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Week 18...3 To Go!

Well Boys and Girls, this is it! We made it to our final race rehearsal week. One last week to make gains and then we taper into race day. I know many of you are feeling the effect of accumulated fatigue, I am too, but the benefits will will be shown in less than 3 weeks. Now to get to race day HEALTHY! Listen to your bodies, if they are screaming rest, then listen.



Don't forget about Coach Rich's Race Webinar on Wednesday evening. If you haven't registered yet, go here and sign up.


Comments

  • A lot of us posted about the cumulative fatigue, and the need to back off on the Sunday ride. I've been trying to manage my efforts so that each workout gets its full due effort. While I did have some fatigue, both total body and within my legs yesterday, it was actually *planned* fatigue. I've been making some tweaks to the timing of workouts the past three weeks. I took two Sundays off; I moved the "Sunday" rides to Thursday, I did the long runs on Monday, and I did a total of 12 runs in the past 4 weeks. Last week I went bike heavy, with 4 bikes, but the 4th was on Sunday as a pure recovery ride. Felt good to just look at the scenery for a bit instead of the road below my aerobars.

    And today, I did last week's long run as a split run. The week before, I;d gone 16.5 miles in 2:29; today it was 12 mi/1:38, then 6 mi/54:33. Total about 2:33 for 18 mi. Last time I tried to do an 18 miles run here, it took me 2:49. The morning run started with 30 min warm-up then 7 miles @ MP, then 2 miles with what I had left - a little slower than MP. The afternoon was tough only because of the route I took. My legs were not tired or sore from the morning, but the first two miles went up several steep climbs, which I then had to slam down at the end. Also, the elevation was 1500' higher than the morning. But I remembered Coach P's admonition - it's better to get in quality miles in a split run, than have to slog thru LRP for one continuous 18 miles run.

    I'll be doing the RR on Thursday, cause I feel two weeks is a bit too close to race day for that wko. Also, Friday will be a travel day for me, (flying to LA in the evening), so I'll do the swim RR that morning. THAT ought to be interesting. Saturday off, then Sunday I'll do Thursday's long run, hopefully on the beach. Making this week run heavy - probably 40 miles.

  • Yesterday I had a weird thing happen. After my swim and run I had severe stomach pain. I started to cramp on the run and pushed through it, but it didn't improve once I finished. I tried going to work but I just couldn't get comfortable. I tried to use the restroom but no action. I almost had my wife come get me. I managed to drive home and after laying down for a while I started to feel better. I am not sure if it was just horrible gas or something else. Today I feel fine and I was able to do the bike workout this morning, but now my wife is complaining of stomach problems... Food poisoning? Stomach Bug? Weird coincidence?
  • Don't have an answer for you Peter, good that you feel better.

    Did the run before my bike this morning, felt great but didn't try to hit the zone 3 return just stayed with the zone 2 stuff. I typically get tweeked if I do too much zone 3-4 stuff this close to a race. I would rather show up healthy than slightly more trained. The bike FTP stuff got broke up into 4 x 8' at my higher FTP setting instead of the 2 x 15' of the plan. I was able to hit 6-8 watts over the FTP setting of Trainer Road and felt good doing it. 

  • Waiting for Rich's webinar, I thought I'd jot down an RR #2 mini plan, My main goals are (1) nail my fluid and calorie intake and (2) complete the run on time and without fainting. I just mixed my nutrition/fluids for my ride tomorrow - two days early, but Friday I travel to LA for a wedding on Saturday. The course is my old standby, parking at the confluence of two rivers, where there is a toilet/water. Three different out and backs along the rivers, on uncrowded roads and a bike path, either up or down 1-2% gradient, total of 3300' elevation gain. Nutrition plan:

    • Loop 1: (Temp expected to be 50-55) 20 oz Infinit/260 cal; 20 ox Perform/170 cal; 2 oz EFS gel, 160 cal, two Perpetuem Solids (these are centimeter think discs about the diameter of a quarter, same formula as Hammer Perpetuem, which I've been using for years - the solids are new this year), 66 cal
    • Loop 2: (Expected temp in the 60s) 26 oz Infinit/260 cal, 20 oz Perform/170 cal; 2 oz EFS/160, 2 solids/66
    • Loop 3: (Expected temp in the 70s) 32 oz Infinit/390 cal, 20 oz Perform/170 cal; 2 oz EFS, 2 solids
    • If I don;t pee @ each of the stops between loops, I'll take on some extra water in my third "torpedo" slot
    • Run: (expected temps mid 70s), 6 miles as down 1.5, up 3 (with stop half way to refuel) then down 1.5. Two bottles total of 46 oz, 150 cal, with 80 cal of gel.
    • salt of 2-3 grams on the run. I can't swallow pills while riding/running, so it is what it is; I've never found sodium to be a limiter for me.

    This is actually a bit more fluid and calories than I am used to. At cool temps, I need 16 oz/hour, up to 30 oz when warmish (up to 80). Calories of 250/hour is plenty for me; this plan has over 300/hour on the bike. I'll probably take in less gel and solids than planned.

    I feel I'm rounding into form. My TSB has been between -40 and -20 for the past 6ix weeks averaging about 950 TSS/week; my TSS/day has climbed from 75 to 111 during that time. I'm starting to feel healthily anxious, a bit angry and scared, right where I want to be for a good race.

     

  • Hi Al, 

    I don't have anything witty or insightful to add but FWIW "Angry Al" scares ME!  Glad you're having such a great build - a sign of great things to come for sure!  

  • RR#2 completed. Temps started @ 48F, to 81 by the end of the bike. Clouds came, and 77 @ end of run. Not unlike an average day @ IM CDA. I accomplished both my goals: took in all my planned fluids (150 oz) and about 1800 cal (300/hour) on the bike; and ran well with no mental blocks, hitting 6 miles in 55 min, which is basically my LRP + 20 sec mile for the first 2 miles. Avg HR 115 for the last 4 miles (see below). Bike data: 107.5 miles/6 hours, with more admin riding than I wanted through towns, corners, stop signs, etc. A fairly easy ride, HR avg/max of 100/114 (!), 243 TSS, 0.64 IF, VI 1.06 (great considering the downhills and admin riding I did), elev gain/loss of 3300'. I only lost a pound, and feel ready to hit my target on race day with wheel cover, aero helmet, catered nutrition, and no obstructions on the road: 6:16.

    I had two shakedown events happen: I hit a hidden rock early on , which tore the sidewall of my rear tire, leading to a blowout. Replaced the tube, putting in a boot using a PowerBar wrapper, and topping up the CO2 with a few throws from my back-up mini pump. Also 5 hrs 33 min into the ride, my Garmin stopped picking up my HR. When I started the run, I just went HR-less, but then after 2.15 miles, the screen locked up. I re-set the watch, which brought back my HR, and discovered that my total time was still ticking over; I did lose a few minutes of data except for that total time. Good to know I can do that on the fly.

  • I am hoping that the old saying, "Courage is the better part of valour", is true. I developed some soreness in my hip/deep glute this week and decided to try the RR out anyway. I did the first loop of the bike (90 km) and had some issues with soreness. The strength was not bad, but I could feel the difference in my right and left side. I decided at the end of the 90 km to shut it down and do a half workout. I did a 5 km run at 9:10 race pace and called it a day. A massage is booked for Monday and I am rolling and stretching and ibuprofing for the next two days, hoping I can put this discomfort away before the race. The plan says that this was the most important workout we do, and I could have suffered through it, but I hope that this was the right decision.
  • @Judson ... Our coaches say it's better to show up @ the race having trained to 90% of your capacity, then to show up @ 0% due to injury. Now, race execution skills take over.
  • @Judson - I picked up the same deep soreness in my hip/glute area as well. It came on after the 18 mile run Thursday a week ago. Took a week of from running and then tried to run on it on this week's Thursday run and had to shut it down after 3 miles. I'm also working the massage and ART treatments - both this past week & scheduled for next week...hoping it will clear up - and yours too!!

    It doesn't affect me on the bike so I went ahead & did the RR today minus the run. I felt pretty good about my efforts - I ended up going the full 112 miles since I wasn't going tor run and it only added 8 more minutes. So...112 in 6:08:xx. IF of .733 & an VI of 1.04. I got a little behind on my fluids - stomach felt a little sour at one point and I didn't want to keep funneling down Perform. I ended up shorting myself about 1.5 bottles of Perform.

    I've got a message out to Patrick in the micro-forum about what to do with the glute/hip issues - skip all running until the race?? Test it in a week??
  • Race rehearsal went well for me today. I nailed the nutrition. I had 6 24oz bottles of perform on the bike in 5:30 for 230 calories/hour. I also had a salt tab with caffeine every hour. I pushed my watts higher today and it went fine. The first rehearsal I averaged 163 watts NP, today I averaged 171 will no ill effect. Overall it IF was 0.71 and VI was 1.01. I also had some aero improvements on the bike. However, the winds were just not cooperating today. I felt like I had a head or cross wind the entire time! I only went about 4 minutes faster than my last rehearsal where I had really nice tailwinds.

    The run was fine as well. I was able hit my paces and I was drinking 48oz / hour of 50% diluted perform. I also had a gel at mile 4. When I ran it was about 80 degrees out which I am really happy with because I was able to prove to myself that with the right hydration I can run in the heat. I almost always train very early in the morning when it is cool.

    I calculated that in total I have had about 14 pounds of liquid today which totally disgusted my wife!

  • @ Peter...you sound ready, brother.

    @ David...i'm a little worried if you target that IF on race. That's Probably your "could", not your "should" bike pace.
  • @Al - you think I should be riding closer to a .70 IF?
  • My race rehearsal went good as well. IF of .697 and a VI of 1.01 which is a big improvement for me. Concentrated on steady power even though I found some hills. Nutrition went great and had to pee more than I ever had on a bike ride. Found a bar that works really well for me (Lara Bar Lemon) easy open wrapper, easy to eat easy on my stomach and tastes great. I did not run due to the concern about my left foot. It felt a bit better this morning but after the ride it was pretty sore. I replaced my cleats last night (they were really worn) and think that might have had something to do with it. I will take it day to day on the running and see where it goes between now and race day. 

    I just restarted my WKO+ program and entered all my IMCdA Build workouts,  I will be glad to see my TSB climb back out of the basement. It was down to -112 right after camp week but has slowly climbed since.

  • Steve Swanland, if you are including swim and run in WKO, what's your TSS/day after the RR?
  • @ David, dont have access to. my computer for a few days, so cant give you the direct link. But go to Resources above in EN menu line, then Racing Member Central, then Race Execution Details, near the top click on Half and Full IM Bike Execution, download the PDF, on page 7 or so, look at the chart to find your IF for the expected race time ... using your RR time to be comservative. You can also see what would happen on the run if you biked at 0.73 for 6 hours and 8 minutes. Maybe Im remembering the chart wrong, since I dont have it in front of me?

    BTW, we all should review all of the info in this page in the next two weeks, to get full advantage of EN knowledge about race execution...the difference between us and other coaching services/teams
  • Race rehearsal in the books...over all went pretty good but had to get it done at 4 am due to the heat i would be getting into on the run..stare temp 78 and windy as all get up(40+ gusts)easy first half hour or so then at prescribed watts for the duration. I used 3 750 infinite feed bottles 1 every 2 hours which worked well as i washed down with ample water
    started with total fluids of 40 hour then gradually upped the amount as heat rose to 90+. I also used 1 salt tab every half hour until hour 4 then wen to 2 every half as i noticed a big salt stain on my jersey. first 3 hours had a Gel every hour but stopped after hour 3 cause it just tasted like crap and i feel i was getting enough calories with my feed bottles.Rest of the bike was un eventful except the friggin wind which leveled out to a nice 20 mph. got in 102 in 6 hours only at a .67 if ..i think i went a little easy cause i didn't want to charge into the wind and blow up.average heart rate was 120 so so far so good.
    did a transition and grabbed 2 100 calorie bottles of perform total 40 oz for the run. Started off a little to fast so walked to get my heart rate down...heat was at 90 now( i need to look at the heat pace for the CDA race cause my heart rate was ave 140 at my long run pace of 10:30 mile..kept walking every mile and finished 6 mi in just over an hour...so all in all i think i learned that my nutrition is pretty good and my fluid intake was good as well ..i only lost 1.5 lbs for the race rehearsal...any comments would be greatly appreciated
    thanks
    James
    p.s. see ya guys soon
  • Al- as of this morning I am sitting at -36.7 TSB. I haven't been tracking my workouts on WKO+ all season, but yesterday I finally redownloaded the program and spent yesterday populating the calendar since the first of May. I am tracking swim, bike, and run to get a true indication of my fitness/freshness. I estimate my swims at 1 TSS point for each minute of workout. It's not perfect but gets me close without a bunch of calculations. 

  • @ Steve ... That's a good place to be starting taper. I guess TSS/day with only 2 months of data is not really useful. Mine is peaking at about 115.

    After two days complete rest following RR and travel to SoCal/wedding, I did this week's 105' run at the Beach. 12 miles in 1:40.45 - I misjudged how fast I would go. I did it as a pure progressive run, trying to do each mile faster than the last. Pancake flat route, increasing numbers of runners on path as morning progressed, providing ample rabbits to catch.Avg HR 122(113-137). Miles: 9:51, 9:08,8:45,8:28,8:29,8:21,8:19,8:06,7:51,7:43,7:26. I felt super fit (2 days rest ... Duh!) and confident as a result. Now, to keep,sharp for the next two weeks. I'm willing to embrace my goal of Race to Win.
  • Al- I am adding my previous workouts into wko from Garmin Connect (prior to may 1) and as I add them my current numbers change. I did not expect those workouts from more than 42 days ago to effect today's TSB. When I get back to the start of JOS I will re-evaluate and post those "real" current numbers. What I have found so far is the more info I input the more Fit/Fresh I am today and the easier it is to see trends in my program.
  • _Hi folks, pushed my RR to today because I wanted to use the Carbon Aero wheels fellow EN member Robert Donnel was kind enough to let me use, I wanted to get the feel of them. Since I live in AZ, started at 5am to avoid most of the heat. Could not get up 3 hrs ahead of time, so had breakfast at 4am, consisting of a bananna, two scoops whey protein, two small servings of applesauce (had more last time but made me feel a little quesy sleeping on it, so cut it back a little), a V8 for sodium and potassium, one cup coffee. Sipped on bottle of perform for the rest of the hour, took one salt stick.
    _did my normal bike route with 6-8% grade hills up front, then loops on a more level area, but had some wind which was good since I could practice handling the wheels, no issue but you do have to pay more attention to the front wheel! Did 102 miles at 19.4 mph, same HR as previous long ride but .6mph faster, I credit that to the new wheels. Rode w/o gloves as Jason shared they produce drag, and probably would have hit 19.5mph if I had followed his advice and shaved my legs as apparently hair creates a lot of drag, will do on race day, my daughter will laugh!. Cut ride a little short given the high temps. Kept HR down to 129 avg, probably just a little high still but if temps cooler, I think that is a decent number for me, just below mid Z2. Will evaluate during race, if feeling it, will pull back to 125 which I did for a bit today and I did feel better. I carried all hydration with me in a camelback, made one stop at house to refuel on bike. So carrying xtra weight I won't have on race day. Drank 300 oz of perform over 5:15 min, or a little less than 60 per hour, a little low vs my goal in the heat, but close. Munched pieces of 1 Powerbar Peanut Butter over the entire ride, no issue. One salt stick per hour.
    _transitioned to run at the house, took small cameback with me which I will do on race day run, I need to drink constantly, after a few sips I don't think weighs that much, and I like putting ice in it too. Hard starting run but ran LRP + 30 seconds, some of which I allowed for by walking 30 seconds each mile to get my HR down and settle down. Hard to do as my LRP is already high 9:48, hard to hold back after first mile. HR was a little high, so partly due to heat, but probably another sign I need to slow down a little on the bike and save more,, and maybe on the run too. Felt progressively better on the run, was really happy with that, just preying it's not this hot in CDA!!!
    _best wishes to all that are working thru injuries, I was there early in the season, you will prevail especialy with all the great advice available from EN people and resources. Looking forward to seeing everyone!
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