IMFL Pre-Race Thoughts

Yes, it had been a long time (about 11 weeks, by the look of it) since I have given any updates here - so for the few who may have been left wondering... my bad.  The reasons for my "silence" have been primarily been twofold: first, the fall season has been a super busy time - increased training and commitment to a local musical, on top of the usual, work and family stuff has kept me hopping!   Second, training has been up and down, so rather than report in a low spot or high, I felt I needed to just step back, enjoy the ride and just do my best to execute the plan up to race day.

That may sound reasonable, but it wasn't always easy.  I would say that my prep for this Ironman has been far more "up and down" than previous campaigns.  I won't get into all the "whys", because there's nothing to be done about it now. The main thing, was to just try and adapt and make the most out of each day/week - and I feel that my coach and I were able to do that.

The "ups and downs" have left me a little less certain of my race day abilities / expectations this time around versus last time at IMFL, BUT I am ok with that. Why?  Mainly because of my experience.  This is IM #6 for me, and the truth is IM racing isn't just about "how fast/powerful" of a car you have, but rather, how you drive that car!  In other words, while I may not be the fastest/fittest I've ever been (I may also be?), I believe I can have the best race I've ever had - if I "drive" (pace) properly.   With this in mind, the race day strategy will be to stay within myself on the swim and bike and the first two-thirds of the run in hopes of finishing with a strong run!  Or in other words, race in a way, that leaves me able to run that whole freaking marathon - and not have to walk!! (something I have never managed to do in a IM and its about time I do!).

Here's what I think I can do on race day, IF I manage to pace smart.  The 'x' factor for my guessing, is the bike split - for two reasons:  I've had some "hiccups" the past couple weeks on some bike workouts (one unavoidable explosive flat, and some others that just were not well executed, for likely a combination of factors like fatigue and switching back to my road bike a week ago, as it was shipped to Florida) and two, I don't ride terrain like Florida in training so its a little hard to equate my training times/effort to what they could be down there.   That said, here's where I think I may be on race day:

Swim: 1 hour (+/- 2mins)
Bike: 4:45- 5:00ish (yes, that's a big window for a flat course, but I truly will have to see how the body is firing on race day and adjust accordingly)
Run: 3:30-3:45 (I wish I could say it'd be faster, but I need to be realistic).
Transitions - 7-8 min total

So, where does that leave me?  Somewhere between in the 9:50-9:30 range.  Truthfully (and somewhat sadly) a 9:30, will likely leave me "on the bubble" for a Kona slot (going by previous years), but I'm not sure I have faster in me this time, and I'm ok with that.  I can't control who shows up, and how fast others will go, so my thoughts going in are solely on listening to my body, fueling smart, and executing my best race - the other "stuff" is what it is!

Ok, I can't wrap this post up without a huge shout out and thank you to my wife!  There is no way, this journey would be possible without her support and the continual (daily) planning of "who's doing what, when" and working together to get it all in.  I am thrilled that she will be in Florida with me, and I can't wait to see her, B and O on the sidelines to help carry me through the day :) 

I think that's all for now! 5 days, 9 hours and some change until the gun goes off. It should be a great week gearing up for the week, I'm looking forward to it all.

Jon