IMWI RR#2 - Trevor Garson
Didn't post for RR#1 since it was less formal for me than I'd like, RR#2 on the course in Madison is make or break for me.
Stealing Jim's RR format (Thanks Jim!)
IMWI 2010
Race Rehearsal #2
Saturday 8/21/2010
Race Rehearsal #2
Saturday 8/21/2010
Start Time: 8:30am
Morning Fuel
- Planning on 2 drink mix of scoops of Ultragen + 1 scoop of CarboPro (~500 calories) at 2am. Never done the 2am liquid diet before, not sure if Ultragen is a bad idea, it's my recovery drink mix, anyone have any recommendations that don't involve a blender?
- Actual breakfast, ~7am, Half a toasted bagel, need something solid
- Around 7-8am, water bottle mix EFS + 1/2 scoop of PreRace. PreRace is strong caffeine supplement.
Bike Setup
- Race wheels, HED Stinger 6 front, Stinger 9 rear. Tubulars.
- 1 extra tubular, 1 can of PitStop, 2 co2, 1 razor blade, 1 nanoflate
- Aerodrink AquaLight on aerobars
- Aerodrink AquaLight on aerobars
- For RR will be using all 3 bike bottle mounts (1 on seat tube, 2 behind saddle), really undecided on raceday how many extra bottles I want to lug around versus utilizing on-course nutrition. I know this is huge and something I should have figured out by now.
- Misc items on person: Road ID, phone, money in ziploc 'wallet'.
Bike Fuel/Hydration
Really not sure the best way to handle this, I use CarboPro and EFS during training and could potentially on raceday by using the special needs stops. For RR though I will be unsupported aside from gas stations for the duration of the ride. Thinking about
Swim Course
Bike Course
- Planning to park at the terrace or as close to it as possible for MOWS.
- Misc items on person: Road ID, phone, money in ziploc 'wallet'.
Bike Fuel/Hydration
Really not sure the best way to handle this, I use CarboPro and EFS during training and could potentially on raceday by using the special needs stops. For RR though I will be unsupported aside from gas stations for the duration of the ride. Thinking about
- One Mega-Concentrated fuel bottle (4 scoops CarboPro, 3 scoops EFS): 748cal
- One "3hr" bottle (2 scoop CarboPro, 2 scoop EFS): 442 calories
- Remaining bottle and aerodrink water.
Plan would be to drink water plus my standard "3hr" bottle on first lap, dilute mega bottle into 2 normal fuel/electrolyte bottles for second lap. This would still leave me at ~1100 calories, probably a little light. I'm also not a huge fan of the heavy drink mixes and would prefer to spread the calories out over more water. Considering cutting the mix back on the CarboPro to allow for more water and just carrying 1 or more PowerBar with me since they will be available on course. I don't often train with powerbars, but they are killer to me when I need solid food in my stomach. Really though as you can see, my bike nutrition plan is kind of a mess... any advice is appreciated.
Swim Course
Here's where it starts to get interesting
- 8th annual Madison Open Water Swim (MOWS): 2.4 chip timed open water swim in Lake Monona. Entered in the wetsuit division. Race kicks off at 8:30am.
Bike Course
- Planning to park at the terrace or as close to it as possible for MOWS.
- Relatively quickly after the swim will proceed to my car, mount up for the bike and head out for the entire IMWI bike course.
Bike Plan
Functional Threshold:
265
Goal Watts, as % of FT
71%
Goal TSS, from TSS Tables
280
Bike Plan
Functional Threshold:
265
Goal Watts, as % of FT
71%
Goal TSS, from TSS Tables
280
| Gear | Half Ironman Wattage Guidance | Max | ||
| 1st | 0-.5hrs, slight downhills | GW - 5% | 179 | |
| 2nd | Goal Watts (GW) | 188 | ||
| 3rd | Long hills (>~3') | GW + 5% | 198 | |
| 4th | Short hills (<~1-2')</font> | GW + 10% | 207 |
Transition
- Return to car in downtown, have shoes, visor, garmin quick release, FastDraw+ hand bottle with 20z water mixed with EFS LiquiShot
Run Nutrition/Hydration Plan
- Honestly don't have my real run caloric / hydration plan done yet. When I run the amount of water I drink is somewhat instictive based off the environmental conditions. Typically drink EFS / water mix when possible. Will supplement with gels occasionally, notably during the 2.5 hour long runs. For racing, I always use aid stations and typically drink water / gatorade as needed. Rarely consume gels during racing up to the 70.3 distance. Ran open marathon with consuming only one gel. I really need to put some serious thought into my run nutrition plan in the next 3 weeks.
Run Course
-Out & back along Lake Monona trail @ ;LRP + 30: ~8:50 min/mi
Run Course
-Out & back along Lake Monona trail @ ;LRP + 30: ~8:50 min/mi
That's about all of the time I have left on my lunch break, understandably these are a lot of the big questions that I was supposed to answer at RR#1, but the short answer was I was not happy with RR#1 so it's back to the drawing board.
0
Comments
That said- my second recommendation is NOT to do the full 112 miles from Madison. Instead, do the OWS (very cool that ya get to do that BTW) and then drive to Verona. Park there, do two loops of the course plus a little of the out-and-back section if you need more time, and then run from there. This lets you hit your car as an "aid station" half way through the bike and you can pick up another 3 hour bottle of nutrition just like you will on race day.
There is a little park with a nice rails-to-trails kinda path next to it where you can do the run. We used that spot during Moo Camp earlier this year- it was perfect.
Can someone remind me where exactly that little park is? I didn't do the driving that weekend so I don't remember all the street names. I know it was pretty much right on the course and really easy to get to.
I think you are right about driving to Verona, that is the smarter plan. Part of me has this macho "I need to ride the entire course" complex but using my car as a staging area really would simply things for me. Plus, as you said, can always ride the stick portions from Verona. I had a nutrition plan for my first RR, but I could not really think of a good way to make it work for the entirety of the unsupported ride. Things have been hectic this week, but once I get up to Madison tonight I should have a little downtime to really solidly workout my numbers instead of rushing over my lunch break like today.
Definitely would appreciate that park location though, thanks!
100% agree with Nemo... nutrition plan is much more important then the exact course.
What I do is start at the corner of Whalen and old PB:
- ride 7 miles of the stick towards madison, flip it and ride back = 14 miles
- loop 1 = 42 miles
- refill at car/gas station
- loop 2 = 42 miles
- if needed pick up anoter bottle
- ride 7 miles of the stick, flip it = 14 miles
- drop off bike and go for run
- run a loop through and around verona ending back at firemans park
- stand in lake for 15 minutes to soak legs and cool off
It's on the corner of Paoli and Bruce in Verona... just put in Fireman's Park, Verona, Wi in Google Maps.
You can park there and there is a boat lauch that I have walked down to go in the water many times. They also have a beach but you have to pay to use that. Only once Jim H and I were not allowed to go in by lifeguards unless we paid to use the beach.
Trevor -- Nemo is talking about Jennifer's park. It is much less crowded than Matt's park. There's a nifty running trail right off of it.
Yes, what everyone said. Sorry for the delay. The place that Nemo refers to is the Old Train Depot, Jennifer gave perfect directions. The Military Ridge trail is right there, it's a nice crushed limestone trail if you head west on it, or you can end up on a paved section if you head east. If you're gonna run more than a few miles, I like this option for parking. There are restrooms, drinking fountain, and soda/water vending machine.
More often than not, I park at the BP gas station at the start of the loop ( Whalen and Old PB), like Matt suggested. It's nice to have the convenience store right there. And Gray's across the street for post-ride meal.
If you want to enjoy a dip at Fireman's Park quarry, the train depot is just under a mile away, while the BP is about 1.8 miles away. Parking at Fireman's park during your ride is an option, but you won't have access to any of the facilities.
Don't hesitate to call or text if you have questions. I won't be around on Saturday during the day, but hope to catch up with all of you on Sat night. 608.225.2009
As for the 2am meal, I don't like the idea of using a recovery drink. Maybe one of those Odwalla or Naked brand protein smoothies?
I have asked them and they are 100% ok with you parking in the gravel lot next to them. They ofcourse appreciate it if you buy something or fill up (which I always do) but they do not require it.
I hate Gatorade and was dreading carrying a water bottle for the run. I have found that I can tolerate the Powerbar Ironman Perform slightly diluted and I prefer fruit punch to orange, but I'll bet orange will be on the course, so I am making sure I can deal with it. Used it for my long runs and so far, so good.
I agree with everyone else, get the nutrition plan settled and stage from your car. It is crazy to carry a 6 hour bottle if you've never done it. Could ruin your day and then you really won't know what race day will be like. On the 4 keys, nutrition is part of the key. The last 3 weeks before the race and AFTER your RRs is NOT the time to figure out nutrition. I have been trying drinks and foods all summer in prep for this. Make a plan and work the plan.
Good luck.
I have not tried Powerbar perform however I was aware of the switch. I typically have very few problems with my stomach in general and in the past have not had much issue tolerating different brands of gu, gatorade, heed, or the much more common scenario my own drink mix during the bike followed by on course nutrition during the run. All of that being said, you are 100% right. I can't just assume that Powerbar Perform will work out for me without trying it and definitely will do a few runs with it in the coming weeks. I guess the perception of my apathy towards the run nutrition for this RR stems from my experience with run nutrition, any problems I've had tend to manifest later in the run than would be illuminated by the 6mi/1hr RR run.
As for everyone else, again thank you for the parking suggestions and the tough love, I'm definitely going to stage from Verona. In regards to nutrition, I am constantly trying new mixes throughout the season as well, I've settled into something that seems to work pretty well for me and I've re-adjusted my plan to utilize my car as a refill point. I'm currently planning on taking in ~1,300 calories split between 3 (230cal from CarboPro, 200 cal from EFS) fuel bottles to be consumed during the ride. Each bottle contains ~430 calories and I drink roughly one-half bottle per hour separate from my water source. This is what I have been doing during my long rides in the last half of the season with some variation, I of course don't consume as many total calories during shorter rides and prefer a thinner mix during higher intensity efforts. I've drank the same concentration in the past but tomorrow will be a more thorough test.
Anyway, feeling much better about the plan now, settling down at the hotel and getting ready for tomorrow. Thanks again for all the feedback and I'll be sure to report in how it all went.