Our tri team – Endurance Nation – does planned race rehearsals six and 3 weeks before a big event. Basically 6 hours of biking followed by 6 miles of running, all at race effort level/speed. Goal is to do a shakedown cruise, and learn about any equipment, hydration, nutrition, and training issues and needs BEFORE the race. Here is my plan, followed by the report of what actually happened. Tri geek stuff, so stop now if that stuff bores or mystifies you.
While I am a very organized thinker, and actually love outlines and bullet points, I’ve put this in a more narrative format, so you may have to dig through the prose to get to the nuggets;
My RR this week will be on Wednesday, as I have that day off, it’s predicted to be clear, lower 70s, and the weather Thurs-Sun is predicting possible showers.
So, my plan, such as it is:
I’ll wake up when I wake up, and eat what I usually eat, which is what I do on race day anyway – OJ, oatmeal, with raisins & blueberries, and maybe some bacon. 2 hours later, I’ll start out.
I will stage from my house, and do a northerly, more hilly loop of 51.5 miles, and a southerly, flatter, sunnier out and back of 54.6. 106 miles usually gets me 6 hours on these, even though I usually race faster than that. The two loops allow me to simulate special needs, & not have to stop for refueling elsewhere, although there are water spots along the way on the second half. And I can shed any extra clothes I use for the morning chill of low 50’s I’ll be starting in. The route is quite scenic, prettty much following Puget Sound from Port Orchard down to Steiliacoom.
My iBike is working well these days, which is good as I won’t get my new PowerTap for at least another week or two, so I’ll see how good a VI I get. The iBike is really twitchy, so given the hills and its quirks, if I get lower than 1.15, I’ll be doing well. Usual EN pacing guidelines will apply, .65-.7 of my 250 racing FTP will apply for the first half of the first loop. The second half of that loop will be fast, as it’s net downhill with a tail wind. The second half will then be at 0.71-.72, finishing up closer to 0.74 if I have some juice in the last hour.
I’ve got some PowerBar Perform powder to use, and I’ve already found it is too concentrated for me, so I’ll use 2 scoops instead of the recommended three per bottle (140 total cal, only for the first loop). My other on board bottle will be Perpetuem, 3 scoops for each loop (750 total cal). Two bottles for the first loop ought to be enough fluid, with 2 + whatever I need at available water on the second loop. I’ll take a pack of Clif Shot Bloks (200 total cal), and 6 ozs of Hammer Gel in a flask (600 cal). Maybe my disk wheel as it’s still set up from yesterday’s race, but no aero helmet.
My run will be my usual brick route, the one I’m using for my shoe test. My new Mizuno Waves (4.2 oz) arrived, so I’ll use those. The run will be six miles, probably in 50 minutes or so. The weather should be high 60s to low 70s, but shady at that point. I’ll attempt a 9 -9:10 pace, for the first 3 miles (out), and then 8:40ish back, from my current VDOT of 49.0. I’ll use half strength Powerbar Perform (110 cal) in a 32 oz squeeze bottle for that, with a Gu and fluid in T2.
My main goal in this RR is to see where I am so I can get more predictive in the second RR, which will be designed to predict actual race day efforts. The second RR will hopefully be in hotter weather, as I’ll be in CO for it. The main result I look for is how did the run feel, and how fast was I able to run the last 2 miles. My biggest issues in races are not pacing, but hydration and nutrition, which is difficult to simulate in the RR as the weather is ALWAYS different on race day – no matter where the race is or where I’ve trained. So weight before and after, and number of times having to stop and pee, and ounces ingested etc will all be key parameters.
For those who don’t remember, I made a big mess of my race in Kona last year, so hydration, humility, and patience are my mantras this year. Hope I can figure out a way to practice them in the RRs.
Follow up Wed. evening:
Day’s weather: Sunny, cloudless, minimal wind. Start temp 53 F, finished @ 80, humidity low 30s (These are the days we never tell anyone about; we prefer you think it’s always cloudy and drizzling here.) So my ride along the Sound, with the Olympic Mountains to the west, Mt Rainier and the Cascades to the east was a visual splendor. Except, I was looking at a power meter for six hours, it might as well have been fogged in.
Bike: 6:05 hours, 100 miles. NP was 179, IF 0.715, TSS 315, VI 1.16 (this is from an iBike), elevation gain 4800 feet (high point 355 feet, low sea level), HR avg 102.
While the NP and IF were right on, the low distance and high VI reflect a constant up and down – and this is the “flattest” ride I can find from my house. I could get totally flat, but would have to do three loops on a bike path and dodge dogs, baby strollers, etc. Also, turns, lights, and stop signs all slow me down. This is the same *time* I had in my last IM, which was 12 miles further and a TSS of 296 with the same elevation total, but far fewer stops and starts and fewer and less steep hills.
The iBike was working perfectly, never had any odd power spikes or losses, so I was able to use it on the hills to keep my speed and effort down, but still had a number of small climbs where I had to go 85-90% to avoid falling over.
Also, my NP for each 25 mile segment was 178. 180, 185, 173, iF of 71, 72, 74, 69. My HRs were 100/103/103/103. So what happened in the last 1+ hour? Two things: the USGA Amateur championship is being held at the golf course on the Sound by which my route goes for 5+ miles. The traffic in and out was a problem. But more important, I was using my new Sidi T2.6 shoes for the first time longer than 1 hour, and I discovered that by 4 hours into the ride, the bottom of my great toes were getting numb, and the tops of my feet were getting squinched by the relatively stiff tongue. So I loosened the straps – like, totally loose, and my floppy feet inside were not pulling as effectively as before. I was really worried my feet would hurt so much, my run would be affected.
I drank 50 oz in the first 3 hours (2 bottles), and 70 in the last 3 hours. Stopped to pee twice in the first half, once at my midway point, and once again in the second loop. My weight did not change from the start of the bike to the end, so I don’t think I was getting dehydrated.
I conclude that the combo of insufficient 4+ hour bike fitness at this point in the training cycle, the loose shoes, and the sketchy traffic for 30 minutes all affected my last 1.25 hours. My only change for the future is to start the ride with slightly looser straps, not cinched down totally tight. And wear the new shoes some more to loosen them up – they are so gleaming white and shiny, I haven’t wanted to scuff them up!
T2 was 7 minutes, maybe 2 minutes too much. I took a GU and my 4th salt pill of the day, along with about 8-10 ounces of very dilute Powerbar Endurance drink.
For the run, I’d planned on 9:10 for the first half and 8:4X for the second. I also had planned to do my shady route, but made a last minute decision to do the sunny route, to see if I could actually handle getting 10 ounces of fluid every mile and see what affect the sun and “heat” would have on my running.
I was wearing new shoes for the run as well – Mizuno Waves, racing flats which weigh 4.2 oz. They have a subtle red hue, and look sharp. And, now I know they are a dream to run in. They had a wide toe box, which I need, and no heel rise. I’ve got to admit these are the best feeling racing flats I ever used – all my worries about my feet after the bike evaporated.
The first mile out of my house is a serious uphill with some 10-12% grades. First mile was 9:55; last mile (back down) was 8:03. Second mile (also mostly uphill, not as steep) was 8:57/8:32 coming back; and the 3rd/4th miles , somewhat down out, up back were 8:42/9:07. First three miles were 9:15, and the return trip was 8:34. So my running pace was not affected at this temp at least.
I felt simply awesome on the run – I had to constantly remember to rein myself in on the last three miles, and feel I could have gone today at least another six at that pace.
I drank 40 oz on the run and lost 1.2 pounds. And I was having a hard time taking in all that fluid.
My next RR will be in 2.5 weeks (same day as IM WI) on a smoother course in Colorado, basically a bike path on an old RR bed with a constant 1-2% grade for 40 miles each way, plus an out and back on a similar road. Same elevation gain as today, but only two climbs instead of 50+, and no traffic issues. I’ll work on pushing the last quarter of the bike a bit more, and see what that does to my run.