Today was supposed to be my race rehearsal with proper nutrition, pacing and transitions. Since I decided not to go to Del Valle for the rehearsal, there was no way I was going to be able to do real transitions in the parking lot of 24HR Fitness. So, no transition practice, which is not a big deal, and I could have still had a great rehearsal. But it was just not my day today and things were bound to go wrong. I'd mostly attribute it to my lack of planning and logistic misfires. Lessons learned -
In hindsight, the rehearsal wasn't bad. I felt pretty good on the run in spite of going too hard on the bike and eating a bit less - 2 Bonk breakers, 1 Powerbar chews, 4 GU gels and 2 bottles Perform = ~300 cals/hr. It would be enough usually, but I was going a bit hard today, so could have used an extra 100 cals/hr. Intaking the hourly caloric quota is not useful if you're gobbling it up in 2-3 morsels in an hour, because the body can efficiently process only small amounts of fuel at a time.
This was the first time I did the full IM distance during swim practice. Felt good after.
http://app.strava.com/activities/67191941 (stupid Strava embeds my swim as a stationary ride)
After some painful miles, for me as well as for the bike, I got the brakes tuned at a bike shop. By then I had wasted so much time and I was so pissed, I went a bit too hard on the bike. Actually, looking at the data, my power wasn't too high (180NP), but the ride felt hard for some reason.
Run was good, but due to time constraints, had to cut it short.
Next two weeks is taper... YAY! Will post the race plan soon... stay tuned.
- Never dump everything in the transition bag randomly. Even though it's all there, you may not be sure it's there.
- Worship you bike. Even though it's simple to swap wheels, always try the race wheels before hand, especially if they are Zipp wheels. It's not pleasant riding with brakes screeching. Make sure you ride the racing config of the bike a few times before.
- Bonk breakers and CLIF bars, both cause gas. Too late to try anything else now.
- Keep your cool even when things are not going as planned. In other words, don't go crazy on the bike. Keep power under the caps and stick to the fueling and hydration plan.
In hindsight, the rehearsal wasn't bad. I felt pretty good on the run in spite of going too hard on the bike and eating a bit less - 2 Bonk breakers, 1 Powerbar chews, 4 GU gels and 2 bottles Perform = ~300 cals/hr. It would be enough usually, but I was going a bit hard today, so could have used an extra 100 cals/hr. Intaking the hourly caloric quota is not useful if you're gobbling it up in 2-3 morsels in an hour, because the body can efficiently process only small amounts of fuel at a time.
This was the first time I did the full IM distance during swim practice. Felt good after.
http://app.strava.com/activities/67191941 (stupid Strava embeds my swim as a stationary ride)
After some painful miles, for me as well as for the bike, I got the brakes tuned at a bike shop. By then I had wasted so much time and I was so pissed, I went a bit too hard on the bike. Actually, looking at the data, my power wasn't too high (180NP), but the ride felt hard for some reason.
Run was good, but due to time constraints, had to cut it short.
Next two weeks is taper... YAY! Will post the race plan soon... stay tuned.
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