INTRODUCTION
See previous entry. Just a reminder: the race is 3000 m one loop swim, 120 km (74.6 mi) two loop bike, 30 k (18.6 mi) run. Race date: Sunday August 27, in Penticton, BC, Canada. This is the age group world championship “long distance” for the International Triathlon Union.
RACE WEEK
Monday – Eclipse Day! I will be in Madras, Oregon, underneath the path of totality, @ about 9 AM. Drive back home in the afternoon.
Tuesday – Prep day: Open water swim for an hour/3,000 meters in local lake in the morning. Pack all my gear via checklists, rack bike, prepare for drive on Wednesday.
Wednesday – Drive to Canada about 9 AM to 3 PM. Settle into B&B (less than a mile along the lakeshore from transition, start, finish). Gert any food needed for the week. Run 30 minutes along the lake shore and canal path. Parade of nations 5:30-6:30 PM
Thursday – Swim open from 6-7:30 AM. Main task today: drive/bike the bike course, in particular from miles 25-40 (which is also 55-70), the two hills on the course. Run 30’ after. Packet pickup is noon-4 PM, or also on Friday.
Friday – Can’t swim, Aquathlon going on. Packet pick-up @ noon-4. Run 30’ after 4. Check all gear today. Team USA “social” @ 9:30 AM +/- attend. 10:30 AM – team photo, Both @ convention center.
Saturday – AM: Final bike ride/check. Pack any necessary bags. ITU briefing noon-1 @ the bandshell; bike check-in 12:30-4:30; Team USA briefing 3-4 PM @ convention center. Evening easy meal.
RACE DAY
If I wake up after midnight, drink one bottle of Ensure.
4 AM Wake up. Go through usual routine. Start breakfast of oatmeal, OJ, maybe another Ensure. War paint, race kit.
Transition open 4:45 (sunrise 6:07) – 6:15.
Leave @ 5.
5:20: Body mark (if necessary), drop off Special Needs
5:30-6:00: Prep bike: 1 x 32 oz frozen bottle of Infinit on down tube, 1 26 oz bottle of gatorade behind seat, Joule, Fenix – calibrate to bike, EFS, Perpetuem tabs to top tube holder, check tires; wrist band and possibly arm coolers to aerobars, shoes, sunglasses on bike, remove Hefty bag (if needed), confirm gearing is set to start out.
5:55: start to don wet suit. Gulp some gel.
6:00: Gyro Park: drop off morning clothes, head for swim corral
6:10: Little warm-up swim until allowed to enter holding area.
6:15: enter start coral
6:35: Race starts
Seed myself middle rear next to buoys
6:39: My wave (Men 50+) or is it 6:45/40+?
EQUIPMENT
Morning clothes: Convertible pants, Team USA T shirt, EN podium jacket, warm top as needed, sandals, 2CLight Cap.
Race kit: Team USA tri suit Garmin HRM.
Swim: DeSoto First Wave wet suit unless temp > 73/4, in which case Xterra Vendetta, Tyr transition goggles, ITU issue swim cap. Ear plugs; Body Glide.
Bike: New Quintana Roo PR Six, EFS gel + Perpetuem tabs on top tube, tools in rear aero box. Two bottle cages, one on down tube, one behind seat.
Run: Saucony Type A8’s, ? no socks, EN visor, wrist band for my nose.
BAG CONTENTS
Morning tri bag: goggles, body glide, swim cap, wrist bands, arm coolers, bike nutrition – 32 oz frozen bottle of Infinit, 26 oz Gatorade bottle, flask with 4.5 oz of EFS gel, tab bottle, cut-up CLif Bar, Joule, Fenix, glasses (in case), run nutrition – one flask of EFS gel, travel pump, tire, tube, special needs bags (see below)
T1 Bag: Helmet, sunglasses, spare contacts, Fenix.
T2 Bag: Shoes, socks, spare glasses. Go Bag containing: wrist band, EFS flask, Visor, Sunscreen spray-on, number belt with # showing through, sunglasses.
Special Needs Bike: 32 oz, frozen bottle of Infinit, Special Needs Run: Wrist band
NUTRITION PLAN
In Transition before race: swig of gel, about 6 oz of water.
On bike: Infinit – 32 oz with 420 cal and 1.5 gms of Na, Gatorade 180 cal bottle, 360 mg Na . Water as needed based on temps, hydration status; 4 oz of EFS gel for about 350 cal, 700 mg Na., 3 Perpetuem solids for 100 cal, Clif Bar Minis, 3, 300 Cal, 150 mg Na. Totals: 1350 cal/345 cal available per hour for anticipated 6 hour ride; 2-3 grams of salt. Plan to take a drink every 20 minutes first hour, then every ten minutes. Clif Bar every 40 minutes first 4 hours, then finish EFS gel last 2 hours. One Solid each hour.
On Run: 6-10 oz of fluid each aid station depending on temps. Start with diluted GE, no more than 4 oz gatorade, plus 2-6 oz water per aid station. 1 oz EFS gel @ miles 2, 5, & 8. Coke, again diluted, whenever I need it.
PACING
Swim: anticipate 60 minutes in water time. Bilateral breathing in general may use alternate side every 50-100 strokes, if sun or crowds are too intense on one side. Can pass orange buoys on either side; Yellow buoys (turns) must be on the right. I know how to swim, I’ve been doing it for 5 decades now, just lock in and ignore everyone else. No real sighting needed, just follow the crowd and keep the effort up. Process goals (since I have no metrics while swimming, these are of necessity subjective): Be prepared to work the whole way, up to but not past the point of stroke disruption. Points of emphasis: maintain stroke turnover, find and follow feet when at all possible.
T1: WALK out of water, removing top of wetsuit. RUN when stable to wetsuit strippers. Grab bag, enter tent. Put on helmet, sunglasses, put on and start Fenix, pee. Those are my only jobs until I get to the bike.
Bike: Anticipate 3:45 ride time, but do not use this as a goal or metric. FTP is 216. The course starts flat for the first 25 miles, so a key will be to take regular standing stretching breaks, every ten minutes. This will be associated with a harder gear, slower cadence, and nutrition. Take only 5-10 minutes to get up to speed, assuming HR is in the ‘teens (110-115). I click the interval button on my Joule every twenty minutes, or at the base of a climb, whichever comes first. This forces me to keep my head in the game and pay attention to nutrition. I’ve found I don’t respond as well to chimes or alarms as I do to just looking at the interval time whenever I check my head unit. The ride will be a roundelay among RPE, HR, and Watts. I want to keep my HR between 112 and 116, rising to 118-20 only on hills or the last 20-25 minutes.
This race has been difficult to predict from a power perspective. On the one hand, my two long course races last year were both flat, an IM @ 5:43 (2/23 bike splits in AG), and a half @ 2:41 (3/17). My NPs were 136 and 151 respectively. So one would think this race should be between those two. But my 3 hour power within the last two weeks is 153, and I just did an Oly @ 201. I expect my watts will be in the 160s, but I will use HR as both a whip and a rein, keeping it within that mid-teen window of 113-117. If this allows me an NP greater than 153, I’ll go with it up to the upper 160s, as long as my HR is not rising and my RPE feels OK.
Push the downhills whenever possible, but don’t risk loss of control.
Display on my Joule: Two columns, four rows, left to right: HR, Watts; % grade, IF, cadence; interval time; bottom row can be toggled for other metrics. On Fenix: HR; Fenix is back-up Power Meter with other fields available.
Key thought: I have done MASSIVE amounts of biking this year. Coach P says I should think of this as a nuclear weapon: I possess awesome killer force, which I *could* use; but it is best left in check; it’s mere existence provides a strength – a firewall against fatigue, if you will – I otherwise wouldn’t possess.
T2: My tasks are: Get out of shoes 1/2 mile or so before Bike In. Hop off at dismount line. Bike to rack. Grab bag. Take off helmet. Switch glasses if desired. Put on socks?, shoes. Grab Go Bag. Pee if I feel like it. Switch Fenix to Run mode.
Run: Anticipate 2:48 +/- 3 min run time (9 min/mi), unless modified by temperature. But abgain, don;t use this as a metric to control or even monitor my race. Start out of transition fiddling with Go Bag; by second mile, should be every @ 9 min/mi unless temps are above 75, then go with HR. First 4 miles in the 115-119 range; stay in the low-mid 120’s (123 +/-) through the second 10K lap, then allow to rise up and over 130. After mile 12, start repeating endlessly the mantras of “You have strength, you are power”, “This is who I am, this is what I do,” “Slowing down is not an option”, “Race it to the end”, “I’m running for those who can’t anymore”, etc all the way home. Trust my training (this is how I interpret “honor your training self”) and my taper.
Fenix will display on two screens: Lap time, Lap Pace, HR, Cadence; Total time, Total distance, HR, Current Pace.
RACING STRATEGY
My goals in this race are: Swim: Emphasize turnover. Build effort to the end. Don’t slow down. Bike: HR in the mid-teens, Maintain nutrition plan with minimum of 1750 calories, 120 oz fluid. Don’t ease off after mile 65 as measured by HR, keep constant effort all the way. Run: Even or very slight negative split; HR building from 115 to 137 thruout the entire 18.7 miles. Final one thing: I have to demonstrate to myself that I am willing to actually race to the limits of my capabilities, whatever they may be at this time and at this age.