rookie big day - debrief
Because I'm heading out of town this weekend I did my big day a few days early (reworked the week's schedule to try to simulate what needed to be done and to ensure I wouldn't be totally wiped out).
I set my garmin the night before for the bike and run segments. I also made a smoothie and put it in the fridge. Since this was a 6 hour training day I sort of treated it like a race/RR... with a 1:30 am 500 cal smoothie... followed by a bagel with almond butter and cup of coffee when I got up around 5:45.
Swim: went to my gym and did the ladder (which, btw, I liked) and then another 600m to fill the hour. 3000m total. Felt pretty good for the most part.
I should point out it was a very warm and sunny day... temps were over 90 by the time I finished. I suspect they were in the mid to upper 80s when I started. The course I rode is not particularly shady... and is windy. I picked it bc it's Florida-esque.
Bike: As brutal as I knew it would be, I headed to Hains Point for the ride (for those of you who don't know, it's a flat and windy 3 mile loop... well, you can extend it and do a 5 mile loop - regardless, mind numbing - but FL will be flat and windy and boring so I figured it would be mental toughness points in the bank). I'm an HR athlete so, per the directions, after a 30' WU I was to settle in to my expected race pace for the next 2.5 hours. I wasn't entirely sure what that would be, but I know that my HIM strategy was Z3, so I figured something less than that. I set my Garmin for a range of Z2 to mid Z3. That seemed to work out fine (actually got a lot of "too low" beeps and for that 2.5 hours, my avg speeds were about 18-20. The last hour we were supposed to shoot for a negative split. That didn't happen. My head was starting to poop out on me... my legs felt okay for the most part (a few twinges now and again, but nothing horrible), my feet were starting to hurt. My speeds dropped to the 16-18 range for that last hour (and I was getting "too high" beeps from my garmin). All told, I logged 70.19 in the 4 hours. Stopping once, after 2 hours, to go to the bathroom. And stopping after 3 hours for more fluids in my car.
Bike nutrition: I started off with a hammer gel since I needed something post swim... I was riding with a dual chamber aquacell and more infinit in the cage - and my car nearby with a cooler. I set my watch to beep every 15' to remind me to drink... and I did. Sometimes drinking between the beeps. Because I know I don't/won't get through 20oz of infinit in an hour, I make concentrated bottles, 3 scoops per - so 2 bottles is 3 hours worth. I had 2.5 bottles with me... and I went through 1.5 (about 30 oz total) and drank somewhere between 30-50 oz water. And it was HOT and I was drinking... I know this isn't enough (but I was hydrated... taking a bathroom break in the middle) and think that for the RR I'll set my watch to beep every 10'. By the RR I should have my new bike and the speedfill...which carries 40oz... so in theory I should fill that sucker up to start and at special needs and be okay. I hope! But, knock on wood, I've never gotten through all the infinit I should and haven't bonked at my two HIMs, the RRs for those HIMs, etc... so, so far so good. Oh, I also took an S!Cap to start the ride and another every hour. I took 3 sport legs at the 3 hour mark.
Run: I put the bike in the trunk. Went to the bathroon and rinsed my face off and wet my hair down... Changed shoes and put on my visor. Had my fuel belt with me with 2 7oz bottles of infinit run and 2 7oz bottles of water (with 1 more of each in the cooler in case I needed them). Had a gel. Wiped off with a wet wipe, reapplied spray sunscreen. Took another S!Cap and got going. The watch didn't beep at me, but the few times I looked down I was going too fast so I told myself to slow down. it was super duper hot and sunny and I was shocked to be too fast. While riding the endless loop I decided that half the course was shadier than the other half so I decided to go out and back on that side of the road, turning around where there was a water fountain. I stuck to that plan - it was about a mile from my car... I opted to keep my beanie with me and am glad I did - at the water fountain I'd drink, dump water on my head, and wet that down. My LRP is 10:20 and my avg for that 30 minutes was 10:18. Right on target. The last 30 minutes should have been Z2, about a 9:00 pace- I think I was there for the first mile then nowhere close. The directive was to negative split, so at least I did manage to do that. Last 30 minutes my pace avg was around 9:45 - for 5.97 miles total in the hour.
I had a towel and dry clothes with me. Stretched, wiped off, put on dry clothes, grabbed my coconut water...and called it a day. After making a SB pit stop for food (and 3 more sport legs capsules) and a super big and decadent mocha (well, it was a no-whip, skim, but still... ) I went home, took a shower, and pulled on my Zoot recovery tights. Ahh..... sooooooo glad today is a day off.
I will say, that was one heck of a tough day - I think the weather was a huge roadblock but managed to get through it. I wanted to quit a few times, I'll admit it. But knowing Nathalie (also training for IMFL) did her big day the day before in similarly sticky weather kept me going. She didn't quit, so I couldn't. And I was channeling Nemo, too. I couldn't complain about sun and heat when she boarded up her house to flee Earl. But, instead of "big day" for rookies, this day should be: "so, you want to be an Ironman? [scoff] chew on this!
Comments
That is a crazy tough mental test, doing that loop for that long and then running there. Way to go, Becky. That is a big day.
Good on ya!