2016 IMCHOO Training Wk July 18 - July 25
Second “Big Day”
Things to pay attention to
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Nutrition
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Watching your pacing (are you making mistakes early on?)
Don’t “rest” in-between but no need to go full fledge tri geek and set up transitions where you sprint from event to event
What coaches want to see this week is us talking about how we are going to prepare. Post your “big day” check list here, a chance to even practice your “race plan” and “race report”
et’s not wait until after the big day to start discussing what we did or didn’t do. Lets plan it out, write it out and discuss it now so we can help each other. Then debrief the awesome Choo Crew after the big day on what worked and what didn’t.
This will set you up for your race rehearsals closer to race day.
****There is still time to find a friend who is racing CHOO and give them the best gift you could give someone— no not a power meter, a free 30 days of Endurance Nation. Sharing is caring! (We have a great incentive program)**** give them friend@endurancenation.us email and we take care of the rest!
Ya’ll are EN rock stars…. soooo what’s on your mind?
Comments
Not taking any chances. The guys at the shop that assembled the new bike have no real clue how to properly fit. Heading to a shop about an hour and a half away on Friday morning to get fitted properly before the BIG DAY. I must say, I am a little concerned about this ride. Swim- no problem, Run-no problem.... Still looking for the ignition switch on this new bike.
I have had my nutrition down for my other IMs and it seems to work well so i am following the same with gatorade endurance and stinger gels but still experimenting with things... Approx 300 cals work well. I use to also include carbopro and have been skipping that (plus I dont have it with me while on my month trip back to MN and not buying any more). I need to dial in better as my long rides have not been fueled as I would for race day so a definite planning.
My weekend is going to be alittle different. I am going down to Chatt and ride and run the course Saturday and Sunday. Mainly because I can't make it to camp week. Still waiting on specifics from coach P but I expect to ride bike loop twice on Sat and go find the hills for the run on and Sunday probably do one loop on bike. I'm super pumped, staying at the Crash Pad, heard it's awesome too.
I hope that this is not too much info. But please, tell me if I am way out of line. I will be using Gatorade, Water, Cliff Bars and a pb&j or two. I need to really work out some plans for hydration and nutrition. At Louisville I screwed up (to the tune of 3 or 4 bags of IV fluid). At LP I did much better, but needed to do more with nutrition. Gels caused gastro issues so I am really much more interested in "real food". I am trying to schedule my time as follows:
FRIDAY - Early workout. Noon Bike fitting. Home and prep for 'BIG DAY.' I will use the Race Day check sheet and pack everything into my Honda Element. I think the Element should be the official vehicle of Triathletes everywhere!!! Gatorade will be mixed in a 3 gal cooler. Fuel Belts flasks filled and belt filled with all food... I will be drinking and eating well throughout the day to be sure that I am full and hydrated. Sleep at 8:30.
SATURDAY - 5AM Breakfast. Meet fellow swimmer at the Susquehanna River for open water swim at 6AM. 35 mins upriver, turn around and 25 min downriver. 7:00 drive 15 minutes to bike start. 7:30 - 48 mile course, will add as needed. Two climbs and lots of rollers. Return at 11:30 and transition to run. Bike course beginning mimics Ross Landing to the Art Gallery District climb in Chattanooga. Temps begin at 68 and top out at 91. I will need to debrief as soon as I get in - checking consumption and weight post compared to pre.
I feel like I have lost so much time with this crash. My 5th ride on this new bike will be on Saturday. Hoping that this enlightens me. Starting to panic about being ready for training camp. Hope I am strong enough.
After 6 of these you would think that I have figured this out by now but obviously I have not as the last 2 I have bonked heavily on the run and ended up with a long day on both. My solution this go around is to use the course and not consume water (water= blood/sugar rollarcoaster). So with that, I'm using Gat for the bike 1.6 bottles per hour + half cliff bar. That gives me about 360 calories/hr which I use to race at 250 cal/hr with infinite and water and it just didn't work for me. On the run my plan is to hit 4oz of gat at every station + 1 gel per/hr, back half of run switch to coke to keep my eyes open and for the final push.
This plan is all new to me and I feel excited to have a better race then the last 2, my stomach training started last weekend and will continue until the race. Hopefully this will be a much better result.
TRAINING CAMP QUESTIONS:
I am trying to firm up arrival plans. I am thinking that I will arrive Wednesday afternoon so I need to find a place to stay Wednesday night. Anybody else coming in early? Maybe we can meet up.
Also, I think I need to investigate the Camp hotel and maybe see what I can do about a reservation... Anybody done a camp in the past?
Thanks, Mark
Also I my neighborhood has pretty good hills, amounting to about 58'/mi average ascent (from this morning's 6.4 mile run). When I looked at the profile for the run at Chattanooga most of the hill ascent is over two 7 mile stretches. By my calculations that could be as much as 85'/mi of ascent. For me the home course when coupled with temps in the 80's and high dew points above 70 degrees means for a VERY tough run -- one where I have never been able to take in enough fluid to overcome my running sweat rate in those conditions. A friend who ran this last year compared the run hills to one we climb on our bikes which runs from 5% to 11% over about 3/4 of a mile. The moral is run hills...lots of them. Run up them. Run down them. Do it again. And again. And its still September in the south for the race so it can be very warm and humid. Guess I'll need to stick with training in my hills at home.
Like Mark, I'm planning my Saturday with timing and routes and will be adding nutrition/hydration plan to start dialing in the race prep.
Hey Josh - Blue Plate and Urban Stack are really yummy places to eat. Blue Plate is right near Ross Landing/transition area. If you look up from the river and across the yard, there is an ice cream place and the Blue plate is right next to it. You will have to look up Urban Stack. My wife was driving that night!
And to every - Have a great race simulation! Looking forward to all the success stories!
I did my split run this morning and tonight and they were great. However between the weather and last nights run and today's split runs I do not think i have ever sweated like this. I think from training now in NC has allowed me to spend the last two days training in the MN heat/humidity without a problem. I had everyone under the sun saying don't do it and stay on the trainer and the treadmill but i would die before I had to do that! I did save my run for as late as possible tonight though. The temps were still almost at 90 but it was really nice out. Just got pretty dark but I loved it.
With nutrition on the run, I have never yet really figured it out in any race. I can take gels but get to a point where i just don't want to put anything in me but I gotta. The last few years I surprise myself on the course and take something if it looks good at the time. Last IM, I also drank coke.. which I would not touch coke or any pop with a 10 foot pole but at IM I guess I will but who knows what will happen this time around. At aid station, I will alternate usually endurance drink then water. I will have my little yellow belt bottle that i now carry on every run.. whether it is a mile run or 15 mile run.. for some reason that is a security blanket for me. I must of ran out of water once or something but I have to have it with me or I will freak out (not really but I will likely choose not to run). I also use it as a distraction. I switch it from hand to hand. Don't ask why it works, but it does.
Ok, I gotta get myself together and get my nutrition figured out a bit better. You guys all sound like you have yourself figured out... you have motivated me!
http://www.ironman.com/~/media/94c79ef8866c4aa8a96b90fae2c26d64/im chatt athlete guide.pdf
My plan for tomorrow's long day is to swim in our clubhouse pool, hop on my trainer and ride while I watch my son's baseball game on Gamechanger and then drive to the gym to do my run. I feel like the 20 minutes it might take me to get on the treadmill is better than no run at all or slogging through 95+temps. I will start the day with an Ensure and a banana, then fuel the bike with 2 bottles of concentrated Infinit and water. I will fuel the run with a Huma gel after 40' and water and Base Salt every mile. I need to keep things simple and my tummy is pretty sensitive so I have found that the Infinit mix is simple and tummy friendly and Huma gels are all natural so I tolerate them better on the run. The second half of the IM run is always a crap shoot (sometimes literally :-) I will most likely switch to Coke and broth.
One last thing, it looks like the Chattanooga Open Water Swimmers are going to host their 2.4 mile practice swim like they have done in the past on the IM swim course on 8/27. They said registration will be posted soon. I know it's the week after Camp but I think we have another long day scheduled for that day so I'll be doing it there in conjunction with the practice swim so if anyone else wants to join in that would be great!
Plus I ran a route this morning which hits over 500' of ascent in 4.3 miles here in my neighborhood. This is my 2nd time at this route. The first time I ran it two weeks ago the route won. Today I won...never walked. This will do to simulate the Chattanooga hills. https://www.strava.com/activities/649495264 For all the issues of today, this was a real breakthrough
I executed my big training day pretty much as planned, only I did the full 4hrs on the trainer versus 80% and then cut the run down to 30' in the hills of my neighborhood. It was crazy hot but I ran out of time. Baseball game number 2 of the day required me to be ready to go by 2:30. All and all it was good execution and nutrition was good. I wore my skin suit (which is new to me) for the swim. Discovered that the air from a fart in the skin suit stays in there and rolls around like marbles for a while! Hope that isn't TMI but it made me giggle :-) Hope y'all had a good day!
Big Day went well, but now I really have a list of to dos over the next couple of weeks.
Swimming - hit the river at 6AM as planned. 78 degrees and the was was about 75. Clear, smooth and a really nice day to swim. Lesson learned. Don't have an old pair of back-up goggles that could possibly be grabbed. I had a pair that were probably 5 years old that bounced around the bottom of my swim bag for ????. Halfway the seal split and water rushed in. Between cranking down the straps and putting my cap ovr top the split area, I was able to finish. Felt like my head was about to pop, but I was not quitting.
Bike - Changed course at last minute. At the urging of a local bike guru, with a brand new bike and riding for a long time, he suggested I ride shorter loops on a course I know so I can learn the handling of the bike as I get miles in the saddle. Did 54 miles. I can feel the difference between road geometry and tri geometry. Lessons Learned: 1. Need to figure out some stretching/strength exercises to speed up getting bak the comfort of the ride. 2. I was working too hard. Issue with the rear brake hanging up. Stopped probably 8-10 times to try to adjust/move it off the rim to allow a free spin. Once I began to figure out that I was not nearly as weak as I thought and freed up the brake, darn I had lots of fun riding! Calling the shop tomorrow.
Run - Finally got to the run at 12 noon. I was frustrated that I could not get a good stride going. Usually takes about a mile and things begin to fall into place. Not this tie. I struggled to get 5 miles in and used more of a wounded bear trot than a pretty runner's stride.
Ate a few bars but drank more yesterday in 6 hours than I have in the IM and two attempts in the past. No ill effects today!!! Hit the river to escort two swimmers. It was a slow easy pae of breast stroke, back stroke and bobbing up and down.
We better check out the rules on the skin suit and flatulence.... Unfair buoyancy edge! That is GREAT1111
Opps, i didnt get to say how my Big Day went. Well I ended up having to do it sun which i was so glad i planned it as sat was sooo rainy and horrible conditions that i could not have even done it so glad my day was beautiful and hot. But Sat night i came down with a fever and debated if it was real or in my head. Took two ibeprofen and was determined it was not real. (but it was)
I started with a late day start as I had to get the kid places before I could get a the time to do my workout. I swam in OW in the 2nd windiest and choppiest swim I have ever done. The conditions were so windy that I was concerned for my safety and ended up moving in to waist deep water and swam back and forth between two docks. However, I stopped about every 100 yards because it was almost impossible to be in the water wtih the white caps. But that was fine as I just went back and forth and decided it was more mental training than anything and kept at it the best i could for an hour on the swim. lessons.. I need to figure out how to have my goggles not fogged up. They are new goggles so I do not know the issue and do not want to buy another pair but I am going to probably cave in as they have been horrible for every swim lately. Any tips why goggles fog or advice other than fogging stuff which never works...
bike. Went as planned. i felt good. just paced myself to what I would typically do. But I need to get my nutrition figured out as I said before. More calories and will bring in carbo pro when i get back to NC. I think in my special needs bag I will have a salted nut roll or maybe have one on my bike. I tried a banana mid way and felt a bit sick. Used my gatorade endurance... which works so good on super hot days but it wasnt that hot on the bike (did get super super hot later on the run).
run. i thought i was feel just fine and took off for the run. Had my water bottle in my hand and wanted to do a out and back. But about 15 min in the run, i drank all my water and of course freaked out and had to run back to my car for a refill. i really struggled on the run. a few times i was just going to stop and i told myself to suck it up and keep going. even if i was going to walk, i was going to be out there the whole hour. which after some time, i kinda got into a rythm and it ended fine. It did seem like a pretty stress-less day for me. I was suppose to do a HIM race and chose not to so i could just do the workout (and i didnt want to spend the money). So i am glad that I did it espcially since i was sick. So I took Monday off and was pretty sick. Today is Tuesday and I am lethargic but might do a run in a few hours. Now i feel like i havent worked out in months. ha.
Run is improving steadily.
Swim...ugh...I'll keep swimming!
I guess I just need to learn how to breathe....
Monday the bike mechanic was on a trip riding in the VA mountains. Called Tuesday immediately and drove the bike to the shop about 35 miles away. They determined that it was the cable housing moving making the brake constantly rub the wheel and were going to make a mount on the inside of the frame to fix this. Come back Wednesday! Bummed, I left. Changed plans to swim and conned a friend into a river swim. Just after I got home the phone rings and it was Greg saying, "Bike's Done. Talked to the rep and he had a better fix! Come get it!!!" So, 140 miles later and a wasted day of travel and hanging out talking to the guys at the shop a bit, I got home in time for my evening swim.... Rain Monday night cooled the river a bit and it was a great way to unwind. Getting ready to go do my TT and run from yesterday.
I was so ticked that by the time I swam I felt like I was bound up. It didn't take long to get into the smooth motion. Sometimes those little irritations really get in the way of a great workout or even a great day. How terrible was it to have to ride around and listen to the radio? Strange part, I drove IRONMAN distance for the bike fix. Is that a sign? And, what is even more bizarre was that Black Sabbath came on the radio as I left the shop with the bike with the live version of Ironman..... Too weird! Good thing I am not superstitious. Who knows what I might do!