Eric DePoto's Race Plan
Okay so its Saturday and I cannot be more ready for next Sunday to get here. I have off on Sunday which I will go for a small bike (60' or so) then a small run. Monday I work at the fire house, then fly out on Tuesday. I arrive on Tuesday at 3:30 and will be staying about 20' out of Madison.
Wed: Bike course recon. I didn't have the opportunity to do this in Aug. so I will be doing a little bit of the stick as a warm up, then doing one loop. I will drive this first if I am by myself or if someone wants to join me I will ride it with them.
Thurs: Run course recon. I will not do the whole thing but just a portion. Any advice on what part(s) would be greatly appreciated as I want to really know the course. After that, I want to check in and make sure my stuff is all ready.
Fri: April arrives and will do some admin stuff. I would also like to get a swim in if possible. That night we will do the team EN dinner.
Sat: Poss. swim if I cannot on Fri. then a "Blueberry pancake breakfast!!!!" After which I will drop off all stuff and chill.
Sun: Plan on being up at 3:30 for food. I will have some oatmeal with berries and banana and milk and PB. Gather my things and head to the race.
-Swim: Plan on swimming my pace and stay steady. Currently I have been consistently putting in about 1:40. I plan on having a gel just prior.
-T1: Smooth and steady. Have a gel.
-Bike: Chill for the first 30-40mi. I want to stay around 65-68% of my FTP (245). From there, take it up to 68-71% of my FTP depending on how I feel. My nutrition will be my infinite nutrition and gel/hr. with some gatorade from the course to fill in. I will be stopping at special needs to refill. I may have some food like a crustable in the bag, but not sure.
-T2: again smooth and steady.
-Run: Run should start out with a HR of 130-140 (leaning on the lower) and my pace should be about 8:45-9'/mi. For the first 6 mi. I will stay here. From there I may pick it up or just hang till I hit 13. After which I will pick it up to a + or - 8:30 pace with HR being around 145-150ish. Nutrition will be F2C liquid and gels (1/hr)
When I started this journey I was going for a KQ. I had to come to reality that my bike is not quite there and I have never had this pace on the run before. So I am going for a PR at minimal, great if I break into the top 25, awesome if I land on the podium and if I KQ........I am going to be out of control!!!!!
Comments
Eric,
Glad to see you are excited for race day to come. As far as course recon goes, that seems like a lot of riding for race week. The backside hills as well as the Garfoot downhill are always nice to see and get a feel of. The run course is a challenge to see as it winds through town and on closed roads. I would try to see the area around observatory hill as that is the only significant climb on the run.
Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can all have great races.
+ 1 on Obs. hill, and note the overpass you have to climb and descend.
On your run plan...having both pace and HR metrics guiding you can be problematic. Decide what you'll do if they aren't in sync. E.g., what if you find yourself with HR 145-150 on the back half, and your are running 9:40-9:50? Do you pick it up, and rely on your RPE and training to see you through, or do you follow that HR strategy primarily? There is not one right answer here, but it is certainly something which has a strong chance of happening on race day (possibly even the other way around - lower heart rate for a given pace than planned.) 9-10 hours into an IM is not the time to be figuring out what to do about that...
@Eric DePoto I agree that that seems like a bit too much riding on race week Wednesday. Might be better off driving the bike course. There is one blind sketchy twisty downhill (I think that’s on Garfoot), which is probably worth riding one or two times. And maybe the 3 bitches, but ~2.5 hard seems a bit much to just see those handful of things.
Also agree with Al on the run... It’s 26.2 Miles... I’d definitely check out the up and down on Observatory hill and maybe check out around the Capital. Besides that, it’s mostly flat-ish with some turns and some dirt paths, but nothing you can’t discover on race day.
@Todd Glass I can see your point on the volume during this week. I talked with CP on this and if I do it Wed. and ride smart (which is my plan) then I should be good. I do appreciate what you and Al say about the run.
@Al Truscott truer word I cannot remember. I for the most part will be going off of HR but monitoring my pace. I have been pretty consistent on looking at where I am with my HR given my pace. The difference has been the heat. Down here in NC the heat and humidity have been pretty rough. So I don't want to be leaning on one without at least observing the other. I worry about RPE as the run is long. Many times I have leaned on that and an hour later I am in the can. However I see your point and agree with you.
@John Withrow and @Todd Glass after reading both of your comments, I am rethinking what my amount of riding should be. I definitely want to do a portion of the course so I will look into the areas you both described. The goal is not to do too much, but I really want to see what the "Loop" is like. I hear its pretty technical and I don't want to mentally screw myself by over or under shifting too much.
Thanks for the info everyone, I am taking it all in and will utilize it for sure. Please keep it up. I have never put up my race plan so for me its new. I see what JW is talking about on its benefits for sure.
@Eric DePoto i think you can get away with a loop of the lollipop @ 44 miles if you for easy and early on Wed. that’s 4 days out from IM if you go easy. so plan on an 8am start...3-3:15 easy ride. just learning and shifting. eat out there tooafter the ride so you don’t end up starving. only thing you should do that day....back to hotel to take notes and put feet up.
@Eric DePoto great feedback from everyone here. Look forward to meeting you in Madison.