Race Day plan/strategy … as if i’ll follow it?

I’ve been meaning to write this down for the last wee while, so finally as the pre-race nerves are kicking in somewhat now, i’m finally getting to put this down. Reader – please do let me know any other ideas/ considerations i should include.

• Race is Sunday morning, start @ 7am local time.
• We fly out to Frankfurt on Friday morning, leaving Dublin Airport at 7am
• If interested to follow IRONMAN live coverage on the web, i’m athlete number 1564

Whether i actually follow this plan will be interesting to see, how closely i manage to stick to my particular decisions made from X thousands of miles away, and far from the battle-field.

I need to keep my discipline, stick to the plan and …

• not get stressed in the swim;
• not get mister competitive on the bike;
• and not get to be mister “dead on his feet” too early in the run.

Yes it will be hard, way way harder than L’etapes from the last two years which were dam hard in spots with what seemed to be endless climbing in the heat, with serious gradients to be overcome – but i must remember that i did overcome them, and actually thrived to an extent as others fell away. My training whilst nothing special in terms of hours clocked etc has been consistent and hopefully covers me to get around; but i’m not exactly under-trained .. being careful on the day should see me through.. I hope you believe me ‘cos i’m not so convinced by these positive words!

Friday:
Arrive to Frankfurt, check in to the hotel – first thing i suppose to do is to build the bike and ensure its all road worthy and ready for use.
The English race briefing is at 4:30pm, and i have until 6pm to collect my race bags.
The pasta party is in the same place as the race briefing so i will probably go to that. Seems that its an experience to go to at least one of these ?

• To ensure the bike is okay and to get some nervous energy out of the way, I will aim to do about 1 hour of a cycle (somewhere in the city??) to include 7* 40 sec efforts of fast cycling. It would be great to have a small spin on the race route itself, but for now i don’t know how practical that would be.

Saturday:
Bike check in until 7pm – i don’t intend to leave it to the last minute to give it in … and once I’ve confirmed that the bike is okay from the day before there’s not much to be gained by hanging onto it.

• 15 min run (somewhere) to include 6*40m acceleration.
• 15 min swim – unlikely to be in the actual lake, as this is in a separate spot from the hotels and check-in. Though its possible that i’ll head over to see the lake either the Friday or Saturday, in which case i might take the opportunity to have a quick swim in the lake (probably without the wet suit)

I know i won’t sleep to well this particular night – I’m a bad enough sleeper in the normal times, never mind the night before an IronMan !! Still i will try to get to bed for about 9pm and at least try to rest.

Try to get plenty of water into me, and put extra SALT on my food.

Sunday:
There are free buses that morning to take us from Hotel/Central Points to the Lake. Race starts at 7am, so realistically i need to be there for at the very very latest 6am – double check the bike, double check the bags… other than a quick dip in the water to get the wetsuit sorted, there’s no real need for a warm-up as such. Potential visits to toilet at lake side so remember to bring loo paper.

I should expect to be sitting to the table for about 4:15-4:30 AM – so as to have it eaten about two hours (by 5am) before race starts, and allow me to get to site on buses etc. Breakfast for me is likely to be cereal and some toast (with jam) as that is my normal breakfast. Will hopefully be able to have some additional aspects as Scrambled Eggs, Baked Beans (I don’t like porridge), rolls, coffee, orange juice, water. No doubt a visit to the toilet (or two) before leaving the hotel!!

At the start before the race itself will continue to sip water. I’ve not taken gels before swimming ever so i won’t take on board any such specials at this late stage – similarly won’t take on any gels during the swim leg itself when we get out of the water for the X metres before starting the second section of the swim. Probably eat one PowerBar bar some 20 mins before start.

———————–RACE ITSELF ——————–

SWIM
Nice and easy, don’t go out too fast , relax and take it easy. Long strokes – focus on technique and keep out of trouble! Drafting in behind a swimmer would be nice, but not so sure of me being able to identify someone swimming at the right pace for me. Last week on holidays i done a fair bit of open swimming in the sea without the wetsuit, so i’m ready mentally for a non-suit swim if the weather is that warm on race day. No particular strategy other than to get through it, and to be able to get out of the water without being dragged by Medical staff, and in suitable condition to begin the bike leg, i.e. not too wrecked.

Whatever time i come out on – hopefully between 1 hour 20 and 1:30 – that’s it, put it behind me, forget it and move on with the bike.

BIKE
The course is reckoned to be one of the faster ones around, so target speeds would be difficult to define or aim for. So focus will be on maintaining a suitable HR for the race. Other than on the couple of hills, i should not be going over the 140-142 bpm mark which would be heading out of my Aerobic zones. Will break the 180 km into 4 sections …

• I will be carrying solid food (bagel/roll/brack with ham) and will look to eat half a roll every hour of cycling ( 3 rolls altogether to begin with, and two more stashed in my special needs bag but these would only be used as a real last resort and wouldn’t expect to actually use them)
• Will have two bottle holders and the front handlebar aero drink. The drinks and aero drink holder to be drank though and replenished every second drink station … which would be every 40 km or so. One of my two water bottles to begin with will have a NUNN tablet within it so as to get more SALT into me, and hopefully prevent cramp and dehyrdation later on. A second tablet will be in my bentobox for use in the second hald of the race (with water)
• I will have a number of Gels in my bentobox to begin with, and a number of PowerBars (cut into smaller chunks with the paper off them already, easy to eat) and expect to take on more towards the end of the bike split – probably about 120km stage
• Each hour ::: half a roll, a banana, powerbar – rotating through these with about 20 mins of a gap
• Each hour ::: should have drank through the aero holder and at least one of the 500ml containers (two if for some reason i take a Gel)

<1> – On the road for some 45 km
Initially will only drink water for the first 15-20 mins and allow my stomach to calm down and be ready to take on food and drink.
Cycle easily (max 125 bpm), nothing too hard and let the rest of the world pass me by – there won’t be too many behind me coming out of the swim anyhow!
Only after 20 mins or so to begin the hourly eating cycle of roll – banana – powerbar – roll – banana – powerbar – roll ….

<2> 45 km to 90 km
Now well established and well in the groove – hopefully enjoying a good day on the bike. Aim to ride this as a steady rate for IM pace, so i should be in the high 130s bpm range. Still in zone 2.

Keep eating the solid food, keep drinking water (don’t intend taking on PowerBar drinks – i’m not used to them, and I’ve no control over the strength of the mixtures being handed to me.

<3> 90 -135 km
Perhaps push on a wee bit, but ONLY if feeling really strong – my HR is likely to be heading higher anyway as the day hots up, as i get tireder anyway, so insisting on a 143 limit may not be wisest. So this will be dependent on feel rather than HR levels.

Should have at least one toilet stop by now – if not then ‘m not drinking enough and need to make a special effort to take on liquids. Even when i do stop for a pee, continue to drink water whilst i’m finding a toilet etc. Do some stretches whilst stopped .

<4> 135 – 180 km
Back more to a steady pace, more like section 2. Continue to eat and drink – even though it’ll probably be quite hard … i’m now fueling for the run section rather than the bike section. Spin the legs slightly in a lower gear for the last 1 or 2 KMs so as to be somewhat ready for the run leg.

I don’t plan to stop at the Special Needs stop on the bike course – unless something happens that i need to. I expect to carry enough solid food to get around to be supplemented by the water, bananas and power bars that will be available at 4 points in each of the two laps. I will only take Gels as a back up option should i be struggling to eat the solid food. I’ll have some in the bento box, and will be able to pick up more at the Food Points.

RUN
Hopefully i make it this far in one piece. Intend to run in a singlet (i.e no sleeves) unless its really hot in which case I’m thinking to wear a short sleeved top so as to protect me somewhat from the sun. Will have a hat and sun glasses.

Start easy – take on board a gel and plenty of water.

Will expect to walk through feeding stations (probably all in the early and later sections and every second/third one from 5km onwards) and take the opportunity to drink and take in some calories (two gels an hour flushed down with plenty of water). Will stick to water rather than PowerBar drinks.

Training has me running generally long distances at 5 minute km, however i need to tone this ambition level down big time for the big day. So will hope to start off running at 5.30 km pace, and see how we get on … and resist the urge (if i get it) to kick on until at best about the 21km (half way stage) . If i get to this point and am in good shape, then pick up the pace (whilst ensuring the HR doesn’t go above 150bpm). Continue to drink and take on 2 gels an hour, and towards the end could treat myself to some drinks of Coke, not too much though…

—————

I’ve had a massage this morning, and will be picking up my bike from WheelWorx this afternoon. Hope to get a quick 30 mins spin on the bike to ensure all is well with it before boxing it up this evening.

Thursday morning i intend to do a early morning swim in Glenalbyn, perhaps not do everything in the session, more long and steady in a lane to myself if possible

=> any other ideas or any flaws in my last coupe of days and race day plans ???