Ironman Lake Placid 2014-Race Plan

Whenever I set a goal, I like to have a good plan for how I might achieve it. I had one last year for Ironman Lake Placid 2013, but there were surely many more unknowns that there are now. With a previous race under my belt I have a better idea of what I can realistically accomplish. So as I sit here with 10 6 and a half days displaying on my little sidebar countdown timer, I will divulge the details of the plan of events for July 27th, 2014.

My goal for IMLP 2014 is to finish under 12 hours. There it is…I said it! This was my goal from the start of training and I had tailored my training based on that goal. Below are my times from last year and my projected times for this years race. I will elaborate a bit on each discipline.

2013 Ironman Lake Placid Times-TriCalc3.com Tri Time Predictor

2014 Ironman Lake Placid Goal Times-TriCalc3.com Tri Time Predictor

2014 Ironman Lake Placid Stretch Goal Times-TriCalc3.com Tri Time Predictor

1. The Swim

IMLP “Washing Machine” Swim Start

The rolling start is back again for another year, which I think is a good thing. Based on last year, I crossed through the archway at 10 minutes after 7am to start my swim. I figure that should be no different, but I may try to move up a bit from the 1:20 finish corral since I finished under that time. I really didn’t do a great deal to improve my swimming this year. I maintained 3 swims/week and copied most of the workouts from last year and extended them a little bit. I also started using the ankle-band in my workouts to help increase my arm turnover a bit which I hope might give me a little improvement. Based on my Black Bear Triathlon 1.2 mile swim pace of 1:46/100yds in June and last years 1:49/100yds pace I hope to be around a 1:47 pace this year which will bring me out of the water at around 1:15-1:16. A respectable swim for someone without a swimming background.

2. T1

Transition Setup

T1 is a long run to the oval. Last year I was kissing wives, mothers’ and babies(or my dog Yuki) which I would guess took up about 45 seconds. I actually ran past my wife, stopped, and ran back to her which took probably about 15 secs alone. This year I will be vigilant running through the chute and will limit kisses to a quick pecks.  My Mom and my dog, Yuki, won’t be there this year, so that will cut some more time. Other than that I think I was pretty efficient on this transition last year. I just need to focus a bit.

3. The Bike

IMLP 2013 Bike

Last year I thought I might have gone too hard on the first loop, finishing in 3 hours, so I took it a little slower on the second. In retrospect I think 3 hours is doable for both loops this year. I feel that I am faster and have more power output at a Zone 2 heart rate than I did last year. I did a ton of early season trainer work using TrainerRoad to increase my FTP a bit, so I hope that will present itself on race day.  I was able to easily average 17.5MPH without much extra effort during my training rides in IMLP this past June.

Stages Dura-Ace Power meter

All of my training this season was done utilizing my Stages Cycling Power Meter. Joe Friel has a great article that explains how to “cheat” in an Ironman by using a power meter. The article provides a table that states that given your projected bike split time and what type of athlete you are(Age Grouper with good prep) that I need to hit a specific TSS range to accomplish that. That TSS range translates to a range of Intensity Factor(IF) for my FTP. So given all that my power output for the race should be between 160-170 watts on average in order for me to hit my 6:00 time and still have some legs to run a marathon after. Sounds too easy to me. I am not sure how that translates into what speed I am going. What if the course was all uphill? Or all downhill? Would I still finish is 6 hours if staying in this power range regardless of the terrain? Will see how that pans out. Regardless, the power range it spews out seems like a good range for me to stay in on the bike.

They have also freshly paved the worst section of NY73 and hopefully finish the downhill section to Keene before raceday. This should also provide some extra “free” speed and cut some time.

XLab Aerobar Setup

In addition to this, I am planning to shave my legs this year which will save another 5-10 minutes according to Specialized Bikes’ wind tunnel tests. We’ll see how true that is! I also made a couple aerodynamic tweaks on the bike such as getting rid of the water bottle cages in the frame and adding a bottle between the aerobars.

4. T2

IMLP 2013 Transition

There is no long run in T2. A volunteer takes your bike immediately as you enter transition. Very cool! Not sure what took me so long here last year. I did take a leak but that wasn’t too long. Here is the process: remove helmet and bike shoes, put on sneakers, run hat and run belt. Get lathered up with sunscreen. Oh wait, how did I get my bag? I don’t remember if I got it or a volunteer got it. See if I can chop a minute or two here.

5. The Run

My Two Favorite Fans-IMLP 2013 Run

Last year I had a pretty good first loop of the run finishing in about two hours. I had a little cramping in the legs going down the big hill to Lisa G’s, but other than that it was cool. The family was situated at the bottom too which was nice. I kept a fairly steady pace most of the 13 miles except for walking a bit on the hills back to town and to greet the family again. I would like to try to keep a running pace up the hills this year. My goal pace is to try to keep a 9:30-9:40 pace for the run, which would translate into a fairly respectable 4:08-4:13 marathon time. That would be a marathon PR for me too.

As you can see from the chart below, my 2nd loop had much more walking in it. The turn to head back out of town again for another 13 miles really played on my mental focus and lead me to walk a bit more here. You can see that most of it was also in the first 6 miles too, which is mostly downhill. I actually picked it up a bit heading back to town. I have been working on the mental side of things this year and I hope that I can resolve that 2nd loop mental breakdown a bit and keep it steady. A 4 hour marathon is attainable for me, I just need to keep my head on straight.

6. Nutrition

IMLP 2013 Nutrition Food

I feel I pretty much nailed my nutrition plan last year. This is pretty amazing for a 1st time Ironman. The key here was to keep drinking and stay away from the over-processed gel/goo crap. I have had that nauseous feeling from that stuff in the past and I know to stay away. So given my good fortune of last year, I am going to stick to the same plan. My only change here is to cut up the bars and the PB&J to make it easier to handle and eat. Riding up 73 with a whole PB&J sandwich hanging out of my mouth is not happening this year. So hear is my plan…