Mike R's IMLP Race Plan
Hey Team, it took me a while to really come up with race goals and a realistic plan for this one, so I really appreciate any and all input.
Ironman Lake Placid
Personal Stats: 48yo, 5’10”, 145 lbs., ~260 FTP, 51 vDOT
Goals: All business through T2, then enjoy the run, try to go sub-11, celebrate at the finish.
This is IM #10 for me, #5 with EN. I signed up for Placid last summer primarily to make it a cool family vacation and to notch #10, then take a shot at KQ with #11 and #12 when I age up next year, entering the Legacy Lotto if I didn’t qualify. That plan got blown to pieces last fall when I somehow qualified. I love racing, but I’ve never enjoyed training for the sake of training. I train to race. With a very demanding job and busy family life, how the heck was I going to train in the summer heat of Charlotte for both Placid and Kona? Physically I could pull it off, but it was going to be a huge mental and SAU challenge. Perhaps a blessing in disguise, my surgically-repaired knee flared up a few weeks before Raleigh in May. With Kona being the only real goal this year, I shut down running and tried to focus on the swim and bike. But when the knee continued to bother me, I quickly realized that I wasn’t going to bring my A game to Placid. Or B. Once that became reality, it quickly snowballed, and I drastically cut back on the swim and bike as well. Which, frankly, was a good thing, because I enjoyed most of the training, never had to do one of those 20+ hour weeks, and I never had to dig deep and do those killer long rides and runs. My CTL briefly crossed 100 last weekend, which the triathlete in me celebrated because it signified real fitness, while the Ironman triathlete in me started shaking in fear because that’s at least 25 points lower than I’ve ever toed an IM with EN. Enough with the negative, I spent quite a bit of time accepting my reality, then trying to generate legitimate confidence going into this race.
First, I went back and carefully compared my training efforts, distances, watts, CTL, etc. vs prior races (comparing to other people's numbers is meaningless). I got in three weeks of 15 hours or more, topping 18 once, and all three weeks were close to or in excess of 1,000 TSS points. I would have preferred five or six weeks, but it’s not bad. And the vast majority of my CTL shortcoming is on the swim, the part of the race that means the least. My bike and run CTL’s are less than 10 points lower than even my best previous IMs. I did a swim race rehearsal yesterday to gauge just how bad my swim fitness really is. First half felt slow and bad, but I got stronger as the swim went on. Which was really reassuring. 1:02 is the slowest RR I’ve done in years, but if I can get in five or six more swims before the race, I might be able to add a bit of fitness there. I rode 100 miles last week, with 9k feet of climbing, in terrible heat and humidity, and was able to hold 190NP without too much difficulty. And I wasn’t smashed the next day. Good enough. And I was able to average around 40 miles per week over the last key four weeks of running, albeit slower than normal with a rebellious knee, with a couple of 17’s that felt pretty good. Not ideal for Placid’s tough run course, but plenty enough to get me to the skating oval before sunset.
Second, I went back and looked at my age group finishes in WTC events to convince myself that the EN training I have done - regardless of its quantity - will put me in a good position next week. Prior to joining EN, my AG finishes in IM-branded races were: 141, 168, 158, 73, 17, 197, 39, 89, 107 and 72. In my nine WTC events since joining EN, I finished in the top 20 each time and – in a fluke of planetary dimensions – qualified for worlds in my last four. All this means is, EN works. So . . . I can still do well at Placid. And I will. But without extra fitness to burn on mistakes, I have to race smart.
Pre-Race:
7 days out: Cut out caffeine. Avoid all human contact. Start following checklist.
Wednesday: Fly to Albany with family, get to downtown condo before 5pm.
Thursday: Retrieve bike from TBT, check into race, start putting gear together. Run, do a loop of the swim course, and head out to practice the Keene descent a few times on the bike. Team dinner at 6:00 pm.
Friday: Begin low-residue diet in earnest. Salt and hydrate all day. Team swim (do another loop) in the morning, then walk the transition area, note exact locations of bike rack and gear bag spots and changing tent, take photos, walk off distances, look for short-cuts and tangents and carefully plan exactly how I’ll get through transition very quickly on race day. Attend Welcome Banquet at 5pm if the family or other teammates want to go. Go to sleep early to establish routine.
Saturday: Big, healthy breakfast. Salt and hydrate all day. Short swim in the morning. Drop off bike and transition bags. Do final walk-through of TA on the way back to the condo. Finalize/double-check morning gear according to checklist, then forget Ironman for the rest of the day/evening. Light, no-fiber carb dinner before 6pm. In bed by 8:30pm.
Race Day: Wake by 3:15am. Two Naked Juice smoothies (500 calories total), English muffin + honey (200), beet juice (100). Sunscreen, lube, three Band-Aids (including large one on neck), chip, EN tri-suit. Once at TA, body mark, top off tires, attach/turn on/calibrate Garmin 500, load food into bento, fill aero bottle and one behind the seat with lemon-lime GE. Double-check placement of transitions bags, make sure they’re closed, but not knotted. Go for a one-mile jog.
Swim: Goal: Sub-1:05, top 100 OA, top 20 or so AG. It’s a slow, crowded swim, with only a couple dozens going sub-60, so that ain’t happening this year.
Gear: Tyr Special Ops polarized goggles, Roka Mav Pro wetsuit (Roka Viper Skin Suit if wetsuit-illegal).
Execution: Get a good warm-up at 6 am. Finish sipping Skratch Labs Hyper Hydration, then take two no-caf gels with water by 6:40. Seed myself in the top 50 or so athletes, regardless whether that’s the 1:00 group or the :55 group. Hopefully, most of the swimmers up front belong; those who don’t will not enjoy the first five minutes of the swim. Cannon at 6:40 (sun rises at 5:30, so sun shouldn’t be too low). Take it out hard, but not full sprint, for the first 300-400. Do NOT blow up. Establish position and pace,. There will definitely be a group right along the underwater cable line, and I will be in it. Breathe. Do not get frustrated or flustered. Anticipate and accept the contact, but take no crap. If I have somewhat clean water and the conditions are good, I can take long, smooth strokes. If crowded or challenging conditions, shorten the stroke, increase turnover. The first loop will go quickly. The swim is won/lost in the second loop. Maintain focus and form, especially focusing on keeping elbows high and pulling/pushing past the hip. With 200 to go, mental focus shifts 100% to T1 (“zipper, suit off, ready to yell for 547").
T1: Goal: Best in class. Wetsuit stripped, run to TA, yell out my number. Because it should be relatively early in the event, an anxious vol will hopefully grab and hand me my bag. Otherwise, find my own neon-taped bag, retrieve and don helmet during the jog, remove shoes from bag, enter the tent, hand wetsuit and bag to a volunteer without slowing down and politely ask him to pack and stow it for me, buckle my helmet while running to my bike, again loudly but politely yelling out my bib number in hopes of a curbside bike-valet service. Once past the mount line, put shoes on the ground, step into them, mount bike, strap into shoes once I’m underway.
Bike: Goals: Be smart, fuel properly, conserve for the second loop and the run. Sub-5:45.
Gear: P5 Six, Dura-Ace Di2, 52/36 cranks, 12-28 cassette, P1 pedals, Flo 90 carbon clincher, Flo aluminum clincher disc, 23mm GT4000 IIS (measuring 25mm) w/ latex tubes at 90 psi. Two CO2 canisters, inflator and butyl tube with an external valve extender on the XlabDelta behind-the-saddle bottle holder, another butyl tube and a tire lever strapped under saddle. Xlab Torpedo between the bars. LG P-09 helmet, LG M-2 EN-branded tri-suit, Sidi T4 shoes.
Execution: The best use of power is the non-use of power. I held 190NP last week in challenging conditions without too much difficulty. Based on my history, that translates to about 175-80NP for an IM. And with those watts on a flatter course, I can go sub 5:15. On this course, BestBikeSplit says I should be in the 5:35-45 range. Which would be awesome. But I will definitely be willing to give up 10 minutes on the bike to save energy for the run. I will get no pleasure at all from riding a 5:xx if I finish in 12:xx. First order of business is getting safely through the first mile, then getting my HR down to 125-30. Garmin set to auto-lap every 5 miles. Once HR is down, put a hard cap of 170 watts on the climb out of town. After the descent to Keene, start building the watts into the 170-75 range and self-assess. First 35 miles are all about “doing no harm,” hydrating and feeding. The climbs back into town start around Mile 35, so that will begin a 20-mile conversation with my power meter. It doesn’t matter how fast I’m going as long as the PM says 175~ watts. Once back in town, take advantage of the fast 35 miles ahead again, but keeping the watts up, then be prepared for the climbs to start again right after 90, knowing that the hills will be much harder the second loop. The RPE it took to push 175w the first loop will be much higher the second time. If I feel OK (I’ve never felt “good” at Mile 90 of an IM, and this one won’t be the first), hold the watts. If not, allowing them to slip to 165 won’t cost me too much time, but may allow me to make it up on the run. Pee twice, embrace the wind on the second loop, knowing that I fare far better than most in wind.
Nutrition: Drink every Garmin beep, feed every other one. Target 1.5 bottles of GE (36 oz., 63g of carbs, 220 calories, 900mg of sodium) every hour for the first 3.5 hours (Mile 75-80), then moving to watered-down GE, then to water for the last 30 minutes. Early hydration is critical, as a mistake here can’t be remedied later. Two GE chews every 30 minutes (31g, 120 calories, 105mg per hour) for the first 3.5 hours. If the weather is cool and I only drink one bottle of GE per hour, I will make up the “lost” 63 calories by going to 3 chews every 30 minutes. I always hit a rough patch/lose focus near Mile 80, so I’ll have a double espresso gel (100mg of caf) at that mileage, which will hopefully jolt some life and focus back into me before the final climbing section. Two more caf gels at Miles 90 and 100. After Mile 100, I’ll only allow myself water and salt before dismounting.
T2: Goal: Top of the class. Leave shoes on bike, hand bike to vol, jog with purpose while unbuckling my helmet. Yell for my bag or, if no assist, grab my brightly-taped bag, remove go-bag during the jog and have hand inside the bag on my shoes as I enter tent, sit down, remove shoes, find volunteer to stow my helmet while putting on my (pre-rolled and pre-lubed) socks and shoes, grab my go-bag, go. From my go-bag I’ll put on my race belt (gels and salt attached), put on visor and sunglasses, and strap on and fire up the Garmin 920xt. I will add race-saver bag if temps are above 75.
Run: Goal: Have fun, go sub-4:00.
Execution: Hopefully I’ll exit T2 at or before 1:40 pm, so that a 3:5x marathon will bring me in under 11 hours. My 3:3x effort last fall took a huge toll on me, and it took me seemingly forever to recover. With Kona less than 12 weeks out, I simply don’t have the time or capacity to recover from an all-in run effort in Placid. Plus, going to a “really dark place” isn’t as fun as it sounds. Once my HR is down below 145 and I’ve got my run legs under me, keep the effort up over the first downhill miles, then settle in for the rollers in the middle. I'll eat a gel coming out of T2 and another before Miles 5, 10 and 15 (easy to remember 5's), GE until the switch to Coke around 20. Can’t wait to run this course with so many EN friends and teammates - I anticipate a lot of yelling and high-five’s. Tough half-mile climb around Mile 9 and another one around Mile 11. I run hills all the time and am pretty good at them. They allow us to utilize different muscle groups, which can help push off the major fatigue that will come in the closing miles. Repeat for Lap 2, knowing that the two big climbs will be gargantuan the second go-round. I’ll allow the HR to jack up into the 150’s during the climbs at Miles 22 and 24. Once at the top of the final climb, I’ll switch the Garmin field to Time of Day and gauge how I’m doing vs. my 11-hour bell that will ring at 5:40 pm. I’m hopeful that I either have no chance or time to spare, as I’d really like to high-five my way through the last mile. I’ve wanted to do Placid for more than a decade, my family that’s been doing this with me for over a decade will be there, so I really want to soak it in.
Thanks for reading.
MR
Comments
ETA : maybe that's your method to ensure no human contact?
T1
yelling to volunteers from bags.. the bags are actually racked as they are in Kona, not many volunteers in the aisle.
when you exit the change tent, you are running ON the oval, it's concrete, be careful, look to your left and that's where the guy with the microphone announcing bike #s was and I made eye contact, yelled my # to him... you keep running towards end of oval and then do a 180 around the end of bike racks (careful not to fall here) then on grass running down the 1 aisle between racks until you get to yours...
take bike to bike out, the first 1/2 mile, especially the first 100 yards, SUCKS...
Great description of swimming technique alteration, another good teaching moment for the rest of us, thank you
Happy to do a session with you and anyone else that wants to come along walking the whole thing
as for the caffeine, I am not even sure I could live with myself, much less other people without caffeine
Looking forward to being neighbors again, but not sharing a princess suite this week!
safe travels my friend!
Im liking this talk about not cutting caffeine So far from race day!!
Go kill it Mike, it will be awesome with alots of family cheering you on.
hope your knee stays painfree and you can still "have fun"
I agree, passing on a Kona slot is one of the sweetest things in our sport. If you have a realistic shot at the *end* of the race, sure go for it. But only for an hour or so, not for 10+.
Great overall race plan. Your training is sufficient and your wisdom and skill WILL carry you to a happy/successful finish.
Tiny admin notes, you will likely grab your own bag off the rack (even if you are first out of the water), the racks are right before the tent, so just know exactly where it will be the day before the race. But definitely yell your number as you come out of the tent as there is a more than high probability if they hear you that your bike will be waiting for you in the aisle thanks to a volunteer... If you haven't done placid before, examine the T1 area well before the race. The first 100yds of the bike course is completely dangerous and there is NO room to put your shoes on "after" you cross the mount line. Luckily, there is plenty of room inside of T1, in the 20 feet just prior to the mount line on the right side. I carried my shoes and put them on there, then stepped across the mount line and mounted my bike and was VERY careful in the first 100yds. DO.NOT.END.YOUR.RACE.HERE! It won't be nearly as crowded for you as it is for most people, but every year, someone ends their race in that first sketchy downhill... Spend an extra 10 seconds here and be safe (coming from a guy who loves to bomb down hills)! Remember the same thing on the 2nd loop at this spot...
I didn't enjoy the last few miles or the oval... Hopefully, you will keep your eyes on the Kona prize and race hard, but still enjoy that last mile... There will be a ton of people to high-5 there!
You are an analytical guy... you've studied, strategized, and looked at these races from all angles. This has served you well for your training preparation, and your approach to execution. However, your introspection and acknowledgment of trusting your instincts to bury yourself and RACE at the opportune time for your KQ is a huge distinguisher. Those moments/opportunities are fleeting and never given... and when yours was presented, you didn't let it slip away.
Continue to trust your instincts. If there is an opportunity - take it. Otherwise, continue to detach and keep the big picture in mind - your race in October.
Good luck, and go get sum!
- U take pix of T1/bags, bike rack, etc... I like to actually film my way from swim exit to bag to bike to exit (for T1) and do the same thing for T2, focusing on land mark, etc.. so I can review it the day before with my feet up.
- U don't mention charging your gear (bike computer/watch, gps, powermeter, etc..) but that is probably on your checklist
- U calibrate your PM on the morning of the race (like 99% of the field), make sure u are pairing your garmin to your PM.... I read in a lot of Race report, "I leave T1 and no power displayed on my garmin...", one reason might be that the garmin was paired with another dude's PM...
Have a great race