Hi Coach! I have been a bit under the weather this week and had to cut things back. I do not know if it is allergies or just a cold, but that coupled with end of school year crunch time stress has been a little bit like a one-two punch. By this time next week however, my school year will have come to a close. I will be able to focus on training and finally "geek out" a bit with all things EN triathlon! Stay tuned...
Hey Coach P! All is well. I raced Hague, NY this past weekend. (You can find my report in the forum.) It was a tough course! My time was slow, but I did feel good overall. I realized last night that I goofed up a bit on loading my IM plan. I thought I was to stay on the HIM until I raced Hague, and then load in my IM, but when I went in last night to load up the IM plan, I realized that it should have done this a few weeks ago -oops!!! (I hope that does not screw me up too much for my route to Tremblant, but then again, there is not too much I can do about it now, so onward I go! I am out of school now, so I have the luxury to focus a little deeper on training/recovery. YAY! I am going to schedule a coach call with you soon, so we can touch base.
All went well for the most part. I did not hit all the numbers for time/distance, but put good work in. I've traveled for a work conference and took Mon/Tues off, which has been nice rest. Back to work tomorrow though, hopefully feeling refreshed and ready to go.
Hi Coach, Just checking in. I am feeling pretty well overall -aside from a HUGE welt on my thigh that I just received today. How did that occur, you ask? -Well, I was completing my threshold run along a beautiful shady road, which happens to run beside a golf course... and wouldn't you know, I was pelted in my thigh by somebody's ball!!! It happened so fast, I couldn't even hear him call "Fore!" -It was such a freak thing! Figures, I am 2 weeks out from Ironman and this happens. Oh well. It is a lovely conversation piece. If I can post a picture on the team page, I will. -It's a beauty! (But you will be happy to know I was able to finish the run. -Actually, the adrenaline rush from the whole thing made me run like a rock star! Anyway, I have my final RR ride coming up later this week. I will be careful to make sure my fluid intake is increased, as you suggested after my last one. Overall, I am feeling pretty good, and getting super excited for Tremblant. Talk soon! -Amy
I hope all is well at your end. I am beginning to feel that end of training nervousness where the "Did I do enough?" question keeps popping up in my mind. Overall, I feel that I have done a pretty good job following and sticking to my training plan, so my reasonable self is telling my nervous self to simply take a deep breath and trust the training. One of the things that is at the base of my nerves is the fact that my long run last week fell short and my 2nd RR did not go very well. It was a bit of a tricky week to try and do it (We were on a family reunion vacation with my 5 siblings, our kids and my parents.This trip was a gift to us all from my parents and very special for the family...) and I unfortunately had the ride scheduled for our last day there, (Enter the guilt...) -which is NOT ideal, but there was not a lot of wiggle room in the schedule. So the long and short of it is that my Mental Game was completely off. I planned well, prepped everything the night before, was rolling by 5:15... but in the back of my mind I had that little devil whispering that I would not be complete with bike/run until well into the afternoon, it was the last day with all of us together...yada yada...and those thoughts began to weaken my ride. My back and neck started feeling achey, my numbers started to dip...{oh my goodness -its situations like this that make it SO clear; where we are mentally (as athletes) directly correlates to our performance. I am usually very good at keeping up the positive flow of thoughts during training/racing, but last Saturday was not that day.} So, I made the conscious decision to cut it short, but at least complete the brick so the day would still have some quality to it. In the end, I rode 60 miles and ran 5. -This was just one of those times where I needed to find perspective in the moment. The family pull outweighed the triathlon pull. - And I am still going with the hunch that I will appreciate that decision, and others like it, MORE on my death bed than my splits at IMMT ...but still, as the race is drawing near, I am just HOPING to be ready. So... here are my questions for this week:
Should I let the lame RR go and just move forward on the plan as written, or should I try to get one more longer ride/run in early this week? -I am torn because my sensible self understands that the "squeezing in" strategy does not usually pay off, but on the other hand, the bit of confidence from having the last one "under my belt" is tempting me. Thoughts on that?
Amy, webinar is Tuesday night, links on the Dashboard.
I hear you on the training / family pull and I am sure you'll be okay! With Tremblant 2 weeks away you could get in one last long ride this week, say by Thursday at the latest...but it could be max of 5 hours and must be at IM effort. Your biggest bang for the buck will be riding / training in your race kit and eating/drinking like you'll do on race day. It's worth the practice and will help you do a better job when the race happens!
Hi Coach. I arrived here last evening and all is well. Checking out the course today.-Those climbs are no joke!!! I am on the group text, so keeping up to date on team activity here. Wish me luck!
You don't need luck. Just remember to take deep breaths, and smile. Stick to the process that has worked for you in training and race day will remain yours to control! Can't wait to follow you!
Hey there Coach P! I am not sure if you had a chance to read my race report, but I had a great experience up in Tremblant. What a WONDERFUL group of folks we have in the team!! Joining Endurance Nation was my best triathlon move yet! Tomorrow I head back to work (teaching), which is always all-consuming for the first couple of months. I have some fall running events planned (a trail marathon and perhaps a 50). I will likely switch into maintenance mode soon, but don't worry, I will be back!!
Amy, I did and it's a great one...you did an AWESOME job of making the most of your week and getting yourself in a place to have a solid run. You can thank Dave Tallo for the ice bag trick..I did the same in Texas and it was amazing.
On behalf of the Team, thanks for your kind words and positivity...folks like you make EN FUN!
Head over to MM...we are here and ready to connect when you are! If you want any fall input or advice, let us know using the chat boxes...
Comments
Hi Coach! I have been a bit under the weather this week and had to cut things back. I do not know if it is allergies or just a cold, but that coupled with end of school year crunch time stress has been a little bit like a one-two punch. By this time next week however, my school year will have come to a close. I will be able to focus on training and finally "geek out"
a bit with all things EN triathlon! Stay tuned...
Hey Coach P!
All is well. I raced Hague, NY this past weekend. (You can find my report in the forum.) It was a tough course! My time was slow, but I did feel good overall. I realized last night that I goofed up a bit on loading my IM plan. I thought I was to stay on the HIM until I raced Hague, and then load in my IM, but when I went in last night to load up the IM plan, I realized that it should have done this a few weeks ago
-oops!!! (I hope that does not screw me up too much for my route to Tremblant, but then again, there is not too much I can do about it now, so onward I go! 
I am out of school now, so I have the luxury to focus a little deeper on training/recovery. YAY! I am going to schedule a coach call with you soon, so we can touch base.
Hi Patrick! I completed my own little version of camp week. Here is the link to my report:
http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/19174/Default.aspx
All went well for the most part. I did not hit all the numbers for time/distance, but put good work in. I've traveled for a work conference and took Mon/Tues off, which has been nice rest. Back to work tomorrow though, hopefully feeling refreshed and ready to go.
-Take care, Amy
Just checking in. I am feeling pretty well overall -aside from a HUGE welt on my thigh that I just received today. How did that occur, you ask?
Anyway, I have my final RR ride coming up later this week. I will be careful to make sure my fluid intake is increased, as you suggested after my last one. Overall, I am feeling pretty good, and getting super excited for Tremblant. Talk soon! -Amy
Happy long riding...
When is the webinar?
Hi Patrick,
I hope all is well at your end. I am beginning to feel that end of training nervousness where the "Did I do enough?" question keeps popping up in my mind. Overall, I feel that I have done a pretty good job following and sticking to my training plan, so my reasonable self is telling my nervous self to simply take a deep breath and trust the training. One of the things that is at the base of my nerves is the fact that my long run last week fell short and my 2nd RR did not go very well. It was a bit of a tricky week to try and do it (We were on a family reunion vacation with my 5 siblings, our kids and my parents.This trip was a gift to us all from my parents and very special for the family...) and I unfortunately had the ride scheduled for our last day there, (Enter the guilt...) -which is NOT ideal, but there was not a lot of wiggle room in the schedule. So the long and short of it is that my Mental Game was completely off. I planned well, prepped everything the night before, was rolling by 5:15... but in the back of my mind I had that little devil whispering that I would not be complete with bike/run until well into the afternoon, it was the last day with all of us together...yada yada...and those thoughts began to weaken my ride. My back and neck started feeling achey, my numbers started to dip...{oh my goodness -its situations like this that make it SO clear; where we are mentally (as athletes) directly correlates to our performance. I am usually very good at keeping up the positive flow of thoughts during training/racing, but last Saturday was not that day.} So, I made the conscious decision to cut it short, but at least complete the brick so the day would still have some quality to it. In the end, I rode 60 miles and ran 5. -This was just one of those times where I needed to find perspective in the moment. The family pull outweighed the triathlon pull. - And I am still going with the hunch that I will appreciate that decision, and others like it, MORE on my death bed than my splits at IMMT ...but still, as the race is drawing near, I am just HOPING to be ready. So... here are my questions for this week:
Should I let the lame RR go and just move forward on the plan as written, or should I try to get one more longer ride/run in early this week? -I am torn because my sensible self understands that the "squeezing in" strategy does not usually pay off, but on the other hand, the bit of confidence from having the last one "under my belt" is tempting me. Thoughts on that?
Thanks so much!
I hear you on the training / family pull and I am sure you'll be okay! With Tremblant 2 weeks away you could get in one last long ride this week, say by Thursday at the latest...but it could be max of 5 hours and must be at IM effort. Your biggest bang for the buck will be riding / training in your race kit and eating/drinking like you'll do on race day. It's worth the practice and will help you do a better job when the race happens!
Thank you! I will look to join the Webinar this evening!
Yes, it was very helpful. Thank you. I'm getting excited!
Hi Coach. I arrived here last evening and all is well. Checking out the course today.-Those climbs are no joke!!! I am on the group text, so keeping up to date on team activity here. Wish me luck!
Amy
Hi Coach! HOT HOT day in Tremblant, but the race went well. I posted a report in the RR forum. Now I'm off to enjoy recovery....
Tomorrow I head back to work (teaching), which is always all-consuming for the first couple of months. I have some fall running events planned (a trail marathon and perhaps a 50). I will likely switch into maintenance mode soon, but don't worry, I will be back!!
On behalf of the Team, thanks for your kind words and positivity...folks like you make EN FUN!
Head over to MM...we are here and ready to connect when you are! If you want any fall input or advice, let us know using the chat boxes...
Thanks Patrick!