Todd, I will be the contrarian in the group. When I did this last year, I was sticking with the 30 second stops at the rest stops and I will say this about the first time but more so on the second time up observatory hill; the pain I felt was more than offset by the pleasure I enjoyed by passing the multitude of walkers because I knew two things. One, I wasn't going to see them again, and two, I had prepared and now I could show it off. Just my take on it.
Taper week is going well. Feeling great during this weeks workout and doing my best to get more rest. Making final plans for trip next week and starting the packing process. Noticed some talk about colds, have noticed here in Indiana the some of the fall allergies have set in now. Working through some of that myself. As for Observatory Hill, have not seen it myself - but at 6'1" 220 with a Vdot in the mid 30's... I will likely be walking!
I'm kind've a sicko, but I love running up hills - I haven't seen that one - if it is steep and long, I will just do a 90 step run, 20 step walk routine till I bust over it. I'm of the camp of short strides, maintain same cadence, same effort. If a hill is steep enough that my same running effort is as fast as walking, I'll just walk. I'm getting stoked!!
I didn't get the run in today, on the road this weekend, but hope to get at least an hour of running Z1 and a couple of hours in on the bike. Will hit pool for a short work out any kinks on Tuesday.
Todd- if you ride Sunday try and get it done early so you have max recovery time the rest of the day.
Nothing wrong with walking up observatory. Last year at the camp I talked with a guy that KQed in 2012 and he walked up observatory.
Run went great this evening. Hit 9 miles at 1 hour 11 minutes. Called it good for the night. Legs and body feeling good. My mind is in a good place too.
Long range weather forecast calls for 60% chance of thunderstorms on race day. This is Wisconsin however, As we say, "don't like the weather? Wait five minutes!" Still, probably a good idea to review coach Patrick's racing in the rain podcast.
The last 45 miles of my ride last week was in the rain so I'm prepared and not too concerned. Although, that's with only a few people on the road. I'm more concerned with the folks who can't ride a bike, especially down hills, than I am getting wet. That's over a week away so I'm not worrying yet. Last Monday, the weather in Chicago was supposed to have a heat index over 100 and it didn't even come close and that forecast came out the day before.
Now its 2 kids and a wife with a cold. is it wrong to give them all a Lysol shower, haha. Outside of the normal precautions, which I'm taking very seriously, there is really nothing I can do, so no sense in worrying about it.
I did IMWI in 2006-the year it rained ALL day, was 50 degrees, and windy as heck. It wasn't the fastest day out there, I think it's more about safety. Time goals may have to be adjusted. IMHO, your safety and getting to the next leg of the race will be more important than hammering down a hill, or tight cornering. And yes-I like to think of it as defensive riding. There will be hundreds of triathletes out there that can not ride a bike well-that's how the rumor that triathletes cannot ride bikes started. And it is still too far to worry about weather! Worry about your lists and packing
By and large, my workouts have been good this week. Hit 6:30 and 6:17 on my two fast miles on Monday. My other run did descend nicely each mile down to 1 mile HMP. I am still fighting some quad fatigue though. It reflects in slow run warmups and their displeasure at doing FTP intervals on the bike. I ended up turning that ride into just a good solid hour of ABP ~85%. I'm assuming this will come around because otherwise I'm feeling pretty good.
Yesterday (Thursday) was Timothy/Olivia's birthday. Kinda tough on everyone, as we tried hard to be positive for OJ. Fortunately, her HS swim team really looked out for her. Unfortunately, she had practice or school from 5:30 am to 6:00 pm, an unmissable meeting at 6:00 and 2 hours of homework. Oh well. Welcome to Life. She's doing one more triathlon this weekend. It's what used to be the IronKids championship, but they have scaled it back so much, the field won't be quite the same as it has been in past years...and we're not taking it too seriously either...just a fun day to race. No taper, no nothing. She'll miss a swim practice on Saturday morning, but that's it.
My old prescription goggles got lost at a race, which really sucks because they are expensive. The optics of the old ones were good, but the goggles functionality was pretty bad. Just got new ones, and they don't sit as flat on my face as they need to for the optics to be good. (I have a bizarre prescription with very strong astigmatism) Can't read anything very well in front of me, but I can see distance pretty well. Am using these last few swims to try to get the fit just right. Unfortunately, it's more complicated than just throwing on a pair of speedos.
Had a good RR swim today. (How many of these do we have to do? Can we stop with those yet?????) I had done two in LCM pools over the last few weeks in 68.5 and 69 minutes. (pulling...I'm counting on wetsuits) Today I had no choice but to use the SCT pool, so did 4200. Hit it in 66.5 minutes. There are 84 extra turns, so if we ad about 1.5 min to the 66.5 minute time, I'm pretty consistent with all three long swims.
Went out and ran immediately after. That was the ugh part.
Pardon me for being a little graphic here, but I hope you all understand... When I started back running after Timothy's death, I had this weird phenomenon that my heart rate would go crazy when I ran fast...and all running had an overly-high RPE. (My biking was less out of whack, except I had sort of a "cap" power I couldn't exceed.) Being as objective as I can, this was clearly related to stress hormones. Over time, it has gotten better, and the last couple weeks have been ok.
However, there have been a couple of extremely stressful things related to the whole Timothy situation that have popped up in the last 72 hours. They have resolved now, but I had a couple nearly sleepless nights, etc. Anyway, today's run felt like those early post-accident runs again. I'm hoping this all resolves a little more quickly this time and within a few days I am back where I was soon enough.
William, thoughts go out to you. Hopefully the stress abates shortly for you.
I did the run assignment today before work at zero dark thirty and felt pretty good though it does feel strange to call it so quickly. Over lunch I put in the RR swim and I agree with William that it feels like this is about the 50th time we have done this. I have done them indoor up until now in a yards pool and it came in just under 1:05. Because they always close that right before labor day and push everyone outside for this week, I did it in the meters pool today and did it in just under 1:04. I never felt like I fully caught a rythm but that always happens when I make this switch just because I have been so used to the yards pool. The added few strokes before the flip turns always jacks up my breathing and ability to settle in completely. All in all, I will take it.
I can't imagine what you are going through William. Thoughts continue to be with you and your family, especially during such an emotional week.
I had to swap some things around this week and got in my last long run...8.4 miles in 80 minutes. Fairly slow, stayed at Ironman goal pace for the entire run but doing that was good for the confidence because it did feel stupid easy. You know when an 8 mile run feels like a joke that you are ready for Ironman!
Tomorrow I'll get in my brick, provided it's not raining, outside. But after getting my bike all tuned up I refuse to risk getting caught in the rain, so even if there is a slight chance of rain I'll move to the trainer. Will swim/do an easy run Sunday because I took Thursday off.
Well, shortly after I posted the last long-range weather forecast (guess) it went from 60% to 80% chance of thunderstorms. Now, it's looking very nice! Maybe a little cool for the start of the bike. Still a long way out. Arrive prepared for anything. As one race report I read online said, this race has seen the gamut of weather conditions!
William, Prayers and thoughts to you and your family with the strength you are exhibiting IMWI should be no problem.
My Toe is taken care of, gave it yesterday to heal, going to go light on the bike today, easy Run & Swim tomorrow. Glad I had the nail taken care of, one less thing to worry about on race day.
As for the weather, well it is what it is - I cannot control the conditions so I will do my best to be prepared for them. I will say, being pessimistic, that is would not surprise me if it did rain. Last year when I did my first Olympic, Leon's Tri in Hammond, the weather was so horrible that it was laughable, it would not surprise me if my first IM was the same.
Finishing touches on the Bike today, clean all my bottles, race wear, etc and that should just about complete my Saturday. :-)
I seem to have this habit... about a week before a big race when I hav emote time to do something that strains my quads. I should have learned by now! Usually it's been reffing a soccer match. Saturday, it was cheering for OJ at IK Nationals (now called HyVee Kids fit nationals, and not quite as "national" as it was before). They are going to be ok, but ouch! Long story short, I ALWAYS end up doing some kind of sprinting I shouldn't. Oy. They are a bit sore still this morning, but I know it'll be ok in a couple days.
William-It's funny you say that because just yesterday I went to the lake to swim in my wetsuit for the first time all year-just to get the feel for it-and I woke up this morning with sore arms/neck. I swam the same distance I have been, but I think lifting my arms up higher for waves and increased spotting caused the soreness. Oh well, should be fine in a few days. It's just funny that even after being in this sport for so long we still choose to make mistakes like that-(well yours is justified-mine on the other hand, not so much )!
Comments
I will be the contrarian in the group. When I did this last year, I was sticking with the 30 second stops at the rest stops and I will say this about the first time but more so on the second time up observatory hill; the pain I felt was more than offset by the pleasure I enjoyed by passing the multitude of walkers because I knew two things. One, I wasn't going to see them again, and two, I had prepared and now I could show it off. Just my take on it.
I didn't get the run in today, on the road this weekend, but hope to get at least an hour of running Z1 and a couple of hours in on the bike. Will hit pool for a short work out any kinks on Tuesday.
See you soooooonnn…..
Nothing wrong with walking up observatory. Last year at the camp I talked with a guy that KQed in 2012 and he walked up observatory.
Run went great this evening. Hit 9 miles at 1 hour 11 minutes. Called it good for the night. Legs and body feeling good. My mind is in a good place too.
Almost 9 days team!!!
Can you post a link to that podcast? I can't find it.
Now its 2 kids and a wife with a cold. is it wrong to give them all a Lysol shower, haha. Outside of the normal precautions, which I'm taking very seriously, there is really nothing I can do, so no sense in worrying about it.
By and large, my workouts have been good this week. Hit 6:30 and 6:17 on my two fast miles on Monday. My other run did descend nicely each mile down to 1 mile HMP. I am still fighting some quad fatigue though. It reflects in slow run warmups and their displeasure at doing FTP intervals on the bike. I ended up turning that ride into just a good solid hour of ABP ~85%. I'm assuming this will come around because otherwise I'm feeling pretty good.
Yesterday (Thursday) was Timothy/Olivia's birthday. Kinda tough on everyone, as we tried hard to be positive for OJ. Fortunately, her HS swim team really looked out for her. Unfortunately, she had practice or school from 5:30 am to 6:00 pm, an unmissable meeting at 6:00 and 2 hours of homework. Oh well. Welcome to Life. She's doing one more triathlon this weekend. It's what used to be the IronKids championship, but they have scaled it back so much, the field won't be quite the same as it has been in past years...and we're not taking it too seriously either...just a fun day to race. No taper, no nothing. She'll miss a swim practice on Saturday morning, but that's it.
My old prescription goggles got lost at a race, which really sucks because they are expensive. The optics of the old ones were good, but the goggles functionality was pretty bad. Just got new ones, and they don't sit as flat on my face as they need to for the optics to be good. (I have a bizarre prescription with very strong astigmatism) Can't read anything very well in front of me, but I can see distance pretty well. Am using these last few swims to try to get the fit just right. Unfortunately, it's more complicated than just throwing on a pair of speedos.
Stress, who needs stress? :-)
At least I'm not sick or injured!
Had a good RR swim today. (How many of these do we have to do? Can we stop with those yet?????) I had done two in LCM pools over the last few weeks in 68.5 and 69 minutes. (pulling...I'm counting on wetsuits) Today I had no choice but to use the SCT pool, so did 4200. Hit it in 66.5 minutes. There are 84 extra turns, so if we ad about 1.5 min to the 66.5 minute time, I'm pretty consistent with all three long swims.
Went out and ran immediately after. That was the ugh part.
Pardon me for being a little graphic here, but I hope you all understand... When I started back running after Timothy's death, I had this weird phenomenon that my heart rate would go crazy when I ran fast...and all running had an overly-high RPE. (My biking was less out of whack, except I had sort of a "cap" power I couldn't exceed.) Being as objective as I can, this was clearly related to stress hormones. Over time, it has gotten better, and the last couple weeks have been ok.
However, there have been a couple of extremely stressful things related to the whole Timothy situation that have popped up in the last 72 hours. They have resolved now, but I had a couple nearly sleepless nights, etc. Anyway, today's run felt like those early post-accident runs again. I'm hoping this all resolves a little more quickly this time and within a few days I am back where I was soon enough.
I did the run assignment today before work at zero dark thirty and felt pretty good though it does feel strange to call it so quickly. Over lunch I put in the RR swim and I agree with William that it feels like this is about the 50th time we have done this. I have done them indoor up until now in a yards pool and it came in just under 1:05. Because they always close that right before labor day and push everyone outside for this week, I did it in the meters pool today and did it in just under 1:04. I never felt like I fully caught a rythm but that always happens when I make this switch just because I have been so used to the yards pool. The added few strokes before the flip turns always jacks up my breathing and ability to settle in completely. All in all, I will take it.
Almost there all, keep up the great work!
I had to swap some things around this week and got in my last long run...8.4 miles in 80 minutes. Fairly slow, stayed at Ironman goal pace for the entire run but doing that was good for the confidence because it did feel stupid easy. You know when an 8 mile run feels like a joke that you are ready for Ironman!
Tomorrow I'll get in my brick, provided it's not raining, outside. But after getting my bike all tuned up I refuse to risk getting caught in the rain, so even if there is a slight chance of rain I'll move to the trainer. Will swim/do an easy run Sunday because I took Thursday off.
Can't believe we are in the home stretch, folks!
Still a long way out. Arrive prepared for anything. As one race report I read online said, this race has seen the gamut of weather conditions!
My Toe is taken care of, gave it yesterday to heal, going to go light on the bike today, easy Run & Swim tomorrow. Glad I had the nail taken care of, one less thing to worry about on race day.
As for the weather, well it is what it is - I cannot control the conditions so I will do my best to be prepared for them. I will say, being pessimistic, that is would not surprise me if it did rain. Last year when I did my first Olympic, Leon's Tri in Hammond, the weather was so horrible that it was laughable, it would not surprise me if my first IM was the same.
Finishing touches on the Bike today, clean all my bottles, race wear, etc and that should just about complete my Saturday. :-)
Stupid, stupid stupid!