IM AZ - helpful info

Forums

Forum guidelines BT super discount

Updated posts

My threads
No new posts

My favorite threads

General Discussion

Triathlon Talk » IM AZ - helpful info

Rss Feed

Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller

mikericci

2008-11-12 6:29 AM

8763

Boulder, Colorado

Subject: IM AZ - helpful info

To all BTers Racing IMAZ -

Good luck next weekend at IMAZ – you’ll all have a great day as I know you’ve trained hard and smart. I’ve attached a ‘Racing Ironman 101’ document that you may find helpful – read through it and if you have any questions, please don’t be shy, shoot me an email (Not a PM, thanks). Going into this long distance event, everyone should know what ‘Grandma pace’ is no matter if this is your first Ironman or your 10^th! I’ll see many of you down there – I’ll be working the bike hand off in T1 – I’ll be cheering you on throughout the day, and I look forward to seeing you all have a successful day!

In this document you will find:
Ironman Pacing
Ironman Fueling
Idea HR FAQ for Ironman
Ironman Special Needs Details
Ironman Pacing
When racing the shorter distance triathlons, you can pretty much give it your all and not blow up if you are properly warmed up and trained to do so. Even the most highly trained triathlete would have a tough time doing this at the longer distances.
I like to warm up for Ironman racing with a short 200-300 yard warm up with some accelerations. I don’t worry about run warm up, as I’ll have 112 miles to warm up for the run. J
When the gun goes off, I would recommend starting out slowly and finding your own ‘space’ in the water. This is tough amongst 2000 other competitors, but don’t panic! If and when you do this, find a comfortable pace that you can maintain for the remainder of the race. I recommend staying at the middle of your aerobic effort – not too hard, not too easy. Its long day and going 1 minute faster will not make you r day but it could break it!
Start to kick your legs when you are in the final meters of the swim in order to get some blood to the lower extremities so that when you stand up you want be so light headed.
Once you are out on your bike, start your bike at a comfortable effort – go easier then you think you need to, and get your heart rate back down, and settle into your position on the bike. After 10-15 minutes sip some water and start your nutrition plan. I recommend eating or sipping a carbohydrate drink every 15-20 minutes.
Bike Pacing: Start out the bike comfortably in a low end aerobic effort, like a Zone 1 or a 5/10 effort on the RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion). Keep it here for at least 30 minutes (or 8-10 miles). A well rested and well tapered athlete will see some low HR numbers and should feel good at this point. Do not focus on average speed, but effort and or heart rate. After 30 minutes you are ok to kick it up one gear and settle into a Mid-zone 2 effort or 6/10 on the RPE. I would attempt to keep your effort here for as long as you can. If you start out easy and finish strong, at mile 80 you will see many athletes that went blowing by you who are now struggling, as you feel great and pass on by. Keep this effort and if you feel real good, push the pace the last 10 miles, but really this is just burning up calories and energy that you need, so keep the effort as even as possible, your legs will thank you at mile 20 of the marathon. If you are going for an IM slot here, you may want to take a chance and push the pace. Even so, I would cap my effort at low Zone 3 or 7/10 RPE.
Bike nutrition plan: Every 20 minutes have your watch set to go off and remind you to drink and/or eat. If you need solid food on the ride, do so before mile 80. After that, chances are your stomach will be sick of food. Shoot for 300-400 calories per hour and make sure you getting a fair amount of liquid in your body to help avoid dehydration later.
Ironman Bike Pacing Chart

Miles	Zones	RPE
1-10	Zone 1	5/10
10-112	Low-Mid Zone 2	6/10
Advanced: 50-90	High Zone 2	6.5/10
Advanced: 91-112	High Zone 2 or Low Zone 3	7/10

Run Pacing/Nutrition: The last mile or so of the bike I would drop into an easy gear and try to loosen up your legs and get them moving a little quicker. Once you are off the bike, focus on a nice easy pace and settle into something you can sustain at an easy effort. You can’t go out too slow, but you can go out too fast! Take in some nutrition and water during the first 2-3 miles (20-30 minutes). Once you are past the 3 mile mark it’s time to get serious. Start thinking about how you feel and what you can maintain for the next few hours. Back off if you are going out too hard. Do not forget to drink/eat at each aid station, as this is a key to a successful race as well! During the 1^st 2-3 miles I recommend letting the heart rate settle down and you find a nice low Zone 2 (6/10 RPE) effort. After 3 miles, upping the effort to mid-high Zone 2 is what I recommend. After the half way point, comes the toughest stretch of the race. From miles 13-18 is where things go wrong for many people. You need to mentally focus on this stretch. Stay hydrated, get some fuel into your body and take it one aid station at a time. Keep the pace steady! At mile 18, it’s time to up the ante. If you have been patient and disciplined, then it’s time to see what you have. Let the heart rate go and see what effort your body will allow you to keep during the last 8 miles. I would ignore the HRM at this point as your only goal is to get to the finish line as quickly as possible. If you have maintained your discipline you will be able to make up a lot of ground and pass many people who have gone out too fast and have blown to shreds. This is where you prove your mettle. Focus – this is it. The last few miles are all about guts, no matter what level you are racing at!
Ironman Run Pacing Chart

Miles	Zones	RPE
1-3	Low Zone 2	5/10
4-13	Mid-High Zone 2	6.5/10
13.1-18 FOCUS!	Mid-High Zone 2	7.0-8.0/10
18-26.2	Zone 3+	This hurts!

Mental Toughness: You will hit a rough spot during the race, expect this. It may come at mile 80 of the bike or between miles 13-18 of the run, but it will happen. Just get through it. Think about all your hard training that you put in. Push through this rough patch by relaxing and staying and enjoying whatever the day gives you. Do not stress about things you can not control. Just control the things you can: pace, effort, nutrition. You have done all the work; race day is time to enjoy your fitness and celebrate your health. Do the best (your best) that you can in every given moment and that is all you can ask of yourself. “Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” – T.S. Eliot
Full and Half Ironman Racing Nutrition Tips

Make sure you are loaded up two nights before the race. This is MUCH better then eating big the night before. And eat as much as you can. Every calorie counts!
The day before the race is what I call a ‘normal’ eating day. You shouldn’t be hungry and you should stop eating solid foods around 6 or 7 PM. After that sip an energy drink or have a snack. (apple, orange etc)
Morning of the race make sure you get some food in your stomach. Get up early and have a good sized meal if that is what you do on your normal training days. This may be a carbo drink, some fruit, an energy bar, or something else. Make sure the tank is full when you leave for the race.
Keep sipping a drink of some sort up to one hour before the race. Preferably something not sugary. It could be a carbo shake or maybe a smoothie. Personally, I don’t usually drink the same thing that I will be drinking on the bike – I’ll be drinking that one for 5 ½ hours, and that is more then enough for me.
From an hour out drink only water up to the start of the race.
Once you exit the swim and hit the bike, grab some water and just rinse your mouth out and get the lake or ocean taste out of your mouth.
Once you settle into the bike ride, maybe 15 minutes into it, start your nutrition plan. From this point on your goal is to be eating or drinking something every 15 minutes during the race. Start with some fluid, and then when your stomach is ready, eat a Powerbar or gel, - Personal Note: Typically my goal is to eat 5 gels during the race and go through 2 bottles that I carry that have over 1,000 calories each in them. This is something I have raced with and trained with before.

BIGGEST AND MOST IMPORTANT RULE:
NEVER EVER TRY SOMETHING NEW ON RACE DAY THAT YOU HAVEN’T DONE IN TRAINING!

In your special needs bag (only in a FULL IM usually) some people put in a little ‘treat’ as a reward – I think this is fine to do. Usually I put in an extra water bottle of my drink or more gel, just in case it falls off the bike, or I drop it or whatever. Keep eating during the ride, it will help pass the time.
Second half of the bike is where I drink more calories. I tend to be eating solid food by mile 60 or so. Everyone is different, this is just my plan.
Watch out for foods or drinks that spoil. One sip of some nasty drink that spoils in the heat will ruin your stomach for hours.
Make sure you are stocked up on calories when you start the run. The run is not the place to be ‘making p calories’.
Carry a Fuel Belt or water bottle carrier or whatever you have trained with. Treat this run just like a training day.
Get something to drink at every aid station, Water, Gatorade, Coke, or whatever. If you use Coke, do NOT stop using it. Use it at every mile. You can crash severely coming down from a Coke buzz.
If you use a gel or gu during a run, then take one every 20 minutes or three miles. You really need those calories!
Lastly, be consistent in your race, as you are in your training – do not try anything new on race day!

The Ideal HR for IM Racing
From the mailbag:
A question for the first timers, or seasoned Ironman finishers who are familiar with HR zones for first timers. What is the ideal HR zone for the Bike & Run portion of a full IM for someone just hoping to finish? I was thinking it is high Z2 and low Z3. And...what is the BPM difference between Bike and Run LT HR zones?
Answer: While training for an Ironman race – most of our training should be done in Zone 2 – this is the ‘Endurance Zone’ – and where we can sustain an even heart rate for the longest amount of time. Why? When our heart rate is about 20-30 beats below our Race Pace HR or Lactate Threshold, we are tapping into the biggest resource we have for fuel – fat. When we are above this HR and into Zone 3, we are tapping into more of our glycogen stores for fuel and this supply will not last very long – maybe two to three hours at most before it needs to be restocked. Glycogen is in limited supply as fuel, while fat is limitless. Zone 3 efforts should be reserved for the final miles of a Half Ironman or even a marathon in a well conditioned athlete. But going into Zone 3 in an Ironman for an athlete who is racing for longer than 11 hours, would be a big mistake.
When an athlete takes on a new training regimen or has not been training as much, they will experience cardiac drift at first. This is when the effort stays the same, yet the HR rises. I will allow myself to let this happen once per week when I am starting up my training again, but typically I back right down and stay within my HR parameters. Once you have a solid endurance base, you shouldn’t see much in the way of cardiac drift unless you are dehydrated and that is pretty normal. So, stick with the HR guidelines you have when you are starting out and try to avoid Zone 3 when in your early stages of IM training. If you are racing in the heat, you may need to go on RPE and let your HR drift, but only if you start to take on extra fuel b/c you will be burning through your fuel sources quicker.
Training our bodies to work efficiently in Zone 2 will help us keep our HR and pace even throughout an Ironman. This theory would hold true for the bike and run portion of an Ironman. When I write a workout and I give an athlete a ‘Zone1-2’ workout, I expect the athlete to find the happy medium and train at a pace they could sustain all day. What I usually get when I check over a log is “..I went out too hard, and well I bonked..” or “..I was much faster on the first hour of my ride and then I kind of faded…”.
My solution is to do a better job of explaining ‘exactly’ what I want from my athletes. To provide you with a frame of reference, my LTHR (lactate threshold heart rate) on the run is about 168-171. My Zone 2 ends at about 155 bpm (beats per minute).
When I run train in a Zone 1-2 workout, and I am running ‘easy’ which is like a ‘guilty pace’, and my HR is around 130-140 bpm. That would put me close to the top of my Zone 1. When I am running ‘Steady’ (which I also call my Aerobic Threshold or AeT) I am usually around 148-150 which puts me about the middle of my Zone 2. This would be right about IM effort. After 112 miles, if I can maintain this HR for another 26 miles, I should be able to run the same pace as I do on my long runs, with all things being equal.
If you can follow the above and practice the discipline of just running ‘Steady’ when you are assigned those ‘Zone 1-2’ runs, you will improve your running. Spend as much time as you can running ‘Steady’ and it will pay off.
Now how does this apply to biking? Once again, to provide you with a frame of reference, my LTHR (lactate threshold heart rate) on the bike is about 155-160. My Zone 2 ends at about 141 bpm (beats per minute). Most of us have about a 8-12 beat difference between bike and run LTs.
When I bike train in a Zone 1-2, and I am riding ‘easy’ I am around 125 bpm. That would put me close to the top of my Zone 1. When I am biking ‘Steady’ I am usually around 135-140 which puts me about the middle to the top of my Zone 2. With the exception of climbing hills, I don’t ride over 140 in training. Sometimes I may see 145 on a steep hill, but I quickly get my HR back down by spinning easy. Most of my ‘Steady’ or AeT biking is done at 135-140 bpm. Once again this is my IM pacing effort. Realize that I have to run 26 miles after this 112 mile bike ride, so I won’t punch the accelerator at all if I want to run well.
Special Needs at Ironman:
For an Ironman race you are given a Run Special Needs bag and Bike Special Needs bag. You drop both of these bags off the morning of the race in the appropriate bin (make sure your number is on your bag!).
Bike Special Needs: What do you put in there? Some athletes carry all their nutrition for the race with them – for me that’s around 1800 calories, BUT you should put an extra bottle of nutrition in your Special Needs bag in case you drop a bottle during the race. Another important item to put in your Special Needs bag is an extra gel flask. Other items include something to keep you going such as: gummy bears or a frozen snickers bar. That tends to keep the motivation high on the 2^nd half of the bike. Also, put an extra tire and CO2 in there as well, in case you have a slow leak on the bike or have already flatted you will have a back up tire and CO2. If the weather is predicted to be wet, maybe put a rain jacket or vest in that bag as well.
Where do you pick it up? You get to pick up your Special Needs bag around half way of the bike.
Run Special Needs:
What do you put in there? In your run Special Needs bag put an extra bottle of your favorite drink, something sweet to suck on like gummy bears, maybe a change of socks, Vaseline, salt tablets and a long sleeve shirt or jacket if you are going to be out on the course after sunset.
Where do you pick it up? You get to pick up your Special Needs bag around half way of the bike.
FAQ:
Do I bring the first half of my race nutrition with me and leave the second half in my special needs bag. Or do I pack it all and carry it with me the whole time?
My suggestion it to carry everything you want for the race and then put an extra bottle of nutrition in your Special Needs Bag. I have split my nutrition before and it has worked well so either option is ok, but I prefer to bring it all with me on the bike.
I know to put things in the bag that I might want; ie peanut butter sandwich, etc. But how do you strategize and pack what you know you'll need?
I tend to put everything I want in there – no doubt about leaving anything out. J
My plan was to have the first 3.5 hours of CarboPro with me on the bike and pick up the second half of the powder in a bottle at special needs. Do they have water at the special needs areas to then mix my powder?
There is water at the aid stations which is ‘usually’ next to a Special Needs Station, but I would not count on that. If you end carrying 2 bottles full of powder for 10 miles and you are thirsty, that might throw the overall plan off. What you could do is get water at the aid station, fill your bottle with it and carry the powder in a plastic bag that you could empty into your bottle that has water in it.
I was going to carry all my Shot Bloks and Nuuns for the whole ride with me from the beginning. I'm not sure how to prepare for this. What do you do?
I would use a Bento Box for this: http://www.tri-sports.com/tnitrzbentobox.html
IM MISC.
Tires – tubulars – make sure you have the valve extenders on the tubular already and have a layer of plumbers taper on the threads of the valve before putting on the extender. You don’t want to be changing valve extenders from the flat tire to the new tire during the race. Talk about stress and wasted energy.
Run Cadence during walk breaks: Cadence - keep it up over 60 as best you can, and when you walk, try to keep it at 65 or so if you can.
Starting out: The first 40 miles of the bike you need to take out at 'grandma' pace - as in - your grandma could pass you if she were in the race. Got that? 'grandma pace'- its even how I do it. The key is to ride the second half with more watts/power.
Race Start:
On the swim – get over to one side and angle in – no sense in starting out in the front row unless you are planning on swimming 1:00 or better and even if you are, you will get pummeled with that starting position. Swimming an extra 50m over a 3800m race is not much and will save you from punches to the head, kicks to the groin, goggles getting knocked off and everything else.
The ‘oh no’ situation would be your wetsuit zipper ripping (if its wetsuit legal that is) – but duct tape can be used across the back to keep it closed. Also, frayed cables on the bike and or other various issues.
Now, going into the run with a few extra calories is fine, and try to take in about 200 calories per hour on the run – however you can stomach it. Lastly, if you get to the point of bonking, you can use COKE – but once you start it you have to keep it rolling as it will make you bonk big time. Chicken soup broth is great too – so don’t be afraid to try things out there to keep your energy levels up. Whatever ‘looks’ good, is probably what you need. ? So if its chips or pretzels that look good, you are probably needing salt – so use some science but use some intuition as well. You’ve done a great job up to now using your intuition so keep doing what you have been.
Oh yeah – one more thing – if you get cranky on the bike – EAT. That means your blood sugar is low.
If you have anything to add to this, please email me directly, thanks!

Edited by mikericci 2008-11-12 6:30 AM

My Race Log