9 Weeks to IMC- 'Hurt' -aka test week
Since I am the first one to post this week I took the libery of starting a new thread- and I heard a song on the radio Saturday post ride that seemed to fit perfectly- 'Hurt' by Johhny Cash- (sorry for you non-country fans, but it is written by NIN...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o22eIJDtKho
I hurt myself today,
To see if I could feel.
I focus on the pain,
It's the only thing that's real.
Going to be my mantra tomorrow for the bike LT test- hate those things but really excited to see if my FTP has gone up- pretty sure it has a little bit but that means more work 
. But that's the point- right?!
Had a great RR on Saturday- had a special treat as a friend also doing the race came out to train with me, I can't remember the last time I had a partner on the bike! We swam 1.5 kms in 38 minutes, boat traffic was picking up so we cut it short, got in 120 kms in 4 hours (super stoked about that- I did ride a little harder than my prescribed .7 IF but it was SO FUN to ride ahead of someone on the hills- couldn't resist, I will go back to practicing steady once I'm on my own again... PB for me on a ride that long by far, makes me mad my PM conked out in my race the weekend before!!.
Got back to our 'transition' and my partner had to leave to get back into the city, I headed out for a 5 km run to see how it felt, wanted to go longer but the foot was not super happy so was content with a short run. All in all, a really great RR, tried out Infinite for the first time and I am SOLD- not sure I can afford it for all my training sessions, but really liked it. My training partner was fueling with chocolate bars and gatorade (and no breakfast) he bonked with 30 kms to go- he had some stinger waffles he ate while he got his blood sugars back up- and we cruised back home.
As a side note- another testimony to the EN method of training- My training partner headed out HARD the first hour, on gently rolling hill terrain, he HAMMERED up the first half of the hills, standing, and totally coasting on the way down. Hard to ride behind a non-steady rider, I did not want to pass him at first, becasue he'd take off on the next up hill, but I eventually did. The second hour he hung back and was telling me he'd ride with me the next while then go settle in at his "race pace speed" the last hour. The second half of the course was all hills... and I just held steady (if not up to 20w above my prescribed watts) on the up hills and hammered on the downhills- about 3/4 of the way through the hilly section he commented on how I was making him work too hard on the hills- then he bonked. I LOVED my PM on this ride, I felt strong, knew exactly how I was riding, and really enjoyed being able to keep up to a guy... not sure I could have kept up if it was a flat course but I do love my hills!!
@ Michelle- be careful of those loons- last summer I was swimming along the shoreline and must have gotten too close to a nest, I had one freak on me in the water, flying around me on the water, screaming- they are huge and terrifying!! We had one hollering at us Saturday morning too and I was more than happy to move off- my partner laughed at me but I've experienced the wrath!
@Jen- too bad you're far away- would have loved to have you join us!! The kids were good for the grandparents while they built a retaining wall (thank goodness!) I'm sure more would have been fine :-). Will be hard to go back to riding on my own again.
Watched a friend of mone do IMCdA online yesterday- nothing like a little IM finish line feed to get you all stoked up! It's taken me a long time to get my head back into IM training, I've really felt the last couple of weeks that my determination to do well and motivation are back where they should be - which is good with 9 weeks to go!!!
Happy training everyone- love to hear about how everyone is juggling to make this crazy IM training work- keep it up!! Go hard on the tests!
Comments
Glad you had a great week! Sometimes having and using a PM seems like cheating, doesn’t it?!? How did you get started on Infinite? I’ve thought about it but it seems like such a BIG leap and, eh…. I’m just chicken to switch things up when what I’m doing *** seems ** to be working…
As for my training: I had a good week topped off by some SERIOUS virtual cowbelling yesterday while on the trainer keeping an eye on all those IMCD’A peeps. SO inspiring! Last week of the “bike bump” and still feeling strong so that’s encouraging! I’ll be juggling things a bit to enable me to squeeze in a sprint in two weeks. That will have me testing next week but I’ll be looking forward to all y’alls (I’m a poet!) results!
Singing “I hurt myself today… “ hhaaaaaaaa!!!!!
I decided to switch to Infinite after hearing so much praise for the product, and not having a nutrition plan for this year!! I have used Hammer products the last 2 seasons, I ws generally happy with it but I always seem to get gut issues on the run from Perpetuem, plus I think I'm just all perpetuem-ed out... the taste no longer agrees with me either. I have a stockpile of gels I've been using, but after 3 hours of gelling myself to death, my teeth feel disgusting, and I find my stomach all out of whack the next day too. So- I went on the hunt for a liquid product. I have to say, after hour 4 I still liked the taste, it's on the salty side as opposed to the overly sweet taste of most nutrition products, after 4 hours on the bike and a run I came back and finished off the bottle- to me that said something in itself.
I'm not sure I used the product as intended, I am not a huge water drinker... the directions were to mix 20 oz of water with 2 scoops (my mix is 240 cals/hr). and to drink that in an hour. If it is not a hot day, I will not drink that much, I like to have my liquids and nutrition separate so I can take in what I feel I need- so I did a concentrate bottle and marked lines as to what I should have taken in after 1 hour, took sips every 10 minutes, and just drank water as I felt I needed. Their big thing with Infinite is that the proper mix with water creates 'osmolality' and makes it easier for your gut to absorb it instead of having it slosh around in ur stomach. I did okay with it the concentrated way- plus there is no way I could carry 80 oz of water with me- I don't always have somewhere to stop on my rides. Will continue to use it for my training long rides and see if the success continues, but pretty happy with it so far.
Another plus- their customer service rocks... I got a call from a rep to discuss what my mix should look like, then I balked at the $30 shipping to Canada fee and they gave me a $10 shipping fee to at least let me try the product- I was pretty unwilling to shell out that kind of cash for 1 bag of the stuff. (my EN code did not work up here in Canada but I found another 20% off code online) So- now that I love it I need to figure out a way to get it shipped into Canada for a more reasonable price, that is my only beef.
Jenn- If you truly feel like your product works- stick with it... however the 'seems' with asterisks has you sounding a bit like you sort of have issues. That was me- I could suck up a half ironman with my previous nutrition, IM is different. I know on IM race day by the time the run comes around you're going to have gut issues no matter what, but I'm hopeful this product will help minimize it. This is the year of trying new things for me- new pedals and shoes, power meter, new training plan, new bike confidence... so I am unafraid to tinker this year. I am not fast enough to be convinced my system is the best- yet- so I will tinker until I'm confident I have a good system for me!!
Becky thanks for sharing the infinit details. I too am tinking hard about trying it out. For the last 4 ironmans I went with boost/ensure. Found myself cutting back each year then had to start pounding gatorade. I may contact them and push for $10 shipping fee. Where did u find online discount code.
Coupon code I used was ELEMENT2012, found here at http://www.elementracing.ca/Home/?p=213
I found it using google, so I figure it is fair game.
If you have questions- email this guy :darcy@infinitnutrition.ca, you can tell him I gave you his contact info, he was pretty helpful. He did say they ship for free to some locations in BC, so not sure if one is by you. Apparently no locations in Alberta. I am going to need one more bag for sure to get me to IMC, so I better figure out a plan! Good luck Tim!
Today was the FTP test, I HATE THEM, but I got it done.
First interval was at 280 watts (exactly where I was for CdA & AZ 2011) the second interval was at 303 watts and was climbing the last 5 minutes. Averaged together and take away 5% gives me a FTP of 276. I will SWAG that to 280. I was hoping for something a little higher but with my screwed up spring, due to injuries, I will take it and go forward.
Bike test done last night. Was so windy I ran out of gears when it was behind me and slightly downhill and almost had to drop to small chainring when fighting against it. Thought a couple of times this is stupid and try wed. The numbers don't show how happy is was with my effort. I will post in power and pace the effect this wind might have. I feel very strong, way stronger than last test and 2 HIMs in between yet there was a "1" watt bump.
Good luck with your run TT tomorrow and please wind go away.
So fun to see results!!! Becky is a lean mean biking machine... AWESOME!
Jenn- how about you? You sound like a pretty hard working gal yourself!! Looking forward to hearing from you next week, you're working hard to bump your FTP up there!! Starting to think perhaps the foot injury has been a blessing in disguise- my bikin ghas improved a ton this year, not sure I could have done that and juggled a run training schedule too.
Way to go Steve!! You swim like I dream about swimming! I was excited to see I got even closer to 2:00/100m for a test- was 2:03/100m. Wanna drag me through the swim, I promise I won't slow you down too much :-)
Excellent week guys! SOOOO exciting to see your solid gains!
@ Steve: That FTP bump is just ridiculous - how fun!
@ ;Becky: Looks like you and Steve might both be seeing a silver lining to running injury with crazy bike fitness - nice! .
And to your question re: my fitness:
Also, still thinking about nutrition. Historically I've done fine living off the course with Ironman Power Bars and gels, but both times I've gotten off the bike feeling a tiny bit sick to my stomach (maybe too much sweet?) and luckily I've been able to turn that right around with some pretzels in the first few miles of the run. I can't help but wonder If I've just been lucky and am playing with fire....
Bring on T-8 weeks!