Interlochen, pre-race expectations
This week I would like to take a minute to discuss my pre-race expectations for the Interlochen Music Festival Triathlon. I will be competing in the Olympic distance event. This is my second Oly and I'm excited to see my progress from a month ago. As some of you might recall, I had a less than ideal race in Detroit. I personally felt that my bike fitness and nutritional plans were both inadequate. I have spent the past few weeks working on both. On the nutrition plan side I have adjusted my strategy to include both Infinit and Hornet Juice. In my testing with both of these products on my long rides (30+ miles) I have come off the bike still feeling like I have some legs left. Last weekend I went for a hard 46 mile ride with extreme hills including about a 2 mile climb to finish (the last half of which was out of the saddle barely able to hold 7mph). I used Infinit, Hornet Juice and water only on the entire ride and felt good afterwards. I'm not sure I had enough in the tank for much of a run but I certainly had more than when I came off the bike in Detroit. On the bike fitness side, what can I say? I have been riding my tail off. In blowing wind and hard hills I've pushed and right now I feel pretty comfortable in that area again.
Pre-race, my goals for this weekend will be pretty conservative. This is a B race for me and only 3 weeks before my main A race for the season. I want to rev up the motor a bit and see what I've got but I don't want to blow it up either. Here are my goal times for this weekend.
Swim: goal <30 minutes
I really laid back at Detroit in the swim. I want to push this one a bit more. I really think a sub-30 swim is must. I also want to practice drafting off the fast guys in this one. This is my strongest discipline and it's hard to hold back but I still need to go easy on the shoulder a bit.
T1: goal <3 minutes
I know, very conservative. The transition area is quite a ways from the timing mat on the beach and I am going back to socks for the bike, I'm still healing from the blisters I got in Detroit.
Bike: goal 1hr 20 minutes
This course is pretty flat, a couple of rollers and if I average 18mph I'll nail this goal and should still have enough left for the run. The plan will be to ride conservative the first 1/3 of the race, check the overall feeling and if it feels right hammer it right up until the last 1/2 mile. I want to spin easy the last half mile and should be able to maintain my speed coming in because its flat and downhill. (side note, the dismount here gets interesting because you are flying in on a down slope to the transition area) If it all comes together I really think a sub 1:15 is possible without ruining my run. Nutrition wise I plan on using my Profile Design Aerodrink bottle loaded with Infinit and my second water bottle a mix of Hornet Juice and water. The goal is to finish BOTH of these on the bike and start taking in Clif Shot Bloks as I come into transition.
T2:goal <1 minute 30 seconds
It better be fast, the timing mats are at the bike entrance and run exit and it's a small transition area. Nothing special here, drop the bike, slip on the shoes and hat and off we go. Nutrition plan here? Have a pre-made bottle of Hornet Juice and water to take a swig of just before I go along with more Clif Shot Bloks.
Run: goal <1hour
Not too hard for me to hold a 9:40 pace if I have some legs off the bike. This is a conservative goal but hey after Detroit, where I walked more than I ran, this goal has to be conservative. I want to run this time only walking aid stations if needed. I want to start slow and build my intensity throughout on this one. Nutrition, just water or Gatorade if they have it.
overall goal: sub 3 hours.
If I accomplish this I'll have made significant improvement from Detroit. If things go well and I feel good through out, my ultimate goal for this race would be a sub 2:50.
Were making this a family camping weekend. Staying at the State park where the race is held with a bunch of friends who are racing and their families. On Saturday morning I'm thinking of taking my son into Traverse City (about 20 miles away) where they are having their Cherry Festival 5k and 15k races. This is a big race and if he is up for it I think I'll let him run the 5k. So, we might have a couple of race reports next week. I won't be back until at least Monday so the race reports won't be up until Tuesday or maybe Wednesday.
As a side note, we had a wonderful time in Frankfort last weekend with family and friends. I didn't train as much as I planned but sometimes we need to remember to enjoy life a little with those we care about. They put up with our training and non-stop talking about our sport so we do need to just let it go every once in a while. I got in one great ride, a monster sand dune climb, a round of golf with some pals and a ton of walking on the beach. Does life get any better than that?
So, unless I come up with something genius to say again this week, good luck to everyone racing this coming weekend and check back next week for my race report.
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