Chris Oubre's IM Texas Race Place
Bio
This is my fourth full Ironman. Previous results were DNF, 14:23, 13:56. I’ve completed 10 half Ironman races.
I’m 40, 171 lbs. 6’1”.
Goals
I want a cleanly executed race. I want to come close to my target IF on the bike and run the entire marathon except for occasional aid station stops. I want to hold off the dark place for as long as I can, then I want to PUNCH IT IN THE NOSE!
Differences from previous races
For this race I’m going to spend more time inT1. I will put on my heart rate strap in T1 because it often falls down to my waist during the swim. Because of that I will put on my tri top in T1 so I don’t have to try and roll up my top to put on my heart rate strap.
I am also using power to help pace the run for the first time.
<I've omitted the packing list and weekday agenda>
Bag Contents
Go Bag
Race belt with Bib
Salt bag
Hat
Gel flask
T1 bag
Bike helmet
Bike shoes
Sun glasses
Bike socks
Tri top
Arm coolers
Hand towel
5 butt’r packs
Heart rate monitor
Sunscreen spray
2 walmart bags
T2 Bag
Run socks
Go bag
Run shoes
Bike Special Needs
1 pre-opened waffle For solid food to settle stomach
1 ziplock bag with blocks
1 ziplock bag with salt and butt’r In case I dropped some
1 spare tube
1 spare CO2
Run Special Needs
1 ziplock bag of salt and tylenol
1 gel flask
Morning Clothes Bag
flip flops
Goggles
tempo trainer
Swim cap
Pre race gel
Swim ear plugs
Body glide
Race Morning
Wake up at 3:30 am.
Have a 3 cups of Cocoa Pebbles with a scoop of protein powder and ½ cup of milk (625 calories)
Drink a cup of black coffee.
Body Glide self
I’m staying at the Water way so the morning walk is easy.
Get to transition
Morning Race Kit Self Check
1 pre swim gel
T-shirt
Tri shorts
Timing chip
Garmin watch
Body glided
Sun screened
Pullover
Warm-up shoes and socks
Morning Ride to the Race Self Check
Wet suit
2 pair goggles
Baby shampoo
Pre race sports drink
Aero bottle sports drink
Bike pump
Salt bag for bike
Food bag for bike
T1, t2, special needs bags
Morning clothes bag
Race water bottle
Race day Gatorade bottles
2 Walmart bags
Transition
Pump tires
Gatorade bottle on bike
Water bottle on bike
Add food to bento
Spin tires to check brakes
Cover disk hole
Put shampoo in goggles and rinse
Add salt to bento
Warm up
Lightly sip sports drink
Get to the bathroom early and often
10' warm up jog
Grab everything out of the morning clothes bag
Place shoes and pullover in morning clothes bag
Put on flip flops
Arm circles to loosen up the shoulders
Turn wetsuit inside out and roll it up my body.
Eat gel 15-20’ before
Swim
The swim can be broken into thirds. 1400 out, 1400 back, 1400 in (ish)
elf seed with 1:35 swimmers (planning to swim 1:30-1:40) I hate being swum over and would rather swim around people.
Avoid the initial melee. Settle in and focus on lowering my heart rate.
Sight every 12 strokes
Tempo Trainer set to 62
T1
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
Jog while getting T1 bag
Don’t sit
Butt’r my undercarriage
Put on heart rate strap
Step into my tri top to put it on
Put on sunscreen
Roll on arm coolers before getting on the bike.
Bike
Base FTP 270
W/K = 3.48
Long ride HR’s typically in the low 140’s
Setup
Gatorade on torpedo mount
Water or down tube
Repair kit in saddle bag or single bottle rear mount
3 cliff block packs opened in bento
Salt pills in bento
2 butt’r packets in bento
Execution
Pacing
First 10’ get heart rate down to 135
Till first aid station: Target 175-185 watts
Then up power to 195-200 (target 0.73 IF). Let heart rate drift to 148 if needed
Don’t get greedy on the downhills
At special needs place ziplocks in jersey and eat waffle
Before dismount: drop gear and raise cadence. Check current heart rate.
Nutrition
Watch is set to chime every 10’
1 block every 10’
1-2 bottles of fluid/hour. Mix of Gatorade and water. Don’t over drink if it’s cold.
Change out bottles at each aid station regardless of amount left
1 salt pill every 30’
1 butt’r pack every 2 hours
This results in a per hour range of
89 109.5 Carbs
1230 1530 Sodium
446 586 Potassium
340 420 Calories
1.1 1.4 Carbs/KG
Mental State
First 10 min:
Goal is to amp myself down and get heart rate in check.
Happy to finish the swim. Take in the atmosphere. Recollect on the journey that brought me here.
Till the first aid station:
Goal is to get game ready.
Stay in my box and play defence. I am not Ricky Racer. I can’t win here but I can lose here.
After first aid station
Goal is flawless execution
I am a ninja. This is my power. This is what I do. I have been here before
At special needs
Goal is process check
Did I pee? How did I do on my nutrition?
Till mile 110
Goal is mental focus yielding flawless execution
What mile am I at? What are my numbers (power, IF, ride time)? What is happening right now at this moment?
Till dismount
Goal is prep to transition
Enjoy the satisfaction of a bike well executed. I am not making up time I am preparing to run.
Troubleshooting
If I get a flat, that’s ok. Take my time and do not change my nutrition plan.
If I get a draft penalty it’s ok. What a great time to pee. Do not change my nutrition plan.
T2
Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.
Change socks
Remove ziplocks from jersey if still there
Butt’r undercarriage
Grab go bag and start walking out
Get sunscreen from volunteer
Run
vDot 48 (based on 5k run test)
Execution
Pacing
Miles 0-6: no faster than 260w or average HR from last two hours of the bike ride. (~138-145)
Miles 6-18: Push power up to 270, keep HR below 155
Miles 18-22: Push power up to 280. Start counting calves
Miles 22-finish: Push power to 290. Dig deep
Nutrition
Set watch timer for 10’
Sip gel flask every 10’ This reduces calorie bombs and helps keep down bloating.
Salt pill at aid station 3,6,9,13,16,19,23
Gulp of water + gulp of gatorade every aid station
Refill Ice every aid station
Replace gel flask at special needs
Red Bull starting at Mile 20
Mental State
Till first aid station
This is not a 70.3!
Take in the atmosphere
Till Special Needs
Don’t bring the suck closer
These are my numbers and that’s ok
At Special Needs
How am I doing? Am I still sweating?
After Mile 18
Respect my training self.
Remember that guy who couldn’t go to the movies with his family, who missed dinner with his family.
Remember your wife who sacrificed for you!
Because I'm Chris F#cking Oubre!
Because I don’t know what I’m capable of. I haven’t found the limit yet.
Finish
Cruise the carpet and soak in the accomplishment. Kiss my wife and just revel in the moment….unless the clock says XX:58. Then I’ll allow myself to push the finish.
Troubleshooting
If I get a headache, get some caffeine
If my stomach feels bloated, increase the water and decrease the gatorade balance
If I feel a cramp, take a salt early and adjust time
If sloshy stomach then take salt early and adjust the time
Comments
@Chris Oubre This looks great. Your calories on the bike:
89 109.5 Carbs1230 1530 Sodium
446 586 Potassium
340 420 Calories
Good range, though the upper end of 420 cal/hr might be a bit high for absorption. Just watch for bloating and if not peeing you are getting too many calories and not enough fluid.
Another little rule of thumb is 4-5 ca//hr/ kg Your 78 kg, 312-390 cal/hr. Close enough.
Cocoa Pebbles ? ... so great
You lost me at "Cocoa Pebbles"
I did not see any time goals above other than watts on the bike and run and continuous running except aid stations. I've seen what you have been able to do on Zwift throughout your build, and have no doubt you will be able to hold your goal watts and follow up with a steady run.
I know you are using power as a guide for the run, but I would recommend using HR as a wip after the first 13.1. Power will mean less as your form may become less efficient. That said, remember to do a form check every so often on the run.
I am looking forward to following your progress this weekend!
Get on it!
@Sheila Leard when I finally did the math I was surprised as well. I routinely drink 1-1.5 bottles of slightly watered down Gatorade. I think I’m getting enough electrolytes with them salt caps so I may just stick to one GE bottle an hour and rest water.
And I’ve been training with cocoa pebbles all season! It’s been my pre-workout and post recovery. :-)
1) 1-2 bottles is a big variance and adding in water can increase your electrolyte needs. What have you been doing in training on the race rehearsals? If you are covering off for mild-hot conditions. I just say give you typical training environment usage then adjust the needs from there if hotter or cooler.
2) To enhance your ninja execution add in more process checks, both bike and run. If you are messing up your nutrition you want to know sooner than special needs. Maybe do this hourly, did I finish my bottle, any pee? Similarly on the run do a check at each aid station as you start up running use your special needs questions and the trouble shooting as a quick health check.
Have a great race.
great idea regarding the aid station check on the run. That’s when I’m typically most mentally “out of it” as the blood has left the brain to feed the engine.
Do the check coming in to the aid station then if you need anything extra you can grab it/ask for it. Also from memory I recall from Dave Tallo's race plan's/reports him checking cadence often to ensure you are not fading in that aspect. Post aid station focus on run form and early cadence
I went and found one, here's a plan of Dave's from 2017:
https://endurancenation.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/23905/tallo-im-louisville-2017-race-plan
I would add an extra tri-top on your T1 bag. During IMAZ I decided to put my top in T1 and the zipper got screwed up. I wasn't allowed to race without a top and it took me 20 mins to fix the zipper before I could start riding. If I had another top with me, it would have been a 20 second fix.
Good luck!
This is not your first rodeo. I think you are going to have PR race with focus on patience and discipline.
Sodium may be a little high given temps look to be very reasonable this year with a high of 79 forecasted. I would stay on the lower end of the sodium range and adjust as needed.
Good job placing those HR targets out there for the run. If the running power begins to disconnect from your HR targets, make up your mind ahead of time to let it go and use HR as the final driver.
You may want to give yourself 20 minutes on the bike out of T1 to get that HR down vs. 10. Honestly, you can do no harm going easy the first 40 miles....its a long day.....
There is a lot of free speed the last 30 miles of the bike course to be had for those that have stayed in their box, hydrated well and conserved their matches. This is about the time when many begin to lose focus and fall off from their plan. If you can get to this point on the bike and begin to push from mile ~80 on in, you will pass many people and set yourself up for a nice T2 into the run.
I will track you on my phone. Have a great day out there, maintain self confidence at all times and, no matter what happens, always keep moving forward!
SS
Bike pacing and fluid intake are important in setting yourself up for a good run. Pacing wise, take @Shaughn Simmons advice above for the first and last portions of the bike. 195-200 Watts seems a bit aggressive for your 270 FTP. I would stick to the lower end of that range then assess how you feel at the half way point.
You stated that 1-1/4 bottles of fluid is about right. Without having to do too much "on the fly" math just make sure your your drinking about 1/4 bottle every time your watch beeps.
Have fun out there.
Weather looks good do go kill it! I can't wait to follow you tomorrow!