Erica Budd

How to Use This Guide

This is an individualized race guide—not something you need to memorize or execute perfectly. Terrain, traffic, weather, physical sensations and race dynamics will change throughout the day. Your job is not to force the race to match this document. Your job is to keep making good decisions as the race develops.

Augusta is an A race. The objective is to connect the controlled swim and confident run you produced in Nice with a bike that reflects your actual riding ability.

Strategy at a Glance

Swim: Begin around 75% effort. Establish comfort first, then gradually add intensity.

Bike: Ride assertively through the rolling middle, use the entire power range, release over crests and finish the final 15 miles with controlled pressure.

Run: Let cadence find you during the first 5–10 minutes. Keep intensity patient and make your first real assessment around halfway. If you have it, soften the reins and let pace develop.

Primary Anchors

Swim · 1.2 Miles Downriver

The Evidence You Bring

You did the work before Nice. You repeatedly put yourself into challenging open-water conditions and then executed an excellent swim in conditions substantially more intimidating than Augusta should present. That is the relevant evidence.

Opening · Start to Approximately 300 Yards

Begin around 75% effort. Establish comfortable breathing, space, rhythm and a sustainable stroke. The downriver format may make the swim feel fast. Accept the speed without chasing it.

Middle · Approximately 300 Yards to One Mile

Once comfort is established, gradually add pressure. Use helpful feet when naturally available, but leave them if maintaining position creates tension. Use the downstream line without unnecessary lateral movement. When it feels natural, spend a little more time holding the catch and pull. That technical opportunity remains secondary to comfort.

Final Section and Exit

Expect a late directional change toward the exit near 5th Street. Sight deliberately, maintain rhythm through the turn and prepare to begin transition.

If Anxiety Appears

Reduce effort, exhale fully and create space. Use breaststroke briefly if needed, return to easy freestyle and count 50 alternating arm entries before reassessing. Create enough time and space for the feeling to pass.

T1

Leave the swim behind when you exit the water. Complete each task once, get onto the bike safely and begin the next section.

Bike · 30,000-Foot Approach

The Augusta bike is not flat. It is comparatively low through approximately mile 8, repeatedly rolling from roughly miles 8–41, and flatter over the final 15 miles.

This course is much more consistent with the riding you are capable of producing than Nice was. Ride assertively through the rollers, but do not turn every hill into an interval. Shift before cadence collapses, climb mostly seated, stand briefly when useful, release over crests, let speed come cheaply downhill and arrive in T2 ready to run.

Power is the primary output guide. HR and RPE tell you what that output is costing. A number at the bottom or middle of the range can be exactly right.

Bike Rust Protocol

Establish normally first. If the legs remain flat while HR and RPE are normal, use a small number of short, purposeful accelerations in a safe, uncrowded section. Return immediately to normal output and reassess.

If the legs wake up, return to the plan without raising any range or ceiling. If they remain flat, temporarily ride below the range and let them come around. Do not use the protocol in congestion, corners, aid stations or the U-turn. If normal power produces unusually high HR or RPE, do not assume rust and force it.

Bike · Section by Section

Approximately Miles 0–8Leave Augusta

160–180 W. Begin calmly. Prioritize handling, traffic and turns. Let power cluster naturally, start fueling early and do not force the top because the terrain feels fast.

Cue: Establish the day.

Approximately Miles 8–16First Sawtooth Block

Steady: 160–180 W · Longer rises: 175–195 W · Moderate rollers: 185–205 W · Short steep rises: 200–215 W · Brief ceiling: approximately 220 W for no more than 20–30 seconds.

Shift early, keep cadence near normal, climb predominantly seated and stand briefly only when useful. Release pressure as the road crests.

Cue: Pressure uphill. Release over the top.

Approximately Miles 16–24Repeated Rollers

Ride the rises with purpose without turning them into isolated intervals. Stop pushing the climbing number when the road releases. Let speed return and resume steady pressure only when pedaling becomes productive again.

Cue: Race the rollers, not the power file.

Approximately Miles 24–35Rolling Rhythm

Continue applying appropriate pressure and use steadier sections to fuel. Judge the section by the relationship among power, HR, RPE and terrain—not by one average. If the same power costs materially more HR and RPE, it is no longer the same effort.

Cue: Stay assertive without adding unnecessary cost.

Approximately Miles 35–41Final Rolling Block

Continue racing the terrain while recognizing accumulated cost. Do not become more aggressive merely because the rolling section is almost finished. Fuel before the flat return.

Cue: Finish the rollers with the run intact.

Approximately Miles 41–56Fast, Flatter Return

160–175 W. This is a controlled continuation—not an opportunity to repair average power or turn the race into a bike time trial. Settle into aero, apply economical pressure, fuel and let speed come from position and flatter terrain.

Cue: Bring the run to T2.

T2

Complete each task once. Do not use the first few running steps to evaluate the day. Give cadence and mechanics time to organize.

Run · 30,000-Foot Approach

The Augusta run is one loop with approximately 450 feet of gain. It includes an early rise, a gradual climb or false flat from approximately miles 4–6.6, an extended descent toward mile 9.5, lower terrain through approximately mile 11.5 and a short late climb.

The run should follow the process that worked in Nice. Your control hierarchy is:

1. Mechanics and foot/ankle stability
2. Cadence
3. Perceived exertion
4. Heart rate as supporting cost information
5. Pace as a secondary outcome

Pace provides context. It does not control the run. The first 5–10 minutes are for allowing cadence to find you. Your first meaningful check-in comes around halfway.

Run · Section by Section

Miles 0–2Establish

Let cadence find you. Expect to begin slightly below your established rhythm and let your body transition from cycling to running. Keep intensity patient and establish relaxed, symmetrical mechanics. A broad pace near 9:30–9:00/mi may appear naturally, but you do not need to manufacture it.

Cue: Let cadence find you.

Miles 2–4Connect

Settle into your natural rhythm. Keep cadence consistent and add intensity gradually within it. Pace develops as an outcome.

Cue: Build within the cadence.

Miles 4–6.6Gradual Rise

Hold controlled effort, maintain cadence without forcing stride length and let pace slow as terrain requires. Do not defend flat-ground pace uphill.

Cue: Hold the rhythm. Let pace respond.

Around HalfwayYour “Moment in Time”

Check cadence, mechanics, foot/ankle stability, RPE and the cost of the warming conditions. If those signals remain strong, begin to soften the reins. Allow intensity and speed to develop progressively rather than making one abrupt change.

Cue: If you have it, soften the reins.

Miles 6.6–9.5Descending Return

Accept inexpensive speed while keeping cadence and mechanics controlled. Avoid reaching or overstriding. Let terrain improve pace and continue fueling and cooling.

Cue: Let the terrain pay you back.

Miles 9.5–11.5Lower Return

Reassess cadence, mechanics and the foot/ankle. Continue progressing if those signals align. If pace fades, find cadence first and then find the sustainable intensity within it.

Cue: Cadence first. Then intensity.

Miles 11.5–12.3Late Climb

Maintain effort, shorten the stride and let pace slow. Do not defend the watch uphill.

Cue: Hold effort, not pace.

Miles 12.3–13.1Finish

If the foot and ankle remain stable and mechanics are normal, race what remains. There is no required pace.

Cue: Stable and strong—then race.

Foot and Ankle Decision Rule

• Stable awareness or discomfort with normal mechanics: continue monitoring.
• Increasing pain, limping, altered stride or compensation: reduce effort immediately.
• Do not accelerate to test the area.
• Look for the mechanical pattern rather than reacting to one sensation.

Weather and Environmental Execution

The current forecast calls for a cool start, sunshine, very light wind and an afternoon high near 86°F. Expect a cool swim and early bike, followed by steady warming and direct sun during the run.

• Do not reduce bike targets in advance.
• Begin normal hydration while the morning feels cool.
• Start cooling at the first run aid stations.
• If HR and RPE rise together while output deteriorates, adjust before heat makes the decision.

Fueling, Hydration and Cooling

Your system is established and reliable. Begin bike fueling early, continue through the rolling middle and use steady sections for eating and drinking. Do not allow active terrain to repeatedly delay intake.

The on-course electrolyte drink is not your carbohydrate source. Run carbohydrate must come from gels or another planned source. Begin cooling early on the run.

Race-Day Decision Rules

A Number Falls Outside the Range

Do not correct it immediately. Identify terrain, check HR and RPE, look at the broader pattern and respond only when multiple signals support a change.

You Are Not Near the Top

Nothing needs to be corrected. The bottom and middle are not lesser versions of the target.

HR Is Higher Than Expected

Check output, RPE, temperature, sun, hydration and race timing. Rising HR plus rising RPE at the same or declining output is a reason to reduce cost.

Pace Is Slower Than Expected

Check terrain, cadence, RPE, mechanics and heat. Do not force the watch back to an expected number.

The Race Differs From the Plan

Adjust to the race that is here.

Mental Execution

Nice is evidence that the swim work has mattered and that your cadence-led run process works under race conditions. No individual split, power reading, pace or position needs an immediate interpretation.

Quick-Reference Race Card