8/8/11: Week 8

rah2774

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

It's still pretty flippin hot and humid in DC... but I was able to get out and do both rides this weekend without melting or getting hit by a pop up T storm. 

I'm happy to say that Monday came and went and I am not down a swim!  Miracles can happen!

I'll be riding tonight after work (things at work have been really slow so getting up early to train hasn't been happening for a few weeks).  Thinking the brick isn't gonna happen - trying to take care of my foot in the hopes that it will get me through Moo.  That said, I won't be testing this week.  I might try a jog and see how it feels. 

I can't believe it's getting so close.

Coach Rich

Monday

Run: 8 miles with 2 x 1mi @ T-pace. Felt very flat

Swim: mostly did the sets in my plan from yesterday. The post 2pm freakshow at the pool is really bothering me. Yesterday in my lane was BeachBall for Gut Fins Guy and Vertical Freestyle Guy. ~3200m total.

Bike: easy spin to/from the pool, about 1:10, 24 miles today. Not sure this was a good use of my time, though good for about 800kj.

Tues:

Run: 9.5 mile hilly with M-Pace as I felt like it. Great route

Swim: OTD to the pool, may do 5 x 1k pull, with 30" rest between each. Just punch the clock.

kellyhlee

I've changed my schedule around this week due to scheduling issues.
Monday: Swim set early morning-gotta love it. I hate cold pools; F*cking sucks . Hit sets.
Tuesday: Swim set of Endurance swim: 3X1000 (17:58; 18:02: 18:03) My new indian name is "slow like turtle". I often think of my French coach from college when he was mad he's yell @ me in french then tell me "you are slow like my grandmother" said a french accent. I guess I'll be expecting a 1:20 swim for Wisconsin IM. 3 yrs ago my swim sets were (15:15; 15:17: 15:19). Oh well; sometime things change in life. Gotta go with what you got. This is what I got. .

William Jenks

I was really pleased with today's bike. Maybe things are FINALLY coming around for me there. All three FTP intervals (8, 12, 20 min) a few W over FTP despite feeling tired/sore to begin with and not totally killing myself. Did the run as an exercise in pacing. There was plenty in the tank, but I intentionally played IM pacing on the run. Good day.

rah2774

@Kelly - kudos to you.. I just can't get my arse outta bed to swim before work. Something about being essentially naked and jumping into cold water when it's still dark outside is just wrong. it's against my religion!

@William - nice work! I hit my numbers on the ride, too (on the drainer) but nixed the run.

Taking a rest day today since I want to give my foot another day of rest. Tomorrow is my telework day so it's easier for me to swim then (I get off work at 4:30 and can walk to the outdoor pool in 5 minutes). I'm gonna try a jog tomorrow, nothing crazy, just get out there to see how it goes. Plan to tape my foot with Ktape first.

Coach Rich

Wed:

Woke up early, had a pot of coffee and blasted Eye of the Tiger and other 80's get psyched music (not really, but I can pretend). Met Sawiris and Cat3Guy at the bottom of Chantry for 3 x The Hill:

• #1: chatted on the way up, about 87-88%
• #2: "Ok, how about you guys spot me 30"?" "Why? We're here to pace you?" Well, about 3' into it, they start to half wheel each other and by 5' they are racing up the hill, dropping. I tried to keep up before bursting into flames and a smoking poof of motivation. Pulled the plug at 13' @ 315w vs the 326w I put up for the entire climb last week. Ugg. Took about a 20" break and brought it in at about 290w
• #3: broke it in 8' @ 305w, 6' @ 300w, then 6 x 30"/60" at ~400w, all in aerobars.

Bailed on the scheduled swim, as it would have been solo and I could tell I would have just floated around. Not worth the time. Bailed on the scheduled PM run to set myself up for long run today vs slogging through another run on tired legs.

Thurs:

Long run: got a late start, about 9a vs the 6:30a I wanted. Still got very lucky with the temps. Hit a liquor store about 2 miles in for a....Snickers ....18 miles in 2:27, just a little faster than last week but more comfortable. 35.2 miles running for the week so far, on pace for 56 by Sunday evening. Awesome!

kellyhlee

@Becky you make me laugh. Always a nice touch to the day. I have young kids; morning swims are a requirement in our household w/ 2 of us training for IMWI. The fun never ends.

@Rich. You are a machine. Too bad you didn't pick up something else at the liquor store. Disappointed w/ the snickers. Although I have no idea how you eat that shit and run. Amazing.

Coach Rich

Kelly, I can eat pretty much anything on a training ride or run. My secret weapon is a 20oz coke and king size snickers about 35 miles from the end of a ride...

Bailed on my scheduled 6 mile run today. Ran down the street and could really feel the long run yesterday. Will ride a hilly route to pool instead, swim, ride home.

80 mile ride planned tomorrow with mix of flat/tempo and a 45' continuous climb, about 5.5-6k total gain. I did this ride last month and got 300 TSS in about 4:30 so a very efficient session. I can tweak the route to get in another 30' continous climb...we'll see. Gonna try to climb in the aerobars.

rah2774

jog was a fail... I told myself I'd give it 10 minutes and decide... I decided to bag it and did 20 - it didn't hurt any more after another 10' but I wanted to cut my losses.
Saw the ART/Graston guy and he worked the heck out of it and it hurt the rest of the day (except after icing). A friend lent me her compex to try out - so I plugged in my foot and calves on the massage setting. Don't know if it will do any good but it can't make it any worse.
Will swim after work; do the 4.5 hour ride in the am then ship off to Northeast, MD for an OLY Sunday - just a training day for me with friends at my annual event. The run should be interesting... will likely be more of a walk... with some run breaks, at least I hope.

William Jenks

I went to the pool in a lousy mood today, so took it out on the pool. 9 x 600. The water didn't seem to notice, but it turned into a good workout. :-)

Wm

kellyhlee

@18 mile run complete!!! Amazing how cooler temps; plenty of water (I set up a cooler of iced down water bottles) works in my favor. Ran 18 miles of rolling hills yikes: 9:30 pace 2:49-ish total. I forgot to stop the timer during bathroom break/water stops. No snickers! I do not have an iron-clad stomach/GI track. Pleased and although my legs were tired, run down felt strong.

kellyhlee

@WM great job on the swim. Keep beating up the water.

@Rode 70m w/ the intervals: 1hr20 Normalized power 180watts for the first part of the ride including the rest periods for the intervals on a hilly course. Remainder of ride tempo continued on hills avg watts for entire ride: 158 V1: 104. Legs shot after ride. Just tired.

William Jenks

Nice job Kelly. Totally agree with you about the more moderate temps being a huge plus.

I got out for my long ride this morning. 4.5 hours at overall IF of 0.81, which I consider a success! Did start to fade a bit in the last 30-45 minutes, but I wasn't riding this as a RR, so that's ok. It was just getting work done. Pleased with my ability to hit the FTP intervals.

My first IM (2 years ago, Pre EN) I remember being totally wasted and undable to maintain any power by this time in the season. Yeah, I rode a couple more centuries than I will this time, but I'm riding ~92 mi in the 4.5 hrs so I don't see that as an issue. I just know, though, that I'm going to come to race day with my numbers solid and intact, not degraded by unfortunate choices. It's just a big confidence builder knowing that we are in week two of the three week big push (7, 8, 9...with taper gradually starting after that) and I'm still recovering enough and strong enough. Hope the rest of you are feeling the same.

kellyhlee

@WM you sound so strong on the bike. Nicely done. Ready to rock! Great job.

kellyhlee

Woke up this morning to finish up the week w/ the tempo 3hr ride after the 18mile run/ 70mile ride. My legs are trashed. TRASHED. I swam on Sat and couldn't run b/c I'm finding walking difficult. My legs are sore, stiff, tight, complaining to me in a loud way. IT's arresting level of soreness. .

Decided to do a trainer ride to stay close to home. I'm surprised at how sore I am given how much training I've done all season. I don't want to become injured this late in the game.

William Jenks

Thanks Kelly. Sounds like you could use some genuine rest!

My ride today was pretty mediocre. IF 074 because I was tired from yesterday's ride....but I got in 30 more TSS points than last week on the same ride, so I'll take that as progress.

Brick run was pretty ordinary. Easy out, HMP back.

Coach Rich

Kelly,

Recommend you take a day off from your legs today, maybe move stuff around on the calendar?

I bailed on my Friday run to better set myself up for the weekend. Good call, as I had two great rides.

Saturday: so 80 mile ride with 5300ft gain in just over 4hrs. First ~2hrs were mostly flat to rolling with some long stretches that are good for intervals. Then an 8.75 mile climb at 5-6%, my local TT hill. Rode about half of it in the aerobars. Time was 43:40 at about a 90-91% effort. I'm in a great w/kg place right now, where all of my climbs have become much more comfortable.

Saturday evening run was...blah. Just got it done, 6 miles.

Sunday: climbed 5200ft in 34 miles, then decend to Barry's house for breakfast with the boys. Rode Sawiris off my wheel on a long climb .

Totals for the week:

10k/207 (11.5hrs)/ 41.7 miles (6hrs), 20:30 hours total

I had to go to a function last night, last minute call, and wasn't able to get in my PM run or I would have been at 48-49 miles for the week. Oh well.

I was telling Patrick in a text conversation that my self-coaching instinct keeps kicking and I continually amend things to focus on quality vs pure volume. I orginally had about 25hrs scheduled but things sorted themselves after I cut some rides short, bailed on my Wed run to set up a good Thursday long run, bailed on swims for the sake of recovery, etc.