Help Me with FL 70.3 RR plan

trijedi

 2011 Florida 70.3 RR [First and Last]

 

I have questions...

1. What is an appropriate IF for the bike ride given the expected high heat/humudity?

2. How to handle nutrition? Dilute my 250 cal per 20 oz Infinit?

3. Help me understand why some leave the swim out of RR. For a slower swimmer like me, it

   seems that the additional 45 minutes will have impacts that I need to know about...

4. I've started "overdressing" for my workouts to simulate higher heat. Is this a good idea for a

   longer workout such as the RR?

5. Is it better to overdress for heat adaptation purposes, or to wear what I will wear to race?

   My race gear is not new and is quite familiar to me.

   

Background

Live in Southern California - train outside

Age 54

Did Nov OS - finished March 2011

FTP started at 200 and ended at 222 on road bike

FTP test on tri bike on 4/26/2011 was 208

VDOT started at 32 and ended at 36 (26:30 5K)

Swam 1000TT in 17:57 ~1:50/100yd on 3/20/2011

Swam 2200 yds in pool in 44:00 on 4/22/2011

Weight at start 195, now 190 at 5'10"

Added a few longer rides during OS - rode Solvang Double Century March 26, 2011

Did Oceanside 70.3 in March 2010 in 7:0x BOP

Did Florida 70.3 in May 2010 in 6:30:24 MOP

    Swim 46:14

T1 4:26

Bike 2:53:40 [IF of .796 with VI of 1.08, FTP 205]

T2 3:46

Run 2:42:18 [walking started during 2nd of 3 loops]

Started Week 7 of HIM Intermediate plan after 2 weeks transition

 

 Draft RR Plan

 

 Ride tri bike to pool (2 miles)

 Swim at local pool starting at 11:30 am

 Transition on pool deck sticking goggles and cap in jersey pocket

 Ride 2 miles in pursuit bars to bike trail

 Ride minimum (50 miles or 3 hours) on the bike trail

     There is a park for water refill or bio break

I'll have to turn around but no stop signs or lights

Friday afternoon will have a minimum of family traffic

Power Goals

Based on FTP of 208 and using an IF of 0.79

Expected Race Day ride 2:45 - 3:00

Goal TSS of 172 as per spreadsheet

Power Gears - 1st 156 AP; 2nd 164; 3rd 173; and 4th 181

Goal VI of 1.05 for RR, 1.04 for the race

 Ride 2.5 miles in pursuit bars to office

 Transition at office

 Run to Greenway trail and head east [pace 11:30?]

 Turn back in 35 minutes and pick up the pace [9:30?]

 

 Gear - Desoto Shorts

        ? Either Tri top,

or base layer with long sleeved jersey (that will look funny in the pool, hmmm?) that I'll

somehow put on after I swim

 

 Gadgets

    No watch for swim?

Garmin strap for swim

Joule for bike

Garmin 310XT for bike and run

HRM strap

 

 Nutrition

    My normal pre-event breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast 4 hrs before go time

    10 oz of sports drink in the hour before the swim

10 oz of water and 2 shot bloks (65 cals) 15 minutes before swim

20-24 oz of Infinit per hour

1 bottle at planned concentration (on aero bars)

1 bottle at planned concentration (on seat tube)

10 oz flask at 2x concentration to mix with water

20 oz bottle of half strength sports drink for the run [get at T2]

jwpicciotto

Didn't quite understand your question about dilution of Infinit at the top of the post. However, your hydration looks light on the bike. Don;t know what the weather you will be riding in there in SoCal is like right now, but only 24 ounces of fluid an hour will probably tip you towards dehydration. Definitely in the event you will need to take down more fluid. That said, always separate the concept of nutrition from hydration, ie, don't plan on watering down the Inifinit to get more liquid. The issue with doing this is that if the conditions are different than you predicted, you will be stuck taking down more fluid than you need, or less calories as you try to adjust to lower temps. You might look at concentrating the Inifinit in the bottle on the aerobars and carrying water on the seat tube.

On what to wear, dressing heavier isn't really going to give you a huge amount of heat adaption for this. It isn't going to simulate a blazing sun with no shade or 90% humidity. For the RR I usually wear a jersey so I have plenty of pockets for my crap.

On the impact of heat/humidity on IF for the bike, I don't think that you should see a huge impact. The air flow should counteract the majority of the impact of heart rate drift due to the temps. This is not true for the run. Some of the geekier members may be able to provide more detail on any impact you should see.

Good luck.

trijedi

@John - The Wiki suggests only 150-200 calories/hour for HIM (as opposed to IM). My Infinit solution at standard concentration will give 250 calories/hour. I could simply drink less of Infinit and more plain water to get the smaller number of calories while still satisfying my hydration needs. To me that sounds the same as diluting the concentration of the Infinit.

I saw your comments on Dottie's RR and understand that the liquid in the Infinit should be counted for hydration. I did a sweat test last weekend but don't have the numbers in front of me but indeed it was more like 48 oz/hour. Before trying the Infinit, I would just use half strength Gatorade as my sole liquid with a couple of shot bloks each hour. Now I see how / why that worked. My intake was about 40-48 oz of liquid with about 200 gatorade calories and 65 shot blok calories.

The Florida 70.3 website says that there will be aid stations at Miles 20, 31, and 43. If I grab only 20 oz of water at each stop, I'll be cutting it a little close. I only plan to have two places for bottles AND one of them is for the Infinit. How do others handle this?

tuckerm

@Rubin, have you thought of just one bottle super concentrated of Infinit for the whole race? That is what lots do. Seems to work well. As for the water situation, I plan on using this for my upcoming races. Grab a bottle at the beginning of the aid station and start chugging it. Then pour some over your head. Throw it away and grab another bottle. Learned this from Rich I believe.

trijedi

@Tucker - That sounds smart. I can do that - both in the race and in tomorrow's RR. Thanks!

scottwstewart

@ Rubin, one more thing to think about is your salt intake. I believe the guidance in the Wiki is to take 500-1000 mg per hour. Since it sounds like your race will likely be hot and humid you'll likely want to be on the higher side of that range (depending on how salty your sweat is). If your Infinit doesn't have enough salt in it, then I would suggest using salt tablets.

Coach Patrick

I think the TEAM hooked you up here. My only thoughts. Increase interval for fluids from every 15' to every 10'. And maybe browse through Dr. K's writings...

http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/108/Default.aspx?topic=Monitoring+Hydration+Status

zildgen

@ Rubin I agree with coach P and might even suggest taking a drink every 5 min. I live and train in SoFl and will easily lose 50-70 oz/hr on a ride. To keep up with that loss on the bike I drink every 5 min. I will alternate concentrated nutrition bottle with an equal volume of water (my concentrate is tripled so 1 sip concentrate with 2 sips water) with just water. I also use a PD aqua cell so I can carry 50 oz water and drink water w/o coming out of aero. I carry the concentrated 24 oz bottle on my down tube. I would also second the suggestion to look at you salt intake. I am a heavy sweater with a very salty sweat and I take in ~ 600-800 mg/hr depending on the heat and humidity. Finally, I'll be racing in Orlando with you so hope to see ya there.

trijedi

2011 Florida 70.3 RR [First and Last]

Did my RR on a Friday midday to
1) avoid weekend bike trail crowds, and
2) catch some afternoon heat

Rode bike 2 miles down to pool.
Started with a 45 minute swim of warm up plus 2200 yds in a SCY pool.
Hopped out of the pool, put on a jersey, and other bike stuff and rode 2 miles to bike trail.

Started my "official" data collection when on the bike trail.
Construction limited the unobstructed distance to about 11 miles with parks at miles 3 and 10
for bio breaks and refilling water bottle.
I put 5 scoops of Infinit into a 24 oz bottle to last 3 hours -> 215 calories / hour.
The concentrated nutrition went on the aerobars with a water bottle on the seat tube.
I ended up consuming 3.5 x 24 bottles of water plus the Infinite = 32 oz / hour.
A sweat test puts me around 36 oz / hr.

There was a bit of a wind which is my excuse for mashing. I also need to work on putting
out more power when I have a tailwind; I think I become satisfied with my speed when I really
need to keep on pushing... Anyway, here is the data - both last year's FL 70.3 ride and the RR ride.

2010 Race Performance
Entire workout (151 watts):
Duration: 2:52:39
Work: 1563 kJ
TSS: 181.7 (intensity factor 0.796)
Norm Power: 163
VI: 1.08
Pw:HR: 5.34%
Pa:HR: 6.09%
Distance: 55.795 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 543 151 watts
Heart Rate: 119 148 137 bpm
Cadence: 30 206 76 rpm
Speed: 0 31.8 19.4 mph
Pace 1:53 0:00 3:05 min/mi
Altitude: 88 211 136 ft

2011 RR Performance on 4/29/2011
Entire workout (154 watts):
Duration: 3:05:41 (3:10:41)
Work: 1713 kJ
TSS: 183.5 (intensity factor 0.774)
Norm Power: 163
VI: 1.06
Pw:HR: 3.64%
Pa:HR: 4.28%
Distance: 54.88 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 469 154 watts
Heart Rate: 103 140 132 bpm
Cadence: 30 136 72 rpm
Speed: 0 25.7 17.7 mph
Pace 2:20 0:00 3:24 min/mi
Altitude: 20 338 114 ft
Temperature: 75.2 84.2 79.0 Fahrenheit

Note that the NP is the same but the RR ride had me at a lower heart rate (cooler). The TSS
was higher because of the increased time. I suspect it is the wind and obstacles on the bike trail
that account for the slower speed since the power is about the same as is my position on the bike.
Another year of riding with power is responsible for the RR VI of 1.06 versus the race's VI of 1.08.
Without wind and pit stops, I should be able to be fairly steady.

I started the ride in 1st gear (154 watts). Unfortunately, I never seemed to make it to 2nd gear of 162.
It's funny - some people use a powermeter to make sure that they don't go too hard. I need a powermeter
so I don't go too easy and even then it doesn't always work. I think I want to race a little hotter - closer to .79 than to .77. I'll see how the taper makes me feel on race day and adjust accordingly.

After the ride, I transitioned to the run with a drink of gatorade. It took some effort to keep my pace down in the first mile or two. At mile 3, I had some water and then tried to pick up the pace. After about 1/2 mile, I slowed back down to MP+30 pace. The lesson is that I do indeed need nutrition on the run.