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IMLP May 29 - June 4th

I figure I'd start up a thread for this week as I need some mojo after last week. 

 Monday - 2200M with 30' run - Cut the swim short as I could feel my shoulders and I was fighting the water for the whole hour.
Tuesday 40' run - Took today off from the pool

Need some accountability for the bike which I need to get done after work.  I'm still tempering my efforts this week and looking at some .85 stuff over FTP.



Comments

  • Thanks Gordon - The week got away from me with the holiday - I'll post next week on Monday with lots of announcements! 
  • Hey Team, things have been a little stressful the last few weeks, so I've been a bit quiet.  It's almost standard for me to develop a little soreness in my R knee (ACL, 1999) during an IM build.  But it turned ugly 10 or so days ago.  When you can't walk downstairs without a grimace and searing pain, you're not going to run 42 miles/week.  So, I shut it down.  I often go an entire year without taking any medication/drugs except a flu shot, so Ibuprofen is a wonder drug for me.  Ice, compression, foam roller, stretching, two trips to my therapist - all the preventative stuff I should have been doing in abundance, but wasn't.  Dummy.  But . . . after a gimpy few steps last Sunday, I was able to run 10 miles without pain.  Little sore Monday, but it continues to improve.  And, having been through this many times before, I'm 90% confident I'll come through.  My CTL has improved a whopping 0.7 in the last 14 days.  But it's still progress, right?  

    Raleigh is this weekend.  Usually I would have been checking the weather forecast and water temps a week ago, but one's perspective and priorities change rapidly when you get punched in the face.  I just checked the forecast for the first time (conditions will mimic the face of the sun, as usual).  I haven't assembled or packed anything.  Heck, my race wheels are in a bag somewhere in the garage.  I hope.  And I leave tomorrow at noon.  Shoot . . . add "charge Di2" to my list.  I'll treat the race as I normally would, except I won't push the run (which I probably wouldn't have been able to anyways because of that sun-surface thing).

    Long term, there's only one race that means anything to me this year and when the stage is huge, you want to perform.  I'll aquabike Placid if I have to.  But, again, I think I'll come through and will be able to race it, just with far lower run volume than I would need to really compete with the big boys.  I still think a good rule of thumb is, if you're M30-49yo and want to put yourself in a position to KQ, the math is usually: swim :60 or less, bike 3.0 w/kg and then BQ.  Sounds easy on paper.  Getting in all the necessary training, staying healthy, getting the right body comp, etc. - all while managing work, family and life - presents a huge and usually insurmountable challenge for most AGers.  Then, of course, you have to execute flawlessly on race day and have some luck shine down on you.  Placid won't be that day for me, but I still plan on going well under 11 and trying like heck to run down Dinhofer.  Plus, on the positive, the lower run volume will free up some time to work more on my swim and bike.   

    In 10 days or so, we'll finish what I call the true build phase and move into a focused four weeks of peaking - teaching the body to turn over faster and to told TP in the water for an hour, honing in on that key 5-hr power range, and constantly reminding your legs what race pace means on the run.  If you haven't mastered your nutrition plan, the time to focus on that is now.  The fact that 90% of the field will make pacing and/or nutritional mistakes on race day is an enormous opportunity for the 10%.  And, of course, one of the reasons we're in the EN Haus is to learn how to enter/stay in that 10%.

    Hope everyone is training smart, staying healthy, having fun.  

    MR
  • Doing Rev3 Quassy The Revolution this weekend so I did my split long run on Monday. Tuesday got in a swim.  Wednesday sweet spot indoor interval ride and brick run ez.  Today I did a taper swim of a long warm up, 5x200, and a few 50s and a short run with 4x2' @z3. I had a massage yesterday and my quads were in knots and when she untied my left quad the grunting almost turned to screams.  That hurts more then a 15% climb. I have to start working more on the long rides at .7 and get comfortable with that steady effort. Next weekend and at the IMLP camp.
  • Tapering a bit this week because I will also be doing the Quassy HIM.  

    Will treat Sunday as my long run, but otherwise trying to run 2-6 miles a day.  Did my Wednesday ride on TrainerRoad.  It was surprisingly hard.

    Did two swims earlier this week and then had a snafu at the Y this morning.  Packed my work clothes and gym bag after my run then drove to the Y.  Got out, closed the door and went to get my stuff out of the backseat and all of  sudden my car doors locked.  I have keyless entry and my fob was in my gym bag.  The car wouldn't recognize my fingerprint nor my keypad entry.  Thus, I had to cool my heels for 45 minutes and wait for AAA to arrive.  

    Took some long, slow breaths after the tow truck left, and decided to do a quick 1k swim (no time for the 3k on my schedule and I felt compelled to do something given that I was at the pool). Felt much better after the swim.  

    So, long story.  Short swim. 

    @Mike Roberts - Good luck with the knee. I get MCL inflammation from time to time and it is one of those things that really tests my patience.  Sounds like you are poised with the ice and ibuprofen.   That's what I use as well. 

    @Gordon Cherwoniak good luck with the ride after work!

    @Robert Sabo Look forward to meeting you at Quassy.  


  • @Mike RobertsSeems like you've been down this road before, good luck with a quick recovery.
    @Patrick Marsh Nice job getting some swimming in.  I might have just bailed.

    Yesterday after work I got in almost 50' on the bike with 20' of higher quality work.  I even pushed in 10' of FTP work.
    Today 60' 1st part of my split run in this morning.  No zn3 push.  30' after work nothing flashy, although it is pretty hot today, suppose to push 90 (32C).  We will see how I fare on a short run in the heat with limited acclimatization.

    I might even get to ride outside this weekend as my aerobar elbow piece came in.  I say maybe as I could be on the hook for looking after Brody, our 2 month old and he just sleeps while I'm on the trainer.  Not exactly looking forward to another 4.5h on the trainer but my wife has some yard work and I'm not saying no.  I can probably work it out to get 1/2 that time on the trainer, which will be good tire changing practice.  The big challenge will be getting the bike ready to go for Saturday morning outside.
  • edited June 2, 2017 8:07PM
    Great training ride on the Syracuse Ironman course with @Edwin Croucher.  Thanks for reaching out to me Ed!
    I have to say the changes that were made to the bike course for 2017 has made this ride a bear.  3,200' of climbing with a bunch of hills now at the end of the course - it's pretty relentless.  We also did one loop of the run - That too has changed with the elimination of the big hill in the middle.  So I guess it all balances out.  Just have to focus on not blowing up on the bike!  Syracuse 70.3 is in two weeks.  It's going to get tricky balancing this race with the increase in training volume.
  • edited June 3, 2017 12:52AM
    @Mike Roberts - heal up!!
    @Robert Sabo + @Patrick Marsh - Good skill to you this weekend, have a great race!
    everyone else - great work going on in here!!!

    frustrating week. I've been taking monday as a swim only day. I had hoped to run a little and get a jump on mileage before heading to Snowmass for Al Camp, but alas that did not happen. I also missed a run on Wednesday as I had my daughter's senior science symposium presentation of her 3 year science research project.. 

    My week thus far - 
    Monday - swim 4600 (short hard intervals - 100s/50s/25s)
    Tuesday - Run 8
    Wednesday swim 4100(long slow intervals), bike 2x20 @FTP
    Thursday - Run 8 in the AM, legs felt tight, took kids to school, went to work.  Afternoon 10 mile run, hot, dry, legs opened up nicely!
    Friday - hell day, hung over from 2 rare beers at dinner with Jill's cousin's club in Manhattan, swim 5000 (long & strong intervals (300s/200s/150s) run 5.
    on plane to Al Camp. Tomorrow is just me & Al on the bike, planning on going beyond the pavement of 2 roads, so it will be a somewhat easy break in, but I do have a lot of weekly run mileage to make up on Sat & Sun which is gonna suck at altitude! Promise some epic photos coming atcha!

  • The only good thing getting sick did was allow me to drop 5 pounds :)

    I figured posting a whopping 2 hours of work last week would motivate me this week.  I've hit time goals for all but a couple workouts, but haven't been able to hit a lot of the intensity targets.  
    It's finally raining regularly in FL, so trainer for today's ride (and likely tomorrow).  

    Good luck to everyone racing! 

  • Saturday run 20' bike 4.5 hours ion the trainer 233 TSS IF .72, just under the targets but I took it a little easier intentionally.
    Will be getting in a 2nd swim tomorrow for the week which will require me to move the following week around as I won't be swimming 3 days in a row.
  • 161 miles of bike, 33 running, TSS 955 for the week - time for a day off...
    Moving week 15 to next week, then some taper for Syracuse
  • @MR- sure hope you work thru that knee issue?  update after Raliegh today?   I know how your feeling as I have had a minor "awareness" pop up in the last few weeks,  feeling something in my right hip which is more in the groin ( this is similar to the fracture I had last year but not nearly as intense) but it sure has my attention.... Enough so that I have slowed down just a tad, got back on a track for most of my miles, and incorporated the myrtle routine and the lunge matrix back into my minimal strength training I do....

    @GC- nice work... how is the weight coming?  I'm down just a bit more bouncing around 124-125 , realistically thinking I can get down to 122-123 by race day... a couple above my optimum but it is what it is...

    @RS - nice work on that OLY yesterday , cant wait to see how you did on the HIM today??? hope you give us a quick RR here...

    @Danielle and Scott - Enjoy Al camp but dont leave your IMLP race splits in Colorado ok!

    @SC- glad your feeling better and lighter LOL, enjoyed the personal ribbing this week... Keep up the good work... Expecting big things :-)

    @PS - big week, good skill at Syracuse, gonna have to do that one of these years, noticed your from Victor NY, we have stopped in Victor for the night quite a few times traveling back and forth from AZ, enjoy the morning runs on some trails there, always a few deer sightings as well...

    My first real IMLP week focus went well... managed 14.5hrs training, 926 TSS, 12k swimming, 140 miles bike, 30 miles run, extra credit or things I dont normally do were 1.5hrs of strength training and 2hrs of hiking...
    Swim- was 6x ,  1.1mile swims, all OWS in fridgid NH water with air temps 44-50 and water temps 58-60... this is the coldest I have ever seen the water in JUNE
    Bike was 3x , 1 FTP w/34' , 1 Vo2 w/16', and 4hrs at .75
    Run was 5x , 1 speed work session of 2.5miles of intervals , and 1 long steady 2hr , the rest very easy 

  • It was a rough week for me. Had two back-to-back 1000+ TSS weeks, kept saying I was on the edge, that I needed to be smart. Took Monday off, tried to do the threshold bike on Tuesday. My legs weren't having it, ended up just putting in the time. Wednesday the pool was closed because of t-storms, so another rest day. Thursday, did the threshold bike outside--held two big hills (35 min total) at .95 IF, then did a track workout and smashed the 3x1 mile repeats. Friday, I could barely walk, shooting shin pain, so just swam the 3900m. Did a 68 mi hilly ride yesterday. Today, made up the 3400m swim from earlier this week. Leg is feeling better, but I think I am done with speed work. I'll replace with hills, once my leg feels better. Even with almost no running and two swims instead of three, I still had over 800 TSS for the week for 12 1/2 hrs. Next week is 17 1/2 hrs. I'm a little scared that my body can't handle it.
  • @peter lautenslager I've done Syracuse three times. The first two times, I rode the first 25 miles like I was racing an Olympic distance tri, because the last 30 miles were basically downhill or flat, with plenty of time to recover for that hilly run. Last year was the new bike course and the old run, and it was brutal. We hadn't had much warm weather up to that point, and it hit almost 100 deg on race day. The change in the run for this year will definitely make things easier, but I would definitely recommend not going too hard on the bike. The swim is pretty easy. The lake is shallow--and weedy in spots, unfortunately--but one of the easier swims for me (and I'm not a swimmer.)
  • @tim cronkWell I'm down 4 to 227.  Not exactly where I'd like to be and mostly static over the last week or so.  If I could get locked in 215 would be a good target now and I'll take anything under 219 on my scale.  Of course I don't think my scale is that accurate but is fairly consistent.  Basically I've got a new belt just waiting for me to lose another 5-10lbs so I can get it on.
  • This weekend I did the Quassy HIM.  This was my primary race rehearsal for IMLP.   I ended up with at 6:03:17, finishing 39th out of 87 in my age-division.  

    Swim: 38:55 - Was pleased with this time, as I have been focused on improving my swim.  This split was faster than the 44 minutes last September at Toughman, and much faster than the 52 minutes I swam at my first HIM several years ago.  Two things to note: First, I really don't like getting knocked about for the first 500 yards, but I was able to keep moving forward.  Also, I need to think more about goggle selection ahead of time.  I had clear goggles, which made spotting difficult given that the sky was cloudless during the swim.  (I went out and bought tinted goggles after the race.) 

    T1: 4:19 - The only noteworthy thing here was that I struggled with the wet suit a bit.

    Bike: 3:17:30 - I rode at 17 mph.  This was slower than I had expected, as I rode 3-4% above my targeted average watts.  I started out about 7% too high after the first 15 miles, so I was trying to ride below my wattage target the rest of the day.  Despite the hills, I was able to keep my watts from spiking - my VI was at 1.04.  Ultimately, I felt like I was doing a lot of climbing, but then couldn't make up for it going downhill due to curves in the road and congestion.  I was happy with my nutrition discipline and hydration schedule.  Overall, I thought this was a difficult course, as I my legs felt a bit fatigued when I finished (and the area where I ride near my house is pretty hilly). 

    T2: 3:57 - Overall a pretty good transition for me.  I rinsed my feet, and then had a hard time getting my socks on straight.  Otherwise, uneventful.

    R: 1:58:36 - Ran at a 9:10 pace.  It took a mile or two for me to get my legs back.  There were a lot of hills.  When climbing, I tried to increase my turnover and decrease my stride length.  I briefly saw @Robert Sabo as he passed me around mile four.  Watching him fly by made me feel like I was running in sand.  He had great form and a blistering pace.  It is something for me to aspire to.  As the run progressed, I felt better.  At around mile 10, there was a decently long 1/2-3/4 straightaway and I was running at an 8:17 pace - which is the same pace I ran for my local HM in April.  Ultimately, I negatively split the run, so I felt satisfied that I didn't leave too much on the table.  My socks ended up bunching up, so I got blisters on each foot.  After the race, while getting the tinted goggles at my local tri-shop, I bought some Balega socks, which is what the store owner recommended.  

    Overall:  This was an improvement over last year.  In September'16, I ran Toughman HIM in 6:11.  Quassy seemed much harder, but I picked up ~8 minutes.  I felt like I rode at a reasonably disciplined pace, despite missing my wattage target, as evidenced by my negative run split.  My swim is relatively slow, but improving.  I chased down 21 people in my division on the bike and then another nine during the run.   This was a great prep race for IMLP and I was pleased that I was able to hit nearly all of race plan pacing and nutrition targets.  

    For those who haven't done Quassy, I highly recommend it - the course was scenic, challenging and well supported.  The swag was nice as well.  

    The only other thing to note this week was that I felt heel pain when I stood up out of bed this morning...  Not a good sign.  I had plantar facitis and tendinitis in my Achilles tendon before, so I know that I need to stretch my calves and hamstrings regularly.  I have been lax about my stretching and core routines since I started increasing my volumes in March; but now I realize that I need to get back into the practice, because I cannot afford another repetition-related injury.  

    Looks like everyone is chugging along with their training.  

    Best of luck this week!

  • edited June 5, 2017 9:31PM
    @Patrick Marsh Nice race.  Quassy is no picnic! 
    I heard that the water was cold?
    Take care of those feet! Been down that road for both Plantars and Achilles
    @Alicia Chase Yes, I've done Syracuse twice but have not raced the new course.  I did a training ride this past Friday and it was pretty challenging with the extra climbing at the end - I will have to be disciplined on that ride.  But the run - no more killer hill!  Yay!  The run is very manageable now and hopefully it will make up for the bike. The weedy swim doesn't bother me too much  :)
  • @Patrick, congrats on the improvements and progression through the day....That swim is always(if the sun is out) very difficult sighting even with tinted goggles...  Quassy bike is a beast... IMLP is easier :-)....  X2 on the feet !  Thanks for the report ...
  • i need to read this in entireity 
    reporting in from Al Camp, Day 1 on Saturday was 75 miles followed by a 7 mile run. I got heat exhaustion,was a mess.. 
    Day 2 was 44 miles and 8 miles of running in the morning. 
    day 3 was an 85 mile affair
    tomorrow is the big dance
    here's a pic from today's ride.
  • Great Stuff...nice report @Patrick Marsh ...epic stuff @scott dinhofer

    Last week I had some nice riding up in NH...did 101mile "three notches" route with about 5600 ft of climbing on Thursday and backed that up with a cut short 50miler up Pinkham Notch with 2600 ft of climbing...I only went half way down the back side because the weather started to turn...I did get the chance to bomb the down hill at 42mph which was a PR for me...yippee... did some running on Saturday and took Sunday off...this week back to the regular schedule..
  • edited June 6, 2017 4:18PM
    Hey Team,

    Just catching up after a busy weekend and Monday.  Glad to see so much great work going on.  The good news on my end is that my knee held up fine at Raleigh.  A brief recap: Raleigh is one of my favorite courses, anywhere, any distance.  It's tough across the board, but fair.  It separates the men from the boys, the women from the girls.  Even in the pro ranks, the separation is huge.  It's always hot and humid.  Swim is choppy and against current.  Bike has plenty of draft-killing hills.  And run is hot, exposed and always up or down.  This year, with 75 WC slots, it attracted a large pro and elite AG crowd (Every Man Jack had to have had 25-30 guys out there, and most of them are near-pro).

    The swim, as usual, was terrible.  In 83-degree murky and choppy lake water, I suck.  I am one of the boys, and I got exposed as such.  I never found a rhythm, my "normal" breathing pattern only caused water ingestion, so it's just a slog.  Like last year, I spent much of my time weaving over/around folks from previous waves, fighting the current until the final turn.  I was :37 last year, so was counting on something similarly awful.  :36.  Which was indeed awful.  But a slight improvement.  I think the 165-pound Me who used to lift weights and could bench press 235 would be able to muscle through conditions like that better than the current 145-pound Me who would likely struggle to bench the bar.  That's the current excuse to which I cling.

    T1: Both transitions are long, and with an AWA bib number, I was at the far end.  So, I got to run most of the TA without my bike.  I had no excuse not to have the fastest T1, and I did.  The benefit?  I exited the water in 19th in my AG, exited T1 in 13th.  

    The bike is awesome. Point-to-point.  Little wind.  After the 6-7 miles of climbing out of the park, you get 23 miles of scenic, rolling fun on perfect roads.  At 30, the real climbing starts, roads aren't as nice, just a lot of fun up and down until the pretty steep climb to the finish.  There were a few hills I didn't gear that well over the top, and I should have moved to my small on the way down to the third AS, which is on a pretty steep up.  Otherwise, I just tried to hold 200w.  Because I spun out quite a bit in my 12 (lesson learned), my NP only ended up being 197, VI of 1.03.  But my 2:33 time was a minute better than last year and exactly what BBS said it would be.  Got off the bike in 17th AG.

    T2 is the same, so I had to run virtually the entire thing, uphill, with my bike.  I knew I wouldn't be the fastest here, but I ended up 5th and only 10 seconds out of the lead.  Passed two, exited T2 in 15th AG.

    Last year I didn't crack 5 hours for the first time in a long time, and that became a goal on this notoriously "slow" course.  But with a suspect knee, the first priority was to test the knee and, if OK and feasible, then try to crack 5 hours by a second or two (to me there's no difference between 4:59 and 4:51 when the goal is sub-5).  My race started at 7:25 am, so I checked the time of day on Garmin as I started to run, saw 10:39 am, figured a 1:45 would bring me home around 12:24.  Straight-up 8-min miles.  Totally doable.  On the way out on the double out-back, I was pretty much by myself.  Very quiet.  It was sunny, humid and into the 80s, but manageable.  The first signal of difficulty was around Mile 1 when I passed a guy who was bent over, hurling.  I then see Matt Russell (#1 bib) running downhill on the other side around his Mile 12.  He quickly stops, cramps up, starts to walk.  Looked understandably frustrated (he finished 6th).  So I just focused on pace, hydration, salt, and filling my Race Saver at every AS.  Instead of my usual 155 HIM HR, I was humming along at 150.  Actually enjoyed the run because of the modest effort, got to thank a lot of spectators/volunteers, gave out a dozen high-fives to the kids.  At Mile 10 near the final turn-around, I check Screen 2 for avg pace, saw "7:59," got a bit peeved that I hadn't given myself any cushion, and decided to push the effort just a bit to make sure my mental clockwork was accurate and secure the sub-5.  Ran 7:30's and 7:40's, left quad cramped up during Mile 12 on the downhill (right where Russell had), fought through it, then cramped up again on the run-in without about 300 yards to go.  No one in front or behind, so I slowed a bit, cruised across in 4:57 and change.  Finished 9th.  With 75 slots, I got another 70.3 WC invite and turned it down (I figure my 3 turn-downs prior to last year got me some great Karma last fall, now I'm hoping the 2 turn-downs this year will result in something similar).  Walked the run course for 30 minutes to loosen up, showered and iced, then walked another couple of miles.  

    All in all, a fun weekend on a great course in a great venue.  Satisfied with a decent performance.  Have a lot of work to do before Placid, but that can wait until tonight.  Or tomorrow.

    MR
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