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Week 4 of 12 IMAZ - Building the Engine
Welcome to Week 4 Iron Peeps!
I was a little slow shuffling out of bed this morning but otherwise happy with the way Week 3 ended. Looks like Week 4 is a lower volume / testing week through Friday for those following the plan, then 4.5 hour bike Sat! 
Because I just tested a few weeks ago, I plan to do the intensity but not likely to test this week. I also welcome the decrease in running volume in week 4.
Lunch swim today and no run! 
..... need that rest on the legs......
Have a great week all!
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@Shaughn yes it definitely sounds like you need some rest, lots TSS in the past couple weeks.
My Saturday Big Day was busted by bad road conditions. I attempted a new route in combination with a family camping trip and found the road conditions were freaky/scary/horrible. I went 13mi out hoping it would get better, but after 2 too close for comfort encounters with cars I flipped around and headed back just hoping I'd make it. The shoulder was wide but too rough and cracked to ride safely, and had a rumble strip along the line, and the lanes were narrow with little space for cars to slide left around me. Luckily there was less traffic on the return trip and I got back in one piece. So 27 mi ride, then I followed that up with 8.5 mi run which felt very good. Sunday I took the bike out once we got home and did a nice safe 50 miler to make up for Saturdays fail. Found myself thinking "There's no place like home" as I rode on my nice safe standby route.
Looking forward to bike test tomorrow. Hoping for a little bump up!
@Rian - If nothing else, triathlon teaches you that you have to adapt. Good to see that you made the right call this weekend. Discretion is the better part of valor.
Big day was pretty good for me. Fall smacked us in the face here in Minnesota. I got a 2.33 OWS in with a buddy. The lake temperature was in the low 60's, but it was about 45 degrees when we climbed out and got on our bikes. Brrrrrr... Had to cut the ride to 3 hours because I need to help set up a race course, but it was a good 3 hours. I ran just over 8 miles off the bike with good splits over rolling terain. Looking forward to a lighter and more intense week. Hoping the weather warms up and stays cooperative heading into the weekend and 7.5 hours of biking. I have another appointment with my bike fit guy today. We've been tweaking about once a month for the last 3 months. I've beena bit saddle sore lately, so I'm hoping that he has an idea or two for me.
I had a busy busy weekend with tons of family stuff going on in addition to the big day. Lots of crap food and too little sleep. I slept in this morning and will probably just ditch the swim all togeher and save everything for the bike workout tomorrow morning. Not the best start to the week.
Have a great week and stay safe.
Since last we talked, I biked from Aspen/Snowmass to Vail, 105 miles. Easier than it sounds, since I went down and up the river valleys, not over the passes. 100 miles in 5:28, downhill 42 miles, funky bike path along the Colorado for 13 miles, then uphill with a 15-20 mph tailwind the next 42 Up and down segments @ the same speed! The last mile took me 11 minutes, up an 11% grade to my friends' condo. Not nice after cruising all day ;(
Sunday, we all took in a 14er - Mt Holy if the Holy Cross, 14,003' Well, they did, I turned around @ 12,500'. mumbling something about "downstream workouts" when the strenuous hike turned into and actual climb up rocks.
Monday AM, my legs felt like I'd down an Ironman; nonetheless, I rode back "downhill" at recovery pace to Glenwood Canyon, 50 miles in 2:30, not bad considering the 6 or 7 towns and construction zone I had to negotiate. Gotta get back to swimming and running tomorrow, along with another 50 mile/3 hour ride up to the fall colors on my favorite ride around here.
Holy Mother of God! Al, Mary, and Joe S. definitely ratcheting it up a notch! WTG! At this rate, I have all of you qualifying for KONA by week 12!
Lunch swim for me yesterday: http://www.strava.com/activities/195012252
Intensity bike this morning: http://www.strava.com/activities/195315949
EZ Brick run: http://www.strava.com/activities/195315900
A tad bit cooler weather and no run on Monday is helping me considerable this week so far.
All, just Keep Moving Forward!!
SS
Joe-congrats on the FTP bump! I got a 2 watt bump 3 weeks ago and am just now able to hit .99-1.0 IF so just did intensity today. A few watts either way isn't going to make much difference now
As I did trainer rides thurs and fri to get my weekend ride done, I got the fri run in sat-40' TM, z2/z3 20' each
Long run Sunday turned into hilly trail run in Danbury CT for 60'-have to do.
I had one of my most enjoyable swim wko's last night (not sure why, maybe I really will learn to love swimming)-put in the time to do all of MS1-3 and really had the tempo trainer cranked down for the last sets.
And did 55' on trainer this am with 2x15@ 1.0 and .99!
I'm going to focus on consistent .7IF for long rides which is .72 on last years FTP. That would definitely shave a few minutes off my time
The run test later in the week will not duplicate this result, but that's ok.
I second the "eat anything you want" problem that Joe posted about. I came back from vacation way above where I wanted to be, but I figured four weeks of IM training would take care of it. It has NOT. It's time to refocus on what I'm eating so I can get down to where I need to be.
Bike testing yesterday. V02 down by 19 watts and FTP down by 16. I haven't tested in about 9 months so I am not surprised. I knew that I was struggling over the last 5-6 months keeping up with the previous numbers but just didn't get around to testing. Thurs. is the run test and I am looking forward to seeing big improvement in these numbers.
Tiny but rather disappointing bump in FTP yesterday. Test was crap, too hard on VO2 to inconsistent in Threshold block. #sigh#. Trying to buck up and focus on squeezing out a little more in the next couple weeks. But really will be focusing on bumping up my IF on my long rides to push riding @75-78% consistently. Got through a full 3200 swim on monday afternoon, albeit a tad slow, I was able to pull and turn with out sharp pain the in ribs. Now I just have to get pace back to my last test.
Glad to hear everyone is making good progress and staying the course. @Mary, you're right, after the your last IM cycle your FTP was bound to be lower. My guess is that it will be the same as your last race in short order, and you could be targeting your long rides to that, but working your FTP intervals to your current test to get the build back quickly ( i.e. not overdoing it, and gradually bumping it up)
With regards to weight loss in this stage. Its definitely a misapprehension that Ironman training = weight loss. Think of all the body types that cross the finish line at an IM. Endurance fitness and % body fat are not necessarily correlated! When doing lots of z1-z3 work your metabolism adapts rather quickly to burn rate and can/will still pack on the fat with extra calories. Real fat burning comes with lots of short high intensity training z4/5 intervals, which we basically stop doing now. So in these last weeks, if staying trim or loosing weight is the goal, its best to carefully watch calories and eat only what your body needs (or a little less). Sports nutritionist Alan Lim says he tells his cyclists they should be going to bed feeling slightly hungry in the competitive stages. I try to just keep it to never feeling full from a meal. Just don't overdo that either!
FWIW that test took a lot out of me yesterday. I'm still at a sleep deficit trying to adjust to kids new school and activity schedule. 4:30 came too early so I slept in and enjoyed a quiet breakfast and cup of coffee before heading to the office. I try to savor those unrushed moments when I can. The plan is to leave here at 4:00 and get my laps in before my youngest son's first basketball practice. Thank God that both events are at the YMCA a mile from my house. It's great to have a place where my family and I can be active together.
Keep hitting it hard everyone! Less than two months to go.
Everyone getting it done, testing and re-leveling the baseline! Smart, hard work!
Hope all are getting some recovery in between there as well!
Super tough run this morning for me, mostly because of what I did to myself yesterday: http://www.strava.com/activities/195769236
90% humidity w/ an attempt at Z2 hill strides........
Lunch was an Endurance swim: http://www.strava.com/activities/195891905 ....can't find the blue water logged icon on the right for this one....
@ Rian - Great work just getting the test done bro. Extremely stressful and sometimes, emotional......you dug deep and pushed through. WTG!
@ Joe S. - nice job on the improvement! Is there still a back tire left on that bike?
@Betsy - way to keep chipping away and checking off workouts! Give us a race report on the Oly once complete.
@Mary - Kudos on the test and resetting the baseline!
@Clark - I'll take a 20watt FTP bump any way I can get it! Strong performance!
Good luck tomorrow all!
SS
FTP a month ago (3 weeks after Boulder) was a paultry 222
FTP today was a bit better at 232 and for 166# that's about 3.1 watts/kg (in 2008 280 watts & 150# was about 4.1watts/kg - but since 2010 IMWI bike crash the power has not come back)
2 weeks ago I did a 100 mile Race rehearsal ride w/Heather Blackiston (for her IMMD) and on a flat/windy day did 172NP and VI=1.01 followed by 3.5 mile run at 10:50 pace (cut it short - still nursing a hamstring deal)
Last weekend I rode a somewhat hilly/windy/dreary day 102miles and then ran 5 miles at 10:20 with a last mile at 8:55 - I know that is slow but do to a couple of injuries the end of last year - that is good for me) and then did a "1500meter" OWS in 37 minutes about 2:15/100 yds - I have recently done 1000 & 2000 in the pool at 1:52/100yds (w/Lava Pants) and that is my best (Don't hurt yourselves laughing)
You guys are killing/inspiring me ...
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I'm pushing fluid and zinc, getting extra sleep, and laying low. Hopefully I can kick this before the weekend so that I'm not sneezing all over while trying to stay aero on Saturday and Sunday.
Sounds like recovery is going well!
@Joe-liquid silver-naturopathic anti microbial. You get it at health food stores/Whole Foods. I first took it for viral URI on suggestion of my chiropractor (the week of AZIM 2012) and it really helps!
@David Wonn-welcome! And that's a lot of IMs! I can't imagine doing Boulder and signing up for another within the same year! And at my 50kg weight, we are the same w/kg-3.1. But my total number is sooo much smaller
@Mary-same to you-you just came off an IM. I spent this entire year in short course and get fast plans and only made small bumps. I would slide big time if I had trained for long course
@Clark-strong work on the 20 pt bump!
@Shaughn-way to keep getting it done. I'm still looking for time to figure out how to get my garmin connected to Strava
I got today's' MS 1-3 swim done in 70'-record for me. And, for the 2nd swim in a row, I liked it. On a roll!
Biggest news: I can't figure out how to 'share' this on this site, so just tell you to go to AZrepublic.com and look for piece on tempe town lake. With all the rain the lake is getting polluted (after all, it's really only a big drainage ditch). And, with the rain today, they have cancelled our splash n dash tomorrow night as they need to do a lot of testing for safety. (I was doing 1500 OWS then 5k). Remains to be seen if we have the life time tri on Sunday.
@Betsy yes in the FeedZone. Great book, great recipes!
Hope everyone's testing week is going well. Keep up the good work!!!
Had a great 3400 swim last night, with a long steady 1800 set at race pace. Managed a consistent pace.
I skipped the run test for a variety of reasons ( I hate them, I don't have a flat course to do them, they don't usually tell me anything, they take a lot out of me, yada yada.... ) I'm sticking with my Vdot at the moment, although todays run tells me its basically time for a bump. Instead of test I did the standard thursday long run to get more z2 work. 1:56 and 16mi. First 60' at what I call z1.5 (7:30) slightly harder than easy (7:45) but not z2 (6:50). Then 40' at z2 for real, then whatever I have left in the tank (not much!). The z2 session was solid and right on pace which tells me it might be time for a vdot bump. I've found at this altitude z2 and z3 paces lag the pace prescribed by Vdot usually in the 15-20" per mile range, so if I'm holding the vdot prescribed pace and the HR zone is right (I'm not working too hard), it means my Vdot is probably actually higher than what I'm running. This is confirmed by how comfortable I feel doing z1 and z4 intervals.
@Rian - 16 miles, sub 2 hours = BOOM!
@Betsy - sounds like you might be growing fins...............strong work!
In lieu of run test today (just tested about 3 weeks ago) I gave myself 2X2s at threshold: http://www.strava.com/activities/196310544
Faded on the back half of the second one - I continue to struggle with the Heat/humidity combination.
Loving the lower volume week!
SS
I'm in the middle of a Big Tri Week, it seems. Heading towards 21.5 hours. My legs have finally recovered from the hike/climb on Sunday. I actually felt roaring to go this morning and, like Shaughn, did not test, but rather did 2 x 1 mi with another 2 x 400, then swam close to an hour in the afternoon, along with a session in the weight room.
Today may be the second most beautiful day I've spent in this valley in the past three years - first was the day after it snowed three feet in 30 hours. The aspen leaves are about 1/4 of the way turned, and little groves seem to be changing color by the hour. When the sun hits them, they light up all gold or coppery red. warm temps @ 75, and the deep blue sky you only get high up where the air is thinner. Best place in the world to train the last three weeks of September.
Awesome run -x2 with Shaughn in the BOOM!
Shaughn-I'm with you-struggling with the heat on the runs too!
I didn't run test either-too hot and I will never better my spring Vdot. I was on call last night and didn't get to bed until 2am but did get today off.
So at 10am did a 60' z1.5-z2 run. Then went to get pool and did tomorrow's swim test -hadn't tested in ages. I took 5s off T pace and took my swim coach's challenge and did it at the .05s faster tempo (ok, for numbers 1.2 instead of 1.25-slow, slow, slow).
Hope everyone is having a good testing week, if testing!!
I am running over a minute a mile slower than this time last year. Did a 5K "test" today and squeaked in with an 8:59 pace. (Two months ago I ran 8:23pace on the end of a sprint TRI ) But it is what it is ...
On to a long swim Friday and a big bike weekend.
@ Betsy - thanks for posting about TTL. Yuck! Hope it clears up by Nov.
@Al - great pic! Need more of those........good luck banging through the Big Tri Week!
@ Betsy / Mary - did a swim test this afternoon and am about the same - SLOW - however my endurance has improved considerably holding the same pace.
@David / Clark - 5K TT well done. Very stressful test. Way to lead.............
Morning run: http://www.strava.com/activities/196578881
Lunch Swim: http://www.strava.com/activities/196699186
Getting my head wrapped around a Big Bike Weekend now.......
Strong week all!
I did the run this AM. I did weights the previous two days, so my first mile was pretty stiff and slow. But, I then got the strides in, a z2 mile and finished about .5 mi at z3. BOOM!
Since I did swim test yesterday, I got to come home from work and use relax. It was niccceeee
Great pic AL!
Safe riding this weekend
Today was a morning Saturday run in the neighborhood hills - *averages* 4% grade up/down for 3.5 miles in 31:30.
Then, a five hour Saturday ride, featuring a 13 mile out and back segment along the Fryingpan River, where the road is pretty much this close to the water all the way:
The whole ride ride covered 4 hills, total gain 4000' in 80 miles, 196 TSS. I hope to be strong enough for a long run tomorrow, than a day off (from running and biking) on Monday!
@ Al...great pics and workouts. Keep it coming.
Good job everyone.. Keep building.
I did the long run on Thursday. 16 miles in 2:12, 8:16 avg pace. EZ 8 then ran miles 9, 11, 13, 15 @ 7:30 pace. This replicated my long run leading up to IMMT and it was the first time in 5 weeks that I felt like I had the strength to carry that speed late into the run. On Friday, I did a 3800 meter race rehearsal swim in 1:18. Still slow but 4 minutes faster than same workout the prior Friday. Today, I swam EZ for 45 minutes, rode indoors for 3 hours since it was forecast to rain all morning (but never did), and ran 4 in 35:05. I struggled on the bike today and my power just wasn't there. Overall, my swimming and running seem to be almost back to where they were before IMMT but my riding isn't. Not sure why, but maybe I'll learn more tomorrow as I have the North Shore Century ride with some friends. It isn't a race, but I'm going to ride aero the whole way. Kona is 3 weeks from today so this is my last long ride then taper.
@ Al...great pics and workouts. Keep it coming.
Good job everyone.. Keep building.
I did the long run on Thursday. 16 miles in 2:12, 8:16 avg pace. EZ 8 then ran miles 9, 11, 13, 15 @ 7:30 pace. This replicated my long run leading up to IMMT and it was the first time in 5 weeks that I felt like I had the strength to carry that speed late into the run. On Friday, I did a 3800 meter race rehearsal swim in 1:18. Still slow but 4 minutes faster than same workout the prior Friday. Today, I swam EZ for 45 minutes, rode indoors for 3 hours since it was forecast to rain all morning (but never did), and ran 4 in 35:05. I struggled on the bike today and my power just wasn't there. Overall, my swimming and running seem to be almost back to where they were before IMMT but my riding isn't. Not sure why, but maybe I'll learn more tomorrow as I have the North Shore Century ride with some friends. It isn't a race, but I'm going to ride aero the whole way. Kona is 3 weeks from today so this is my last long ride then taper.
@ Al...great pics and workouts. Keep it coming.
Good job everyone.. Keep building.
I did the long run on Thursday. 16 miles in 2:12, 8:16 avg pace. EZ 8 then ran miles 9, 11, 13, 15 @ 7:30 pace. This replicated my long run leading up to IMMT and it was the first time in 5 weeks that I felt like I had the strength to carry that speed late into the run. On Friday, I did a 3800 meter race rehearsal swim in 1:18. Still slow but 4 minutes faster than same workout the prior Friday. Today, I swam EZ for 45 minutes, rode indoors for 3 hours since it was forecast to rain all morning (but never did), and ran 4 in 35:05. I struggled on the bike today and my power just wasn't there. Overall, my swimming and running seem to be almost back to where they were before IMMT but my riding isn't. Not sure why, but maybe I'll learn more tomorrow as I have the North Shore Century ride with some friends. It isn't a race, but I'm going to ride aero the whole way. Kona is 3 weeks from today so this is my last long ride then taper.
Amazing job Bruce! Strong even if the bike isn't quite where you want it!!
As of 10 am today, testing on Tempe Town lake is complete and it is now deemed safe, and nasty bug levels well below what is considered safe. So the life time tri will go on tomorrow-I will certainly report in about my contagion levels. The only caveat is, if it rains, its canceled for more testing. it looks like the storms bypassed us.
I rode 60 miles today, and rode with a group that was faster than I wanted to be. Way to much z4 climbing when I should have been steady z3 at the most. Legs may be a little tired tomorrow.