Mike R's IM Choo Race Plan
Personal Stats: 49yo but racing 50-54, 5’10”, 145 lbs, ~255-60 FTP, 50-51 vDOT
Goals:
1) Race clean, by the plan, no big mistakes.
2) Top 10 AG. Unless I have a mechanical or other issues that put me too far down after the bike, anything outside of the Top 10 will be considered a disappointment. I can still be proud with a sub-11 and 15th AG finish, but I just won't be happy.
3) If I start the run in or very close to top 10 AG, shoot for podium. 6th place sucks.
This is IM #12 for me, #7 with EN. I like the city, it's drive-able from Charlotte, nice people who seem to appreciate the race, and the course mostly plays to my strengths. I'm a mediocre swimmer in rough conditions and especially against the current. My turnover is too slow, I don't get my arm swing high enough, and I just kinda suck in tough conditions (I've flailed three times at Raleigh's contra-current swim, was nearly lost at sea for 75 minutes in Florida in 2015, and climbed the pier in Hawaii last year to find a mostly-bikeless T1). But I am a pretty good pool swimmer, with above-average technique and form, and thus seem to excel when the current is with me. Whatever the reason, I'll take it. I raced Choo 70.3 this past May with minimal swim fitness (20 swims under my belt in the five months prior to race day due to a hand injury) and went 23:XX with the current. None of the top 20 overall finishers in my AG beat me out of the water.
The bike is non-stop rolling, with some climbs and quite a bit of net gain, so it favors those with high w/kg ratios who can follow EN Protocol and flatten the hills with low VI. Years of EN practice has made me pretty good at that. My FTP isn't where it should be (is it ever?), but I've done enough work to feel confident on two wheels.
The Choo run is a heartless serial killer. Boston gives you four pretty tame hills from Miles 16-21, culminating with Heartbreak, but this beast gives you five miles of far steeper hills between 9 and 14 and then again from 20-25. Those closing miles are just plain mean - one of the reasons I love this course so much! One final opportunity to separate those who have executed well all day vs. the majority who haven't. I can't wait to see the carnage.
I train on nothing but hills, incorporated weekly run workouts on really steep ones (up and down) for this build, and tend to handle hills better than most competitors - especially when my body comp is a current 7/10 on the Skeletor Scale. Both my run volume and CTL are right at/above where I was last year before my two IM's, and only 5% less than a few years ago when I actually ran fast off the bike. It's the months of consistent, frequent durability work, with weekly mileage starting in the 30s and slowly growing to 50, that seem to give me the ability to actually make things happen on the back half of the IM marathon.
Choo draws a different crowd. Lots of local and regional folks. A surprising number of swimmers, presumably who want to set a PR (with a huge *)? But far more bike-runners who can't swim or hate swimming. Everyone races differently, and I like to get an early lead, race alone, try to maintain most of the lead on the bike, ace both transitions, then hunt down the droves who over-biked and hold off the gazelles coming from behind (man, I'm glad @Derrek Sanks is racing Kona and not Choo this year).
Pre-Race:
7 days out: Avoid human contact. Start the beet juice load. Start following checklist.
Thursday: Drive, arrive before dinner.
Friday: Begin low-residue diet in earnest. Salt and hydrate all day. Register, sticker the bike, fill gear bags, run, and take the bike for a final spin. Practice donning and buckling my aero helmet a few more times. Team dinner.
Saturday: Big breakfast full of healthy carbs. Salt and hydrate all day. Drop off bike and transition bags (don't knot them). Do thorough walk-through of TA, taking photos of bike location and other details to help my final TA mental prep. Finalize/double-check morning gear according to checklist, then forget Ironman for the rest of the day/evening. Light, no-fiber, carb dinner before 6pm. In bed by 8:30pm.
Race Day: Wake by 3:00am. Two Naked Juice smoothies (500-550 calories total, no fiber), English muffin + honey (200), beet juice (100). Tri Tats, sunscreen, lube, Band-Aids, chip, EN tri-suit. Be at TA a little before 4:30am. Quickly top off tires, attach/turn on/calibrate Garmin 500, load food into bento, fill aero bottle and one behind the seat with lemon-lime GE. Bolt for the first bus (or a car if I can arrange) ride to the start. Sit in line for 2.5 hours, hopefully in the first 100 (man, I wish they would adopt self-seed or give AWA a separate wave after the pros). Stay loose, sip my Skratch Labs Hyper Hydration until 6:30, chill. Couple of no-caff gels with water by 7:15. Cannon at 7:30. Calm, confident, ready for a day of play.
Swim: Goal: Sub-1:30 per 100yd effort. The current varies each year, so a time guess is meaningless. Probably not a wetsuit race, but who knows?
Gear: Tyr Special Ops polarized goggles, Roka Mav Pro wet suit or Roka Viper Skin Suit.
Execution: Take it out reasonably hard for the first 300-400 and establish position and a rhythm. This course attracts weaker swimmers and they notoriously like to be at the front of the line (which is fine), but I'll try to pass a few dozen right out of the gate, depending on my position in line. Breathe. This course is all about sighting and navigating. I will know pre-race where the red turn buoys are and where the "directional" yellow/orange buoys are. You only have to go around the red ones. But the river meanders right and then left, and from what I experienced in the 70.3 and have seen at the 144.6 here in the past, there will likely be opportunities to swim tangents straighter than buoy-to-buoy. Which is risky, but will pay off if I swim straight. Once to the little island at the half-way point, the river curves back to the left, so I'll start sighting off the left side of the first of the distant bridges. As I approach the final (of 3) bridges, I'll sight the final red turn buoy and make a straight line for it. Turn, head 100 yds to shore.
As for effort, if the current is moving at a good clip, I'll treat this as a 45-minute swim and push somewhere between a 70.3 and full 2.4-mile effort. I will count strokes and do a series of form-checks isolated by region: arms (high elbow, grab water with hand and forearm, pull past hip), head (head down, chin tucked, one eye only, slow exhale, head back down in time to see opposite hand catch water), core (engaged, hips connecting upper and lower body and rotating with shoulders) and feet (toes pointed, kicking only enough to assist with body rotation). Keep the pedal on the gas the entire way. Swimming fast is fun, so enjoy the ride.
T1: Goal: Best in class under 3:30. Get skin suit unzipped and to my waist as I run to TA, yell out my number. If a vol grabs my bag, great. If not, I know where it is. Remove and don helmet during the jog, enter the tent, get suit off and into bag, buckle my helmet while running to my bike, again loudly but politely yelling out my bib number in hopes of a curbside bike-valet service. Once past the mount line, hop on, strap into shoes already on the bike, and go. I guarantee there will be guys who finish top 10 in my AG who will be in here longer than 6 minutes.
Bike: Goals: Follow the plan, set myself up for a good run. I have a lot of history of riding at 175NP and know that the effort will deliver some speed (usually around 21.5 mph) that should put me in a competitive position. Weather and wind can change speed and time, which is fine. As long as I stick to the plan, keep things simple, and deliver on what I can control - steady 175, stay aero, fuel properly - good things will follow.
Gear: P5 Six, Dura-Ace Di2, 52/36 cranks, 12-28 cassette, P1 pedals, Flo 90 carbon clincher, Flo aluminum clincher disc, 23mm GT4000 IIS (measuring 25mm) w/ latex tubes at 90 psi. Two CO2 canisters, inflator and butyl tube with an external valve extender on the Xlab Delta behind-the-saddle bottle holder, another butyl tube and a tire lever strapped under saddle. Xlab Torpedo between the bars. LG P-09 helmet + visor, LG M-2 EN-branded tri-suit, Sidi T4 shoes.
Execution: Get comfortable during a couple of admin miles out of town. Keep watts at 170 or less to get HR down to 130. But I should be honing in on 175NP soon thereafter. Garmin set to auto-lap every 5 miles, and I'm just focusing on executing between each 15-minute beep. The course rolls relentlessly, so laser focus on gearing, watts and aero ("chin touching BTA straw"). Stretch at every Garmin beep and whenever the uphills allow me to get out of the bars. Be safe, efficient and quick through the aid stations. The RPE it took to push 175w the first loop will be much higher the second time, but that's to be expected and is fine. And if my quads start to rebel, I know that I can drop to 170 or even 165 in the closing miles and only cost me a few minutes. Chasing a time, speed or position is meaningless if I don't set myself up to run well. At top 10 of just about every AG, it always comes down to a foot race.
Nutrition: Drink every Garmin beep, feed every other one. Target 1.5 bottles of GE (36 oz., 63g of carbs, 220 calories, 900mg of sodium) every hour for the first 4 hours, which is just a bit more than a bottle every 15-mile aid station. After Mile 75 Aid Station, move to water + gels + salt. Early hydration is critical, as a mistake here can never be fixed later. Two GE chews every 30 minutes (31g, 120 calories, 105mg per hour) for the first 4 hours. If the weather is cool and I only drink one bottle of GE per hour, I will make up the “lost” 63 calories by going to 3 chews every 30 minutes. And, if it's really hot and I go to two bottles per hour, then GE is all I "eat." I always hit a rough patch/lose focus near Mile 80, right around the time GE starts to really suck. So, I’ll have a double espresso gel (100mg of caff) at the turn back south, and it always seems to work. Two more caff gels at Miles 90 and 100. Fill BTA bottle at last AS and drop the one behind the seat. Once off the loop and back on the 10-mile stretch back to town, I’ll only allow myself water and salt before dismounting.
T2: Goal: Top of the class around 2:00, but don't sprint out of TA trying to "win." Leave shoes on bike, hand bike to vol, jog with purpose while unbuckling my helmet. Yell for my bag or, if no assist, grab my bag, remove go-bag during the jog and have hand inside the bag on my shoes as I enter tent, sit down, remove shoes, find volunteer to stow my helmet while putting on my (pre-rolled and pre-lubed) socks and shoes, grab my go-bag, go. From my go-bag I’ll put on my race belt (gels and salt attached), put on visor and sunglasses, and strap on and fire up the watch. I will add race-saver bag if temps are above 85.
Run: Goals: Race. Smartly, but race. Take calculated risks and lay down a 3:3X effort. The hotter it is, the closer the actual run time will move toward 4 hours. Which is fine (I've seen @tim cronk KQ with a 3:30 in OK conditions and with a 4:00 in oppressive heat). Time doesn't matter as long as the output is there. Finishing only becomes a goal once I'm in the chute and can see the line. Before then, it means nothing, and I will gladly risk not finishing in order to pursue the bigger fish. Once beyond the physical, I think the two biggest impediments to racing well at this distance are mental: foolishness and fear. EN execution has taught me how to suppress my natural embrace for the former; I'll leave the latter at home.
Gear: Garmin 920x, Rudy shades, Nike 4% Unitears
Execution: Hopefully I’ll exit T2 by 2:00pm (6:30 race time), so a 3:45 mary would give me a 10:15, which is usually competitive in my AG. My bike HR will be around 135 the last hour, as usual. There's a pretty good hill right out of T2, but you don't really realize it because you're adjusting to the strange feel of running. Don't let HR spike above 145 on the hill and use the incline and descent to stretch the hips out a bit. Once over the hill and settled into a rhythm, let the HR drift up into the 143-44 range and get into auto-pilot during the 3+ miles on the shade-less highway. If legs are feeling OK, I should be running low- to mid-8's. Eat an early gel or banana with water if stomach is fine, continue to drink GE at every non-food AS. Add Base Salt if it's warm or worse. Eat a gel whenever hungry, but shoot for one at Miles 4, 8, and 12. Walk a few steps in AS to get food/drink down, a few more steps if HR is trending up.
At around four miles, turn onto the Riverwalk, and cover these four flat miles back to downtown. It's mostly straight and shaded concrete, but there are a few wood-plank sections and a handful of semi-sharp turns and curves. In May, the humidity was bad, and portions of the tree-enclosed trail section felt like a sauna. Right after Mile 8, the hills begin. Battery Place is pretty short, but at 11-12% grade, it's kind of a wall - runners and walkers moving up it at virtually the same speed. HR cap at 150. Steep downhill to the first bridge - don't destroy quads yet. I enjoy crossing Veterans. It's a gradual climb (2%), you get cool views up there and hopefully some cool breeze. Nice downhill onto Barton Ave, where the real fun stuff starts. It's pretty bad, but it does look worse than it really is. Not too steep (6-8%), but pretty long. Run the pitchy two miles in the neighborhood, come back up and over Barton again. Goals in this hilly section are HR cap of 150 on the ups, just enough pressure on the downs not to harm quads. Once back down at the river, take a right and climb a mild incline up to Walnut, where we turn left and cross the pedestrian bridge. For some reason, I didn't like the feel of the wood planks on this bridge in May. It just felt like it knocked my stride out of rhythm, and I'm definitely more of a cruise-control rhythm runner than one who thrives with lots of left/right, 360s and sharp pitches up/down. Unlike Veterans, Walnut is steeper (4%) at the beginning, mellows out as you cross, but doesn't reach its apex until you're about 3/4 across the river. Bomb down to the bank on the other side, start the second loop. With the hills, my pacing will be all over the place, slowing to 9's on the 5% ups, 10s on the 10% ups, and 7s on the downs. But if I finish the first half with steady HR right under 145 and well fueled, I'll be pretty psyched. The "work" will likely start sometime during the next four highway miles. Things will start to get hard. But I will keep the HR up in the mid-140s. If I get a gel down, it'll likely be my last. Continue to hydrate and salt, not hesitating to jump to Red Bull and/or Coke anytime on the second half. The course is easy to break into little sections: My next short-term goal will be to get to the turn onto the trail at Mile 17. Here on the Riverwalk, the real suffering will start. But this is why we race, and I know others will be suffering far more. Pull out all the one-things and other mental tricks to get through this, absolutely refusing to relent or slow down. I always celebrate at 20, and here I'll know Battery is fast approaching. Allow HR to go to 155 this time up that little monster, but easy on the quads on the backside down to the bridge.
Ordinarily, we start racing at Mile 18 here in the Haus. But I think Veterans Bridge right around 20.5 is the perfect place. I know I won't feel good, and I honestly don't know exactly how I'll attack five miles of hills this late on a Sunday afternoon. So, I'm just going to race. I'm hoping I can latch onto a well-running guy or girl (or, even better, I can see @Josh Church 100 yards ahead and can start stalking him). Allow HR to move into the mid-150's, but very cognizant of not pushing too hard (uphill or down) to send the quads or hamstrings into full-lock cramps. Once over Barton hill for the 4th and final time, full Buffalo Bill Mode to the finish. It's easy to imagine oneself gracefully galloping at 6:30 pace toward the finish line, when the reality of a "full sprint" during Mile 139 (here, 143) is often a stiff, ugly 8:30 hobble accompanied by a scowl of pain. Once I can see the carpet and the glorious line, allow a smile to replace the scowl and soak up #12.
Sorry for the excessive rambling. As always, I write these primarily for myself, as both a real race plan and a motivational tool. If someone happens to pick up a useful trick (that I almost certainly learned and stole from another ENer), great. If someone spots a mistake-in-the-making or has any other input, just as great.
Thanks.
MR
Comments
I like your style of race plan/rambling, it reads as if it was from a cynical triathletes journal. Love it!
You are definitely correct about this statement: “But I think Veterans Bridge right around 20.5 is the perfect place.”
Ill be paranoid about you stalking me from mile 1. Like a cheetah on the hunt, it’s practically not fair.
lets chat to @Jeff Horn about the swim start ride!
@Mike Roberts, great plan as well as detail, many details to apply. No doubt you will do great! I'll be tracking!
Love your run plan Mike, knowing the course and when to push/back-off will help greatly. That run will break a lot of people, and I see you moving up several spots in those tough sections
On the swim, I've never been a fan of going out hard for the first 400. If you're behind a group of tourists then push it; but if it's clear sailing then just start cruising
Regarding this: "I will add race-saver bag if temps are above 85". My lower limit would be 70 degrees. Start cool and stay cool for as long as you can
Great exercise, Mike. a tactical piece, since you might be racing to win, place or show: entertain the thought of three options of where that pace and psychological 'go-time mile 18' marker might be moved, based on how you're feeling at the time. maybe develop a few scenarios ... (a) I'm hanging in (or whatever subjective score you give) = mile 20 point whatever that you identify above; (b) I'm fine, neither good nor bad = Mile 18; (c) wow these shoes really are magic, I'm magic, I'm full of glycogen and fight and have it in me to turn myself inside out for the remaining 10 mi = mile 16 (or whatever).
As a racer with a bunch of experience and well-tuned RPE, you *can* game it a little and make it a race at that turning point ... and having created three full-rendered scenarios, where you just have to choose one from a short short list of tactics while you're in the fog of war and make it happen, might be the difference between 11th and 5th places.
I really get a lot from reading race plans especially from the veterans. Obviously well thought out. I will look forward to watching the tracker and reading the RR. Thank you for posting.
nothing to add, but a model of what a detailed race plan should look like, have a great day and kill it!
@Mike Roberts I suspect this race will be a test for you. To riff a bit on Tallo's comments, you won't know when that test will come, but you will be ready for it, as long as you don't over think it.
Specifically, the test involves discovering that you are in a race against other people, and no longer just trying to execute in a process oriented mode. And specifically, that test arrives on the run course. As you know, trying to chase after faster 50-54 calves on the bike (or at least faster at the moment they go past you) is a fool's errand.
Dave suggests there will come a time during the marathon when you will be challenged to pick up the pace, maybe harder than you want to at that point. If that moment comes at, say mile18, 23, 24, or 25, sure, keep it up all the way home. I've had races which asked that of me at each of those points. I've also had races where the challenge came at mile 16, or 8, or 3. It's a different story then. Knowing when and how and for how long to up the effort in the first 2/3rds of the marathon is not a skill anyone can learn without doing it. You will internally have the knowledge, without thinking about it, of how fast and how long to up the pressure. Pay attention to that internal voice.
2 more things
“chin touching BTA straw” = love it
Garneau P09 is faster without the shield. If you can, use sunglasses instead.
Great read. The first coolest thing to do is KQ, the SECOND coolest thing to do is to turn down your KQ. I expect you will we have a tough decision. I look forward to the race report.
Great race plan, Mike. Very detailed and descriptive. You know the course very well and you know how to execute an IM. All that's left is to race, be patient on the bike and not to make any bad decisions. Nothing more to add. I know you're going to race smart and crush it. Looking forward to tracking you! Good skill!
@Mike Roberts Great race plan and the detail on the run portion. It will be invaluable during the race.
Mike welcome to the Old Guys AG's where the KQ times start to fall. I was gonna call sandbagger when I read sub 11hr but you later pointed to a 10:15. Its a fast course and you have become a machine on the bike/run.... I do sure hope you survive that swim :-) Awesome writing as always. Good Skill!
Man, @Mike Roberts how I've missed your sass in the haus! You took me turn by turn right back to CHOO. You have got this thing dialed in! I love your writing and humor, exceptional detail to your plan and your KNOWING. Knowing your strengths, challenges and focus for the day. For a girl who often can't remember what was for dinner the day before, I'm impressed! 😂
So, I'll be tracking, sending Motor City Mojo you won't need and gushing to anyone who will listen about your day!!! (((hugs)))
@Mike Roberts
What am I going to say to a WSM, KQ'er?
I do like the fact that you are holding yourself honest to your potential putting a Top 10 finish goal down.
For the more experienced athletes, I think Al's advice is the best, pay attention to RPE as a primary metric, that internal voice, maintain self-confidence at all times, and just remember, if you begin to doubt, feel unsure during a dark period..................KMF is tracking you! :-)
Have a great race my friend!
SS
@Mike Roberts I'm a bit late to the party, but... You sure have a thorough and awesome plan and absolutely know how to execute (AND suffer), so there's not a doubt in my mind that you will put it all together...
Let me not confuse something that you have clearly thought a lot about and have a well reasoned plan, but... ~2.5 hours early for the swim seems like a damn lot of time early to me. Have you considered getting an extra full hour of sleep and pushing the whole schedule back by 1-1.5 hours. I'm not suggesting you put yourself in rush mode, but if it were me, I think I'd rather be somewhere near the back of the line and not the very front... If you really are in the first 100 people and pass the super slow early swimmers first, then you'll literally be all alone for almost the entire bike. If you were last and only passed ~half of the swimmers, then you'll have another ~1,000+ people to pass on the bike giving you a whole bunch of opportunities to get some legal draft as you slingshot past people on the bike. This is probably worth more time than you give up swimming around/through a few dozen of your closest friends. This might add a small negative by giving you a bit more crowding in T1 and the first 2-3 Aid Stations, but pretty sure it'll clear out anyways (and your bike handling skills and strategies through the aid stations will still put you in the right position). I know you said you'd rather be ahead on the run, but if you start the swim ~10-15 mins before other dudes, you might track someone down and pass them on the run, only to learn that you still finished 10 mins behind them... If you started later in the swim, everyone you pass on the run means you are likely "really" ahead of them. My situation in Wisconsin was completely different than what you're shooting for, but I literally knew on the run from friendly EN faces on the course that I was in 15th in my AG. I literally stayed in 15th in my AG the ENTIRE run never to give up a net position (and I was completely focused on watching numbers on calves for at least the last 6-10 miles). when I finished, I was 15th in my AG, then about 20 mins later, the app updated and changed to 17th because a couple guys were running a couple mins behind me, but they entered the water more than a couple mins after me. For me the difference between 15th and 17th didn't matter, but if that meant the difference between 2nd and say 4th, that could be a pretty big letdown. Especially since I "probably" could have dug deeper if either there was a bear chasing me, or a KQ really was on the line...
I'm a lot bigger than you, but used my Race Saver bag in Wisconsin at ~70 degrees and was glad I had it (for the first ~2/3 of the run). Such a low cost/weight thing to keep in your run belt to have as opposed to not having it on the run and wanting it.
Can't wait to sit at my computer all day and track you!
@Mike Roberts - Just a couple notes on the bike course (haven't ridden it for a couple years, so you can verify if you drive it). The 'stick' on the way out to the lolly pop was a little shady in spots with RR crossing that we worse. Coach R referred to this section as the "bucket of chicken." Get your speed, keep the watts in check and be super careful with the roads. The Two loop section has a ton of false flats on the way out. It is really deceptive. I ended up putting % grade on my garmin because sometimes it looked like I was going downhill on a 1-2% uphill section. After you make the hairpin turn back, it is really fast and you can plan to carry a lot of speed over the rollers. By the time you finish the two loops, the ride back into town (with the extra 4 miles) is easy to let your attention drift. Stay sharp and watch out for the same shoddy roads you had on the way out. Good luck!
happy oldness. have a great one. will be following.
Sorry for last-second reply, but I truly appreciate all the input. Great advice, as always. The river here in Chatt is over-floowing, filled with trash (and worse), and is moving at what looks like 35mph. The cancellation announcement was far from surprising. Run course is partially flooded, but the re-routed 3 miles (1.5mi per loop) doesn’t alter the course in any meaningful way other than 3 miles of shade now = exposed highway. And the time-trial start scraps my 4:30am plan. It’ll take 2 hours to start everyone, beginning at 8:30. With my low AWA bib #, I’ll go off in the first 2-3 minutes. Perfect! I’ll race all day with the other AWA’s, but the rest of my AG is basically starting last. So, the tracker data will be misleading at best, with final AG places not decided until an hour+ after I finish. But I’m fine with that. Everyone’s new plan seems to be to hammer the bike even more, right from the start. Perfect. So, I’m psyched to nail my bike pacing and nutrition as originally planned and then really race the run. It’s humid. When the sun is out, the low 80’s feels hot. The clouds, however, really knock it down. I’m actually hoping for sun and heat, and RS Bag is already on the race belt.
Now I just need to go change my alarm from 3:00am to 5:30am. Thanks again, team.