Ironman USA Lake Placid : Official Thread (Page 57)

Thanks a lot for the ideas guys.

I know I should be enjoying the first experience but sadly even if I say that to myself, it doesn't always stick on race day when it's my natural instinct to hammer.  I'm definitely most looking forward to the run, I know that's where I can make some hay.

Cusetri, I'm a huge fan of that quote!

Live 15 minutes from Placid. Though I haven't been over to the bike course yet, It has been relatively windy the last month in the area. I wouldn't go as far as 25 mph winds constantly, and there have been a few ok days. Generally, the winds tend to die down a little as we get further into the summer. It's definitely not always windy (especially in the summer)

The weather really is highly variable though, as I'm sure has already been mentioned, so you're really not going to know what kind of wind (or weather in general) we're going to get on race day until the week leading up or even the morning of. There is a chance it can be a calm, beautiful day with very little wind on most of the course like we all hope for.

sorry--not sure what happened...I had a response, looks like it never posted--usually I check to make sure.....

whops!...didn't mean to just leave a blank post with my sig line.

anyway, finishing is an excellent goal for your first IM, that said, I understand your cocnerns with what to expect.

7's for a 2 hour training run is cooking....

what were your splits for race for recovery?

4.2 w/kg is extrememly good and will have you better than 95-97%% of the people that start LP.

How you use that cycling fitness will determine your day, however.  That is where some race sims/experience can come into play. 

FTP is only part of the equation, and the longer the duration of the event, the less important it becomes; or rather  I should say the other half of the equation comes into play and becomes more dominate; and that is your fatigue curve.  another way to look at that is what % of your FTP can you hold for 5- hours, and still run? 

A person with a 4.2 w/kg could underperform someone with 3.9 w/kg provided that guy with 3.9 can hold a higher percentage of that number for 5 hours.  This is why FTP alone is not a great predictor of IM performance by itself.

your HIM will give you a good frame of reference, so 11:40-12:00 is a good place to start, double and add 1 hour.

though this is trickey as well, you mention a 1:35 swim time.....there is some low hanging fruit right there....you can shave a good chunk of that, I woudl think, over 10 weeks.  What was you HIM swim split; be sure to benchmark it against people you know to determine if it was long or short?  some swims can be REALLY long, or slow....important to benchmark against other competitors to see how it stackes up (athlinks good for this).

also, if your swim fitness gives you a 1:35, you won't be able to access all that bike fitness you have......don't underestimate the swim and what it can do to your day....

coming out of the water faster and fresher is advantageous for several reasons.

the obvious being you can access more of your bike/run fitness, but also the faster you come out, you can ride with faster groups (legally) on the bike.

my main point here is alot goes into prediciting your time, but with good race sims and good training, it should be fairly easy.

by simply looking at your race results + training, you should have a really good idea.

what you want to be careful of is using FTP alone, on both the run and bike.  Better off using acutal race results and what you do in training.

lots here, sorry if I rambled too much........

Tagging on with a couple of thoughts:

Personally, I'd throw out last year's results.  I think I dropped about 40min of my HIM in one year.  It's old news for you.  I'd be more concerned with what you can do now and the indicators are that you are more of a sub 5 HIM person now....Go race one and find out.

Also, I wouldn't get too caught up in w/kg and forget about aerodynamics.  Get your position dialed in.  If the race was all uphill that 4.2 w/kg @ 240 watts would be great but that means you're pushing 170-180ish into the wind when you aren't climbing.  What does that get you for speed?  Get aero.

Your run is fast, you just need to be in a spot to tap into it and not be walking half the race.

Thanks a lot for alll the info guys, it really is getting my head in the right place about predictors and what to focus on. 

I have a couple races coming up that should help me get a better prediction of my race fitness for long distances right now.  My last race was collegiate nationals and using just that to compare my short distance fitness from last year to this year I've dropped a ton of time (a lot due to my biking.)

Coming up I have Memphis in may, I'm doing the amateur challenge so I'll be doign the sprint the first day and an olympic the second and then I have Kansas 70.3.  I'm really looking forward to that race and it will be a good indication of how the training is paying off.

Anyone doing Kansas in preparation for LP?

No Kansas for me, too far and too many logistics to do that unfortunately.  I will be racing a stones throw from Placid for my big tune-up of the year for IMLP. I'll be racing the Tupper Lake Tinman (a non-WTC 70.3) in June along with two other Olympics.

Say hi to Chrissie in Kansas for me though!

Yes I am headed up to Kansas also.  I am really looking forward to it.  I see you are also doing Memphis in May.  I can't make that race due to work travel.  I was wondering are you from Memphis or the South?

glazebal - 2011-05-13 11:13 AM Everyone ready for a good weekend of training? Sorry had to post something, the thread was dropping pretty far down the list

Today is Half-Iron day for me!  Weekend is recovery (in other words... kids soccer games, birthday parties, home depot errands, etc...)

Now if I can only get out of the office before its too late!

I'm actually go to school just North of Chicago at Northwestern University and true home in in New York.

Fortunately I get to do a lot of very cheap traveling with the Club (Tuscaloosa, Memphis and Kansas.)

glazebal - 2011-05-13 11:13 AM Everyone ready for a good weekend of training? Sorry had to post something, the thread was dropping pretty far down the list

Yes! First Half Ironman ever tomorrow! Good luck to mogul, mndy, corner, and everyone else racing and everyone training this weekend!

Ryan

Congrats on your race. I did the Kinetic Half today, was trying to better last years time of 5:43:57, finished in 5:22:51.

Wishing lots of good luck to you Ryan...I think you are racing right now!

Awesome awesome job! Dweeks congrats to you too. Mindy hope your 2 races were fun.

Keep it up!

IMLPeeps! Thanks for the support. My first 1/2 went great and I finished in 5hr 33min. Hooray! I know theres a LOT of work to be done leading up to LP in July but this just gives me the confidence that if you stick to a plan, it's possible.

I did post a race report under Kinetic Half... also my first attempt at a race report (in bulleted format)

dweeks - Congrats on your race this weekend as well. I hope everyone else had a great weekend and that training is going well.

Ryan

Nice work Ryan and dweeks!

My races did not go fantastically...which I guess could be expected given the fact they are in the middle of a build? Just didn't really have speed I guess. My RR's are up.

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=252371&posts=1#M3500553

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=252374&posts=1#M3500575

Had to pull out my magic recovery pants for the first time of the season because my legs are pretty cranky right now. Need to get them recovered quick to finish off my last week of build.

70 something days to go?