This weeks modification
Hey coach, so I put together this weeks training and I'm assuming you can look up what you already have for me.
Mon: R: 100' (Thursdays workout). Tues.: S:60' (Fridays swim), B:60 (computrainer class due to bad rain, mountains simulation, R:35' (optional). Wed.: R: 45' (Tuesdays run). Thurs. : Saturdays workout. Fri.: Sundays workout. Sat. Rest.
The remainder of the month till my 1/2 IM on May 4th looks like this:
Sun.: R: (Thursday workout)
Mon.: S/R (Tuesday workout)
Tues.: B/R (Saturday workout)
Wed.: S (Monday workout)
Thurs.: B (Sunday workout)
Fri.: S/R (Hey what do you know, that stays the same. But I will do a smaller version on 5/2)
Sat.: B (Wednesday workout)
So let me know what you think. Also, how much time should I take to recover after the 1/2?
Thanks again
Eric
Mon: R: 100' (Thursdays workout). Tues.: S:60' (Fridays swim), B:60 (computrainer class due to bad rain, mountains simulation, R:35' (optional). Wed.: R: 45' (Tuesdays run). Thurs. : Saturdays workout. Fri.: Sundays workout. Sat. Rest.
The remainder of the month till my 1/2 IM on May 4th looks like this:
Sun.: R: (Thursday workout)
Mon.: S/R (Tuesday workout)
Tues.: B/R (Saturday workout)
Wed.: S (Monday workout)
Thurs.: B (Sunday workout)
Fri.: S/R (Hey what do you know, that stays the same. But I will do a smaller version on 5/2)
Sat.: B (Wednesday workout)
So let me know what you think. Also, how much time should I take to recover after the 1/2?
Thanks again
Eric
0
Comments
The rest of the schedule looks great! Really impressed with how you put that together.
The amount of time you take to recover is directly related to the amount of effort you expend in the race. It really comes down to how much of the run you run at a really hard pace. The longer you run, the harder it gets, the more time you'll need. At the very least you should plan on taking Monday off and going easy on Tuesday and Wednesday with the goal of being back on it by Thursday.
Also thanks for the compliment on putting it together. Like I said your coaching is in line with how I have coached myself for the last 3 years.
I ended up taking off the next day and today just swam. My swim sucked, I just felt bla. I got in 2500yds, but it took 1000 just to get into it and by 1900 I was loosing focus. So I am thinking that I am just going to bike tomorrow, and run on Sat. so I can see if I can recharge the batteries or something. I don't know if I am over training or just tired from the big day, but I still have a 1/2 IM on the 4th so I really need to figure this out. Whats your thoughts?
That said, there's some serious red flags for me re the nutrition around your big day and I'm not just talking about the part about McDonald's. We do not, repeat do not recommend bonk breaker bars. I'd really prefer you something else like a power bar if you need something solid. BB bars do not have enough sodium in them.
I am also curious about your choice of fuels. I hope you have a note from a doctor as to why you need to eat something like 3FU3L -- 20 g of protein an hour and 5 g of fat an hour is a recipe for race day disaster. Is there a reason why you're not using the Ironman perform product? Or Gatorade endurance?
In short I think you got the right amount of calories in, he just didn't get enough fluid and he got a lot of the wrong macronutrients. All of which can really combine to make the run portion of your big day really suck. Let me know about those nutrition choices so we can get this ironed out before your race.
As for the race on the fourth, I want to make sure that you're rested. Given the next week is really leading to your race, I want you to take it easy for at least one more day before we close this out. Please let me know if you're heading into the half iron on a taper week via a half iron plan or if you were doing this along the way to another race.
As far as the Big Day, yeah I never eat at McDonalds, but I knew if I went home first, it would have been a really long day. My family was even shocked at me going there. Sleep wise, I have been getting 8 hours since Tuesday, so I am feeling more recovered and today it showed on the bike (no real fatigue/soreness).
In regards to my nutrition, that was a long journey that started my second year. I was using Hammer products and found that I could not get past 50-60 mi on the bike without bad stomach issues and cramping. I switched to using Salt stick (about 2/hr) and found they fixed the cramping, and after trying different products, 3fuel was the best result. I have thought about going to Infinite, but I am worried about switching right now. Currently I only put in 1 to 1.5 scoops in my bottle and that seems to work. I am not familiar with other IM performance products so if you can educate me that would be great. As far as Gatorade, I used that as well but had the same stomach issues as with the Hammer products. I am not a gel guy either (unless I am really needing some sugar). I found it gets me in a roller coaster situation (sugar wise) with the highs and lows and again gets my stomach all jacked up. The BB I have used for the last 2 yrs just so I can put some solids in my stomach to slow the digestion process down and get something different in my system besides just liquid nutrition. Another thing I usually do is eat 2 of the frozen PB&J sandwiches (found in the frozen section at the grocery store). One in T1 and one at the special needs bag (if I'm doing a full) or just one at T1 for a 1/2. I also would normally slam a small cocoanut water in T2 (and at the half way point in the marathon for the full).
Having said all that, I would love some feedback on the nutrition side as well as the sodium intake side of things. Currently l'm taking in about 600mg Na. I thought I was getting enough sodium in, but maybe not. I will say that at the end of any long day, I am quite salty. I like making sure that coming out of the bike I have hydrated enough and got my nutrients to get me going for the run. I do like using the 5hr energy shots at different points along the race but only use them for 1/2 or full IM distance races. If you want we can do another conference call because I think we might develop carpel tunnel if we keep typing these long replies. LOL
There is a ton of information on nutrition in the wiki and you can dig in there on your own. Everything that we do starts from your sweat test dummy work backwards from there as the sweat test determines how much fluid you need and by proxy about how many calories you'll be getting in.
It seems to me that you fallen into the common trap of looking at your nutrition as a calorie problem and not a fluid problem. okay to be fair it's really a combination problem, but most people do what you're doing.
The biggest issue with one to 1 1/2 bottles an hour is that you are most likely 12 to 18 ounces off (per hour)what you will need across your day. At the end of a five hour bike that's roughly 90 ounces of fluid short.
What you can eat in training and what you should eat on race day are two very different things. One of the reasons we use products like Ironman Perform is that it's located on the course and easy to find versus carrying six different bottles, two different energy shots, three bars and a Partridge in a pear tree.
In other words while you have managed to solve your calorie problem, you've created a process that is virtually unsustainable in a race.
Do me a favor, the next time you're in the car for an hour download them play that nutrition podcast with Jesse from the core diet. That will give you some really good insights on what we think of as race fuel and why. Then we can start from there. At the very least I want you to try the perform product to see how it treats your stomach.
Oh to finish the story, I pulled off, got some gatorade at a conveinence store, regrouped and made it back. I just really made sure I stayed in the "Box" so as to not cramp up or anything. I just made lots of wrong turns and backtracked a lot till I finally found a street I recognized.
Making changes within six days is no easy task, but I think you realize the challenge you're facing. The switch to power bars (1/2 per feed cycle) vs bonk breakers should be a nonissue. The big challenges drinking what's on the course and making sure that will work for you. Do some research on the race and do your best to get your hands on it this week just to try it. I don't want to take you out of the frying pan and put you into the fire in regards to that.
I would still keep the salt external and on the hour marks to keep you safe. Again, the nutrition section of the wiki has a lot of great information on how to plan it out.
Let me know what you think!!
How does this sound to you?
I had a great swim, did my nutrition as prescribed. Got on that bike, and started out great. I started with my liquid nutrition, and 1/2 a PB, also some salt sticks (2). Then 30' in the bike I had a gel (hammer), and I was not happy. I hate those gels, but I had a bunch at the house so I thought, "well why go buy a bunch of PB gels, when I have so many here." Now I know why I should have.
Back to the bike. I had a very good bike. I stayed in my zone 175 P2 but my nutrition was off. After 3 gels, I could not do any more. Also I lost one of my bars out of my back pocket (I had it there because I was getting ready to eat it). So from mile 30 on, I just had my salt sticks and my liquid nutrition. I think you can see where this is going.
I got off of the bike and still felt good. Until a quarter mile in the run then all hell broke loose. Legs cramped, bloating, energy loss. After mile 8 I finally had enough salt in me to run a straight mile w/o cramping, but then I had not energy. It just made for a crappy way to finish what started out to be a great race.
So I figured some stuff out...because thats what you do when you walk as much as I did (LOL). I am carrying way too much stuff on the bike. I am going to talk with the Infinite ppl tomorrow, and see what I can do. I would like to just be able to drink fluid and have 1/2 a PB per hour on the bike. When I get to the run, use salt, PB gels and water. Or IM perform, if its Boulder. What are your thoughts?
I think your plan with infinIT for AC is okay, but, remember they don't want you to concentrate it...so you will need to do a sweat test (see Wiki / Nutrition) to determine how much fluid you need an hour. Then add water to what you plan to drink via infinIT (if you have 24oz of infinIT but you need 32 oz fluid, the other 8oz is water). I am not sure if you can carry 6-10 bottles on your bike at once...or if you can put some in a special needs bag.
At IMBoulder, you can use on course stuff so you only need two bottles of Perform (aid station every 10 miles) and you can put you food into a Bento Box (Fuelbelt sells them, we have Team Discount) and / or your back pockets.
Worthwhile also looking at your bike file / VI to see if you were a bit aggressive on bike relative to your race simulations, etc.
Looking forward to your update after Camp Week(end). Have fun!!
P
So I did not do the swim due to time on Friday, but I'll be making it up by doing it today. So my camp started then on Saturday and did the metric. With 62mi. of road and 7800ft of climbing (most of which was in the last 10mi) I felt that I would make the time that was put before me for the day. I ended up finishing it in 5:38 with only using 2 rest stops to top off bottles/bathroom breaks, but I stopped 3 times on the final assent to rest. When I got to the top, my legs were toast so the run was not in my future for that day. My goals for that day were simple. I called it the "3 C's." No Cramping, stay Consistent on your power and Complete it. For the most part I was successful, but my power was not as consistent as I wanted. I surged too much in some of the descents and the few flats (although I didn't realize it). Nutrition wise I was very pleased using the IM Perform(2scps/btl), 1/2 powerbar/hr and 2 lava salt/hr (255mg of sodium ea.). But you have to realize also that I only did 4 bottles of nutrition during the entire ride. However the morning was so cold (31F) that I didn't really start sweating until about 40mi into the ride. I was peeing quite a bit because after my first hour I realized I have to drink more or else I will pay toward the end. That night, I ate a good meal with carbs and protein...Lasagna.
Then had some ice-cream and went to bed by 9pm. The next day I was up and on the bike by 9am and rode 40mi with 3000ft of elevation in 3hrs. After which I ran for 30' in the hill. I had to cut the day short due to our check out time. Having said that, I still was pleased with my performance and was more consistent with my power that day.
The final day was the long run and still felt good all things considered. My run started slow but by mile 3 I found my pace and felt real good. 90 min. in the run, I stepped up my pace and finished strong with a time of 2:20:02 and dist. of 15mi. That put me at a 9:30 pace which is my Z-1 close to Z-2 pace. Legs were shot by then. On the run I did IM perform (1 mouthful/10min. 4-8oz btls total in my running belt), 1 powerbar gel/hr and 2 Lava Salts/hr. Towards the end my hams were getting tight but I feel that was off of my increased pace and total fatigue of the cumulative camp. I took Tuesday off but had to work and fought a house fire that night, so I took Wed. off as well.
Today, I will do my big swim, and bike for 60-90min. Tomorrow, I will do a run for 80' then Sat I have off from work so I'll make that a big day with a long bike and run brick.
To answer what you stated above, I am going to do a sweat test tomorrow, as I have not done one in a while and its going to be hot. Also I have a bento box and use it on certain rides where I will be needing a Sherpa.
So that's it, what are your thoughts on the whole thing, advice or whatever?
MOVING FORWARD I SUGGEST YOU REALLY START GETTING ON THE NUTRITION RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE. YOU KNOW IF IT'S COOL, THE IRONMAN MARATHON WILL GIVE YOU NO BANDWIDTH TO MAKE ANY MISTAKES THERE. ONWARDS !!!
Ps - sorry for the all caps!!
Sun: rest, Mon: Run 60' (which I ended up doing 7 miles), Tues: Swim 60' (I did a wu:400' ms:12x100(5")). My back started hurting after that which was about 30' in so I stopped. We'd: B75' R60'. I did a sweat test on the run and lost 3lbs., I was a little shocked at that. Thurs: S60' (wu:400, ms1-500, ms2-20x50(5") z3-4, ms3 4x125 (25 z-4,100 z2), ms4-500, cd 100). Fri: R-150' (60' z1, 70' z2, 20' z3). Sat: R50' (z2, with 8x1' strides), B 180' (3x15' z4), sun: rest.
Mon: B(FTP test), R45'. Tues: S60', wed: B120', Thursday: R(rr 180'), Fri: S(open water 60'+), Sat: tour de mountains century ride 9100ft elev.)
I am starting to feel the fatigue setting in and I'm getting that cranky forgetful feeling too. So what's your words of wisdom?