IMWI Race Rehearsal #1...Time to report in everyone!
I know a few folks are doing the RR next weekend, and a few bumped it up. But most of us got it done this weekend so I thought I'd start a thread where we could all report in on our experience and lessons learned. I'll start 
First- I can't believe how lucky I got with the weather. After weeks of mostly oppressive humidity and heat, we got a little break in the humidity. It was still hot and sunny, but sooooo much better! I've posted my plan in a separate thread, so I won't bore you all with those details again 
Anyway- overall the ride was great and the run felt good too. But there were some lessons learned/things to fix for next time:
- My morning breakfast of a Ezekial Sprouted Grain English Muffin w/ almond butter did not go down well. I couldn't even finish it- it was just too dry. I do want something a little solid in the morning so I need to come up with a plan B. Maybe going back to Thomas's English Muffins would work (shudder the thought- white bread!)
- The Vanilla Nature smoothie also didn't taste very good. I need to try another flavor. The Straw/Banana was good, but there's very little protein in it so I need to give that some more thought.
- For some reason my Powertap hub was reading VERY low watts (like 0-10) for about the first hour of the ride. I noticed it right away, hit start/stop on the Garmin, and it seemed to fix it. But 15 min later poof- back to 0-10 watts. Fiona is fast, but 18mph at 5 watts is simply not physically possible!!! I figured the battery needed to be replaced and nearly bagged the RR right there- figuring I'd do in Sunday. But I've been SOOOOOO looking forward to the reward of having Sunday as a real rest day that I just couldn't turn back. I switched the Garmin to HR and carried on figuring I'd use HR and PE for the ride. About an hour later the Hub started to register normal looking watts again. I don't know what happened, but the lesson for me here was that if it happens on race day I don't need to panic- just use HR/PE and carry on!
- Just before the 2 hour mark of the ride I realized I didn't pack the GU Flask with my Gu/Water mix for the run. Hmmmmm, what to do?! I did a quick mental inventory of the stuff in my car but knew there was no extra magic GU to be found hiding under the car seat. I had a Cliff MoJo bar in my jersey pocket for the "break glass in case of emergency" moment and figured this was that moment. So, instead of taking my GU at the 2 hour mark on the bike, I ate 1/2 of the MoJo bar. Lessons here were; 1) remember to cut a slit in the MoJo bar 'cause it is a bitch to open with one hand, and 2) I actually can eat something a little solid on the bike- as long as its really early into the ride. The Mojo went down easy, tasted good, and felt good too. I think I might just add that to the plan.
- My ride started out REALLY rough. Legs were not happy, back was achy, I felt tired and sore all over. But the longer I rode, the better I felt. In fact, the last 30 miles were probably the best. So, the lesson here is that if I don't feel good out of the water on race day- don't sweat it- I might just feel better later on!
- I need to bike to my next vDot test. Seriously, what the heck is it with riding before I run??? I wanted to run 11:00 pace, I started out on the run feeling like I was moving like molasses, looked at the Garmin to double check with full confidence it would be reasonably close and saw.........8:45! WTF???!!!!! Holy Shit! OK SLOW DOWN!!!! I came to a dead stop, walked to hit the mental "reset" button and started up again. Looked down a few minutes later sure I'd be pleased with myself to see 9:00!!!! OK- this is crazy. I'm audibly yelling at my legs to slow down (thankfully no one around to hear the crazy lady) and find I might as well be yelling at Otto to get off the kitchen counter- my legs are giving me the same "huh? who me?" response. So I do a lot of walking to get the average pace to come down, but really, this is an area where I had a major FAIL. Yeah, nice to know I felt good, and my tummy did good, and all that. But if I run that fast for the first 6 miles at Moo I'll be on my hands and knees crawling by mile 13. So this is probably the biggest thing I gotta work on for my next RR.
- Coke is good. But not so good in T2 before the run. I got a little gassy from the coke and had to burp a few times to get some relief. I think I better steer clear of it unless there is an emergency
OK- that's my report. How about the rest of you guys?
PS- I thought about each and every one of you throughout my ride today- and I gotta tell you, it made a HUGE difference!! I was all alone on my ride (and in the place I ride- when I say alone, I mean REALLY alone!) but I felt like I had all these buddies riding with me. So thank you all for being here, posting your own updates, and just being in my life. I can't wait for race day so I can REALLY ride with you!
Comments
Neems--nice work!!!! Will read more closely, comment, and put mine up tomorrow. Too pooped out to think and write, but it's a good kind of tired.
Also- I wore my OBX Tri shorts and they perfectly comfy (undercarriage did just fine) but I got a healthy amount of heat rash around the leg grippers. I had the same problem last week and I think I wore the same shorts. I need to use my Voleor shorts next RR and see if I gt the heat rash. I'd like to represent OBX on the course, but I gotta be comfy!
Good job, Nemo!
RR done and I finished feeling surprisingly good. Coherent thoughts tomorrow.
Despite only being able to breath through one nostril and coughing constantly, I felt GREAT on the ride! I set my goal IF to be 0.70 (a bit aggressive, but I wanted to see what I could do) and wound up with IF=0.68. VI was nice and low at 1.02. 225 Cal/hour, 650 mg sodium/hour, 25 oz fluid/hour for partly sunny and 74 degrees with low humidity was spot on for nutrition. It was the EASIEST ride this season. I can't wait for the race so I can ride that easy! Ha!
I saw 2 peregrine falcons (VERY COOL!) and several red tail hawks screaming at each other.
The run went just fine. I have no problem running slow.
The only problem was that my shoulders were sore from swimming in my wetsuit for the first time in 2 years yesterday. It made being in aero not as comfortable.
I have decided that if the high temps on race day are forecast to be higher than 75 degrees I am NOT wearing my aerohelmet. It just doesn't have enough vents to prevent my brains from baking.
I thought off all my IMMoo EN pals out there today and how cool/amazing/wondrous it will be with all of us out there on race day. What a celebration it will be!
Thanks for the report and starting this thread Nemo.
I also was happy to have a cool dry morning to start at 6:00 am. I realized that doing these race rehersals are a good thing because I learned some good lessons. One thing that I realized like you Nemo was that one of the hardest things I have tried to do in the house is to run ELP + 30". I absolutely could not do it, I thought I was running stupid slow and could not come within 30" of where I should have been, I promise I really tried. I know on race day walking the aid stations will help me get there.
I was carrying some pretty heavy leg fatigue into todays RR so was not sure what to expect. I wore my EN top but had regular bike shorts, and went w/ the regular helmut not the aero, everything else went as race day will.
I started my ride at 146 lbs w / approx. 6 % bf, and I think having no meat on my azz is taking it's toll on these long rides. I become very sore on long flat stretches but do fine on rolling terrain so I think my butt will like the IMOO course.
I really concentrated on getting more fluid in after reading all the posts lately, I think I drank about 150 ozs. Went thru 2 , 3 hour bottles of concentrated Infinit, 2 bottles of H2O and 2 aero bottles of H2O. Took 1 salt pill, meant to take more but forgot. Brought 2 Gu's but did not take any. I felt like I needed the water because I was thirsty, and ran out at about mile 105.
I peed 8 times while on the bike. On my second urination I was trying very hard to finish going before I finished the descent and had to climb again. I was pushing so hard I broke a blood vessel in my eye ( Yes I found a new way to hurt myself). My right eye burned and watered for the rest of the ride and run. Lesson one : either don't push so hard next time, or wait for a longer descent to go.
I made one stop for a water fill up, when I did I noticed one of my rear cages had sheared in half and was holding the water bottle by a thread. Lesson 2 : our EN tops will hold a water bottle very comfortably. I did not think this would be the case because they are fairly small pockets.
I picked a route that was flat for the first 25 miles and last 15 miles with some good rollers and climbs in the middle. Legs and lungs felt quite good, but had a lot of soreness in my pubic bone in that last 15 miles. Did a good job hitting my numbers on the climbs, tried to switch to my small ring often, like you campers suggested, my fingers were sore from shifting so much. I really noticed how much more lively my legs were at the end of the ride because of this.
Did the 112 in 5:34:00 TSS of 273.9 IF of 0.698 VI of 1.04 NP of 189 Avg speed for the ride was 20.0
I actually thought my Garmin was broken because I felt like I was crawling, but still could not go slow enough. I know I need to, but it was a good feeling that I could run so easy and relaxed and be below pace.
I was hoping to be in the 5:20:00 region, but considering I chose a hillier course than in the past, and have put in a lot of bike and run miles over the past 7 days, I was very happy with the day, and also very happy to have it over with.
My new Desoto 2 piece wetsuit just came in the mail so my scheduled day off tomorrow may turn into an easy long swim, we'll see.
I've been in the house for 2 years now and continue to learn so much from your postings, THANK YOU and keep it up.
Holy Cow- Now I'll never be able to learn how to pee on the bike!!!!
Michele- thanks for the tip on the smoothie- I'll look around for it here- or when we get to Madison
Kitboo- good luck with the allergy tests! You rocked the RR despite the allergies- just awesome. I'm with ya- easiest ride I've done all year and just hope IMoo feels the same.
Bob- you nailed that bike!!! Fantastic! You and I will have to keep each other honest on the next RR to do our runs at the prescribed paces! Pinky Swear, OK?!
Friday night, I drove to Madison with my crew (sister, tiny nephew) to do race rehearsal number one.
Things I forgot to pack: Infinit, tri shorts, breakfast
RR Lesson One: Make lists. Check them twice.
Infinit solved by borrowing my sister's -- which I ended up liking WAY BETTER than my own formula. Shorts - borrowed my sister's Zoots. I am now convinced good chamois cream + well-fitting saddle and the shorts don't matter very much. (I'm still racing in the trusty DeSotos).
Breakfast - um, McDonald's fruit smoothies are actually good.
I had a later start than intended because I forgot my cycling shoes at the hotel (fatigue, anyone?).
The next six hours were spent riding two rounds and change on the IMWI loops. I lucked out and got a probably weather scenario: It was almost like last year: Cool in the morning and looking like it was going to rain the entire time I was on the bike (carried rain jacket in back pocket). It start at 66 degrees and sneakily got more hot and humid during the day -- when the bike ride ended it was 84 ish. It was also windy. This weather scenario is tricky, so I'll take it.
Baby Gavin: Where's Aunt B?
Sister: At work.
Baby Gaving: Where's Dash?
Sister: At work.
I rode like it was my job. I decided to ride at a .69 of newly tested watts, and ended up holding them fairly well. I spend a few minutes changing out bottles at the three-hour mark, but that's it. No coffee shop. No gas station in Mt. Horeb.I thought about you all a lot -- especially at the end of Witte.
RR Lesson Two: You have to pay attention on this course all the time. The mind start to wander and you are suddenly spiking watts or not riding nearly hard enough.
When riding stupid slow race watts, the first hour of the loop is the most boring, stupid ride in the universe. Judging from my speed, it was actually hard. Lots of little hills. Lots of false flats. Lots of bad pavement and no shade. I solved the attention span problem with a little caffeine. A gel with 50 mg at the top of this section made for a much happier rider. After Mt. Horeb, the course is a lot more fun to ride.
NoteRight now, the first half of Witte (the road of rolllers after Mt. Horeb) is coverd in loose gravel. Not fun to ride on, but it should be fine for race day. Dash does not like being a dirt bike. (Kitima -- there's lots of beautiful purple coneflowers along Witte right now.)
On the second loop, I rode a few of the tough climbs a second time to extend the loop to three hours, because I thought that what you, my tough teammates, would all do! There were aching toes and aching neck on the second loop, but these things were minor. Neck was solved nicely by a twenty-second neck massage.
Nutrition: Two 20 oz bottles of Infinit, Five 20 oz bottles of water (and I could have used one more), 2 caffeinated gels, four s-caps (and I could have used two more).
The run - easy peasy. EP + 30 was hard to not overcook. I had my watch set to lap pace, so counted the walked the "aid stations" and tying my shoe once into the average got me to 10:30s. At the end of six I didn't have some strange lust to run another twenty, but I think I could have. It would have just been three more sets of the six, and two miles up State street into the finish.
Note: There were lots of triathletes on the course doing similar workouts. There were ridiculous numbers of people standing to climb hills. Were these the same people who looked absolutely miserable on their brick runs? Could be.
Good day at the office.
RR Lesson Three This whole Ironman execution thing seems to be an exercise in paying attention, focusing on what you are doing. Wandering mind seem to lead to overcooking watts and pace. Not doing that seems to lead to a good day. I'll aim for the good day.
Great day for RR in Chicago-land (er Flatlandia). Severe T-storms from 2 am to 6'30 am with heavy rain stopping at about 8'05, hmm, perfect, should be getting on the bike around 8'10 on race day....Headed out at 8'15 and was following a similar plan to the one posted by Jim Hansen, gradual increase in effort (watts) based on a goal 71% IF. Turns out that's very hard to dial in on the flats of rural Chicago, saw some beautiful horse country (who knew?) but the watts were all over the place, ultimately ended up at an IF of 68% so can definitely ride harder (all along it felt too easy). 103 miles in 5 hr 59 min avg speed 17.2 mph, avg watts 125. Would like to see that avg be 135 next time (current FTP is 180). Cloud cover until the last hour of the ride, so lucky.
Run was great, goal pace is 8'30 for a 3;45 marathon, ran the first three at 8'45 (hard to go that slow) and the last three at 8'15 (hard to maintain), basically felt very strong and comfortable the whole run but every time I looked at the Garmin I was at 8'28, just where the bod settled in, so it took focus to slow on the first part and effort to push on the second part. 6 miles in 50 min 58 sec, pretty much dead on 8'30 pace.
Nutrition - stomach was completely empty at the start (thanks to, I think, some wicked whole wheat pasta at dinner, holy crap! literally). My pre-race ritual is coffee, bagel w/peanut butter and half a banana. Did not take in enough fluid on the bike. I used my new Speedfill and wasn't sure how much to pull each time, thought at first I was taking too much so backed off, when I got home, turns out I left 16 of 40 oz in the bottle (5 1/2 hr bottle). Topped off my 24 oz water bottle three times but when refilling it was never empty. Got very hungry around 3 1/2 to 4 hours but was testing an all liquid day so resisted taking solid food. Had one gu about 10 minutes before end of bike, drank 6 oz of the Powerbar drink that will be on course at IM during the run.
Wow so much to learn from reading these reports. Keep 'em coming.
Best decision made was to go to Leigh and Dave's in NH. Seeing them out there, passing each other back and forth, made the ride much more fun. Where they ride is SOOOO much better than here. Long stretches of riding with few turns or distractions, wide shoulders, pretty scenery on the back roads. Course was hills and rolling. but nothing crazy steep. You had to be on your game to ride it right.
Executive Summary:
100 miles in 6 hours (5:59:16)
IF lower than I wanted at .66
VI 1.07 (coasting)
Goal for the Day:
Get out of my own way. Ride with as little "friction" as possible. Be prepared, stay "awake," focus, and get it done cleanly. I give myself a A-/B+ through hours 4.5. Last 90' it's C+.
Hours 1 and 2--Leigh calls these--the "boring hours. " Amen. Unlike a lot of long workouts lately, I felt good from the start. I've had a problem with some rough idling in the beginning of workouts, but I felt smooth from the get-go. Tried to settle in at .70 or so, but I have trouble hitting that--always being too conservative. Any pointers? I want to try and hit that next time.
Nutution was dialed in--or so I thought. I've been doing the same thing for years, so felt confident there. However, I've had inklings of my long-time Infinit formula not agreeing with me, and during the first two hours that was definitely the case. Uh -oh. (You'll see that's what ended up giving me the C+ later in the ride.)
Hours 2-3--fairly uneventful. I was relying heavily on GU during this time, and less and less on Infinit. That means I was drinking more water than I had calculated. Needed S-caps bad. R calf cramping a little, and I could tell my body just needed it, even though I was choking down the Infinit. Tummy rumble, S-cap--then everything would settle down. Ended up with having 7 S-caps on the ride. I made it back to the Boyle's at 3 hours to refuel with an empty aerobottle, and no additional water. Leigh and Dave were there too, so that was nice.
Hour 3-4--this flew by.
Half Hour 4-4.5--took about a week. Time is a weird thing on these rides. Slammed a caffeine, which did little to nothing.
Hours 4.5-6--this is where I got in my own way b/c of the Infinit problem. Infinit was making we burp constantly, and just making me feel unwell in the tummy with every sip. I was now relying solely on GU and Cliff Blocks and drinking water like crazy. It was very sunny and warm, and I felt dessicated a bit--a little unable to concentrate too. Needed more water, so I had to stop and buy a bottle. This is the kind of friction I had wanted to avoid, but better than bonking. Why didn't I buy two bottles, you might ask? Re-read lack of concentration sentence.
Between hours 5-6, I also realized I was going into "who cares about the stupid effort, just want to get this DONE!" I really lost focus on the work at hand, but pulled myself back. This must be avoided at all costs when riding hills--that much I know from riding here and in ME. Lesson learned--hopefully.
RUN:
Pulled into the Boyle's at 6:01, and didn't feel quite as fueled for the run as I have in the past. I was 85% there, but I'm usually set to go. Had another GU, more water, and felt better. Needed and S-cap, but didn't remember to take one.
Took off with my hand-held and extra GU. Like everyone else, I was going too fast. Holding back was 9:15s. Looked down a few times and saw 8:48. Now that's just D-U-M-B. Did some experimenting, and ran the first 20' straight. Then did 10'/1'. Then settled into 5'/30"--that felt the BEST. It will be smarter to start with 5'/30" then inch up the running times, rather than the other way around. 50' and 5 miles with the walking. Run times in-between walk breaks = too fast. Had one GU on the run. Also opened up a huge, honking blister on my L foot. Hurt like hell.
AREAS OF FRICTION AND LOST TIME
Peeing off the bike. I only pee on the bike during the race. Peed 6 times.
Every hour I had to apply crotch lube. Man, am I having problems. Re-applying totally helps, but it is a time sink.
Stopping at the store.
Messing around in my Bento Box. I need to add my "divider" back in to keep my "meds" and fuel separated.
My nutrition is now messed up. B/c of the Infinit melt down, I'm really not sure how much I took in in terms of water and calories since I switched over to GU and Blocks. Need to do the math on this, and come up with some kind of ballpark for myself.
TAKE-AWAYS FOR NEXT TIME
During pee break, try to remember to lube, refill aerobottle, take caffeine, S-caps, etc. while you're stopping for this admin. Do any niggling things at that time. All the little interruptions add up, and seem to compound and feed off each other. Will try and streamline even more next time.
Pay attention. Enjoy, but keep the focus. Try not to go into the "who cares" mode.
Have to revisit the liquid nutrition. Will call Michael at Infinit tomorrow.
THE END
So all in all, I'm happy with how it went. I lost two full weeks with stress of the charts, but my body has never felt better handling this load. If I can keep this going for the next few weeks, I'll be in decent form. Maybe not 100% of where I would like to be, but close enough to get it done. There's also a lot to be said for experience. In this 3rd IM go round, not much ruffles me anymore, which is less stress overall.
For those of you not on FB, Leigh Boyle actually went around the course we rode to put up these sweet signs so I wouldn't get lost! I followed them, and took only one wrong turn. For me, Miss Directionally Challenged, that is a miracle.
PS--I did get a little emotional a few times, knowing that Keith wasn't there. Then swinging emotionally into being so grateful for where we are. I'm sure you all get it. It really hit me hard throughout the ride.
Neemo - another pre-made protien smoothie you might look into is the Odwalla Protien Monster. The Chocolate flavor would be the one to go for. I didn't care for the vanilla one, but man, the chocolate one is wicked good. (How do you like that, New Englander's...I'm learning the lingo
Great work everyone! I can't believe you're this far in...One more RR to go!!
Nice work everyone! Always great to read other insights on the day.
Here's mine:
Things I will likely not repeat for the 2nd RR:
1) No Ninja Burrito (bbq chicken, sweet tato, blackbean) for dinner the night before followed up with ice cream and chocolate sprinkles. What can I say, it was Friday and a long ass work week. Total comfort food and it went down EASY. Next time: will likely opt for an actual lunch the day before and a lighter dinner. Made for a stomach that was less than happy to be woken up and smashed into the aero position.
2) > 5 hours sleep next time. Out of work late = late dinner = later to bed. Just the reality of my work day, but I think next time I'll tee up the day a little better.
3) Put my speedfill back on pre RR instead of relying on hope that I'll drink enough. Straw in face = constant reminder.
Clif note version:
Bike-
Duration: 5:59:43 (6:18:10)
Work: 2702 kJ
TSS: 297.4 (intensity factor 0.704)
Norm Power: 137
VI: 1.1
Distance: 107.032 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 417 125 watts
Cadence: 29 203 84 rpm
Speed: 2.2 34.1 18.0 mph
Run-
Duration: 56:27
Distance: 6.04 mi
Pace 9:21 min/mi
But here's what really happened:
Will be honest. Just couldn't get comfy on the bike for this one. Lots of leg fatigue + lower watts = low cadence. That just added to the fatigue and the result was that I got antsy and restless and spiked my watts repeatedly (as you can clearly see by all the yellow above the green line; the absolute highest wattage I should have seen on the day). So while I was able to get my NP to where I wanted it, I cheated to get there with a super high VI. Next time, head will be in the game 100%. Will likely do the same exact course and ride it to the letter. Gotta work on upping the cadence and staying steady. No more mashing the pedals.
Nutrition wise:
Per Hour: 200 calories, 388 mg salt, 46 carbs, 17 oz of water.
(consisted of: 3 bottles powerbar endurance with 3 scoops/bottle, 2 package shot blocks, and 2 s-caps/1 per half of the ride).
Take away:
1) not nearly enough water. the cooler temps in the morning made for lots of pee breaks so to minimize that I eased up on my fluid intake in hours 2-3. got back on the bandwagon in the second half of the ride, but as the temps warmed up, it was too easy to put myself in a hole. Goal for the 2nd RR = 24-30 oz of water. Will use speedfill and set it up to allow for more frequent fill ups. Will drop a car somewhere if needed.
2) I was joking with Linda that I was infinited out and in a way I am. As a last minute thing, I boycotted it and decided to use a mixture of powerbar endurance (similar to the ironman stuff on course), water, shot blocks and at the halfway point a clif crunch. calories came up a little short and the powerbar stuff gave me the burps bigtime (which admittedly, was a great source of entertainment for my 3rd grade humor late in the ride). Will go back to Infinit over the next few long rides and start dialing it all back in. While the blocks and gels are fun, infinit really is way easier to manage. Will likely go back to this for RR #2 for a final assessment.
The Run
I was nervous getting off the bike. I knew I had come up short on fluids and my legs were tired and my stomach was audibly growling, but I suited up and headed out. Was great to have Linda and Dave circling back at the same time. Used every precious second of my 10 minute allotted transition time and off I went. Legs felt awesome right out of the gate. Looked down after the first mile and was sub 9 despite "going easy". Like everyone else- struggled to slow it down to the goal LRP pace of 10:22. Never did come close to that despite choosing a hilly route to artificially slow me down.
First half was done at 9:26 pace and the second half at 9:17. 6 miles and down without water or nutrition. Never felt like I needed nutrition but was craving water/fluid.
Post RR
Cooled off with the hose and our NH kiddie pool (aka half of a bike box). Grabbed a sandwich. Felt great instead of exhausted. Totally slept for 10 hours last night though. Currently sitting on the deck typing this up and enjoying an off day. really encouraged by the day considering I botched the execution part and should have imploded. Looking forward to round #2!!
Great work everyone!!
@ Linda & Leigh- I am backing WAY off the Infinit this year. Even after Micheal redoing my formula, I still get the burps!! So, this year I am doing my bottles @ ;100 kcal/hr and adding 3 Clif Blocks/hr. Been doing that in training and so far it has worked. We wil see this coming Saturday.
Stats (the Cliff notes)
1st
121
0-.5hrs, slight downhills
2nd
128
Goal Watts (GW)
3rd
134
Long hills (>~3')
4th
141
Short hills (<~1-2')<o:p>
1st half:
Duration: 3:18:47 (3:19:27)
Work: 1389 kJ
TSS: 171.4 (intensity factor 0.719)
Norm Power: 129
VI: 1.11
Distance: 56.03 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 376 116 watts
Cadence: 30 159 84 rpm
Speed: 2.2 38.8 17.0 mph
2nd Half:
Duration: 3:04:59 (3:06:06)
Work: 1278 kJ
TSS: 160.3 (intensity factor 0.721)
Norm Power: 130
VI: 1.13
Distance: 56.018 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 399 115 watts
Cadence: 32 246 84 rpm
Speed: 2.2 39.5 18.2 mph
Entire workout (115 watts):
Duration: 6:35:15 (6:37:02)
Work: 2736 kJ
TSS: 338.8 (intensity factor 0.717)
Norm Power: 129
VI: 1.12
Distance: 115.394 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 399 115 watts
Cadence: 30 246 84 rpm
Speed: 2.2 39.5 17.6 mph
RUN
Duration: 1:02:59 (1:03:06)
rTSS: 92.8 (0.894)
NGP: 10:04 (159.9 m/min)
Distance: 5.876 mi
NUTRITION
Cals
OZ
4 Strawberry fig Newtons
200
8 Gel Chomps
180
1 1/2 Mt Dew
255
20
10 Ritz Bits - Peanut butter
100
1 1/3 feed bottle
868
31.92
Water-2-22 oz
44
Water- 4- 24 oz less 10 oz
86
86
Totals
1603
268
Total per hour
217
36
Started out with 3 other OC Multipeeps that are doing IMLOU this year. Yes- out of uniform just for you guys!
Rolling on the bike.... Eastbound and down
Am lucky to have awesome training partners that will give up their Sat to SAG for us! At the top of 393- hills done- WHEW!
On the run! Found out last years Zoot racers match the EN singlet perfectly!
THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY
Felt super fatigued going into RR and couldn't even get up at 2am for my Ensures. Alarm went off, I rolled over and back to sleep! Got up a 5am, got ready to go and pulled up the weather to see the temp and found rain! Yikes.. where did that come from? Waited out the rain and got rolling abt 30 mins later than planned. 8 mins in, lost a contact which stuck to my sunglasses lens. Note- make sure to put my extra lens in bento box- just in case. Back on the road and uneventful first few hours. Ended up doing the old IM turnaround on the out and back (hence the 115 miles)... no damage done.
Water first 30 mins, then started S-cap every 30 mins, sip of feed bottle every 15 mins. Didn't have my rear cages and arundel cage on bike right now, so using regular bottle on down tube. Forgot to mark it off for hours which meant I ended up slamming alittle more of feed bottle back early (3 1/2 hr feed) and had to back off. Started taking in some solids at top of hour in place of feed bar and all was good. Newtons tasted alittle too dry but help to settle tummy. Didn't use any gels (save those for the run). Love the chomps! Refilled water abt every 20 (carried 22 oz water, 24 oz in aerobottle + 24 oz feed bottle). Took 2 Aleve abt 3:30 mark- alittle ache in neck and left quad. Hit "special needs" abt 70 miles, drank 6 oz of REAL, full sugar, super leaded Mt Dew, picked up 2nd feed, more newtons, chomps & S-caps and 1 Vivarin (first time experiment) which I took abt mile 80. Did seem to help. Abt mile 100 started feeling a bit spacy/goofy (vs the boredom of hours 2-4 in which I sang camp songs and choruses of songs stuck in my head). Had an acquaintance pull up along side and he & I (more he, than I) who rode with me all the way in and kept me from going looney.
As usual, I have no issue peeing on the bike come race day (I do NOT do this in training) but went fewer times than normal. At 36 oz a hour, not sure I could slam any more liquids back.
Drank another full 12 oz of Mt Dew and ate 4 chomps and took my time trying to get my head back on and took off on the run. Didn't push the run too much as heat had kicked up at this point and just not much mojo left. Forgot my hand held bottle and gatorade so ended up carrying a plastic water bottle, which I ditched abt 3 miles in.
Waited around for other peeps to finish up, drank my recovery drink and weighed- net loss 2.4 pds so not bad on the day. Ended up with 1024 mg sodium an hour so not sure if I need to back that off a bit (I am a proficient sweater). Definitely needed a bit more breakfast - felt hungry several times and ate when I did.
Wow, very nice work everyone.
I went out to a somewhat local (1 hour away) HIM course to ride four laps. I ended up stopping after 2 laps and 56 or so miles. I think I'll try it again next Saturday. A number of things were not right....
I was hungry. I had protein fruit juice at 1am and my normal fruit smoothie for breakfast, but driving up to the course, I felt a bit hungry. I had a pb&j on the way up there which helped for a bit. I need to figure this out since hunger pains are one of my biggest fears.
I was grouchy. This is likely due to the hunger, but the sky was gray and foggy and the route was boring. I expect the IMWI will have many more distractions - like other riders, spectators, hills, turns, etc. Then again, this was a great course for locking myself in the aerobars.
My stemaerobar was squeaking every single bump I rode over. This has been going on for a while, and I've even taken it into the shop where I bought it. But, this really, really bugged me yesterday. After I completed my workout I went directly to the shop and had them look at it. It sounds a lot better today.
I had to pee seemingly every 15 mins. Reading above, it sounds like a number of folks pee while riding. I'm not sure I'm ready for that.
I followed the 56 miles with a 8.25 mile run at a good pace. I felt really good on the run. Today I went for a three hour ride figuring I should not take the day off since I did not do the full 112 yesterday. I did sleep in this morning, which was very nice!
I'll give it another shot next Saturday during an organized century ride.
@Gina--that might be just the ticket. Brillaint! No way would I have thought of that myself. Will try it out this weekend.
@Kris--You cast-iron-stomach woman? : ) I would be terrified to eat all that "real food." I have never even tried a real soda on the bike! Might have to given all the good reviews. Nice job out there kiddo. May up the salt more to your level as well.
@ Bob--you are SO ready--the eye blow-out notwithstanding.
@Beth--you are a riot! Nice work on your virgin RR.
@Nemo--stellar as always. What's with forgetting the water? Very un-Nemo like.
The whole drinking stuff in the middle of the night just doesn't sit well with me either. I could barely get down breakfast, feeling so full.
@ Heather--you are a beast. A pretty she-beast
, but you are going to tear it up. Awesome.
@Leigh--no Mexican, and I would argue, no sushi ever before RRs or races. Blech the next morning. You are so ready to hit the long ball on this one!
Question for Everyone...
Anyone else feeling all bloated and water-logged today? Any GI issues? Hungry, yet can't eat much? That's me in a nutshell.
Just checked--at -50 TSB.
@Dave - " I expect the IMWI will have many more distractions - like other riders, spectators, hills, turns, etc."...uh, you mean like me and Noodle riding you like a rented mule if you show up on race day with bad attitude! Let me know what we can do to help on RR#2. If we're in town maybe we can organize an escort...or at a minimum a special McDonald's smoothy delivery at mile 75 or so. You're on a team for a reason, so feel free to get us out there helping you!
Keep up the great work everybody! Can't wait to see y'all race!
I got rained out on Saturday morning which left me in a bad mood for most of the day. It was not a light rain that I could have got away with riding in. It was gusty and driving rain. I rescheduled the ride for Sunday.
I hit the rode on Saturday at about 8:30. It was hard to ride so slow at first after always pushing the rides for the last few weeks. The day was awesome. Sunny skies, with no wind. The miles and the hours flew bye. Even with Saturday off my legs were still feeling a lot of fatigue. By hour 5 they were aching pretty good. I really felt spent when I got off the bike. Hit the road running and was surprised that my legs felt as good as they did. I felt good for the 1st 2.75 miles. The heat really set into me and I felt drained. I believe this was a nutrition issue that I can resolve next time around. (I had consumed all my Infinite by hour 5 and only had water the last hour.) I’m going to carry some gels with me on the next rehearsal. I just could not get enough energy to get going to the LP pace. All in all I learned a lot from the rehearsal and I’m looking forward to tightening the things up on the next one.
Unfortunately, no RR for me; Stellhead instead. However, I executed like i would on IM, pacing adequately (no power yet - very green member, and just got my VDot of 37.1). All i can say is this was my most enjoyable race ever!!!! Ran the whole 1/2, with +30 for the first 3 miles, MP until mile 9, and dialed it in with the last 4.
negative split on the bike (despite tailwind going out, and headwind coming back) and PR by 2 mins ;-)
now, I don't know when and how to squeeze RR #1, but I feel like I've almost done one just reading those reports ;-)
thanks everybody - looking forward to this wks' training!!!!
HAPPY MONDAY
I pushed my RR#1 to next weekend having just gotten home yesterday (Sunday) and am currently in the planning phase. I cam considering making the drive (~2.5 hours) to Madison for the RR but having just gotten home from an epic road trip I am hesitant to hit the road again for a few weeks. When I get some time to think about it I'll post my RR plan and eventual results as well.
Trevor- RAGBRAI!!! Wow! You need to write a "race report" with some pics for us all. I can't wait to read all about it! I totally understand the issue with not wanting to go out of town again after just getting home. You could always do the first RR close to home, and then got to Madison for the second RR. Don't put too much pressure on that first rehearsal.
Eric- sounds like you had a great RR with some good lessons learned for next time too. Nutrition seems to be a big issue for many of us to work out!
OK- Has anyone seen a post from Jim H yet? Didn't he do his RR on Friday? I don't think I've seen any posts from him since them and I'm getting a little worried.
Jim is doing well and will check in soon I'm sure, just was a busy weekend in our area. Jim and I talked for a while yesterday .. like 3 hours of ABP
Love reading everyones reports. Sounds like we all learned a few lessons. Truth be told I almost pushed this RR back a week. In fact, I would have but Joanna had already made plans to drive in from NYC to join me in the hills. My work schedule sucked the days prior to the RR. I had two choices to get my long run in: forRun at 8:30 at night when I get home from work Thursday or get up early and run Friday because I was off. So, no way was I in any shape to run Thursday night. I got up early on Friday and did the long run. I finished just as Joanna arrived from NYC. I drank my recovery drink, put the legs up on the wall then joined Joanna for eggs and toast. I put my recovery tights on and took a short nap while Joanna did her 40 minute run. Next we went to East Potomac Park in Washington, DC to do our RR swim in the outdoor 50m pool. So glad we went to the 50m pool. I got horrible cramps in my feet as I knew I would after the long run. I used the pull buoy for the last 800m, only way I could survive was to drag my poor old legs.
We got all our bottles ready Friday night. Woke up early Saturday and drove to Riley's Lock for 102 miles in the hills followed by 6 mile run.Becky met us out there and rode the first loop and then did her run. We were all spread out but it was great to have other chicas out on the same road! I held up pretty well considering the long run the day before. I had a little melt down around mile 85 but put on my big girl pants and sucked it up! I think I may need new bike shoes as my feet started bothering me. I nailed my nutrition and even stayed within goal watts. Surprisingly I felt great on the run and only started feeling a little sick about 30 minutes after I fininshed but it passed quickly. I am really glad we are done with the first RR. IM is sneaking up on all of us! Hang in there gang, we are so close!
Trevor- I think we'd all like to hear about RAGBRAI
Kate - Great job on keeping it together!
Keep up the good work gang!
Ok, finally finding the time to sit down and report from last weekend on the IMWI course. Got in late on Friday night, stayed at Clarion with Sheryl W. Tried to drink a bottle of perpetuem + heed at 3 am, but just couldn't get it down, went back to sleep. We were going to start at 6, but slept in and left site by 7:30. I like Jim's idea of leaving right about the time we will be coming out of T1, that makes sense. NOTE for next time. The morning was overcast, humid, but the sun stayed under until I recall 12ish. which was REALLY nice
All in all, the ride went ok.
Things I will do different next time:
I have decided that I don't like perpetuem for fuel. I drink a little then I get really sick of the taste. So, just going to use heed in my arundel and water in my areo bottle. I do well with some solid food on the bike, so taking pbj's in my pockets was a good idea.
I stopped way tooooo much, I think 3 times at the gas stations. Next time try to only stop when need to pee and refill for water. So, I'm thinking 2x on the loop, maybe close to special need area. During race I know they have porta poties at end of special needs area.
Burnt my lower back BAD. not sure what to do about this. my tri shorts are lower than my bike shorts and the tri shirt doesn't cover completely. Maybe wear bike shorts on bike and change into running shorts for the run.
Looking forward to RR#2
ROCK ON PEEPS!!
I'm just now checking into this thread. Man, I should have been reading these over the past couple of days - it would have helped tremendously with my mindset. You guys are inspiring in terms of the way you're handling the ups and downs of this RR. I wish I could have done the same.
Anyway, I've been writing bits and pieces of this RR report over the past couple of days. I wanted to wait to post it until I calmed down and a little and got past some of the fatigue. It also helped having Matt as a sounding board on Sunday to really get things off my chest. So here's the deets of Friday's race rehearsal:
IMWI race rehearsal #1 didn’t go exactly as I would have liked. Following my RR swim on Thursday (that also was a bit of a let-down) I headed to Madison early Friday morning for an 8am start on the IMWI bike course. Here’s the summary, then the detailed venting will follow:
The Bike Data
· Ride time: ~5:45:00
· NP: 201 (target was 210)
· IF: .687
· TSS: 278
· VI: 1.05
The Run Data
· Run time: 47:30 (6 miles) - hit paces right on
The Good
· Peak 60’ power was from miles 80-100
· Higher IF in 2nd half of ride
· Decent VI given the wet conditions and just not feeling “on”
· Hit run pacing well for the 6 mile out & back
The Not-So-Good
· Disappointed with ride time (thought I should be in the 5:30-5:40 range)
· Completely missed IF target (.72)
· Something kooky happened with my Powertap (it included my 10-15’ stop between loops to fill water bottles)
· Poor focus (lots going on this week in personal/professional life as well as feeling very fatigued that had my mind elsewhere)
· Discovered after the ride that my rear brake was rubbing badly
· Never felt comfortable (legs tired, aero position didn’t feel right, cold at times, hot at other times)
· Felt like I was on the edge of a bonk every 15’ – not sure if it was my nutrition or the fatigue
· Bad attitude all day
Detailed Gripe Report
As soon as I arrived in Verona (start of loop 1), I had to take a step back and ask myself, “Now, what I am doing?” It’s been a crazy week and I’ve had a lot on my mind (quit my job for a better one, son’s 2nd birthday led to household stress trying to plan a party and entertain out-of-town guests for the weekend, extended family issues, etc.) Also, looking back on last week, I was battling some serious fatigue – CTL was 140, TSB of -40. But I gathered myself best I could and headed out.
It was overcast and in the low 60s when I started. After the 60’ JRA stuff I hit the start of the first loop and it began to rain. The roads were very slick, which made the descents on the course pretty scary. Additionally, Witte Rd was all gravel (it’s only about 1 mile but with those descents I was white-knuckled the whole way). On the positive side, the road going into Cross Plains is freshly paved (wish they would do the same for the road out of Cross Plains and Stagecoach!).
I finished loop 1 and stopped back at the car to refill water bottles (approx 10-15’ break). I didn’t feel the best during loop 1 (legs were flat, body was very fatigued) but I knew I was executing my hydration/nutrition strategy correctly as I had to pee 3 times during the almost 3 hour timeframe.
I headed out for loop 2 with the intent to kick up the watts by 5 each hour. It wasn’t easy but the numbers I was seeing on my LYC were indicating I was executing per plan.
Started getting pretty burned out by mile 90 – need to find something to bring me out of that funk (caffeine?, 5-hr Energy?, No-Doz? – never tried any of them before). Peed 4 more times during the final 56 miles.
Below is the ride data. Notice the Powertap didn’t separate out my 10-15’ stop to refill water at the car. Almost like the PT thought the rear wheel was still spinning?! Not sure what the deal is with my HR at the beginning - thinking something went screwy with the monitor for a while.
Entire workout (191 watts):
Duration: 5:54:14 (5:54:41)
Work: 4068 kJ
TSS: 278.7 (intensity factor 0.687)
Norm Power: 201
VI: 1.05
Pw:HR: 0.85%
Pa:HR: 3.5%
Distance: 112.028 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 394 191 watts
Heart Rate: 58 218 117 bpm
Cadence: 30 186 88 rpm
Speed: 2.2 44.2 19.0 mph
Pace 1:21 26:49 3:10 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 832 188 lb-in
I threw the bike in the car, got the run gear on and headed out for a 6 mile out and back, eager to get this thing done. First mile or so was a little rough – legs were tight, form felt like crap. Loosened up after the 1st mile and had no problem holding the 8:15/mi pace through mile 3. Made the turn and picked up the pace to my Z1/LRP (7:45/mi). Held it with no problem back to the car.
I was pretty spent. My quasi-race sim on the first day of the IMWI tri rally in early July didn’t leave me feeling nearly as cooked. And that was a hot, sunny day, too. I felt like that was the easiest day of training I’d had all year. This actual race sim left me feeling more like I do after the typical 4.5 hour EN-style long ride.
I decided to wipe the bike down before leaving. Gave the wheels a gentle spin to clean them off with a rag and to my shock saw that the back wheel hit a spot where it completely locked up. It appears I rode the entire time with the brake pad making pretty significant contact with the rim – IDIOT! No wonder my legs still feel cooked.
I made the drive back home pissed at the world. I carried that pissy attitude with me all weekend. I was ready to call this whole thing off because how could I even consider myself a potential Kona-qualifier with a performance like this!? I feel a little better as I took Saturday completely off and slept in both Saturday and Sunday. Additionally, Matt Ancona allowed me to vent for almost an hour during our ride on Sunday which allowed me to get a lot off my chest.
Thanks for letting me release some steam to you all. I’m now 100% focused on making RR #2 and, more importantly, the race as perfect as can be. Here’s my plan for RR #2: