More Training Info

Before I begin, I wanted to bring some attention to the charity I'm supporting as I ramp up to Ironman Coeur d'Alene in June 2014.  Yes, I'm going to keep asking until I reach my goal of $2500 :)

I’m competing in 2014 as a “Blazeman Warrior.” In 2005, Jon "The Blazeman" Blais raced the big Ironman, in Hawaii, and completed it even while suffering from ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease. His family started the Blazeman Foundation for ALS. I’m raising money for them and in honor of Jon, I plan on rolling across the finish line in Coeur d’Alene just as Jon did when he finished. A famous quote from Jon is, "Even if I have to be rolled across the finish line, I'm finishing," so you often see Blazeman Warriors rolling across Ironman finish lines.

I also lost an Aunt to ALS so this charity is very personal to me. Any help would be appreciated.

An Ironman is 140.6 miles so even if you donated just 10 cents per mile, that would be $14.06. You can donate at the following link:

http://www.active.com/donate/teamblazeman/blazemanJJohnso

A couple posts ago, I talked about the last big weekend before I taper.  For those unfamiliar with the term, a taper is when you decrease your training over a two or three week period leading up to a big event like an Ironman or marathon.  So how do you lead up to that big weekend?  What does a typical week look like?

Here is what I normally do in a given week during Ironman training.  I vary it as necessary but for someone like me who typically tries to just finish in a decent time with a smile and has no shot at winning anything, I think there are 3 key workouts a week.

The first is a long swim.  "Long" is a fuzzy term I know but as I'm ramping up toward Ironman, I usually work my way up from about 2000 meters in early part of the plan up to 3500-4000 meters as I hit peak volume.  This is sometimes accomplished during a swim group.

The second key workout is a long run.  Since tri training plans typically use time instead of distance, the first part of the training would be maybe a one hour run leading up to what I posted as my final big run, of perhaps 16-18 miles or about 3 hours at the most.

The last key workout is a long bike, which usually begins with a couple hour ride and finishing with a full 112 mile 6-6.5 hour ride at the end.  During these key workouts you must be practicing your race day items such as nutrition.  I usually do my long bike on Saturday, long run on Sunday and my long swim in the middle of the week.

Now I understand that my personal training plan is a bit light on swimming but it works for me.  Here is what a typical week looks like:

Monday:  Rest or some sort of active recovery.  Perhaps yoga or a short spin on my bike with very little effort.
Tuesday:  Swim set with some drills or harder efforts sprinkled throughout.  Short run.
Wednesday:  Bike/run brick.  Perhaps 30-40 minutes on the bike, 15-20 minute run.
Thursday:  Longer swim.  This is more of a straight XX meters for me.
Friday:  Another "fun" day for me usually.  Swim if I'm feeling like it, perhaps an easy ride with the local bike club.
Saturday:  Long bike, short brick run.
Sunday:  Long run.

Also, as I've learned, missing a workout here and there or feeling the need to take a mental health day isn't a big deal.  If you miss a couple weeks in a row, that's a problem but missing something for work or you're just not feeling it isn't going to ruin your big day.  Also, being flexible within a week is A-OK.  Don't worry if you have to moving things around a bit. For example, every so often, I have to work on Saturday and will move my long bike to Thursday or Friday as needed. 

Finally, you have to have recovery weeks.  Perhaps every 4th week, should be a serious cut back on volume to give your body a chance to recover.  You might try to work these around major work events and such.

Until next time...