IMLP Week 17/3 - Execution not Fitness
Welcome to Week 17 all!
2 weeks of fitness driving work left - day by day, workout by workout, interval by interval w/ a premium for staying healthy!!
Last week's Week 16 thread got a little sparse - either everyone working hard or mentally/physically tired or both. (describes me anyway)
I had a good week last week and managed the fatigue gremlins well. Survived myself Friday on a long, hot and humid run. Ended the week with a solid Century ride on Sunday.
Theme for this week is important. Start visualizing your upcoming RR2 and Race Day in terms of simply Executing your Fitness:
The majority of athletes on race day are fitness-focused (look at my T-shirt, look at my abs/veins/etc, look at how fast I can go in the first hour of the bike, etc.). They think of race day as the application of their fitness to the course, the distance. They are wrong. Race day is about the application of sound execution skills to a long day. Your fitness is just along for the ride. Through our observation of many, many races we can tell you that fully 90% of athletes out there do not understand this and do not know how to execute properly. For the Endurance Nation athlete then, race day is largely an exercise is doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing!
Easy to read/comprehend the above, difficult to actually apply on race day, when you feel rested, invincible with adrenaline and the best you have felt during the entire training cycle. So important to start thinking and scripting this concept now.
This is a tricky week for most with the July fourth weekend and family activities. It is also a very crucial training week given the proximity of the race day. My plan is to try to swim and bike upfront in the week as much as possible then figure out a way to run more including the long run over the weekend in the middle of the family activities/travel.....not sure how that's going to work out, but will do what I can.
Have a great, safe week all and, no matter what, remember, always KMF!
Comments
The lunge on my bad leg was weak - as my right knee got close to the ground I just dropped.
She had me lay on the table and she said something about my hip being out of alignment.
She performed stretches on me and very deep massage. I felt great after.
I told her my training plans for the week and the race.
I will be going back on Wed for another treatment.
In the mean time, she showed me a few ways to roll and work the affected area.
She thinks i'll be ok to do my long run on Thursday.
Last week of training went well, I took Saturday off and raced the Challenge Atlantic City full aqua bike on Sunday. As expected a good day with crazy wind all day. Something about having to stay aero for the entire 112 miles that does something to what is normally a good bike seat and bike fit. It was a good opportunity to find a few more things to fine tune with my hydration and monitoring my output on the bike, especially in the first couple of hours.....Need to drink more, and slow down.
Taking today (Monday) off to recover from yesterday's effort, kept moving at work to avoid soreness in legs, foam roller and some light stretching and will back on the program tomorrow.
Currently, I have to sit up every 10 or 15 minutes for a bit and then go back to aero.
Although I have a shoulder separation on the L and a surgically reconstructed thumb on the R, he cleared me to attempt IMLP, if I can swim. My L shoulder is about 80% range of motion but weak (see photo), my R hand is still in a cast from the surgery to screw the distal phalanx digit (the top of the thumb joint) back in. I'll be doing dry-land strength drills tonight after my forced sabbatical (12 June to today with no workouts...). Expectations for anything other than an official finish are low, but if I can get through the swim I think I have good odds.
Cast on the R hand stays until 8 July, so getting in quality work will be hard - I'm in Virginia and my sweat will just melt the cast off... looks,like aqua-running, kinetic trainer, and rubber band drills in the near term.
@Don - glad to get your report! Sounds like you are being smart, doing the right things and making strong progress!! Keep it up!
@John - sounds like a great race and great fitness building for IMLP! I'm kind of jealous....you're going to be strong for Placid!
@ Stu - I smiled when I read your update! That, to me, is the real spirit of IM! Finding a way to see it through =====> HUGE!
Want to know one of the biggest attributes of a KONA qualifier? - they understand the difference between executing on race day and fitness! Look at any of the race files Coach P, Al Truscott, Tim C. and others share and you will see that. They race within their ability in a very disciplined way, executing what they have been practicing within a very narrow range, focusing on what they control.
Think about that over the next 4 weeks, what it means to you, how you will apply it...................and you will be golden during those tough hours of the race!
SS
Checking in after a swim today. This past weekend I had a very poor ride. Not sure exactly what when wrong but both my knees were killing me after about 2.5. I got in 4.5 but I'm not officially worried about the bike. Power was down and nothing like the previous weekend with 2 great rides. I Took Sunday off to rest and recoup. I'm probably just getting in my own head but doubt has crept in.
I have this week off and was thinking about a bit of extra cycling but it will be indoors as we have some very bad forest fire smoke in my area. Apparently they have a photo of it from the space station. It's so bad you can see it from up there.
@Stu - So glad to hear you maybe back with us.... But , please make a smart decision ... One of our EN members Steve Swanlund did an IM with a broken clavicle a few years ago (1 arm swim) ... Still don't know how he did it... I broke my clavicle 4 weeks prior to IMMT before , got it bolted back together immediately , started swimming 13 days after surgery , I was feeling really good and already swimming the full distance before IMMT but I still decided to sit it out and for me I believe that was a sound decision..... I actually had a harder time coming back to biking as it felt like everyone was trying to kill me and I didn't want to re-injure something that was really just starting to heal.....
My Camp Weekend @ IMLP - Didn't go quite as planned on account of rain (imagine that?) Arrived friday afternoon , left monday afternoon.... The 4 days I was there I got in 16.5hrs of training , swim 9 miles , bike 167 miles , run 26 miles.... The swim is awesome and fast following the cables , good place for a swim PR.... The bike is legit and very challenging every bit as challenging as I had heard and maybe more so... The run is fair and not as bad as I had heard it was.... I'll admit that I think the Bike course got the better of me but now I know what I am in for and I'm starting to psyche myself up to handle it on race day!
2 more weeks of hard work focussing on race specificity and then TAPER!
I had a little scare this morning. I call this the "silly season", meaning in these two weeks before taper, every little twinge or niggle in my body gets magnified all out of proportion. First, at the end of my four weeks in Colorado, my weight had dropped 4# in 4 weeks, and I was starting to get "skeletal" comments from my wife, and other folks in Denver who hadn't seen me since the year before. I've been stuffing myself with food and water ever since, and am back up to simply "anorectic" now, needing to gain a couple more pounds.
Then, this morning, after a track workout last night, I got on the bike to commute to the Y for a swim. My right knee (usually the stronger one) was feeling a little funny, and buy the time I was changing in the locker room, it was hurting even to lift my foot to take off my shoe. I got in the pool, started swimming with a pull buoy, and things kept hurting even I did a flip turn - I actually stopped mid flip as my leg whipped around - and pushed off the wall one legged. Uh-oh. Here's where silly season kicks in; for the next few warm up lengths, I began imagining I would have to shut down training entirely until this cleared up, or that I wouldn't even be able to race.
But after 200 meters, I began the main set. Things were feeling a little better, so I tried another flip turn. No Pain! And it stayed that way thru the 3500m session, on the bike ride home, and up to now. Crisis averted! Something like this is always happening in the last 2 weeks before a big taper. I assume my brain just gets more sensitive to the normal wear and tear feelings that go with life and harder training. I presume that's a sign of improved focus?
Fri/Sat/Sun, I did my long run, long ride, and long swim, then traveled Sun/Mon back to Pac NW. The run was great: 17.25 mi in 2:30. Last year, same place, 4 weeks before IM CDA, was was doing 16.5 in 2:29. I'm not any faster, but I think I have more "endurance", meaning I can hold the pace for a longer time, hopefully being able to hold sub 10 min miles on race day.
The Saturday ride was a series of killer climbs. It was really hot - 90+F downvalley, and I didn't want to go face that. So I strung together a bunch of out'n backs on the hills near my home, all between 7500 and 10,000', where it was "only" in the low 80s by the end of the ride. 6200' of climbing in 62 miles, with two climbs of 1000 and 1900', and 4 more of about 700'. The downhills did NOT last long enough, IMO.
Sunday was a recovery run and a steady swim in the rapidly warming outdoor pool - they don;t expect it to get so sunny for so long (usually afternoon storms cools the air and the water. So the pool was bath-lie, probably 85-6F. I trudged through 4150 yds. I try to deal with the boredom of steady hour+ pool swims by tricking myself in some way. This time, I did "intervals" of 2000/1000/500/250/125/75/50... pausing long enough after each to drain my goggles and stretch my shoulders. It did work, knowing each "intervals" was half as long as the one before. "Well, you just did 2000, 1000 ought to be a piece of cake" (Heh-heh).
I kinda wish the race was in two weeks, I think I've got all the fitness I'm gonna get (CTL is up to 121 at this point). But I'll work the next two weeks with good honest efforts each time out, and watch very carefully for excess fatigue along the way. But the sea level oxygen should help a lot. I don;t go any faster, but I sure get less tired along the way!
Thanks for listening. I feel better.
I had a second session with PT and feel good.
Tomorrow I will test the leg on the 3 hour long run. That should expose any further issues.
I will shut it down if it flares up again.
SS mid week update:
Hanging on.......barely....as many of you have also eluded.
Don - good luck out there on the 3 hour adventure. Be safe!
Al - looks tough to execute the 3 day long stuff like you did. I know my bike would be a rough event day after long run if I tried that one.
Moved things around this week so far and did back to back intensity bikes yesterday and today...
...not fun.
Bike 1: https://www.strava.com/activities/336340080
Bike 2: https://www.strava.com/activities/336839857
Biking legs officially fried right now.
Did a 1 X 3,800M SLOG today as well. Trying to move the Bike and swims up in the week to accommodate travel and ability to only run over the weekend.
Funny thing happened during the bike session this morning as I was going through my playlist. I heard several of you singing to me which helped me get through the dark moments:
First I heard Al T. in the background singing something to the effect of ".......Its a long way to the top if you want to go to KONA...." Listen closely: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYmFd7Vg2Z4
Now that got me going.....but then a few songs later, I heard Tim Cronk singing something about, "........its my life, its now or never, ain't gonna live for ever. I just wanna live while I'm alive......." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SKFwtgUJHs
Then things got really dark and thankfully Ed Croucher kicked it up a notch and started shouting: "..........well I won't back down, no I won't back down. You can stand me up at the Gates of Hell but I won't back down......" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2h9HPZhqHE
With all that, there was only one thing to do given we have about 1.5 weeks of real work left...........keep moving forward!
Have a great week all!
SS
@SS - thanks for your leadership of the IMLP team, kudos and encouragement...you rock!
@Don - Hope you have a pain free 3hr run
After a week of no swimming to let my shoulder abrasion heal, I seem to have lost some of my "feel of the water". My paces are a good 5-8" slower. However, the fitness is still there. I did my long swim on Sunday (skipped the 3 hr ride to rest the legs) at my usual effort, but pace was about 5"/100 yds slower. This week, I'm trying to hit the pool 4 days.
After getting a massage and chiro adjustment, I felt very refreshed and nailed my run interval wko and felt better than last week on my bike intervals today. Tomorrow will be my first time doing the 18 mile run RR. I might be wrong but after doing so many Z2 miles, the run RR looks to be an easier effort than the usual long runs. My challenge will be slowing down to maintain the Z1+30" and Z1 pace.
These next 3 weeks I'm focus on body maintenance with foam rolling every 2 days, two more massages and one more chiro adjustment.
Uh, I'm not really a heavy metal fan, but THIS clip has been getting me out the door to run for over a decade now. It starts out, "I want to run...", and @ about 5:15 in, he starts singing "Mexico", but morphs to "Mexi-KONA": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwHWeIqb9Zs
For the first hour and a half, I was fine (which was encouraging).
Then it got progressively more "achy" and I stopped when I got to the point where I would need to "gut out" the last hour.
I chose not to and plan to finish the last hour tonight, unless you guys think I shouldn't.
I will get my swim in either way.
I chatted with Bill Bejin and he suggested I not run tonight and check with the team for their thoughts.
Recap: PT identified some running mechanics that were causing my mid foot pain. During push off, I was not pushing off with my big toe. I was dropping my foot over and pushing off with my 2nd and 3rd toes. This was causing pain in that area.
I corrected this and the next night I went out and ran 9 miles pain free. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but it felt so good that I kept pushing right along. That was two weeks ago. Last week I alternated 7 mile and 4 mile runs every other day, so no back to back run days.
This week I moved to daily runs, today being the 4th in a row with no foot pain. I did find that the Hoka Clifton’s I’ve been wearing these past four weeks were causing ankle and achilles tendon pain. I switched back to my usual shoes and my ankle pain is getting better. I’m a heel striker and the midfoot strike that the Clifton’s create wasn’t working for me when I increased the mileage.
I have been working on increasing the mileage, but at a slower 9:00 pace. Today’s run was 7.5 miles at an 8:45 pace. Even factoring in the heat, up to 100 degrees, it was the best run all week.
I’ve kept up on the bike at least three sessions a week following the OS workouts. Last Saturday, I set out for a 50+ mile ride at race pace. Sort of a pseudo RR just to see how things come together to see how the trainer rides were progressing. Family commitments have kept me from long rides on the weekend, so it was nice to get out on the road.
At the halfway point, I had some extra time so I decided to continue up this narrow road that went up….and continued to go up. Most of it was in the 8% range, but there were three stretches in the 13%-15% range. The last 8 miles were a chore, as my legs were toast. Best I could manage was 30 watts short of my HIM race pace. My three hour pace needs work here.
Sunday was a heartbreaking day on the bike front. I was in my garage, balancing my bike against my leg, while I put my helmet on. I manage to tip my bike over in the process and the top tube landed perfectly on the top corner of my Kicker trainer, cracking the frame. So, now my bike is out of commission for the next month while it gets repaired. Training shall continue on a mountain bike.
Take care all and have a great 4th.
Stuart you GOT THIS!!!
My BF had a bike accident 3 weeks prior to IMPL and broke his clavicle. He too was cleared by ortho to attempt IM. The swim was rather rough but he kept his injured arm under water to complete his stroke. On the bike he put most of his weight on the uninjured arm and he would sit up to drink to keep balanced on the bike. He wore his sling on the run, the volunteers were able to help him put it on. After the first loop his neck was killing him from the sling so he took a shirt (or plan ahead and bring an ace wrap) to cradle his arm against his body. BUT hopefully with 3 weeks to go you won't need a sling. With that said you TOTALLY got this, you have 17hrs!!!!
So today, I did my long swim, and it was the slowest swim I have ever done in training! I am really sad about this!! Yesterday was the 3 hr run...again a regular suck fest, and ended up on my slowest pace yet!!
I am coming into this race with what has been my best body composition going into an IM. Training has been consistent and there have been no injuries; knock on wood!
Does anyone else have these problems? I almost feel like all of you guys are superstars and I am doing something wrong :-(
Also, wondering about dialing back the bike tomorrow and Sunday...I dunno...I guess I am just in that sad emotional IM training state. BLAH!
It's ME that will be the slow poke...LOL!
As for me, I did PR my 3800m swim today, so that is my "whipped cream on shit" for the week (my run sucked and my quad is injured).
Mandy,
I too had a poor ride last weekend. It's not all roses in my camp. Many of these guys and gals are superstars and have the years of training to back their performance. We are getting near the end and the cumulative lode is increasing. I'm not sure what to say about the slower workouts, perhaps fatigue or other factors. If you have put in the work you will be ready come July 26th. Just focus on execution as we move in to the last race rehearsal.
This is without a doubt the most tiring week of IM training. You should expect your long run to be at the slowest pace compared to all other training sessions. For one thing, that's what the coaches say to do in their notes for that run ("LRP + 30 sec, then LRP" compared to all the MP we have been throwing in.) For another, 18 miles/3 hours is no joke - its about the limit you can run and still expect to be able to do any training this weekend. Swimming the day after is bound to reflect that accumulating fatigue as well.
As to the bikes this weekend ... do whatever it takes to get in the 5 hours on Saturday, going at your planned IM pace if you can't make the "Race Pace Plus". Pay very very close attention to nutrition, hydration, and pacing (no surging, trying to hammer up hills, etc) in order to get in the time. Follow that up with the race rehearsal next week, and it will pay wonders on race day.
just past the ausable turn around
At the out and back in hazleton
@Don,
Thank you!
Everyone have a safe and happy 4th of July weekend!
I had a good 3800M swim on Friday followed by what I classify as a character building ride today. As I was going back upstairs for my HR strap that I forgot I notice tired legs. After about 40' in to the ride I realized that I needed to take it easy so no 7X20@.75. I completed the ride with my strongest hour being the 5th @.72. I did get 3X10' @ .77 in this last hour but I know if I had done this earlier I would not have made the ride time.
The earlier hours were hard and it was a mental game especially until I made it over 2.5-3 hours. In any event not the ride as planned but a confidence builder for sure.
Why? Partial fatigue but also nutrition is playing a role as I continue to lose weight. I'm down 3 lbs this week and it's showing in my performance I believe. Perhaps too much too fast and I definitely noticed it on the last couple one rides last weekend and today. Wednesday's 90' ride this week was fine with the intensity.
Weekly update – excellent!
But first I want to give kudos to this crew for all the fantastic motivations thru the constant posting of trials and tribulations. I am so proud to be part of the team and this year’s IMLP entourage! While I don’t post quite as often as some, I do read everything and find all the motivation I need to keep me pushing! Thank you all!
Monday – Outstanding Swim
My post-work pool swim went better than I had hoped in part because I had to push hard, especially the second half. I got there fairly late and knew I was going to be within minutes of pool closing by the end of my workout. I did make it – 4200 yds in 1:10. My fastest long swim ever. Was out of the pool with 1 minute to spare!
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/819057226
Tuesday - Admin day
I had to drive north into the woods, 4 hours to the first stop to do a new hire training. That took almost 4 hours, then another hour ride to the other forestry camp for software installs. In all, the driving was about 100 miles on asphalt, 100 miles on private gravel roads. Long day!
Wednesday - AM run
Just a EP 5 mile run. Really was all I could fit in running on gravel roads. Passed the US Customs shack twice but it was empty (don’t open till 6 I think). More training and some data updates then off for a harvest operation tour. Ended the day back at the first forestry camp for additional training there too.
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/820823877
Thursday – Outstanding Long Run
Following the 4 hour commute on gravel and paved roads I had to put in a few hours at the office then a shopping visit with my elderly mother. With the events of the week so far I really didn’t know how the run would go. Started out easy, almost mindless running for a few miles until my pace settled in at my normal ‘all day’ pace. From there I could tell things were going OK. At 6 miles I began to focus on pace, working to hold just faster than my current overall average. At the 9.5 mile turnaround I was still feeling spunky and continued my just-faster-than-average pacing. At mile 14 it was really starting to be work but I kept on the gas. The last 2 miles were @ TP effort but just a few seconds faster than MP. Finish was strong, no fade. Very happy with the results. A real confidence builder.
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/821863235
Friday – Outstanding OWS
Had the day off (July 4 holiday) and after doing 2 hours of brush-hogging with a DR Trimmer I went to Brewer Lake for an extended OWS. Was wearing my sleeveless wetsuit, water temp about 67* so not too bad. Wind at about 10mph from the beach meant the first leg would be downwind, second across the wind and waves and the final leg back into the wind. Google Earth measure of the GPS track was 2.4 miles in 1:15 and was my fastest long OWS ever giving me still more confidence in my IMLP build.
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/822617914
Saturday – More solid work
Began with a EP run to the HS track for a 4 lap TP interval and back home at EP+. Was on my bike within the hour for a 110 mile, 6 hour bike. Plan was to target 160 watts (0.72 IF). Ended up with 163 NP / 158 AP @ 0.739 IF, 1.03 VI. While I did manage to maintain power thru the full ride, there was NO WAY I could have run a marathon, or even a 10K after that. So the ride was more of a ‘Could’ split and not a ‘Should’ split.
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/823591149
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/823596261
Overall ride:
5:59; 163NP / 158AP; VI = 1.03; IF = 0.739
Hourly details:
Today will be a 3:30 ride, 66 miles. Will attempt to push 170-172 for as long as my legs will allow. By the end of the ride I expect to be toast!
Race Day is 3 weeks from today !!!!!!! Bring it!