IMAZ Training Wk 10/31 - 11/6
/ THE LINE WEEK 18
Prepare your mental game. In so doing, remember there will be cumulative fatigue building throughout race day. So important to follow your plan, race your race and prepare for THE LINE.
EVERYTHING before The Line is simply about creating conditions for success for when the Line comes to you.
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A successful race = a good run. There is no such thing as a good bike followed by bad run, period. In our world, if you showed up with solid run fitness, had a "good" bike and a poor run, we will ALWAYS assume you messed up your bike pacing unless you are missing a limb or are in the ICU with an intestinal parasite.
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If you think you can ride faster than we're telling you, prove it by running well off the bike first (preferably not attempted for the first time on race day!).
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Ride your "should" bike split vs your "could" bike split. YourCould split is what you tell Timmy you could ride on a good day, when you're out together for your Saturday ride. If you say you "could ride a 5:50," your Should split is likely 6:00 and defined as the bike split that yields a good run (see #1 above).
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Don't be a Caboose, be an Engine! Ironman in general, but especially the bike leg, is an exercise in consistency. You don't need straight-A's to win your day, you only have to show up with your C game to be at the head of the class. If you find yourself doing the opposite of everyone else, you're doing the right thing. Lots of people passing you in the first 40 miles of the bike? Everyone else sprinting out of T2? These folks are making your race day easier by showing you what not to do; it's up to you to resist the urge to join in!
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Think you made the mistake of riding too easy? You now have 26 miles to fix that mistake. Make the mistake of riding too hard? That mistake now has 26 miles to express itself, to the tune of X miles at 17-18' walking pace vs X miles at 8-10' running pace. Do the math. How is that nice bike split going to look as you are walking/shuffling the last 10 miles of the run adding another hour and forty minutes to your overall finish time?
**ADMIN ALERT**
* TEAM DINNER: Still time to sign up - it has its own thread and remember its FRIDAY now!
*QUARQ QOLLECTOR - if you want one put your name AG here and I will make sure to save you one - so far only one taker but trust me these things are AWESOME!
Comments
@Mariah: we are many who responded positively to your Quarq post on last week thread
here's a recap:
Francis Picard M35-39
Clark Mitchell, AG 50-54, Number (if you need it) 957
Betsy Kantor 60-64 age group. Bib 2016
Jay Lakamp, 60-64. # 3044
Bruce Thompson, Male 60-64, bib 987
Doug Sutherland Male 41yo
Mike Blackburn 50-54
I think I got everyone, sorry if I missed u
It's week 18, time to dust off the plans we all put together back in week 16 and adjust them for the big work coming up this weekend! Try to remember back to week 16 and what worked (and what did not) and make updates. This will be our last big weekend of work and thus, our last chance to make meaningful changes to the way we intend to execute on race day.
One last week to stoke the fire! Let's get this done.
BK: Beast!
Thanks DR for the coordination, Clark for the motivation.
Whirlwind weekend here. The 3 hour run on Thursday punched a substantial hole - a gut check I suppose for what to expect at IMAZ. Still taking some motrin, but will definitely hit the 2 hour run tomorrow (yikes). (Curious that coaches discourage adding a marathon to our season/build, but then add a near-marathon 3 weeks out...)
Comically, I self destructed the weekend. I showed up at the airport Friday, bags scanned, with a dream of doing both long rides - only to be told I was there 24hr early. Fail. We celebrated staying an extra day with a sushi dinner (read: sake sampler) followed by breakfast buffet (read: gluttony) which resulted in some serious gastric issues on Sunday. Still bloated and abusing the toilet. Fail #2. The sum, the only exercise I did was pulling the baggage to the uber. Lame.
I did swim today at lunch and didn't sink. Winner!
I have full intention to do the big bigger biggest ride weekend coming up. I currently have no nutritional compass. Starting to believe I will roll into Tempe pushing 200lbs. Yup, DR your dinner is safe.
DS
as some might had read, I had a bike crash yesterday when coming back home.. the back wheel slipped on oil on the road.. left hip and left elbow took the it. Went see the doctor this morning, its mostly bruises and rash, nothing broken or teared. He suggested me to keep icing during the day. I was so pissed crashing 3 weeks prior race, I almost throw my laptop bag when getting up after the crash LOL.
I was suppose to do the 120' run this morning but that will go tonight, hopefully I can do it pain free and no pain will come out from it. But I am confident it will be ok, can easily walk and go upstairs.
my 3 big days will be Thursday, will do the full RR on Friday cuz of pool schedules and will end with Saturday ride.
Stay safe !! (coming from me is a funny statement!!)
@Doug A little anxious to get home to see the new bike that you wanted to cut your vacation short a whole day?
@Mariah, not sure who the "one" is. I have my own Qollector that I will be using. Let me know what I need to do to get in into the EN group. It worked great last weekend, my wife Ronda loved being able to see where I was, when out riding.
Stay safe everyone, its almost time to race, the bumps and bruises are making thier way around. I tried to do the long run this morning, but my Garmin kept crashing. Charging it now, completed about an hour, so I will do this as a split run later. I May need to buy a new watch this week.
@DS - vacation weigh usually goes away pretty quick. Get back on track and it will be gone before you know it. Also, the weather in AZ should be nothing like the weather in Kauai. In '14 it was warm, but with almost no humidity and when the sun goes down (4:30 ish) it can actually start to get cold. Last year the rain cooled things off and when it stopped raining the humidity was still quite low.
I had a good swim last night and I'm going to run this evening. Everything this week is designed to setup a successful weekend, so that's where I'm focused.
http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aff/25/Default.aspx
If you've never written a race plan read these examples and the feedback that they received:
http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/20042/Default.aspx
http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/20027/Default.aspx
http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/20040/Default.aspx
This is important and should be done in the next 1-2 weeks!
@DS: c'mon man, don't give up on me now!!
@locals: how is the weather so far in Tempe? water temp idea? thanx
@FP... Sorry to hear about the crash. Rest. Take it EZ. If you do your long run on bruised legs, you could stain some other muscle(s) that is connected to the bruised area. Still, if you do the run, go slow. Not a time to push the pace. As someone would recently crashed before a race, I suggest that your only goal now is to get as healthy as you can by race day. Your fitness will be what it is.
I'm feeling the cumulative fatigue of the training. Yesterday, I attempted the Advanced IM plan swim workout & had to cut it short. Planned called for 20 x 100s and I bailed after 13. My split times started dropping and on #13, I was :06 slower than the time I averaged last week. Went home and rested. Also, my right knee (patella tendon) is a bit tender (from pushing big gears at low RPM) from the weekend. So I took it EZ on the Computrainer this morning. Rode at 141 average watts (53% IF) for 60'. I might skip the run tonight depending on how I feel. I have a masters swim class tomorrow am, plus a bike FTP test tomorrow night with my local training group. All those workouts are tentative now depending on how I feel. I can feel I'm on the knife edge between over-training and solid fitness. Will probably error on the side of rest at this point.
Hang in there everyone. Let's all get to the start line feeling ok. Better to be slightly undertrained than injured.
The weather conditions have been a little warmer than usual this year so far. For those that are not familiar with the desert climate, it is like Clark stated. Since we have VERY low humidity, it can often times feel cooler because the sweat will evaporate off of you faster, leaving you chilled. Even on warm days here when getting out of the pool it can feel chilly for this reason. Sunset is about 5:30 now and this time of year, it cools off quickly when the sun goes down.
It about 87 degrees last week when we finished riding the Beeline.
Weather prediction for 11/20:
The temperature of Tempe Town Lake (TTL) can be found here:
http://www.tempe.gov/city-hall/community-development/tempe-town-lake/how-town-lake-works/town-lake-water-quality
The last post on October 7th says is was:
One important thing about TTL for those that have not been here, it that it is extremely dark/murky. You will not be able to see 3 feet in front of you. We start out swimming directly into the rising sun also.
@GL : having sunset at 17h30 means we all get home in the dark, even for the fast one. I am happy to arrive on Wednesday and have a bit of time to acclimate to the temperature.. here its already below 0C until 10am in the morning and it doesnt get higher than 5-6c
@CM : looking fwd to read all race plans and grab idea/tips from the one who know the course
Will be doing my long run later tonight and then prepping for another big weekend of riding/rehearsing. swam long yesterday and felt awesome in the water...until these two olympians jumped into the two lanes next to me...humbling, haha!
pushing big weekend days back one day, so Sat-Mon as opposed to Fri-Sun to accommodate work schedule.
Looking forward to meeting all of you signed up for the team dinner...thanks again to Mariah for getting us hooked up!
Be safe out there everybody...we're almost there!
https://www.strava.com/activities/763247165
Felt good, went a little slower than usual -0:05/KM and didnt feel any pain.
Tomorrow morning a swim and a 24hours rest before starting those last 3 days !
BT-I like your comment about line between fit/overtrain. Take care of yourself!
CM-thanks for all the mojo!
DS-hang in there!
RS-sorry to hear about recovery issues. As always, look forward to seeing you!
GL-I've been disappointed they cancelled the Tempe town lake monitor. They only temp on your site is already a month old-74 deg F
As for tempe, the night lows are dropping rapidly. The week of race the predicted lows are 39-43. We are on track for having lake temperature in low 60s. I'm hoping for at least 63. My coldest was 2012, the only other year it was Sunday before thanksgiving (instead of two, 2013-2015) at 61.
The highs are predicted low 70s. It will feel real cold first hour on bike so definitely have some warming options that are easy to discard after the first hour. I've found folded garbage bag under Tri top and tube socks over arm warmers helpful. I even go so far as to tape some chemical camping hand warmers onto the bag, toe warmers on shoes. Saved me from hypothermia last year and I never discarded them. This year it will feel sunny and warm by time you are finishing first loop of beeline.
Week so far:
Monday -55' swim, 2500 yards
Tues-took vacation day:
13 mi in 2:15:
first hour, slow HR, goal pace + 20-40"
Next 6 miles goal pace - 10-30"(almost z1.5)
Last mile z2
Nutrition/hydration as planned on race day. Even got out my fuel belt
Then, did Wednesday swim, as I'm on call Wednesday- 4200 in outdoor pool,
Tempo trainer descends with last 1000 .05 below goal pace
Wednesday -only 30' for trainer-1x15' again barely hanging onto .9, HR not quite as high as last week. I'm thinking I will have to adjust down my goal watt for IM about 5%-that's what I was hitting last Saturday too
Week 18 RR -then, let the taper begin
Have made it into the pool twice this week, have lost exactly no speed, which is to say I am still slow. The LR last week really put me back. I have woke up cramping a few nights, somehow got an shoulder impingement (how exactly do you injury your shoulder running without falling!?!). That the typical post-vacation work Monday meant I had to reduce the LR to 70 minutes for 8.75 miles Tuesday. But I fit in a 3 miler this am as a split.
The Ventum looks great, did my first trainer ride on it today. Based on team's advice, I did a FTP test to dial in the new power meter, and happy to report a nice bump, sitting at 270. Not sure if I will actually increase my goal Pn though - MR's kona effort really drove home the idea of going easy on that bike.
Enjoying the world series. Hard not to root for these cubbies
Hang in there everyone. Almost done.
I did masters swim class yesterday. Felt much better than my Monday swim failure. We did 2900 yards in 60', including 8 x 100s and 16 x 50s.Then last night I did a FTP bile test with my Amphibian Multisport team. We did it on the Computrainer but we covered up the power data on the screen during the test. No feedback...just go by feel. It was the first time I've ever done a ftp test without being able to see the output during the test. It was both liberating and frustrating. Any way I ended up with ftp of 260 average watts. After the test I learned I did 254 watts for the first half and then did 266 watts for the 2nd half. This isn't statistically different from my last test of 265, so I'm happy with that, especially since I've been focusing on endurance since mid-July. Now I know what I can ride at IMAZ. Target - 187 average watts for IMAZ.
Doing 13 mile run tonight and 80 minute swim tomorrow.
That was mentally hard doing 180km on the trainer.
When I finished I drank too much chocolat milk and did the full run having cramps, it was raining, didnt go well but at least its done
Tomorrow is the full RR day
have fun for those starting tomorrow !
@ FP...you are very tough mentally. my hat is off to you. Good luck this weekend.
I ran 13 miles tonight @ 8:04 avg pace. 1:45:07 total time. Ran the last 4 @ average 7:56 pace so I finished strong. Felt good. That was my last long hard run until IMAZ. Nothing longer than 13 miles per the coaches as I'm on the "2nd IM in 8 weeks plan".
@FPP sounds like you are doing good after your spill. Acclimate to the temp? I think you mean thaw out.
@BT the 2 IM in 8 week plan is like double advanced. Glad to see it is all coming together.
@DS sounds like a great time was had during vacation, the weight will drop right back off. Can't wait to see the Ventum.
Tuesday my Garmin flaked out for my run so no data. Wednesday, I completed one hour swim, and this morning did my Z1 repeats. I'm going to do the full swim on Friday evening and complete RR on Saturday morning with Betsy.
FPP -true mental toughness on the bike. And as always, super swim!
BT-you share the mental toughness with FPP-amazing run times after such a short recovery after last IM.
And YAY! To your Cubs!!
I put off Thursday run to PM due to Late Wednesday call night (missed game 7 sadly-my husband started texting me play by play starting top of the 8th).
A monsoon type storm actually blew in and it rained from 5-7pm. Started run in a light sprinkle then it turned into perfect run weather. Just did 3mi at my low HR (i.e., slow jog)
Swim RR this am. I didn't get 0830 work start as I was hoping for so did my best to get to pool early. I was 15' behind schedule so only got 3500 yards in. I will be doing 4K in TTL next Saturday 11/12 so feel good enough about today. I'm still doing a lot of form focuses and around 2500 yards really felt it all coming together!
Last bike RR tomorrow on beeline-working on keeping the mojo high!!
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/11/how-to-get-better-at-running.html
@RS - Dang, I had no idea AZ was on your plan and dang, I'm sorry to hear you're not racing. It will be good to see you again regardless.
@BK - Strong work so far this week!
@DS - Can't wait to see the new bike! Did you go with the Pioneer PM or something different?
@BT - I actually like the idea of FTP testing without real-time feedback. Something new to try during my next test.
@FP - Leading the way once again. Congrats on finishing day 1. Good luck with day 2 tomorrow.
Early in the week I was wondering to myself why I wasn't tired like I normally am at this point in the schedule... Then I swam long on Monday and again on Wednesday and I was exhausted by Thursday. I ran long last night with good mechanics and no "bad" pain. I'm clearly not 100%, but I'm no longer worried about having to walk the run. I've got everything ready for tomorrow and Sunday, so all that's left is to get it done.
Good luck everyone!!
BK - thanks for that article. Good read.
Fell pretty flat today, folks. Seems I have a cold or something, or just tired. Not sure yet. Got all dressed up for the RR, took 75min to go 3750yds in the pool. Made it back to the trainer in 30 minutes (foggy and cold to bike outside), lasted just less than 1 hour before I pulled the plug. Was unable to average anything more than about 150 watts. 195 felt like power lifting. This, despite solid nutrition/fluids. Cant keep the eye open! Had some chicken noodle soup instead. Maybe not so smart to FTP test Wednesday (?).
Going to rest today, give it another go tomorrow.
Good luck all.
DS
Did the swim sub 60' this morning, my IF on the bike was 3% below yesterday but felt good on the run
Last one tomorrow afternoon, will only do 3hrs, thats gonna be enuff
Keep going team ! In 2 days we start tapering and watch weather