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IMAZ Week 18 - The Line!
Welcome to Week 18, the week ending with our second race rehearsal and the last full week before taper begins. Lots of good solid work going on within the group, very impressive. Also last week the "chatter" picked up a lot, which is great. Let's see if we can keep that going this week as well.
The Line
Summary: Nothing on race day really matters until you reach The Line on the run. The Line is the point at which continuing becomes very, very difficult. You define success as simply not slowing down at The Line.
Advice: EVERYTHING before The Line is simply about creating conditions for success for when the Line comes to you.
- A successful race = a good run. There is no such thing as a good bike followed by bad run, period. In our world, if you showed up with solid run fitness, had a "good" bike and a poor run, we will ALWAYS assume you messed up your bike pacing unless you are missing a limb or are in the ICU with an intestinal parasite.
- If you think you can ride faster than we're telling you, prove it by running well off the bike first (preferrably not attempted for the first time on race day!).
- Ride your "should" bike split vs your "could" bike split. YourCould split is what you tell Timmy you could ride on a good day, when you're out together for your Saturday ride. If you say you "could ride a 5:50," your Should split is likely 6:00 and is defined as the bike split that yields a good run (see #1 above).
- Don't be a Caboose, be an Engine! Ironman in general, but especially the bike leg, is an exercise in consistency. You don't need straight-A's to win your day, you only have to show up with your C game to be at the head of the class. If you find yourself doing the opposite of everyone else, you're doing the right thing. Lots of people passing you in the first 40 miles of the bike? Everyone else sprinting out of T2? These folks are making your race day easier by showing you what not to do; it's up to you to resist the urge to join in!
- Think you made the mistake of riding too easy? You now have 26 miles to fix that mistake. Make the mistake of riding too hard? That mistake now has 26 miles to express itself, to the tune of X miles at 17-18' walking pace vs X miles at 8-10' running pace. Do the math. How is that nice bike split going to look as you are walking/shuffling the last 10 miles of the run adding another hour and forty minutes to your overall finish time?
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This is going to be a bit wonky...again this week but hope to get a full RR swim and absolutely get my RR Bike/run....just might be a FRI instead etc. (that 1 day sooner will help my taper a lot
Wayyyy to much non race related stressors right now and coming in NOV Arrrrrgh!
However...I think my acceptance of my shortcomings is going well.
I am "OK" with knowing my swim will not be "raced" and I wont be in at 1hr or even 1:15 anything under 1:30 is A-OK.....
With that I've accepted my run isn't quite 'there' and as such I'll be OK with keeping my bike split moderate. ....still looking for a 30 min better Bike AND 15min off Run VS Vineman. so..... still should be under 12 hr and closer to 11:30 (not my pre-season goal of 11even)...
Just dialing in.... (a 6hr bike/4:<15Run vs 5:45bike and pace 4:30 run) etc
Is everyone as exhausted as I am?
Race Rehearsal Plan
Load up night before
Check Tire Pressure / Bike Componets
Check Stages Power Meter
Clifbars/UCAN + Hydrate
Ice Chest ready to load with Bananas and nut mix
(Don't forget salt tabs and asprin!)
Aquaphor
Lube, tubes, air
Breakfast
Peanut Butter Banana Chia Toast - Coffee
UCAN on the ride to the Bay
Arrive at Glorietta Bay at 6:15 and get in the water. . .
Swim
1.2 miles out and back
Make sure Garmin is started
Keep Strokes long and efficient stay in the box and don't burn matches
You're a swimmer, you're a swimmer, you're a swimmer
T1
Fuel - Clifbar Hydrate
Recheck Tire Pressure
Lube Chain
Sun glasses
Helmet
Bike
Turn on Garmin
Steady Aero all the way
keep HR in proper zones
only out of aero to stretch back if necessary
if foot pain comes (which it usually does around 70 miles). Take the time to walk it out
You're a cyclist, you're a cyclist, you're a cyclist
Fuel
One bottle of UCAN (downed not sipped) every 35 miles
One bottle of Hydrate per lap (15 miles)
1/2 Clifbar per lap
One salt tab per hour (more often if hot)
T2
Refuel - Nuts, Banana, Clifbar, UNCAN
Fuel belt with Hydrate
Pack of Shot Blocks
Cap
Run
First mile get your feet - keep your avg heart rate from the bike
Next five miles steady and conservative
You're a slow and steady runner
T3
Beer
Love input. I'm sure I'm forgetting something
So far the weather is looking pretty good for my weekend, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Although I know I could do a RR on the trainer, I would be happy to never actually have to prove that.
Stand strong this week, the end is in sight!
We are all training on the shoulder of the highway. There is lots of debris.
Race day they close the west side to traffic. Traffic is routed on the east side of divided highway. They sweep the road for us. In three years of doing this race I have never flatted. Having said that I keep two tubes and CO2s with me at all times. All I put in bike special needs is an extra tube and even a tire. I have never used any of it though.
Coolest am yet-outside temp at 0630 in my car on way to work -58 degrees
Need to get in the pool tonite after work
I'm getting tired! Can't wait for taper time. Had a little nutrition meltdown on my last long bike so I'm still dialing in my nutrition. I have an updated plan and hopefully it will go well this week!
Sending good juju your way, everyone!
We have had several tri geeks come into the bike shop I work at recently for last minute tune-ups, tire changes, etc. in prep for IMAZ. Dudes are spent and can't wait for taper.
Good luck and remember it is all about staying in your Box and Mile 18!
~Stark
Hope all is going well... Lets bring it one more weekend!
@Tim-so that's a taste of what retirement is like?!
My day is 12+ hours in OR (6th on the call wheel) then
RR swim after. Less than 12 hours before long bike/run-the dentist appointment for sure.
And my rest day Sunday, back in the OR as 2nd call
A cold storm blew in yesterday, AM low was 57. At least it's supposed to be sunny tomorrow and high in low 80s
Week has been pretty good, only missing low priority Monday swim, Wednesday run.
Wed bike: 2x15' (that's what trainer road had for intermediate, wk 18, despite dashboard saying 2x18')
@1.01, 1.0
Thursday run-85' at prescribed paces (up at 0330 to get that much in) then remaining 20' in treadmill before PM swim.
The mill was painful as due time crunch didn't allow enough warmup time
Good luck to everyone on their last RR!
Ok, enough of the doom and gloom. I actually think I'm going to get great weather for the north east on October 31st. It's supposed to to get to 58 tomorrow with no rain, so I'm super happy about that.
I'm off to run and then mix bottles and sort food in prep for tomorrow. This is all happening very quickly.
From there I drove home and loaded all of my bike and run crap into the car and headed out. My last race rehearsal had way more climbing that I realized (5200') so I picked a new spot for this round. The new spot worked out much better with a little under 3000' of elevation gain. I had a pretty aggressive power number in mind and I managed to hit it spot on. Super happy about that. I intend to go with the same number for IMAZ as best bike split has me finishing more quickly on the AZ course that I finished my RR today. https://www.strava.com/activities/423940728
My run also went well. I hit my intended pace numbers without issue and with a high z1 low z2 HR. The only question mark was some sharp ankle pain during the run. It didn't keep me from hitting my numbers today, but I wonder 1) where its coming from and 2) if it would keep me from increasing my pace after the first 6 miles. I'll keep an eye on it over this coming week and see what happens. https://www.strava.com/activities/423981415
And with that, this build is OVER! I can't believe how fast this came and went. Lots of work done across the group. Hopefully everyone else had a great day too.
My race rehearsal is also in the books.
I did my swim Friday night after work-3800m in 1:30. That's the time I was planning on last year but ended up 1:36 with the current (doomed to forever being a rock)
Started bike at 0630 on Beeline at Shea. Made 4 loops down to McDowell and back (101 closed at 202 exit and traffic deterred onyo McClintock-ugly to even consider making full course loops), plus an extra half loop down to the road to dump and back. 104 mi in 6 hours. Goal is 6 hours race day, doable with elimination of all the slow downs for stops lights. Winds were pretty strong and shifted course, being northerly first two loops then southerly ( against me downhill) second half. Add 20-30' to goal time if winds strong.
My riding partner first half got a flat, and I saw one other flat all day. The shoulder was remarkably debris free today.
Drove home and ran 5.5 mi in one hour at my z1+30'. My hips and quads felt best ever, since I've made concerted effort to keep cadence up-85-90, which means small gear wheel in front on the trip up beeline to Shea. My only pain is this 4-5th metatarsal tendinitis from the bike shoe. It was much better as I've been focusing on flat pedal stroke. And it seemed to go away by mile 3.
Nutrition went well but I was starving when I finished!
Had two major equipment malfunctions-better now then race day: Garmin fell off my wrist, the part holding the band on disintegrated. I only use it in the bike for timing but need it for run. The battery isn't holding a charge and HR monitor not working so Back to REI Tomorrow. I'm hoping they will just let me pay the difference and upgrade to the 920. Second, the magnets holding my plastic face shield into aero helmet falling off. Didn't notice until today when down to one magnet and it wouldn't stay on. Magnets ordered
Taper time!
1) I step off bike to pee (a lot LOL) = slowdown and start back up [however there is a bit of (+) with a little HR drop and leg/back stretch]
2) probably a conditioning issue...but my HR starts to climb and RPE goes up a bit after 4.5 hrs and its a bit harder to be as steady with watts...not factored into BBS.
3) BBS -even with my current weight seems to under estimate watts needed on the climbs somewhat....for a IMAZ-ish 1.3% section I was needing 220-230w to hold 16-18mph when my goal power is 185Np and BBS seems to think I can hold 18+ for the whole last climb w/o exceeding 220w for > 3min.
4) Not sure If I trust the wind effects in BBS in as much as the RPE effects of grinding vs a steady 6-8mph (or worse) wind for the full Beeline. -My first RR had multiple loops into steady 8-10mph wind....keeping HR/Pwr steady meant 15-18mph one way and 22-25 the other -however it just didn't average out -ie the tail wind didn't make up for the headwind loss....
Anyway Ill be playing s-more with it...its fun to see it thinks I can bike a 5:20 at a IF of .78 However......RR Ride (on tired legs) 182W Weighted Avg Power, 328 Training Load, 73% Intensity. [PM read 190-200 most of ride...interesting] Pretty darn close regardless I'd say. I'm thinking it was my lack of "race prep" diet and additive fatigue/life stress that had my effort feel "too hard for race day".
MON/TUES OFF actually quite sore from SUN APFT...but work etc = no WKO
WED: https://www.strava.com/activities/422144694 BIKE: 1hr Z4with minimal WU and short RI's: 4x intervals (quite a bit in the low Z5 ish. AND "Thursday Long Run" https://www.strava.com/activities/422214024 Trails n washes +a couple hills 6mlZ1;2mlZ2,2mlZ3 ~9.25mls
THR: Attempt at 4K RR swim ...New "Tristrap" test and 2.4ml Race rehearsal in new wetsuit... Cut short by lightning
FRI: RR Ride (no pre-night diet etc...rushed oats for breakfast and go) https://www.strava.com/activities/423255721 muddy and ride felt 10-20% harder than should right from start...and HR about 8BPM above for effort right from start -even with quite cool temps....had to pee 7 times in first 3 hrs despite no caffeine in am or pre-hydrating the night before WFT 5:46 at goal pwer #s ...just felt a bit much to run a good marathon after.
Post Ride Brick (only 4 mls due to time) https://www.strava.com/activities/423274903 Kinda 10:00 ish... felt OK
SAT -OFF
SUN -will try and get to pool....
Yeh bring on the Taper!
reference the flat kit discussion- I figure I'm still racing thru 1 flat, if I get 2 flats I am no longer racing... I carry a minimal 1 tube 1 co2 kit....If I get that dreaded 2nd flat I can wait for SAG and finish more leisurely... Usually carry double everything when training and will even bring a tire on an epic type ride...
@Clark- nice work and thanks for leading us to taper
@Betsy- yep retirement is everything they say it is and more.... the most valuable thing on this planet is time... that said , I dont train any more than I did when working but I spend a lot more time recovering.... speaking of which my dog wants me to nap with her on the couch :-) Nice RR BTW!
@DH- nice RR on Pecan, friday was a crap day wasnt it? lots of debris on the road saturday! still a great place to train...
@TG - smoking 2nd loop on that run RR today... I figure your gonna have to run about a 3:25 or better to catch me and with that run it sure looks possible.... :-)
Week is done... very similar to last... 16hrs, 1174 TSS, 11k swim, 184 bike, 35 run..... friday was a RR swim as 7 x 600yds= 4200.... Saturday was 112/5hr bike and 4 mile brick....Today was 2hr/15 mile run.... Happy with pace/power/performance/nutrition across all three SBR RR's... Ready.... Now to get psyched up to race ! Tomorrow will be a nice easy recovery swim and massage! Will try and get my race plan up today or tomorrow.
Hooray for Taper!
2.5 mile swim. Check. 6 hour ride. Check. 6.2 mile run. Check. Ahhhhh. Here we come IMAZ. Great to be part of the EN Team!