The Road to Ironman: Jailbreak Race Plan

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Jailbreak Race Plan

This weekend I am finally escaping from jail! Jailbreak that is. Jailbreak is a triathlon with two distances, Maximum Sentence and Minimum Sentence. I am doing the Maximum Sentence which will see me swim for 2.2Km, bike for 88Kms, and run for 21Kms. It is just like a Half Ironman (HIM) distance race.

The race takes place at Brandvlei Prison in the Worcester area of western Cape. It is a region famous for its great winelands which means FLAT and fast roads for us to race on! Im very excited about this race.

This afternoon I had a meeting with my coach to go over the last few weeks of training and to set up the plan for this weekend's race with a distance a little bit longer than a HIM with a swim 2.2Km instead of a 1.9Km. The meeting went well and I confessed to have gone over the BPM on a few of the longer runs because I wanted to go faster rather than smoothly. Neil explained that he wants to change me from being an explosive athlete, which I previously was with my tennis and track and field background, and wants me to get accostumed to the long, steady, easier runs with lower BPMs. Makes sense, and I took notes on it.

We talked about my swim, which I feel still sucks, and he told me not to worry about it too much this weekend. We agreed I can look at maybe getting some private lessons in the new year and, hopefully, improve my strokes and times. One of the local tri clubs is hosting a week long swimming camp and I think I will join it. We also talked about my rides, and I told him I had no problem with the rides, other than the loneliness of leaving at 5am every saturday, so he agreed to get me in touch with some other hardcore early risers to join me. He did say Ind tat getting 5h and 6h rides in the next few months in order to be read for Ironman South Africa in Apri.

Race Plan

Right, Neil asked me to do as follows:

2.2Km Swim - Relaxed and smooth strokes. Bring it home and dont worry about the time.

88Km Bike - 7.5 to 8.5 out of 10 on Perceived Exhertion.

21Km Run - 7.5/10 on Perceived Exhertion and try to keep a steady pace. Bring it home.

So, this is the official race plan according to my coach. We did not talk times, splits, or AG position! He basically wants me to take this race as a long, tough training day in order to prepare me for bigger goals such as Ironman South Africa and Ironman Austria next year. But, and you know there was a but, I do have my own plan, which stems off his guidelines anyway. I basically want to bring it home under 5h! I will follow his instructions on the swim, but will push hard on the bike and on the run. I reckon I can bring the swim under 1h (I know, no comments please!), the bike under 2h:25m, and the run under 1h:45m. My last HIM time was 5h:15m at Half Challenge Barcelona earlier this year, so now I must try and improve from there. This is MY plan on the paper! I obviously need to make it work out there... so let's see what happens.

Nutrition plan is to take 6 Powerbar gels on my bike and the Speedfill with Maxifuel's Viper Boost. Im still contemplating whether or not to take two additional bottles in the back of my saddle. I'll make the call race morning. Detailed plan is:

Breakfast: Oatmeal and Powerbar Energize bar

15 minutes before swim: Powerbar Gel

T1: 1 Powerbar Gel, 1 Saltstick pill

BIKE:

-Viper Boost Drink: Drink as and when I feel I need it

-Powerbar Gel every 45 minutes

-Saltstick pill every 30 mins

T2: 1 Powerbar Gel, 1 Saltstick pill

Run:

-Powerbar Gel every 45 minutes

-Saltstick pill every 30 mins

It all looks very good on paper, I just need to make sure I implement it on race day!

Zipp Sub9 Disk Wheel

Now, you will understand me wanting to go fast on the bike, and the reason is my bad ass new disk wheel. I just got back from London and I picked up a Zipp Sub9 Disk with a Powertap at Wiggle.com for a bargain. I couldn't wait to see it on my frame and here is the result. My superbike! Meet ONYX