15-18 hour training weeks - check
Ability to run 25 sec/min faster than race pace target on a long tempo run and still feel great at end in the upper 80’s - check
“over mile” bike rides and runs - check
Long bricks, race pace bricks - check
Nutrition plan devised and tested - check
Excited to actually race - check
But I need some good mantras for the run. It’s going to be crazy hot on Sunday and I need some fun things to focus on and ways to prepare mentally to not be nervous, not “give up against myself even though my body is totally capable” and ignore all of the “walking zombies” and my own tired/hot body on the course on my last loop…
Also plan to race without my HRM and would love thoughts on RPE to follow for bike so I stay in control and don’t pay for it on the run as that is one of my strengths - keep in mind that I am capable of throwing down a run that could top my age group (top 3-5 on the bike), but my best swim ever would still only be in the top 3rd of my age group, so I have to throw it down to some extent on the bike and run to hit my goals and don’t worry I’ve trained with that in mind…
paraphase from the movie Gattaca - Don’t save anyting for the run…
as for RPE - if you don’t kown it now then no one’s gonna be able to explain it to you. Think back on your hardest bike rides of similar duration. It should only be a little easier than that. Just a little.
This is great stuff - thanks for playing along! As for RPE - let me clarify - I’m completely versed on it and know my own well - just wondering if I am usually at a 6-7 on my race pace tempo rides (avg about 21-21.5 MPH for the 1.5 hr portion done at tempo - flat course and remember I’m a girl) if I should make sure I stay at that or below for the race or if it’s okay to let the excitement take over a bit and maybe allow myself to get to an 8 every once in a while…
This one gets me through, but maybe it has to do with underlying issues I may or may not have - “Don’t be a py, Don’t be a py” in time with your run cadence of course. I like “If I die I die” and the previous post about trying to run yourself to death. I dig the intensity.
This is great stuff - thanks for playing along! As for RPE - let me clarify - I’m completely versed on it and know my own well - just wondering if I am usually at a 6-7 on my race pace tempo rides (avg about 21-21.5 MPH for the 1.5 hr portion done at tempo - flat course and remember I’m a girl) if I should make sure I stay at that or below for the race or if it’s okay to let the excitement take over a bit and maybe allow myself to get to an 8 every once in a while…
for me, i say let a little excitement and competition push you a little harder. I’ve always found i could dig deeper on a group ride than a solo ride. one of my mistakes in triathlon (not coming from a competitive sport background) was that for years i finished races saying ‘i could have gone faster, i could have pushed harder’ or ‘man, i’ve done faster training rides than that’. the year i didn’t do that i took third in my age group (gulf coast HIM) I’d rather i would have sucked the last mile and then i would have learned a lot more. but that’s just me. oh, and if you believe the ‘conventional wisdom’ women are able to suffer more than men.
my first year at IMLP i had a line that came into my head that i couldn’t get out:
pickem up and putem down that’s the way you get to town… repeat several hundred times.
my second year something similiar came into my head:
you gotta put one foot in front of the other… gotta put one foot in front of the other…(this one got annoying and i wanted to finish faster because of that!)