Happy Friday all, just wanted to drop in. First, Peter I just had one comment after looking at the toe - Perhaps some bigger shoes Mr. Baggins? My week so far has been good as I toe the line between digging a fatigue ditch I can't get out of and putting in as much volume as I can. 2 good swims so far with one today and one tomorrow on tap, my runs have been good, esp feeling like I am nailing down the long run. My bike work this week was nice in that I was able to get outside rather than locked on the trainer. Now it did have to happen at 4 AM, so that was a bit rough, but it was worth it for mental cost if nothing else.
Just a couple more big weeks left! Have a great weekend all!
Some decent workouts so far this week. Not a ton of running although I did manage to follow-up Sunday's 18-miler with a good LT run with a colleague on Tuesday knocking out 3x mile repeats at 6:02, 5:55 and 5:58 (ok, net downhill with a tailwind and extended recoveries, but still...).
I also hit the trainer for rides of 75' and 90' on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively and put up some really nice power numbers despite it being my first indoor ride in over a month. Both workouts had a 14' warmup then Wednesday I did 2x29'(3') @0.88 and 0.92 and Thursday it was 45'(3'), 28 @ 0.86 and 0.88. The Thursday ride was totally unscheduled but I found I had the time.
Perhaps the highlight of the week thus far was ramping up swimming volume. In anticipation of next week's vacation without a pool I managed to do 4 swims totaling 15,000 yd this week. Monday 4300, Wednesday 4300 (after biking), Thursday 2000 (after biking) and the really cool swim was today...4000 meters in a 50m pool. Not my first time in an LCM pool but for sure my first legit workout in one. It just so happened that the plan called for an RR swim of 3800m nonstop so I did a 200m warmup then just started swimming and swimming and swimming. My time was, unsurprisingly, a pretty laughable 1:12:20. Actually I then converted 2.4 miles to meters and realized I should have added an extra 100 (~2 mins). But on the other hand if the wetsuit gives me 2-3 mins in the race and then I lose 5-7 from sighting and not swimming straight I still end up in the 1:15 range which would not disappoint me at all given that swimming is a true weakness for me. My splits for the RR swim were rock solid and all within 1-2 sec/100, each 500m was: 9:21, 9:26, 9:28, 9:35, 9:37, 9:35, 9:36. You can really see how although the paces are solid my form really falls apart and my strokes per length gradually goes up and ends solidly 2 strokes more by the end of the workout compared with at the beginning . https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/865638111. That said, I swam a really easy RPE and when I got out of the pool I felt totally fine and like I had barely done a workout. All told it was pretty encouraging.
Now I'm at this vacation house in Michigan preparing not only for my 2 weekend bike workouts but also at least 3 rides next week Monday-Thursday targeting >400 miles cumulatively over the 5 rides in 6 days. The final biking fitness push before the race......
On the IMChat course this weekend, with 25+ campers keeping me pretty busy. Rode the full course today + 6mi brick. Chat has about 8mi of really bad admin roads to get out of town then it gets better. It's a "sneaky hard" course, but not as challenging as IMWI, but with some very fast and long sections. Hills on the run though are tougher, they hit you about mile 21-25. But Madison the town beat Chattanooga hands down.
I actually had two complete days off this week before the camp, as a consequence of some admin stuff combined with general indolence. But I plan on going big on the run next week, as penance.
I had a solid weekend of riding. Worked yesterday morning so I took to the trainer to avoid afternoon traffic. I did the GF style of workout- 2x15 min FTP, then Vo2 intervals followed by some Z3 to round out a 2.5 hr ride. A bit shorter than what the plan called for by much higher intensity. Then today I did a 90 miles in 4:50 where my RPP intervals turned into Z3 intervals. I had been worried about hitting RPP with fatigue from a higher intensity ride yesterday, but once I got warmed up I felt great! Trying to get in extra bike work this weekend/next week since I'll be in Italy for work all of week 18. I'm very happy to know that I only will do one more long ride!
Had another good weekend exploring NJ during a family weekend in Ocean City.
Thur - Left work early to head down. I bailed out at exit 8 on NJ Tpk then road 103mi at a record pace to get in just before sunset. https://www.strava.com/activities/368545069
Sat - Looped down and back to Cape May for another 65mi. I remember Rich saying a lot "do cool things with your fitness"... so happ to be able to explore more of my State on bike leading up to the big day. https://www.strava.com/activities/369716911
This week's priorities ... 1) more focus on the swimming volume (learned today both my local pools are closed now for refurb so need to sort something quick!) 2) successful final long run on Thur 3) finish getting bike setup dialed in (tune up + new cage and rear mount)
Any word on where/when the team dinner's going to be? Already looking forward to that!
Race rehearsal on Saturday netted me a 10 min PR on swim (1:13) at Madison Open Water Swim. Followed up by a very long ride. Heat caused me to adjust for the first two hours to bucket of chicken pace, then the thunderstorms allowed my to crush the last 4.5 hours. Road construction in Verona almost cost me as a pontoon on a trailer missed me by 6", 1/4 mile later my brakes failed (wet) going to a changing red light. Lucky the cross traffic 4 drivers saw me or I would be dead right now. Stopped 1/4 mile later for water refuel, settle the nerves and a power ball ticket. Third time lucky right?
Run still needs a lot more work over the next two weeks. Bike and swim are there.
For me this was a run focus week. I put in 45 miles and peaked with a brutal 19 miler yesterday. It has been well over 100 degrees in LA, so I headed north to Santa Barbara. I ran from my Wife's Aunt's house in downtown up to UCSB and back. UCSB is my alma mater so there was definitely some Nostalgia running in my old stomping ground.
The first half was cool, slightly downhill, and everything was gumdrops and rainbows. Once at UCSB I did a lap around the lagoon which was still nice. On the way back heading inland, I encountered what felt like a wall of heat and it was slightly uphill. I tried to push on the gas a bit and got a handful of quicker miles in, buy my HR skyrocketed and I tried my best just not to slow down.
This coming week will be a big bike week for me, which I am looking forward to because this last run really stung!
Since some others have, I will post my update here. Last week was a pretty good sized volume week for me capped with a full on RR on Saturday. It was hot and muggy here, so it proved to be a bit tougher than I initially anticipated, but I got it done. I did a swim on Sunday to help recovery along.
This coming week is mondo volume week for me. I am targeting 50 miles running, 300 riding, and a couple long swims. I am looking for that volume magic!
I had a decent training week, with long bike/brick run on Friday and long run on Sunday. I'm on the Interm. minimalist IM plan due to family and work constraints. I got 109 miles in 5hrs 22 mins with a 40 min brick run with 8:45 pace. The long run Sunday felt good too, with 16.7 miles in 2hrs 30 mins 8:58 pace. Legs were not tired when I did the long run, so was able to increase pace the last half to neg split. Race day may not be so kind to the legs. Long swims have been steady between 1:52 to 1:55 per 100 meters during 3000M continuous swims. Feeling ok about that. Looking forward to dialing in for the long bike/run race rehearsal (112 bike/1hr run) and a 3 hour run in the next week. Good luck everyone!
My week 16 finished up with two good rides to start my family vacation at a rental house in Michigan. On Saturday I did 114 mi in 5:15 with excellent power, then on Sunday I followed with 70 mi in 3:18 and again with good power. I came up a bit short on time since the plan called for a 3:30 ride but hey, I was 15 minutes over the day before. No bricks as I'm very focused on biking during this vacation week then will resume running more towards the end of week 17. In other words, the plan is out the window Monday-Thursday as I enjoy my vacation and attempt 3 more rides of 110, 70 and 85 miles on Tues/Wed/Thurs, respectively.
Comments
My week so far has been good as I toe the line between digging a fatigue ditch I can't get out of and putting in as much volume as I can. 2 good swims so far with one today and one tomorrow on tap, my runs have been good, esp feeling like I am nailing down the long run. My bike work this week was nice in that I was able to get outside rather than locked on the trainer. Now it did have to happen at 4 AM, so that was a bit rough, but it was worth it for mental cost if nothing else.
Just a couple more big weeks left! Have a great weekend all!
I also hit the trainer for rides of 75' and 90' on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively and put up some really nice power numbers despite it being my first indoor ride in over a month. Both workouts had a 14' warmup then Wednesday I did 2x29'(3') @0.88 and 0.92 and Thursday it was 45'(3'), 28 @ 0.86 and 0.88. The Thursday ride was totally unscheduled but I found I had the time.
Perhaps the highlight of the week thus far was ramping up swimming volume. In anticipation of next week's vacation without a pool I managed to do 4 swims totaling 15,000 yd this week. Monday 4300, Wednesday 4300 (after biking), Thursday 2000 (after biking) and the really cool swim was today...4000 meters in a 50m pool. Not my first time in an LCM pool but for sure my first legit workout in one. It just so happened that the plan called for an RR swim of 3800m nonstop so I did a 200m warmup then just started swimming and swimming and swimming. My time was, unsurprisingly, a pretty laughable 1:12:20. Actually I then converted 2.4 miles to meters and realized I should have added an extra 100 (~2 mins). But on the other hand if the wetsuit gives me 2-3 mins in the race and then I lose 5-7 from sighting and not swimming straight I still end up in the 1:15 range which would not disappoint me at all given that swimming is a true weakness for me. My splits for the RR swim were rock solid and all within 1-2 sec/100, each 500m was: 9:21, 9:26, 9:28, 9:35, 9:37, 9:35, 9:36. You can really see how although the paces are solid my form really falls apart and my strokes per length gradually goes up and ends solidly 2 strokes more by the end of the workout compared with at the beginning . https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/865638111. That said, I swam a really easy RPE and when I got out of the pool I felt totally fine and like I had barely done a workout. All told it was pretty encouraging.
Now I'm at this vacation house in Michigan preparing not only for my 2 weekend bike workouts but also at least 3 rides next week Monday-Thursday targeting >400 miles cumulatively over the 5 rides in 6 days. The final biking fitness push before the race......
I actually had two complete days off this week before the camp, as a consequence of some admin stuff combined with general indolence. But I plan on going big on the run next week, as penance.
Thur - Left work early to head down. I bailed out at exit 8 on NJ Tpk then road 103mi at a record pace to get in just before sunset.
https://www.strava.com/activities/368545069
Fri - Long run (16.5mi) on the boardwalk. Faded a bit in the back half but good pace overall.
https://www.strava.com/activities/369015030
Sat - Looped down and back to Cape May for another 65mi. I remember Rich saying a lot "do cool things with your fitness"... so happ to be able to explore more of my State on bike leading up to the big day.
https://www.strava.com/activities/369716911
This week's priorities ...
1) more focus on the swimming volume (learned today both my local pools are closed now for refurb so need to sort something quick!)
2) successful final long run on Thur
3) finish getting bike setup dialed in (tune up + new cage and rear mount)
Any word on where/when the team dinner's going to be? Already looking forward to that!
Race rehearsal on Saturday netted me a 10 min PR on swim (1:13) at Madison Open Water Swim. Followed up by a very long ride. Heat caused me to adjust for the first two hours to bucket of chicken pace, then the thunderstorms allowed my to crush the last 4.5 hours. Road construction in Verona almost cost me as a pontoon on a trailer missed me by 6", 1/4 mile later my brakes failed (wet) going to a changing red light. Lucky the cross traffic 4 drivers saw me or I would be dead right now. Stopped 1/4 mile later for water refuel, settle the nerves and a power ball ticket. Third time lucky right?
Run still needs a lot more work over the next two weeks. Bike and swim are there.
19:03 hours 217 miles tss 1024.
The first half was cool, slightly downhill, and everything was gumdrops and rainbows. Once at UCSB I did a lap around the lagoon which was still nice. On the way back heading inland, I encountered what felt like a wall of heat and it was slightly uphill. I tried to push on the gas a bit and got a handful of quicker miles in, buy my HR skyrocketed and I tried my best just not to slow down.
This coming week will be a big bike week for me, which I am looking forward to because this last run really stung!
This coming week is mondo volume week for me. I am targeting 50 miles running, 300 riding, and a couple long swims. I am looking for that volume magic!