Big ASS training day is DONE! Started morning with a mile ocean swim with a group of four. Great conditions. Swim was nice and relaxed, tried to put my mind in Tempe Town lake but could not quite get there since water visibility was crazy clear. Next jumped on bike and headed south down PCH to Malibu. Wanted to use this ride as race pace, low breathing effort , just cruise along down in aero the entire time. Bike stats are: 73miles, ride time= 3:32, IF=69%, NP=183w. Not sure of my VI yet but it should be pretty good as avg. watts= 179. I think I nailed the perfect pacing bike ride for my AZ! Then put on those running shoes for the transition run. Run stats: 60min, 8:27/mi avg pace and those included a 45sec walk break each mile. First 500 meters of the run I glance at watch and see 7:51/mi pace and go "wow, does not feel that fast". I slowed it down and the run was very comfortable, though I definitely enjoyed those walk breaks each mile. My run went much better than I was anticipating, went faster than my prelim AZ goal pace of 8:40/mi, and I forgot to carry gels on the run, but did not seem to need them afterall. All and a BIG confidence builder for myself. Now get ti enjoy some red wine this evening.
So now all my AZ comrades who have their big day on Saturday..... YOU CAN DO IT! Feed off my great big ass day and go have a great one yourself. I particularly what to hear very good things from my rabbits or carrots (depends on circumstances)... Stark and Alexander. Where are you boys? Good luck everyone.
@David - GregVan did all of his long rides leading up to IM CdA this year on the trainer! 5+ hours on the drainer multiple times. And runs on the trademill. Lotsa snow late in the year in Montana.
Not "mindless," mental toughness! Good work.
@David - Locked an loaded. Will post results tomorrow. "THWACK!"
I'll be priveledged enough to spend my BTD with the doctor himself....Mr. Truscott!
I did my swim today along with the Strides Run, because my pool sucks on saturday mornings.
We'll get in 4 hours of windy, relatively flat, possibly wet riding and then a good hour of flat running. Will give the details afterwards tomorrow night.
Car packedand ready to go. Woke up at 5:20 AM (I am NOT a morning person) and sat in my kitchen for 15 minutes debating going back to bed while in my head I can hear Carrie Chavez telling me years ago, "just run for 1 mile and if you still don't wanna do it then go home." She told me this in 2003 when she was helping me train for my first marathon.
Got to the club and in the pool by 6:00 am. Got 2700 done in 45 minutes and I was counting EVERY minute. Time dragged slower than Dave Ambrose.
Got on the bike and it was 51 degrees. I was actually chilled to the bone the first 10 minutes of the ride. I was done. But then met up with local tri group ride and rode with them for 45 minutes then broke off. Did a 10' interval, 15 minute interval and then 30' at .893 pulling some weak roadies. Then called it a day. So not total waste of time. No Run.
Today my fitness was fine, but mentally i was not into it at ALL! After my HIM last weekend, looking a 6 hour training session in the face today was just too daunting. Maybe I am still mentally fatigued from the HIM? I don't know. But the mental 6 pack today was really a mental 1 pack.
Upside is I did go and at least do that proverbial 1 mile.
Big Day Done....Decided against the 100 mile century to spend some time suffering alone. Overall good day...nutrition and pacing was solid for my IM speed. It was very cold today here in GA....59 degrees at 9am after my OWS. I was glad I brought extra arm warmers and Ear covers. The run was a trail run through red top park....beautiful 2 loop course through the hardwoods. I sometimes wonder if Xterra would be my preference....need to ponder this after IMAZ!!!
Day off tomorrow.....awesome dude!!!!! I will see if the kids recognize me....
Got in 100 miles with my local tri team. Gotta say, even tho they're fun, they're not very fast or willing to push the envelope - only avg'd 18mph. That's a LOT longer than I will be in AZ, fo sho!!!
And SO glad tomorrow is a day off, because I'm off to the annual Addison Oktoberfest for some beers and friends! Prosit!
Got started an hour late due to pouring rain, still ended up spending the first hour in rain and wet roads eating Al's road spray. 52 degrees so it was a little chilly as well. Got in 71.8 miles on some good roads that I haven't seen before. Total ride= .693
Run was good until the turn around at mile 3.5 when I started to bonk. Luckily I had a GU with me. Al gave a glug of his perform, so after about 10 minutes I was able to step it out again and finished strong.
I did my swim on friday.
Thanks Al, lets do it again soon. Promise I will take perform with me on the run!
Had to adjust my week a bit as we are traveling home (2 days in a car!!). Was bushed on Monday so I only swam..did bike intervals on Tuesday (felt good), long 2 hr run on Wednesday (felt good), strides on Thursday with hopes of doing RR on Friday....WEATHER!! it poured with thunder and lightening. Did RR today and it was great...even with the downpour on the run! Looking forward to the California sunshine!! But, the day off on Monday from running set me up for a decent week of training! Listen to your body (especially if you're an older athlete .... like me!) Looking forward to meeting y'all at Arizona..!!
Big Day Complete. Arrived at the gym at 6:45 for the pool opening at 7. Jumped right in...knocked out the prescribed workout in 40 minutes....did another 20 minutes at a slightly slower pace. Probably did 3700ish yds.
Used the gym parking lot as my transition. I unlocked my bike from the roof rack, threw swimming gear in trunk, and was on the road within 10 minutes of leaving the pool. It was very cool this morning in Cincinnati...probably in the mid to low 50s at 8:15 when I headed out. Had my singlet and arm warmers on and felt comfortable. Was able to stay pretty steady on the bike...targeting a .70 IF of 180nP. I have a Garmin Edge 500 which will have pNorm in the next few weeks, but go from the Avg power for this. Ended up nailing it Avg Power 173. pNorm 180. 4:04. 81.4 miles. 197.6 TSS. IF .697. VI 1.04. 3100 ft climbing.
Quick transition at the car and off on the run. Was in the low to mid 70s by now. Felt pretty good and was averaging about 10 seconds faster than my Z1. After the second mile my speed crept up on me...RPE was the same but speed was another 20 seconds faster. I slowed down for mile 3 and nailed Z1. After mile 4 I hit the halfway point and dialed it up to Z2, about 7 min miles. Mile 5 was a bit hot at 6:44 and then things started to slide. Mile 6 was 7:24 follwed by a 7:43. Last mile was 8:15 and included some pretty big hills. This is what happened last rehearsal. I feel like I can go forever at Z1, just cruising along, but when I dial it up to Z2 the match burns and I run out of steam. I'm thinking of adapting my next big day and only dial it down by 30 seconds vs. 1 minute from z1 to z2 to see if i can sustain that better.
All in all...big confidence booster. IMAZ will be my first 140.6 and after today I am starting to feel like i am where I should be and understand the executional components well.
Just to add to Steve S report on our Big Day: I was proud of my steady ride @ 0.7-0.72 IF the whole way, with VIs in the 1.02-1.05 range. The ride ends with a couple of longish (for here) climbs which I powered up in 0.8-0.85 IF.
Even though Steve and I did not draft off each other (except the first hour, when I did not realise he was riding my wheel - I looked at his Joule when we stopped, saw IF = 0.60, and chided him a bit!), and we are slightly different speeds both running and biking (he's a tick faster on the bike, and about two ticks on the run), it worked well for each of us to go out together. Apart from just "misery loves company", he knew he didn't want me to catch him (oh, the embarasment!), and I benefited having a rabbit to keep me from letting up.
Finally, for both of us, it was a confidence building day., For Steve, finding out he could recover from a bonk with a little sugar. For me: I am still amazed after more than 100 races and who knows how many training days like this that, even though I feel as if my legs are totally dead and non-functional at the end of the bike, I can still run at the prescribed pace with just a few minutes rest, and keep it up for at least an hour. Knowing that on race day is imperative, when one desparately wants to just lay down and quit in T2.
Second BTD in the books. Got a little bit of a late start but got in the 1 hour swim and felt pretty strong. On the bike I felt amazingly strong. Was holding my target watts perfectly. Finished with .704 IF and 1.05 VI. On the run I again felt surprisingly good. Kept the pace down for the first 30min and then bumped it up to Z2. Towards the end I definitely started feeling the fatigue but pushed to the end. It was a good confidence booster going into the final push.
@John - I would consider your HIM a pretty good "Big Day". If you didn't feel it this weekend it is better to just regroup and hit it hard in the upcoming build.
Comments
Started morning with a mile ocean swim with a group of four. Great conditions. Swim was nice and relaxed, tried to put my mind in Tempe Town lake but could not quite get there since water visibility was crazy clear.
Next jumped on bike and headed south down PCH to Malibu. Wanted to use this ride as race pace, low breathing effort , just cruise along down in aero the entire time.
Bike stats are: 73miles, ride time= 3:32, IF=69%, NP=183w. Not sure of my VI yet but it should be pretty good as avg. watts= 179. I think I nailed the perfect pacing bike ride for my AZ!
Then put on those running shoes for the transition run.
Run stats: 60min, 8:27/mi avg pace and those included a 45sec walk break each mile. First 500 meters of the run I glance at watch and see 7:51/mi pace and go "wow, does not feel that fast". I slowed it down and the run was very comfortable, though I definitely enjoyed those walk breaks each mile.
My run went much better than I was anticipating, went faster than my prelim AZ goal pace of 8:40/mi, and I forgot to carry gels on the run, but did not seem to need them afterall.
All and a BIG confidence builder for myself. Now get ti enjoy some red wine this evening.
So now all my AZ comrades who have their big day on Saturday..... YOU CAN DO IT! Feed off my great big ass day and go have a great one yourself. I particularly what to hear very good things from my rabbits or carrots (depends on circumstances)... Stark and Alexander. Where are you boys?
Good luck everyone.
@David - GregVan did all of his long rides leading up to IM CdA this year on the trainer! 5+ hours on the drainer multiple times. And runs on the trademill. Lotsa snow late in the year in Montana.
Not "mindless," mental toughness! Good work.
@David - Locked an loaded. Will post results tomorrow. "THWACK!"
I'll be priveledged enough to spend my BTD with the doctor himself....Mr. Truscott!
I did my swim today along with the Strides Run, because my pool sucks on saturday mornings.
We'll get in 4 hours of windy, relatively flat, possibly wet riding and then a good hour of flat running. Will give the details afterwards tomorrow night.
Big Training Day = Fail!
Car packedand ready to go. Woke up at 5:20 AM (I am NOT a morning person) and sat in my kitchen for 15 minutes debating going back to bed while in my head I can hear Carrie Chavez telling me years ago, "just run for 1 mile and if you still don't wanna do it then go home." She told me this in 2003 when she was helping me train for my first marathon.
Got to the club and in the pool by 6:00 am. Got 2700 done in 45 minutes and I was counting EVERY minute. Time dragged slower than Dave Ambrose.
Got on the bike and it was 51 degrees. I was actually chilled to the bone the first 10 minutes of the ride. I was done. But then met up with local tri group ride and rode with them for 45 minutes then broke off. Did a 10' interval, 15 minute interval and then 30' at .893 pulling some weak roadies. Then called it a day. So not total waste of time. No Run.
Today my fitness was fine, but mentally i was not into it at ALL! After my HIM last weekend, looking a 6 hour training session in the face today was just too daunting. Maybe I am still mentally fatigued from the HIM? I don't know. But the mental 6 pack today was really a mental 1 pack.
Upside is I did go and at least do that proverbial 1 mile.
Day off tomorrow.....awesome dude!!!!! I will see if the kids recognize me....
Got in 100 miles with my local tri team. Gotta say, even tho they're fun, they're not very fast or willing to push the envelope - only avg'd 18mph. That's a LOT longer than I will be in AZ, fo sho!!!
And SO glad tomorrow is a day off, because I'm off to the annual Addison Oktoberfest for some beers and friends! Prosit!
Spent my Big Training Day with the Doctor.
Got started an hour late due to pouring rain, still ended up spending the first hour in rain and wet roads eating Al's road spray. 52 degrees so it was a little chilly as well. Got in 71.8 miles on some good roads that I haven't seen before. Total ride= .693
Run was good until the turn around at mile 3.5 when I started to bonk. Luckily I had a GU with me. Al gave a glug of his perform, so after about 10 minutes I was able to step it out again and finished strong.
I did my swim on friday.
Thanks Al, lets do it again soon. Promise I will take perform with me on the run!
Had to adjust my week a bit as we are traveling home (2 days in a car!!). Was bushed on Monday so I only swam..did bike intervals on Tuesday (felt good), long 2 hr run on Wednesday (felt good), strides on Thursday with hopes of doing RR on Friday....WEATHER!! it poured with thunder and lightening. Did RR today and it was great...even with the downpour on the run! Looking forward to the California sunshine!! But, the day off on Monday from running set me up for a decent week of training! Listen to your body (especially if you're an older athlete .... like me!) Looking forward to meeting y'all at Arizona..!!
Big Day Complete. Arrived at the gym at 6:45 for the pool opening at 7. Jumped right in...knocked out the prescribed workout in 40 minutes....did another 20 minutes at a slightly slower pace. Probably did 3700ish yds.
Used the gym parking lot as my transition. I unlocked my bike from the roof rack, threw swimming gear in trunk, and was on the road within 10 minutes of leaving the pool. It was very cool this morning in Cincinnati...probably in the mid to low 50s at 8:15 when I headed out. Had my singlet and arm warmers on and felt comfortable. Was able to stay pretty steady on the bike...targeting a .70 IF of 180nP. I have a Garmin Edge 500 which will have pNorm in the next few weeks, but go from the Avg power for this. Ended up nailing it Avg Power 173. pNorm 180. 4:04. 81.4 miles. 197.6 TSS. IF .697. VI 1.04. 3100 ft climbing.
Quick transition at the car and off on the run. Was in the low to mid 70s by now. Felt pretty good and was averaging about 10 seconds faster than my Z1. After the second mile my speed crept up on me...RPE was the same but speed was another 20 seconds faster. I slowed down for mile 3 and nailed Z1. After mile 4 I hit the halfway point and dialed it up to Z2, about 7 min miles. Mile 5 was a bit hot at 6:44 and then things started to slide. Mile 6 was 7:24 follwed by a 7:43. Last mile was 8:15 and included some pretty big hills. This is what happened last rehearsal. I feel like I can go forever at Z1, just cruising along, but when I dial it up to Z2 the match burns and I run out of steam. I'm thinking of adapting my next big day and only dial it down by 30 seconds vs. 1 minute from z1 to z2 to see if i can sustain that better.
All in all...big confidence booster. IMAZ will be my first 140.6 and after today I am starting to feel like i am where I should be and understand the executional components well.
Just to add to Steve S report on our Big Day: I was proud of my steady ride @ 0.7-0.72 IF the whole way, with VIs in the 1.02-1.05 range. The ride ends with a couple of longish (for here) climbs which I powered up in 0.8-0.85 IF.
Even though Steve and I did not draft off each other (except the first hour, when I did not realise he was riding my wheel - I looked at his Joule when we stopped, saw IF = 0.60, and chided him a bit!), and we are slightly different speeds both running and biking (he's a tick faster on the bike, and about two ticks on the run), it worked well for each of us to go out together. Apart from just "misery loves company", he knew he didn't want me to catch him (oh, the embarasment!), and I benefited having a rabbit to keep me from letting up.
Finally, for both of us, it was a confidence building day., For Steve, finding out he could recover from a bonk with a little sugar. For me: I am still amazed after more than 100 races and who knows how many training days like this that, even though I feel as if my legs are totally dead and non-functional at the end of the bike, I can still run at the prescribed pace with just a few minutes rest, and keep it up for at least an hour. Knowing that on race day is imperative, when one desparately wants to just lay down and quit in T2.
@John - I would consider your HIM a pretty good "Big Day". If you didn't feel it this weekend it is better to just regroup and hit it hard in the upcoming build.