IM Louisville Plan/Goals

Well... Race Week is finally HERE!

 

I am pretty much packed and ready to go, but would like to make a couple check lists to ensure I have everything I need.

 

Heading into the race I really only have two goals: FINISH and well have FUN. Of course the fun part is a wild card, especially on the run leg for me. But I will try to smile and take it all in and enjoy every minute of the race.

 

Which brings me to my race plan, if I really even have a race plan?

 

Swim:

Louisville is unique in that it has a time trial swim start instead of a mass swim start. This means that athletes will be jumping in the water every 10-15 seconds starting at 7am. The last athlete is expected to be in the water by 7:40am. Now, regardless of when you start you still have to finish the race by midnight basically meaning you don't get the full 17 hours if you aren't the first person in the water. With this said, I hear the swim start line starts early and its a free for all. I myself am not sure what I want to do here. I could get up early and stand in line starting at 5am - but that would really just make my long day even longer. So, no I don't think I will be one of the first people in line. I would however like to be somewhere in the middle, so I still have no clue what time I need to line up. I also don't think it will be too big of a deal if I'm near the end of the line either. I'm not too worried about the 2:20 swim cutoff time and I don't think I need the 17 hours, but I guess I also have no clue how my body will feel on Sunday. Maybe I do need all the time I can get? Anyhow, once in the water my goal is the stay calm, find open water, then get into a groove, and just swim easy. There is no point in me trying to swim faster and use up energy that I need for the rest of the day. Time wise, I really have no clue what to expect here? This is will not be a wetsuit legal swim with water temps around 86, so no extra buoyancy. Boo. You swim .7 against the current, then swim the rest of the time with the Ohio river's current. My 2 mile open water swim time was 1:11, but was in choppy water. So I don't know? I guess I will be finished anywhere from 1:15 - 1:30.

 

T1:

Yeah it seems kind of silly to talk about this, but I have finally decided that I will be wearing my tri shorts for the swim and the bike, so I will not be doing an outfit change here. I just got my shorts last week, but they seemed comfy enough on my 40 mile ride, so lets hope that they are comfy enough for a 112 mile ride. I also plan on eating something, not sure what yet? Swimming makes me super hungry and I don't want to be getting on Boomer all light headed and feel defeated before I even start.

 

Bike:

My plan is really to spin easy for the first 5 mile miles and get my heart rate back down and get my legs moving. I think the biggest thing on the bike will be to nail my nutrition plan and not let feel bad when I am getting passed by everyone. I am not super fast on the bike and I need to remember to just ride my own race and not worry what other people are doing. My nutrition plan is as follows:

 

* every 45 minutes = EAT. alternating between honey stinger waffles and chews = about 200 calories give or take. Wash down with water

* every hour = take a salt stick tablet. Wash down with water

* every time my garmin beeps = drink from my areo bottle which will be filled will a GU Brew tablet. Also just drink when I'm thirsty.

* Special needs = I plan on stopping. I will have a PB&J, snickers bar, and a coke waiting for me. I will stuff the PB&J in my jersey and save for later. I will eat my snickers, drink my coke, and use the bathroom while stopped. I think this tiny little break will be good.

 

Time wise, once again I really don't know? I don't plan on peeing on myself, so if I have to go the bathroom I will have some extra stops in there, but it will be worth it to me. I'm guessing anywhere from 6:30-7:30 hours.

 

T2:

I'm going to keep on my tri top, but am going to change into my favorite running spandex. I will have an extra run tank and sports bra though incase I change my mind and want to change my top as well. At this point I will also put on my hot pink calf compression sleeves.

 

Run:  

Oh dear lord. I don't know what to expect here at all? Will be stomach by ok, or will I be throwing up every mile? I really haven't practiced a nutrition plan running either. My stomach is weird and even on my 20 mile run, I only ate a honey stinger waffle at mile 10 and nothing else. It's really going to just be a free for all on the run. Whatever looks good at the aid stations, I will eat. If my stomach hates what I eat, then I will try something else at the next stop. I don't think I will be using my hand held water bottle and will just use the aid stations once again since they are every mile. I will also have salt stick tabs, pepto bismol pills, and advil in my race belt. I will continue to take the salt tabs every hour and the other stuff as needed. My goal is to feel good for the first 13.1 miles. I do plan on walking the aid stations, but I don't want to walk any of the miles in-between on the first half. The second loop, who knows. Maybe I will still feel great or maybe I will feel like hell and half to start walking miles. I guess, if that happens that only thing I can do is too keep a positive attitude and keep my head up high. I am not sure if I will be stopping at my runs special needs bag or not? But I'm going to put an extra pair of running shoes, socks, and grapes in my bag. I'm actually still not sure what pair of shoes I even want to run in? Pace wise....hmmm....I know the first few miles will feel great and I will be so excited to be off Boomer and running on my own two legs. But I know that is not the pace I will be able to run for the entire 26.2 miles in. I will most likely be running closer to a 9:30 - 10:30 minute mile. Maybe finish in the 4:30 - 5:30 hour range?

 

Finish

Soak in everything and run through the finishers chute at 4th street live and enjoy every minute of it. For this is my first ironman and there is only ever one first.

 

Happy Monday All and good job to everyone who raced over the weekend.