Today was restful. I slept in (until 7), watched TV in the hotel, had breakfast, and slowly got down to the lake to do a quick swim and run just to warm up my legs. I am feeling so rested that I am stiff. I packed all my bags last night and took them along with my bike to the gear check-in right at 10am when it opened. I wanted to get all this done with as early as possible and get away from all the nervous energy of the athletes. Mo and I went to the natural foods store, bought some lunch (burger and salad) and took it to a different beach for a picnic. Then it was nap time back at the hotel for a good 2 hours. Then we returned to our favorite Thai restaurant here for an early dinner. I had the "drunken noodles", rice noodles with chicken, vegetables, and some delicious sauce. We splurged and shared the mango sticky rice dessert. Then back to the hotel to do some final packing for tomorrow and here I am.
I have been having conversations with myself (and outloud) all day addressing my concerns about the race. I think I have worked through all my nervousness about the bike course, and calmed the doubts that have creeped into my mind. I have done a lot of biking and have done a lot of hills. I can do this. It seems like there has just been so much WAITING and I am getting antsy. When I get started racing I know what to do because I have rehearsed it in practice and in my mind a gazillion times. All the stories that have been going in my head will disappear. The bottom line is that I am really well-prepared for this and it's going to be awesome. I am going to remember to smile the whole day and savor how lucky I am to be doing it. I am going to use the energy of all the spectators and other racers to push me forward. My progress in the last couple years has been huge and I am ready to put it all on the line tomorrow. See you at the finish line.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Race week workouts
Wednesday
BIke 45 minutes easy with 2 x 90 seconds hard [13 miles]
Run 3 miles easy with 2 x 90 seconds hard [24 minutes]
Thursday
REST Day - Travel to Coeur d'Alene
Friday
Swim 20 minutes on race course
Bike 30 minutes on race course
Saturday
Swim 10 minutes - practice running beach starts and exits
Run 20 minutes - easy with 2 x 30 seconds hard
BIke 45 minutes easy with 2 x 90 seconds hard [13 miles]
Run 3 miles easy with 2 x 90 seconds hard [24 minutes]
Thursday
REST Day - Travel to Coeur d'Alene
Friday
Swim 20 minutes on race course
Bike 30 minutes on race course
Saturday
Swim 10 minutes - practice running beach starts and exits
Run 20 minutes - easy with 2 x 30 seconds hard
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
pace planning
Run 4 miles with 5 x (90 seconds hard/3 minutes easy) [33:43]
Swim 1600m with 6 x (100 race pace/100 easy) [32:01]
These were both nice short workouts just get get my body moving and to keep my speed up. As far as cardio workouts go, this was a nice brick - short but with enough intensity that I felt like I did something. Barton Springs was cold as usual today but it's good training... I'm thinking that maybe 68 degrees with no wetsuit will feel similar to 58 degrees with a wetsuit??
Last night I wrote out more lists: specific steps I will follow for each transition, my nutrition plan for race day going all the way from my first breakfast at 2am to my post-race smoothie, what I need to do each day leading up to the race once I arrive on site on Thursday. Nothing that can be controlled will be left to chance. I also looked at past race results, specifically a few athletes I know, to get a more clear idea of how I should pace myself. Based on those results and my current fitness, here are my time predictions:
Swim 1:05 [two loop course as 4 x 16 minutes]
Bike 6:20 [two loop course with 3:10 per lap, 17.7mph]
Run 4:00 [two loop course as 4 x 60 minutes, 9 min/mile]
T1/T2 0:08
FINISH => 11:33
In my first Ironman, my finish time was a mere one minute off my predicted time. This will be huge success if I can duplicate that this time.
Swim 1600m with 6 x (100 race pace/100 easy) [32:01]
These were both nice short workouts just get get my body moving and to keep my speed up. As far as cardio workouts go, this was a nice brick - short but with enough intensity that I felt like I did something. Barton Springs was cold as usual today but it's good training... I'm thinking that maybe 68 degrees with no wetsuit will feel similar to 58 degrees with a wetsuit??
Last night I wrote out more lists: specific steps I will follow for each transition, my nutrition plan for race day going all the way from my first breakfast at 2am to my post-race smoothie, what I need to do each day leading up to the race once I arrive on site on Thursday. Nothing that can be controlled will be left to chance. I also looked at past race results, specifically a few athletes I know, to get a more clear idea of how I should pace myself. Based on those results and my current fitness, here are my time predictions:
Swim 1:05 [two loop course as 4 x 16 minutes]
Bike 6:20 [two loop course with 3:10 per lap, 17.7mph]
Run 4:00 [two loop course as 4 x 60 minutes, 9 min/mile]
T1/T2 0:08
FINISH => 11:33
In my first Ironman, my finish time was a mere one minute off my predicted time. This will be huge success if I can duplicate that this time.
Monday, June 21, 2010
p-p-p-poker face
Strength Session
3 rounds:
10 deadlifts@45lb
10 push press@45lb
10 push ups
10 goblet squats@15lb
10 assisted pull up10 step ups (each leg) - 24" box
20 sit ups
I forgot to time this but I did it for time. I want to make sure I keep my muscles sharp. None of these exercises should make me too sore and even if I am a little sore, I still have 6 days to recover. I find that I race better right after my muscles have rebuilt from some hard stimulus.
Bike 60 minutes with 4 x (8 minutes moderate-hard/2 min recovery)
I did spin class tonight and Danielle played some Lady Gaga in honor of my Ironman. P-p-p-poker face p-p-poker face. I am enjoying this week and celebrating my fitness and all the hard work I have done. I am getting filled back up with energy and anticipate that after a few more days of these lighter workouts I will be busting out of my skin.
3 rounds:
10 deadlifts@45lb
10 push press@45lb
10 push ups
10 goblet squats@15lb
10 assisted pull up10 step ups (each leg) - 24" box
20 sit ups
I forgot to time this but I did it for time. I want to make sure I keep my muscles sharp. None of these exercises should make me too sore and even if I am a little sore, I still have 6 days to recover. I find that I race better right after my muscles have rebuilt from some hard stimulus.
Bike 60 minutes with 4 x (8 minutes moderate-hard/2 min recovery)
I did spin class tonight and Danielle played some Lady Gaga in honor of my Ironman. P-p-p-poker face p-p-poker face. I am enjoying this week and celebrating my fitness and all the hard work I have done. I am getting filled back up with energy and anticipate that after a few more days of these lighter workouts I will be busting out of my skin.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Final weekend
Saturday
Bike 40 miles with 4 x 10 min, 1 x 20 min moderate hard [2:30]
Run 3 miles [24 min as 8:08, 8:00, 7:51]
Since my tri bike is already shipped, I rode my road bike. I love my road bike and I love how much more control I have when I am not in aero position. My legs felt fresher than they have in a long time and my head was a lot more positive too. I actually was not dreading this ride. I got out early as the sun was coming up (as usual) and took Mesa out to 360 for the intervals. There were a ton of bikers out there. I reflected on all the hard work I have done biking this road in the last few months.
Run: When I looked down at my watch after the first mile I couldn't believe the 8:08 because I felt like I was going so slow. I attempted to slow down for the second mile but ended up going faster. My legs felt really good. The last mile I just gave it a comfortably hard effort and ended up with a 7:51. Clearly my legs are coming back with this taper.
My Ironman run pace will be 9:00/mile for a 4 hour marathon and I tried to hit that today to see what it feels like but it's actually much slower than my "slow". This run was a good reminder that on race day, no matter how good I may be feeling when I start the run, I still need to go slow. Maybe even slower than slow. I absolutely must not go faster than 9:00/mile in the beginning or I will likely have a major slowdown in the later miles. My ultimate success in this race is to run an evenly paced marathon.
Sunday
Swim 1.2 miles [33:20] - half race rehearsal
Restorative Yoga
Swim 2250m - easy steady pace in open water [38:30]
The race rehearsal swim went really well. I wore my wetsuit and neoprene cap and swam in barton springs to simulate the actual race. In Austin, wearing a wetsuit in the summer is like going running in a sweatsuit but you gotta do what you gotta do. The neoprene cap was tight and kind of uncomfortable around my chin but I got used to it. Same for the wetsuit. I prefer swimming without one but... the water in CDA will be around 55 so I will suck up the tightness for the extra warmth.
The pace I swam was hard but sustainable and know I could have swam twice the distance at that same pace. That puts me in for a 1:06 swim which would be a PR by 1 minute. Of course there are other factors to consider like swimming in a draft, swimming not exactly in a straight line, water chop, the affect of cold water on my breathing, wind, etc, that could all make me faster or slower. I feel very confident that I will have a good swim.
Yoga... nothing crazy just an easy class for some extra stretching on my hamstrings and hips. Felt good.
I came home got packed and took a 2 hour nap. Ahh. This is so relaxing. Nothing to freak out about because the work is already done. Things are good.
Oh yeah, and then I did a spontaneous second swim of the day with D. A nice enjoyable evening in the lake.
Bike 40 miles with 4 x 10 min, 1 x 20 min moderate hard [2:30]
Run 3 miles [24 min as 8:08, 8:00, 7:51]
Since my tri bike is already shipped, I rode my road bike. I love my road bike and I love how much more control I have when I am not in aero position. My legs felt fresher than they have in a long time and my head was a lot more positive too. I actually was not dreading this ride. I got out early as the sun was coming up (as usual) and took Mesa out to 360 for the intervals. There were a ton of bikers out there. I reflected on all the hard work I have done biking this road in the last few months.
Run: When I looked down at my watch after the first mile I couldn't believe the 8:08 because I felt like I was going so slow. I attempted to slow down for the second mile but ended up going faster. My legs felt really good. The last mile I just gave it a comfortably hard effort and ended up with a 7:51. Clearly my legs are coming back with this taper.
My Ironman run pace will be 9:00/mile for a 4 hour marathon and I tried to hit that today to see what it feels like but it's actually much slower than my "slow". This run was a good reminder that on race day, no matter how good I may be feeling when I start the run, I still need to go slow. Maybe even slower than slow. I absolutely must not go faster than 9:00/mile in the beginning or I will likely have a major slowdown in the later miles. My ultimate success in this race is to run an evenly paced marathon.
Sunday
Swim 1.2 miles [33:20] - half race rehearsal
Restorative Yoga
Swim 2250m - easy steady pace in open water [38:30]
The race rehearsal swim went really well. I wore my wetsuit and neoprene cap and swam in barton springs to simulate the actual race. In Austin, wearing a wetsuit in the summer is like going running in a sweatsuit but you gotta do what you gotta do. The neoprene cap was tight and kind of uncomfortable around my chin but I got used to it. Same for the wetsuit. I prefer swimming without one but... the water in CDA will be around 55 so I will suck up the tightness for the extra warmth.
The pace I swam was hard but sustainable and know I could have swam twice the distance at that same pace. That puts me in for a 1:06 swim which would be a PR by 1 minute. Of course there are other factors to consider like swimming in a draft, swimming not exactly in a straight line, water chop, the affect of cold water on my breathing, wind, etc, that could all make me faster or slower. I feel very confident that I will have a good swim.
Yoga... nothing crazy just an easy class for some extra stretching on my hamstrings and hips. Felt good.
I came home got packed and took a 2 hour nap. Ahh. This is so relaxing. Nothing to freak out about because the work is already done. Things are good.
Oh yeah, and then I did a spontaneous second swim of the day with D. A nice enjoyable evening in the lake.
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