IMCHOO Training Wk 7/28-8/3

Mariah Bridges

I had the privilege of racing a local sprint with IMCHOO teammate Jamie Fields and EN Teammate Ralph Moore today! Bob Wright (another IMCHOO rockstar) was there (y'all harass him for me to start posting on the forum bc he is super duper cool). Anyway, I was reminded of two things during this race: 

1. EN is an amazing family: Soak yourself in one of the best things this sport has to offer and that is the life long friends you are making. Cheering everyone on and knowing that we all share the same passion regardless of ability is nothing short of a gift. So, if you can, share the EN love with a friend who needs to join, grab a local EN'r and get some workouts in together, keep posting on the forums and dashboard, its contagious! 

2. Don't you even for a moment give up! I missed second place by less than a second, I looked back and wanted to smack myself for even hesitating the couple times I did throughout the race. So, in your training, power through, put in the work because as we all know #WORKWORKS It can make all the difference in the world on race day! 

Have an ROCK STAR training week IMCHOO peeps! CRUSH IT! 

tim cronk

@Mariah.... Good stuff about NOT EVER giving up... Sorry to hear about your 1 second , all you can do is minimize those hesitations so that you can be happy with your effort in the end....

Story from my race yesterday , ON the run a guy passes me at mile 3 , I said looking good ,I didnt expect anyone passing me since I was in the last wave , he says well I started a couple waves ahead of you and I'm really trying for sub 5hrs.... I did some quick math and said , keep that pace and I think you have it.... I said I'm gonna let you go and run you down later... We both laughed and off he went... I never lost sight of him , and at mile 9 caught him again , he kept looking at his watch , I said f#$K your watch and run with your heart , come on you can do anything for 4 more miles, stay with me, keep it together and don't ever let up , it will all be over soon... He gave me a look like he hated me and then a little light kinda went on and somewhat of a smile.... When I was in front of him , I heard him stop, thought he was going pee , then I never saw him behind me again(so he did give up a little)... At the finish line I saw him come in , he came up to me and said I went 5:00:05 missed by 5 seconds , still big smiles and thanking me for the encouragement.... Its Silly racing a number like 5hrs because every course is different and never seem to measure correctly anyway... But when your racing for placement it is !

So much of this is a mental game, you swear to god your dying , and then after its over and you look back on it , and think it just really wasn't that bad !

Mariah Bridges

@Tim that is SO TRUE! Every single time I look back and go... "MARIAH you had so much more in you what the heck were you doing" All we can hope for is to chip down at that mental game a little more, focus on our goals and go as hard as we can until the finish line! Awesome story Tim- Have an amazing training week!

Carl

Hello my Choo Choo mates. Since I can't make it to the camp I am heading to Wisconsin this Wednesday-Sunday and calling it a HUMONGO BIKE and RUN week. Looking forward to it to build into my plan. I feel the Wisc course is harder and more technical so hope to be prepared. Been running lots of hills. Looking forward to meeting everyone. Carry on!!!!

Garmin Bike info:
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/#activity/550776020

Garmin Brick Run:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/550857167

David Ambrose

Monday's are my long ride day and today did not disappoint. 4 hour+ ride testing out my likely IM pace. The route was great as it consisted of 90% flat and little rollers allowing one to stay aero almost constantly. Back felt good entire ride, while shoulders starting to feel a little fatigue as I was few miles from arriving back home. I have also been, I would not call it out right testing, but perhaps expanding my fueling options during long rides. For the last two years I have had great success with UCAN on long rides, though I fatigue from drinking the stuff after about the 3 hour mark of a ride. For the last two months I have supplemented the UCAN by also including banana/blueberry almond butter blend packets made from PocketFuel. They pack a wallop of calories at about 340 per packet, so I take little portions every 20min during my rides in addition to drinking the UCAN. So far my energy levels remain very good at long duration rides. This combo will likely be my bike fueling for the IM.

@Tim - You have amazing speed and power. Always a joy reading your race reports.

@Carl - I'm privy to your training history over the recent months; you are setting the odds well that you can IM PR at this venue. Strong you are! I'm trying to catch up.

Mariah Bridges

@David - sync up with EN Teammate Emily Brinkley and tell her I told you two to connect about UCAN- I'm interested to see the difference in why its worked for you and it bombed for her

tim cronk

@David.. Thanks for the kind words... Being a vegan more correctly plant based athlete I really like your nutrition.... However for me I need/want to keep it simple X2... Simple to digest so I go for simple carbs and simple to get and consume.... This is why I stick to peform/gatorade and bars,blocks, and gels on all longrides, longruns, and races.... Real food before/after and all other times...

@Carl.... good to see you getting fired up for CHOO.... we need you here to motivate US! your garmin bike link above was a sign in page and the run came out in kilometers but that is a garmin issue that has been happening for a couple weeks now... Hope they straighten that out soon... Carry on with your big week...

Yesterday was another recovery day for me.... I got ready to swim easy twice but bagged it both times on account of thunder/lightning.... Did a 2 mile run on the TM in 18:50.... Two days recovery done, today I get back after it.....

steven cummings

I rode 60 miles of the IMCHOO bike course Saturday and started around mile 4 outside of downtown, did the main loop, and back in. I thought the course was great...a few false flats headed out, some nice rollers that you can maintain speed through, and some fast downhill and flats coming back in. I'm hoping to ride it once more before the race and cover both loops for a 100 mile ride.

Minor set back this week, caught a throat and sinus infection that seems to be going around. I was really looking forward to doing my bike power test today but it's looking like I'll defer since I don't have the energy.

novaavant

@Time Congrats on another great race! I never get tired of reading all your accomplishments and how you consistently execute so well.

@Carl you are a training animal whether it's kilometers or miles. I see big things for you at IMChoo. Enjoy your big week.

@Steven thanks for the recon of the course, keep us posted. I've been battling the chest/throat nonsense for weeks now I hope you don't have what I have, it sucks.

tim cronk

@Steven Can you post the bike file for us?

steven cummings

Sure thing, I'll upload it this evening and share with everyone. You'll just ignore my pace and power, i was leading a group and tried to keep it as close to a no drop ride as possible.

steven cummings

Here is the link to the bike file from riding the loop. As you can tell from the elevation profile there is a steady slow elevation gain with a nice climb around mile 26.5 but its not that tough and over quickly. The decent coming down is of course fast but you have to make a hard left turn at the bottom of the decent...could be tricky if you have to much speed coming down. After the turn at the bottom of the loop, the course gets fast with a few rollers and a climb around 48 but again nothing hard about it.

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/552672010

novaavant

@Steve thanks for the link. I saved the course and will give it a ride on Sunday.

Today was quick lunchtime run then a trainer ride after work.

http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/1059155-Sufferfest-Local-Hero

tim cronk

@Steve... Perfect thanks for sharing... I like to look at elevation on garmin charts since that is what I'm used to looking at... I have learned that looking at elevation charts posted on map/course descriptions to play games with the range and sometimes not give a real feel for the difficulty.... This IMCHOO course looks like a piece of cake! That one turn at the bottom of hill one sounds like the only thing to be concerned with?

steven cummings

It's not a technical course at all but i ride this type of terrain every weekend. You just have to be mindful that the first stretch out is a gradual elevation gain and feels like false flats watch the effort on the two bigger hills and maintain speed through the rollers. There are some nice shaded stretches to help block the sun and wind. I've done the Chattanooga olympic before and we're lucky it's not a two loop of that bike course.

tim cronk

@Steve....How many times did you feel the need to sit up , stand up , or come out of aero? How many times do you think you used your small ring in front?

jfields74

I switched up the run text and bike test this week.  I performed a run test several weeks ago here at the same location here in Charleston, SC and ended up with the same result from the end of the OS.  And when I say the same, it was to the exact second the same!  I was a little bummed to tell you the truth.  So fast forward to this week.  Just like the previous test, I raced on Sunday and decided to do the test on Tuesday.  One key difference was the humidity was not quite as high as the previous test.  It was still quite warm, mid 80's.  I also set my watch to help pace me.  I was pleasantly surprised at the end result.  A 45 sec improvement over the last 2 run test.  20:43  First ever sub 21 5k time.  A 2 point vdot improvement, 45- 47.  The only slight odd thing was my HR was slightly lower than my other previous test.  169 vs 173.  Not sure what to make of that.

jodigreg

@steven, I also did Chatt Olympic this year and hated the bike course. Are you saying the IM course is easier (less hilly) or just less traffic? I'm from hot, flat south Georgia so anything with hills scares me.

@anyone, I am practicing nutrition that will be on course. Are Bonk Breaker bars going to be on the course? They are a sponsor.

novaavant

Here is the list of on course nutrition:

http://www.ironman.com/triathlon/events/americas/ironman/chattanooga/athletes/on-course-nutrition.aspx

steven cummings

@ Tim- For this ride I was honestly focused on leading the group i took to see the course and was trying to corral the stragglers! With that said, I was out of aero a lot but I don't see why you couldn't stay in the aero position for the majority of the course, minus the two climbs you see on my elevation. I only recall getting out of the saddle on the first major hill at mile 27 and getting out of aero for one or two more hills. I probably stayed in the big gear 90% of the time coming out of it on the two larger climbs.

@ Jodi- yes the course is easier and less hilly than the olympic but not Valdosta flat! Instead of being on the interstate next to 18 wheelers will be on country roads with a lot less traffic to worry about.

William Crawford

I am a week ahead since I am racing IMMD the week before Choo. Today was one hour on the bike, including 2x15 at zone 4. I felt stronger during the second Z4 interval.

David Ambrose

Felt good this evening after a busy busy busy work day.
Bike: 80min in pain cave, with main set of 3x 15min at 90%.
Run: 15min transition run at Z3

Mark Roberts

@Steven -- thanks for posting the ride file

@Jamie -- Good work on your 5k test! This test falls at a good time because there is still time to bump up training zones at get used to new paces. 5k pr is solid work especially in a test vs race enviornment. Much harder by yourself!

I did my 5k test Tuesday with similar results. Dropped almost 20 sec off my PR from a few years ago and ran an 18:27. Heart rate was a little lower than I anticipated also but I'm not sweating it or anything.
Doing my FTP test today after work and gunning for a new personal best. Planning to push hard and hurt really bad for 20 min. Will post results later.

Hope everyone is having a good training week!

David Ambrose

I headed outdoors during work day lunch break. Nice 6.25 mile loop with some rollers. Avg pace at 8:31/mi.

This evening will be swim session.

jfields74

Today was my bike test day. I had performed one at the end of the short course several weeks ago but it didn't go well and I just stuck with the numbers I had. Needless to say, I was disappointed.

Today's weather was cloudy and mild for July/Aug in SC, 77 at the start of my ride. I'll take it! I've had problem on my vo2 test of starting out too hard and then imploding at the end. So I made sure I did not do this today so I could finish strong.



5 min VO2 Avg Power: 302W 

Old 5 min VO2 Avg Power: 285W   



I took the same mentality to the FTP test also. Start out steady and slowly increase power and maintain that over the 20 min. I was pleasantly surprised at the result today.

13 point bump on my FTP!!!



20 min FTP NP: 240W

FTP: 228



Old 20 min FTP NP: 226

Old FTP: 215



Work Works! It's been a great week of testing and training for sure!

David Ambrose

@Jamie - that is a very impression bump in FTP. Congrats.

Mark Roberts

@Jamie -- Nice FTP bump!  Get training in those new zones!

I did my FTP test last night and had a solid test but not a huge increase.

Previous 5 min best -- 294 -- New --303

Previous FTP 248, New 252

Happy with a small increase, but was hoping for about a 10 watt jump.  I probably went a little too aggressive also riding the first 12 minutes of the 20 min interval over 270, and then struggled to keep over 260 for the next 8.  Oh well, everything felt right and it wasn't too hot (only 85)  so its probably an accurate test.  That puts me at 3.88 watts/kg at FTP

If I could only get to 260 I could nail the 4.0 watts/kg.  Alternatively I could try and drop 5 lbs from 143 to 138 but I really don't know if I have any more to lose at this point without losing power.

steven cummings

Nice work on the FTP test guys! I'm still battling a terrible head cold, I felt ok Wednesday and took on the bike FTP test...managed to get a 5 watt improvement in FTP from 228 to 233. I then relapsed Thursday and felt like crap again so I took another day off. Just hoping I start feeling better heading into the weekend.

tim cronk

@All .... Nice tests everybody.... Don't get too caught up in the numbers though... Building far on top of fast and your Race Rehearsals will dictate your Race Pace goals! However , there is still plenty of time to focus on Body Comp and that translates into free speed over the bike/run!

Got back after it this week after last weekends race but it was more of a recovery week keeping the intensity at bay..... Big Swim only day today , setting up for the beginning of the volume build.... Planning my first 4+ hr ride Saturday and 2hr run Sunday since IMTX....
Its been fairly chilly here in NH... I have only done one OWS without wetsuit... I can handle the sleeveless for about 1/2hr but when going longer I have to resort back to the full suit... Hoping for some warm weather soon to get in a few swims without the wetsuits...
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/554447865#

tim cronk

@ ALL... now that we have some stragglers and lurkers starting to get involved in the CHOO board I thought I would post the IMCHOO Club on Strava again... If your on Strava join and if not check it out ... Its free or you can get premium for almost nothing... Its a great training tool and can be set up to download all your wko's automagically from garminconnect to STRAVA via tapiriik.com

http://www.strava.com/clubs/101411

novaavant

Did my swim TT today. Making some headway, my 500 time split is the same now as my 400 used to be last year. The tempo trainer has really helped in getting stroke rate up and with it some speed. 500 splits were 8:25 and 8:33 still not speedy but making progress.