Big Day for IMFL prep: Was it the spicy Tacos??
I conducted a Big Day of training this past Friday for IMFL. Overall the day went really well. I made a couple of mistakes which I’m hoping are just a matter of circumstance. I had a few limiters such as, being tired and not wanting to wake up extra early to get my breakfast in and promising to take my daughter out to dinner which resulted in me eating some hot peppers in my Fish Tacos. I think both of these factors played a roll on the run
Pre Big day Eating
Thursday Morning-
Breakfast: Greek yogurt, Pancakes, Eggs, potato
Snack: pretzels
Lunch: Meatball grinder, Gatorade
Dinner: fish tacos, realized half way through that it was spicy.
Friday:
6:45: 2 cups of Apple sauce, powerbar, 20 oz of Gatorade, Banana
Drop daughter off at school
Sipping on Gatorade in the car.
8:30am-Standing on my local beach which I had all to myself. Swim was in a standard bathing suit and my “Safe Swimmer” float. The sun is shinning, it was already a little warm out, and there was an awesome feeling on the beach. I was feeling good, mentally I was ready for the day. There were only two other swimmers in the water so I basically had the 110 acre lake all to myself. I felt very smooth in the water and except for the few times I could have sworn I was being attacked by a Lake Monster (lust a branch and a leaf) the swim was uneventful. According to Map My Tri, I think I swam just under 2.0 Miles in 56 minutes. I’ve done all my swims so far as Open Water Swims. I’m very comfy in the water now, my spotting has improved and ability to swim in a straight line has gone up.
Out of the water, in the car, drive 15 minutes or so to Prince William County Forest Park to do endless loops or out and backs. The course is almost like a closed road. Easy places to park, lots of porta potties. Its nearly a perfect place to train. The back section of the loop is very hilly with some sections that require you to put up north of 200Watts just to stay upright. There is a flat/false flat section that allow you to stay aero for long periods of time. I stuck mainly to the flat section but did do the hilly section a few times.
Bike Stats: FTP is 215
Temperature started at 82 degrees and was 93 degrees by the end.
Ride time 4:00: 36
Distance: 71.1Miles
Work 2135
TSS: 185
IF: .68 (this is my current Goal race IF.)
Ave Pwr: 136
Normalized Pwr: 146
VI: 1.07
Moving Ave Speed: 17.74
Gain : 3216
Did 30 minute intervals starting with IF of .65 ramping up to .71 with my last being at .65. This was the most consecutive time I’ve spent trying to ride at my race pace. I blame the higher VI on the hills. I was playing the game of how low can I keep my watts on some of those hills and one section was over 200Watts. I push the pedal down and the wheel spins the same amount. That’s the type of incline I’m talking about.
Peed numerous times throughout the 4 hours. I was well hydrated,
Nutrition on the bike: The biggest change I’ve made since last season is not concentrating my Infinit and not drinking water. Only doing sports drink.
40 Oz of Infinit- 500 Calories
126 oz of Perform-1100 Calories
4 power gels -440 Calories
510 Cal/hour
Overall on the bike, I felt good. Upper body was a little tight after the swim but overall I was feeling totally alert, in the moment, and focused the entire time I was on the bike. Could have easily kept going longer.
Quick change at the car. Smartest thing I did was I had two frozen 60oz water jugs. So by the time I was needing to cool off the water was still really cold. This was a life saver and really allowed me to run. I got totally soaking wet with cold water and headed out for a two loop run. I didn’t want to get 30 minutes away from my car so I elected to only run 15 minutes out then come back and cool off again.
As soon as I started running I felt a little bloated. Legs felt good but my stomach was not great. I ended up getting a cramp but ran through it.
Run stats:
6.71 miles in 55:58 (Peak OS Vdot was 51, training with 49)
Mile 1: 8:01
Mile 2: 8:17
Mile 3: 7:50
Mile 4: 7:49
Mile 5: 8:55 (potty break)
Mile 6: 8:11
.79 in 6:54
Average pace on the run was 8:14. Besides the stomach issues of not feeling great it wasn’t terrible, I’m just worried about how this issue would have played out by mile 20.
I felt like I could have kept running. Especially if I had actually run at my 8:40 EP.
Overall, Lost 4lbs on the day. Considering the heat, I think that’s pretty good.
My thought on the day.
Fitness is definitely there, just need to keep training and I will be ready.
Mentally, all of this is so much easier for IM season number two versus season one.
I think My stomach issues were caused by possibly taking to many calories on the bike and will do my first RR with less/hour BUT I also think the spicy tocos and not eating my breakfast early enough allowing my system to “empty” multiple times that morning played a large roll as well.
Questions:
If you are off water and it is 90 degrees outside how do you avoid taking in so many calories. I feel like I need at least 40oz of fluid to stay hydrated. That adds up to a lot of calories.
I was peeing a lot the first two hours, should I have backed off the fluid intake thus backing off the calories.
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Comments
Regarding your target IF, is that from the WIKI? For some reason I thought IM was .70 if your split was going to be over 6hrs. I better get that right, so if you have the link, let me know!
Funny that you mention too many calories to get in the right amount of fluid.... I just posted that question in the Nutrition forum as part of my sweat test inquiry (I gained 1.2lbs) I don't think I need that much fluid, but still found myself taking in more than I was even burning (in Z3). I may try maybe 1 bottle of water for every 3 of sports drink. I happen to like my sports drink stronger too so I need at least 3 scoops per bottle. Depending on what I'm using, that is 200-300 calories per 20oz. bottle.
Great job on BIg Day!
First time at 500, yep.
From their website:
Each tube of Nuun contains 12 tablets. Each tablet makes 16 oz. of Nuun, and delivers 360 mg Sodium / 100 mg Potassium / 25 mg Magnesium / 13 mg Calcium
Nothing that you don’t: Less than 1g of carbs, fewer than 8 calories. No sugar. No high-fructose corn syrup. No artificial flavors or colors.
Nate- Got it. I looked at that power file and I should be at 67% or lower. There was some other guidance here, but I think based on my HIM, lower is better!
http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/108/Default.aspx?topic=Race+Execution+(Ironman)
and as far as the BTD goes, looks like a pretty good day to me. Just looking at the run paces suggests that the bike was smart. I would just warn that going 30'' faster per mile on this day is good for confidence but I don't know if I would try that big of a jump on race day. IF it came back to haunt you, you'll never see it coming til it's too late
Much better than my BTD #2, I was cooked before I got outta bed.
I will run much more conservative on race day....trust me..
http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/108/Default.aspx?topic=Ammended+(Temporarily)+Racing+IM+and+HIM+with+Powe