2016 IM NC- Week 12- Testing
Shout out to Nemo and Jay!! Who else is out there???? Let's get this North Carolina forum ROCKIN!
I truly apologize for my posting the incorrect week!! YIKES! PROMISE I have it right now
WEEK 12!! Brings testing 
Here is some info on that!- Measure
- Gather Data
- Don’t forget to Sweat Test
When you head to an Ironman event, you will see lots of athletes suffer because they did not know something as simple as having a nutrition plan. However- in the “haus”, EN’rs know how important EXECUTION is because we practiced and show up prepared. Lots of little things can take a toll on you over 140.6 miles. Having muscles be so tight on the run from poor form on the bike. Not knowing sodium totals to account for the change in temperature on the course. Not knowing their power meter numbers, not knowing their heart rate numbers in case power meter fails, etc. Coach Patrick has said how important it is to have multiple "A games" because so many things can change within a race. This is what we talk about when we say "stay inside your box" You can adapt and change to the things outside of your control on the course but that comes from testing, gathering data about your body, how it reacts to nutrition, heat, cold, rain etc. And those results are gathered now. Be a scientist, a student of your body as an athlete in this sport. This is another reason why posting in the forum and weekly training recaps is critical!!!
Here are the sweat test rules in case you forgot or haven't done one in awhile
1) Weigh yourself nude right before a run.
2) Run at race pace for one hour, keeping track of how much you drink (in ounces) during the run.
3) After the run, strip down, towel off any sweat, and weigh yourself nude again.
4) Subtract your weight from your prerun weight and convert to ounces. Then add to that number however many ounces of liquid you consumed on your run. (For example, if you lost a pound and drank 16 ounces of fluid, your total fluid loss is 32 ounces.)
5) To determine how much you should be drinking about every 15 minutes, divide your hourly fluid loss by 4 (in the above example it would be 8 ounces).
6) Because the test only determines your sweat losses for the environmental conditions you run in that day, you should retest on another day when conditions are different to see how your sweat rate is affected. You should also redo the test during different seasons, in different environments (such as higher or lower altitudes), and as you become faster, since pace also affects your sweat rate.
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Well, the good news is we don't have to Week 11 this week. But we do have to do Week 12. Work and weather are keeping my volume low (10-11 hrs/wk), but I've been consistent. The temperature is supposed to get down to 95 and extremely humid this weekend, so I'm planning on getting outside on my bike for the first time since June. Stay healthy, stay safe.
This is a Test week, but I won't be testing. Instead, I'll be doing the "normal" brick workout on Tuesday and split run on Thursday. Hope everyone has a great week!
Nemo - hope your knee holds up. Keep up the good work!
Mike - the trainer time I've seen on strava is impressive. Nice work!
Sorry about that guys! Original post is edited and revised :-)
Well, I finally got outside to ride. Got in 70 miles up in Concord (forgot to re-start Garmin at a stop, so Strava is a bit short). It was heat index 101, no wind, and 3,100 feet of climbing. One of the top 3 hottest rides I've ever done, quickly going through 4 bottles per hour. Glad that's over.
PSA for those in NC/SC looking for a flat race rehearsal in Week 18. I'm doing the MS Breakaway event down in Sunset Beach (close to Wilmington). They offer various distances on Sat and Sun (Oct 8 & 9), including 75 and 100 both days. I reserved a room at the Holiday Inn Express in N Myrtle, just 8 miles away. Flat, safe and supported - perfect RR material for IMNC. Just bring GE powder along, mixing with water at the sag stops. You gotta raise $300, but it's for a good charity.
I did not test this week because I feel pretty good about where I am in terms of power and pace. (Mostly slow but that's another story) Looking forward to this week. I should get in some extra bike sessions and hit my run mileage targets. We have an organized and supported 100 mile ride on Monday so that will be my long ride for the week.
Mike - thanks for the heads up on the ride in Sunset Beach. Gonna look into that as it fits neatly into the schedule.
Hope y'all have a great week!