eventually.
-start as shuffle with Key Bobby McGee look-fors: run tall, engage glutes, forward lean from chest, footstrike along stance line, quick turnover at 90rpm, eyes on 6 ft ahead on road
-"I am light and strong"
-There is no flat – you’re mostly going up or down at various pitches. So, GPS is (mostly) noise, and be prepared to run by HR or perceived effort.
-In light of the above, know what you want to do in advance wrt HR or efforts on hills. Do you want to push a bit on shorter ones to keep pace, or just stay on effort like a diesel? Be ready to be making these micro decisions for the next few hours.
-alternate Gatorade and gel at every aid station. Grab 2 gels every time: one for next aid station and toss in pocket to eat as you roll up to station IOW, always have an 'emergency' gel pack in your pocket.
(NTD – HR ranges will need recalibrating after race rehearsal #2 on course and observations while training in heat. But this is good enough to describe the progression I want. )
-run entire race, keeping consistent miles
-opening pace w HR cap of 150, run tall and economically
-back down to if RPE too hot, and adjust slower every few minutes unti RPE is very easy
-mile 6: if on pace, drop to HR cap of 158
-If first 6 at too easy pace, just adjust ... gradually and later
-Mile 12: how do I feel? If it's an HONEST "great," and running at higher 150s, keep on. If running with HR higher than 160s, drop pace and walk aid stations. If feeling anything else, figure it out.
-at mile 12/13,(as goofy as it sounds) force yourself to have a big smile for a full two minutes. This will improve your physical performance.
-Hills: remember form to maximize mechanical advantage, make tactical choice at each hill whether to bump to higher effort to climb (HR cap 165), or maintain pace
-run palani with little steps, body lean, forward momentum from core. Keep hips very stable.
-run downhills with forward lean / drive from pelvis and momentum instead of muscle force.
-mile 16, make a tactical decision. “Do I feel good enough to begin mile 18 a few miles early?”
-where possible, fully draft on return run from Energy Lab into headwinds.
Either mile 18, or 16: toggle Garmin to "time of day," keeping moving, and take stock for a minute. Breathe; control. Figure out what will be needed to get to the line. One last reminder of running with perfect form, then go and run with heart.
-get extra drive from one thing that has been your commitment for the last 730 days.
-"I am light and strong and breathe energy"
-Remember 4/3 -> 3/2 breathing progression as effort increases
-figure out how to deal with possible hot foot while running (James Brown!)
-note tendency to roll shoulders in .. make sure you are pulling elbows back, especially late race.
Other
-No Special Food bags.
-Bike setup as front BTA bottle for water, water in behind seat carrier, 3 clifs and gels onboard, 2x extra light tubes on bike with c02, lever onboard. Contact lenses in storage.
-Maybe bring Lava Salts on run. To be determined.
-two extra safety pins on race belt. Because you never know when you can use a safety pin.
Risk Management and Contingencies
-blown tire or minor: come to a stop, close eyes and breathe deep for 5s, and get on with a calm fix. Think Chrissie, not Normann.
-major: you're lucky to be doing Ironman, in Kona. Use it to learn something on race day: maybe try a run PB using McGee 8/1 run walk.
-Say 'Mahalo' at the end.
Addendum: Heat Management
-2 weeks of pre-arrival sauna acclimatization in Toronto
-2 weeks of legit acclimatization in Kona. This period as training and living in heat following established SOP.
- Bike: continued jersey soaking, hydration as written. Use peeing frequency as key indicator of ongoing hydration status.
Run: HR is the first thing to monitor. Gear is bare core, EN "man-bra" to have minimal fabric coverage. Sponge, cold water dousing at every aid station. Grab two cups of ice at each aid station, consolidate them into one cup while on the move, and either (a) put ice in hat and let it melt, (b) put ice in man-bra and let it melt, (c) carry ice in bare hands and let it melt, (d) all of the above. Ice in the junk and on the lower back are good for a while.
lessons learned in the past: IMHO, the humidity of Kona obviates the usefulness of cooling sleeves, gloves, jerseys or other garments ... best strategy is bare (but heavily sunscreened) skin, and taking in whatever is on offer for cooling whenever it's available. Especially ice. But most importantly, not allowing core temp to rise early in run or as a result of any effort spikes will let me stay on top of the heat.
Gear Addendum
Based on ERO testing: Garneau p09 helmet, EN Garneau M2 suit for the bike. Wear this rolled down at the waist, and underneath a XTerra swimskin, for the swim. For the run, a special crop--top EN run singlet (looks like a Faris Al-Sultan manbra. I wear this and just roll the top of the M2 suit down at the waist, so I have minimum coverage of core, and can stuff ice down the bra, and in the front of the shorts to hit the femoral artery, cool the junk, and stuff down the upper back to mitigate low back pain.) Run with Asics DS Racer flats, the Craft socks I have worn for 18 of my 20 Ironmans, and my weirdly comfortable Vineman hat. I've done the race with the whole gamut of cooling gear, incl. a cooling hat, arm coolers, short sleeve, etc ... and the humidity and heat just make the minimal coverage preferable to me. If I could rock a speedo, I would.)
Comments
Wow- there is nothing I can write here that will be helpful to you, but know I'm pulling for you and am looking forward to following your success on Race Day.
I'm exhausted just reading.
Notes
Your attention to detail has gotten you to this high level of performance after a LOOOONG ramp up in experience. Keep the faith and you will succeed.
http://triathlon.competitor.com/2015/10/training/swim-cadence-triathlon_88289 (bottom of page)
Dave, There was a forum a few weeks ago about wheels to use in Kona. I see you are going with a Flo 90 in the front. That sounds a bit deeper than what was recommended, but it sounds like you have done this before and are comfortable with them. Just an observation really. Nice plan, and good luck!
- check that cassette is thighten, tires are in good condition and no pinched tube visible, brakes are aligned (no rubbing)
- Garmin wifi OFF
-take pix or vid of bike racked with the land marks I want+ video of the path from swim exit to bag to tent to bike so I can review it as needed
- Say Mahalo and not Mahola if u don't want to get nicknamed Haole
have a great race Dave! Best of luck
Its a good plan Dave. If there is a sub-10 plan, I cant imagine it looking much different than this one. Cant wait to see the race. Good luck. Crush some souls!
Dave,
Great prep (mental and physical), as usual. I always enjoy following the Kona coverage, but I'll really be rooting for you this year.
I was listening to some of the Tower 26 podcasts, and Gerry made some interesting observations/suggestions: 1) If your race is a mass start or wave start and you want to be competitive, you need to practice your take-out efforts in the weeks before the race, 2) a well-trained swimmer will put down their best 400 after many hundreds of yards of warm-up or other swimming and, yet, very few people do a pre-race warm-up appropriate for a fast 400 immediately followed by 2.3 miles of tempo swimming (he suggests at least 10 minutes of good warm-up if you can get it in, rather than a quick dip/splash), and 3) a lot of folks who swim 4x per week may only swim 1x during race week because they're "tapering" when, in reality, they should be swimming that same 4x, just with less volume and intensity.
You may have already thought about all of ^^, but I throw it out there because most of it makes sense to me.
As for the wetronome, probably a close call. Here's the actual text of the rule:
"SWIM
Section 4.04 ILLEGAL EQUIPMENT
(a) Headsets or headphones are prohibited during the swim segment of the Race. (Stop-and- Go Time Penalty, DSQ if not remedied promptly)
(b) Unless pre-approved by the Head Referee, communication devices of any type, such as cell phones and two-way radios are strictly prohibited during the swim segment of the Race; (DSQ) and
(c) Cameras, phone cameras, and video cameras are prohibited unless permission is given by IRONMAN. If such permission is given by IRONMAN, it is the athlete’s responsibility to notify the Head Referee of such permission prior to the start of the Race. Athletes seen with an unauthorized camera, phone camera, or video camera will be disqualified."
I would argue that headsets and headphones go directly on/in/over your ear and can impede the ability to hear warnings, etc. But a noisemaker under your cap, right next to your ear, is probably pretty close. The good news is, even if you were busted, the penalty is a stop-n-go time penalty, which I suspect would be pretty hard to enforce in the water. Worst case, you get busted taking off your swim cap and have to step into the tent with the folks who hopped on before the mount line.
Enjoy the experience.
Personally i will try to continue 7-8 pm bedtime during race week. Need the sleep. Of course the night before the race it is hard to sleep soundly. But, regardless, seems the majority of us are shorting themselves on sleep.
See you soon. Will be fun sharing the course.
I found coming from PDT, sleeping 9-5 worked well. Breakfast done just as it gets light, prepped for 0400 wake up on race day.
What I have written for Kona seems sophomoric after reading through your minute by minute race plan. Great stuff in here that I for sure will be stealing....I mean leveraging! :-) I can't think of anything additional to add other than i'm looking forward to my front row seat to watch you go after sub-10! See ya soon!
good luck on your race !
@ Dave...I'm a little late to respond but you still got 6 days before the race. So here goes:
So much detail, so much experience. I have little to add. However, I think the most important part of your plan is the insight you have about past efforts: "Biggest lesson from past efforts: Kona demands humility. If you don't volunteer it, it will be imposed." I think much of the detail in your plan is an effort to "volunteer humility" by being respectful of how important little things can be in this race, of how little mistakes can get magnified so much by the course and conditions. So stay humble and execute the best you can in each moment; string together thousands of great moments. Good luck and have fun!