- All right, Trainiacs,
I've been wondering about this myself,
and I've been getting a lot of questions about it.
What is my race plan for Challenge Roth?
The first full Ironman that I'm gonna do.
I don't know, but we're gonna have a call
with Dr. Dan Plews, who's been helping me
with the training leading into it.
We're gonna find out, I think,
heart rate, pacing, power,
maybe goal times?
Nutrition plans? Let's see.
(fingers snapping)
I'm just as excited as you are.
(upbeat dance music)
(telephone ringing)
Notes.
Not ready.
Yo.
- Hello, how are you?
- Not bad, how are you doing?
- Yeah, pretty good.
Can you hear me all right?
- Yeah, not too bad.
- All right, yes for me (voice distorted)
seems to get better and what can I do?
I'm like freaking,
People, just stop thinking about.
It's like, you get better in a year,
you get better in like years, and years,
and years, and years of consistent training.
Like is this it?
This thing is a shortcut, hey?
- No. - No.
- No, okay on-- - So you won't be discovering?
- On that note, how amazing is my first Ironman gonna be?
- Man your gonna dominate! - (laughs)
Your gonna like smash it up.
I think the thing is with Ironman is that you have to have.
Oh you know I wish I was different sports now.
Like I wasn't right in kayaking,
and all these tours that are distance events,
and like with those sports,
you can be pretty sure that if you have a good training
and you've got a good training bod,
that will predict the performance, you know?
But if I make completely different because
it's 50% from another sport they call it,
98% training and 2% execution but in Ironman,
50% training and 50% execution.
- So Trainiacs..
That was good, that was very good,
be perfectly honest with you,
I over the last couple of weeks,
even though like I've done 50 or 60 triathlons,
and half a dozen Ironmans and feeling confident, right now.
And I mean, heck I, lead team Trainiac;
basically like an aerobics instructor there
like RA RAA Triathlon.
I, you know, you would think
that I would know what I am doing but here I am now,
six days out from Challenge Roth and
I have those butterflies of like,
have I done enough?
What's my race plan?
How do I this?
And that chat with Plews was really good.
I felt like I was about to head off to Roth with like,
I'm on the edge of a cave and I had a map of the cave
and it's totally dark in there
but I had no flashlight.
So I like knew, where to go but I didn't have the path,
now I got the path.
Let's get into some of the highlight.
First off, everyone's asking,
what I'm doing with this low-carb?
How do I deal with it on race day?
Well here it is.
Couple of things in the days leading up to the race
and then during the race,
not what you'd expect.
- So I think like, talk about,
what a smart executed race look like for you?
My recommendation is you
just go up to between 180 to 200 grams, per day.
So Saturday race from the Wednesday evening
taking in a few more carbs and over the next two days
of the carbs like around 200 grams, max.
Yup, but make sure they're good carbs
'cause if they're not natural carbs,
whole, in the whole carbs area like
sweet potato, banana
and what not.
And then in the morning also have a bit of carb
but you want it to be at
a lot of glycogen and a lot of GI panning carbs,
so like some oats with water is good because it
quite loads your (mumbles)
You don't go instantly spite you giving up all
your fat metabolism a little bit.
No, but what is important is, what you eat before.
So if you eating a high carbohydrate meal right before,
the first hour of exercise is really,
you really inhibit your fat preservation so,
and that's because you give a insulin spike
so the insulin's elevated.
You have to have your insulin down,
which is why, what you eat before the race is important.
- Okay, what I mean,
it's basically similar to what I've been doing,
mostly a protein and fat coffee with-
When I'm not, totally fat based,
I'll just have an apple so,
12 grams.
- Oh yeah, so an apple..
It's not great.
- Too much? - No your apple. (chuckles)
- Too much?
- No you, save the apple for after!
- Okay. (Chuckles) - Or unless there's nothing
you should switch to oats, right?
Doesn't give you what you need.
I mean apple is great to hang around 1 meal (mumbles)
of like, they're a good post-workout meal like, you know.
Now after you start training,
not a pre-workout meal.
- All right so just stick with whatever I do.
- Yes.
- All right, that's easy.
So we increased the carbs just slightly
in the days leading up to it.
Have a little bit of carbs and some protein the race morning
and then just, my regular race nutrition,
that I've had for the last bunch of years.
All good!
Race strategy with the swim.
Easy, peasy.
Now the more I start looking into data and studies
and things like that,
the more I see,
that there is not a very significant correlation
between fast swimming and fast Ironman times.
Big correlation between fast biking and fast running
and fast Ironman times but the swim no so much.
So Plews had a great way of explaining how to pace the swim.
- The swim, honestly you can't really do much about that.
I can't really give you an idea of pacing but I think,
you know, just remember the swimming
it's such a small portion of the event.
So, you're not going to make the outcome
or how well you swim will have very little
outcome on the overall time of the event.
So you gotta really get through that swimming.
You have to just conserve as much as you can.
Sit in a group, sitting, sit on feet and
trying like think of it, I sort of think of it as
the swim is compulsory transport to the start of the race.
(chuckles)
- So go easy and that's bit of the flavor of the day.
Once I get onto the bike, go easy,
very very easy and then build into speed.
- On the bike like for you I reckon like a good
target pace to your walk.
- Okay, that's what I was thinking like 200 to 210.
- I think what you'll find is the thing you have to be
really strict in the most diligent is
that first 40k in like
do not do anymore than that in the first 40k,
even if people are coming past you.
Really hold that 200 walk because,
you'll be going, Oh my God, this is way too easy,
200 walk is too easy.
You technically don't have to but you know like,
you're in it for the long game and just think
those people are going past you then.
You'll caught these things in again later.
(chuckles)
They're probably going too hard so
first 40k really key, really critical.
Just stick on your, stick with your right power
and just stick with that power
and don't come off it for like,
It will get harder and harder and
then you get the last 40k and you're like,
Oh my God, 200 is way too easy!
Then, then,
then you can think about increasing the power a little bit.
I guarantee you,
you won't want to increase very much at that point.
- Coincidentally
that's exactly what Cam Wurf said that he does
in the pro-triathlon-training.com.
How to Bike with Cam Wurf videos that he did.
He said that the whole race is just moderated and
he's just building into it because he wants to
race that last 40k of the bike feeling good.
And that provides a really strong mental boost.
Run, same sort of thing.
Go out, slow.
He had me down here at 5 minute k to 5-10k.
For the first 10k, it's like hard, hard cap
and then it's gonna get kinda tough.
So go out at, go out for the first 10k at
At 5 minute pace?
- Yeah, yeah, 5 to, 5 to, 5 to 10 will be quick.
Which means, it's going to be I think 5 to win it,
5 to 5-10.
- Okay.
- And then, just hold that as long as you can
and again, the first 10k will probably feel pretty easy.
Hard to point between 20-30k so,
just keep have that in your mind.
That's gonna, you know, it's gonna come to you.
You'll probably get to,
through 10 really good and you get to 20 in,
it will start to hurt and then you'll think
Am I only half way?
But, but just be prepared for that.
And just really focus on that 20-30k mark,
it's the, the main kind of area of the marathon.
That always defies the most mental fortitude
and mental focus.
- And one of the biggest tips that he gave me,
that I didn't really know about this,
is to settle my heart-rate down.
Coming out of the water,
getting off the bike,
it's easy to rip through transition,
that's kinda my thing,
that's what I do, I do fast transitions.
But ripping through transition jacks your heart-rate up,
and it's hard to bring it down.
And if you end up starting the bike with say,
a 150 heart-rate and then your just holding power
and you never have a chance to bring it down.
I'm never going to recover then,
I'm just gonna be digging myself a hole constantly.
So.
(wood knocking)
- So, I'm thinking like the more you can be in the 130,
the better.
So another little bit of tip for you like,
what you'll find is that,
my heart-rate is important too,
so for you, you're like, you know,
you've been doing those kind of endurance rides
to the tempo and you've been sitting in the 130,
right, it's a lot of 130's,
but you'll get out the the,
you'll get out the swim,
you jump on your bike and you go,
whoa, and your heart is gonna be beating like in 145-150,
which is pretty normal but just give yourself
a moment to bring the heart rate back down,
don't just keep on it.
So as you get like a little bit of a down hill,
just like, stop pedals or you just get (voice distorted).
Focus on bringing the heart-rate back down to, you know,
into the 120s and then set back onto the,
set back onto the power that you're trying to maintain.
So, I tell you what 'cause
even if you don't give yourself that time out of the swim,
it will I tell you what it'll never come back down.
- Matt Cur was saying that.
Be really careful in transitions to not ru--
- Not rush it or you'll never bring it down.
- Yeah but who's been telling him that?
- I think you and Grant.
- Yeah (chuckles)
- Yeah.
And then he had a very nice message about,
when things get rough.
How am I supposed to motivate myself,
through that hard 20 to 30k
that he said is gonna be pretty tough.
- I remember when I had my first,
I'm the, I'm the guy who was helping him, you know?
Like tomorrow I enjoyed it 'cause these miles can really,
can really, it's amazing way to break the pain.
I always think that in an Ironman
for sure it's gonna hurt at times but
during those periods I think you'll still remember that.
Think of the people who aren't there doing it like man,
I'll give my right leg to be doing one this weekend,
being fit and being in your position to do well.
But I'm not, I'm in New Zealand,
I'm not fit and I'm you know, I'm not doing it.
So just remember that even though
it hurts and it seems unpleasant at this time,
there really is no place you'd rather be, right?
- So put that all together Trainiacs,
and we're talking about a
9 40 to 10 hour Ironman,
if it all goes well,
I don't know, we'll see.
I'd be thrilled with that but
as Plews said there,
there are some sports that are 98% training
and 2% execution.
Ironman is more like 50% training and then 50% execution.
Fortunately, I've been a very good executer of races lately.
All right, make sure that your subscribed
if you want to follow along
how I am going to do at challenge Roth
and if you like what Dan Plews is saying,
go to triathalonterran.com/theplews,
and get the free package of like
how to get started with low-carb triathlon training.
What he's done for me over the last few months.
All right! Later Trainiacs.