2017 Ironman Canada Race Plan
FT 270-272, weight 150, VDOT 51
Strategic Pillars
1. No drama: leverage training process and achievements to exceptional performance
2. Execute with complete Respect for the course
3. Don't make mistakes
4. Remember every standout result has come after mile 18-don't give up when there are early setbacks
Race Week
-safety first
-hibernation mode - stay in control of all situations.
-approx 2300 cals/day plus replacement of training cals. Green, lean and clean.
-if there’s a scale at hotel, daily weigh-in.
-all situations, ask "Is this adding to, or depleting my energy?"
-lots of sitting, avoid walking anywhere if you can drive, keep off feet. Monitor and enforce time on feet with hard time cap.
-No sandals. closed-toe shoes.
-OCD handwashing and purel; if someone sneezes, run the other way.
-full-on cleaning of cassette and chain
Wed: drive part of bike course
Thurs: drive other part of bike course, ride some of Whistler -> Callaghan, and Callaghan climb sections.
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.
-salted everything.
-Pancakes breakfast.
-sip electrolyte drink all day.
-Lunch as small 'clean' pasta or burritos w flour tortilla, chicken, mild salsa, rice
-arrive at check in, work from list.
-physically walk the route from water to bags to bike to exit. Think about places to run fast, run slower, shortcuts.
-Look for 2x landmarks and markers for bike rack position. Note row/column of t bags.
-lube chain per squirt protocol.
-get out fast – no lollygagging.
-afternoon: stretch / light yoga, movie from itunes in room and relax.
-dinner as bland white pasta, red sauce, chicken, white bread.
-put on timing chip left ankle strap before bed (safety pin neoprene strap, and aero band).
-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
-“I feel great”
-LG Race suit
-Get to race time TBD
-heavy throwaway sweatshirt to stay warm
-quick list of Admin (more to add later): BTA water, salted gatorade on saddle cage, Garmin attached, paired and calibrated, inflate tires to 95, chain lubed in easy gear, 3 x clifs, gel flask, and salt tabs onboard, sunglasses to bars w elastics, and outta there.
-find somewhere quiet to sit, chill, light stretch – really ensure lower back and glutes stretched – sunscreen.
-continue sipping water
t minus 30
-wetsuit (skinsuit) on, make way to water
-spash around with warmup including 4-5 x 'hard' intervals. Think about key three swim skills during intervals and activate muscles.
-caffinated gel at 10 mins to start
Swim
Goal of 1:00 - 1:03
-2 loops. Seeded start. Possibly non-wetsuit. Be prepared to breathe bilaterally.
-Enter in back of 1:00 pack, as overall approach for draft, let the paces get worked out for 5-10 minutes, and once you’re past the first buoy, latch onto a pair of feet.
-hard for first 400. Quicker strokes, hard pull, natural kick. Hard(er) 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 pulls, lift heels to kick and maintain body position, count strokes
-keep key 3 in mind: tall catch, around the barrel, strong pull using lats/pecs muscles
-stay on hip or feet and enjoy the ride
-REALLY stay on hip or feet on return and lap 2
-effort: remember ... it's a race
T1
-Look at t1s of last year and aim for same or better
-grab bike and go, shoes on near mount line
-roll up trisuit top en route from tent to bike
Bike
-11-28 with compact crank
-Bike is a 5h conversation with your powermeter. No siteseeing.
-Stay low all day with head tucked down and turtled, and helmet high on forehead when down. Visuals through ride: "I get small and punch through the wind."
-If you’re not working at Zone 3, ride or coast with rolled shoulders and turtled head. Think of the ideal position as ‘the Airport at Kona.’
-Safety first … this course has a ton of rumble strips and pylons. Head’s up ball for the first 2 hours or so.
-Unclear of 70.3 racers will be on course. If so, be very prepared.
-Good opportunities to ride tangents. Look for the shorter line within rules where you can.
-Tactically and strategically, every decision you are making early on the bike should be informed by knowing the climb from Pemberton to Whistler.
-Very few people will know how to ride this as an IM bike course. But with the EN approach – followed to the letter – you should be very good. For most of the rest of the field, what you will see are people who overachieve on the sections of the bike leading up to the climb from Pemberton, or overachieve on the bike overall, and booger the run. There are a lot of people riding it like it’s a 112mi time trial that is not followed by a run. Don’t pay attention to them. And don’t pay attention to 70.3 racers.
-‘not making mistakes’ will put you much further ahead than trying to make things happen.
-There’s no real flat (aside from Pemberton valley) and therefore there’s frequent decision making all day. Tactically, do what you can to keep your head clear (caffeine, mental queues, keep nutrition going)
–There are some chances to carry speed into a few rollers and corners; descending in aero is key; in light of a few windy parts, look for a lot of ‘wind shadows’ for legal drafts all day, even when moving slowly uphills
-pedal until spinning out on descents
The Course in six main blocks: this is a “paint by the EN Numbers” type of course. Even if you’re from a relatively flat area, use the EN bike execution model to plug in your numbers. DO NOT GO OUTSIDE OF THESE.
-Bike Planned IF .74, approx TSS 275, Goal time irrelevant
-think “range of watts” - 190 to 193; 200 to 203; etc
-set bike alarm at 240 watts cap
-be prepared to remove plug in helmet at speeds of 37kph +
-First 10mile as 190, easy spinning, take time moving glasses with arms inside helmet straps, working out little aspects of fit
Block 1: Whistler to Callaghan (net descent)
-Zone 1 power, zone 4 on short climbs
Be prepared to go very fast in certain areas with a lot of people. Again, safety first.
Block 2: Callaghan climb
Zone 3 cap on climb
on descent, zone 1, with zone 4 on short pops
Block 3: Callaghan back to Whistler
Zone 3 cap on climbs
Block 4: Whistler to Pemberton
Zone 1 descents, zone 4 on short climbs
-Anticipate that you’ll be riding into headwind at times, so it’s not as fast a descent as you would hope
Block 5:
Pemberton out and back
-Race Watts – Zone 2
-Be prepared to mentally reengage (At this point you should feel great)
-Be prepared to stay 100% low and aero for this ~hour.
-if you’re feeling bad, or losing focus, smile. And hold it for a few minutes until your mental state changes.
Block 6 Climb back to Whistler
Zone 3 cap
A great time to sit up and stretch your bits and parts, get out of the saddle to shake it up
Make sure you have fluids and nutrition as you leave Pemberton – it is a long way between aid stations.
-This will be where your run is decided. If you take this sustained climb at zone 4 or above, you will be racing a half-marathon.
-general strategy point: if feeling **great** after pemberton, make decision to bump to higher end of range (ie from 203 to 205). easy spin on downhills while staying low. Mi110 , make decision about output recognizing a net elevation loss and need to run a marathon
-1 /2 Clif every half hour with water. Gatorade on the :15 and :45. Switch from Clifs to gels at about 3.5h
-Minimum 2 full bottles water plus Powerdrink ever hour
-lava salt every .5 hour
-make sure you're still peeing hourly at 3+ hour mark
-pick a landmark around the 3/4 point that will coincide with your normal point of losing focus / drifting mentally (probably
pemberton
turnaround). This is the cue to get your head back into it. Have a caffeinated gel around this time.
-Mile 110: unstrap shoes, drop to 190, easy light spinning, get mind into t2 game, grab garmin from mount
-don’t remove feet from shoes until you’re well into village
-t2 flying dismount, drop bike and gogogo
t2
-aim for 'best in race’ t2 time based on past races
-helmet unstrapped once past dismount line, take off while running, roll off top of M-2 suit
-sit down, dump bag, socks and shoes on, man-bra on, grab hat / baggie of sunscreen bundle, step into race belt, get movin'
-just carry hat and sunscreen until everything is settled, then put 'em both on when you're underway. If this is hard, you're going too fast. Doesn't need to even be in first mile.
Run
-Rule #1: Do not look at calves of other racers. Go out of your way to not watch who is in what AG and make sure nobody gets in your head until mi 18.
-There is no flat – you’re going up or down at various pitches. So, GPS is useless, 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 micro decisions all day.
-remember “focus” mental cue
-assuming current forecast of 80s and no cloud
-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.
-don't break stride for pee breaks – just keep moving
-run smart: take tangents, follow shortest paths anywhere
-start as shuffle with key technique look-fors: tall, efficient, engaging glutes
-acknowledge that the first 10 minutes will feel cruddy, but this always passes.
-If there were ever a “run insanely easy for the first 6 miles ” course, this is it. First, the bike is tougher than usual, and shaking off some of that fatigue is important for long-run success. Second, the hilly nature really beats people up in lap 2, and I suspect (again, look at the stats) that there is a much higher attrition or “slow down” rate across the general population at mile 18 + than there is at other races. Exploit this.
-“I am light and strong”
-paces / efforts based on last year's run execution:
-opening pace w HR cap of 145, run tall and economically
-back down to 140s if RPE too hot, and adjust slower every few minutes until RPE is very easy
-run entire race, keeping consistent miles
-mile 6: if on pace, drop pace to HR cap of 150s
-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 the aid stations. If feeling anything else, figure it out.
-mile 18: 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 McGee form, then go and run
with heart. Move from "reserved, internal focus“ to ”gutsy,
external focus." Pass people and steal their energy. Get pace to
STRONG. Keep
turnover, keep form, don't walk anywhere.
No matter what, do not back off.
Mental images of Peter Reid, Mark Allen, Luc Van Leirdre, Rinny Carfrae running; Craig Alexander focus. Find anything that gives you energy. BIG FRICKEN SMILE.
-“I am light and strong and breathe energy”
Other
-No Special Food Bags (unless racing in speedo … then run SN with emergency tube of aquaphor).
-If family is onsite, remind them of no outside assistance rule and key do’s/don’ts for on-the-fly race intel updates
Risk Management and Contingencies
-blown tire or minor: come to a stop, close eyes and beathe deep for 5 s, and get on with a calm fix. Think Chrissie, not Normann.
-major: you're lucky to be doing Ironman. Use it to learn something on race day: maybe try a run PB using McGee 8/1
Heat Management (assuming average temperature of 25 race day; rewrite plan if hot)
Bike
-continued jersey soaking, hydration and pee schedule as written
Run
-HR is the first thing to monitor
-bare core, “man-bra” to have minimal fabric coverage
-if 30+, change into Speedo in T2
-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.
Cold /Rain Management
-Staying warm on the bike is job 1. Aerodynamic clothes are secondary to making sure you can ride at power.
-take in about 25% more calories for the first few hours, and if it’s sustainable, maintain to hour 4 on the bike.
Avoiding mistakes
Top Mistakes on this course- know them, and then don't make them
-climbing at above 213 watts
-“I’ll gain back the time in the Pemberton flat section”
-sitting upright into headwind
-going fast (or anything but slow) in first 6' of run
-overlooking any basic maintenance (food, drink, pace) that would impair decision making
-feeling defeated at 4h in bike, first miles in run, miles 15-16 in run
-giving up before the end
Comments
Otherwise, do your thing and have some serious fun. Will send positive vibes north to you next week.
Only suggestion: I've always appreciated and have incorporated your landmark-at-3/4-into-bike plan. I've since applied it to the swim as well. Data shows that the vast majority of IM swimmers fade the last 1/4. Some may tire, but most probably are just getting lazy, thinking about the bike, etc. And it's easy to just jump on bubbles at that point and be content. But most of my successful swims have involved moving past bubbles or going solo the last 1/4, using a turn buoy or other landmark as a trigger. No one faster will be passing you, many will be coming backward, and you may be the only one holding pace. It may only add up to a minute, maybe two, but it's easier to snag that time here than trying to drop 15 seconds/km in the last 5k.
Excellent post. Lots of take-home points for me for my first IMC race. Good luck with your race.