Sunday, July 31, 2011

I'm Really Ready for Event (Race if you must) Day!

This week was a sort of 1/2 normal, 1/2 recovery week.  I'm really ready for Ironman to be here.  I think my fitness is about as good as it's going to get and the fear of injury is really starting to get to me.

After my Wednesday bike and brick run, my left hamstring was really sore.  I fought through my swim on Thursday but it was still very sore.  So as I've heard over and over again, I let my body talk to me and took Friday off.  What a huge help!  Felt great by the time Friday night came around.

Saturday was a scheduled recovery day, so "just" (I know that sounds weird to most people) a 3 hour ride and a brick run.  So Kenny and I decided to get his first 50 mile ride in.  We rode for longer than 3 hours but took it nice and easy and got 50 done exactly.  I tried to implement some of the nutrition/hydration strategies suggested to me and they also seemed to help.  It also helped that the heat mostly stayed away until we were just about finished.  The brick run was nice and easy too.  Overall, a very good day. 

Today was the big day.  Was going to try for a 12-15 mile run.  So Ken and I took off in the humidity and did just about 14 miles.  Much water, sports drink and electrolytes were consumed and some walking was done but we did it!

Back at it this week, with the big goal of doing the full 112 miles on the IM bike course on Saturday.  I won't bore you with the details but a big week planned.  After that, the taper isn't far away, then race day finally!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Weekly Update

Didn't do a mid-week update so sorry for everyone who was sitting on the edge of their seats! haha

Did 80 miles of the IM course yesterday in some pretty extreme temperatures.  Followed that up with a 12 mile run/walk today, another hot one.  I've come to the realization that I'm going to be walking a lot but I've got my fast walk down to a science:  13ish minutes per mile.  If I can average that during IMKY, I'd be pretty happy.

I'm learning more and more than I simply must take it easy on the first part of the bike course.  As one IMKY guide said, "For the first 90 minutes/2 hours, JRA."  JRA you ask? Just ride along.  I'm also still having hydration/nutrition issues.  I felt like I was drinking as much as I could yesterday and still felt like crap at the end of the ride.  Even vomited like crazy when I stopped at a gas station for a Gatorade.  So I did a little consulting with a tri coach last night at a local tri event.  He suggested water water water and take it easy on the sports drinks.  Add to that tons of electrolytes and I should be set.  Not to avoid sports drinks altogether but it can't be the focus.  Finally, for nutrition, he suggested going solid so going to try that on my next long ride as well.

Totals for the week:  100 miles on the bike; 20 miles running; and 7600 meters swimming.

For the upcoming week...

Monday:  off.
Tuesday:  2650 meter swim; 40 minute run.
Wednesday:  60 minute TT ride; 30 minute brick run.
Thursday:  3000 meter swim; 50 minute interval run.
Friday:  2200 meter swim.
Saturday:  3 hour ride; 30 minute brick run.
Sunday:  12-15 mile run, depending on temps and all that.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

It's Getting Close

So today ended week 14 and tomorrow begins weeks 15 - 18, "The Final Prep."  Holy cow, it's almost here!

Had a really great weekend of training after spending the first part of the week on recovery from the half.  Did a 70 mile ride and a 3 mile brick run yesterday and a 10 mile hot humid hilly run today.  It was so humid, when I got done, it looked like I had been swimming!

I also started using Ironman Perform as my training drink as it will be used on the course.  Seems to be a good product. 

Now, some inspiration (courtesy of my pal Ken):


The reason I'm doing IMKY is because of the woman at 8:42.  I "caught" her at the finish, gave her the medal and all that.  She was a recent chemotherapy patient! If that doesn't inspire you, nothing will.

For this week's training...

Monday:  off.
Tuesday:  2800 meter swim; 40 minute run.
Wednesday:  50 minute ride; 20 minute run off the bike.
Thursday:  3000 meter swim; 50 minute run.
Friday:  2200 meter swim.
Saturday:  80 or 112 mile ride on the course; brick run.
Sunday:  2 hour 10 minute run.

See you Wednesday!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

What a Difference a Few Days (and a massage) Make

So, after a few days to reflect on my rather brutal experience at the Half Ironman on Saturday, I've had a chance to think about a few things.  After a nice massage yesterday and a couple quarts of Pedialyte, I'm finally back to myself.

Number one, it didn't kill me.  Yeah, it was hard, yeah it was hot, yeah it was rough, but I finished it.  It can only help in my IMKY prep, right?  I also started to break down my split times.  Recall, it was 1:02; 3:44; and 3:28.  The swim course was long, I'm not entirely certain how much longer than the promised 1.2 miles but my best guess going in was a 45-50 minute swim.  So slice off 12 minutes.  The bike course was also long by 2 miles or so. So slice off, at 15.5 mph, about 8 minutes.  The run course was 1 mile long, so slice off 15 minutes there.   That leaves me at a grand total of 7:48.  Add to that, that the run course was brutal and IMKY is flat and now you have a total nearing 7:30.  Using the general rule of x2 + 40 minutes to get your IM time and I'm looking at 15:40 for IMKY.  Entirely doable.

Since the director didn't even give out medals, I had to buy my own:


A 70.3 sticker.

Finally, I got back to my regular training today, a 3000 meter swim and a 40 minute interval run.  See you later for a weekly update on Sunday!

Sunday, July 10, 2011

1/2 Ironman Event Report

First, a disclaimer.  I know it's my responsibility to know the course, it's my responsibility to research the race director, etc.

With that out of the way, I will never do a race with this specific director again.  I knew going in that the swim would be in the river, the bike would generally be on the IMKY course and the run would be hilly (IMKY is nearly flat).

But I do expect the course to be measured correctly, aid stations to stay open until all racers are off the course, etc.  None of that happened.  And to top it off, the director seemed to do anything he could to make the course as hard as possible.

On to the race report.  Swim was a two loop course.  Unlike Ironman where the upstream part of the swim is protected with very little current, this one was tough.  I've done 1500 meters in as little as 32 minutes in other open water races and yesterday the clock read 1 hour 4 minutes for 1931 meters.  I can't confirm but I've also heard varying reports that the course was longer than the promised 1.2 miles.  I can confirm that both the bike and run courses were long by my GPS watch.

My goal was to do a 3.5 hour bike split (16 mph) but averaged 15.5 over 3:44 on the couple mile longer than promised 56 mile bike.  This including a couple very difficult sections not on the IMKY course.

Run was terrible.  I didn't run much and had to take a bathroom break in there.  With the wicked hills and aid stations closing early, my 1/2 marathon (plus an extra mile or more) was 3:28.  Pitiful but I persevered.

Grand total:  8:23 on a just brutal course.  As I heard many of my fellow competitors comment.  If you can handle this brutal course, you can certainly do IMKY.  I hope so.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

End of Recovery, Time to Race!

Today finished up my recovery week.  My next prep event is on Saturday, a 1/2 Ironman on much of the same course as IMKY.  So should be a perfect way to prepare.

So the question then is how much to train this week as I get ready for Saturday?  I'm going to do my normal Tuesday/Wednesday (Monday is my off day) and then maybe just do something to stretch my legs on Thursday and Friday.

For the week:

Swimming:  4100 meters.
Biking:  52 miles.
Running:  15.7 miles.

Upcoming Schedule:

Monday: off.
Tuesday:  2600 meter swim; 40 minute run.
Wednesday:  1 hour 20 minute ride with 20 minute time trial effort in the middle.
Thursday:  Something easy to stretch the legs.
Friday:  Something easy to stretch the legs.
Saturday:  1/2 Ironman.
Sunday:  off.

Next update after the race!