Race Week Taper
Race week started out nice and easy and I needed it as I was smoked from the previous week build phase. I focused on rest and recovery for most of the week while getting ready for the trip down to CT. Towards the end of the week I got with my coach to go over the pre race carb load protocol, race pacing and nutrition plan. QT2 Systems has this all worked out for you and takes the guessing out of it. They even have it timed out for you.
Pre Race Carb Load
The plan you see on the left is my Ironman pre race carb load which is a two day protocol. For this 1/2 Ironman race my timeline started with the LARGE Dinner! 2 days before the race. You will notice that there are no veggies and little fat during this time frame. The day before the race I got up early and did my light bike and run workout and then headed to Bickford's Pancake house for my BIG Breakfast. I have not had a breakfast like this in months. I ordered a stack of three pancakes, 2 eggs, home fries, and white toast with a cup of decaf coffee. The waitress said "you must be hungry" To be honest I did not think I would eat it all but I did and I enjoyed every bit of it. The rest of the day while driving down to CT, I just followed the timeline. It seemed like I was continually eating all day. The only think I missed was the english muffin and jelly at 3:00 as I was at the pre race meeting.
Race Pacing Plan
Being that this race is really hilly on both the bike and the run, the focus was to swim steady, bike conservative and save the legs for the run. That was the plan so lets see how well I did.
Race Day Nutrition Plan
1.2 Mile Swim - 33:33
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| Swim Course |
I got to the beach and headed into the water for a warm-up. Within 2 minutes I had a head on collision with another swimmer with both of us going at full pace. Wow, that really woke me up. I still have a lump on my head from the impact. It took me a minute or so to get my composure back. I then swam in a direction where there was no one else swimming to complete my warm up. My wave had 100 starters for all males 50-59 and 58 of them were in my 50-54 age group and started at 0715 . At 0700 I took my caffeinated power gel and 8oz of water and waited for the start. at 0715 and I was off. I took a position to the right close to the sighting buoy's and went out at a brisk pace to get clear of the traffic. I tried to catch a draft but was unsuccessful as I was swimming faster than the person I was trying to draft off. I settled into a comfortable pace and swam from site buoy to site buoy. Things went well with sighting until my first right turn. The sun was bright and made seeing the buoy's difficult and I went a little bit wide and that cost me a little distance and time. I was able to get back on track by looking at other swimmers ahead of me and the life guards on paddle boards. Sighting after the second right turn was not an issue and I was able to increase my pace a little. I completed the swim in 33:33 and was happy with my effort. After the swim, my wave place was 8/100 and age group place was 6/58
56 Mile Bike - 3:01:33
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| Bike course and Elevation Profile |
As I headed into T1 bike transition I started to get out of my wetsuit while trying to keep calm and be efficient. I got to the bike and again I had a issue getting my feet out of the wet suit. I remained calm but it took me longer than it should have and probably cost me 45 seconds in transition. I got my cleats, helmet and was on my way. I immediately started my nutrition plan and started to drink. My plan was for me to drink five 24oz bottles of power bar sports drink during the entire ride to ensure I was not dehydrated for the run. Peeing once during the 56 mile ride would be a good indicator to know if I was hydrated enough. I did not pee at all during the entire race so my fluid intake needs to increase. Goal of the bike ride was to keep my wattage down during the hill sections of the course so my legs would not be toast for the run. I did my best but my bike is a 9 speed 12x25 with a standard crank which caused me to have lots of low cadence and wattage spikes. I did stay within my self and my heart rate was kept a manageable level. There was one section of the course that included a 7
13.1 Mile Run - 1:47:13
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| Run Course and Elevation Profile |
I made my way into T2 and got my sneakers, hat and run nutrition and headed out on the run course. The dreaded run was on my mind all week as I did not know what to expect. The first two miles were down hill and my race plan called for me to run conservative as there were many hills coming. My coach wanted my first mile to be around 7:45 and control my heart rate. I came through at 7:35 so I adjusted my pace and settled in knocking off mile after mile and eating 1 cliff blok every mile. Miles 4-7 is where the fun began with the sustained hill climb. I just kept my feet moving and kept my heart rate steady. When the down hill sections came I tried to gain some time back. The middle of the course was rolling and manageable. At about mile 9, we ran by the finish line which was a nice downhill and I was able to get in a 7:35 mile in. Miles 10-12 were not to bad but mile 12 was a ball buster. I kept moving but I may have been able to walk faster. Once I crested that last hill it was a nice small down hill to the finish and my race was over. After the run, my wave place for the entire race was 8/100 and age group place was 8/58. Overall place was 122/745.
Post Race Coaching Analysis
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| My 2001 Cervelo One Triathlon Bke |
We all have this technology to record our data but if you do not use it is just data. So a day after the race my coach went over the data to see what we can learn from it and use it in preparation for Ironman lake placid. As you can clearly see from my power profile of the race, the shaded areas are the areas of high wattage and low cadence and these are called "run killers" in my case I had 9 miles of wattage greater than 300 and 19.66 miles of cadence between 25 and 75. My run could have been better if I managed the bike better. Granted the run course was hilly but there may have been gains to be had. So what are the adjustments we made based on this data? As I said earlier, my bike is a 9 speed 12x25 with a standard crank. So the adjustment I made was taking the compact crank I had on my Fuji Altamira and put it on my Cervelo Tri bike, Both were shimano 105's. I also changed out the 12x25 rear cassette to a 12x27 cassette. This will now allow me to be able to spin more on the hills and control the high wattage and low cadence which will help my legs for the Lake placid run. I will have my first ride with this configuration on Saturday which is scheduled to be a 4 hour ride. We will see how it goes. Another adjustment I need to make is drink more on the bike I will also do more of that in my training.
At this point in my Ironman Lake Placid Journey (50 days to go) I am happy with my progress on all levels. I started out the year at 213lbs and at this mornings weigh in I was 187lbs. My original race weight goal was 190 but am now targeting 180. The weight loss without a doubt has helped my running. 7 weeks to go and much more work needs to be done. My next event in preparation for lake placid is on June 21st with the Mashpee 3 Mile Open Water Swim - Mashpee, MA Thanks for following.
Phil
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