2018 Ironman Maryland Race Plan
This will be my 8th full Ironman race. It is #7 as an Endurance Nation Team member. In addition, this will be an Ironman double this year. I did an Ironman double once before in 2015 where I did IMLP and IMFL. In 2015, I was able to get an entry to IMFL through Ken Glah’s company. However, that was only six weeks before the race. I had let my training slip and had to play catch-up. This year is different. After a week of recovery, I started back at my training. My focus was to maintain my bike and work my run durability. My heart rate after IMLP was high while running. On suggestions from WSM @Mike Roberts, I took a Maffetone approach. I had 9 weeks to ramp up and during week 1 I knew I was still recovering and went light. After that, I ran 6 to 7 times a week with almost everything at Z1 or slower until my heart rate started to come back down. Now, I am sitting in week 8. I have had a solid build including a high weekly run mileage; my running heart rate is back where it belongs, I had solid bike and swimming performance. Next week, will continue the taper.
I have never been to Cambridge, MD before. I am driving down on Wednesday and staying in a Hotel near Baltimore for the night. Early Thursday morning, I will drive to the site. I need to sign in and perform a total recon of Transition and the course. After I do that it’s time to put my bags together and set up the bike including the final charge of the shimano. I may ride but only to make sure everything is working. Friday, my wife Elaine who is my number one supporter and “Super Sherpa” flies into D.C. early so, I will go pick her up and have a great breakfast with her. She found me a place to stay very close to the race site. We will return to Cambridge, grab my bike and gear bags and go to check-in. After a quick walk through the Ironman Village, it will be back to the rental. No other site seeing.
Race morning we will walk to the race start from the rental house. My fueling goal is 8 bottles during the bike. From there, I will walk over to T-1 stopping for body marking. Pump up the tires, turn on the computer and calibrate the power meter. Upon completing this, it is time to head towards the team picture and the swim.
I hope to get a good warm-up swim and then line up in the middle of the 1:01:00 – 1:11:00 sign. When it is time for me to enter the water, I am ready. I expect to be nervous. I will swim smooth and fast. I will need to sight more than IMLP but I can do that. I need to keep my turn-over fast but stay in control. Since there is no exit of the water after the first lap, I need to stay focused and keep my stroke rate high. When I exit, it is time to get my brain going. I need to get through the timing gate and to the strippers quickly. A quick thank you and I am off. My goal for the swim at IMLP was 1:10:00 and I went 1:12:00. I want to swim the same or better here.
T-1 is for racing. Once the wetsuit is off, I need to be up and running. My goal for T-1 is sub 4:00. I can relax on the bike so get moving! I need to move quickly through the racks, grab by bag, find a seat and empty my bag on the ground. My helmet is the first thing on and buckled. I wear a shield so no glasses. The weather forecast will determine if I wear arm coolers. If I need them, this is when I will put them on. I will quickly put on my bike shoes grabbing my bag and wet suit. I am up and running to my bike. As I run through the tent I will hand my bag and wet suit to a volunteer. I will thank that person.
As I grab my bike, I will wake the computer and spin the crank. I will jog along with my bike to the mount line, stay calm clip in and go. I can only control me and my bike. I am totally unfamiliar with the bike course. I hope my preview will give me all the information I need. I have looked at a bunch of past performances on the course in Strava. The first 11 miles appear to have the majority of the technical riding but it also seems to be fast. After that, the course is two loops on a big triangle. This is great since the course is flat, there will only be one leg with the potential for a headwind. I have only raced one other flat course and that was IMFL. I know what kind of speed my watts produced in that race. I want my NP to be 165 to 170 here. This is a flat course, so there will be very few natural places to sit or stand. I will do a quick stretch every 15 minutes. My fueling is going to be the same as IMLP. I will drink more than a bottle of Infinit every hour. In the early miles of the bike I intend to increase that rate and add some chews. Coach Patrick warned I may have lower glycogen stores from the long training time this year and the previous races. I will add caffeinated gels at miles 40, 60, 80 and 90. I know I am fast when I stay aero. My Bike goal is to beat my IMFL time of 5:27:36.
I will approach T-2 like T-1 wanting to be fast but I want to be controlled as well. I need to open my shoes and pull my feet out of the shoes. At the dismount line I need to have a safe dismount and hand my bike off. As I jog to the bag rack, un-clip my helmet. I need to grab by bag, find a seat and empty my bag on the ground. I need to take my helmet off put my cap on. Quickly roll on my socks and slide on my shoes. Stuff my helmet in the T-2 bag. Grab my go bag and get moving. My goal here is 2:00. As I leave the tent, clip my race belt on. Grab a drink and some ice. As I leave T-2 start my watch.
Mile one of the run is a system check mile. Where is my heart rate? How do I feel? I need to breathe, think and stretch. I need to do some funky steps and loosen everything. I am going to approach this as a training run. Settle down and run easy for the first few miles. By 4 miles in I should be able to feel where my pace is going to be. Hopefully, at that point my heart rate will be around 135 bpm. This race will be a change in my run attitude. I want to race! I need to keep the pace up. I need to run each mile and not let my pace or heart rate crash. I plan to drink often until I can’t drink GA anymore. Then, it’s time for COKE. I am still looking for that sub four hour marathon so my goal is to finish at 3:50:00.
Comments
@Edwin Croucher, Solid plan! I like the details and the gratitude to others! I look forward to meeting and racing with you!
Great plan, nothing to add to someone who knows the game.
will be tracking you for sure - good luck!
Ed,
Can't wait to watch this race from afar. My quick thoughts:
-Swim: smooth, good form when you're with any current, increased turnover and constant pulling when against it (no dead spots). The swim there is so variable year-to-year, so don't let finish time affect you. In fact, I would purposefully avoid the finish clock. The last time I got out of the swim and saw 1:12 on the clock, I let it bother for 80 miles . . . who am I kidding? It still pisses me off.
T1: the athlete guide says you can clip shoes onto bike. I would get wetsuit stripped, grab (untied) bag, remove and put on helmet while jogging, hand bag and wetsuit to a vol without slowing down, clip helmet on the way to the bike, go. If you can avoid sitting down in transition, it's guaranteed time, sometimes serious time.
Bike: like all of us, you've admitted some fade/loss of focus in the last quarter of the bike. I like the caff gels, but would hold off until 80. A little more of a jolt back to life. And if you can find/stomach the 2x caff ones, go for it. Keep the watts up at 170 despite the increased RPE over the last 30 miles - you have the fitness, but need to keep the focus and effort up those last 90 minutes.
Run: you're due for a huge breakout run. You can run standalone half marathons at 1:32, so a 3:50 - frankly - should be achievable if the weather and conditions cooperate. I think it's a great goal, but you have to be in it from the start. Yes, start relatively easy to get the HR down, but you've earned the right to start racing way earlier than Mile 5 or 6. You can't run the first five miles at 9:50 avg pace and expect to drop that average to 8:45 by the end and score a 3:50. Likewise, you don't want to run the first five at 7:55 pace because you feel great and have concluded that you must have transformed into a super elite runner over night (doesn't happen). But if you finish the first fie with an average between 8:35 and 9:00 and your HR is at or very close to where it should be, you're in the game. Perhaps do the same for the next five (this should be the easiest five miles because you've established your rhythm, fueled and are still fresh - you'll want to hit all five around 8:35-50 and maintain that steady HR. Same for Miles 10-15, except the RPE will be higher near Mile 15 to maintain same pace (make sure HR doesn't jack, which is unlikely because for 99% of us, both our HR and pace start to decline here). When my pace starts to slow, I like to play little games like, "keep it under 9 for the next one/two/three miles." Once you're at Mile 18 or 20, maintaining 8:45-9:00 pace is going to become a monster. You'll run what feels like an 8:45 and look down to see it's really 9:30, so you absolutely must crank up the effort despite the permanent middle finger your body is now giving you. It can be a nasty fight. You may have a crap mile of 9:25 or so, but you'll also probably have a rebound sub-9 mile. Pull out all your one-things and other motivators and keep going, even if your box has been reduced to light poles or 1/4 miles. You won't slow down and wouldn't even think of stopping for any reason other than the finish.
^^ hybrid pace/HR approach is what I would probably do if a sub-4 is a big goal. In case you have a few issues on the run (most of us do), you should either memorize or write on your hand 9:05 because you want to match or go under that average pace no matter what (I think sub-4 is really something like 9:09, but you want a cushion in case Garmin doesn't match course exactly). You're fit, and you have a recent history of racing really well, probably with a "smart-first, aggressive-second" approach. I think you've earned the right to swap those two around and really go race. Taper smart, let your confidence build all week, then go have the race of your life.
MR
Woohoo Ed I didnt know you were racing IMMD. Been a while since a flat IM huh? Its an easy course to race without seeing it first, however there are seconds to be had and less stress to be gained if you do know the course. If you have time to drive the bike once I highly recommend it. Its worth it just to see how many Bald Eagles you can spot. I think Heather and I saw 6. Good Skill
@Edwin Croucher
Excited for you bro!
I like Mike's advice of waiting until mile 80 for the caffeine....seems to work really well for me. It's like motivation to get to mile 80.
Not knowing temps and humidity, I would place emphasis on HR management for the run and use pace as a secondary stick. Pace is what it is during the first half of the marathon and really a factor of fitness, bike matches burned, nutrition, temps, humidity etc.....
Have a great day out there! I will be tracking!
SS
Ed, I like how your report is written saying what you will do. Seems to help ingrain it in your brain.
I'm sure you do this but I found it's best/faster to have arm warmers rolled up, like doughnuts, and just put them on our wrists in T1. Don't unroll them until JRA on the bike. Or place them on your aero bars and you'll have one less step in T1.
You already have a high run cadence. If you find yourself slowing down at any point in the run, check your cadence and try increasing it if lower than your normal cadence. I find that helps to slightly increase pace with very little extra effort.
I wish I was going to be in town that weekend to come watch you race...I'll be cheering from afar. Good luck...Good skill!
Ed, This bike course is flatter than FL. Literally, the highest points of the ride are on the small bridges over little rivers - maybe 10' max. So, that makes aero-management critical. You may have a different view, but I found that letting myself sit up when drinking, if only for 10-20 seconds, allowed a good periodic back stretch. Staying totally aero for 5 hours might result in tensed up hip flexors as well as back issues. Also, strategically timing 20-30 seconds of standing pedaling is also a good idea, to shift the focus around on those butt and quad muscles. Since it's a loop, the wind should treat you fairly. I have no doubt you will set a bike PR on this course. I averaged 20 mph, and you saw at Mallorca how much faster you are than I.
On the run, I wish you dry weather and low tides...I will never forget running through 11 lakes that day, some knee deep. Again, the court is FLAT. So taking 10-20 walk steps/aid station gives a needed shuffle to the muscles.
The transition area is hard by the water. If it has been raining at all the days before, it could be soggy.
Don't forget to try some crab while you're there...