IMCDA RR #1
Got the RR#1 done last Saturday...here are the details.
Starting Friday, ate and hydrated as before actual race, with swim RR early Friday morning. Swim went well, 1:07 and change for 4200 in OW swim venue we do alot of practice in. Swim about where I was leading into IMC last year.
Didn't sleep well Friday night, so again, just like IM ! Got up at 4:30 and had breakfast and started hydrating. Didn't take any additional salt in as the temps were predicted to be relatively cool, for SC at least. We had decided to do our RR as part of an organized group ride, which had all the makings of a cluster, but at least we would see some friends, have some other bike traffic to deal with, and could practice staying out of drafts...turns out, we were quickly off the front so drafting never really was an issue. What was an issue was following the course, which we hadn't ridden before...several wrong turns and we ended up with a couple miles extra credit.
Jeff and I arrived at start early so we could ride 11 miles, before actual start, in order to get 112 in.
Planned nutrition was 1400 cals Infinit, in 2 large bottles, along with 1 water. Figured I'd have one stop to refill for water only. I've raced several IM's with this strategy, and it works well...only caveat, if the race is warmer, will need to supplement with additonal S caps.
Bike setup as training wheels, clothing all training, etc...no fancy race stuff. Will save that for RR#2. Target power of 210 for first hour, then 220 from there. Stay aero as much as possible. Final stats..221w NP, 21.0 mph, 5:18 ride time, 1 water stop as planned. Wattage a little higher than planned, but maintained a 1.04 VI on a course with +- 4000' of climbing, and made a point to coast > 32 mph on downhills. Only rough patch was on hilly, rough road section miles 80-100...
Into "transition", which was somewhat slow, but out for 6 mile run at planned pace of 8:30. Trying the Infinit product "Napalm" and the jury is still out...experienced some GI discomfort on run that I don't want on race day...pretty much nailed the run with 30 steps at miles 3,4,5 and final ave pace of 8:31. Legs were clearly still fatigued from 18 mile run on Thursday...by the way, who wrote THAT into an RR week ????
Lessons learned....stay with bike nutrition/hydration plan as its tested, and works. Test other solutions for run...maybe just go with what's on course, although I don't like the Perform taste . Something to sort out. Be sure to pace properly in first hour of bike and run...really makes a difference later on.
Went ahead and rode another 2 hours Sunday morning, JRA. Sunday afternoon, ate too much at Mom's, then crashed . Went to bed at 7:30 and didn't get out of bed til 6 am , and still sluggish this morning. Gonna take a rest day today, drink lots of water, hopefully to be back on it tomorrow.
Overall grade for RR SBR - B+...just need to be sure and do nothing stupid for next 5 weeks !