Bruce Read's Minneapolis LifeTime Tri Race Plan 2017
Race Prep Report
Minneapolis Lifetime Tri – July 8th.
International Distance
55 – 59 age group
I have VERY little experience to draw from so I have been reading and searching extensively through the EN site and there is an incredible amount of valuable info here. This is my first International distance and second tri. First was in May, a sprint, and I followed MY plan to a T and it was a horrible day. Let’s just say there were so many learning opportunities I could have written a never ending novel! This time I plan on remember the advice from the forums and Coach P. Nerves can be an issue as I have not ever raced in anything before I joined EN and my first sprint this May. Wife will be ready with the first aid kit and paddles just in case!
1. First Goal – finish and still be running
2. Second Goal – Not panic on the swim and stay in my box
3. Third Goal – come in under 3hr 28min
Prep:
1. Swam 1400 yards open water swim at event site. Very important to me as I am not a strong swimmer and my first tri, sprint, this spring, I was completely unprepared for the physical aspect of the swim. I felt like a bumper car and ended up panicing, heart rate way up and expended a great deal of energy.
2. Ran the course – very flat no major concerns
Night before:
1. Sleep early
2. Bags will be ready, checked and in car
3. Bike will already be in T1 transition site
Race Day:
Breakfast – oatmeal, banana, protein shake, green tea.
Swim: Goal – 38mins
1. Get warmed up – Very important for me as my heart rate goes way up at first if I can not get some type of warm up.
2. Learn from last race disaster – stay back and start slow.
3. Get in my rhythm and remember to site
T1 Goal – 3 mins
1. Stay calm and focused
2. Don’t rush and follow what you have practiced
Bike Goal – 1hr 30mins
1. First 2 miles get my legs and heart under control.
2. I will take liquids with me but do not expect to hydrate much unless it is very hot. I have used a mix of glutamine and dextrose sugar. Really helped eliminate my leg cramps. Will have gel and salt tabs with me as well just in case. I have practiced with all to ensure no stomach issues.
3. Stay in my box and don’t try to keep up
4. Remember the run
5. Hydrate last mile in prep for run
T2 Goal – 2mins
1. Stay focused, smooth transition
2. Quick drink
Run Goal – 67 mins
1. Stay in box and watch pace – no faster than 10:45/mile for first 1.5 miles
2. Miles 1.5 – 3 at 10:30 pace
3. Miles 3 – 4.5 at 10:15 pace
4. Miles 4.5 – 5.5 10: 00 pace
5. Finish at 9:45 pace
6. Smile & have a beer!
Comments
Actual Race Report
I have to say I am very impressed with EN Team, advice and support along with the massive amounts of information there is available. I decided last October to do this, people thought I was crazy but not the first time, having no idea what I was doing nor every having raced in anything, running or swimming and in fact had to take swimming lessons starting last November as did not know how to breath or swim properly. Very glad I did so! Dropped 30lbs and look forward to getting much better with a full year under my belt.
I have updated below in bold how I did compared to my goals.
Race Prep Report
Minneapolis Lifetime Tri – July 8th.
International Distance
55 – 59 age group
I have VERY little experience to draw from so I have been reading and searching extensively through the EN site and there is an incredible amount of valuable info here. This is my first International distance and second tri. First was in May, a sprint, and I followed MY plan to a T and it was a horrible day. Let’s just say there were so many learning opportunities I could have written a never-ending novel! This time I plan on remember the advice from the forums and Coach P. Nerves can be an issue as I have not ever raced in anything before I joined EN and my first sprint this May. Wife will be ready with the first aid kit and paddles just in case!
1. First Goal – finish and still be running – Finished
2. Second Goal – Not panic on the swim and stay in my box – much better than expected
3. Third Goal – come in under 3hr 28min – beat goal finished in 3hr 14min
Prep:
1. Swam 1400 yards open water swim at event site. Very important to me as I am not a strong swimmer and my first tri, sprint, this spring, I was completely unprepared for the physical aspect of the swim. I felt like a bumper car and ended up panicking, heart rate way up and expended a great deal of energy.
2. Ran the course – very flat no major concerns
Night before:
1. Sleep early
2. Bags will be ready, checked and in car
3. Bike will already be in T1 transition site
Race Day:
Breakfast – oatmeal, banana, protein shake, green tea. – Completed as planned
Swim: Goal – 38mins Actual result 31mins 25secs very happy with my swim and had lots left in tank.
1. Get warmed up – Very important for me as my heart rate goes way up at first if I cannot get some type of warm up. Had a good swim warm-up no issues other than being quite warm
2. Learn from last race disaster – stay back and start slow. – Completed although I felt like I swam an extra 100 meters
3. Get in my rhythm and remember to site – worked very well especially after 500 meters
T1 Goal – 3 mins 4min 21 secs – not sure what happened here as I felt I was very fast with a longer that expected run from the beach. Took one gel and drank 8 os.
1. Stay calm and focused
2. Don’t rush and follow what you have practiced – took @Al Truscott advice and slowed down and took deep breath.
Bike Goal – 1hr 30mins Actual – 1:23:46 – ok, slowed down ½ through thinking about run but need to do more work on hills and improving leg strength. Heart rate very high to start, 160 but able to get it back down to 150 by end of bike session.
1. First 2 miles get my legs and heart under control.
2. I will take liquids with me but do not expect to hydrate much unless it is very hot. I have used a mix of glutamine and dextrose sugar. Really helped eliminate my leg cramps. Will have gel and salt tabs with me as well just in case. I have practiced with all to ensure no stomach issues. – Drank throughout race – approx 20 oz
3. Stay in my box and don’t try to keep up
4. Remember the run
5. Hydrate last mile in prep for run
T2 Goal – 2mins Actual – 1min 54secs – no issues
1. Stay focused, smooth transition
2. Quick drink
Run Goal – 67 mins Actual - 73:01 mins - Very disappointing part of the race. First 3 miles very close to my pace below. 2nd half of race my legs cramped and could only run 2 min and walk 1 min. This has never happened before. I drank throughout the run but legs were dead. I drank well over 100 oz of liquids of G2 and water and still did not pee between 8am and 2:45 that afternoon. Absolutely exhausted when finished even though I did not run hard.
1. Stay in box and watch pace – no faster than 10:45/mile for first 1.5 miles
2. Miles 1.5 – 3 at 10:30 pace
3. Miles 3 – 4.5 at 10:15 pace
4. Miles 4.5 – 5.5 10: 00 pace
5. Finish at 9:45 pace
6. Smile & have a beer! – Smiled but no beer this time!
You had a good bike split, but that seems like a high HR to me. Bike fitness is one of those things that just comes with time and work. My guess is that you pushed a bit harder than you should have and that had a downstream effect on your run. You can still get away with this in an OLY, but will have much much worse consequences if you eventually work your way up to half-IM or IM distances... Your sound a bit disappointed with your run, but I can tell you it still sounds a heck of a lot better than the run I had on my first OLY. I'm shocked you drank that much and still didn't pee. It was hot that day, but not terrible crazy hot/humid. Fitness and experience will help you keep running and hopefully not slowing down in future races.
What's next?
What's next - I need to talk with Coach Patrick but I have down loaded the OS program that focuses on speed for the run and bike. I am slowing down the training a little as I need to give some time back to my wife but still want to do another sprint in the fall. I want to be ready for 2018 to do a HIM. I really enjoyed the training and competing again but want to improve over this year.