Patrick Marsh IMLP Race Plan
Thursday, July 20th
o Leave work at 11:30 am and arrive at EN Dinner by 6 pm
o Check into hotel. Charge Garmins
Friday, July 21st
o 8:00 am – OWS
o 10:00 am – EN Four Keys Talk
o Noon – Last test of my bike (Keene descent)
o 2 pm – Register/Check-in at Conference Center ABC / Athlete briefing
o 7:00 pm – Dinner and then bed
Saturday, July 22nd
o 10:00 am – Rack bike at T1 and drop off gear bags. Recognize that this will be the most crowded time, but I would prefer to do this early and free up my afternoon
o Rest of day: Enjoy Lake Placid and spend evening with my feet up. Hydrate
o 9:00 pm: Lights out. (Try to) sleep
Race Day!
o Pre-race:
§ Wake up: 3:30 am.
§ Eat: 3:45 am Nutrition shake and peanut butter/honey on coarse bread (which I eat before all of my rides…)
§ Depart hotel by 4:00 am and drive to Lake Placid
§ Arrive at transition area by 4:30 am
§ Final preparations and body marking. Continue to hydrate. Visit port-o-potty
§ 6:00 am – Warm up
o Race:
§ Swim:
· Nutrition: Eat PowerBar at 6:30 am
· Line up with group 1:15-1:20 pace group, which represents a 1:50/100yd pace. This is aspirational relative to my pool times. However, I am basing this decision on my Quassy OWS pace of 1:45/100yd and my last long OWS in LI Sound at 1:57/100yd.
· The key for me on this race will be to get comfortable pace early on and then get a steady rhythm after the first turn. My best OWS are those for which I was able to keep my head down and move forward steadily. I plan to drive a harder pace for the final 1000 yards. My weakest event is swimming, so I am focused on a steady pace rather than any time goals
§ T1
· Exit water. Unzip suit. Connect with volunteer. Leave goggles/cap on until my suit is off
· Jog to T1.
· Put on helmet and bike shoes (no socks) quickly. Ask volunteer to apply sun screen. Run bike to T1 exit. Carefully start ride, recognizing that it will be crowded with inattentive athletes
§ Ride:
· Target wattage of 195 watts per my PowerTap, which is the equivalent of about 170 watts on my Kickr. This target is based on my 6-hour power profile plus 5 watts.
· Out of T1, I will be careful until I am safely out of town, and be disciplined with my wattage up until the Keene descent. My goal is to soft-pedal all ascents, use the small ring as often as possible after Jay, find speed on all down-hills, and stay in the aero position as much as possible. I left ENLP camp with a healthy respect for the Jay-Wilmington-Lake Placid section of the bike course and will try to ride this softly on my first loop. I plan to ride the Keene descent as quickly as I can, but will sit up and let the wind slow me down if I feel my front wheel wobble.
· I will drink 1.25 bottles of Gatorade every hour, eat a gel every 45 minutes after the first hour and take two Endurolytes every hour. This is the routine I have practiced all spring/summer. This regimen represents ~330 calories, 80g of carbohydrates, 856 mg of sodium/chloride (together), 365 mg of Potassium and 500 mcg of Magnesium. If my stomach growls, I will eat something solid like a PowerBar or Cliff bar instead of a gel. Will try to pee on bike at least twice. Per @Scott Dinhoffer ‘s suggestion, I will re-set my Garmin 820 to a 15-minute lap alert to help me stay on track with the nutrition plan. Thanks @Robert Sabo. I went back and recalculated my nutrition plan and realized I had an error in my Gatorade serving size. (I guess I haven't had a problem with the calories being low, because actually I was taking in quite a few more calories. Maybe that's why I didn't lose those last few pounds to hit my race weight.)
· My predicted time is ~6:40, or ~16.75 mph. However, I will only use one active Garmin screen: Lap Power, 3s Power, HR and Cadence. Thus, I will not track speed. My predicted time is based on having ridden 17.1 mph on Day-1 at ENLP camp, and then at 16 mph trying to go easy on my second camp day of 112 miles.
§ T2:
· I will slowly ride into T2. Find a volunteer to help me rack my bike. Put on hat/sunglasses. Take off bike shoes. Rinse feet with water and dry with towel. Apply sunscreen and extra chamois cream. Put on running socks – carefully so that there are no blister-causing wrinkles. Slip on shoes. Put EN ice bag on my wrist. Eat something solid and drink Gatorade.
§ Run:
· I plan to run the first six miles and then walk 30 steps to eat/drink at the next 12 stations. From mile 6 to 18, I will drink Gatorade at every station and eat a gel every four miles. Also, at my first stop, I will put ice in my EN bag, put it under my hat and keep it filled throughout the run. My goal is to run the last eight miles to the best of my ability. I will maintain a cadence of 90 steps/min up the hill into town by taking very small steps.
· My expected pace is 10:00 per mile, which would be a ~4:20-4:25 marathon. That is closer to Z1 than to TRP, but I want to account for the walking I will do to get nutrition at aid stations. My ability to run at this pace will be driven by how softly I cycle the hills and how well I stick to my cycling nutrition plan.
o Overall time:
§ Given that this is my first IM, I don’t have any time goal. My data and limited experience on the course suggest that if I stick to my nutrition plan, and nothing unexpected happens, that I would finish in the 12:30 area. Given my lack of IM experience, I just want to stay inside my box and execute on my race plan. The finish time will be an output of my race execution and fitness, and I can only control for execution on the course. Thus good execution will mean success to me, regardless of whether I finish in 12:30 or 14:00
§ The two goals I set at the beginning of this process 12 months ago are still what I am working towards: i) exiting the water being excited to get on the bike and ii) running the last eight miles of the run. How long the race takes me will be an output of achieving those two goals
Comments
Thanks - I will definitely charge them Saturday night.
@tim cronk - Thanks for the feedback about walking at the aid stations. I hear/read about how effective it is to walk briefly every mile during the IM run. However, most of my long-distance running experience comes from either my few HIMs, which are much shorter, or doing standalone marathons, which don't follow 7-7.5 hours of swimming/biking. I will definitely hit the aid stations for nutrition from mile 1.
Thanks everyone for the feedback. I am really glad that I have gotten so much feedback from so many high-caliber/experienced triathletes. Tomorrow, I am doing my pre-race call with Coach P and will review my modified plan.
I blew up from going out too fast, but still had a huge PR for my 49yo self over my 30 yo self... Tim was a Real stickler for NOT wanting to do this and is a true convert... if you aren't racing for Kona, i can guarantee you this will improve your result.. Also, you will have a great desire to walk between aid stations, use this strategy in later miles to will yourself to the next aid station where you get a "reward" for executing correctly between aid stations..
As you stated, IM is a different beast than HIM or Mary...
Looking forwarded to sharing the course this weekend!
I caught up with Coach P, and based on feedback from him and everyone else, I have tweaked my race plan a) refined Thursday-Saturday b) refined my starting group for the swim c) updated my wattage target d) added HR targets for the bike and run and e) changed my run/walk and nutrition plan for the run.
Thursday: Drive up and EN dinner
Friday: Swim 7 am, register and then 4 Keys (so an earlier swim, in case anyone wants to join me), ride the Keene descent at noon - then eat and relax
Saturday: Sleep in, begin eating for the race, rack bike in the afternoon, get my feet up and relax
Sunday: Eat a bigger breakfast than I had planned - easy to digest foods with a total of +1000 calories
Race:
- Swim:
+ Line up with faster starting heat. Consider 1:10-1:15, but no slower than the 1:15-1:20. Same, strategy of getting an easy pace early and finishing strong.
- Bike:
+ Revised my target watts up slightly to 200-205, which is about 0.7 IF. (We looked at my century rides and came up with this range.) I should start at about 15 watts lower for the first 45 minutes and then work my way up to my target range. Peak wattage on the hills should not exceed 30 watts above my target.
+ No change to the nutrition plan - 1-1.25 bottles of Gatorade an hour, a gel every 45 minutes and two Endurolytes. Get more calories with solid food like Cliff bars and Powerbars a few times. Make sure to pee twice. My calorie intake will be in the 300 calories per hour area.
+ Added a HR target - Spend first 45 minutes of the ride getting my HR down to 120. Following that, hitting 125 bpm should be a warning and 130 bpm should be the upper limit that I don't pass.
- Run:
+ Significantly changed my focus to cadence and HR-targets. Start off at 120 bpm heading out of town. Target HR should be 130 bpm after I hit River Rd. 135 bpm will be an "amber" and 140 bpm will be a "red alert" to slow down
+ Consistent with @tim cronk 's comments about walking early on, Coach P told me that I should use the first six miles as my last good opportunity to take in calories. So, it will be 4 oz of Gatorade at mile 1, then Gatorade and a gel at mile 2. Repeat three times. From there, try to take in calories from something else than gels. Then, from mile 14 transition to coke
+ For the last 8 miles, I will run to the best of my ability and drink in any calories as often as I can
Thanks everyone. Good luck with your taper and packing for the race.