2015 IMFL WK 19 of 20 - NOT walking The Line
Happy week 19! Thought it would never get here......waking up a bit stiff, sore, tired but HEALTHY otherwise, a good place to be. May all of you be in the same condition or better!
Last week's theme focused on keeping your Box Big and practicing that in your RR2 through patience and discipline in nutrition, pacing, mental stability, etc.....
Validating that with a SOLID run off the bike, making notes and adjusting sets you up for a great race day performance. However, rest assured, no matter how perfectly you execute, THE LINE will come, it is just a matter of when.
For me, management of myself at THE LINE begins prior to race day with the Taper. An effective taper makes a HUGE difference on when the THE LINE comes to me, i.e., Mile 13 vs. mile 18,19, 20...... as well as how strong I am mentally pushing through that period. A wise man once told me, "The thought of walking never entered your mind, it is not in your vocabulary, simply not an option......" (Al Truscott)
I can wake up on race day, execute well in terms of my race plan, nutrition and pacing, but, not having tapered effectively can drastically change my entire race.
Its week 19, your fitness is what it is at this point, you've worked damn hard, overcome incredible obstacles along the way, flu, work, family, injury, etc.............time to make it all count starting today by Tapering Like a Champion!
The Line
Summary: Nothing on race day really matters until you reach The Line on the run. The Line is the point at which continuing becomes very, very difficult. You define success as simply not slowing down at The Line.
Advice: EVERYTHING before The Line is simply about creating conditions for success for when the Line comes to you.
- A successful race = a good run. There is no such thing as a good bike followed by bad run, period. In our world, if you showed up with solid run fitness, had a "good" bike and a poor run, we will ALWAYS assume you messed up your bike pacing unless you are missing a limb or are in the ICU with an intestinal parasite.
- If you think you can ride faster than we're telling you, prove it by running well off the bike first (preferrably not attempted for the first time on race day!).
- Ride your "should" bike split vs your "could" bike split. YourCould split is what you tell Timmy you could ride on a good day, when you're out together for your Saturday ride. If you say you "could ride a 5:50," your Should split is likely 6:00 and is defined as the bike split that yields a good run (see #1 above).
- Don't be a Caboose, be an Engine! Ironman in general, but especially the bike leg, is an exercise in consistency. You don't need straight-A's to win your day, you only have to show up with your C game to be at the head of the class. If you find yourself doing the opposite of everyone else, you're doing the right thing. Lots of people passing you in the first 40 miles of the bike? Everyone else sprinting out of T2? These folks are making your race day easier by showing you what not to do; it's up to you to resist the urge to join in!
- Think you made the mistake of riding too easy? You now have 26 miles to fix that mistake. Make the mistake of riding too hard? That mistake now has 26 miles to express itself, to the tune of X miles at 17-18' walking pace vs X miles at 8-10' running pace. Do the math. How is that nice bike split going to look as you are walking/shuffling the last 10 miles of the run adding another hour and forty minutes to your overall finish time?
Comments
Hit the pool today. Did some tarzan head up swimming and some 300's. Didnt have my head in the game and didnt complete the target distance by the time an hour was up. But the good news is that I stayed in the water for an hour and on one of the hard 300's i PR'd my 300m time.
So my body seems willing to go. I just think that my brain isnt in to it after 10hrs of trainer time over the long weekend.
Just got home from the pool. The last two days have been tough. I wish I got Tss points for the miles I have driven. In the last two days, it has been more than 5 Ironman races. I would really rather be on my trainer than driving. I read the posts from MR & SS from yesterday and it made me laugh. I understand the Lebron comments and the real funny thing is they are true. Shaughn picked it up again today and started the new thread filled with great inspiration. Mike's post about following the Taper is true for me. I need the structure to keep me from going totally nuts.Today's workout was a swim only. I did 4,000 yards and 3,500 were completed using a pull buoy. This is a very new experience for me. I had to stop each 1,000 to make sure my feet didn't cramp too bad. The swim did go well though. Now if I can taper my appetite.
@Christina - 6 hours on the trainer for RR2, getting it done, leaving no excuses for the guys! Incredible!
All,
MR just posted a great IMFL Race Report I encourage you to read. It will help each of you and should be used as a template for your own plans. Mike has raced 7 IMs including IMFL twice. Take advantage of his report as you pull yours together and share with the team this week.
Completed my 55 minute bike work this morning. Focusing on getting my TSB under control this week.
Have a great taper week all!!
SS
One of my key points of focus this week was to blindly follow the taper plan. But after a pretty challenging travel day yesterday, I've broken that promise. Woke up today completely exhausted, with a higher than normal HR, so I slept in. Instead of an 8-mile run, I went for an easy 3. Will swim later, then get in the 8 tomorrow. The timing of this race to the World Series (I'm from KC) and Halloween couldn't be much worse.
The weather "pattern" (exact forecast won't be reliable until a few days out) looks pretty good, albeit 6-7 degrees warmer than average. When I did this race when it was low 50s in the morning, the sand was unbelievably cold (throbbing numb), and the first 20 miles on the bike were jaw-chattering (definitely would have benefited from arm warmers). But the year it was low 60s in the morning like the current forecast, only the sand was cold - the bike was comfortable from the start with only a tri top and shorts. Just my $.02 for those who may be debating about what to wear, etc.
Right now I'm leaning toward arm coolers for the run and maybe the bike. I think it got to 76 or 77 one year in the afternoon, and I recall thinking at the time that it felt pretty damn hot for 76 or 77. The wind will mask the humidity, but it'll be humid. Finally, it looks like the temps will only drop into the low 70's/high 60's after the sun goes down at ~10.5 hours into the race, pretty much making a LS shirt in RSN unnecessary.
Both years I did this race it was sunny, and I got sunburned pretty badly both times. With the rain and overcast we've had here the last month, I'm pasty white and will be hitting the sunscreen station before the bike and both laps of the run.
A week from today, we'll be getting ready to witness a very rare two-coach 4 Keys.
Today I am off from work and I am getting ready to start my training today. The temp is not bad in the mid 50's However, the wind is picking up and the real feel is dropping. It is definitely not Florida like. The winds are the real problem.
I was not looking forward to a TM run, but it may come to that.
A few days into the taper and I feel so much better! Sleeping harder. Less joint pain. Spring in my step.
Focus in the pool is still a challenge. But if that is the biggest problem I have, I'm fine with it.
Anyone else getting sick of swimming? I have never understood why running and biking (which I like) taper down, but swimming stays brutal.
2 of 3 parts done. Rode an hour this morning at race watts, then I ran a 10K route. I'm not pushing anything at this point. The wind was a small issue, but on the plus side, it blew the rain away so I stayed dry. I did over dress to get my body temp somewhere near Florida.
@Brent, crazy as it sounds, I am starting to like the pool.
@Brent - welcome to the insanity and the team bro.
As we approach race date, swimming more and running less fits the bill given your run fitness is what it is at this point, less running allows us to recover, allows us to avoid the risk of injury, more swimming/pool time helps us get a better feel for the water and gives us something physical/mental to chew on as volumes drop to help with Taper Insanity.
I am slowly improving my TSB up to -32 this morning from -65 Saturday..... Got in 4,150M swim this morning which puts me north of 16,000 yds for the week. My shoulders have lost all feeling...........
Did anyone watch the webinar live? I just watched the re-cap. Patrick said the 4 Keys talk would be sometime Friday. My confirmation ticket says Thursday.
Brent - Yes. I am sick of the pool. Completely. But only a couple of more pool sessions for me. 3 at most. And I do agree that swimming frequency makes a difference for adult onset swimmers.
@Ed- how did you get a conf. ticket to 4 keys, I must have missed something?
Got in ALL the taper workouts this week, and I am definitely like the Warning sign SS posted. Going to do the short bike/run tomorrow, and a short swim Tue. before travelling. Looking forward to meeting everyone.
Hope everyone has a safe trip.
@ Mark Go here: https://the4keysofflorida2015.splashthat.com/
I am in full list mode! I have multiple packing lists, lists for my husband for when I leave, lists for my lists! I actually think this is the hardest part of the training as I don't want to forget anything and since I'm leaving before my family I just hope my husband gets the kids to school & activities with the appropriate things. Good luck packing everyone!
@ Jimmy - I hope you survived the floods in your area.
I'm done with Week 19, still intact. Hope everyone is resting, healthy, avoiding the Halloween candy, and got to sleep in this morning (I woke up early for some stupid reason). I moved up Week 20's schedule by one day to account for the Saturday race, went for a short/hard swim this morning (clocking 15,600 yds for the week), got my race hair cut ("your hair is the driest I've seen in a long time and, under the right light, looks green"), came home and started packing. My bike is already in transit with TBT, so I've got to adjust the saddle height on my wife's bike and swap some pedals for tomorrow's trainer ride.
As is always the case, I also started wondering whether I really got in good enough shape to do something cool next week. Stupid exercise, I known, but it's a ritual for me. So, I reviewed my weekly Strava logs, saw seven consecutive weeks of 10-17 hours of solid workouts (I did a pretty good job of avoiding junk miles/yards this time), saw 867 miles of running thus far this year (almost 90 mi/mo), and saw 2,000 mi of outdoor riding even though I do 90% of my riding on the trainer. I then compared my SBR fitness levels to right before my last IM, when I was easily in my best shape ever. My run is identical, my bike is only 0.7 CTL points lower (I did 6 centuries before my last race compared to 1 this time), and my swim is nearly 7 points lower. Which is ok because I way overtrained for the swim last time. In short, I'm really, really close to the best shape I've ever been in. All of ^^ gave me a really big confidence boost. Absent illness or accident, I'm gonna be hard pressed to find a good excuse if next Saturday doesn't go well.
I really blew my taper last time, however, hitting +49 TSB on race morning, losing more than 22 CTL points from my peak. Just dumb. Tomorrow morning, my swim TSB will be -11.2, but both my B and R TSBs will go positive for the first time in months and each will reach +3. I plugged all of next week's planned workouts into TP and, if I hit them as planned, I'll be at +26 - just about perfect - next Saturday morning (swim at 1.2, bike at 11.9 and run at 12.9). My CTL will be down less than 11 points from peak. Numbers, of course, don't tell the whole story and can be misleading. But, in this case, they helped put my mind at ease, allowing me to worry and obsess about other things. Maybe I'll go look at www.weather.com or count the number of AWA athletes in my AG.
HUGE week here. Balancing the taper with race week prep! ....driving me crazy!
Look at what Ed and Mike just posted. Conceptually what are they doing?
The night before the race, during your quiet time, consider pulling out your training plan, reviewing and reminding yourself of the work that was accomplished (at great cost) during this training cycle. Each of you BELONG at this race, each has put in the time, sweat, patience, and WORK to be at the start line come Saturday morning. Very important to remind yourself of that and what you have accomplished as you move into execution mode and manage yourself throughout the day up to and successfully past THE LINE.
Bike has been delivered to TBT as of this afternoon, Suitcase is "In Progress". I am on "SS TSB watch" from here to Saturday.
Safe travels this week all.
Once we arrive, a GROUPME text will be opened up for all using the phone number you provided on the IMFL spreadsheet. I recommend all download that APP on your phone if not already in place.
Look forward to meeting all at EN 4 Keys and team dinner!
SS