Augusta 70.3 Race Plan
Ironman Augusta 70.3 – Race Plan
This plan has worked for me in the past three races so I’m sticking to it! This will be my 7thHIM distance race. I did Augusta 70.3 in 2016 as a non EN athlete. That year the race conditions were incredibly hot with temps in the mid 90s on the run. That was also the same day of IM Chattanooga where there were so many DNFs. I’m anticipating hot and humid conditions again as well as a non wetsuit legal swim. This year will be a brand new bike course with it entirely in GA rather than going over to SC for a portion of it. Based on the Augusta FB page, it’s supposedly better pavement and fewer long climbs. The run is the same course and it will be flat and hot.
Friday, September 21 Drive to Augusta and check into Holiday Inn Express, Downtown Augusta. Unpack and settle in. Walk over to Expo to check in and go to one of the athlete briefings. Scout out a good place for dinner that evening.
Saturday, September 22“Sleep in.” Eat light breakfast and then do a small shake out run. Eat again. Drive course and do course recon. During the day, I’m drinking GE and salting my food. Maybe meet up with any EN teammates?
Last minute bike check then drop off bike, remembering to let out air in the tires to avoid them popping in the heat. Notate landmarks for my rack location.
Dinner in hotel room from home – plain white rice, plain rotisserie chicken breast, an avocado and lays potato chips…bland but this has become my pre race dinner for the past several races.
Make bottles for next day to get me through swim start and to the first aid station on the bike. Lay out nutrition to add to bike the next morning, make PBJ for b’fast .
Apply Tri Tats Lights out 9pm
Sunday, September 23 – RACE DAY!
4:07 am Wake ready to face the day
Make coffee
Get dressed – 920xt, Road ID, Sports Bra, HRM, tri kit, t-shirt over top
Put on timing chip w/ safety pin
Socks and shoes to keep feet dry, rain jacket if needed
Pre Race Breakfast:
Coffee w/ turbinano sugar and almond milk
PBJ on GF bread, small banana
Grab morning clothes bag/Tri bag containing: bike pump, wetsuit/swim skin, cap & 2 pair goggles, GE to sip, clif blocks, Body Glide, Phone, headlamp, cheap flipflops. Take hotel shuttle bus to transition.
5:30am –set up transition area. Have XL Zip lock bags in case of rain to place running shoes/socks inside
Turn on Garmin and calibrate
Pump tires to 95-100psi
Add nutrition/ Base Salt to bike
Fill Aerobottle and place bottles on bike
Double check Garmin that it’s set to the right profile
Check Garmin again!
Take bus to swim start and return back to hotel for one last quality pit stop and to drop off pump. I have more time on my hands since the race is now a rolling start and it doesn’t begin until 7:50am. Make my way to swim start with morning clothes bag and find the sub 30 min swim seeded section. Sit wait it out. 20 min before start, 3 clif blocks, drink water/ pee where I can. Body Glide on neck and ankles if wet suit. Wear the wet suit, but it will probably be the swim skin due to water temps.
Drop off Morning Clothes bag.
Swim
Seeding myself in sub30 corral. It’s a late start (7:50am) and I’m anticipating a lot of non sub 30 swimmers to be there in anticipation of the heat coming later in the day. Hopefully this will be a nonissue. I hope to find a few feet and just swim my swim.
The river is SO gross. There’s lots of “seaweed” and I need to try to ignore it. I will count my strokes as a distraction. It’s all downstream so it should be fast. 2016 was 24:32. This year in Chatt I was 22:06. So I’m hoping this will be even faster than Chatt since there’s no upstream portion?
Get out of water, unzip swim skin and get to rack. If I remember correctly, it’s a rather long run to T1. I need to just stay in control and not spike HR too much. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Get to rack and get bike shoes on, Helmet on, Buckle. GO.
Bike:
Start Garmin
I plan on driving the course on Saturday to get a feel for the new route. Based on the profile map there are five distinct hills. Once on the bike out of T1, get in the groove, get the HR under control (140-150) and start my nutrition plan. Nutrition: For Chatt, Coach P suggested only loading GE in my aero bottle and one on my down tube because of my height/weight (5’2” 118#). I will continue with this plan for Augusta and will grab a GE at each aid station as well as water to cool off as temps rise during the ride. Remembering to slow down enough to not miss a bottle.
I will aim to drink 24oz GE, 2-3 shot blocks, and 1-2 licks of Base Salt/Hour. That will give me 256-289 cal/hr. Be sure to keep up on cals on the back half and with about 5 miles to T2, take 2 more blocks to set me up for the run. I hope to actually pee on the bike rather than in T2 for a faster transition time. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast, start thinking transition.
T2: Dismount bike and run to rack. Bike shoes, OFF Helmet, OFF Running socks, ON Shoes, ON
GO BAG – contains: EN Visor, Sunglasses, Zip Lock Bag, Race Belt w/Race Number (contains: clif blocks, Base,) Pit Stop? OUT on the run course
Run:
Miles 1-3 – Aim to keep HR at 150/155 for first 3 miles. Take it easy for the first mile and don’t let the HR spike. Nutrition strategy will be if I can stand GE drink that and eat a couple of blocks at the first aid station. Otherwise, if my stomach churns, then it will be Coke/Base/Water for the duration which worked in Haines City and Chatt this year.
Miles 4-9 – HR up to 160. Pace should be around 8:05, descending
Miles 10 – 13.1 – HR 165+ Whatever is left
Cross that finish line with a nice ending to the season!
I’ve been so motivated and inspired by all the recent bad assery on this team. It’s so awesome and I hope to continue that streak! This week leading up to the race I going to really focus on hydration. I’ll either add GE or Skratch to my water. That run is going to be the devil so I need to keep my HR in check. Temps are going to be in the mid to upper 80s for the run start. Grab ice at every aid station and shove it in my bra. I like to chomp on it in between aid stations…that is if it doesn’t melt first.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read through!
Sabra
Comments
@Sabra Gonzalez, looks like a solid plan that you will execute well! The women in your age group won't know what is coming with you swim/run combo!! I like you mindset in making your T2 as fast as possible! You do great, I'll be tracking!!
@Sabra Gonzalez - I love the race plan, it’s very detailed and focus. Here are my Quick Thoughts:
good skill!!!
~ Coach P
@Coach Patrick Thanks for all the advice, especially the tire pressure. I'll take any free speed that I can get!