Keith Buell IM Kona Race Plan
Keith’s Kona Race Plan
Aloha! This is going to be just my second IM, and my first long tri of the year. Last year I raced IMLP in 12:27 (1:12, 6:36, 4:25) and later did Savageman. This year, I wasn’t planning on doing an IM, but got a lottery spot and couldn’t turn it down.
My first IM last year went OK. I was several minutes faster on the swim than I expected. My bike average power was lower than planned, and I still had a lousy run. I don’t have the power numbers handy from the bike, but it was well below .70 IF and the VI got out of control on the second loop. I had planned to do 9 minute miles, but set off at 8:15 pace. The first half was about 2:00, and the second was 2:25 that consisted of 200 steps running/50 steps walking for the second half of the run. This was partly out of fear of totally blowing up—mentally I was prepared to go 15-20 minutes slower to prevent a total meltdown. Nutritionally, I had a great race. 300 calorie/hour Infinit triple concentrated into 900 calorie bottles, and a banana on the bike. I had gels every 40 minutes on the run, alternating water and sports drink. IN the past, I’ve had stomach issues during a HIM and a HM and 26.2, but was fine on race day in 72 degree cloudy weather.
Pre-Kona Training
I had a strange couple weeks in early August due to the strike at Verizon. I’m usually a lawyer, but was out in the field doing installation and maintenance for a week for 12 hours a day. I was able to get in 45 minutes at the pool or on the trainer each morning, but that was it. (Now I see why triathlon is mostly a white-collar sport. I had no inclination to work out after 12 hours in work boots.) My shin injury flared up, and I was back at my desk the second week of the strike. I didn’t run at all during those two weeks.
Swim: My swim has been great this year. I did a 4.4 OWS race in the Chesapeake without wetsuit, so I’m good for long distances. My 1000 yard TT was 40 seconds or so faster than last year. My 4224 yard RR was about 1:13. I swam 1:12 with a wetsuit at IMLP. I’ve had some calf/foot cramping in training, but I think that just comes from pushing off the wall and I’ll be fine in open water.
Bike: I’m finally comfortable in the aero bars for long stretches. I’m ashamed to say this, but I never really got in any FTP tests that I find reliable. I did 235 AP/265 NP for 42 minutes blasting the hills on my road bike with a lot of out-of-saddle time. And I averaged 211 AP for the last hour of a 4-hour ride on the tri-bike that also included some out-of-aero time, but I never did do a 2x20 (2’ rest) according to EN protocol. I’m going to say my aerobar FTP is 220. I did a 5:50/112 mile RR with 146 AP/149 NP. Second RR was 156 AP/169 NP. (These were totally different courses. The first RR was at the beach on perfectly flat ground; second was 6700 feet of climbing over 105 miles). I felt great after the first RR, not so great after the second.
Run: This is the wild card. I ran a 3:13 marathon last December, and was going great until my shin gave out on me at the end of July. I have medial tibial stress syndrome, but no full-fledged stress fracture. I stopped running for a couple weeks in early August, had a good run week in mid-August, then a couple more on and off periods. Long runs were 14 miles in late July, then got another 90 minute/11 mile run in mid August and got back to it in September with a 2 hour run + 30 min on the elliptical, and a 90 minute run. All the runs after July were on packed gravel. Yesterday was my first run on asphalt—I did 3 miles in Kona and felt pretty good afterwards, but could still feel my shin even if it wasn’t truly painful. In September, I made up about 2/3 of the runs on an elliptical for equal time, but I’m definitely not where I was when I got injured. I’ve got no clue what my VDOT is. The runs since I’ve started back have been slow, but I don’t want to push it. I think my legs will give out from the pounding before my heart/lungs/muscles give out from exertion.
Pre Race: Although I’ve spent the week 20 miles north of Kona at Waikoloa, I’ve got a condo less than a mile from the race start for the night before and the night after. I’ll get a pasta dinner with the family the night before, then head into town for an early bedtime. I’ll take two Ensures in the middle of the night, then a bagel, a banana, and a 20 ounce Coke when the alarm goes off at 4. This was my pre-IMLP breakfast, and it worked great.
Swim: I always take a gel 15 minutes before race start. I plan to line up left near the floating car a few rows back. I looked at the Slowtwitch Enhanced Results and see that my projected 1:18 will put me in the bottom 30%, so I’ll place myself accordingly. I breathe to the right, so the clockwise course is to my advantage. I swam in Kailua Bay Sunday morning and felt great, though I was swimming a little crooked. On the way back in, it seems like the best sighting reference is the radio tower just to the right of the King Kamehameha hotel. Is that right? My vision is 20/40 or so, and I swim without prescription goggles, so sometimes I can’t make out details from a long distance. I’m swimming in just my tri shorts—I couldn’t justify a $300 swim skin to save 30 seconds (if that), and I think that it will be faster to put on a jersey in T1 than to swim with it.
T1: After a quick freshwater splash, I’ll put some Chamois butter between my toes for blister prevention, put on thin socks and shoes, and helmet. Slather some more Chamois Butter in the appropriate place and hobble out to the bike in my shoes. I like to wear socks on the bike, so I don’t want to run out to my bike barefoot. I haven’t practiced flying mounts this year and see no need to save 10 seconds by doing so. I’m very fast in transition in shorter races, but see no need to rush here.
Bike: I rode the 60 miles from Waikoloa to Hawi and back on Sunday. The winds were relatively calm by island standards, but it still seemed pretty windy to me. I’ve got 404 front/808 back. I’m using Profile Design aerodrink up front for water, with my 900 calorie Infinit bottle on the seat tube. (My Felt has only one bottle mount on the frame.) I’m debating whether to keep another bottle on the back for cooling and splashing because I can’t do it with the fixed handlebar bottle. I tried to put a torpedo bottle up front, but it wasn’t working with my bar/stem/computer setup. I could try to just hose myself down at the aid stations with one bottle and grab a second to refill the Aerobottle. Do people think I’ll be able to swing that, or just I just suck it up and keep an extra bottle on the back despite the aero penalty? I understand that the bike special needs is at mile 60, so I’ll take an extra gel in my pocket because I’ll be past the three hour mark at this point.. I’ll get my second Infinit bottle at special needs. I plan to freeze it the night before, but it should be fully melted by this point. I can handle it warm, though, as well.
My pacing plan is 145 watts AP, probably 152 NP. This is below .68 IF if my FTP is right, but I don’t have a good sense of how I’ll handle the heat. I felt fine on my 3:30 ride to Hawi and back the other day and didn’t overheat, but I’d rather be conservative. I know I’m going to be slow and would rather finish comfortably than blow up. The last couple months in Virginia have been unseasonably cool. And I think my body prefers short hard efforts to long, steady ones, so I’d rather play it safe--and I still had a tough run at IMLP after playing it safe.
Goal time is 6:15.
T2: I’ll change socks and put some bodyglide between my toes to minimize blisters. Otherwise, put on my hat, put 3 or 4 vanilla gels in my pocket, and hit the road.
Run: This is the big question mark. Last year, I did 4:25 at IMLP but ran a 3:13 stand alone 4-5 months later, so I definitely screwed things up. My bike power in that race was below 300 TSS, but I still boogered the run. I was in great shape through July, and ran my 6 miles in late August during the RR at 7:45 pace and felt fine. My shin was sore, so I skipped the run in my second RR. It seems as though my easy pace has slipped 20 seconds per mile due to lack of running.
My plan is to go out at 9:00 to 9:15 min miles and hold on as long as my shin holds up and I tolerate the heat. I’ve noticed that on a cloudy day in Kona, it’s quite pleasant, but the real problem is the sun and not the air temperature. Luckily for me, I won’t start the run until 2:30 pm at the earliest, and won’t hit the Energy Lab until after 5, though I’ve heard that the first 10 miles on Ali’i is actually the hottest and most humid.
Unfortunately, I won’t be wearing the EN kit. I wore the jersey at IMLP, and it was too tight in the middle, and I was about to ask a volunteer for a knife or scissors to slice it up the middle toward the end of the run. And I want to wear white, so I’ll be out there in my tried-and-true Sugoi white jersey on a bright yellow Felt B2. My cheering section is 14 people strong, and I can’t wait until Saturday!
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