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2017 IM Louisville- Week 11- Big Day



Week 11 - Another "Big Day"

Hello rockin peeps! How did last week’s training go?? Thank you Paul, Jeff and Derrek for chiming in! Way to get it done despite everyday craziness and conflicts. Smart training is good training!!

Any good learning points? Something you care to share? Let’s hear it!! We are so fortunate to have such an awesome team with a TON of knowledge and most importantly MOJO!!! Who else is out there???

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 coach wants 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.


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Comments

  • Really looking forward to Saturday's Big Day!

    Had a good day this past Saturday with an open-water swim, followed by a 4-mile run, followed by the planned 4-hour bike.  I'm trying to focus more on nutrition, and specifically not over-eating on the bike.  Saturday I took in 335 calories per hour and had absolutely no GI issues.

    I'm targeting 350-400 per hour for this coming Saturday, with the objective of starting the run slightly hungry, and with no "sloshiness"
  • back in the game! 
    4200 yard swim as 500WU 9x(300swim; 100 paddle/pull)
    6 mile run
    hoping to get a bike in this evening.. 
    hearing a lot of crickets out there!
  • I can make some noise !! :)

    This week is week 19/20 for IMMT next week, I still have one "long run" of 80' and will do a semi big day on Friday which will be a swim RR (the last one !! ) and a 3 hours bike ride on the sea path which is a flat and safe place to ride fast here in Montreal.


  • I can make some noise !! :)

    This week is week 19/20 for IMMT next week, I still have one "long run" of 80' and will do a semi big day on Friday which will be a swim RR (the last one !! ) and a 3 hours bike ride on the sea path which is a flat and safe place to ride fast here in Montreal.


    BE SAFE & cut that ride to 2 1/2 hrs per plan... hay is in the barn... just keep it fresh
  • I can make some noise !! :)

    This week is week 19/20 for IMMT next week, I still have one "long run" of 80' and will do a semi big day on Friday which will be a swim RR (the last one !! ) and a 3 hours bike ride on the sea path which is a flat and safe place to ride fast here in Montreal.


    BE SAFE & cut that ride to 2 1/2 hrs per plan... hay is in the barn... just keep it fresh
    True ! its 2h30, I missread and yeah gonna be safe, they are no cars in that area - my wife tells me to do it on the trainer.. maybe I should listen to her !
  • On the road this week for work for a few days. The only missed WKO was the swim this am. Substituted some bands and a ride on the trainer. Tomorrow is as planned. Anyone have thoughts on the big day when you can't swim first due to timing? Bands first? Swim last? Trainer bike in the hotel - I'm a traveling circus!

  • Way to properly pack for a business trip @Jeff Kane!!!  (BTW, what kind of saddle is on that bike?)

    There are a couple of options if you can't swim first on the big day: swim long the evening before; run a mile or two before biking to simulate having the system revved when you start the ride
  • edited August 8, 2017 4:49PM
    @Paul Curtin It's a Fizik that came stock with my Giant Advance Trinity Pro 1. Swapped it with an ISM and put it on the trainer bike. It's fairly comfortable and I was actually thinking about swapping it back. Thanks for the training feedback too!
  • I hope on the road is with a car, pretty bold if you shlepped a bike on a plane for a biz trip!
    I agree with paul's assertions above.. try to swim the afternoon/ evening before, also like the idea of the 2 mile pre-run.. 
  • @Jeff Kane always tough to do on the road!  

    Well hello everyone!  Just checking in here as well.  We had a beautiful weekend and it made for a great bike and run.  @Paul Curtin I have the opposite issue as I am focusing on drinking and eating enough.  It was jacket weather when we took off, and I forced myself to drink (but not enough).  My watch buzzes (laps) every 5 miles, so I try to take a gel every other lap (2 per hour).  I've been eating a cliff bar around 2 hours in, but I need to get better at moving while I eat.  I breath through my mouth and choke if I try to eat solids while I ride.  In the end I skipped a couple of gels and did not drink enough to pee, but my run off the bike (4 miles) felt great.

    For the big day on Saturday, I'm trying decide between open water and the pool.  With the pool, I can start earlier, but lots of admin, so I will most likely do open water.  I will plan on drinking / eating more and practice chewing on the bike.  I see we have a rest day on Sunday.  I look forward to sleeping in!

    I am going to do a longer tempo run tonight instead of the mile intervals.  My run shape is finally coming back, and I want to see how that feels.

    @scott Dinhofer have a great ride tonight!
    @Francis Picard Enjoy the sea path!  I can't wait to follow your IMMT!

  • Back from a long family weekend up north. Was nice to chill for a few days and enjoy the summer with my girls before school starts. Now my crosshairs are back on October 15th. Always enjoy the final 8-10 weeks before an Ironman. You go from being fit to full-on Skeletor. Regulators mount up! 
  • My training week has started off well...took off Monday.  Tuesday was a morning swim, evening FTP bike and run.  Today swim and mile intervals tonight.  Anniversary is Thursday and I'm hoping to run or bike early morning, then we're going on a all day wine tasting tour in the Shenandoah Area. 

    I'm trying to figure out my Big Day as well and have two options. Either do it Saturday with a pool swim (easy logistics/pool 5 mins away) or do it Sunday with an OWS (harder logistics/OWS is 50 mins away but would ride from OWS location).  My long runs are on Sundays so I would move my LR to Saturday.  Since this is not an actual race rehearsal, I'm thinking keep it easy with a pool swim on Saturday.  I think I just figured it out...Thanks!

  • Derrek -- your Big Day is obviously Thursday ... congratulations on the anniversary!!!
  • Did the planned bike WKO over lunch time ... during a client call ... luckily I didn't need to speak.  Couldn't hold power in warm-up so just did 8 x 1' at Z4/Z5

    Then swam in the outdoor 50-meter pool this afternoon; skipped the run to focus on a longer run tomorrow
  • The big day for me will be Saturday.  I'll most likely skip the swim that morning but will aim to do a long swim Friday evening.  I like the idea of a short run before the long ride.  My plan is to meet up with my two local triclub teammates to ride this route https://ridewithgps.com/routes/657512 I think the elevation will be good practice for Lou?  Then run 60 minutes after. I'm going to also focus on not overeating on the bike.  For the run, I'm going to continue using Gatorade Endurance, Clif shot blocks, salt. My only worry is that the run will be hillier than I'm going to want. 
  • Like Francis, I am on a slightly different schedule, week 16 of 20 for IMWI.  Last week was Camp Week, so this week is a little easier and has a run focus, but we do have a (kinda) Big Day on Saturday.  Good luck all!
  • @Alan Brown - that IMWI and IMLou double looks like tough work!  Ed E. did that last year and had a great race in Lou.  Are you favoring one over the other in terms of how hard you'll push?
  • Louisville will seem flat after riding that course @Sabra Gonzalez ... it looks like a lovely ride!  

    I wouldn't worry about hills on the run, just keep your HR in the planned range and try for a steady pace or negative split
  • I did the FTP intervals last night and then did a few hill climbs.  @Paul Curtin my local hills seem so easy after doing Blue Ridge.  I was thinking of how hard they used to be.  The brick run felt good.  For the long run tonight, I am going to experiment with doing a run walk during a training run.

    I've also decided to skip the swim for Saturday.  It just adds too much admin.  I will do a double swim Friday, and then I will do a run before the ride on Saturday.

    @Sabra Gonzalez   that looks like a great ride!  Take a few photos!

    Also...  if anyone is interested...  We've been doing a group Zwift ride on Sunday mornings at 8:00 eastern.  There are even a couple of west coast that join at 5:00 their time. It starts out as an ABP progression ride, but the competitive nature of EN athletes has lead to us going for the KOM jersey up the climbs, so you do get a couple of Z4 intervals thrown in, but they are very fun!  We use discord to talk to each other and the conversation makes the ride go by quick.  Most stay on for 2 hours, but a few will jump off early or stay on longer.   https://endurancenation.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/22881/sunday-zwift-abp-8am-est-updated-instructions-inside#latest
  • @Scott, when I travel for work it is like a circus! Loaded the bike in the Race Wagon (tricked out mini van) along with my work supplies and was good to go. I think I need a fan for the next time! Even though the room was set at 68 it was HOT in that corner!!

    Training on point for the week  - Split Run part 1 done this morning and will be knocking out part 2 tonight. Plan is to double down tomorrow with long swim and normal run. For the Big Day going on the recommendations of @Paul, and will execute a pre run, then continue on with the WKO as rx'd.

  • Life sometimes gets in the way...Changing up the big day here as well to fit the schedule.

    - Friday's run at lunch today if possible (Thursday), yes lunch will be later than planned being it is already 12:20 (grrr)
    - Do the big swim tonight in the pool
    - Big bike and run Friday late am into pm
    - Saturday off
    - Sunday I will do Thursday's big run volume 60 min. in the am / 60 min. in the pm

    I am just hopping the winds off lake Michigan are not like they were last time we had the big day planned, that was not a fun ride! 

  • @Paul Curtin this will be the 3rd time for me doing the IMWI and Lou combo.  IMWI is my key race.  
  • Did the big day swim tonight, going to ride and run in the am tomorrow...to my surprise I was able to shave 8 seconds off my average 100 meter time in comparison to my last big day swim...I guess working on form really helped, especially for this non-swimmer! 
  • Had another swim lesson this morning -- did the Ramp Test to determine ideal stroke rate.  The data is very telling: the sweet spot is clearly in the 66-69 spm range; it feels good and times were consistently faster than at other rates

    Coach Jeni took a video for me:

    https://youtu.be/CH_B-uuo5gU

  • @Paul Curtin I noticed you breathed to the right every second stroke.  I have been breathing bi lateral for a few years, but tried that this morning and really liked it.  
  • Hi Brian -- usually I'll practice all 3 ways (left, right, bi) ... pull buoy sets are always bi-lateral.  When fatigue sets in I tend to do exclusively right side
  • Nice stroke @Paul Curtin. What was your stroke rate before the ramp test?
    I practice the 3 ways too but prefer the left side.  Sometimes I try to do 2 left side, 2 right side, 2 left side, etc.  But in a race/OWS it's 99% left side breathing. 
  • Thanks @Derrek Sanks!!  It used to be really slow ... probably 45 or so ... been working on improving it since February.

    For today's Big Day swim I set the wetronome to 66 for the open-water wetsuit swim at Caesar Creek; but that was a bit too high; reset it to 63 and that worked better
  • @Paul Curtin , thanks for sharing the video. It's something I need to do too. That sweet spot you discovered is in keeping with the ideas laid out in the swim ebooks, so good on you. I am by no means a swim coach or expert in the field, but it does appear you leave a little on the table in your pull. I always think, "brush your thumb on your hip" to get the full effect of the pull. Even with a higher stroke rate, the form needs to remain. We are both very similar in IM Swim times - looking at IMLOU last year, so I know we both have a lot to gain. You more so given your advanced fitness. Endstate: I like the direction you're going.

    Friday -3200 yd swim followed by 40 min run. 

    Saturday - 2 mile run (77* and 95% Humidity and 75% dew point = Yuck), 4 hour ride (felt good), 1 hour run (inside on treadmill). Really happy with the the outcomes on the day. Just need to be more mindful of the fluid intake give the amount of fluid loss early in the ride. 

    Since tomorrow is a rest day the books are closed on the week - this is the biggest run week I have had this this at 38.7 miles. Comparing data from last years build to this years is like night and day! 


  • Good input, thanks @Jeff Kane!  I'm going to try that thumb on the hip

    Great work this week -- nice to read that you're way ahead of last year!
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