Well it is starting-the IronMan grind. The training volume is really headed up. My bike volume and run volume are really ramping up. I think that I have~ 9 weeks until IronMan Wisconsin and this is where the training gets tough. Not "hard" in the sense of intensity, rather in the context of "holy cow" I am going to ride 5 hours then run for 15 minutes on Friday...then run 15 miles on Saturday.
In "the grind", things in life get more challenging because I find that I really am always walking the thin line of overtraining. For example last week I put in a 3+ hour effort on the bike on Friday afternoon, the distance wasn't bad but the heat nearing 95 degrees really takes its toll. After the bike I did an immediate T-run which is basically just running immediatley after getting off the bike. The concept is to get the legs accustomed to making the switch from one disipline to the next. THEN Saturday morning, I met Bob Skidmore out at DMACC west, we ran the hills for ~8 miles in the early morning heat and humidity. This run was epic and I felt like I was finding the "runner" in me. After the run, went and got Zach and went to the gym. At the gym he went to the kids area for 45 minutes and I went and swam a mile and a half. Once done with the swim we played in the pool for an hour or so then went home.
Sunday is my normal day off, but I decided to do a sprint distance tri on Sunday. I took a buddy of mine up with me(he is getting the tri bug after 20 years of not racing tri's)and we left at 5:45 a.m. Sunday. The drive up was simply beautiful! I fought a migraine on the way up and dosed up on my migraine meds, with a little caffeine, water, and food I felt decent. Got organized and warmed up for the race-felt as though I was pretty dialed in, and ready to go.
I was in the second wave and took off with 60 of my closest buddies. For whatever reason the swim was very easy. No bodies banging, no kicking, no hits to the head...nothing. It was simply swim straight to the turnaround buoy. At the turnarond I looked up and saw the shoreline and looked at my watch and saw 4:08 and thought "this is awesome". I take a few strokes and notice to my left a yellow rope in the water, I realize the rope is what is linking all of the buoys together! I basically swim straight in with no challenges whatsoever by following my yellow friend into the shoreline. Exit the water and head over to my transition area-in second place in my division-nice. Get the socks, helmet, bike, and the all important gels and sunglasses and take off.
Hop on the bike and within a quarter mile of getting on the bike, my chain pops off while shifting-arrrgh. No big deal off the bike, and back on within in 20 seconds. I never really feel like you just lose the time to fix the bike, but also momentum, mental clarity etc. I calculate that this probably cost me a minute +/- Round the lake to "the hill" and pop up it, but my legs just didn't feel "right". Get out on the open part of the course and take advantage of the tail wind out to Gladbrook and scoot along and felt o.k.'ish, but once again never a lot of "snap". Head back home snarf down to gels, one with some caffeine to maybe wake up the legs, and feel o.k. I have the 2nd fastest bike split of the day in my division(20.6 mph on a hilly/windy course), and come off the bike in 1st place in the division-sawheet. My hope is to run 8:15-8:30 miles.
The run legs let me down...I never really could get them going the way I have in training. I realize that no taper, and a tough week of training really contributed to the legs never moving the way I wanted. Wound up running 9:47/mile as the ugly hill out of T2 kicked me, and I was never really able to recapture the feeling of "ok" legs on the run. I wound up 1:22:22 in fifth place in my division 4 minutes back from the winner. My buddy James Holloway took 2nd, he had a nice day and really should be happy. James and I never "race each other" but there is certainly a friendly rivalry developing. I was able to sneak in ahead of him at Hy-Vee, he got me this past Sunday score this season 1-1.
This was a really long way to tell you with the training, racing, and dieting(another story) I am starting to feel the effects! Tired, hungry, thristy, did I mention tired(loss of focus :) ) I need to get through this week, then enjoy some recovery week next week, as I am planning on the Spirit of Racine Half-IM...
Train smart, be safe!
Jeff
In "the grind", things in life get more challenging because I find that I really am always walking the thin line of overtraining. For example last week I put in a 3+ hour effort on the bike on Friday afternoon, the distance wasn't bad but the heat nearing 95 degrees really takes its toll. After the bike I did an immediate T-run which is basically just running immediatley after getting off the bike. The concept is to get the legs accustomed to making the switch from one disipline to the next. THEN Saturday morning, I met Bob Skidmore out at DMACC west, we ran the hills for ~8 miles in the early morning heat and humidity. This run was epic and I felt like I was finding the "runner" in me. After the run, went and got Zach and went to the gym. At the gym he went to the kids area for 45 minutes and I went and swam a mile and a half. Once done with the swim we played in the pool for an hour or so then went home.
Sunday is my normal day off, but I decided to do a sprint distance tri on Sunday. I took a buddy of mine up with me(he is getting the tri bug after 20 years of not racing tri's)and we left at 5:45 a.m. Sunday. The drive up was simply beautiful! I fought a migraine on the way up and dosed up on my migraine meds, with a little caffeine, water, and food I felt decent. Got organized and warmed up for the race-felt as though I was pretty dialed in, and ready to go.
I was in the second wave and took off with 60 of my closest buddies. For whatever reason the swim was very easy. No bodies banging, no kicking, no hits to the head...nothing. It was simply swim straight to the turnaround buoy. At the turnarond I looked up and saw the shoreline and looked at my watch and saw 4:08 and thought "this is awesome". I take a few strokes and notice to my left a yellow rope in the water, I realize the rope is what is linking all of the buoys together! I basically swim straight in with no challenges whatsoever by following my yellow friend into the shoreline. Exit the water and head over to my transition area-in second place in my division-nice. Get the socks, helmet, bike, and the all important gels and sunglasses and take off.
Hop on the bike and within a quarter mile of getting on the bike, my chain pops off while shifting-arrrgh. No big deal off the bike, and back on within in 20 seconds. I never really feel like you just lose the time to fix the bike, but also momentum, mental clarity etc. I calculate that this probably cost me a minute +/- Round the lake to "the hill" and pop up it, but my legs just didn't feel "right". Get out on the open part of the course and take advantage of the tail wind out to Gladbrook and scoot along and felt o.k.'ish, but once again never a lot of "snap". Head back home snarf down to gels, one with some caffeine to maybe wake up the legs, and feel o.k. I have the 2nd fastest bike split of the day in my division(20.6 mph on a hilly/windy course), and come off the bike in 1st place in the division-sawheet. My hope is to run 8:15-8:30 miles.
The run legs let me down...I never really could get them going the way I have in training. I realize that no taper, and a tough week of training really contributed to the legs never moving the way I wanted. Wound up running 9:47/mile as the ugly hill out of T2 kicked me, and I was never really able to recapture the feeling of "ok" legs on the run. I wound up 1:22:22 in fifth place in my division 4 minutes back from the winner. My buddy James Holloway took 2nd, he had a nice day and really should be happy. James and I never "race each other" but there is certainly a friendly rivalry developing. I was able to sneak in ahead of him at Hy-Vee, he got me this past Sunday score this season 1-1.
This was a really long way to tell you with the training, racing, and dieting(another story) I am starting to feel the effects! Tired, hungry, thristy, did I mention tired(loss of focus :) ) I need to get through this week, then enjoy some recovery week next week, as I am planning on the Spirit of Racine Half-IM...
Train smart, be safe!
Jeff
