3 weeks to IMWI
well less than actually. 3 weeks from today we will be in the Finisher's Tent spending money on stuff that says "Wisconsin" on it. I always get a singlet or a jersey. they are not cheap but I wear the heck out of them the rest of the year. in fact my jacket that I got that says IMLP, was very comfy and very warm and I wore the heck out of that too! that thing was $$ too. the shorts are the same style as the EN ones, so the kit is by Sugoi (or it has been).... so if this is your first IM? jacket is $170, singlet is $75 and shorts are $70, then there are Kswiss run shorts and dry fit shirts and everything else to include water bottles, socks and stickers for your car. 
so yep your whole wardrobe could say IM on it. anyways, bring your wallet! cuz ouch it hurts but like I said the rest of the year you can ride in style!! 
I am off for another lake swim and taking the dog and DH is covering me with gettin gthe kids off to school. he will be outta town tues - Friday and was Sat/Sun so although I don't like doing that, I do love swimming over there so took him up on his offer. 
Looking at the plan, we don't run to WED but since I have a dog, I will do a bit of walking/slogjog as the dog won't make it til WED 
....
so I gotta scoot, have a good Monday!! oh and one more thought, it takes 21 days for a new habit to form, so we think oh good the work is done, you actually still have time to tweak anything you might have been thinking about.
m
Comments
What a beautiful subject for a thread. I remember how freaked out I was when we dropped below double digits. Now I'm feeling ready for this party! I'm not real big on finishers gear, but 3 weeks from now I'm gonna be wearing this:
Won't let myself wear it until after I cross the finish line. That will be my reward!
I signed up for the Timberman sprint many many months ago, before I realized I would have a RR scheduled. It is an annual family event so I decided to do it and do the RR another day.
Very glad I did, it turned out to be a big confidence builder. I improved my time 5 minutes over last year, I came in 9th out of approx 1300 competitors. It was a 3 mile run that I did in 17:27 a 5:47 pace. I have never run that fast in my life, not even in open 5K's. I also never felt better in a triathlon run before. I improved my Vdot by 2 1/2 points.
After the race I did a great 2 hour training ride in the hills out there, and had an awesome 9 mile run last night.
Confidense is soaring. Happy to be in the taper phase and can't wait to get on that plane.
PS- yes I did the swim workout today. Dang those 100's were tough! But I dig these shorter/faster intervals in the pool. It just makes the time go by much faster!
PPS- I also got in an OWS in the ocean yesterday. We got some west wind so the water temps dropped enough for me to wear the sleeveless wetsuit. I gotta get out in that thing a bit more over the next few weeks to get comfortable, it always feels like its choking me. I like my long sleeve wettie much better, but I think the chances of Lake Manona being cool enough for long sleeve suits is pretty darn slim.
Good spirits here!
Nemo -- I swam in my long sleeve wetsuit in Lake Monona and was perfectly fine. The water is expected to drop a few degrees between now and race day, too.
I'm hopping into the open water after work. Anybody have good sighting drills and tips?
I've rocked at race day shopping. The list is almost complete. Race tires, new gels, new cleats, etc. ordered. Dash is going to look so handsome with his new tires!
Oh Beth, I could kiss you for that!!! That would be super good news for me! As for sighting, honestly, you won't have to worry too much about it. Just follow the crowd. If you find yourself alone with lots of room, you are off course! HA!
One thing I have done before which is kinda fun is to do a leapfrog kinda drill with friends (you need at least 3 people). You basically use each other as the buoy. Two folks swim ahead in a strait line (one going farther than the other) and then float while the third person swims past them and eventually stops to become a new buoy. Then it's the next persons turn. Just a fun way to practice if you don't have bouys where you swim.
Loved the swim only today! Went by fast and then was actually able to make a core class. This made me happy for I always feel strong after this class
Feeling great going into taper....I am very thankful to be able to physically do what I do! I have given this IM training my best and have so enjoyed the journey of work which has produced a physical and mental toughness like I have never experienced before. I, also with out a doubt have fallen in love with all of YOU!!! This team, this haus, RnP, the special chickas..really everyone has made this experience one I will not soon forget. So, THANKYOU TEAM EN....you are the best of the best!!!!
x2!, couldn't have said it better Kathy! Happy Monday everyone
@Kathy - ditto your comments and it was great to hang with you and Sheryl, Michelle and Hasan on Saturday night!
Still haven't been able to download the data from RR#2 so saviing that for later. Swim this morning at the outdoor pool was dark and cold!! They must have added water - it was inches higher than it's been all summer and I was cold the entire swim. cold riding my bike home, cold through the first cup of coffee. It's generally supposed to be beautiful here all week for living but it's a little cold for my tastes exercise wise after all the heat we've had!
I'm off to CO on Wed for my company's annual meeting, Wed - Sun, no bike. I'm relatively calm (now), am shuffling the weekend rides to try to squeeze them in before leaving town and will just run/swim at mile-high the rest of the week. Good times.
Similar, to Heather I haven't had a chance to download everything from Saturday RR yet, but I'm close. Right now I over-stimulated with technology...all done last week were an upgrade from WKO 2.2 to 3.0, a new Garmin 310XT (replaced my 305) and a new PT Joule (replaced my LYC). I used them all in the RR as these are the devices I will be using in the race. It's just taking me a while to make everything work on my Mac/Parallels but I'm close. On top of that, my PT hub that went out on me last week went funky again in the last 10 miles of the RR (losing signal, crazy watts showing up, etc.). Not sure what the deal was but I've got to get Saris to straighten this out for me permanently and ASAP.
Anyway, the swim felt good today. Paces continue to be on track, even though I'm still at a loss for what happened at the Madison OWS on Saturday. All I can say is...EMBARRASSING!
My body is so ready for this taper. I've got so many little bumps and bruises that need repair so this comes at the perfect time.
I wish I had a little more confidence though, as it has been said, the hay is in the barn at this point but I really really need to watch myself to make sure I'm still not out there at night sneaking around with a pitch fork... but taper time is good times! Time to enjoy it, wind down, and for myself, remember that your first Ironman is going to be a PR just as long as you cross the finish line.
Heather--that is jaw-dropping AWESOME. Wonderful day. We'll all get our focus back with some down time--right? I'll be sportin' the compression shorts too. The cuts on the thighs--I get them too. Have had some whoppers all around my waist as well. I have to Body Glide all those areas when I'm wearing them. They work so great, but what's with the knife-edge hemming?
@Gina- I never thought I had a prayer for a TSS under 300. But a semi hilly course and 100 miles in 6:10, I'll be darn close, probably slightly over on the IMWI course. But not as bad as I had thought looking at those charts. Apparently I can not make myself ride "hard enough" during a RR. And I won't be going harder on race day.
Fantastic quote!
WOW! It is hard to believe that we are less than 3 weeks away. Like everyone else I am feeling really tired, just flat worn out. I am glad that the taper is here, time to let the body absorb all of that hard training. Really looking forward to IM day and seeing all the EN jerseys out on the course with me. I thought about the IM for my entire swim today. Getting butterflies just thinking about it. Time to catch up on things around the house that I have been neglecting, like laundry. Ha...I think all of my tech apparel is dirty. Enjoy the week everyone.
@Linda P: just got my silly moo band, thank you so much!! I saw someone's posting with the moo band and seriously, I looked for one all weekend! So to get one in the mail today, well
. Thanks!
@Kate & Heather--you're welcome! I have been wearing it every day. It reminds me of everything good--and now I will use it to help me shut my pie hole! I want to eat everything is sight. It's like my little good-karma buddy.
When I have a moment, I will have to tell the chicas the tale of how they came to be. The first one I bought fromthe kids at my pool. The rest involved ebay, a woman in Georgia, and off-ebay negotiations. The woman, I am sure, thinks I am certifiable.
But all the girls have one now, and I am happy. Chica supporters coming to Madtown got one too. So silly, but fun!
Yesterday was a lovely rest day. I have to rearrange this week of workouts due to life (good stuff) that will keep me up late at night this week (or at least try to stay up).
Did my long run today. 2 hours and when I headed out it was D-A-R-K!! It was spitting rain the entire time, but felt somewhat warm despite a temp of 60 degrees. It was probably the most enjoyable long run I have had the entire trainng cycle. The rest of the week will be short, sweet, quiet.
Did others do the bike? I know folks were going to test this week. How did it go?
@Linda: I am now sporting my band and will use it to shut my pie hole too (she says taking a bite of her low-fat banana bread....). Must be very careful from here on out and it seems like with recovery and cooler temps comes an appetite, great!!
Oh Heather- you are soooooo right! That's the part about the taper that sucks!
I'm looking forward to hearing how Jim does on his FTT today! Don't leave us hanging Jim!
I rode this morning. It was 78 degrees, 75% humidity, 10mph winds, overcast, just a perfect day to ride. I could have ridden all day!!!! It just felt wonderful to finally be on my bike and not dripping in sweat!
First off I know a few of you are like me and the taper is the absolute worst time of the year. Trust me, you will not make gains or benefit from testing yourself or over doing it now. Do not try to make up for missed workouts or anything else, just follow the plan and relax. No reason to test your fitness now, you have done the hard work already.
My plan for this week was: Mon Threshold Run, Tue Bike/Brick, Wed Long Run, Thur Easy Run, Friday RR#1. So I slept in yesterday and decided to run at lunch.
I had a great run at 1:00 and hit 2 x 1.5 miles (4') @ 5:36 and 5:38! Only to get back to work and find out I now have a 7 AM meeting on Wednesday. No way I was starting my long run at before 4 AM on wednesday, and I didn't want to move it to Thursday and do it before the RR.
So ~16 hours after the threshold run I was out starting my long run at 4:45 AM this morning and my legs were not exactly feeling up to the task.
Instead of being negative about how the long run went, I'm going to focus on what went well and make the best of it:
I'm looking forward to hearing how your RR goes. Especially the swim :-)
That's the ticket! Doing that leaves you far more empowered and ready for next time with enthusiasm and "I-can-do-better-this-time" motivation. Can't ever lose re-writing the script from neg to pos to keep you moving forward. Nice!
Jim: That is a gizmo overhaul for you! What do you think of the Joule? I LURVE mine---great to have real time IF and TSS.
The temps have really dropped here this week---which is fabulous! The water temp at Canandaigua Lake was 15 degrees warmer than the air temp yesterday morning. A chop-free OWS for the first time in about a month! I really, really feel like the swim for me this year as been a gift. The only thing that I dedicated to it was doing those drills---that's it. I've pretty much dropped at least one swim per week for the entire General and Race Prep.
As for the bike and run, I'll quote Bernard Hinault: No gifts. Ha! So I figure if I can't be as fit as possible for race day, I must then be smart about execution and not get fat during taper.
I know the chicas are nailing it right to the finish, but I do declare (in my best imitation Southern drawl)...the men of WI, you are READY! Every single one of you. I know it's difficult to get a clear perspective of oneself, but you guys knocked it out of the park--each in your own way. I hope we all can find some balm for the nerves by taking a minute and just thinking about all we've done, how hard we've worked--and how SMART we'll be.
Reading all this is just amazing. I am inspired by you all every day.
Michele C.-listened to the crucible of your RR#2...you rocked that RR!!!! I was interested in what you thought about P's comment about your cadence? I also have a tendency to ride at low cadence my RR was 75. So, do you mainly ride in 39 in front or r u shiftling frequently between 39/53 or whatever your chainrings r in front? Im on a standard crank. Sounds like P thinks we shouldn't be shifting at WI as much and keep the cadence higher...does he mean like 90? I have not paid to close attention this season to cadence, focused more on watts. What are your thoughts?
Agree with Linda- the guys are stellar! When you finish IMWI, try not to fall asleep as you wait for the ladies to come in after dark!!