Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Ironman Louisville Training Week 15...

First things first ...  HUGE congratulations to my friend Meredith (AKA Swim Bike Mom) who completed her first Ironman at CDA this weekend.  I was glued to the computer from almost start to finish.  I took a few breaks to get a couple of workouts in but managed to stay up until the very end which is quite the feat for someone who normally loses her charm around 10:00 pm.  If you have never tracked anyone online or watched the live feed of the finish from ironman.com, you must!  It is ridiculously exciting.  As Meredith was coming down the chute to finish, there were some people standing in the way of the camera and I was yelling at them to get out of the way.  LOL.  Such an exciting finish!  So proud!

and on to IM LOU....   Here we are at June 25th which can only mean one thing...   TWO months until Louisville!  Whoa.  How did that sneak up on me so quickly?  It occurs to me that I am in the "last two months" of training.  Those are the two months that I warn my friends about.  You know, those friends who are dipping their toes into the idea of an ironman.  "The last two months are the worst but just when you think you can't do one more long ride, you will be tapering."  So here I am in the last two months, ready or not!  I have at least four more century rides on tap between now and the big dance.  Smart or not so smart?  I guess time will tell.  I may be kicking myself on August 26th wishing I had stuck with the tried and true training plan.  Oh well.  You won't improve unless you change things up once in a while.  Fingers crossed all this biking pays off!

Monday:  Rest Day!  CR went to the go-kart track to take a few laps.



Tuesday:
Bike (AM):  18 miles
Swim (AM):  2500 meters
Crossfit (PM) - This was the workout to kick off the "Paleo Challenge" (the reason I got the body fat testing).  The way I eat is a close cousin to Paleo so I thought, why not...

Wednesday:
Bike (AM):  18 miles
Run (AM):  3.25 miles
I have been doing a lot of brick type workouts this time around.  They really aren't written that way in the schedule, they just work out that way as a matter of being to fit them into my day.

Thursday:
Run (AM):  14 miles
At the suggestion of my friend, KC, I moved my long run to mid-week.  There are a few schools of thought on it.  My plan calls for intense weekends of back to back long runs and rides but then there are coaches who think you gain more from getting a quality run in on fresher legs.  As with the century rides, I guess we will see how this plays out :)
Crossfit (PM)

Friday:
Swim (AM):  2000 meters

Saturday:
Bike (AM):  94 miles
I met up with the Blue Iron group for Keith's birthday ride.  I think everyone did varying distances but Keith and I did three loops which amounted to 94 miles.  I was chased by a pit bull around mile 80 which was terrifying.  I have been chased before but they usually give up after a few yards.  This one stayed the course for about a 1/4 mile going from one side of my bike to the other.  I have had suggestions of spraying them with pepper spray or water but the reality is, I can barely get the water bottle out of my back cage without slowing down, I can't imagine trying to sprint away from a dog in full chase mode and trying to grab spray (or whatever) without crashing.  Thankfully he eventually gave up.  I pedaled off and tried to catch my breath but it really messed with my mind.


Sunday:
Swim (AM):  3300 meters
Run (PM):  5 miles  Did a short run in the afternoon to soak up that summer heat.  Again, mixed opinions on this one but I think some amount of running in the heat can only help me when I get to Louisville.  I may not opt to do my long runs in the full heat of the day (to optimize my chance of actually getting the long runs done) but I do think the short runs in the heat and actually the crossfit will help.  (I say crossfit because it is not air conditioned so there is some exertion in the heat there too).

...and that wraps up week 15!  On tap this week, I am returning to the GA 400 century where the three sisters kicked my butt last year.  This time around I have an appropriate gear on my bike for hills so am excited to see if it will be any easier this time around!  stay tuned :)



7 comments:

Matthew Smith said...

Your training sounds a lot like mine, although for some reason, you always seem to be doing more! I have been doing my long runs on fresher legs so that I have better runs, BUT, I have been doing some short heat runs too. You definitely are kicking my butt in the pool. I've got to put some long swims in! Keep up the good luck, and stay away from those dogs!

Michael said...

Dang girl you are killing it!!!

ajh said...

That whole pit bull thing sounds awful. I would not be able to spray without falling off the bike which would defeat the whole thing. Great job on your training.

Ransick said...

There is definitely some heat acclimation that can only happen running in the heat. Living in St. Louis I definitely see people that are acclimated and those that aren't. I lost 5 pounds on my hour and half run last weekend. If you don't practice replacing a certain amount of that with water during your run, it could be a rough race. I know that you know that already :-).

Carolina John said...

I really hope you write up a comparison report about how the beach 2 battleship fares against IMLou. The training is the same but the organization between the 2 companies is night and day.

Nice job getting that 94 miler in! Sounds like a sweet ride.

Jenn (junkmiles.org) said...

I LOVE that you are doing all of these century rides!! I KNOW it will yield the results you're hoping for in LOU!!

Good on ya for knocking out that swim, stellar time too....I think that is the the hardest part of a 70.3 swim....the utter boredom!! You can't go fast enough to scream at yourself for 25-30 mins so it's like grocery list pace...."pull fully, relax, extend all the way, exhale....hey...look at that fish...that biotch better stop grabbing my ankles" :) I can only IMAGINE what the full will be like in Nov...at least we get to hop out for a mental break...

KC is right abt the run, esp for you being a strong runner. I have to do my long run the day after my long ride because I'm NOT a strong runner....I have to really dig deep and teach myself to keep moving after pushing the wattage for so long....In years past, I did my 70.3 long mid-week and always fell apart by mile 9 of the run....like crying and dying fall apart...This time, I've gotten there in training (a first) and made it to the other side....hoo-ray for progress!! I bet you'll see some HUGE gains in your runs now without even trying!!!

8 weeks to go!!!
your so already ready!!

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