Lake Stevens 70.3 Race Day Plan and Bike Setup Plan
I will be going with what worked at IMCDA.
Breakfast: 2 greek yogurts and a banana (500 calories)
Swim: 2 Gu's prior to start, EN tri kit under my wetsuit.
Bike: 3 hour Infinit bottle, with 2 Gu's tape to top tube, water from the aid stations in my aero bottle. Gearing will be 11-28 unless the forthcoming bike map proves flatter than last year. I ride with stock wheels, which are 35mm aero felt wheels. I'll be shooting for 80% of FTP for the duration of the ride.
Run: I take nutrition from the aid stations, usually about 200 calories per hour (all liquid). Will start out the first 3 miles at a 8:30/mi pace and work up to a 7:10/mi pace until the line at 10 miles where I will give it all I have to finish.
My 1 thing is a 1:35:00 run split.
Did Lake Stevens last year in 5:22:xx, this year want to get close to 5:00:00.
Comments
Breakfast: I'm still trying to figure this one out, but I'll keep it as liquid as possible. I'll be doing some searching of the forums before I decided on anything.
Swim: I'm a slower swimmer so I'll line up on the right (outside) and after a couple hundred yards when things start opening up I'll work my way over to the bouy line for the remainder of the swim. For those of you who don't know, there's a cable that runs probably 6ft below the water that the bouys are attached to, so you can get away with very little sighting on this swim if your near the bouys.
Bike: I plan to start with a bottle of water and a bottle of Perform. Over the first 46 miles I'll aim to take in three bottles of Perform and up to one bottle of water depending on how hot it is. This should give me about 210 calories/hr and anywhere from 24 to 32 ounces of liquid per hour. The final 10 miles I'll just stick to water, with an S-Cap somewhere in there, to hopefully get most of the calories out of my stomach before the run. This isn't something I've tried before but I've heard it helps avoid stomach issues during the run so we'll see.
Run: I plan to go with a minimalist approach on the run and see what I can get away with. I'll take a small sip of Perform at each aid station (1-2 ounces) but mostly take in water. I'll also take one or two S-Caps during the run depending on how hot it is. I'm purposely trying to go on the low side as far as calories go to see what I can do without bonking. As I've heard Coach R say, if you bonk there's always an endless supply of calories at the next aid station.
This race is definitely an experiement for me. Hopefully it will help me figure out a new nutrition plan for when I eventually decided to do another full IM.
Swim: 2 Power gells prior to start. Swim comfortably and sight better. Was all over the place on 2nd lap at CdA. Cable should help!
Bike: This is where I'll change my plan a bit. Water in aero bottle. 3hr CarboPro bottle, Power gel every 45min and 1 Salt stick every 30min. 300ish cal/hr. I did gels, water, and Perform on the bike at CdA and had a tough time taking any on the run due to upset-gassy stomach.
Run: i take on course nutrition. About 200cal/ hr. I hope to run sub 2:10.
My one thing: finish strong. Hold it together mentally.
@ Jeff- don't forget to fill out the race information sheet at https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc...=en#gid=31
Swim: Go as fast as I can while still maintaining form.
Bike: I plan to target an IF of 80% unless RR2 tells me that's too aggressive. My gears are as follows:
Gear 1 = 166
Gear 2 = 175
Gear 3 = 184
Gear 4 = 193
I'll ride in Gear 1 for the first 30' before settling into Gear 2, except for hills where I'll follow the EN guidance.
Run: I plan to start the run at a 8:30 min/mile pace for the first 3 miles then ramp up to a 8:00 min/mile pace. I have a tendency to go out too fast, so the first few miles I'll be really focused on holding myself back.
My primary goal for this race is to finish sub 6 hours. I'm hoping for a sub 45' swim, bike around 3:00-3:20 (depending on the course) and a sub 1:50 run.
Goal: experience. Now that I've checked off the bucket list item of becoming an Ironman, I'm planning to focus on HIMs going forward and probably do 2-3 HIMs next year. So this year I figured I would take my IMCDA fitness and do the Lake Stevens HIM to see how I like it compared to the full IM.
Nutrition: I used only Infinit for nutrition at IMCDA and had it dialed in perfectly. I carried a bottle in the cage behind my seat and had my Garmin beep every 8 minutes to remind me to take a swig. That made a bottle last about 3.5 hours. Then I used my Aerodrink between the aerobars solely for water. For the run, I have a camelbak belt that holds a bottle at the middle of my lower back so I will carry one 3 hour bottle of Infinit for the run.
Pre-race: Same as IMCDA - Saturday eat a dinner for 2-3 around 4-5pm, then sip a 300 calorie bottle of Infinit until going to bed around 8-9pm. Wake up at 4am and sip another 300 calorie bottle of Infinit during the drive to transition. Use restroom before putting on wetsuit.
Swim: Hope the crowd isn't nearly as bad as IMCDA and just focus on getting into a good breathing rhythm. Also, I don't think I will wear my Garmin during the swim this time. I may get a cheap and slim watch to wear for the duration just to keep track of total time. Then use the Garmin on the bike and run for pacing only. Goal: match IMCDA pace - 50 minutes
T1: Don't leave my goggles in wetsuit arm this time (lost goggles at IMCDA that way). The only change from IMCDA is I now have bike shoes and clip in pedals :-) Goal: <7 minutes <br />
Bike: Average Z2 (16 mph) for 30 minutes, then average Z3 (18 mph) for duration. Take in a little less water than IMCDA to reduce bathroom breaks (unless temps are over 75). Goal: Beat my IMCDA pace (3:45) and get closer to 3:00.
T2: Same as IMCDA but changing from bike shoes to running shoes. Will use regular laces this time instead of the elastic laces as I think that was the primary cause of the blisters at IMCDA. Goal: <5 minutes <br />
Run: If knees don't stab, run miles 1-3 at 9:30, run miles 4-10 at 9:00, and race miles 11-13. Walk the aid stations. If knees stab, do what I can and don't injure myself. Goal: I would be extremely happy with anything close to 2:00
Overall: Since my focus is experience, just finishing by the cut-off will be success in my book. If my knees hold up, and I hit all the goals above, I should be around 6:00-6:15 but I will be happy with anything better than my IMCDA pace, which would put me at 8:15 for the HIM distance. As long as I don't have to walk the run portion, it will be a great day for me.