NO KIDDING!!!!! I've been a little MIA, guys... I had a rough week last week. Work has been blowing up in my face, I'm taking a lot of overnight shifts resulting in no sleep, and it finally caught up to me. Last wednesday I found myself staring at my bike willing myself to ride it and really wanting to throw it off a cliff. Long story short, Rich told me to take 3 whole days off to salvage myself, and thought it was REALLY, REALLY hard to do... I did it. Then did the RR Sat, long run Sunday. Wasn't feeling awesome but the totally overwhelming/want to cry fatigue was helped quite a bit by all that rest.
But now... I'm just freaking out that we have a race in 3 weeks!
So am I the only one who swam today? Actually broke out the wetsuit. Did about 900-1000m in it and was done. Was about 15 seconds per 100 faster but damn I got hot. And my shoulders were on fire. Guess I will have to keep at it. Maybe throw in some pushups, pullups, TRX during this taper.
hang in there, shannon. the rest will do you good.
tucker, i swam today...and will pretty much be swimming as much as possible the whole taper period!!! i'm having good sensations so far, but still too chicken to time myself over the full distance. maybe tomorrow. by the way, aren't you already a giant? don't do more pull ups and TRX (isn't that some ultimate fighting thing?). i say, wear the wetsuit again and rotate your body more until you feel that the rotation takes care of getting most of your arm out of the water. maybe actual swimmers can chime in with more specific advice, but that's what worked for me when i had a stiff wetsuit.
i ran too: 8.27miles in 60minutes on treadmill. just wanted a smooth no acceleration on soft surface run.
I swam today as well for my 3rd open water swim. 2nd one was during a sprint tri on Sat... felt good to blow it out a bit. I'm doing last Sat's long bike tomorrow + run and then back to the regular scheduled taper program. FWIW, I also recommend getting as many OWS in as feasible for swim wkos between now and race... especially if you have comfort issues, whether they be suit or just open-water related. It is a different animal and I , for one, need a little adjustment period to re-gain a comfort level and let it all flow when out of the pool.
Put this in the category of "soft" advice: I like to turn the "constricted" feeling of a wetsuit on its head and think "support"... just like a compression top. Take the first 300-400 yards of OWS and go real easy focusing on your body position and appreicate the big advantage your suit is giving you (I have a bit of a "man it is so cool to be this horizontal without even thinking about it" kind of a feeling). Another idea is to do the swim equivalent of a fartlek... change your turnover rate, how hard you pull, how pronounced your roll is, how long your stroke is... eventually you'll find the combination and rhythm that works best for you and your suit.
FWIW, I find that it is easier to have a slighlty wider stroke (so hands maybe at or slightly wider than 10 & 2 on a clock) with a wetsuit on.
@ Shannon, I am in the same boat as you. I have been working crazy hours at work over the last couple of weeks and have missed several workouts as a result, including my long run last week and RR. I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about it and remind myself that too much rest isn't a bad thing come race day.
I did, however, get the RR swim in on Saturday evening. I did it in a local 50 meter outdoor salt water pool here in Seattle. It just opened up for the season last week and it felt great to swim in a 50 meter pool. I did 38 laps (3800 meters) in 1:28. I'm hoping to be within about 10% of that time on race day, as that would be a big 30+ minute improvement for me from IMFL last year.
@tucker- were you in the pool for this swim or open water? If you were in the pool I wouldn't make any "adjustments" until you try it in OWS. Wetsuits were NOT designed to be worn in 80 degree water. You're going to overheat and your stroke is going to turn to shit. Have you been making all your swim workouts up to this point? If so have you had any shoulder issues up to this point? Body glide on any friction points can really help with a "binding" wetsuit. A wider stroke will reduce some of the binding in the shoulder area and it makes for a much more stable swim in rough water. I try to keep my arms wider than my trunk in OWS.
@shannon- not to panic you, but we only have 2 1/2 weeks now! Don't worry about it you're going to do grreat. You and Stephen will probably feel better than the rest of us because all the rest your getting.
I had great swim on monday- although I prefer the longer sets than the 20x100's. Today was an hour on the bike- I did my 8 mile running "hills" route twice on the bike. It isn't a fast course but it definately makes you work. It's very reminiscent of the north end of the CDA bike course. You're either going up hill or down hill the entire time.
Just returned from my swim. Forgot the Garmin and didn't bother to count laps but swam for 40 minutes without stopping and felt great. Now I need to figure out when I can try out the wetsuit in an OWS.
@Gil, a giant? Hardly. Probably bigger than most of you rabbits though. I agree with swimming as much as possible. Gonna try to get a few OWS in as well. It was the first time using it since last April so I'm not to worried, yet.
@Shannon, make sure you get your rest. Get in the short intense main sets and don't worry about the rest I say if you're time crunched.
@Steve, you're right. I was in the pool. Need to try it in open water. Also it has been so long since I had it on I may just need a few more swims to get used to it. Shoulder issues? Well I did pitch in college and occasionally have some pains when I sneeze, weird I know, in my shoulder joints. But other than that nothing.
Thanks for the advice all.
Today called for 2 x 20' at FTP. There was no chance of that happening logistically today. One option was to go to a spin class at the gym, or the other option would be to pull my kids on the MTB bike. Chose the MTB option. More fun and get my girls involved. So around 90' of an additional 50-90lbs, we picked up my oldest from school, doing some nice little inclines. Have to say that those knobby tires just don't turn over as fast as the smooth guys.
Turned yesterday's bike 2x18'(4') into am impromptu FTP test this morning. I believe this was the first official FTP test I have down on the tri bike. Before that I was just using my road bike FTP and trying to hit the same numbers. Ended up with an FTP of 230, which is 15 point bump. Question is will I use that for CdA or will I be conservative and go with something in-between.
This makes me almost caught up on this weeks workouts. I just need to squeeze in a swim at lunch and a run this evening and I will be all set :-)
Peter: I say go with the watts that worked well for your RR1and RR2. Those watts may now correlate wirh a lower percentage, based on the new FTP, but if that's what got you to 112 miles plus good 1hr run afterwards, then that's what u can do.
@Gil: Yep, that is exactly what I was thinking. I figure the lower percentage will help me run better off the bike.
Second workout of the day complete. Another 2500 meters in the pool, and feeling pretty good. I am amazed that I have been able to master the swimming in just 2-3 months.
Next stop is Chicago tomorrow evening to compete in the Ragnar Relay. I will be running 20.1 miles in 3 legs (6.9, 5.4 and 7.8) over a 24 hour period. #1 goal: Don't hose my IM!!
Nice bump Pete. What Gil said. And on the plus side, you have a couple more watts you can play with from time to time on the course.
Great swim workout this morning. Loved swimming in the outdoor pool with the sun pouring down. Was working on trying to avoid it in my eyes like Al said will happen in CDA. Guess I read the workout a little wrong, but still got in the 2700m of the main set plus the extra 300 to give me a nice round 3000m. Really felt good coming out the pool.
Run was a little different. Ran at high noon, 95 F. Just lovely. Just couldn't do the 3 mile repeats @ TP in that heat while pushing the stroller so I amended to 5 x .5mile @ TP. Was still tough and on the last 2 started to feel my hamstrings tightening up, probably from lack of hydration. Been pounding water and G2 ever since to prepare for tomorrows run.
Took a few days off to rest my tender feet from the weekend. Back at it today with a 45 minute tempo run (garmin was out of batteries so I went old school.) Felt good to just run and go with RPE. Then had my second OWS with a pretty large group of folks (the Tacoma swim referenced by Al above). Was one of a few swimmers who went with the full mile swim after a 600 yd warm-up. Felt very good and much more comfortable than I was last week. Will do it at least one more time before race day.
I feel for all of you fighting the heat. At least the temps at IMCDA (whatever they are) will seem mild to you
Hi All - I hope everyone is staying healthy and looking forward to the taper. Sounds like people are getting some good workouts in. For those of you having a tough time balancing work and workouts, just do your best and know that the rest of us are here to cheer you on no matter what.
I took Monday off since I had to travel for work and did the RR#2 on Sunday. Had to flip flop the Tuesday & Wednesday workouts since the hotel I was at didn't even had a stationay bike. On Tuesday ran the WU then 2 x 1 mile intervals. Ran miles @ 7:02 and 6:25 pace in 75* temp and 90% H. Got completely soaked with with my own sweat. EZ CD jog back to hotel. Felt fast.
On Wednesday I did the bike intervals in am and swam in pm. So what's up with the 2 x 18' Z4-5 bike intervals? That was almost as hard as a test, but I got it done and felt ok. In the pm, I swam 4 x 500 @ 1:55/100 pace, then 5 x 100 sprints and 4 x 50 sprints. With the WU & CD, did an even 3000 yds. The 500s felt comfortable but the sprints were clearly harder work. Today I do the long run after work to get use to running late in the day.
Hang in there everybody. We're almost there. Have a great day!!
The accumulated fatigue has definately hit me. I haven't skipped a workout in weeks but think I might need to tomorrow. Todays long run was supposed to be in the low 8's/ mile, but struggled to maintain 9's. The 2x20' kickers at MP (7:09/mile) were at 7:50'ish and i only got one in. Tough day at the office, for sure. It seems that I get this way before EVERY race, where I can't get close to my expected paces. Then on race day I blow it away and get a PR. Hopefully it will happen again this time.
No long runs for me as I'm trying to get my knees 100% by race day. Last night I did some short Z4 intervals followed by some Z3 and a short run at race pace. No knee pain coming off a short bike so it's clear that my knee issues only come up after a long bike or long run. I'm definitely going to follow Doc GH's prescription of walking for the first hour off the bike to give my knees a chance to recover and then seeing if I can do my normal 10:00 pace from there.
Also watched IMSG last night on the DVR. Getting psyched for IMCDA.
Quick tactical race day question: from reading the athlete's guide, it sounds like you can't access your T1, BSN, T2, or RSN bags after checking them in on Saturday so I will need to put my Run Infinit bottles in the T2 and RSN bags on Saturday. Will I be able to put the Bike Infinit bottles on the bike on race morning or will these need to be on the bike when I check it in on Saturday?
@Allen: unless something has changed from last year, your will have access to all your bags Sunday morning. They lay them all out by number and type of bag. My recollection is that you have to drop the bags off on Saturday and that the reason they say in the Athlete Guide that you cannot access them on Sunday is to prevent everyone from putting nothing in the bags until Sunday (which would obviously create a huge potential mess).
I brought down all my drinks/nutrition Sunday morning in a little tote bag as well as a few things I forgot to put in my SNeeds... zero issues and lots and lots of folks did the same.
Got a little bit of the flu early this week which knocked out my re-schedueld bike RR2... oh well, guess I got into taper mode a bit early. Have had very little bike time since RR1, so am going to go with a very conservative bike race plan and basically target the same watts I did last year, relying on better posiion and better VI to get me an improved time (conditions being equal) with plenty of run reserves. Haven't missed a run workout and actually added a few (in lieu of bike while on 10-day work/family trip), so am feeling confident about my run.
I feel like I am well set-up to have about the same swim time with less effort than last year, about the same bike time and feel ready to run the 26 (as opposed to last year when I walked/suffled 24 of the 26). If I get that done (and I will), and the conditions are somewhat similar, I will still have a substantial PR...
Regarding access to the T1 and T2 bags on Race Day Morning - here's what the Athlete Guide says:
"Bicycles and bike/run gear bags will not be permitted to enter the transition area on race morning."
Meaning, I guess, that you have to bring the bags and bikes in on Saturday, as previously noted in the guide. Says nothing about not acessing them on Sunday morning. As Art notes, the usual procedure is to allow free access thruout the transition area on Sunday morning at 5 AM (Guide notes this specifically about bikes). So planning to drop off nutrition, eyeglasses, etc into T1 and T2 bags and onto bikes Sunday AM is perfectly legit.
Perfect, thanks for the clarification. Would hate to not have my Run bottles of Infinit in the T2 and BSN bags on race day ;-) And I'm allergic to most of the stuff available on the course.
Right there with you Steven. Felt like @ss on my run today. Might have had something to do with the previous days TP intervals or possibly the fact that it was 93 and humid. Just starting to feel right and it's been 9 hours since i finished. Started off on pace then just gradually wilted away.
Maybe I should have swapped the Thursday/Friday workouts but didn't. I'm a big boy and will live.
@Tucker & Stephen: funny, i was just thinking the same thing about the run today. I managed to hit my paces (but that is because I have had so little bike time recently), but it seemed unreasonably hard and I feel unreasonably sore now... maybe the 107 miles of running from 5/9 to 6/9 had something to do with that And given my relative snailitude (technical term), you boys had to have put in more miles than that...
I definitely feel more tired now than when I was at the height of training hours. Work has been rough this week, I am hoping that is the reason. I'm trying to figure out how to fit in my "long" bikes this weekend with the other committments I have going on. Life doesn't stop when you are IM training, does it?
Comments
I can't believe we are almost there! Everyone stay attentive to your diet as the workouts back down over the next few weeks!
Enjoy the taper everyone. Find something to do to keep your mind off the race and the decrease in training. Like Stephen said watch the diet.
NO KIDDING!!!!! I've been a little MIA, guys... I had a rough week last week. Work has been blowing up in my face, I'm taking a lot of overnight shifts resulting in no sleep, and it finally caught up to me. Last wednesday I found myself staring at my bike willing myself to ride it and really wanting to throw it off a cliff. Long story short, Rich told me to take 3 whole days off to salvage myself, and thought it was REALLY, REALLY hard to do... I did it. Then did the RR Sat, long run Sunday. Wasn't feeling awesome but the totally overwhelming/want to cry fatigue was helped quite a bit by all that rest.
But now... I'm just freaking out that we have a race in 3 weeks!
hang in there, shannon. the rest will do you good.
tucker, i swam today...and will pretty much be swimming as much as possible the whole taper period!!! i'm having good sensations so far, but still too chicken to time myself over the full distance. maybe tomorrow
. by the way, aren't you already a giant? don't do more pull ups and TRX (isn't that some ultimate fighting thing?). i say, wear the wetsuit again and rotate your body more until you feel that the rotation takes care of getting most of your arm out of the water. maybe actual swimmers can chime in with more specific advice, but that's what worked for me when i had a stiff wetsuit.
i ran too: 8.27miles in 60minutes on treadmill. just wanted a smooth no acceleration on soft surface run.
have a great week, everyone!
gh
I swam today as well for my 3rd open water swim. 2nd one was during a sprint tri on Sat... felt good to blow it out a bit. I'm doing last Sat's long bike tomorrow + run and then back to the regular scheduled taper program. FWIW, I also recommend getting as many OWS in as feasible for swim wkos between now and race... especially if you have comfort issues, whether they be suit or just open-water related. It is a different animal and I , for one, need a little adjustment period to re-gain a comfort level and let it all flow when out of the pool.
Put this in the category of "soft" advice: I like to turn the "constricted" feeling of a wetsuit on its head and think "support"... just like a compression top. Take the first 300-400 yards of OWS and go real easy focusing on your body position and appreicate the big advantage your suit is giving you (I have a bit of a "man it is so cool to be this horizontal without even thinking about it" kind of a feeling). Another idea is to do the swim equivalent of a fartlek... change your turnover rate, how hard you pull, how pronounced your roll is, how long your stroke is... eventually you'll find the combination and rhythm that works best for you and your suit.
FWIW, I find that it is easier to have a slighlty wider stroke (so hands maybe at or slightly wider than 10 & 2 on a clock) with a wetsuit on.
I did, however, get the RR swim in on Saturday evening. I did it in a local 50 meter outdoor salt water pool here in Seattle. It just opened up for the season last week and it felt great to swim in a 50 meter pool. I did 38 laps (3800 meters) in 1:28. I'm hoping to be within about 10% of that time on race day, as that would be a big 30+ minute improvement for me from IMFL last year.
@tucker- were you in the pool for this swim or open water? If you were in the pool I wouldn't make any "adjustments" until you try it in OWS. Wetsuits were NOT designed to be worn in 80 degree water. You're going to overheat and your stroke is going to turn to shit. Have you been making all your swim workouts up to this point? If so have you had any shoulder issues up to this point? Body glide on any friction points can really help with a "binding" wetsuit. A wider stroke will reduce some of the binding in the shoulder area and it makes for a much more stable swim in rough water. I try to keep my arms wider than my trunk in OWS.
@shannon- not to panic you, but we only have 2 1/2 weeks now! Don't worry about it you're going to do grreat. You and Stephen will probably feel better than the rest of us because all the rest your getting.
I had great swim on monday- although I prefer the longer sets than the 20x100's. Today was an hour on the bike- I did my 8 mile running "hills" route twice on the bike. It isn't a fast course but it definately makes you work. It's very reminiscent of the north end of the CDA bike course. You're either going up hill or down hill the entire time.
@Shannon, make sure you get your rest. Get in the short intense main sets and don't worry about the rest I say if you're time crunched.
@Steve, you're right. I was in the pool. Need to try it in open water. Also it has been so long since I had it on I may just need a few more swims to get used to it. Shoulder issues? Well I did pitch in college and occasionally have some pains when I sneeze, weird I know, in my shoulder joints. But other than that nothing.
Thanks for the advice all.
Today called for 2 x 20' at FTP. There was no chance of that happening logistically today. One option was to go to a spin class at the gym, or the other option would be to pull my kids on the MTB bike. Chose the MTB option. More fun and get my girls involved. So around 90' of an additional 50-90lbs, we picked up my oldest from school, doing some nice little inclines. Have to say that those knobby tires just don't turn over as fast as the smooth guys.
This makes me almost caught up on this weeks workouts. I just need to squeeze in a swim at lunch and a run this evening and I will be all set :-)
Congrats on the FTP increase!
Gh
Second workout of the day complete. Another 2500 meters in the pool, and feeling pretty good. I am amazed that I have been able to master the swimming in just 2-3 months.
Next stop is Chicago tomorrow evening to compete in the Ragnar Relay. I will be running 20.1 miles in 3 legs (6.9, 5.4 and 7.8) over a 24 hour period. #1 goal: Don't hose my IM!!
@ Allen - Check your inbox for a PM on two OWS options in GH and Tacoma
Great swim workout this morning. Loved swimming in the outdoor pool with the sun pouring down. Was working on trying to avoid it in my eyes like Al said will happen in CDA. Guess I read the workout a little wrong, but still got in the 2700m of the main set plus the extra 300 to give me a nice round 3000m. Really felt good coming out the pool.
Run was a little different. Ran at high noon, 95 F. Just lovely. Just couldn't do the 3 mile repeats @ TP in that heat while pushing the stroller so I amended to 5 x .5mile @ TP. Was still tough and on the last 2 started to feel my hamstrings tightening up, probably from lack of hydration. Been pounding water and G2 ever since to prepare for tomorrows run.
I feel for all of you fighting the heat. At least the temps at IMCDA (whatever they are) will seem mild to you
Almost there people!!!!
Hi All - I hope everyone is staying healthy and looking forward to the taper. Sounds like people are getting some good workouts in. For those of you having a tough time balancing work and workouts, just do your best and know that the rest of us are here to cheer you on no matter what.
I took Monday off since I had to travel for work and did the RR#2 on Sunday. Had to flip flop the Tuesday & Wednesday workouts since the hotel I was at didn't even had a stationay bike. On Tuesday ran the WU then 2 x 1 mile intervals. Ran miles @ 7:02 and 6:25 pace in 75* temp and 90% H. Got completely soaked with with my own sweat. EZ CD jog back to hotel. Felt fast.
On Wednesday I did the bike intervals in am and swam in pm. So what's up with the 2 x 18' Z4-5 bike intervals? That was almost as hard as a test, but I got it done and felt ok. In the pm, I swam 4 x 500 @ 1:55/100 pace, then 5 x 100 sprints and 4 x 50 sprints. With the WU & CD, did an even 3000 yds. The 500s felt comfortable but the sprints were clearly harder work. Today I do the long run after work to get use to running late in the day.
Hang in there everybody. We're almost there. Have a great day!!
The accumulated fatigue has definately hit me. I haven't skipped a workout in weeks but think I might need to tomorrow. Todays long run was supposed to be in the low 8's/ mile, but struggled to maintain 9's. The 2x20' kickers at MP (7:09/mile) were at 7:50'ish and i only got one in. Tough day at the office, for sure. It seems that I get this way before EVERY race, where I can't get close to my expected paces. Then on race day I blow it away and get a PR. Hopefully it will happen again this time.
Hope everyone is doing well.
I'm heading out for the long run now. Weather Channel says it feels like 97. Should be a good one.
Also watched IMSG last night on the DVR. Getting psyched for IMCDA.
Quick tactical race day question: from reading the athlete's guide, it sounds like you can't access your T1, BSN, T2, or RSN bags after checking them in on Saturday so I will need to put my Run Infinit bottles in the T2 and RSN bags on Saturday. Will I be able to put the Bike Infinit bottles on the bike on race morning or will these need to be on the bike when I check it in on Saturday?
I brought down all my drinks/nutrition Sunday morning in a little tote bag as well as a few things I forgot to put in my SNeeds... zero issues and lots and lots of folks did the same.
Got a little bit of the flu early this week which knocked out my re-schedueld bike RR2... oh well, guess I got into taper mode a bit early. Have had very little bike time since RR1, so am going to go with a very conservative bike race plan and basically target the same watts I did last year, relying on better posiion and better VI to get me an improved time (conditions being equal) with plenty of run reserves. Haven't missed a run workout and actually added a few (in lieu of bike while on 10-day work/family trip), so am feeling confident about my run.
I feel like I am well set-up to have about the same swim time with less effort than last year, about the same bike time and feel ready to run the 26 (as opposed to last year when I walked/suffled 24 of the 26). If I get that done (and I will), and the conditions are somewhat similar, I will still have a substantial PR...
Regarding access to the T1 and T2 bags on Race Day Morning - here's what the Athlete Guide says:
"Bicycles and bike/run gear bags will not be permitted to enter the transition area on race morning."
Meaning, I guess, that you have to bring the bags and bikes in on Saturday, as previously noted in the guide. Says nothing about not acessing them on Sunday morning. As Art notes, the usual procedure is to allow free access thruout the transition area on Sunday morning at 5 AM (Guide notes this specifically about bikes). So planning to drop off nutrition, eyeglasses, etc into T1 and T2 bags and onto bikes Sunday AM is perfectly legit.
Anyways...all the long runs are now done. Time to really get rested and ready. I really can't believe it!
Maybe I should have swapped the Thursday/Friday workouts but didn't. I'm a big boy and will live.
Almost there boys, and the occasional girls.
Getting a massage tomorrow....cannot wait!