Ebe's Take on Race Day...I think
With great expectations comes great responsibility…I am trying to avoid both on race day J
Friday:
Put my kids on the bus and get some good luck hugs
Drive to Wisconsin (3 hours)
Check in at my own pace at the terrace
Check in to my hotel
Team Dinner
Athlete meeting
(I think there is a talk to go to somewhere in here???)
Saturday:
Sleep in J
Go to I-Hop and eat pancakes with yummy syrup on them with my Family J
Take one last spin on my bike to make sure we are happy together and there are no hard feelings over my wheel and tire selection.
Take my stuff to bike check in
Eat lunch with Family and friends…
Chilll…..eat….chill….eat…..sleep
Race Day (formally known as Sunday, Patriots Day, and September 11th)
2 am…Drink 500 Calories…sleep
4am…Wake up…Start drinking 300 more calories+ coffee
Shower/Shave/Drop a deuce/ pee…whatever moves me
Put on my race kit (Gear West speed suit with EN tri top and HR strap underneath)
Get picked up by my wife who will be staying elsewhere on Saturday night (BEST TRI SHERPA EVER!!!!)
Go to race venue
Drop off bags
Fill up tires, aero bottle, put frozen fuel bottle on bike
Hang out near water with my peeps…pee myself in my wetsuit for good luck
Get in the water and swim 20-30 yards…yep, I can still float and breath at the same time…we’re good
SWIM: 1:20
I plan on starting on the far side of the ski jump…maybe to the back…but like Trevor Garson did last year…
Swim hard until I feel like I have swam for 400-500 yards…look for some drafting help…get the poop knocked out of me by 2000 other bad swimmers
Get out of the water…kiss the ground as the strippers pull of my wetsuit…run the helix to T1
T1…get my helmet and race # on(might wear it in the water) grab my shoes, gloves(if its cold) and goody bag and run to my bike…put on my shoes and run to mount line
Bike: 6:15
Ride out of town easy and relaxed… get to Verona and be riding at my target watts (145) Ride smart for 6+ hours…conserve energy and use momentum as much as possible…let gravity do the work for me. I will drink from my 3hour feed bottle every 20 minutes…drink from my aero bottle every 10…even if it is just a sip…get 2nd feed bottle from special needs bag (Note: I will have a 3 hour baggie with me incase something goes wrong at special needs and I will mix on the fly if need be)…stay inside my box and be a EN bike course Ninja. At the end of the 2nd loop I will ride back to Madison with laser like focus and pass all the meatheads who whooped me on the hills . When I am at mile 107 I will turn on my gramin so it can find a satellite.
T-2…take my shoes off and unclip helmet as I enter the building. Unzip my speed suit as I go to grab my bag. Get to the chairs and have some nice dude pull down my speed suit so I can take it off. Put on shorts, socks, shoes, and take off with race belt, hat and goodie bag (2 roctane, 4 stick gum, 4 salt tabs, 4 caffeine pills, 4 Ibuprofen) and get out of dodge
Run: 4:05
Start out with my 9:15-9:30 pace for the first 6 miles. Convert to 8:30-8:45 pace for the next 12. (I plan to walk for 20” on the first 15 aid stations and go for 30” on the last 10) At mile 18, or somewhere around there I will start running for other people…
19. Randy D (fighting pancreatic cancer right now)
20. Tim (cancer patient who taught me about curage)
21. Mom and Dad (all the time they watched my kids while I trained)
22. Carl N (Who didn’t get to race this year, and should be finishing by now)
23. My wife (Best tri Sherpa ever!!!)
24. Uwen (my son who gives me a high five every day and tells me to “go be awesome dad”)
25 Sage (my oldest son who asked when he gets to do his Ironman)
26. Randy M (Hiked to the top of Machu-Piccu with only 1 leg and cancer filling his lungs)
.2 For Me…because that is all there is at the finish line…YOU
If I have the perfect day…I could go 11:20ish
If I have a good day…I could go 11:45ish
If I have the day I expect…I could go 12:00ish
If I have a few problems…I could go 12:30ish
In a normal day, 70 minutes does not seem like that big of a deal…but on Sept 11th 2011, it will mean the difference between perfect and something went wrong.
I hope you can find humor in my race prep…The hay is in the barn and I have rehearsed this in my head to nauseam…just ask my wife J
I will gladly take any and all advice for race day from my team…because that is why we are all here
To all my teammates, lets go out and have a great day…and then tell some stories of meat heads on the hills over a few beers!!!
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Comments
* Maybe pack along some spare drugs/s-caps? It is so easy to drop things while being Ironman-racing dumb.
* List of what you are putting in your bags?
p.s. Gentle reminder to turn Garmin on early if you have one. It takes forever for them to pick up satellites in Mad-town.
As a member of Team Pink Bikini/Tutu EN Chica cheering section, I look forward to cheering for you on race day!
Swim-bike bag= Helmet, shoes, gloves, race belt, sunglasses(if I don't leave them on the bike) nutrition back up bag (3 hr bottle mix, 2 roctaine, 6 salt tabs, 4 sticks gum)
Bike special needs= 2 baggies, 1 frozen fuel bottle. 1 baggie has equipment for flats(1 tube and 2 co2), other has more nutrition(salt tabs and gum)
Bike-run=socks, shoes, race belt, ziplock bag with hat, sunglasses, nutrition bag
Run special needs= Duct tape, nutrition baggy(same as above),pictures of my family in a zip lock in case I am needing a boost
I hope I didn't forget anything
I like the plan and be sure to stick with it. You are going to tear this animal apart. I will be at mile 18 waiting for you and the others to give you that final push and then will be at the finish line.
Good plan carrying emergency back up powder in case something goes wrong.