MightyMan HIM Taperers Thread (Page 2)

Dude, thanks for posting this.  I'd like to post it again.  It nails the hammer dead-center on the head.

http://www.coachgordo.com/gtips/race_strategy/pacing_your_first_half_ironman.html

Some key points that stood out to me are:  Start the swim slow.  Swimming too fast and saving 2 mins on the swim could cost you 20 mins on the run.  - At all costs, keep from going anaerobic- 

The only appropriate place to hammer on your first HIM is the last 5k of the 13.1 mile run, and the downhills on the Bike   The rest is about pacing and staying within yourself.  Unless you are a pro, or unless you've logged 30 hrs on the Bike,  24 hrs on the Run and 20 hours on the Swim for the month of September  

The weather is looking AWESOME, too.  Little to no wind, partly cloudy (block out some of the rays), perfect temperature.

Montauk, NY

Partly Cloudy

High 59°F Precip 20%

 Take some time to visualize the perfect race, a smooth strong swim, a confident steady bike and a strong relaxed run. Think back to the best swim, bike and run workouts you've had in your training and try your best to recreate the way they felt on race day. Picture yourself crossing the finish line strong, smiling and will your arms in the air for your finishers picture!

Remember, on Sunday you're going to accomplish something that few people will ever even attempt. In my opinion the journey is the reward, you've accomplished great things just by dedicating yourself to preparing for the HIM.

The HIM is just swim, bike, run like every other day. Race your race, don't worry about the athlete next to you, enjoy the beauty that Montauk has to offer while you're out there. You're going to have a great race on Sunday!

Hey, you're starting to sound like me Tri_Sport

And let's put things into perspective -- and I don't mean to trivialize the distance here -- but this is a Half Ironman people; not a full Ironman!!  Read a couple of Ironman race reports from Wisconsin (like I just did)  2.4 mile swim / 112 mile bike / 26.2 mile run ... all of a sudden a half Ironman looks like a walk in the park  

We've got little to no wind, ideal cool temps, a swim in a glass pond, a 95% flat bike, georgeous Montauk backdrop - (so far) honestly, you could not ask for more ideal conditions.  Everyone is going to have a great race and finish with a smile

so I just looked at the elevation profiles and it reminded how bad I am at reading elevation profiles! From what I can gather the course looks pretty manageable.

From what I gather, and having ridden the RJR Aaron June Oly -which is a lot of the same bike- , there are only four climbs on the bike of signifigance: two decent climbs and two minor climbs. And same thing on the run, a medium climb then followed by Murder Hill - and you have to run it twice.  Other than that there doesn't look to be any major hills. 

Mike, can you put us at ease and confirm this - seeing as you've done the course  

wow,lot of activity on this thread as we get closer.

 Question, what is your nutrition plan for the race?

Gels, bars, blocks? How much and how often do you plan on eating?

My plan is to be gelling every half hour and to chew down a couple of cliff bars towards the end of the bike to get ready for the run.

Oh, that should be fun.  Oi vai.  What is it I always read about running up hills... shorten stride, lean forward slighlty, easy - quick cadence.  I've read someone refer to running up a hill like spinning up it in high gear on a bike. 

Oh, that should be fun.  Oi vai.  What is it I always read about running up hills... shorten stride, lean forward slighlty, easy - quick cadence.  I've read someone refer to running up a hill like spinning up it in high gear on a bike. 

 This is exactly how i hit hills,  good technique, lean forward (so your body pulls you up) short quick easy steps. i'm a decent runner (around 1:30 half marathon) and this works well.

Running Hills - Here are some tips I got from Bill Rodgers before I ran Boston last year:

 - Relax your abs
 - Go to your arms (swing your arms more, this will help legs keep moving)
 - Shorten your stride
 - Focus on a point on the road 15-20 feet in front of you, don't focus on the top of the hill

Use the first few miles of Sunday's run to settle in and get comfortable. I like to equate racing long distance to shifting gears in a car. It's not good to go 0 - 60 as fast as possible, you've got to spend some time in 1st gear, then as the race progesses "shift" into higher gears (faster pace, harder work).

Nutrition for me this weekend will be gels and fluids. One gel before the swim and one just about every 30 mins on the bike. Water with NUUN in the aero drink and two bottles of HEED behind the seat, but I may change to one HEED and one water behind the seat. My original plan was water up front and one bottle of HEED (2 bottles total), but I'm worried about running out with only one bottle exchange. The run will consist of coke and water at the aid stations, probably 1.5 gels and endurolytes if the heat is on.

Dude, do you mean you're going to eat 2 full clif bars on the bike?  If so, WOW. 

My planned nutrition:

Night Before: Light dinner.  Carbo-loading big meal should be Thurs and Friday night, not night of ...from what I've read lately.  Pop an S!Cap

Pre-Race: Drink an Ensure first thing when I'm still in bed and pop and S!Cap; small coffee black, banana, 1 nutrigrain blueberry waffle  

15 Minutes Pre-Race: Pop a Powerbar Gel 1X Caffeine

On the Bike:  Three bottles - 1 per hour.  2 with with two scoops of Perpetuem ; 1 with Gatorade Endurance.   Probably only will end up drinkin 2.5 bottles worth - depends on how I feel, weather, how much I sweat etc...    Also I will take 2X Caffeine Powerbar gels every 45 minutes to an hour and 1 S!Cap and hour ... Again this may change due to conditions.  If it's really cool out and I am not sweating a lot, then I will take less. 

On the Run: I will bring with me 3 S!Caps and 3 Gels.  According to how my body feels I will take Gatorade/ Water from the Aid Stations as needed and pop S!Caps and Gels accordingly. 

So I guess nothing really solid for me...  although I can definitely stomach solids on Long Training Bricks.  Perhaps I may bring a chocolate chip granola bar or half a Harvest Powerbar.  I've eaten them before on long Bike rides with zero problem.