Ok, I am back after my race rehearsal last week! Had to take a few days off.
Swam 3200 yds today! Plan some type of bike tomorrow and a swim! We will see what happens on Sunday!
Will arrive Louisville late afternoon Thursday and would be interested in driving the bike course on Friday if we have time and anyone else is interested!
@Danielle, x2 on the nice run. As to your fatigue @16, without trying to sound trite... To me that sounds like a 'normal' feeling for a human at mile 16 of a run. Keep after it!
Based on weather forecasts, college football, the international date line, and a flight to Seoul, I hacked my hack Saturday. I started the day with a 3 hour bike ride, took a nap, and then hit my 18 mile run at dusk. Ran along the ocean, so although the ambient temps were still high 80's, I got a decent breeze off the water. Spent this morning watching what I suspected would be an ugly game (it was) for my Auburn Tigers, now I'm at the airport waiting for my flight.
Keep on it everyone, there's a light starting to shine at the end!
@ Danielle - ditto on everyone else's comments. You sound like you are in an awesome position for a podium spot. Keep it up.
Today - woke up in the Holiday Inn Express in the urban metropolis of Perry, FL. Ran 4 miles as an out and back easy except for 1 @ 8:13 which is my sad fast pace at the moment. Had breakfast with my wife and daughter and drove on to Blountstown, FL where I pulled out the bike and gear and proceeded to bike the rest of the way to my parents house. I threw down on this ride and went race pace instead of ABP. I looped past the house and came back to hit 60 miles in 2hrs 43 mins ... near the top end of my flat course ability. Gabbed with my folks all afternoon and then off to the 40th reunion where I gabbed all night with people who had familiar names but most of whom I didn't remember. Fortunately, there were a few I knew well and it turned out to be worth the trip but that will probably be the last HS reunion for me. I think we had as many on the deceased list as who showed up for this.
@stephan never say never. I never thought it would happen for me, but a little faster and a lot older got me there. My marathon is 3:44 not fast but at 47 that is good enough for BQ - 10 . I bet all this training volume will give you a massive boost if you do decide to go after it.
@Danielle your volume has been amazing. I am sure it pays off big time come race day. My weekend at Reach the Beach was a good confidence builder. 3 runs 4.5. @ 8:08 pace 8.7 @ 8:02 pace 4 @ 8:22 screwed up this one by not using the inhaler, had a side stitch from a last minute panicked chug of Gatorade. Anyway overall felt good about my run. I expect to run much slower at Lou but at least it feels the legs are there. Final RR next week is at an Aqua bike race at Redman Triathlon. Will find out where bike and swim are. I might not get the time I wanted when I signed up, at this race but slowly more confident about at least finishing the darn thing.
@Anu - Nice pace! I wish I could run that fast. @Danielle - I echo everyone here and think you're going to rock the race. Everyone is doing great! My long run went really well for me - it's actually the best long run I've had before an IM, so I'll take it. I'm feeling really tired right now, but I'm chugging along and can't wait for the last RR on Saturday. I'm slow in all three disciplines compared to everyone here (and elsewhere). But I'm determined. I'm getting excited for race day. Hopefully the weather will cooperate (it's supposed to be 100 here today - blah!). Keep it up everyone
@Danielle on your run, have you read the thread on I think the training forum with Coach P's guide to ra ing by heart rate? My runner instincts say go by your HR for the initial miles rather than pace. It's the only way to determine the pace at which your body will let you consume and keep down nutrition . with that said if you ran several miles at Z3 pace the fatigue is normal. Awesome run BTW.
Well the Hack-A-Thon continues. Sometimes on the fly. I did a sprint with my son on Saturday so I knew I wouldn't be able to do the rides as written. My answer was to do a 2 hour ride on both Thursday and Friday. I also added a swim on Friday morning and a 6 mile brick after the Friday ride. No sense in resting for a sprint, right?
Headed to the beach for the sprint on Saturday. 1500 yd swim, 12 mile bike and 5k. Coach P told em to build into it. Yeah right! Swam fairly hard, biked at Z3, and ran at Z3. When HR got high I slowed down. After the finish, I added a couple miles warm down for some extra volume. Had fun.
Today was supposed to my 5 hour ride. I started with a group but split into a twosome. Rode at what I thought was an easy pace for bout 80 miles. My training partner needed to stop so I kept going because I felt good. This is when I decided to hack on the go. I am concerned about family commitments next weekend so I decided to turn this into a race rehearsal. The next 32 miles were tough. The sun was up, the heat was beating on me and the wind decided to blow. Finished 112 miles and headed out for the brick. 6 miles. Really struggled with the heat, HR and pace (need to slow down). Legs felt good but felt dehydrated. Need to do a better job of hydrating on the bike.
Overall this has been a good week for me. Totals were 12,700yds swimming, 12:10 on bike, and 42.4 miles running. Looking forward to some rest, but recovering well and feeling pretty good. Looking forward to getting together in Lou.
@Everyone - apparently, middle school cross country race directors don't plan out as far in advance as Ironman athletes. My son has a race in Virginia on 7 Oct (and when you live on the other side of the planet from your family, you make every effort to support family when you can). Translation for the group - I'll be moving my route recon (& out and back ride) to sometime Friday morning (9 October). Sounds like that might be easier on folks that are traveling in as well. More to follow after this week, but getting the word out as early as I can.
Reunion over - today was drive back from Panama City, FL to Tampa. I gave myself the designated head start on the bike with my wife/daughter to follow in the car. They got to sleep in, have breakfast out with my folks then the chase is on. I've done this before and it motivates me to crank hard trying to beat them to the pick-up point 104 miles away. My legs were a little tired from yesterday's Always Be Racing pace but I started out strong. Just 12 miles later, bam, I flatted on the rear. Took out the tube and inspected for a puncture and found a staple that had penetrated. Fixed it but now I was behind schedule and had to make my water refill stops quicker. I was pushing hard through 50 miles when the heat was starting to get me, but I kept pushing as hard as possible. I thought I had her beat when I was within 200 yards of the gas station and just like that she goes by laughing! Yep, that's how my Sherpa rolls. I averaged 20.2 mph for this 104 compared to 22.5 mph for the 60 yesterday, but it made for a solid weekend. 1 more hard week to go. Running and swimming are the focus of this final big week.
Comments
@Danielle impressive run!
Ok, I am back after my race rehearsal last week! Had to take a few days off.
Swam 3200 yds today! Plan some type of bike tomorrow and a swim! We will see what happens on Sunday!
Will arrive Louisville late afternoon Thursday and would be interested in driving the bike course on Friday if we have time and anyone else is interested!
Based on weather forecasts, college football, the international date line, and a flight to Seoul, I hacked my hack Saturday. I started the day with a 3 hour bike ride, took a nap, and then hit my 18 mile run at dusk. Ran along the ocean, so although the ambient temps were still high 80's, I got a decent breeze off the water. Spent this morning watching what I suspected would be an ugly game (it was) for my Auburn Tigers, now I'm at the airport waiting for my flight.
Keep on it everyone, there's a light starting to shine at the end!
Today - woke up in the Holiday Inn Express in the urban metropolis of Perry, FL. Ran 4 miles as an out and back easy except for 1 @ 8:13 which is my sad fast pace at the moment. Had breakfast with my wife and daughter and drove on to Blountstown, FL where I pulled out the bike and gear and proceeded to bike the rest of the way to my parents house. I threw down on this ride and went race pace instead of ABP. I looped past the house and came back to hit 60 miles in 2hrs 43 mins ... near the top end of my flat course ability. Gabbed with my folks all afternoon and then off to the 40th reunion where I gabbed all night with people who had familiar names but most of whom I didn't remember. Fortunately, there were a few I knew well and it turned out to be worth the trip but that will probably be the last HS reunion for me. I think we had as many on the deceased list as who showed up for this.
My weekend at Reach the Beach was a good confidence builder.
3 runs
4.5. @ 8:08 pace
8.7 @ 8:02 pace
4 @ 8:22 screwed up this one by not using the inhaler, had a side stitch from a last minute panicked chug of Gatorade. Anyway overall felt good about my run. I expect to run much slower at Lou but at least it feels the legs are there. Final RR next week is at an Aqua bike race at Redman Triathlon. Will find out where bike and swim are.
I might not get the time I wanted when I signed up, at this race but slowly more confident about at least finishing the darn thing.
@Danielle - I echo everyone here and think you're going to rock the race.
Everyone is doing great! My long run went really well for me - it's actually the best long run I've had before an IM, so I'll take it. I'm feeling really tired right now, but I'm chugging along and can't wait for the last RR on Saturday. I'm slow in all three disciplines compared to everyone here (and elsewhere). But I'm determined. I'm getting excited for race day. Hopefully the weather will cooperate (it's supposed to be 100 here today - blah!).
Keep it up everyone
Headed to the beach for the sprint on Saturday. 1500 yd swim, 12 mile bike and 5k. Coach P told em to build into it. Yeah right! Swam fairly hard, biked at Z3, and ran at Z3. When HR got high I slowed down. After the finish, I added a couple miles warm down for some extra volume. Had fun.
Today was supposed to my 5 hour ride. I started with a group but split into a twosome. Rode at what I thought was an easy pace for bout 80 miles. My training partner needed to stop so I kept going because I felt good. This is when I decided to hack on the go. I am concerned about family commitments next weekend so I decided to turn this into a race rehearsal. The next 32 miles were tough. The sun was up, the heat was beating on me and the wind decided to blow. Finished 112 miles and headed out for the brick. 6 miles. Really struggled with the heat, HR and pace (need to slow down). Legs felt good but felt dehydrated. Need to do a better job of hydrating on the bike.
Overall this has been a good week for me. Totals were 12,700yds swimming, 12:10 on bike, and 42.4 miles running. Looking forward to some rest, but recovering well and feeling pretty good. Looking forward to getting together in Lou.
@Everyone - apparently, middle school cross country race directors don't plan out as far in advance as Ironman athletes. My son has a race in Virginia on 7 Oct (and when you live on the other side of the planet from your family, you make every effort to support family when you can). Translation for the group - I'll be moving my route recon (& out and back ride) to sometime Friday morning (9 October). Sounds like that might be easier on folks that are traveling in as well. More to follow after this week, but getting the word out as early as I can.