First IM RR this weekend- questions
Up for the first big training day for me in the IM plan, just came off the 1/2 IM plan so want to make sure I have this figured out. I read all the wiki stuff on guessing your race time, then pinpointing an IF to give yourself the watts you want to aim for race day. A couple of questions for the expereinced folk;
1. My Half Iron time was an avg of 30 km/h (or 18.6 mph), I felt good completing this pace, my PM cut out halfway on the bike but up to the poinbt it was working was .74, guessing I averaged out around .74-.75. What would be a good IF to gauge for an IM? No idea what to guess for on a finish time for IMC- I'd 'like' to finish in about 6:15, not sure if that is realisitic or not. I am thinking about doing my test ride of 4 hours this weekend at a .72 to see how that feels.
2. I know, realistically that the IM run is not going to happen in an ideal manner for me. Coming off an injury, I am going to be walking a significant portion of the course just as a function of loss of run fitness since the injury occured, and the fact if I try to run a marathon on a half healed foot I'll likely rupture something. So... would I want to try to bike harder (say .74) than if I was able to run well? Or will that not work. Just playin with some ideas... thanks!
Comments
Which is a long winded way of saying, yeah sure, try 0.72 for the 4 hour Big Training Day ride to see how running after that feels.
FWIW, after my first RR for an IM (with an IF of 0.68) I didn't think I could run to the end of the street, let alone a full marathon — when I posted here asking how tired I should expect to be after 180 km on the bike, everyone told me that what I felt was normal and that you do get to feel a bit better after some running (although nothing really prepares you for trying to run after that length of bike).
Of course in a race, everything is different and you are excited so you are in a much better place then (at least for the first part of the run).
Based on the data you provide, I would aniticpate a "good" bike time @ IMC for you would be ~ 6:30, @ IF = 0.69. No sense in walking any more than you have to (26.2 miles is a LOOOOONG way, even if only half of it is walked), so don't overly tire yourself out on the bike. EG, if you biked 15 minutes faster, but had to walk say, 15 miles instead of 10, that is not only ~50+ minutes longer, but also way more boring and frustrating.
With a good/should bike split, you may surprise yourself with how much you can run. Even if it is at a slower pace than you think you are capable of, it is ALWAYS faster than walking.
Did more persuing of the wiki this morning ( I really should be working but feel like I need to know!!) and discovered more stuff about + 6hr IM rides and to keep the IF at .7. So, that is what I will do on Saturday, test it out, see how it feels. Will be an interesting ride since I'm going out with a guy that doesn't follow a training plan, is hoping to finish in 12:30, and just hammers on the bike with NO plan whatsoever. I will be the steadty turtle- not a slow turtle, just a steady one :-)
Thanks for the responses!
RR this weekend was a huge success... however I did fall into the trap of riding a little harder because I was riding with someone else, it was too tempting to pass and hold a faster pace on the uphills!! I chose to ride a little harder because I still have 9 weeks to practice steady riding on my long, lonely rides by myself, and felt after missing some of the harder workouts the prior weekend due to racing I could use the work
.
It was interesting to watch my training partner ride his way vs the EN method. He headed out HARD the first hour, on gently rolling hill terrain, he HAMMERED up the first half of the hills, standing, and coasting on the way down. Hard to ride behind a non-steady rider, I did not want to pass him at first, becasue he'd take off on the next up hill, but I eventually did. The second hour he hung back and was told me he'd ride with me the next while then go settle in at his "planned race pace speed" the last hour. The second half of the course was all hills... and I just held steady (if not up to 20w above my prescribed watts) on the up hills and hammered on the downhills- about 3/4 of the way through the hilly section he commented on how I was making him work too hard on the hills, he was having a really hard time keeping up. Then he bonked at 100 kms.... having never done that myself on a ride I had very little sympathy- I love eating WAY too much to bonk, but the poor guy was just having a hard time standing, so we took a 15 min break so he could recover.
I LOVED my PM on this ride, I felt strong, knew exactly how I was riding and really enjoyed being able to keep up to a guy... not sure I could have kept up if it was a flat course but I do love my hills!! We did 120 kms (75 miles) in 4 hrs (not including the break!) which is really a huge PB for me especially for a hilly course- super stoked about that!! I can see the IM Canada ride happening now, makes me excited for the rest of the training to see what I can do race day!
Goal watts for the ride were supposed to be 140, I ended up with a NP of 144, and an IF of .74 instead of .70. , and a VI of 1.09. Not ninja style execution, but I had SO MUCH FUN... slapped myself on the hand and won't do it again, I promise....
I experimented a bit with rpms on the uphills this ride- and for some reason my legs seemed to prefer riding at 100-105 rpms on the uphills- and it felt great. I usually ride at 85-90 on the uphills, but I think I may try continuing with this new technique, I liked it.
Positive reinforcement Plus. There's nothing wrong with IF 0.74 on a 4 hour ride, just about perfect. You didn't mention if you ran afterwards.