4/8/08: 5 days left to IMAZ

Holy cow! That's a long day!
Last night was the TTG board meeting, and Joyce had a "Good Luck Elaine" cake. :) Chocolate cake with chocolate icing. So good! And I took the leftovers home. The one thing I've allowed myself to indulge in over the course of the training was sweets. For some reason, my cravings for chocolate and ice cream were maddening, and I gave in to them. But honestly, had I not I would have gone insane through all of this. This is the only time I know it's ok because I'm working it off.

It was great to see everyone and hear of their plans to come up on Sunday. I can't believe how many Tri Girls are coming up to support, volunteer, and cheer at the race, and how many are going to follow along online. It is truly amazing, and once again, makes me cry. I am going to be a mess at the finish line. I can't wait to do that in November. The funny thing was hearing about everyone's plans. These gals are experienced at all-day cheering, and know when to take breaks, go back to the hotels, etc. I kept hearing "Yeah, it's a long day and we'll want to go back to the hotel and rest some." I was thinking "Man, that sounds like a great idea!" Then I realized just how long of a day it really is. When you're in the race, you forget that regular life is still going on while you're out there slogging away. People will be going to breakfast, doing errands, working on their homes, reading the paper, going to lunch, taking naps, having dinner, watching TV...all while you're swimming, biking, and running for 140.6 miles. It's longer than the average work day!

Taper Fun
This morning's workout was a 30 minute run...and that's it. No evening workout. I'm done for the day! Do you know how LONG it's been since I've been allowed to do ONE workout in a day? Forever. Well, 4 months feels like forever. I've gotten so used to getting up early, doing a workout in the morning, or doing a workout at noon, and a workout in the evening. And guess what? No swim workout today! Yay! But honestly, after this weekend's race, maybe I don't hate swimming as much. Ok, let's stop that crazy talk. What I really mean is, yes I'm glad I went to Master's swim and noon workouts 3X per week (sometimes 4!) for all those months because it really paid off.

Time to Pack!
Since I don't need to do a workout in the evening, I'll be spending the evening packing my race bags. Just so you know, I'm very Type A and OCD about this. You have to have everything packed in it's proper race bag on race day, because there's no going back to the hotel to get it once the race starts. Everything needs to be in the official IM bag. This is where doing last year's race comes in handy.

We're given 5 bags before the race: Dry Clothes, T1 (swim to bike), Bike Special Needs (SN), T2 (swim to run), and Run Special Needs. Dry clothes is for everything you're wearing before the race that gets held for you. It's cold on race morning, so that's where you stuff your sweatpants and shirts to get ready to get in the water. At Ironman, they have changing tents from swim to bike and bike to run. So you can change clothing, and that's what goes in those bags. Special Needs are held at the half way point of the bike (~ Mile 60) and run (~Mile 13) courses. You can put whatever you want that fits in the bag that you think you'll need. The common stuff like nutrition, lube for chafing, extra clothing, etc is a given. Some put pictures from home, special treats like candy, and other bizarre things in their bags. Whatever works and whatever is needed to get you through the second half is what goes in the bag.

So to pack for this race, I make my own bags. I don't have the official bags yet, so I use bags from Target and whatnot labeled and with a checklist. All the gear that goes in the bag needs to be labeled with last name and bib #, in case it falls out of the bag. So that's what takes the longest amount of time...labeling everything. Once it's labeled it goes in the bag and gets checked off the list.

So here's the mother of all packing lists. Mostly this is race stuff, and not the usual trip-packing stuff (regular clothing for 5 days, shower kit, etc).

Elaine's Type A OCD Packing List
DRY CLOTHES BAG:
Put in bag:
- Wetsuit
- Swim cap
- Goggles (2 pair, regular and back-up)
- Earplugs
- BodyGlide (skin lube to prevent chafing)
- Sunscreen
- Non-drowsy Drammamine (I don't do well in water without it)
- Gatorade to sip pre-race

Wear:
- Swim top
- TTG Tri top
- Tri shorts
- Flip flops
- Warm sweater & pants
- Hat
- Clear glasses
- Chip strap w/ timing chip
- Timex watch

Bag of stuff to install on bike:
- Infinit powder bottle (rear rack)
- Mixed Infinit concentrate (frame rack)
- First serving of Infinit for Aerobottle

Bike Bento Box:
- Mini BodyGlide
- Kinesys sunscreen
- Chapstick
- Clif bar
- Peanut M&Ms
- Salt tabs

TRANSITION #1 (T1) - SWIM TO BIKE BAG:
- Bike Helmet
- Bike shoes
- Bike socks
- BodyGlide
- Sunglasses (old) and hard case
- Small face towel
- Race belt with bike bib # attached (last name)
- Bike gloves

BIKE SPECIAL NEEDS (SN):
- 2 tubes
- 2 CO2 cartridges
- Infinit powder in bike bottle
- Cliff bars
- 1 bag Cliff Shot Bloks

TRANSITION #2 (T2) - BIKE TO RUN BAG:
- Running shorts
- Running socks
- Running shoes
- Sports bra
- BodyGlide
- Hat
- Clear glasses (old) and hard case
- Race belt with run bib # attached (first name)
- Salt tabs in pouch on belt
- 2 bags strawberry Shot Bloks
- small tube sunscreen
- Handi wipes

RUN SPECIAL NEEDS BAG:
- Small BodyGlide
- Salt tabs
- 2 bags strawberry Shot Bloks
- Kleenex
- Handi wipes
- Long sleeved shirt
- Pringles
- Peanut M&Ms
- Immodium

Race Strategy
Let me explain the race strategy, and that will help explain why things are in the bags.

The race is all about banking time against the cutoffs. So I'm going to do what I can to get on the bike course ASAP and get off the course ASAP. I'm not screwing around with clothing in T1. Clothing takes the most amount of time, and I can take 5 min off of transition time if I don't change. So I'm wearing my swim top (doubles as a sports bra...yay for aero boobies!), sleeveless tri top, and tri shorts under my wetsuit for the swim. That way when I get into T1 all I have to do is put on my shoes, glasses, helmet and gloves and I'm outta there while other gals will be doing the hokey pokey trying to get a dry jersey on over wet skin. I'll hit the porta potty on the way out, and possibly the sunscreen people if they have them (I didn't see them last time). All of my clothing has been tested and is meant for going from swim to bike, so I know it will dry quick.

I wear glasses, so my sunglasses are going in a hard case in my bike shoe in my bag. Yes, they do have a table at the exit of the swim for glasses. Picture this: 2000 people do a swim in Tempe Town Lake and are tired, excited, and dizzy from it all. Those that need glasses don't see well without them. You think they are gonna pick up the right ones from about 100 pairs laid out on a table? I DON'T THINK SO! If someone walks off with mine, I'm screwed. Race over. Not going to happen. They are in a case in my shoe.

I'm carrying all of my nutrition with me, and will not be stopping for Bike SN if I can help it. The Bike SN bag only has emergency stuff in it (if I get a few flats, need to change nutrition, etc). The bags will be in large cardboard boxes with number ranges on them, so you have to bike up to your box and dig through and find your bag. Then you have to get your stuff, do your thing, and put the bag back. All of that takes time...time I'm not willing to spend this year. (I want those 6 minutes back!)

My bike will have a concentrated bottle of Infinit mix on the downtube. Meaning, 12 scoops of powder and only 4 oz of water. Can you say super-saturated solution? Yep, but that way I squirt a little Infinit into the Aerobottle, and fill the bottle the rest of the way with water from the aid stations. Yes, I've tried it in training and it works. I have a spare bottle of dry powder on the rear left bottle rack, that I normally don't reach for. I'm much better reaching right. So I'll pick up water bottles from the aid station while moving, and rack the bottle on the right rear rack and carry that with me. Gatorade is offered at the aid stations on the course, but it is far inferior to Infinit. The spare Infinit in Bike SN is in case a bottle gets launched. I'll pick up small bites of banana at the aid stations when needed, and eat small bites of Cliff bar or Peanut M&Ms depending on what I feel like (I think the M&Ms will win) up to about Mile 80. Mile 80 I will stop eating solids and just go with Infinit to get ready for the run. That way my stomach will have settled and finished processing all solids by the time the bouncing of the run starts. Throughout the bike I'll take salt tabs as needed, along with lots of sips of water. I'll keep to my goal pace of a slow 15 - 15.5 mph average. Yes, I can do a stand-alone century faster, but this isn't a centry. This is Ironman. Screw up the bike and you've screwed up the run before you even have your running shoes on. DON'T EAT THE PASTE!

I haven't done an IM run, so this will be new territory. Once I cross the mat into T2, I'll allow myself a little extra time. There are only 2 cutoffs to meet on the run as opposed to the 3 on the bike. In T2 I'll change socks, shorts, and bra if needed. The Handi wipes are to get the layer of salt that will be on my face off. It will be hot on Sunday...real hot and I'm going to get salty. I hate running in tri shorts because if I dump water on my face/head, it starts to collect in the chamois, leading to chafing. I like running shorts because they allow everything downstairs to get some fresh air circulation (if you know what I mean). And I've done all my long runs in running shorts. (Don't do anything new on race day!)

Once again, my glasses will be in a hard case in my shoe in my bag. I'll switch to clear lenses in T2. If I get done with the bike before the cutoff (5:30 PM) there will still be some sun, but I'll have a hat. I don't want to risk being in the dark with sunglasses. I could put them in the Run SN bag, but those bags aren't guaranteed to be given back to you, and we are told not to put anything we want to see again in there.

Nutrition for the run will be Shot Bloks for as long as I can stand them. My goal is to be on those for nutrition for the first half marathon. After that, I can pick up more Bloks at Run SN or my goodies. They will also have a buffet of cookies, fruit, pretzles, coke, gatorade, and chicken broth at each aid station. I'm hoping to pick up only water at the stations, but if it gets bad at the end I may take some coke. It needs to be flat, as fizzy coke does bad things to my stomach, and I've heard they switched to fizzy this year. I will not be taking the chicken broth. Everyone says to take the broth, but being a vegetarian for 17 years bad things would happen if I suddenly ingested animal protein. Not to mention it's just gross, and the thought of it makes me want to puke right now sitting at the comfort of my desk. If it makes me want to puke now, the effect will be magnified in the race. So no broth. Yes, people have done IMs without broth. I'll live. My plan is to take only small bites of stuff at aid stations, if I do partake of the aid stations. People puke in IMs because they eat like it's a freaking Sunday dinner at Denny's. Hello!! You're still running! I've eaten grapes and fruit at the summer aquathlon races, so I know those go down well.

I may stop at Run SN, because that's usually where family members hang out. They can actually talk to their athlete for the first time in 12 hours while the athlete fishes through the bag to find the goodies. Mine will have BodyGlide to take care of any chafing, and Bloks. The long sleeved shirt is in case I get cold when the sun goes down. The Immodium is for if bad things happen to my GI system, which will only be if I screwed up somewhere in the race. Peanut M&Ms are a treat if I feel like it.

So that's about it!