IMCHOO Training WK 9/1 - 9/7

Mariah Bridges

Hey there EN'rs Hope everyone has a safe and happy Labor Day. You guys are rocking it out on the forum's it just makes me all kinds of happy! I don't know about y'all but I am super excited to see you dominate IMCHOO! 27 days says my countdown to the swim start!! 

David Ambrose

Got in 5 hours of cyclng today along the beaches on PCH; aero for 95%. Cannot beat the scenic views of waves crashing, surfers, and bikini lad women.

Amy Ferguson

Got in my weekend rides. Body is feeling a little achy but nothing bad. Going in for a cortisone injection today into my neck for a flared up nerve from a bone spur in C7 area. Since I can't eat or drink, I'll be skipping the bike test and will have to stand down tomorrow as well. Planning on doing Thursday's long run. Have a great week everyone!

William Crawford

Nice work everyone. I have not posted for a while as some work issues came up and they have kept me rather occupied. I have been reading all of the posts and they helped kep me focused. I did miss a few workouts, but I hit more than I missed.

This weekend was a long bike on Saturday and a 2 mile OWS followed by a 15 mile bike on Sunday. I finished the holiday weekend with an 18 mile run on Monday (my last long run before IMMD). Holy humidity Batman! By mile 6 it felt like I had jumped in a pool fully clothed. Needless to say, I had to slow my pace way down.

I look forward to seeing everyone.

jodigreg

@Amy, thoughts are with you tomorrow for your cortisone shot. Hope it gives you some long term relief. Don't sweat missing a day or two as I can attest first hand...you are ready!

David Ambrose

Off work day so got it an earlier morning workout.



Bike: 80min, with MS 3 x 15min at 235w followed immediately by an up tempo 10K run. I felt really good on the run...kind of scary in a way!

Finished off swimming 1,000m in a pool.  I never swim in a pool.....only ocean for me in SoCal.  I figured I should get a sense what swimming in fresh water versus salt water feels like so I am not too shocked when jumping into the Tennessee River

jodigreg

Just got in an 18 mile run! I am feelin' ready for Choo!

Mark Roberts

@ Jodi -- Congrats on the run!

Got my long run in this morning as well and had my best long run of the year so far! Also set a new all time high FTP on my Tuesday night bike power test. Its all coming together!

Carl

Hey all....Well the 3 hour run today was not very pretty at all but a huge kick in the nuts. Very hot, humid, and windy and we tackled a hilly course. Goal was to start out at 9:15-9:30's for 6 miles d/t the heat. Well after 6 miles I just couldnt get my body to stay at the famous 8:30 pace which is typically very comfy for me. I ran out of water and was starting to get very light headed so pulled the plug after 17 miles and 2:40. Glad we still have one more run.

Crazy week for me. Did 100 miles on Monday. Now have to do my 5 hour bike tomorrow from noon-5PM, then Saturday get in Sundays 3 hour ride from 0400-0700. I am then headed to cheer on IM wisc peeps.

Still need to get in my 4200 yard swim today or tomorrow.

jfields74

@ Jodi/Mark - Good job on the run today!

@ Carl-Well Carl, I had a day similar to yours.  See below.

I had every intention of completing my long run today.  Anticipated it all week by fueling and hydrating to accommodate for the heat and humidity.  Today just never got going well.  I ran a little long at my farm to begin with and this run corresponds to the absolute worse time it could with how things work on my farm.  Plan was to be running by 9am.  Didn't' happen.  Out the door finally 9:30.  The first 60' were not bad and I was only slightly off my pace.  But as you can see from the little chart below, the heat index rose quickly.  I kept things in check and slowed down for the next 30' but after that, the wheels started to fall off.  My body was telling me to cut it short, I could tell so I made back to the house just a little over 2 hrs.  Those temps and humidity values came from my weather station in my yard.  I was never more than 4 miles from my house so as you can see, I now understand what was happening.  I lost 6lbs in 2 hrs.  I took in at least 48oz of fluids plus gels and chews.  

Temp	Humidty	Heat Index
81.4	83	89	9:32 AM
81.7	82	89	9:37 AM
81.7	80	89	9:42 AM
81.8	81	89	9:47 AM
81.9	80	89	9:52 AM
81.9	80	89	9:58 AM
81.9	79	89	10:03 AM
82.6	79	90	10:08 AM
83.4	76	91	10:13 AM
83.2	76	91	10:19 AM
82.9	76	90	10:24 AM
83.7	74	91	10:29 AM
83.6	75	91	10:34 AM
83.8	74	91	10:40 AM
85.2	70	93	10:45 AM
85.8	69	94	10:50 AM
84.5	71	92	10:55 AM
85.9	69	94	11:00 AM
86.5	69	96	11:05 AM
87.1	65	96	11:10 AM
87.1	63	95	11:15 AM
87.8	63	96	11:20 AM
87.3	63	95	11:25 AM
87.1	63	95	11:31 AM
88.1	61	96	11:36 AM
88.0	62	96	11:41 AM
89.4	60	99	11:46 AM

All in all, my body has been telling me this all week.  The fatigue has been building since camp.  My last best long run came on Sunday at camp.  I'm going to take it easy this weekend.  Kinda forced to anyway as the wife is in Az for work.  May not exactly be the right thing to do but at this point, I want to be 100% on race day.

jodigreg

@Jamie and Carl...it's dangerous out thee. Be careful. Jamie, you are right to dial it back. My fatigue after camp has just receded (I think). I read in Triathlon magazine that if you start being very forgetful and can't speak in complete sentences, you are probably ready. That's the way I feel...

steven cummings

@Carl & @ Jamie -Similar situation on my long run but i actually started earlier in the morning. The first hour was fine around a 9:15's, the next 30 minutes were average 9:00's, next 30 things started falling apart to 9:30's, and at 2:15 hours in i decided to take it home since i slugging along at 10 minute pace.

I really haven't had a long run go backwards on me this year....even during my IMCDA build back in June. Humidity and heat can be a killer for sure. I've also found I don't recover well once my body gets too dehydrated.

jodigreg

Good swim today. First time I have swam 2.4 since last ironman. Did not make it in the 90 minutes, but felt it was important to get the distance done so I can check that off my confidence builder list.

Amy Ferguson

Back at it today with my 3hr run. Horrible heat and humidity coupled with a sour tummy made for a suck fest. Threw in the towel at 2:52. Paces were okay but just couldn't push anymore cause it was like breathing through a straw. Hopefully it won't be this way on race day.

Not sure if I will try to tackle the 5hr bike tomorrow on the thrashed legs. Maybe just swim and do it on Sunday?

jodigreg

Did my 5 hour bike ride today. Sooo sick of riding by myself that I met up with a group that intimidates me. The first 30 minutes the lead guy who is doing IM CHoo explained to me that he was doing 4 sets of 15 minute intervals at zone 3, but not to worry I could catch up when he did his 5 minute recoveries between. I watched him and his buddies speed away for the first two sets and easily caught up to them during their recoveries. Then on the third set, I just couldn't help myself. I went with him. Yep I was drafting some, but had no problems staying with them. 4th set, I hung again. After that one of them died off the back. I volunteered to go back and get him.... They rode another hour and called it a day. I rode for two more hours past that with a huge smile on my face, feeling strong the whole way. Did I mention they were all guys? Did I mention they were 12 years younger than me? I think they got Chicked! Can I get a BOOM for that?

gcharbeneau

Boomalicka chicka BOOM! Rockstar Jodi! Or should I say "moon"star?

TH3 FRB

Pretty miserable long ride for me today. I only managed 4:12 of the 5hrs but knocked out 93+ miles. This week hasn't been great for training - heat and humidity really put a hurting on me for some reason and my quads have benn very fatigued. Today I struggled to even hold 70-75% FT most of the day. After that I bagged any thought of running off the bike. I had a decent long run on Thurs but Tu and Wed run and bike sessions were sub-par. Now I'm seriously debating if aI even try to ride tomorrow at all. I'm not discouraged but definitely a bit frustrated. So close to have some bad workouts.

David Ambrose

My long run RR was this morning --- 18 miles. Not pretty, not strong, just got it done! Headed out at 7am and I could tell right away it was going to be loooooonnnng run. Legs were heavy, with no spunk or bounce. All they really wanted to do was shuffle; they really did not want to be lifting the knees and be driving forward. My legs certainly are feeling the accumulated stress/fatigue, particularly over the last week. I maintained a nice easy relaxed pace just enjoying the outdoors. About 60% of my course is on a dirt path and single track trail that meanders across the valley around my area which makes the run peaceful. I was getting very over heated towards the last 45 minutes. Air temp was 72 when I started and climbed to 89 by the time I was finishing. No cloud cover so the sun was beating down on me a lot and more so the last 7 miles.

TH3 FRB

I made a tough call and skipped my ride today. The instinct after a bad workout is to get right back at it and make things right. Unfortunately, that's often the wrong answer. If your body is fatigued simply trying harder won't fix it. I don't like cutting yesterday's session short AND skipping today but it most likely the best option. When in doubt - recovery is usually the right answer.

tim cronk

@Jodi..... BOOOOOOMMMMMM nice riding!

@Joel... I was wondering what you would do after yesterday's ride... Good call today... I'm in my second year of NO back to back rides.... I found I just couldnt handle two long hard rides back to back (riding too hard on the first one made the second one weak) ... Instead I use 1.5-2hr rides on tues/thurs then long ride saturday longrun sunday.... This way I can wrap my head around 1 long hard ride per week and I make it count.... Just seems to work better for me... I have a theory that FOP or expected bike splits of say 6hrs or less may be better off with this type of workload and that the MOP/BOP or bike splits in excess of 6hrs maybe better off with the back to back rides... Having said all that with your run speed as fast as it is .... you maybe better off with the back to back bike plan.... either way nice job standing down showing discipline when needed!

Finished up volume week #2.... 22:46 total training , swim-16,000yds , bike 242 miles , run 50 miles....the big weekend was fri-3.5 mile OWS , sat 120/7 bike/run , sun 23.5 miles of split runs 16 in the AM and 7.5 in the PM.... Again kept the intensity in check with most of the miles...That concludes my volume spike for CHOO... Taper starts for me next Saturday with a 4hr ride!

novaavant

@Jodi Big Kabooom for you !!! Great ride. I can see why you were all smiles.

@ Amy and David solid work out there.

@Joel Per Tim's words wise to back off when you need it. You are clearly more than ready so that extra day of rest will do more good than pushing through.

@Tim Solid and impressive work as always. You are one consistent dude and that always shows race day, well done.

I was in Phoenix for the week on business and it felt like I was on the surface of the sun. 106-109 were the daily temps. I did a run from the hotel to the gym for a quick swim and at 9:15PM it was still 100 degrees out.
My long run was cut short because my camelbak had an epic fail somewhere and most of the 70oz capacity ended up all over my @ss and legs instead of my stomach. So I ran out of fluids and even though I started at 4:14 AM it was already 91 F and I just couldn't push any longer.

I got home late Friday and was just exhausted. Did a quick WU run then had to go inside for long ride because of T-storms Saturday. So did 4 hours on trainer but just couldn't make the 5 hours on the plan. I did do the main set and today did 1:50 at .85. Not my best week and not the greatest timing for a cross country trip this close to race day but it is what it is and I just did what I could with what I had.

TH3 FRB

I don't typically have an issue with the weekend bike volume.  Something yesterday just really kicked the shit out of me.  I'm feeling particularly tired all day today even with 8 hours of sleep and no training.  I'll probably just get a swim tomorrow and see how things are feeling.  I'd rather take a few days recovery now and then have a little bump of quality work early in the taper. 

Carl

2 more days and the sweet slow taper starts!!!

Carl

Todays long run was dead on perfect for me. I then swam in the afternoon cause I am at the Fire dept tomorrow. Not a fan of a long run then a long swim.

Drills/Drills and more drills......Week 10/12....Bring down the choo choo Train....

http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/588293116

Carl

Well my final RR is in the bag. It was 37 degrees at the start and I way over dressed and paid the price. Stopped and hid my jacket in a bush by a church and I was soaked!!! Lost close to 6 pounds and didn't take in near enough fluids but was eating the calories. Way to high of intensity and it socked me hard on the run. Ended up running 3 miles and walked one and called it good. I forgot to start my watch twice along with checking out mentally. Huge lesson learned!!!!!!! Glad it was now though. Rode with John Barlow, David Krohse, and Michael Peverill whom is doing Ironman Bound - Lake Tahoe next Sunday.
Bike info:
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/589632524
Brick run info:
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/589640499

tim cronk

and said screw this lets ride inside... I'm a freeze baby and it was a good call with temps staying low 50's all day and rain starting last hour... Damn I'm out of trainer shape cause that was hard but I'm so glad I didnt ride outside.... The ride was my first tapered ride although it didnt really feel like it.. My last 2 longrides were 5.5 hrs and TSS of 326/311. Today was 4hrs , TSS 221 , 7 x 25' intervals with the first 5 coming in @ .77 and the last 2 were .79 and .80.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/589605960

pre-ride run
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/589262482

Hope everybody had great RR's today!

Carl

Well today was a double down day on the workouts d/t being on shift for 24 hours tomorrow at the Fire Department. Primal Scream and Shout baby cause I brought the Choo Choo Train to the tracks today!!!!!!

Knocked out the swim that was scheduled for today then did my last long run of the plan that was scheduled for tomorrow......10 miler with negative splits......

Swim:
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/592718958

Run:
http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/592718987

tim cronk

@Carl.... Damn your swim has gotten fast! That run is a thing of beauty! current week is here http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/16759/Default.aspx#187508

Carl

Tim-

Thanks!! I've been busting ass on the swim and run and pulled back on the bike. I just want to race and be done. I'm always slower in open water and it frustrates me but I'm looking forward to the race!!!