So it's 11 days until Ironman Wales and the nerves and anticipation are starting to stir...
I made the trip down to Tenby over the weekend to ride the bike route on my TT bike as a bit of a tester. I'd completed the course on my road bike last year and I needed to see how it would feel climbing on the bull horns on a bike built for flat out speed, not dancing up switchbacks.
I'd set the bike up with my 40mm Easton EC70 SL training wheels and the nutrition/ hydration setup I was intending to use on race day. The idea being that I'd spin around the course like this, be able to practice fuelling as I will during the race but when I switch onto my race wheelset and aero helmet, I might find a bit of free speed.
The Argon E112 in training mode
I headed out onto the bike course feeling surprised to see loads of other people out on the route making the most of the good bank holiday weekend weather and getting one last look at the bike course that is widely regarded as one of the toughest on the Ironman race circuit.
The thing that makes the Ironman Wales bike course so challenging isn't the number of feet climbed, at only 7,365ft (according to my strava from last year's Ironman Wales) it comes in nearly 5,000ft short of the Ironman Nice bike course. The thing that makes it so hard is the way those climbs appear, the route profile is a bit like looking into the mouth of a crocodile... none of the teeth are that big but there are so many of them...
Endless short steep climbs that suck the life from your legs with no real opportunity to get into a rhythm and keep the effort level constant.
My benchmark was last year's race where I got around the bike course in 5 hours and 55 minutes. Since then I've managed to add nearly 50 watts to my one hour power or FTP.
I tapped these figures into Best Bike Split to suss out a bit of a race plan as I had no idea how to tackle this jagged beast.... The survey says??? ding ding ding... For a 77% intensity factor I need to average 235 watts and keep my normalised power below 250 watts. This should hopefully get me back to Tenby without blowing up and with something left for the equally challenging run course.
We shall see how easy keeping it under control is when the crowds on the infamous 'Heartbreak Hill' in Saundersfoot are roaring, almost beckoning you into the red...
Ironman Wales 2016 - Heartbreak Hill in Saundersfoot - The wrong side of my heart rate limit!
Out on the course this wattage target felt pretty achievable. I realised I need to be more flexible with the plan than just sitting at my average wattage target and let myself stray up towards 300w on some of the climbs. I completed one complete loop of the course averaging 20mph and felt pretty good.
We'll see how that pans out on race day...
After I'd finished my recce I rolled back into Tenby and got a bit of a re-fuel before heading down to the beach for an odd opportunity to walk the swim course thanks to the tide being peak low. This was pretty good as it gave me a chance to confirm my sighting targets and break the swim leg down in my head.
So now the taper begins... commence battling with too much free time to worry about what helmet to wear, not getting ill, flitting between race strategies, worrying about the amount of prep I've done. I think I should probably sit back and focus on the last 12 months of quality training I've put in and know that it will see me ok come race day.
After all, like Morpheus says;
Train with Horsepower
If that is how you like your coaching, straight and built for your race, take a look at the training plans or see how coaching works.