Tim Cronk SOS Race Plan
The Race- Survival of the Shawangunks has been on my bucket list for a long time. I've always been pre-occupied with other races in Sept/Oct so I finally committed to get it done. Its an 8 stage point to point race and sells out rather quickly so its one of those registrations you must be sitting on the computer when it opens at midnight on Halloween.
The Prep- I have been Ultra focussed since last December with very minimal swim/bike work, then coming off Vt100 with a pretty serious shin injury , I had my doubts about getting ready for this. I took 3 full weeks off running after Vt100 , eased into the swim/bike, and then completed a solid 4 weeks of balanced SBR . Even though total work was only around 9-11hrs per week I added back a lot of intensity that had been missing while Ultra training. Aside from NOT being at my preferred race weight , I am feeling pretty good and ready to race SOS.
The Course-
Leg#1- the bike - https://www.strava.com/routes/3282787
Leg #2 -1st run- https://www.strava.com/routes/3282611
Leg #4 -2nd run- https://www.strava.com/routes/8618274
Leg #6 -3rd run - https://www.strava.com/routes/3282635
Leg #8 - 4th run - https://www.strava.com/routes/3282654
Legs #3,#5,#7- the swim's - https://www.sostriathlon.com/copy-of-bike-course-1
Race Week - Tapered wko's of various bricks so that I can practice the transitions with planned race gear. Saturday up early , eat pancakes, drive 5hrs to New Paltz NY, eat lunch at one of the local Vegan restaurants, go drive the bike course, check into airbnb, head to packet pickup , mandatory briefing, spagetti dinner, back to airbnb.
Race Day- Sunday the 9th - up early to eat, coffee, get things moving, head to race start 5-6:15am. Wave TT bike start, I am in Wave #8 out of 9. That sucks but it is what it is. I will line up in the front of that wave. No drafting should be fun? 30 mile ride - with the first 25 miles flat and then a 1000' climb in the last 5 miles. I've been riding a local climb that should be very similar to the race course and feel I have nailed down my 1.5-2hr power target to 190w give or take a few. I will keep watts as close to 190 as possible and 200 for the climb. At the end of the bike , Heather will have T1 set up . Off the bike, shorty wetsuit on , shoes on, everything I need is in pockets of shorty wetsuit. From here it goes run 4.5 , swim 1.1 , run 5.5 , swim .5 , run 8 , swim .5, run .7.... The runs are quite hilly , I will be pacing via RPE HARD , pace would be difficult on the terrain, Power via STRYD is new to me and I dont wanna lose the STRYD in all the transitions, HR I never use.... The swims will be pretty straight forward. I do plan to race , the winner in my AG has been anywhere between 5hrs and 6hrs over the last 5 years. I'm feeling pretty good about 5:15-5:30 estimate, which should put me in the front end of the AG and top 10-20 overall.
Nutrition- gel before the start of the bike, 1 bottle on the bike for slightly longer than a 90 min ride, there are 8 aid stations starting at bike finish, they should roughly be 30-45 min apart for me, I will eat a gel at the first 5 Aidstations and drink whatever sports drink they have, the last 3 aid stations I will be drinking just coke.
Gear- Will be going as minimal as possible.... Bike- Felt DA w/ Disc/45 , BTA, running lights front and back during race, 1 flat kit.... Run- Altra Vanish they weigh 3.9 oz and fold really flat so I can stuff them in my wetsuit while swimming. Swim.... Blueseventy SwimRun wetsuit, goggles , gels in pockets, and a small tube of lube in a zip pocket.
Crew- Heather Webber - after the bike start, she will go to bike finish, set up T1 , after I leave T1 , pick up and go to finish. There is one other place to spectate but she has seen me swim/run before and I wont need anything.
Questions, comments, thoughts?
Comments
Looks pretty epic. As always, the back half of the runs are where you will make your race. Fueling will be important and challenging. Good luck. Can not wait to hear all about it.
@tim cronk I'm really jealous. I've always secretly wanted to do that race. It seems so cool (and is like the 2nd cousin of the AmZof). I don't have much to add to your plan as I've never done anything like that. Shoes on/off a million times and swimming with them in your wetsuit is going to be an interesting "adventure". Keep a close handle on your goggles as they might be easy to drop in one of the many transitions... Good skill and can't wait to read about the ultimate result!
#stupidhumantricks
Go get it, Cronk!
@tim cronk I've never so much as dabbled in the ultra space and am continuously awed and impressed by what you do. Can't wait to hear about this race...I need to bookmark all of your race reports so I can start to wrap my mind around Austin Rattler next year.
Looking forward to seeing the report on this, epic place, hopefully you get a break in the humidity for race day... "not at my optimal race weight," still skinner than the rest of!!!
what time is lunch on Saturday ? outside chance I can make it for that, but not the course preview.
Good skill my friend
This should go into the Epic+ category
So awesome- Good luck and waiting for the race report as well-
Looks like a fun, different, epic event! Looking forward to your race report.
Good skill and execution...and have fun!
Looks like a fantastic event. Best of skills to you! I am looking forward to reading the race report.
@tim cronk - That race has always interested me. I look forward to hearing how it went. You are always so prepared and have everything well thought out, so you will have an advantage over a lot of the athlete's.
Enjoy the race!
@tim cronk
HI, all I can do is learn here but I do want to take this opportunity to thank you for your constant leadership, willingness to help this team and example.
Wish you great skill and execution my friend.
SS
Thank You everybody... I have been practicing transitions all week and have learned quite a bit.... Just little things like where exactly to place shoes inside wetsuit etc...
Here is a link for an app to follow along on race day.
@scott dinhofer we should be in town for lunch around 12:30... plan to eat here. http://karmaroad.net/
@tim cronk so awesome man!! I will definitely be tracking and sending healthy fast vibes!
Thanks for the link!!
While we're close in age, you are WAY ahead of me in terms of the epic stuff you've done. I can never catch up. Although truthfully, while not everything seems appealing to me, this race really looks interesting
Although, even more truthfully, I can't remember ever staying up until midnight on Halloween so my chances of getting into this race are slim
I just researched Shawangunk. Did you know the depositional environment of the Shawangunk is generally considered as largely terrestrial to a shallow marine deposit resulting in a molasse sequence produced by the Taconic orogeny? I had no idea! But you probably already knew that; even way before you signed up
I'm highly envious. And this looks like the kind of race you will thrive at. Can't wait to hear about it!
@Paul Curtin - heather claims she couldn't sign me up as it was blocked out and that's why i have no ticket this year, not that I could have done it, it's an hourish from my house, I say we get an EN group together for 2019
@tim cronk sorry late to this thread
Running in a shorty wetsuit is that right? Make sure you have some body glide or something to watch the chaffing. I'm hoping you've done a few run in the wetsuit.
Nutirtion - Sort of a joke but seeing as you have 4 solid weeks of SBR you've probably got things dialed in. Don't go in to VT100 buffet mode as the intensity is much higher.
Go get 'em, Tim, and please run the tangents.
ps How was Heather's racing this summer?
@Paul Curtin No I did not know that! I've been to "the GUNKS" years ago rock climbing which it is quite famous for.
@Gordon Cherwoniak Yes I'm carrying some aquafor incase but not expecting anything I cant live with, I have done some running in the shorty at Casco Bay Swim Run... NO food just gels and fluid till the finishline redline :-)
@Dave Tallo aka Dave Tangent..... yes I got it :-) Heather is having a great year with lots of trail running events and 3 short triathlons , one of which was this http://www.franconianh.org/top-notch-triathlon.html
1000' climb on a MTB , 1/2 mile swim, run 2000' up Cannon Mt. It poured buckets all day . I took the tram to the top ... Maybe next year....
Coming up after SOS it the Ghost Train Ultra in NH, distance of choice, we are both doing that as our last race before heading west!