Ironman Lake Placid : Official Thread (Page 2)

Thanks,  I was able to finish this up today.

For IMLP 12, my first race of any kind longer than a HIM, I used the competitive plan from the Fink book.  I modified it -- I made up all my own swim workouts and didn't do nearly as many swim workouts as recommended.  Also, I think that of the 30 weeks in the program, I only did every single workout in two of the weeks.  Life got in the way of triathlon.

Nonetheless, it prepared me for the distance and I had an absolute blast at the race.

This year, I think I use the Fink plan again and will probably modify it to adapt to some of the areas where I'm weak or want to improve.  If you are doing a 30 week plan, IMLP training begins in earnest on December 31st with a Monday/rest day.  That's right, the Fink plan starts on 1/1/13 this year.

In the meantime, I downloaded this plan from BT.  It is the Winter Cycling 16 Week Plan from Coach Jorge.  I did part of it last November-January and it was good stuff.  I set it up to start on September 3 in my "planned training" log.  Is anyone else doing Fink Competitive or interested in starting the Coach Jorge plan in about a month?

Good morning, all.  I got a slot in IMLP 2013, and am very excited.  Did a half and full IM distance in 2011, taking 2012 easy, but am back for more.  I plan on using Fink, but with a bit less swim as others have commented before.  I am going to sign up for Quassy as my 1/2 (did Mooseman, but gosh, that water was COLD!) and I want the hills of Quassy to gauge my fitness.  

For those that have ridden the course before, how much time did you spend in aero?  From the elevation view, it looks like there is a nice stretch after the big descent... can you stay aero in the later half of the loop?  Finally, how important is course familiarity; ie is one trip to LP enough ahead of time or should is a couple really, really helpful?  I live about 5-5.5 hrs away, so it is close enough to consider, but not a quick hop!  

Looking forward to getting to know you all, and enjoying the journey together!

IMLP 2012 was my first Ironman, and I'm coming back for more. I'm considering using the Fink plan and also using Jorge's plan for a head start on the bike. My goal this year is to have improved bike fitness, which should drop my marathon time as well as the bike split. Better race day nutrition will also be something I will focus on.

I'm considering using this program as my pre training bike prep too.  I coach xc in the fall...so I will likely only get three quality rides in per week from now until November...but I'm sure there are benefits to be hard pulling workouts from this plan.

This was my first IM and being on a tri bike was new to me (March of this year), so I had 4 months to get used to it.  I was in the aero most of the time,  I seem to climb better in aero then I do sitting up (I'm able to relax more and seems I use less energy).  I would not say I'm a good climber but I didn't have to get out of aero to climb the hills,  they were just really long (Avg 16.33 for the bike course),  The second part of the loop is definitely alot slower.  I did a practice run during the 2011 race weekend so that was my only knowledge of the course.  I think if I could do it again I would try to make it up when the weather warmed up a little to see how my training was going this way it can tell me how I'm doing in my training.

I really cannot remember how I figured out my heart rate zones.  I did about 3/4 of the Coach Jorge cycling program last year and since I don't have a power meter, I did his test for the heartrate zones on the bike.  As I recall, they are 30-40 minutes.  I don't remember the running, but I am sure that I did something because I have it locked into my brain that I begin zone 3 (for running) at 151 so I wanted to always be running in the 140s.  

As a general rule, my zones are about 12 beats lower for biking than running and about 12-15 beats lower for swimming than biking.

tasr - 2012-08-01 1:50 PM Hi All,
 
This will be the 3rd IMLP for me.  I love this course and have trained here a few times.  In 2013 my goal is to improve my overall time from 2010, the last time I raced this course.
 
I have a few years of experience with Triathlons, so any questions I will try to answer. 
 
 
So questions for the group.
 
1. Is this your first IM?
2. Have you done LP before?
3. What are your goals for the 2013 race?
4. Do you have any specific questions that you wish addressed about LP (the race, training etc&hellip

 

Hi!

two time volunteer

1. No I did b2b

2. Yes training s/b/r

3. Kona

4. Nope

355 days 22 hours 25 minutes before race day

I would say 75-80% of the time on the bars. IMHO the only thing u have to get use to is the downhill other than that is no a biggie.

+1  I was in aero most of the time after Keene.  Had to get out on the way to Wilmington and a few of the climbs back into LP...

Yep same for me.

I was going to send Ron or marmadaddy a PM, but did not yet. 

Actually I was on the bull horns on the Keene descent and a few times on some of the steeper parts of the climb. 

I always take stock in course familiarity, if you can train on the course the better.  I rode the course twice and drove it once.  That helped my confidence in the race.  My bike times 09’ and 10’ were in the 5:30 range.

Thanks all.  I heard that they may be doing some re-surfacing, which could help a lot.  Off season (even though I have a little sprint in a about a month) started today.  Slowly building up the engine...

Ideally, I would get to LP once or twice, perhaps one of the fireman camps.  Anyone else have any experience with the camps?

I rode a 6:03 split in my first Ironman (last month at Lake Placid.)  I rode on a 11-25 cassette.  I went through all my gears on the loop around Lake Placid.  I have a standard crank and while I forget how many teeth I have on the front, I think it may be the standard 53-39 -- I never had any problems with the hills.  I say "problems" to mean, I didn't have to come out of the saddle although I did drop my cadence in several places down into the 60s.  Mainly, by going into my smallest two gears, I could climb with a cadence in the 80s and on the aero bars. Also, I raced at 185 pounds -- so I imagine it is slightly easier for smaller guys and gals to get uphill due to power/weight ratios and I tend to descend like a demon due to gravity.

Last year's BT thread had a lot of talk about getting a triple in front, compact crank or riding with a 12-27.  I opted against all these choices after I took my bike out several times and found hills with a similar grade as the long climb from Wilmington to Lake Placid.  I forget the percent grade at the moment, maybe it was a 6 percent climb, but it is not unreasonable to do it on a standard set up it is however unrelenting.  You'll spend 10-12 miles pointed uphill -- and then will do it again.

My advice is that if you have to cheat one way or the other, at the margin go toward a set up for your bike that is a bit easier to take uphill.  You don't need any explosive speed and if you are pedaling in your biggest gear on this course then you are probably so darn strong that burning extra energy to get over 30 mph means that you have energy to spare when it comes to climbing or going into a headwind.

Thanks for all of the options.  I saw the TBT set-up near the oval and I'm leaning that way after checking out the site.

No problem - if they have a pickup anywhere close to you they are a fantastic option.

IMO, I would definitely familiarize yourself with the decent coming out of Keene and make the call on doing a loop based on your training plan and how your taper is going.  If you do it you need to make sure you take it easy.  Ideally for the decent practice it would be ideal if you have a friend or family member there to shuttle you back up.

IMLP will be my first ironman. I'll be doing it with my boyfriend and another friend of mine who has done a few IMs. I did my first half this year and was really pleased with how it went, so I decided to go for a full for next year. My boyfriend and I are thinking about going up and doing one loop of the bike and run courses in September to get a feel for it, but we probably won't have a chance to get back after that before the race. I think I should be able to finish in 13 hours, but I'll wait to make a real time goal until I see how my training goes. My only real goals are getting through the training and making it to race day injury free, nailing down my nutrition (I didn't have any trouble with nutrition at the half, but I only had gatorade, water, and coke, but I'm assuming I'll need some solids as well for a full), and making it through the race happy and healthy! I still have an olympic and sprint to look forward to this summer, then some recovery time before starting training in earnest probably in mid November.