With only a few days left until the big day, I thought it would be the perfect time to discuss the goals that have been bounching around in my head for the last 6 months. Since this is my first Ironman, I envisioned a sort of three tiered goal structure. A time that I could live with (11:30), a time I would be happy about (11:00), and perfect case scenario (10:30).
Because it is my first Ironman I want to be sure that I show deference to the distance, keep my excitement tempered, and my outlook realistic. That being said, I believe that I have done quality work over the last 6 months and if I execute a smart race plan I should be able to be successful. Right now I am ready to jump out of my skin. Taper drives me crazy!!! I feel like a caged animal. All I want to do is get outside and work out. I know this will be a difficult impulse to fight during the swim and the early stages of the bike.
My goals for the race are pretty simple.
Swim: 55 minutes
I plan to do the swim relaxed and controlled. We swam in the river today and I got to feel the strength of the current. the water is definitely pretty gross. The temperature is comfortable but the water is like swimming in chocolate milk. The current is not terribly strong but it will provide enough downstream current to make a fast swim possible. My goal is to complete the swim in 55 minutes. Given the amount of swimming I have been doing, I think this is attainable especially with a current at our butts for 2/3 of the swim. Control will be the name of the game.
T1: 5 minutes
I got a chance check out the Transition area today as well. The run from the swim to the transition area is actually quite short. This should make for a decently quick transition. I plan to take my time to get all of my things situated before I hit the bike course. I will be putting on my heart rate monitor, tri jersey, bike shoes, helmet, race belt, and sunglasses. I will have honey stinger waffles and a second gel flask in by back jersey pocket.
Bike: 5:30
The bike is going to be all about control on the front half and watching my power numbers. I plan to ride at 200 watts in the early stages of the bike and increase this slightly as the ride progresses. The bike course is very challenging. We spent a few hours today driving the course and it is quite hilly. It is actually even more hilly than I was expecting. The course will no doubt be challenging especially if there is any issue with the heat, humidity or wind. The first ten miles are pretty flat but then the rollers start and they don't stop until the last ten miles of the ride. The first 20-25 miles seem to be slightly uphill the whole way. The middle section of the course consists of strong rollers with a few very challenging short climbs. There are two loops out in the middle of the course that pass through the town of LaGrange. Supposedly this area is pretty exciting during the race. It will be important to make sure I watch my power numbers on all of the climbs. I plan to keep my wattage below my FTP on all of the climbs especially the steep ones. My mantra will be to let everyone pass me on the uphills because I will see them again on the run. The good news is that the last 30 miles of the ride are pretty much all down hill and should be quite fast. After seeing the course, this is an area that I will try to capitalize on some speed and make up for some of the earlier slow sections. Hopefully I will be able to hold a 20 mph hour avg and come in under my goal. If I am a bit slower, I won't be overly disappointed as the course does appear challenging. I am hopeful that we will be able to carry a fair amount of speed up the hills during the roller sections to keep the avg speed reasonable. During my longest ride of the year I covered 112 miles in 5:28. If I do this split, I will be ecstatic. I plan to do my ride according to the "match book" analogy. Every time I exceed my FTP or my watts spike, I will be burning a match. There are only so many matches in my match book. I want to arrive at T2 with a full book of matches.
T2: 5 minutes
Get off the bike, throw on my running shoes and visor. Put on fuel belt and hit the course to commence the last 26.2 miles of pain.
Run: 4 hours
My goal on the run is to average about 9 minutes per mile. All of my training runs have been well below this pace and I am hopeful this is possible. I am a bit nervous about the run as we will have already have ridden 112 miles by the time we get going. My longest run off of a 100+ mile ride was about 30-40 minutes. I have no idea what I will feel like 2 hours into the run. I think I will run/walk the early stages of the run in 14 minute run/ 1 minute walk sections. I hope that this will enable me to keep my heart rate controlled. My goal will be to keep the pace under control in the early stages. I suspect that it will feel so good to be off the bike that during the early miles I might be tempted to overcook it. The run will be a grind no matter how you slice it. It will be all about putting my head down, gritting my teeth and clicking off 9:00 miles. Mentally my focus will be twofold. I will be looking at one mile splits and five mile splits. I think it helps to segment the run into 5 mile sections. When I ran the Marine Corps Marathon a few years ago this is the way I attacked the race and it helped me achieve my goal.
We arrived in Louisville last night and I really like the city thus far. We are staying at the host hotel (Galt House) which is right on the Ohio River. We can actually see the swim course out of our suite and the transition area down the road. It is hard to see the transition area in the picture but the Great Lawn (transition area) is in the distance on the right.
Last night we got in during the evening hours and got settled in. Our Room literally looks like a bike shop.
After unloading all of our stuff and getting settled we decided to head out into the downtown area for dinner. Our hotel is only about 4 blocks from 4th Street Live which is where the finish line of the race will be situated. The atmosphere there is amazing. We went there late on Wednesday night and you could still feel how electric it will be. Basically the city put a glass lid on a city block and put a bunch of cool bars and restaurants under it. You can tell that the loud speakers will really reverberate off the glass windows and ceiling. I can't wait to hear Mike Reilly announce me as an Ironman and hear it reverberate down 4th Street.
Today we actually checked into the race. Ironman runs a pretty tight ship and the check-in process in pretty streamlined. It definitely helped that we were among the first to check in as we showed up when check in opened on the first day. You start by filling out a basic contact information form. Next you go to a table where they check your ID and USAT card. At this table they give you small card that has your race number on it. You carry this card with you to the rest of the tables in the check in process so they can easily identify you. The next table is where you sign your life away with the various waivers, etc.
After the waiver table you go over and pick up your race numbers, timing chip, etc. You also get your official Ironman wristband. It is pretty cool walking around the city with the wristband on. Whenever you see someone else wearing it you feel like you are in some kind of special club for endurance junkies.
From there you hit another table which gives you a bag filled with all the bags that will be used for all of your equipment on race day. This includes a bag for your morning clothes items, T1 bag, bike special needs bag, T2 bag, and Run Special needs bags. I will be filling these bags with my equipment on friday and they all have to be dropped off on Saturday before the race. You also drop your bike off the day before the race. They have security looking after the rigs all weekend. At this point we were officially checked in. Very exciting stuff!!!!!
After check in, we had the opportunity to shop in the Ironman store. It is a pretty awesome setup and it is tough not to spend serious cash in this place. I tried to keep it within reason and I bought an Ironman Louisville T-shirt, a couple visors and some stickers for my car. I definitely limited the damage but I was like a kid in a candy store. I'm sure that I will also pick up some finisher items in the shop on Monday. Apparently they roll out even better stuff after the race.
All and all a pretty great day and I am excited to be one day closer to achieving my goal. More updates to follow!!!
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