The Session You MUST do before your Ironman Race

The Session You MUST do before your Ironman Race

By the time your Specific Preparation period rolls around you should have some idea of what intensity / pace / power you think you should be swimming, biking and running for your upcoming Ironman race. You should also have a rough idea of what type of nutrition plan you want to use during your race. If you don’t have a clue about any of these things, don’t feel too bad—you are going to be much closer to figuring these things out after this session.

Here is the workout:

1. Rehearse your pre-race eating the day before and the morning of the workout.
2. Weigh yourself unclothed before your workout.
3. Swim: nonstop, at planned Ironman intensity, for planned Ironman duration.
Transition as quickly as possible!
4. Bike: with focus factor HIGH, at planned ironman intensity or slightly higher, in your ironman bike position, practicing your exact ironman nutrition strategy as much as possible, at a duration LONGER than your Ironman duration. So, if you think you’ll go 5:30 in the IM bike, bike for 6 hours.
5. transition as quickly as possible!
6. RUN: at ironman intensity for 30 minutes, or for a maximum of 45 minutes if you are a highly durable athlete who recovers quickly. Consume nutrition MORE AGGRESSIVELY than you would on race day.
7. Weigh yourself unclothed again.

Since you biked an extra 30 minutes, at the end of this workout you’ll have an idea of what you’ll be feeling at more than an hour into your IM run. The purpose isn’t to train your endurance to the 7-8 hour level, although it will. The purpose is NOT for mental toughness, although doing a workout like this will make race day seem short and easy. The main purpose is to LEARN YOUR LIMITS AND TEST YOUR PLAN.

Immediately after your workout, answer the following questions:

1. Did you fade during the second half of the swim? (yes? swim slower next time)
2. Could you have kept up the same swim pace for another 15 minutes? (no? go slower next time)
3. Did you feel tired already when you were starting the bike ride or did you have to take time to recover from the swim? (yes- go slower next time!)
4. Was it very hard to get your heart rate to go down after the swim? (yes? go slower next time.)
5. Did you have trouble biking at your normal wattage from the beginning? (Yes? Swim slower.)
6. Did the bike feel comfortable for the first half? (no? bike slower next time)
7. Did you fade on the second half of the bike ride? (yes? bike slower next time)
8. Did it take a BIG effort to hold your wattage at the end of the bike? (you are on the borderline of your proper effort, ASSUMING that you can run well)
9. Did you have to raise your heart rate greatly to maintain your pacing plan? (yes? this is a danger sign that you might have to dial back your effort)
10. Did you bonk? (you are going to have to swim or ride easier or take in more calories and/or water)
11. Did your stomach get upset? (you might have to: ride easier, consume more water, less solids, more malto based carbs and less simple carbs, or keep trying different combinations )
12. How often did you have to pee? (only once or twice? maybe you didn't drink enough water- remember to )
13. Were you able to run at your planned pace, or close to it? (no? then you biked too hard, OR your run pace was unrealistic)
14. How hard did it feel to run at that pace? (After a mile, it should feel very comfortable- steady at most.)
15. HONESTLY- could you have continued at that pace for a full marathon? (yes! Then you are on the right track! No? You are going to have ease off your pacing in the swim and bike or change your nutrition in order to have a successful Ironman. Maybe? Well...)
16. Was your heart rate at a sustainable level on the run? (No? You'll need to run easier or ease off on the bike. Yes? Good! Maybe? Well...)
17. Were you able to take in all the nutrition easily on the run? (No? Then you need to change your nutrition strategy on the B or R or run or bike easier. Yes? Then you are on the right track.)
18. How much weight did you lose during the workout? (Take your body weight before exercise * .6 (how much water is in your body); then take the # of pounds you lost while exercising and divide it by that number to find out what % of your water that you've lost. You should be well below 5%- the level at which performance declines by 25%) If not, then drink more!

Most athletes don't think about many of these things until AFTER they race. Figure this stuff out up front to race to your potential!

- Coady