IM CHOO Training Wk July 6 - 12 2015
GUESS WHAT IM CHOO TEAM?
You are NOW officially in Ironman Training!
At 12 weeks out from CHOO, Coach Rich and Coach Patrick have now crowned and officiated you into IM world. Some of you are coming off OutSeason, Bike Focus, Get Faster, HIM, etc, some of you tested in the last couple weeks and now it is official. The great thing about Endurance Nation Ironman training is, you don't have to kiss your family friends and coworkers goodbye for the next 12 weeks. With effective training for the "everyday athlete" you should still have time for a life outside of compression socks and power meters!
Make sure to watch the videos, podcasts and blogs that are attached to each week of training on the website.
Ok lets here it, make some noise. How was testing, how has training been up to now. Any questions for the team?
Like my picture reminder says.... MAKE SURE TO REST! As the 5th discipline in IRONMAN training, it often gets overlooked. Remember to rest. Your body (and your family) will thank you!
Peace, Love and Sweat!
- Your trusty Race Captain, Mariah
#EN4Keys
Comments
I'll be a day ahead of everyone, with my big bikes in Friday's when possible. That being said, I had a great first swim yesterday. Not sure if all of you read the awesome post on the wetrinome? If not, I highly recommend it. I'm still figuring it out with how it will work best for me. The first thing I noticed is it slows me down in the beginning of my sets which allows me to get in a true negative split. If anyone has tips for it, I'm all ears.
Skipped the hills since I added those to my first big volume day on Friday.
Let's do this!
Saturday was my longest ride in over 3 months. It took a lot out of me and I was dragging all day yesterday. This morning I woke up feeling real good. I got in a brisk 45 minute run before work. After work I hit the pool for a good swim.
Mariah hit the nail on the head. Make sure you're getting the right amount of rest to absorb all of the work you will be putting in. You might not feel it right away but not getting enough Z's will eventually catch up to you.
@Tom, I agree. A lot of people complained about Perform but I feel like it is more palatable later in the day after several hours of training and/or racing than Gatorade is. One of the things I am doing in races is starting off with my bike loaded up with Perform, per the latest Core diet webinar, and then switching to Gatorade once I need to fuel up at an aid station.
Ok, I'm a day day ahead of everyone in the USA. here in Shanghai. I have day two workout one complete. Workout two, my swim will be tonight. The new run interval numbers were tough this morning, first time on the treadmill in months! Three Cyclones converging on Southeast Asia, it has been raining for a week.
Traveling back to the States for a couple weeks and I hope to not miss a workout. Do my long run Thursday morning. Fly out at 4pm and arrive in Michigan at 6pm same day. Looks like a long open water swim with the Michigan crew Friday. They tell me the lake is warm...64 degrees, I may die after being in the jungle this long.
Looking for my best training 12 week training block ever!
If you track numbers:
Today 102.5 CTL 113.2ATL -15.4 TSB
I'm getting halfway excited to do this training and am happy/grateful there are so many IM veterans in this group. This will be my first time - hope you don't tired with all my questions.
I did my first long day last weekend and it was pretty uneventful (which is good). I started swimming in the dark, but it still got very warm on the run. Instead of a negative split run, I had to slow down for the second half to get my heart rate back in a good place. Overall happy with the 6 hours of training, but it did give me a new found respect for the full IM distance. Glad I am here, I have faith in the plans and all these virtual training partners. It will be fun.
Like most of you, I am supposed to (key words) start the IM plan this week. Unfortunately, I will be a week or two behind on the running after getting diagnosed with an SI joint strain. I had a great massage this weekend and start PT today, so hopefully I'll be lacing up the running shoes within two weeks. I will be doing the bike and swim workouts as best I can over the next two weeks.
I look forward to tracking you hard chargers here in the forums and on Strava, and using your progress and work as motivation.
Got the run and the swim in today. I didn't execute either one how I wanted. I wasn't able to hit Z4 on the run and I faded really bad on the swim to the point where I cut it 15 minutes shorter than I had planned. I was really sick 2 weeks ago for about 5 days. I lost some strength there and I don't think I have it all back quite yet. Tomorrow is another day. Keep up the good work everyone.
I know I'm really training when I get diagnosed with a double ear infection. I get one or two every summer. All thanks to my ear canals that are the size of a five year old's. I'm out of the water for the week... Missed the bike today too. Resting never hurt anyone. Or at least I keep telling myself that.
Ditto for you Emily! Bummer!
I had a really solid bike tonight. I worked some Strava segment efforts into the workout in place of the assigned VO2 3 x 3 but did the 8' and 10' efforts as written. I'm gonna get those few remaining segments on the rail trail someday soon. Did get one tonight. (I know its sully, but its fun!) Here are the details: 59' total, 15.6 miles @ .95IF overall. Intervals:
6' @ 1.19IF
10' @1.00IF
8' @ .99IF
1:35 @ 1.40IF
1:18 @ 1.53IF
Man it's hard though when you're trying to keep a negative split going. I guess I just try to run them like I would ride them.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/827156667
PS: I'm digging the new forum update on my phone. I can actually see what I type ; )
Tough intervals this morning. I bumped my FTP last week after my power test and this was my first real interval session at the new numbers. The 3x4' Z5 intervals hurt bad. The good news is that I finished them according to plan. Quick run to follow this afternoon while my son is at baseball practice.
Emily: I had an ear infection before from too much swimming and I now religiously use ear plugs. I have never had another infection and I actually prefer the way the ear plugs feel even in a race situation. Just a thought!
Question about my Big Day this past weekend:
I was at our beach house in Dauphin Island, AL for the weekend and performed my Big Day there. Starting in the dark at about 5:20 I ran 30' and then biked about 4:20. When I started my run the sun was beginning to blaze and the location of my house is absolutely 100% shadeless. I could not run without my heart rate spiking. There was basically no running pace that would allow my HR to stay below 155-160. I would start running and when it got over about 155, I would walk. I repeated this for the remainder of the 1 hour run. My question is: Is this normal in these conditions? Is there anything else I could have done to make this run more steady? I had a similar situation at the IM NOLA 70.3 and had to walk a lot more than planned. Any comments/help is appreciated. Thanks
In my experience, totally normal. I'm up the road from Dauphin Island (in Mobile), and I see the same thing every summer. I run by pace, and HR is just something to keep track of to see if something's off. I find that RPE is a lot better than HR in the heat. It looks like you're in NOLA, so this kind of brutal heat/humidity shouldn't be new to you. You just have to slow down. A lot. I'm still on the 1/2-IM plan until mid-August, then switching over to the IM plan, but I had a race rehearsal last Saturday -- bike 3 hr/run 1 hr. Ended up moving the run to Sunday morning, partly because it was so hot and humid. I knew it was going to be a death march. So ... no real help to offer, just commiseration!
Yep, I've tried the ear plugs. The ear rinse (part white vinegar part rubbing alcohol) works best for me.... When I remember to actually use it. Ha! Lesson learned. Again.
@Scott, yes the 20 watt gain me a hero last week but a zero in Z5. no problem with the 95-100 but epic fail on the 110%
All my activities are on Strava. https://www.strava.com/athletes/5519845
Thursday long run was ok. 84 and 100% humidity in Shanghai. On the plane back to the USA. I will arrive in time for my Friday swim and run.
Bring on the weekend!
The week has been going good so far. Like everyone has said, Wednesday's bike got tough as the three Z5 sets progressed. Today's long run went well considering we approached 100 degrees. When it gets much above 90 degrees, I have to focus on HR zones and not pace. Had to really slow it down to maintain Z1 for the first 60'. Nutrition was executed fairly well, but I still saw cardio-drift during that Z1 effort. Things actually felt better once I opened up my stride for the Z2 and Z3 sets, even though the splits didn't come down dramatically.
Emily Brinkley is my training partner, so tomorrow I start shifting my daily schedule up by one day, as she mentioned in a previous reply. This means that I'll have the long bike tomorrow. Luckily, my new Normatec boots feel like they actually work to get my legs fresh and ready for back to back efforts. Hope everyone has a strong weekend full of quality workouts!
I will hit yesterday's bike tonight; my workouts are screwy this week. Although I am supposed to be in run jail for two weeks, the PT gave me the green light for a 20 min. run tomorrow (after one week). To say I am looking forward to it is an understatement. I had dry needling for the first time today. That stuff is not joke!
Thanks, EB. I'm not quite out of the jail yet; more like a probationary work release!
I did yesterday's bike tonight. I didn't want to push it and aggravate anything so I pulled the plug after a little more than half. It felt good though, so I feel like I'm heading in the right direction at the right time.
Michael- the heat is always tough, nice job gettin it done!
John- def take it slow so u don't end up back in jail!
Tom- congrats on a good run!
I had a great long run tonight! My strategy for these is whatever pace I feel like. I find I do much better without any pressure. 8 mi at 10:56 pace. Most miles were roughly Z2+30" (or Z1-1', however you prefer to look at it!) with the last 3 about 15" faster. I had chicken and waffles for lunch and ice cream in the afternoon and apparently that worked for me!!
I've had a couple good days. Had a strong bike/run on Wednesday. Yesterday morning I got in a good swim before work and did the long run after work. I planned my run to get a lot more hills than I'm used to and the last few miles were pretty hard. I got a good night's rest and this morning cranked out another short run before work. I'll be hitting the pool after work for the swim.
Good luck with those workouts today everyone!