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2017 IM Louisville- Week 16- Reflect and Run

Week 16 Rest/Run Focus/ Swim up a storm!

WOW!!! AWESOME WORK LAST WEEK!!! Some serious, serious training was done and I loved reading about your progress!  Keep it up. Head up, rest up and head into this week strong. Let’s keep the mojo flowing in here!! WE ARE GETTING CLOSE!!!

  1. Mandatory for Camp Week Completers!  If you did a camp of some sort…… You must rest to consolidate the work you have done. If you did NOT complete camp week, you may do the workouts listed beginning on MONDAY.

  2. It also is a Run Focus Week! If possible, aim for 6 to 10 miles more than your "typical" week by either inserting another run day or adding a small amount to every run you do. BUT this is entirely optional, it simply plays into the coaches separate build / taper approach for managing fitness by discipline across your Race Prep phase.


This week you will also have a swim race rehearsal.  

Remember:  4400 yard swim - Anything that takes your mind off of your form is counter productive

Your primary pacing tool is counting your strokes allows you to focus on technique and you will be in a pace where you can maintain


Set yourself up for the artificiality of the chaos the swim start will have on race day — rather than warm up (since you most likely won’t have that on race day) dive in and swim faster to replicate how it will be on race day then drop into your race pace- however pay attention that you aren’t dropping into a pace that is slower than your goal race pace


You will never be able to fully replicate the “washing machine effect” like race day but work on your mental focus for that effect. Focus on your legs and try not to kick too much.

Only swim as fast as your ability to maintain form.

Practice siting : 50 meter pool site 2x per 50

                         25 meter pool site 1x per 25

                         OWS use judgement  

Only site with your eyes so you don’t drop no chin out of the water

Think at the start of this week.

  • What do I need this weekend to get ready. Get your equipment dialed in.

  • Remember zones and pacing

  • Fueling plan

LETS CRUSH THIS WEEK LOUISVILLE TEAM!!!

** Alternative **

You COULD just do this--- Train like you Race

Comments

  • Looking forward to this, planned on a big run week given that I am doing a big bike week next week!
  • OMG week 16 !! - time is flying so fast !!

    Last week was a good one, 900TSS, 42KM of run - I didnt manage correctly the run as I wanted to cap at 32KM, but didnt swim at all. Got some good quality bike sessions mostly focusing on execution and get that VI low with a steady power.

    Pools are now finally reopened in Montreal, they were all closed last week for annual cleaning.. I also forgot to check the Fall schedule which really sucks - they close 45' earlier than during summer, so that means I need to plan accordingly for my 3 big swims (M-W-F). 

    On my side I am planning on doing a full RR on Friday, will probably do it on Zwift. Also planning on doing a "long" 90' run on Sunday and depending on how it goes, will be doing 2X90' for weeks 17 and 18.

    Still 3 weeks of work to go ! train well and be safe outside !!


  • Ready for the week - feeling solid after Camp Week. Good thing today is an off day considering we are getting heavy winds and rain here in SC. Already have the "A" and "B" plans for the week if the pool is impacted by the weather today. Looking forward to the bump in the run volume this week as everything is coming together nicely.

    @Francis Picard - I agree, time is flying by!
    @Scott Dinhofer - interested to see what you out this week in the run. 
  • I'm back!  Great reading about Camp Week!

    Drove home from Chattanooga today.  It was super-cool racing in a championship event, I had a lot of fun.  Decided to push the run leg -- will rest and take a few easy days -- hopefully picking it back up Thursday.  

    Here's a short video race report:
    https://www.instagram.com/p/BY4DVKQHtHuTVYpDlIXKIFTJH2-g4M6QXRZOnw0/?taken-by=paulc.swbiru
  • @everyone. Awesome work last week.  Lets keep it rolling.  It is definitely getting close.

    Last week.  22 plus hours.
    TSS 1154
    Swim 2 (1 good interval swim and the race rehearsal)
    Bike 187 miles
    Run 23 miles (mostly elliptical, some walking)

    Reported  on Friday and Saturday already.  Was able to get my bike back working Saturday night.  Took off for a ride Sunday morning .  Plan was at least 2 x 28.  Well, it was blustery? windy?, brezzy? gusty?  All of the above!!!  I found myself riding into some pretty strong winds.  I quickly decided that this was an opportunity to really practice riding steady power and just enjoy the moment.  It was an awesome ride with the wind all over the place.  Just enjoyed the cool weather and the sounds of the trees blowing.  Even watched a rotted tree fall across a side road as I was passing by.  Also decided to extend the ride because I knew that once I got back I would not want to go back out.  With the cooler temps I had enough nutrition to go a little longer before getting back.  Ended up with a little over 51 miles and had a vi of 1.08.  I am super happy with that because even just a few weeks ago that vi would have been much higher.

    After the ride, went to the gym for a 2 hour elliptical session.  That went good and kept my HR right where it was supposed to be.

    Bike nutrition.  I have a pretty strong stomach but I have struggled with nutrition a lot on the bike, especially during races.  Friday was no different.  Well Friday night I decided to really look at what I was doing and I think I have been trying to eat to much and possibly taking on too much salt.  I used the EN race nutrition calculator and it says I need 575 calories per hour.  Plan had been 2 bottles GE per hour plus 1/2 powerbar every thirry minutes.  That gets me the calories and gives me a lot of sodium, which I need when it is hot.  That amount was what I have tried in past races and during long rides.  Not always, but most of the time it has made me nauseous.  Well Saturday I stopped the insanity and I changed it up.  Just GE for the first hour then GE plus 1/4 powerbar every hour.  It seemed to work wonders.   Did it again Sunday and same results.  Hmmm, maybe I am on to something.  Would love it as this would mean minimal food to carry and live off of the course for hydration.  I also seem to do okay with granola bars and potato chips. Will probably put those in special needs along with a pb&j.  I also figure if it gets hot, I will just drink more and that will add calories.  I know it leaves a deficit but I have plenty of stored energy just waiting to be used and it seems to get used as long as i do not consume too much sugar.

    I had also been taking in BASE every 30 minutes.  Stopped that as well and nothing changed except I felt better.  I will keep either that or salt caps with me just in case but probably will not use them unless it is hot.  Even then if I up the hydration to 3 bottles that will give me 1800 mg of sodium which should be plenty.

    Sorry for the book.  That's my reflection.  Looking forward to another good week.

    Your thoughts and input on nutrition are appreciated
  • Swam at lunch.  Meh.

    Rode the trainer to spin the legs out.  Meh.

    About what I expected
  • @Bill Eckert -- the nutrition change you made last Saturday was a good move; too much GE seems to cause issues.  There's nothing wrong with a PB&J as long as your system can handle it, just be sure to eat it at mile 60 and not mile 95.  Personally I'd avoid granola bars on race day ... they're great on a long ride but they'll come back to haunt you on an IM run.

    Getting the proper amount of sodium is never easy.  On a cool day our bodies won't need as much ... but we still need a lot more than on a normal day.  My plan is to drink GE in the first 3 hours (one GE and one water per hour), then switch to water only for the remainder.  So that means I'll need to add salt regardless of race-day temperature.

    What about gels and blocks ... do you use those?
  • @Paul Curtin  Thank you.  It is the GE and too much Powerbar that gets me.  I have some of the new GE formula and it is spook much better than the old stuff, at least for me.  I figure if I can keep hydration and sodium right and calories close I should be okay.

    I hear you on the granola bars.  I have used them on long rides but I can see where they would cause problems on the IM run.

    The pb&j would be frozen and be in special needs which I think is 65 miles.  That and a coke.  Coke always seems to work wonders for me if my gut is a little off.

    I have used gels and blocks before.  They have been in the back of my mind for some easily digestible calories on the bike and run.  I need to get some and see how they work so going to do that.  Again though, I am thinking that I will have to be careful with my calories from fluids vs other stuff to make sure I don't get too much and cause problems with digesting it all.  I think in the past I have tried to consume too many gels/blocks with the GE and that has caused problems.  I still have a lot to dial in but continuing to do that.

    I like your plan.  You are an experienced and smart racer so I know you know what works for you.  Thanks for all of your input and suggestions on getting my plan dialed in.

    I still have not seen your video.  Been without power and internet since 2pm Monday.  Using the phone as best I can but even with that the coverage here is horrible and I keep forgetting to look at it when I am out.
  • was wondering who will be our supah dupah Sherpa for this race ??
  • @Trent Prough - is our super sherpa, but has some conflicts that are out of his control. Hev may or may not get to LV. I volunteered to organize shizz. With out team dinner taken care of, there isn't much more to go. 
    My plan was to throw out a place to meet for carbo loading breakfast on Friday, good chance to talk about the course, ask questions of each other, etc.
    pick a post race meet up time/ venue.

    anything else?

  • Another great week shaping up!
  • It was great reading about all the camp week work last week. I had a 70.3 race last weekend and had the Ok from Coach to skip camp instead of trying to move it to another date. I had a great race and my best 70.3 run ever. I came in 14th overall and 1st in my AG. I think the changes in my hydration made all the difference. Thank you @Paul Curtin for all the advice. This has been a recovery week for me so far and I plan to be back on the training plan Friday. I hope to get in a solid 5-6 hr ride Saturday.  Everyone keep up the great work.
  • Off to Europe for a week for work and sitting in the lounge before the flight, thinking about the camp weekend mishaps and how I felt this week, my body needs recovery time more than I expected!  I think it also may enjoy one glass of Cabernet after I board to hopefully help me sleep on the flight...  Work will trump training all next week, but hope to at least get some stair running in the hotel or something, as there s no gym...ughh.
  • @Derrek Sanks, great job on the race!
    @Brian Smith, safe travels and get it in when when you can
    Another great week, I can feel the fatigue stacking it up, but am keeping it away with some solid recovery protocols. Shaping up to be another 40+ mile run week. Things are shaping up nicely! 
  • I can finally say that I am back on the training wagon.

    Did a full RR yesterday, really starting to see dividends of the bike focus work I've been doing since IMMT. I was able to cover the full 180KM in 5h10 (ok, its on zwift but, the delta to IRL for me is about 5-10' more outside)

    Back to 12k of swim
    Back to 44km of run - I will NOT exceed 50KM during this week, my peak will be next week where I will be splitting the 3hrs run by 2 days of 90' run each.
    Bike: its been 2 weeks in a row of over 11hrs, including 2 zwift races

    So fat this week I am aty 17h and 1378TSS, which tomorrow EN ABP ride on Zwift, should end the week at 19h and 1500TSS.

    Really felt tired last night but had a good night sleep

    We still have 2 weeks of work!
  • @Jeff Kane, Thanks!

    The beginning of this week was recovery and then ended on a great note until today's long run. LOL.  Saturday was RR swim, 5 hr bike and 40' run. I felt super good on the run and kept my HR within 5 bpm of my avg bike HR. Then, today's long run was tough on tired legs and near 100% humidity. Got in about 13 miles/1:50:xx. Actually, this LR was good practice for running on tired legs, maintaining good form and mental focus. 

    @Francis Picard, why are you splitting the 3 hr run over two days? Since my longest continuous run in many weeks has been 1:50:00 (today), I'm hesitant about jumping to a 3 hr run and might split it as well.  Although the split LRs added up to 15-16 miles, I'd be going from 13 miles run to 18 of continuous running. 
  • @Derrek Sanks I had discussions with @Coach Patrick regarding this since I already built my run fitness through the IMMt. Its been 4 weeks only.. so its probably safer.

    Going thru 3hrs will have me run 36-38km, which is not a good idea... He suggested me
    to split the total time in 2 days, so that will be it.
  • You guys are stout!  @Brian Smith I've had a little forced down time myself.  I don't think it's ideal, but my legs feel better than they have in a while.  I think week 18 will be enough to bring you back. I came down with a pretty major cold that may have turned into something worse.  I was in bed all day Friday.  I attempted a Zwift ride saturday and lasted 15 minutes.  I was able to do the 3 hour team ride on Zwift today and am feeling much better.

    @Derrek Sanks there seem to be opinions all over the place on the long run.  It seems more of the vets and WSMs believe the 3hr run is over rated.  For me, it's more of a mind boost than it is a fitness boost. 

    I can't wait to tow the line with you all.  On to week 17! 
  • This week was focused on recovering from last Sunday's race, so TSS and volume were down.  Missed the swim race rehearsal completely.  Dropped the 3-hour ABP ride and one run workout, and spun easy instead of the bike threshold workout

    However, on Saturday I burned an entire carton of matches on the bike workout -- rode the IM Lou course on the trainer as part of the 8 x 25' Z3.  It was hard; hrTSS was crazy high.  Ran 14 today with heavy-and-dead legs
  • @Brian Hagan, I just looked at the 3 hr run description and it's 18 miles or 3 hrs, whichever come first. For me, 18 miles should be around 2:30 to 2:40 depending on temps/humidity/fatigue level. So, I'm going to do 18 miles. I hope you're over that cold.
    @Paul Curtin - recover well, these next two weeks are big volume. BTW, I tried the Skratch Hydration Recovery twice and Hyper Hydration about consuming it about 30-40 mins pre long bike/run workouts. Both had no ill-effects and both seem to help with hydration. The Hyper Hydration had an awful taste while the Hydration Recovery tasted great. I plan to stick with the Recovery and might try two servings this weekend. Thanks for the recommendation.
  • Hi @Derrek Sanks -- given your run background capping it at 18 is definitely the way to go.  

    On the Skratch Labs product ... you like the Rescue Hydration mix, correct?  That's my favorite.  They have one called Endurance Recovery mix but that's more for post-workout.  And yeah, I can't stomach the Hyper Hydration mix on race day ... too big of a vomit risk.
  • The mojo remains strong on the thread. Another solid week in the books with 40+ miles of running. Looking forward to the last two weeks of the big volume training!
  • @Paul Curtin, yes, I like the Rescue Hydration. Agree with the vomit risk. LOL 
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