Race Purpose

This is your A race. It is what we have been building toward since last November.

Success on Sunday is a very strong full day. A good swim. A controlled, strong bike. Then a run that lets you use what you already know you have.

The power of your run is the weapon. You have a fantastic bike-run combination, and every decision on Sunday is about setting up the run so you can use it.

The run is where the magic happens. The bike makes it possible.

Trust the Work

You have done all the work. It has been really good, and it is plenty. You are in a great spot.

Look at the evidence. Your long rides this fall have come in around 190-205 W at a heart rate of 121-125. Sep 19 was, in my words at the time, a "beautiful HR response." Your long runs have built from the high 7s down into the 6:50s with control, week after week. You built a different, far more durable version of yourself this year.

And you did the strength work, year-round, for the first time. That is the glue that holds everything together.

Race week can make the nights a little restless. That is normal, and it does not take anything away from Sunday. When your head starts running through the race at night, let the work you have done be the thing that settles you. It is done. It is in the bank.

The 30,000-Foot Approach

• Ease into the swim. Build. Reach about 500 m able to lift the effort.
• Ride by feel inside 200-220 W. Stay under about 231 W.
• Stay smooth on rises and around other riders. Their race is not your race.
• Fuel the bike at 80-95 g/hr. Pee at least twice on the bike.
• Start the run at the slow end of your range and let it come to you.
• Patience. Your race is defined by run miles 13-26, not bike miles 10-30.
• In the back half of the marathon, collect what everyone else gives back.
• With 10K to go, all limits come off.

Your Control System

Perception leads. The numbers are guardrails.

Bike

• Power: about 200-220 W. The whole range is good execution.
• Ceiling: stay under about 231 W. That includes the rises.
• Heart rate: about 125-132. This is your early check that you are not overcooking it.

Run

• Pace is primary: 7:10-7:50 per mile. The whole range is good execution.
• Outer allowance: out to about 8:00 when you need it, and down to about 7:00 later in the run if you are flying.
• STRYD power is your overcooking check: about 260-285 W. Out to about 250 W when you are easing, up to about 290 W later in the run if you are flying.
• Pace and STRYD power: no winner. Be aware of both. If they ever disagree and you have to choose, your perceived exertion decides.
• With 10K to go, all limits come off.

These are wide on purpose. The slow end is never failure. It is a tool. Use it when the day asks for it, and it lets you come back to the faster end later.

The numbers on your TrainingPeaks race-day cards are there for carb math. For pacing and fueling on Sunday, use this plan.

Wind changes bike speed. Turns, bridges and city streets make run pace jumpy. None of that is a verdict.

Not Phenomenal All Day

You will not feel phenomenal all day. Nobody does over 140.6 miles.

There will be stretches that feel flat, heavy or just ordinary. That is normal IRONMAN racing, not a sign that something is wrong. Those stretches are exactly what the wide ranges are for. Go to the easier end, keep doing your thing, and let it pass.

A good day may not look or feel good until the back half of the marathon. Stay patient.

Quietly Fierce

When you race well, you are quietly fierce. Assassin's focus, all day, without any noise.

The key word is patience.

On the bike, people will go hard around you. Some will blow by on rises, some will surge past and then sit up. Let them. Stay focused on yourself and use your guardrails.

Your race is not defined by bike miles 10-30. It is defined by run miles 13-26. That is where you will spend a lot of time mowing people down. You will not need to attack anyone. You will be collecting what everyone else is giving back.

Fueling and Hydration

Bike: 80-95 g/hr. Consistency over precision. You do not need to micromanage it. Use what works for you.

Run: 50-65 g/hr. 65 is a ceiling, not a must-hit. A well-fueled bike gives you a buffer, so a few miles off plan on the run is fine.

Electrolytes: your full routine, as practiced.

Pee at least twice on the bike. Two to three times puts you in a great position to run well. More is fine.

Before T2: you have the freedom not to fuel in the last 15 minutes or so of the bike. It has worked for you. If you want to fuel then, you can. Fluids are yours to manage.

Dry Heat

Sunday may be warm and dry. Forecasts change, so check it race week. But if it stays dry, know this: dry air takes your sweat away almost as fast as you make it. You will not feel soaked the way you do at home, so you will not get the usual "wet" reminder to drink.

You own your drinking. Be diligent about it all day, and let the pee count tell you how you are doing.

On the run, use ice and sponges if they are there. Heart rate may drift up a little in the heat. That is expected, not alarming.

Caffeine

Caffeine is a buoy.

Hold it early. Race day is high energy, and the swim and early bike bring plenty of stimulus. You do not need anything lowering perceived effort there.

Use it when the effort starts to rise. That is when it earns its place. It takes about 20-25 minutes to kick in, so take it a little ahead of when you expect to want the lift.

Same rule on the run.

For you, that means delaying caffeine as long as you can, then building it in. Your usual routine alternates caffeinated and non-caffeinated fuel. On Sunday, keep it non-caffeinated early, and bring the caffeine in as the effort rises.

Race Week and Race Morning

• Get in the water before race day if you can. The guide lists an official practice swim on Friday, October 16, 10 AM to 1 PM at Tiscornia Park (check in before noon; wristband and chip required). Confirm it is on, and go. Swim the American River or the official practice, not the Sacramento River on your own.
• Bike check-in is Saturday, October 17. Bike shoes and helmet go in the blue bike gear bag. Shoes are not pre-clipped.
• Race morning: transition and personal-needs drop are 4:30 to 6:30 AM. The athlete-only shuttles to the swim start run 5 to 6:30 AM. Go early and leave yourself a buffer.
• The wetsuit call is made on race morning. Be ready for it.

Swim

Rolling start from Township 9 Park, downstream on the American River into the Sacramento River, past I Street Bridge, to an exit on the west bank north of Tower Bridge.

Seed yourself where you can start without fighting for space.

Ease in. Get your breathing settled and find your rhythm before anything else. Then build into the swim. Position yourself so you can increase the effort as you go.

By about 500 m, you want to be able to lift the effort, not holding on. That is the whole swim plan in one line.

The current may help, or it may not. Either way the effort is the same. Watch where the river joins and sight deliberately. Stay inside the marked course.

Spot the exit early, stand when it is safe, and move to transition calmly.

Cue: Ease in. Build. Lift at 500 m.

T1

Shoes and helmet from the bag. Safe mount. Settle your breathing in the first few minutes on the bike.

Bike - 30,000-Foot Approach

Two laps of about 56 miles, 112 miles total, 710 feet of stated gain. Flat, but not free. Steady pedaling and long stretches in aero add up.

Ride by feel inside 200-220 W, and stay under about 231 W. Heart rate around 125-132 tells you early that you are not overcooking it.

Rises and other riders are where spikes happen. Keep the power smooth on any rise. When people go hard around you, let them. Twelve meters of space, finish passes within 25 seconds, and drop back out of the zone when you are passed.

You do not need to lock into aero for five hours straight. It is fine to come out of aero now and then, change muscles, and reset your head. Adjust where and how you sit through the day.

Lap one is not a test. Lap two is not automatic permission.

T2

Arrive with:

• Legs that can run
• Energy aboard and a settled stomach
• Body temperature under control
• Clear thinking
• Confidence in the run you are about to use

Run - 30,000-Foot Approach

Two laps, 26.2 miles, 394 feet of stated gain. The laps are different shapes, so do not think of it as two equal halves. Follow the signs for your lap, not the runners around you.

Start the first few miles at the slow end of your range. As you feel better, ratchet it up. If you feel amazing, move toward the fast end. If you do not, use the whole range, slow end included. It all counts.

Pace and STRYD power both matter. Be aware of both. If you ever have to choose, your perceived exertion decides. STRYD power is there to tell you if you are overcooking it.

Hamstring

You have done the strength work all year. Manage the hamstring. Do not do anything that might flare it or let it get worse; that is the kind of thing that can shut a day down. If it shows itself, manage it the way you already know how: slow down briefly and let it dissipate. Then get back to your rhythm.

The fast end, around 7:00, is fine if it is there. Do not force it. If you are there, be increasingly aware that this is the pace where the hamstring has spoken up before, and be careful.

T2 and the Southern Excursion (Lap One Only)

Fresh legs off the bike make early pace feel cheap. Stay at the slow end. Get your fueling rhythm going.

West River and Levee, North

A long corridor that can get quiet. Run aid to aid. Fuel, drink, cool.

Tower Bridge and the East-Side River Trail

Crowds, a bridge and turns. Keep the effort steady through all of it. Settle back into rhythm after each one.

First Capitol Mall Visit, Around Mile 14

The finish area energy will be loud. This is not the finish. Turn, head back, and keep doing your thing.

Lap Two Start, Around Mile 16

Back on the west side. No southern excursion this time. This is the back half, and this is your part of the race. Check in: mechanics, fueling, stomach, heat, head. If they are intact, start moving toward the fast end.

Lap Two North and East

Collect what everyone else is giving back. You do not need to attack anyone. Keep running your rhythm and the race will come to you.

The Final 10K

With 10K to go, all limits come off. No ranges, no ceilings. You can do anything you want.

One caution still stands: err on the side of caution with the hamstring.

The Final City Miles and Capitol Mall

Make the final turn to the finish on the right lap, and take it home.

Strategic Walking

A few walking steps through an aid station to get fuel, fluid or ice in is a tool, not a failure. Use it when it helps, then get back to running.

Finish

Stay patient all day.

Everything before the back half of the marathon is about putting yourself in a position to fully show what you have on the run. Be quietly fierce. Let the day come to you. Then use it.

Believe in the work.

Believe in your run.

Now go execute.