Last Minute Pre-Race Blog Post

Clearly, I haven't been writing much. But here I am, the day before Ironman Lake Placid and wanting to document some things for the record.

Since January I have:

Traveled for work almost 100% (every week). A real PIA for Ironman training.

February - Vacationed in South America staying a couple nights in Buenos Aires and Santiago to bookend a 7-day mountain biking trip cross the Andes (Awesome)

April - Broke my little toe on my left foot

May - Achieved third place in the 2013 Kinetic Aquavelo race

July - Stayed with friends in Colorado for ~5 weeks of altitude and bike training

I'm looking forward to seeing my parents and enjoying the event with them and Andrea and the rest of the DC Tri posse.

Coming into this week, I feel good. No major injury issues, multiple century rides and multi-hour runs. And swims eclipsing the distance of the actual race.

Unfortunately, being cooped up in the car on Thursday got me stir crazy and I went for a run. For whatever reason, I ran pretty aggressively on my forefoot and now my calves and ankles are sore. Hopefully it won't be an issue.

It looks like rain is inevitable for tomorrow. The only day within the whole week where rain is expected. OH well, at least it'll keep things cooler. I hate rain but clearly, I can only react to it. Just need to be careful in the corners on the bike.

Here's my race plan for tomorrow:

Segment	Plan	Goal Time
Swim	1 Gel 10 minutes before start	1:10
	Garmin in Swim cap, goggle straps under cap
	Position self 5 minutes ahead of goal time (1:00-1:10 time slot)
	First 400 fast
	Settle into slightly below threshold effort after
	Finish last 400 at threshold
T1	Strip wetsuit	0:04
	Don helmet and glasses
	Shoes
	Jog bike past mount line
Bike	Zone 2 entire way	6:00
	Mix up body position
	Out of saddle for short periods on climb
	Depending on heat >= 1 bottle liquid/hr
	~250 calories per hour
	Nutrition every 45 minutes
	Solids OK for first two hours (bonk breakers, etc)
	Start with perpetuem mix in aero bottle
	Once aero bottle exhausted, re-fill with water and consume concentrated flask
	Remove Garmin prior to entering transition (kit pocket)
T2	Lube up (legs, arms, feet)	0:04
	Change socks/shoes
	Race Bib
	Visor
Run	SLOW AND STEADY	4:30
	Focus on BPM
	Run:Walk = 9:30 : :30 (extend run interval if feeling good after 13 miles)
	Consume nutrition (Gels) every 45 minutes.
	Salt Sticks (2) every hour
	Fluids every 15 minutes
	Mile 0- 4, HR < 155
	Mile 4-20, HR < 160
	Mile 20-24, HR < 165
	Last 2 miles, HR < 175
Total		11:48

I feel the swim can go well. I'd like to try and draft off of someone but I have never been able to do that for a prolonged period of time so I'm not pinning my hopes on the ability to do so. I think I can go faster than 6:00 on the bike but I need to focus on level of effort/BPM and not time. It will, as it does for everyone, come down to the run. I feel I am in good position and hopefully by following my race plan up to this point, I should be in a good position to have the energy and stamina to have a good run.