IMFL - 6 weeks and counting
Hey! How did the RRs go for everyone? I know Nat and Brian survived! I admit I am still exhausted from the effort and slept in this morning. I'll run after work and will see about making up the swim this week... if I do, cool; if I don't, that's fine... I am surprised that I felt pretty good doing the Aqua Velo Sat (my longest swim, and my longest OWS) and think my time was okay... although I didn't wear a watch... so the bike fit and hydration on the bike are my number 1 and 2 priorities...
Getting closer!!
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Results from my AV are finally up. I didn't wear a watch during my swim... and I stopped my watch during my bathroom breaks and the special needs fill up... so I wasn't sure about my ride time. Here's my breakdown (the full RR is in last week's thread with a copy in the appropriate forum - happy to get feedback since I'm a newbie):
swim: 1:17:26 - ehh... not thrilled, but I'll take it. Since training began this spring I've been more of a 1-2x per week swimmer, never swimming 3x in any week for either HIM or to date for the IM... I will have to try to be a consistent 2x a week'er from here on out and hopefully this time will stick. I know the swim may be a lot tougher race day bc of the number of other swimmers and the potential for rough water. Staying in the box will be crucial for me.
T1: 5:33. This surprised me (as high), but I'm fine with it. I'd rather have what I need than rush around and forget something... If I can move a bit faster in FL I'd be happy... with the goal of keeping the T1 time around there bc there will be more moving parts in FL (shower, sun screen, more people in the tent, longer run to the tent, etc)... Maybe 6-7 minutes is a good transition goal...
Bike: 6:29:15, avg 17.3. OK. Not great. I think I can do better. In fact, I know I can do better. After the hour warm up in Z1, I was lower than my race zone (mid Z1-mid Z2) for a lot of the ride (lots of too low beeps on the Garmin) due to discomfort. So, if I can successfully stay in my race zone, I will be better. Hopefully I can improve on this in the second RR and get a better sense of where things stand and what I can do (and if I can run afterwards successfully after a better bike). I could run successfully for the hour after this ride... I just hope it won't be nearly 90 in FL on race day!
This was an amazing learning experience. I'm really glad I did an AV for my RR to figure out how it all works and it all comes together.
Spent the week in Las Vegas at Interbike so training was a bit sketchy. Managed a couple of runs but that was it. Vegas is not the ideal location for Ironman training! Arrived back home late Friday night so I switched the swim/run to Saturday with the bike/run on Sunday. I felt really rested and fresh going into the swim on Saturday....not surprising given my lack of training. Completed the 2.4 in open water, time 1:25 which I'm thrilled with considering I learned how to swim watching the olympics and u-tube! The water was glass smooth so I don't expect my time will be that good in Florida, but maybe it'll even out with better sighting. No bouys made it hard to go in a straight line with my marker a half mile away. 40 min run was uneventful.
I went to bed Saturday with an awful stomach ache. Must have been something I ate....like those enchiladas for lunch! Woke up the next morning still feeling like I had rocks in my stomach. Seriously considered shelving it altogether....plus it was raining on my way to the start. Decided to just take it a loop at a time and see how I felt. I planned for three out and backs to total exactly 100 miles. I rode 112 at the end of August so I didn't feel like I needed the extra 12 for mental reasons, plus I wasn't going to ride faster than 18.5. The first out was a dream, I sailed effortlessly at a HR of 102 at 18.3mph barely registering a zone 1.....silly me should have recognized the tailwind and pushed a little harder. The 'back' was just crazy windy.....at the end of the first leg my average dropped to 17.1. Second loop I pushed harder with the tailwind and averaged 20.5. The wind just kept picking up....back was terrible. Had a really hard time staying in the aerobars. Third loop was the same story. My ending average was only 16.3. At that point I just stopped caring! My HR was great the whole time(no higher than low zone 2) but my legs were just trashed. I was hoping to average 17.0 which seems very much a 'should' pace rather than a 'could' pace. If the wind is blowing that hard in Florida I'll definitely have to rethink my plan. Nutrition could have been better....I could only manage to get down a half a bottle of water for the first 30 miles. I know this left me behind the power curve, but my stomach was not cooperating in my plan for the day. After mile 30 I started with the infinite. Managed to get in about 800 calories for the 7 hour day. I normally try for 225-250 an hour. Once I was finally off the bike I questioned whether I should run....felt more than a little dehydrated, but decided to just give it a try since the goal pace was zone 1 plus 30 seconds. That's 11:45 for me....I know; it's really strange to go that slow, but what can I say...it is what it is! The first 30 minutes I was right on track with my pacing, but then I just felt like I needed to get back to the car and call it a day. I picked it up to a blistering 11 minute pace to finish with a 11:20 average. It was actually easier to run that slow than I thought it was going to be. I only had water on the run. Once I saw the car I broke out in a cold sweat, immediately sat on a big rock and started throwing up. It's almost like my body was holding off till I was finally done. This kind of scared me because of the amount of liquid that was still in my stomach. I obviously stopped digesting some time earlier. I spent the evening trying to rehydrate.....lots of water and bland chicken soup for dinner. I feel much better today, but I know I'm still on the dehydrated side. Taking the day off to unpack from the trip and work on recovery. Will be back at it tomorrow.
What I learned:
Going as slow as I need to is going to take some patience!
I really needed to take this RR more seriously. I didn't 'plan' for it at all. Just got up that morning, grabbed some stuff and went. I'll be treating the next one with the respect it deserves!
I need to monitor my nutrition really closely between now and the event. Junk in junk out isn't going to work.
On a different note I just found out I get to go to Ironman Kona!!! Can't wait to see it in person....talk about some good last minute inspiration! I'll be collecting all the IM good karma I can find in the lava fields and in the water! Livin' the dream!
It was great reading all the race reports! Thanks for sharing.
Lynda~
@Lynda - wow... sorry to read about your GI issues, etc... but better now than at IMFL! I'm definitely worried about the nutrition angle - calories, etc. Doesn't sound like you had nearly enough... I'd post this to the report forum to get some WSM and coach feedback! Hope you're feeling better now!
Nathalie
@Nat - when I trained for the Miami marathon a few years ago (a Jan race) someone suggested I start running on the treadmill at the gym for a few weeks before to get used to the warmth and humidity... I hate the treadmill but I did it for a few runs (not the 18 miler mind you - that might have killed me - or I might have killed everyone in the gym when I finished).
Although I've been skipping workouts here and there - typically at least one swim and sometimes a short run... I'm feeling okay. The AV was hard but it helped me out a lot - and gave me a bit of reassurance that things are coming together and, even if it's not pretty, I can finish this thing.
got in the pool last night! sending the BF ahead so I had to show up was a good game plan.
I did about 2600m total with pulling and kicking drills and a few 200s really concentrating on forming and doing stroke counts to see if I was pulling more efficiently...
I'm scratching my head re: our run today. Weather is bad here... I'm not just talking a little rain... I'm talking tornado warnings, flash flood warnings, 40-50mph winds... sigh. 2.5 hours on the dreadmill would be a suicide mission. I'm hoping the weather will clear (well, be safe for a rainy run) and I can get out there around 3... potentially having to miss dinner with the BF and his friends (which would not make him happy...but I can't skip this run...).
Your thoughts? Do a drainer ride instead? If so, how long? Add the run after the ride Sat (either a hell of a brick or after a nap)? I contemplated switching today and tomorrow but, if I do it tomorrow it would have to be after work... and then it's be dark for half of it... and that would mean very tired legs for the long ride Sat morning... Ugh... I guess I've been lucky that this is the only day weather has really messed up my plan... but why did it have to be on our longest run day?
Question for anyone.....
I'm out of town next week thursday-tuesday. 5 hour difference in time zone. I can swim and run while I'm gone but no chance to bike. Should I try to get 4 rides in between now and when I leave even if I have to modify the plan due to trashed legs? Or should I just bag it and do extra swimming/running? Biking used to be my strongest leg but that was before all this swimming and running! Very excited about the opportunity to be in Kona, but nervous about the timing with IMFL. Thoughts????
@Lynda - perhaps post the Q to the "need feedback this week" thread and see what the coaches and WSMs say... I'm no expert. I've got a new bike so spending as much time as possible outdoors on it is really important (to nail my fit as well as get used to it)... not so important for you as you're already comfortable and a strong cyclist...
And thanks - that's a good thought on switching the runs this week and next... I thought next week was 2.5 as well. Maybe I'll run the WU and hard work segments after work and do about 1-1.5 total so I won't be dead tomorrow for the ride. Because of the weather yesterday, I re-did Wed brick after work instead of the long run - better than nothing... . hmm...have to figure it all out...
Thanks, Nathalie! Marianne pretty much said the same thing... legs might be tired, but that's life. I didn't realize next week was another run test. Wowsa! So, I got in super early, will be home by 3:30... Hopefully running by 4 or 4:15 (gotta change, fill up fuel belt bottles, etc - would have done that ahead of time, they're in the dishwasher, which I ran this morning on my way out)... Since it's staying dark longer, probably won't get my ride started til 8 or 9am... will have company for the first hour or two, which will be nice... gotta suck it up and get it done. 3 more hard weekends, it's close!