IMFL Race Rehearsal

morpheus

 Friday Swim:

cut short due to time constraints, but got an ez paced 3k in, roughly 65min.

 

Bike:  

Took along a nonEN buddy, Keith, and met up with EN's Chad Scott and Steven Cummings.  Cannot stress enough how big of a difference this made.  7 hours?  Yep, Misery loves company.  No way anyone was bugging out when there's 3 others doing the same thing!  We hit the only flat stretch available in Atlanta, an old Rails-to-Trails path that goes on forever, long stretches of 1-2%'s that closely mimiced PCB.

Set alarm for 4, forgot to turn it on tho.  Luckily, woke up at 4:30, quickly downed the AppleSauce B'fast recommended by Jesse.

Nutrition...3 scoops Perform in 1 bottle per hour, 1 PowerBar Gel per 30'', 1 SaltStick Cap per hour.  Roughly 410 cals, 90g carbs, north of 1000mg Na+.  These numbers add up well for me, but I'm wondering about the actual 'Fluid' being a little low.  But, I've done this for the big stuff for the last 2 weeks and I haven't had any probs.

Survived the killa fanged bunnies that were waiting to ambush us, and the Ol Wobbly Guy who tried to road hit me head on, and the big snake that I ran over, yes, it was poisonous, they are ALL poisonous.

goal watts were 175-180.  but due to the long stretches of 2%, the ups were around 170-190 and the downs were around 130-150.  brought my Pnorm down from the goal but not worried about that right now.  At times, I felt like 175-180 might turn out to be a little high but I was going to let my run legs decide that in the end.

did notice that the underside of my left heel became super tight over the last  hour, kept trying to stretch it out about every 15' while coasting a bit.  would monitor it on the run.

end result was 105.5mi in 5:28

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/225725030

 

Run:

After 2 gels in T2 and a saltstick cap,   packed Fuel Belt with 4 flasks of Perform to swig on at mile splits.  goal pace was to start with 10' miles and then ease into 9:30's.

Heel was a non factor, no carry over at all on the run.  Leg strength and engine felt really good right off the bat.  10' pace immediately dropped to below 9:30's and soon was down to 9's.  OK fine.  Won't do that on race day but today was ok.  This wasn't a push,  just a steady pace.  RR directions state not to "test your run fitness" and I never felt like I was going harder than aerobic.  I'll back off to the 9:30s on Nov 3rd.

Once again, makes me wonder about my guesstimated vdot.  As I explained to RR companions, I'm super nervous about testing these days cuz I don't have time to nurse a blown calf back in time for race day.  I have pulled my calf, or inflamed that Posterior Tibial Tendon, just about every time I've tested and it takes at least 4 weeks to get back to running.

end result was 6.01mi in 54:50

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/225725064

 

Thanks all for any feedback.

novaavant

Chris great job! I think your numbers are solid and I would stick with it. Race day if you feel great then you can push harder but we're too close to race for injuries to creep in, just my thought.
My core race plan has me at 2 bottle per hour based on sweat test and front loading more if weather is hot and backing down as I start to pee. You might want to do sweat test to confirm your fluid loss so you can be sure to nail hydration.

morpheus

You're right, I do need to do that.

Gordon Cherwoniak

Chris,

Nice job on the RR. I realize that you were a little concerned with the 175-180 FTP setting but you are probably leaving some time on the table going 130-150 on the down hill sections especially if they are only 2%.  In the end it's getting to the run and being able to execute that so don't do anything too crazy on the bike.

As for the vdot good call not to do a test if you are continuously getting injured. 

Gordon

Pina

Chris this looks pretty good. If 415 cal/hr works for you great, stick with it. Research says that once you get over 250cal/hr your body stops absorbing it. I know tons of endurance athletes that go up to 400. Personally I've raced with those numbers too and I simply lose speed. SO do what works but know that you're on the high side of calorie consumption. Keep at'er for the next 3 weeks... then we get to taper... : )

morpheus

@ Gordon - agree with you, felt like work after 3-5 miles of 2% ups but stuck with it cuz I knew that 3-5 miles of 2% downs were coming. I looked at it in the same way that you saw it.

@ Sukhi - I used to just go big with the 400 cal cuz I was bigger. Then, as I trimmed down a bit, I learned that it was too much and I saw progress with cals in the 250 range. But, after listening to the webinar with Jesse, I'm going back up. I've paid attention to the fact that it's what you're getting with the calories, not just how many calories. And I stepped it down from the bike (400ish) to the run (200ish). I crunched the numbers from that webinar. I'm going to revisit it to fine tune some things in the next week. I'll dig a little deeper. thanks!

John Withrow

Chris, nice RR. I don't have much to add other than I am also not planning to do another run test. I have my long run pace pretty much dialed in at this point see minimal gain with lots of potential risk in doing the test...

For calories on the bike, I'm probably half way between Chris and Sukhi, around 310 per hr and my race weight is around 185lbs.

morpheus

Thx John!

Coach Patrick

Chris I think you're onto something with the nutrition that a lot of people are missing. When I talk about the calories from my Ironman Texas experience or from my regular training rides and runs, everyone obsesses about the final number: 900 cal an hour. 700 cal an hour. That's not the point! 20 ounces of perform has 175 cal in it. I am in Texas is so hot that I needed 3 bottles in our, 60 ounces an hour, to function. That brought with it 525 cal. On top of that I was also eating. Granted I am a big diesel engine at 185 pounds, but I think the fluid content that has calories as a bonus is just as --if not more important-- than simply focusing on calories alone. After all if calories were the problem, we'd all be eating big Macs to get in as much as we could and be done with it. I suggest bumping up to 2 bottles in our perform and keep the rest of your plan the same, and see how that goes. From my experience on race day, you might be burping some of that up for the 1st 2 to 3 hours which are setting yourself up for a great overall day. Remember we eat on the bike to fuel the rest of our day, not just to feel okay on the bike.

morpheus

P- I'll start working up to that so I'll be comfortable with the added bottle by the time the next RR comes around. I was confident about the carbs and Na but unsure about the fluid requirements. Admit that I still haven't performed the sweat test. Gonna try it this week (tonite's Wed bike, the thurs run, and the Saturday workout). But, in the meantime, I'll be easing into a 2bottle/hr plan, with the gel every 30", and a salt stick cap every hour.

Thanks!

Nate Parady

Probably not the best place to ask, but for FL, where its gonna be cold in the morning, if I'm drinking 2 bottles an hour I'm going to be Peeing like a race hourse...



Chris, any thoughts on this. From My RR1 I had to dial the fluids back because it was going right through me.



Maybe its a matter of not caring about this as an issue and just drink, eat, and pee away...

PS. I think my 4 year old has a stronger bladder than I do. 

morpheus

My initial response to that would be....

Do you hit the caffeine before the workout? Coffee/RedBull/others act as a diuretic in addition to their pick-me-ups, worse for some folks than others.

How's the Na loading and intake before and during the workout? You may find that you pee a little less often if you increase the Na, since it helps retain water.

Or make sure that bladder is empty just prior to starting? This is a must for me!


But, I'll add this...We train everything. And the body usually learns. Whether I'm practicing harder FTP intervals or practicing how to hold down more calories, I usually go thru a few 'uncomfortable' practice sessions before I see that it gets a little easier each time. My point would be that Proper Fluids trumps inconvenience of peeing, so work on it. Wouldn't surprise me if the first time or two gives you fits. But, as the body adjusts to how to use the 'more fluid', the pee breaks may get farther apart.

And learn to pee on the bike. I was asked why do I pee on the bike if it's only a couple of minutes. My answer to that is based on the other 'ifs'. IF I flat. IF I get a penalty. IF I drop a bottle and have to go back. etc. These are things that I can't control and will lose time on. So, I'm making up for those potential losses by not stopping to pee.

Nate Parady

I think you nailed it with the early morning coffee. For RR 2 I'm going to try and skip any caffein until I get further into the bike.

For race day I will pee on the bike, but can't do it for a training ride.

Thanks