Hey guys! I hope y'all had a great day of training. I am happy to report that my 3hr run went extremely well! I pretty much jogged for the first 2 hours and focused on holding back, fueling and salt intake. The temperatures were much more comfortable this morning. I couldn't believe how good I felt after 2 hours. I put in a couple of hills at 10 miles. I think I fell short by about 100ft compared to the race course elevation but oh well, who cares. I entered this run with a different mind set. I redefined what success was to me today. It wasn't pace goals. It was holding back to not blow up and getting nutrition dialed in. I nailed both and am so happy. While running I thought a lot about my long runs when I was training for the stand alone marathon I did 7 years ago. I remember they were done at VERY slow paces on purpose and it released me from my internal pressure and somehow gave me "permission" to just go easy and enjoy it. I told myself if I was holding back too much I could let it rip in the last hour. Well, of course y'all know THAT didn't happen. After the 2 hour mark, I did the hill climbing and picked up my pace just a tick. By the 2:45 mark, it was starting to feel hard but I never got to the point where I was looking for a way out. Success! Put on the compression pants, took a nice little nap this afternoon, and am about to put the hurt on some pizza.
@Amy- I'm encouraged by your mindset and run Amy, great job. My bike was all jacked up today, 54 degrees this morning was freezing and I just could get my heart rate up. My avgHR was 10 beats lower than normal and my speed was 1mph slower overall. I'll just try and forget that ride. Looking forward to getting my 18 miles in on Monday. Keep working hard everyone. Thanks for sharing your workout recaps
Thanks Derrek...I look forward to meeting you. I have recovered from my crash 95%. Still a bit stiff in my left hip. But I had a good ride today. Rode 115 miles @ 199 NP, 19.7 avg mph. Then ran 3 at 8:30 avg pace with the last mile at 7:52. Getting race ready for IMCH.
It is good to back full status in EN. After finishing 5 IMs (including Kona twice) in 14 months I needed a mental and physical break from Nov 2015 to May 2016. I workout consistently over the winter, but often not too hard and with not much structure. Just kinda did whatever I felt like. Started working out seriously again in May, and did some local races in June/July. Been doing IM training since mid-July.
Quick update. Training was going great this week. Temps were a little cooler than normal. Had to do my Thursday long run after work. Started at 3:30pm. Temp was 95. At mile 4.5 I decided to stop. Wasn't feeling it. Swam 4200 Friday night and biked 100 saturday in just under 5 hours (decided not to do the brick). Just completed 18.1 miles this morning with a 5:15 am start. Legs felt great. Made myself stick to the 9:37 pace. Last 3 miles were my fastest and definitely felt like I could keep going. Recovery and eating is in the schedule the rest of the day. Going out tomorrow morning for an easy 70 mile recovery ride. I feel so ready.
Wow - great work everyone! This was a tough weekend of workouts and we're so close. Yes Bruce ... So ready to taper! In fact that thought got me through this weekend. Thursday 15 mile run, Friday 3000 swim (that's long for me), Saturday 114 mile bike (no run after), today 2 mile OWS swim then 45 mile bike and one hour run. Nap. Now it's time to enjoy the rest of the weekend (if there's a workout tomorrow I will be blissfully ignorant).
@Bruce - glad to hear you're back!! @Cicely - holy cow - wicked fast biking!
It seems like things are coming together for everyone. Next up race rehearsal weekend...
Sorry for being quiet. Lots of good posts and mojo. Did I count about 30 teammates? I've never done something like this at an Ironman...it will be fun.
The weekend was very successful for me. I had rearranged the long run to Sunday morning to take advantage of a cool front and lower humidity on Saturday and Sunday (by Sunday noon the humidity was back in full force).
Swam 3,900 meters (just shy of 4,200 feet) on Friday. Kept it slow and paced it dead flat the whole time. Given the lung bleed in June I am taking the swim real easy.
Saturday a group of about 10 (most of them doing Louisville) of us rode a loop around western and central Arkansas in the hills. My power meter died again at the start (2nd time in 3 weeks, and that with a fresh battery). Going to call the PowerTap people to see if they have a problem with the latest G3 firmware (the battery was fresh 3 weeks ago. That prompts me to put a line in the race plan for Friday or Saturday to change the battery and test it (and test it again). Anyway of the 10 of us, 4 of us rode ahead. I was somewhat the tour guide with the turn-by-turn loaded in the Wahoo Elemnt bike computer...no power but I could always know where I was at (LOL). I think I kept the watts in check except on the 4,200 feet of climbing (much more aggressive climbs than Chattanooga). The 108 was about 0.9 mph faster than last week's 100 miler for about the same ascent. I think I might ride Saturday's loop again for the last RR this coming Saturday...hmmm.
I love to run. But summer humidity is my downfall since I sweat so heavily (must intake ~16oz / mile to stay even on my weight). So when I saw we had an 18 miler and I had the possibility of lower humidity Sunday it was no decision...move the ABP to Monday and run long Sunday before church. I have plenty of hill options here in Central Arkansas and I used a route along the Arkansas River. Starting at the middle of the route, I could go in either direction flat as far as I needed, and then loop back for fluids. From where I parked (a skateboard park along the river), there is a 1 mile climb right across the street we call Fort Roots (now a VA hospital administration facility). So I did 2 x of flat for about 5-7 miles then up the Fort Roots climb. Ran out of time at 3 hours and had 17 miles in. Definitely had more in my legs and with the climbs kept a 10:40 pace overall which is very respectable for me in the summer and with the 2x climbs. Barton I've got you in my sites!
By the time I got to the ABP this morning my legs were dead meat since running down 2x that 1-mile ascent is a quad killer. So I left the house around 5:30 to ride to the river and then meet Virginia around 7:30 to ride easy with her for an hour...and then breakfast at Panera.
Right now I'm resting the legs on the back porch, writing to you, and peeking at an 8.5 lb pork shoulder I have in the smoker for later. Plenty of food, so come on over.
@Cicley, WOW. impressive to all your 100 bike in 5 and your 18 run and all!! I wish i had read your report before i headed out for my run this morning cuz it really motivated me.
@Bruce, My husband talked me out of the Friday swim to recover more. I am glad I did and got the extra rest. It also gave me a decent weekend workout.
@Pat, I keep thinking about you and your lung bleed!!
I clearly am recovered from my little ER visit on Thursday. I did not swim Friday to rest but I did do a 40 min run on the treadmill friday night to test my lungs and if anything would pop up with the pain and i felt 90%. I moved everything around for workouts because not knowing what to expect. My husband was out of town so I was too nervous to do anything too long, too hard and alone since I was on my own and my 15 year old would not be able to come and get me if I ended in trouble. But I ended up for a easy but decent 2.5 hr ride with a group on sat and then came home and did another 1.0 hr on the trainer. Also talked to one rider who said same thing has happened to him several times and it was back muscle fatigue and sounded exactly like i had. So I am chalking it up to that. By Sat late afternoon I was feeling all great and needed that ride to get my confidence that i will be fine.
Then Sun, I was doing a ride with some new IM friends and was going to do the 5 hr ride and brick and ended up doing a double loop with one of them and ended up doing a 122.33 miles. Never ridden that far and I felt great. It was a slight hilly course but the guy that planned the course was so awesome and he is from Chattanooga so he was trying to find something similar and we both said it was way more hillier than Chattanooga. We did have rest stops but I was very, very, very pleased with the hills, my time and my fatigue. The temps were great. Got hot for a while but lots of cool breezes which was nice.
I did not totally follow my nutrition plan which bummed me out because it is part of why we do these races but he had put a treasure of treats and drinks at the 40 mile mark and I said screw the gels... I want what was in that cooler! I just felt like it was too much Gatorade Endurance for me yesterday. The stuff is awesome when it is so hot out but it does not totally agree with me on cooler days so i think i need to rethink my special needs bag. i also did not do the brick. The day just got too long with a late start and he got a flat (long story) but I said no to the brick and needed to get home to kid and dog.
Then today, Monday.. I did my 3 hr run. I got to almost 17 miles which i wanted to do 18 but at 3 hrs I felt my lung/back issue poke its head out and thought ok.. my sign to stop. So great workouts, great that I am not dying with lung issues, etc. I am feeling pretty confident now that I am where I need to be but I need to get swimming back under control for the rest of the workouts for mental reason more than anything. Come on taper... get here! I am getting VERY excited!!
I also need to figure out how to deal with this weeks workouts now that it is monday and I did last weeks long run today.
@ Kim...glad to hear you are feeling better and back at it. Just take it EZ for a day or two so you are fully recovered.
@ Pat...nice work.
@ Derrek...yes time to taper.
I had a big weekend. Over the weekend I swam 9000 meters, rode 265 miles (3 rides of 116 miles, 72 miles and 77 miles) and ran 15, comprised of 3 brick runs of 3, 6 and 6 miles. That follow on a really good 18 mile run last Thursday. I'm on the edge of the knife right now, pushing my durability to the max right up to the breaking point. So far nothing has broken yet. I'm going to take Tuesday as a complete rest day, and going EZ on Weds as well. Looking forward to the taper.
@kim Great job on the 122 miles!!! I hope to get 116 in saturday and that will be my longest ride ever. Way to listen to your body on the run. I'm in the same predicament with the long run. I got up at 3:45 this morning, got dressed and started my run at 4:15. Approximately 2 min later I ran back to my car and thought, what am I doing? I'm tired. My body hurts. I just had 3 successful days of workouts and this 12 miler is not going to happen. Went back home and tried to get another hour of sleep (even though I had just eaten a caffeinated gel! Ha!). Oh well. I taught my cycling and 20 min abs class tonight and feel much better. Gonna run 6 tomorrow because my local pool is closed. Then it's just get ready for the weekend.
Comments
It is 50 tooth front and 11-42 rear
Super smooth shifting - very precise and fast.
My bike was all jacked up today, 54 degrees this morning was freezing and I just could get my heart rate up. My avgHR was 10 beats lower than normal and my speed was 1mph slower overall. I'll just try and forget that ride. Looking forward to getting my 18 miles in on Monday. Keep working hard everyone. Thanks for sharing your workout recaps
Thanks Derrek...I look forward to meeting you. I have recovered from my crash 95%. Still a bit stiff in my left hip. But I had a good ride today. Rode 115 miles @ 199 NP, 19.7 avg mph. Then ran 3 at 8:30 avg pace with the last mile at 7:52. Getting race ready for IMCH.
It is good to back full status in EN. After finishing 5 IMs (including Kona twice) in 14 months I needed a mental and physical break from Nov 2015 to May 2016. I workout consistently over the winter, but often not too hard and with not much structure. Just kinda did whatever I felt like. Started working out seriously again in May, and did some local races in June/July. Been doing IM training since mid-July.
How is your training going? Ready to taper?
@ Amy...nice run, nice attitude.
@ Kim...how did the swim go? Ok?
@Bruce - glad to hear you're back!!
@Cicely - holy cow - wicked fast biking!
It seems like things are coming together for everyone. Next up race rehearsal weekend...
Sorry for being quiet. Lots of good posts and mojo. Did I count about 30 teammates? I've never done something like this at an Ironman...it will be fun.
The weekend was very successful for me. I had rearranged the long run to Sunday morning to take advantage of a cool front and lower humidity on Saturday and Sunday (by Sunday noon the humidity was back in full force).
Swam 3,900 meters (just shy of 4,200 feet) on Friday. Kept it slow and paced it dead flat the whole time. Given the lung bleed in June I am taking the swim real easy.
Saturday a group of about 10 (most of them doing Louisville) of us rode a loop around western and central Arkansas in the hills. My power meter died again at the start (2nd time in 3 weeks, and that with a fresh battery). Going to call the PowerTap people to see if they have a problem with the latest G3 firmware (the battery was fresh 3 weeks ago. That prompts me to put a line in the race plan for Friday or Saturday to change the battery and test it (and test it again). Anyway of the 10 of us, 4 of us rode ahead. I was somewhat the tour guide with the turn-by-turn loaded in the Wahoo Elemnt bike computer...no power but I could always know where I was at (LOL). I think I kept the watts in check except on the 4,200 feet of climbing (much more aggressive climbs than Chattanooga). The 108 was about 0.9 mph faster than last week's 100 miler for about the same ascent. I think I might ride Saturday's loop again for the last RR this coming Saturday...hmmm.
I love to run. But summer humidity is my downfall since I sweat so heavily (must intake ~16oz / mile to stay even on my weight). So when I saw we had an 18 miler and I had the possibility of lower humidity Sunday it was no decision...move the ABP to Monday and run long Sunday before church. I have plenty of hill options here in Central Arkansas and I used a route along the Arkansas River. Starting at the middle of the route, I could go in either direction flat as far as I needed, and then loop back for fluids. From where I parked (a skateboard park along the river), there is a 1 mile climb right across the street we call Fort Roots (now a VA hospital administration facility). So I did 2 x of flat for about 5-7 miles then up the Fort Roots climb. Ran out of time at 3 hours and had 17 miles in. Definitely had more in my legs and with the climbs kept a 10:40 pace overall which is very respectable for me in the summer and with the 2x climbs. Barton I've got you in my sites!
By the time I got to the ABP this morning my legs were dead meat since running down 2x that 1-mile ascent is a quad killer. So I left the house around 5:30 to ride to the river and then meet Virginia around 7:30 to ride easy with her for an hour...and then breakfast at Panera.
Right now I'm resting the legs on the back porch, writing to you, and peeking at an 8.5 lb pork shoulder I have in the smoker for later. Plenty of food, so come on over.
@Cicley, WOW. impressive to all your 100 bike in 5 and your 18 run and all!! I wish i had read your report before i headed out for my run this morning cuz it really motivated me.
@Bruce, My husband talked me out of the Friday swim to recover more. I am glad I did and got the extra rest. It also gave me a decent weekend workout.
@Pat, I keep thinking about you and your lung bleed!!
@Josh, how did your run go today?
I clearly am recovered from my little ER visit on Thursday. I did not swim Friday to rest but I did do a 40 min run on the treadmill friday night to test my lungs and if anything would pop up with the pain and i felt 90%. I moved everything around for workouts because not knowing what to expect. My husband was out of town so I was too nervous to do anything too long, too hard and alone since I was on my own and my 15 year old would not be able to come and get me if I ended in trouble. But I ended up for a easy but decent 2.5 hr ride with a group on sat and then came home and did another 1.0 hr on the trainer. Also talked to one rider who said same thing has happened to him several times and it was back muscle fatigue and sounded exactly like i had. So I am chalking it up to that. By Sat late afternoon I was feeling all great and needed that ride to get my confidence that i will be fine.
Then Sun, I was doing a ride with some new IM friends and was going to do the 5 hr ride and brick and ended up doing a double loop with one of them and ended up doing a 122.33 miles. Never ridden that far and I felt great. It was a slight hilly course but the guy that planned the course was so awesome and he is from Chattanooga so he was trying to find something similar and we both said it was way more hillier than Chattanooga. We did have rest stops but I was very, very, very pleased with the hills, my time and my fatigue. The temps were great. Got hot for a while but lots of cool breezes which was nice.
I did not totally follow my nutrition plan which bummed me out because it is part of why we do these races but he had put a treasure of treats and drinks at the 40 mile mark and I said screw the gels... I want what was in that cooler! I just felt like it was too much Gatorade Endurance for me yesterday. The stuff is awesome when it is so hot out but it does not totally agree with me on cooler days so i think i need to rethink my special needs bag. i also did not do the brick. The day just got too long with a late start and he got a flat (long story) but I said no to the brick and needed to get home to kid and dog.
Then today, Monday.. I did my 3 hr run. I got to almost 17 miles which i wanted to do 18 but at 3 hrs I felt my lung/back issue poke its head out and thought ok.. my sign to stop. So great workouts, great that I am not dying with lung issues, etc. I am feeling pretty confident now that I am where I need to be but I need to get swimming back under control for the rest of the workouts for mental reason more than anything. Come on taper... get here! I am getting VERY excited!!
I also need to figure out how to deal with this weeks workouts now that it is monday and I did last weeks long run today.
It's awesome reading about all the long rides, runs, and swims! Way to get it done everyone! One more VERY BIG weekend of training.
@ Kim...glad to hear you are feeling better and back at it. Just take it EZ for a day or two so you are fully recovered.
@ Pat...nice work.
@ Derrek...yes time to taper.
I had a big weekend. Over the weekend I swam 9000 meters, rode 265 miles (3 rides of 116 miles, 72 miles and 77 miles) and ran 15, comprised of 3 brick runs of 3, 6 and 6 miles. That follow on a really good 18 mile run last Thursday. I'm on the edge of the knife right now, pushing my durability to the max right up to the breaking point. So far nothing has broken yet. I'm going to take Tuesday as a complete rest day, and going EZ on Weds as well. Looking forward to the taper.
Wow Bruce! that is awesome!!
@Bruce you're a beast.
@Cicely, smart decision...wish I was smart enough to do that. It's hard to know when to take a rest and and when to push through.
My run this morning was a struggle because I still had fatigue in my legs from Sunday's 100 mile ride. This evening I had a great 3800 yd swim!