Al T IM MD 2016 Race Plan
INTRODUCTION
This is IM # 32 (of which 3 were DNS, and 3 were DNFs); this is the first year since 2007 I will be doing only one IM. I picked Maryland because (a) it’s in the fall, (b) I’ve never been to the Eastern Shore; (c) it’s a wetsuit swim; and (d) I’ll get to catch up with Tim and Heather. I have the primary goal of being satisfied with my performance at the end of the day, and the secondary goal of meeting my process targets.
RACE WEEK
Monday: Pack bike, gather clothes for rain, and racing, as well as visit to Indiana for 5 days after race. Download movies from Amazon for cross country flight.
Tuesday - Fly all day Seattle to Baltimore. Rental to Cambridge, arrive late evening. Staying at the race headquarters hotel for the first time.
Wednesday - Build bike. Register. I’m considering riding part of the course loop, hoping to encounter some wind, and maybe run for 20 minutes late afternoon. Figure out race morning logistics (shuttle bus, etc.)
Thursday - Main tasks today: ? Swim 20 minutes; possible Athlete’s briefing @ 1100 or 1400; ? Scout the bike course; short bike with a few interval pops; run a bit in the afternoon and scout the run course;? Team Dinner @ ~ 6 PM
Friday - Main tasks: final bike check (bolts, chain, etc); Pack Four Bags; afternoon movie and Sat dinner possibilities; evening dinner with coupon. Drop off bags and bike @ transition area. Cover bike drive train with Hefty bag. Ponder journey from swim exit to bike to Bike Out. Scout porta-potties. Afternoon movie: “??”. Evening dinner all liquid, then prep Special Needs bags and nutrition, final bag check for morning, listen to IM MD 2016 Playlist.
RACE MORNING
If I wake up after midnight, drink one bottle of Ensure.
4 AM Wake up. Go through usual routine. Start breakfast of oatmeal, OJ, maybe another Ensure. War paint, race kit. Leave @ 5-5:15.
5:30: Body mark, drop off Special Needs
5:45-6:00: Prep bike: 1 x 32 oz frozen bottle of Infinit, Joule, Fenix - calibrate to bike, EFS to top tube holder, check tires, wrist band and possibly arm coolers to aerobars, shoes, sunglasses on bike, remove Hefty bag (if needed), confirm gearing is set to start out.
5:55:
6:00: start to don wet suit, drop off morning clothes. Gulp some gel.
6:15: Little warm-up swim until allowed to enter holding area.
6:30: Line up with 1:10-1:20 corral, more towards back than front.
6:35-45: In water, go. [Race start 2 0645, rolling]
EQUIPMENT
Morning clothes: Convertible pants, EN Race Team T shirt, warm top as needed, sandals, 2CLight Cap.
Race kit: EN LG Tri suit Garmin HRM.
Swim: Xterra Vendetta full sleeve wet suit (usually I use DeSoto First Wave, but I think it will be too warm for that), Tyr transition goggles, WTC issue swim cap. Ear plugs; Body Glide.
Bike: trusty Frankenbike. Zipp 404 wheels with rear wheel cover EFS gel on top tube, tools under saddle. Three bottle cages, two on frame, one as torpedo mount on stem cap.
Run: Saucony Type A5’s, Feetures socks, EN visor, wrist band for my nose.
BAG CONTENTS
Morning tri bag: goggles, body glide, swim cap, wrist bands, arm coolers, bike nutrition - 2 x 32 oz frozen bottles of Infinit, flask with 4.5 oz of EFS gel, Joule, Fenix, glasses (in case), run nutrition - one flask of EFS gel, travel pump, tire, tube, special needs bags (see below)
T1 Bag: Helmet, sunglasses, spare contacts, Fenix.
T2 Bag: Shoes, socks, spare glasses. Go Bag containing: wrist band, EFS flask, Visor, Sunscreen spray-on, number belt with # showing through, sunglasses.
Special Needs Bike: 32 oz, frozen bottle of Infinit, Special Needs Run: Wrist band
NUTRITION PLAN
In Transition before race: swig of gel, about 6 oz of water.
On bike: Infinit - 64 oz with 840 cal and 1.5 gms of Na, Gatorade Endurance 160 cal/bottle, assume 2-4 bottles during bike leg, for 320 - 640 cal, 1200-2400 gms Na . Water as needed based on temps, hydration status; 4 oz of EFS gel for about 350 cal, 700 mg Na. Clif Bar Minis, 4, 400 Cal Totals: 2070 cal/345 cal available per hour for anticipated 6 hour ride; 4-5 grams of salt. Plan to take a drinks every 20 minutes first hour, then every ten minutes. Clif Bar every 40 minutes first 4 hours, then finish EFS gel last 2 hours.
On Run: 6-10 oz of fluid each aid station depending on temps. Start with diluted GE, no more than 4 oz of per aid station. 1 oz EFS gel @ miles 6, 12, & 16-18. Coke, again diluted, whenever I need it.
PACING
Swim: anticipate 1:16 in water time. Bilateral breathing in general may use alternate side every 50-100 strokes, if sun or crowds are too intense on one side. I know how to swim, I’ve been doing it for 5 decades now, just lock in and ignore everyone else. No real sighting needed, just follow the crowd and keep the effort up. Process goals (since I have no metrics while swimming, these are of necessity subjective): Be prepared to work the whole way, up to but not past the point of stroke disruption. Points of emphasis: maintain stroke turnover, find and follow feet when at all possible.
T1: WALK out of water, removing top of wetsuit, to strippers. RUN to bag. Helmet, put on and start Fenix, pee. Those are my only jobs until I get to the bike
Bike: Anticipate 5:45 ride time, but do not use this as a goal or metric. FTP is 212. Try to forget it was 262 8 years ago and ride based on my current capabilities. Since this is a totally flat course, a key will be to take regular standing stretching breaks, every ten minutes. This will be associated with a harder gear, slower cadence, and nutrition. I use the Ride Time tabe on my Joule and click the interval button every twenty minutes. This forces me to keep my head in the game. I will be using both IF/FTP (0.6 >> 0.67 first 80 minutes, then 0.675 +/- 0.01 the remainder. Because this course is FLAT, I will also use MPH as a metric, aiming for 19 mph, the same as I held on my RR. Avoid drafting, blocking.
Display on my Joule: Two columns, four rows, left to right: Avg Mph, Watts; Cadence, IF, interval time; bottom row toggled. On Fenix: HR; Fenix is back-up Power Meter with other fields available.
T2: My tasks are: Get out of shoes 1/2 mile or so before Bike In. Grab bag. Take off helmet. Switch glasses if desired. Put on socks, shoes. Grab Go Bag. Pee. Switch Fenix to Run mode.
Run: Anticipate 4:20 +/- 3 min run time, unless modified by temperature. Start out of transition fiddling with Go Bag; by second mile, should be every so slightly below 10 min/mi unless temps are above 75, then go with HR. First 6 miles in the 115-119 range; stay in the low-mid 120’s through mile 16-18 on the second lap, then allow to rise up and over 130. After mile 16, start using as needed the mantras of “You have strength, you are power”, “This is who I am, this is what I do,” “Slowing down is not an option”, etc all the way home. Trust my training (this is how I interpret “honor your training self&rdquo
and my taper.
Fenix will display on two screens: Lap time, Lap Pace, HR, Cadence; Total time, Total distance, HR, Current Pace.
RACING STRATEGY
My goals in this race are: Swim: Emphasize turnover. Build effort to the end. Don’t slow down. Bike: IF of 0.67X, VI of < 1.03. Maintain nutrition plan with minimum of 1750 calories, 120 oz fluid. Don’t ease off after mile 100 as measured by IF in miles 100-110, keep constant effort all the way. Run: Even or very slight negative split; HR building from 108 to 132 thruout the entire 26 miles. Final one thing: I have to demonstrate to myself that I am willing to actually race to the limits of my capabilities, whatever they may be at this time and at this age.
Comments
Al, love that last line of your plan..........
That line, reading between the lines, really shows an experienced veteran willing to lay it all out there and go into this with a commitment of personal accountability and seasoned confidence.....
I refuse to give advice to someone who has raced 30+ IMs.......
But, I do wish you a fun day, complete with great skill and execution leveraging all of the experience and training that has culminated to date.
Thanks for always leading......
SS
http://www.ndbc.noaa.gov/station_page.php?station=camm2
See ya down there!
I never thought to check IF during the race ... love that idea. What's really cool to me though Al, is that even as distinguished WSM and 30+ IM veteran, you still post a race plan for everyone to review and comment on.
Al, I have nothing to add. I know you will race to your limits! Have a great race and have fun!
Thank you all for reading - it does provide some motivation to actually follow my intentions.
@ Tim - Yeah, I forgot to write down the skin suit, which I was planning on taking. Water temp seems to be hovering @ low 76.x F. WTC rules are 76.1 (24.5 C), which, um, is the current temp. Although it cycles up to 77 based on the tide. So I suppose it will all depend on when & where they take the temp.
@ Robt - Well, when I wrote the plan, I didn't actually *have* a playlist, so I made one, based on what I'm gravitating to these days...songs about maturity, either written/sung by old rockers, or in when case, when he was young looking to the future:
Don Henley, Train in the Distance & That Old Flame (both from Cass County, his 2015 album; Greg Brown, Summer Evening; Iris Dement (Brown's wife), Let The Mystery Be; Gregg Allman, Floating Bridge & I Believe I'll Go Back Home (from 2012's Low Country Blues); Yer Blues, a Beatles' song, but done by Lucky Peterson on The Blues White Album; Jackson Browne, For A Dancer & Before The Deluge, along with an acoustic version of Your Bright Baby Blues from this century (the source of my current sig line quote); Neil Young's This Old Guitar; Tom Waits, Hold On; Elvis Costello, That's Not The Part of Him You're Leaving; BoDeans' Once in a While; and Bruce Springsteen, Wrecking Ball, Devils & Dust.
My routine since IM Wisconsin 2005: I have a Jamba Juice Chocolate Peanut Butter Moo'd (Jumbo size) for dinner the night before an Ironman. It has over 1,000 calories. If there's no Jamba Juice in town (like last year @ Lake Placid), I either find another high calorie smoothie or do something like Naked Juice and/or Ensure. In the 20 or so IMs since, I have had vomiting several times in the second half of the run, but always immediately following slamming a gel, which taught me to maybe not be taking a gel after mile 12 or so.
have a great one. You and Tim.
looking forward to your opinion of this race.
Aunt has a place near Cambridge. and my mom in South Jersey. Uncle near Baltimore.
so some year might do it.
and I went to Annapolis a couple years. across the water.
Have fun and represent the Aspen Crew!
Al...Best of luck to you for a great and fun race. I love the example you set for the team than even thought you've done dozens of IMs, you still take the time to write out a very detailed plan.
You need no advice from me. My only thought is that some times it can be windy on the eastern shore. If it is, you'll know what to do.