Race Rehearsal

The most important day of training is Friday. I'm heading to Madison on Thursday night to prep for 112 miles on the Ironman course followed by 6 mile run. Here is the break down of the day that is my second of two race rehearsals. Through testing and through training I have estblished power and pace zones which will deliver me to the IM finish lane in the most efficient manner. Its time to put the math to the test:

Bike Setup: Full racing setup with three bottles on the bike at a time. The aero bottle will contain water with calories on the down and seat tubes. Each bottle contains 258 calories. Benot box with tube, Co2, Tylenol, tire levelers.

Run Setup: Garmin locked on Satellites. Hand held water bottles resting on ice.

6:30 AM: 400 Calories from Pop tarts and one bottle of Infinit mix for a breakfast total of 658 calories.

8:00 AM: Start the bike heading to Madison, flip it on Irish Lane and head back to Verona for two loops.

Pacing Guidelines: My Functional Threshold Power is measured at 250 watts, I'm currently weighing 148 lbs so my power-to-weight is 3.7 w/kg. Based on an estimate ride time of 5:50 - 6:00 hours, I'm targeting 70-71% of FTP as measured by normalized power.

1st Gear: 166 watts, my first hour of the ride
2nd Gear: 174 watts, my Ironman targeted watts, the bulk of my day.
3rd Gear: 184 watts, hills that last more than 3 mins
4th Gear: 194 watts, hills that take less than 3 mins

At some point, the grade of the hill will cause my wattage gears to be thrown out the window. The absolute cap is 250 watts. DO NOT GO OVER 250 watts. Riding over your FTP during Ironman is a recipe for a bad marathon.

After a quick transition from bike-to-run. I'll open up my run at 8:50 pace, which is my targeted pace for the first 6 miles of the IM marathon. Its important to gauge my breathing and level of fatigue during this practice run. During the race, after mile 6, I'll move into my targeted pace of 8:20.

The day will be a success if:

I nail my nutrition.
Off the bike in 6 hrs or less
Hit my run zones
VI of 1.05 or less post ride analysis
Under 1 min of FTP wattage.

Early next week, I'll break down the Race Rehearsal

Hayes
USAT Level I Coach