Timberman 70.3 Race Plan

So I'm racing the Timberman 70.3 Half Ironman this weekend.  However I've been very much focused on training for the B2B full length ironman so I haven't tapered at all.  In fact I did an 80 mile ride on tuesday, have run 7 miles twice this week, and swam three times already including my first 2.4 mile open water swim yesterday.  I'm taking today (friday) and saturday before the race off however.  So I have an extremely abbreviated taper.  I did however skip my long run last weekend to rest my legs a bit before this race.  So the race will be more of a supported training day for me, but that doesn't mean I can't have some goals.

So here's the race plan....


Swim:

-NAVIGATE BETTER!  after missing the first turn buoy and having to go back for it in the sun at the Amica 70.3 I'm determined not to make that very time costly mistake again.
-Have a faster non / wetsuit swim.  I think its HIGHLY likely that the swim will not be wetsuit legal, and if thats the case I want to beat my Amica swim time by 5 minutes or so.  I'd like to be as close to 40 minutes as possible without a wetsuit, and in the mid thirties with one.
-I want to swim at my usual pace for 1/2 the swim and really pick it up on the way in and push myself like I know that I can once I've settled into a rhythm.  I pace too conservatively in the water and I know I can do a little bit better.

Bike:
-I have no idea whats left in my legs after the many many miles I've poured on in the last few weeks, but next week is a recover week so I want to go all out and see what happens.  My goal bike split is a 2:45.  Faster is better, sub 3 is a must, and faster than 2:45 is a dream.  I kind of want to crush the bike and see what it does to my run.  I suspect I don't have the ability to bike so fast that I hurt my run at this point.  Unless I do really stupid things and stand up through all the climbs or mash in a cadence of sub 80.  I'm going to use the power meter to focus and push myself.  I'm just going to stare at cadence (goal of 90), power (goal of 160-170 avg), and keep a loose eye on heartrate as an indicator I'm not getting into the red.

Run:
-once again this is going to be a wait and see what happens in the race kind of thing.  My running is still somewhat strained and I just don't have the ability to go fast still.  I miss the days of thinking I'll average mid 7's on the run.  But every race I try harder and my goal is to average 8s, however I think 8:30s is more likely.  But I'm going to push and see what happens.  If it starts to hurt then I need to remember B2B is my main goal and dial it down to high 8s, low 9s and enjoy the day.

Overall time goals....   Again this is going to be a big range as its all going to come down to whats left in my legs after all this training.  Which may not be much!  So I'll say 5:12-5:40.  I'll be happy with 5:30, and very pleased with anything less than that.  But no matter what I'm going to enjoy it!  I'm really looking forward to a weekend with the girl, the dog, and all my tri friends.  Its going to be great fun!