IM LAKE PLACID 2017 MAY 15 - 21
Another "Big Day"
BIG shout out to you for keeping the chatter going - you all rock the most!
So this week…... “Big Day” - This is a day to swim, bike and run to practice stacking up the day! Just a steady day. Coach P does a fantastic video during this week that explains exactly what your goals should be during this day. Check it out!
Things to pay attention to
Again….. Nutrition- keep experimenting and figuring out what works.
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”
Let’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 with this awesome 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 LP or your other IM events 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! (you get a Trisports Gift Card when they sign up)**** 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?
*** EN GEAR: Make sure to check out our AMAZING store at Trisports! http://www.trisports.com/endurance-nation.html
Comments
Any thoughts on swim pacing? Better to descend the time or be more consistent over the set? I sure there's a place for both I seem to be on the former with a few blips when I get tired.
Edit - I just realized that we really only have 8 weeks of heavy lifting before taper. It amazes me how much adaptation I can get out of my body over the 12 weeks.
Hey team; any thoughts/discussion on Gearing for IMLP? I currently have 34/50 x 12/25....is it necessary or worth switching to say 11/27 freewheel?
3200 in the pool today. Another good workout and I was able to push the final 3X300.
Tuesday would be 300s -500s focusing on endurance
Friday is back to intervals, 6x200, 7x150, 8x100, then 75s or 50s til i finish
target for all swims is 4000 yards.
as a note, long set pace is roughly 1:46/100 yards, short sets (100s) average 1:35/100 yards, goal is to get those lower. Last year I had one 100 that broke under 1:30, goal is to get there sooner this year!
today I did 3000 yards with a time constraint on the back end, missed yesterday, will swim Friday & saturday.
Also ran 1x Z3 and 2x Z4 (4)
@Joseph Lombardi - i go with a 52/36 & a 11/28 in the back, I can also climb out of the saddle without spiking watts, something good to practice as it gives your body a nice break when you have those climbs up past whiteface..
This morning, I did the EN Wk 11 ride. It was hard, but without the VO2 max intervals, it was easier than last week. Then, I was able to do an abbreviated 2-mile brick run (and made my 6:58 am train with seconds to spare).
Tomorrow's split run will be a challenge for me. I have meetings in the afternoon and then a client dinner. Therefore, I will try to do a 90-minute run early and then do 30 minutes on the treadmill during lunch. (Mid-day workouts are always a challenge though...)
Friday morning, I will run - the distance will be determined by how much I can do tomorrow. Friday night, I will swim.
To accommodate my fondo on Saturday, Coach P will have me swim and do a 1-hour run on Sunday.
Good luck to everyone with the big Saturday race rehearsal.
I'll ride 52/36 and 11/28 for LP.
As for swimming, I did another set yesterday designed to increase turnover, which IMO is key for successful OWS. Unless water conditions are glass-like and you're leading, odds are you won't have the opp to take long, slow strokes. Especially in traffic or into a current, you want the gas on at all times, with faster turnover. I set my wetrinome to 70spm for 10 100's, then 72 for another 10 (my natural rate is around 65spm). It's like run strides for me; the pace just forces me to be efficient and rhythmic with no pause, glide or dead spots. Lazy hand-entry? No time. It forces me to really spear the water. No opp to over-reach and over-rotate and put up hand brakes, so I get the hand down quickly, grab water and start pulling. Weak pull through the hip? No time, so I have to work. Yes, the stroke isn't as long, rotation isn't as big, but my experience shows it makes me faster in OW. And, as always, I focus on form every single length of the pool. Yesterday, on the way down, I focused on the imaginary quarter in the butt crack, using core to keep heels at the surface with virtually no kick. On the way back, I imagined a golf ball glued to the crown of my head and I had to keep it under water the entire time (i.e., turn to breathe, never lift head even an inch). On Friday, I'll do my weekly sweet-spot swim wko, where I'll do 200, 300 and ultimately 400 repeats at TP +3-6 sec/100 (about 95% of threshold, just like our FTP work on the bike but even more important in swimming because, unlike the bike, we can hold swim TP in an IM because the swim is only an hour or so).
Hope everyone else is having a great week.
MR
I'll be up in Placid this weekend for hopefully 3 loops and will be sure to report on how the roads are looking when I get back
I've been lacking in early week running, I've been making Monday a rest/reset day (though i really need to get in the pool there), got in solid runs on Tuesday & Wednesday. Getting back into my routine of a 2x20 on Wednesday's bike that is effectively an FTP test. Got myself an 11 watt bump on this week's test, last week the legs were tired from an earlier in the day run and fatigue from my abbreviated BRC. Today's run was a true sufferfest. Saw Government Mule at Central Park's summer stage and didn't get home until 11, so I didn't get to start the run until 7:20am... the heat was on, ran this 15 mile run in high 70s to low 80s with full on humidity. This compares to last week's 14 miler in mid to high 50s! I used today's run as an exercise in HR management, playing with the pointy end of HR effort and learning how I perform at the upper limits. Had 4 "aid station" walks to kick down HR...
Aside from the bump in bike watts, I haven't done a run test lately, but it is clear from all of my runs, that my threshold is faster.. I feel good when I do slow long run at sub 8:20s!
getting psyched for the Al T'tude Badass camp, but not when Al is posting pics of last night's snow!
NZ: Median was 1:11:18, top 10% was :59:09, top 5% was :57:49, I went 55:50 (6/133 in AG).
NC: With current, median was 1:05:16, top 10% was :55:50, top 5% was :52:24, I went 49:55 (2/150 in AG).
LP: Median last year was 1:18:02, top 10% was 1:06:02, top 5% was 1:01:38, I'll go ______?
So, even if I can sneak in within the top 5% again, which will be a huge stretch given the level of talent that shows up in LP, I'd be lucky and happy with anything in the low :60s. But my only real goal, other than having fun, is to pace DS until Mile 18 or so on the run, when she drops me and KQs.
I'm heading to Vegas for a work conference so the weekend and first part of next week is going to be a challenge for workouts and weight management.
I had to do a conference in Vegas in February (when it was much cooler). If you have access to a car, Red Rock Canyon is a great place to ride and run. I rented a bike for about $90 and had an amazing ride. You can run on the strip, however the traffic, crowds and stairs take away the fun. There are several municipal Olympic-length pools where you can swim laps for $3 a visit, and the pools were empty when I went.
Body composition was an issue for me though - it took me a week or two to lose the weight from the client dinners and good restaurants
Our hotel has a 25m pool and I've done a run route along Koval/Sands/Paradise behind the casinos & golf course that's ugly & boring, but mostly long uninterrupted sections.
Willpower at meal time will be a challenge
Now, if you are @Mike Roberts and often get mistaken for a Swordfish, there's a good chance you will be up in front of 95% of the pack, which may afford a different strategy and the possibility of actually using the cable as a guide......otherwise, not a good strategy....
SS
Getting prepped for the big day tomorrow. Charging my Di2, getting my nutrition plan locked and loaded and packed for a pool swim and then driving to the park to do the bike/run. I have been able to hit my power numbers so far. Last year I was quite soft on some of the intervals. I think the new RPP zones will help me stay pushing right up until Placid.
I am getting more comfy on the Ventum and loved how the Edco wheels handled the winds on Wednesday. I've always ridden Zipp 404 up front and 808 on the back, so a bit of a different set up. The Edco's are supposed to be stable in cross winds and while I am a bigger rider I do still get pushed around sometimes...but not on Wednesday during the ftp intervals. Happy about that! I think I will have enough info for fit tweaks after tomorrow and will get to my lbs to get more dialed in.
My plan is for being in the pool by 6:45am then a quick change into cycling gear, drive about 20 minutes to start of ride, I mapped out a route that includes some decent hills, and will run right after doing a quick change at the car. I am going to try out Gatorade Endurance - just received my order from Amazon. I've used Infinit in the past and while I really like it I want to be able to grab and go on the course and not stop and mix. Weather looks perfect - a high of 66, sunny, and winds 5-10mph.
Hope everyone has a great day tomorrow.
1) Need to set up and stay in my box even on big days - Got in to a discussion at the pool which pissed me off, I was mad until around 1 hour 30' on the bike. Two floaters got in my head and in the end I should have just walked away.
2) 50' run my neck and shoulders were tight. Apparently I need to relax a little more.
3) Schedules need to be brought up on a weekly basis. My wife wanted to get a hair appointment, this Saturday was the only workout with stars beside it. She called on Thursday and said she got in Saturday at three. Some quick logistics in my head, pool opens at 9 with a 30' drive transition, then 4hour bike, to treadmill for 50' with baby Brody, it doable. "Yes absolutely get your hair done." Turns out pool opens at 9:30, Patti goes to home depot, was late returning and I got a bike-run transition feed, burp and change. It all worked out other than the longer delay to start running. I never said a word other than her hair looked nice when she came down to the treadmill to get Brody.
Swim 2050M - Cut short about 6' other than that a good effort
Bike - Overall 4h 5' 218 TSS .73 - I continue to build the effort of the sets - 30' @.67 then 2X20 .76; .77. 79; .81 3X30' .72; .72; .73 then 18' @.73. This was on the trainer again
Gordon
What my week looked like: 1 swim (not good, but with other life commitments something had to give this week and it was getting in the pool). 3 solid bike wkos consisting of a ~3hr trainer ride on Monday riding longer intervals of my goal LP watts. Thursday an hour of hitting and exceeding my ftp for the prescribed wk 11 FTP work (very happy with this). Sunday (today) I rode outside for a 72 mile/4hr ride. Today's ride was good but I felt a lot of fatigue in my legs from yesterday's run. As for the weekly run volume, I'm pleased with the consistency I've been putting out these past weeks averaging over 30 miles. After last week's 3 days of 10 milers, I went traditional this week with a short quick one on Tuesday (my attempt at taking a day off), TM speed work on Wednesday, a brick Run on Thursday, split Run on Friday of 11 miles/11 miles of running on the sun and a second 4 miles TM later in the evening. Today a quick 2 miles after the 72 mile bike. Feeling good about this week with the exception of the minimal swimming. Will be back this week with all three disciplines getting equal attention. Great work team!
attempting a mini big day today
My big Saturday was doing the Tour of the Battenkill - 75 miles and 5,879 feet of climbing. Rode at 16.7 mph, including two complete stops to re-fill my bottles and at 17.1 mph if I just look at moving time. If I do this next year, I will try to grab bottles from the volunteers and keep moving. Still a newbie at all of this stuff ...
There were lots of steep hills and about 20 miles of dirt roads. Most of the biggest climbs were on dirt, and were as steep as 18%. It was a bit challenging because my bike will only fit skinny 25 mm tires. The descents on gravel were tricky. I fish-tailed twice because it was hard to see the surface of the road through the speckled shade. Overall, I finished 50th out of the 281 people in the Fondo heat (17th out of 87 for my AG). I was pleasantly surprised by that because I rode so much of it by myself without the benefit of working with a group in a pace-line. I guess all of the OS training has had a positive impact.
Overall, Battenkill was a great experience. I highly recommend it if it fits into your race schedules.
Woke up this morning feeling spent. However, Coach P had suggested that I do my swim trial and run 45 minutes today. Unfortunately, I had to drive 30 minutes to New Canaan, CT because there was yet another two-day weekend swim tournament at my local YMCA.
I did a 2300 yard interval in the pool at a pretty slow pace. Then, I put on a singlet and headed out for a run. Felt very tired at first, but finished the 5+ miler at an 8:10-15 pace.
Went to the bike mechanic again today (they must love me at Pacific Cycling & Triathlon). I am getting new tires - just Continental Gran Prix 4000s. My current Continental 4000s have about 1500 miles on them. I debated with the owner about putting on S-works Turbo Cotton race tires, but we decided against it because I have Quassy, and two months of local riding to do.
What does everyone do about tires - do you swap out training for race tires before doing an Ironman?
Also, I will have the mechanic replace the batteries in my PowerTap and have them put on a chain catcher.
With about nine weeks to go to my first full IM, I feel like I am making progress. My cycling is solid. My bike configuration is almost buttoned down. My running volume is relatively high and I haven't had any recurrence of tendonitis in my heel. Swimming is my big limiter, but I feel like I am investing the time and have sought out coaching.
Hope that everyone is having a great Sunday.
Road conditions were really horrible. It's been a year since I last rode the course and I realize that the roads are never great in Placid, but they just seemed especially bad this year. Rout 73 out to the ski jumps is pretty bad. The bridge at River Road is being replaced and that area is all ripped up. I understand that it will be finished by race day (although it looks like they have a long ways to go...) The decent into Keene was especially bad. The washboard ripples seem to be worse and for the most part the road is chopped up all the way in except for a small strip towards the bottom that is brand new and teases you into thinking "what if it was like this the entire way..." Finally Mirror Lake road is pretty rough with lots of pot holes as well. Now on race day half the road is closed and you can ride in the center where there is less damage and obviously during these rides we are on the shoulder where there is a lot of crud and crumbling road so hopefully it won't feel as bad as I felt it was this weekend? Our group had 5 flats this weekend from all the crap on the road.
Regardless of the roads it's always so enjoyable to be riding in such a beautiful place and it was a fun weekend with plenty of riding and some running. No swimming, although we did see one brave sole this morning. It's been about 32 - 34 at night so the lake has to still be pretty cold!