Weekly Wrap-up (early) 08/24/14

I'm writing this one a little early since i have a little time here.  I haven't done my trainer ride today, but I'll just include it in my numbers.

Taper week #1 - Now remember, this isn't a easy week at all.   "Taper" means less training load than my last build.  So more like 1150-1200 TSS instead of 1300-1400.  I'll actually move my fitness back up from my last 2 weeks, but won't reach a new peak in CTL.  I'll still fall short of that mark, mostly because my last build was shortened a little to race Steelhead.  This week is further complicated by being on call, so most of my training load was pushed to early in the week and less spread out.  I also pushed my long ride and last "bigger" day to Monday.  So my real taper starts Tuesday.  I think the key to taper is the duration that you TSB remains positive.  OR rather the length of time that your average training load (ATL) is sustained at a level lower than you cumulative average (CTL) is lower than your previous cumulative average.  The trick in your build is to progressively raise it to the highest point possible, then start a increasing descent.  Ending with doing very little the last 3 or so days, but more importantly, doing less about 15 days prior to that.

By the numbers:
Swim: 3h26m, 14,700y
Bike: 7h35m, 163mi
Run: 5h2m, 40.2mi
TOTAL: 16h03m
TSS: 1130
CTL: 157.9
TSB: 13.6 (8/25)

My overall CTL peaked at @ 169.1 on 8/02, 164.2 on 8/11 after Steelhead, 161 on 8/21, will peak again at @ 160 on 8/27 and then it's a steady descent until 9/07.  So one could even argue that my taper started on 8/03 and I've spent 5 weeks slowly descending.


IMWI Race Planning:
I'm been soliciting advice from Josh Madsen and Scott Bowe (both better swimmers than I..especially Scott) regarding the swim leg.  Scott is probably the best resource as he's done this race I think at least 3 times, maybe 4 and has been very successful.  Best plan now looks line lining up a little wide (closer to shore, further form the buoy, at the front and trying to stay ahead and away from the initial surge.  You'll see in photos that a few other "fish" do the same and you have smaller groups away from the main race line near the buoys.  So you swim a little farther in exchange for cleaner water early on.  After that, its' about relaxing and finding a good rhythm and just finding feet if possible and swimming straight.  The swim " is what it is".   Meaning if I go 58 or 1:03... it's not that important.  What maters is that I avoid burning any matches, and make sure I don't hurt the next 8 hour of racing just to go 2 minutes faster.  Those 2 minutes could cost me 15-20 later in the day.

Otherwise, I pretty comfortable on my nutrition plan, and my bike and run pacing.  I found that at Steelhead, I can still run fairly well even while taking in a lot of fluids.  I felt pretty thirsty during most of that run.  I probably could have drank more pre-race, and that's something I'll keep in mind.

So just 2 weeks...2 weeks.  I've been training since last October with this race in mind with my real training  plan starting in December.  My taper and execution was excellent at Kansas and given how rested I was, very good at Steelhead as well.  I'm hoping for an even better result on Sept 7th.  I'm more fit and will be better rested.  The next 2 weeks is focusing on mental preparation as much as anything.  Reminding myself that my longest 20 mile training run even on a warm humid morning, was at a solid pace, was negative splits and overall wasn't very hard.  My long rides got easier and easier as the summer wore on.  I'm very aero, so I'm getting good speed on few watts and my pace won't fall off as much if I ride conservative and I'll be faster on descents and on rollers where momentum is important.

Most important, I have a supportive family and friends that will be there on race day.  Even if I only see them a few times, I know they are there cheering me on... watching that tracker and hopefully enjoying the overall experience and excitement of the day.  You have 2500+ people out there that trained hard and sacrificed all year to get to that race, to test themselves, to prove that they can do this.  I plan to head back to the finish in the evening to soak in the atmosphere and the cheer on those finishing.... I'm sure my wife will think I'm crazy!  Hell...she already does.

Let me just repeat it one more time...
I'm going to swim 2.4 miles (farther than I've ever swam continuously before by at least 10 minutes)...
Then I'll get on my bike and ride it 112miles at a pace about equal to my 70.3 race at Pigman last year (factoring in the hills)...
AND then I'll get off the bike, put on my Kinvaras and run a marathon.  My second 26.2 mile run ever and only I think my 5th time over 20 miles or 3 hours.  The last time was I think 1998, over 16 years ago.
... then I'll be an Ironman, and as Scott Bowe told me... "go out, race your own race, execute well and you'll be at Kona in 2015."

Weekly Wrap-up 08-17-14

Last regular recovery week down.  I needed that after a hard training block and Steelhead.  Backing off the running and swimming helped the most.  Swimming was mental break.   Running was a physical break.  Now i can regroup and head into taper.

Now mind, you "taper" can be a little deceiving unless you have a reference from what your tapering from.   It's a taper from your last build.  Meaning you're not building, but you not recovering either.  You'll also doing training that more high intensity, and less volume to sharpen you overall fitness.  You are no longer concerned with your overall cardio base.  You want to hold that fitness level, hold that "punch" in your legs but get them as rested as possible at the same time and get your energy levels near their max.  If you do it right, you'l be climbing the walls like a race horse ready to charge out of the gate.  I was most of the way there at Kansas, but I'm more fit now with an even deeper base, so I'll taper even stronger this time.... and I'll need it to survive 9-1/2 hours at a solid pace.  What will really make a difference is how long I'll be at a positive TSB.   Previously I only raced after being positive for a few days.  This time I'll be positive for about 8 days.  I was only positive for 4 days at Kansas.  Biking specifically, I'll be positive for 7 days, but also only negative for 5 days in the previous 22.  Maybe this will leave me flat, but I think it will leave me really fresh and ready to fire on all cylinders.

Overall I felt really good on the bike.  Running a little less helps with that and mentally, Steelhead was a great springboard that really added to my confidence.  The bad news is that my rival, is also riding really well.  Maybe better than he ever has.  But hey, I love good competition.  I love to see everyone stepping up their game.  More satisfying if you have a good day and beat them or can come close.  Strong competition makes you better and makes your accomplishments mean just a little more.  Saturday I rode indoors and did "The Hunted".  My favorite of the 4 videos I own.   Short but hard, more steady efforts than sprints.  I destroyed my CP60 (best 60' power average) power record by 10Watts!   My previous best doing this session was 270W in June.  SO big, big improvement.  As a result I bumped my FTP up to 308 (no sandbagging my training load).   I came close to beating my CP20 as well.  Additionally, my HR seems to have dropped just a little at the same running pace.  My legs haven't been snappy, but I think I've gained some overall fitness.  I think that showed at Steelhead, in how I felt after the race (not as beat up) and how quickly I recovered.

By the numbers-
Swim: 1h46m, 7600y
Bike: 7h09m, 144mi
Run: 3h43m, 28.1mi
TOTAL: 13h18m
TSS: 818
Overall CTL: 157.8 (8/17)
Overall TSB: 18.3 (8/18)

This week I'm on-call at work.  Usually I time this with a recovery week, so it will have the extra challenge of getting in a descent training load with some unpredictable training hours.  However, my workouts are less specific, and more about getting in the training load I need.  I deferred my longer ride (3 to 3-1/2 hours) to Monday and I did my last run over 10 miles and one of my last runs over 1 hours this morning (remember I do frequency over long duration).  Training load over the next 8 days will be about 10-15% less than my last build.  So instead of a 200TSS/day average I'll shot for around 170-180.  Then step that down about 10-15% and a even bigger drop the last week.

Almost there.   Really just checking off the workouts at this point.  45 workouts left.  I think that's probably split about 12 swims, 16 runs, 15 bike rides.

One again, a huge thanks to my wife & daughter for putting up with my schedule.  Big thanks to my neighbors down the street for letting me use their lap pool.  Our YMCA is closed for 2 weeks for maintenance.   Great timing for me.  Though it's so hot, humid and miseable in there when the dewpoint is over 60F, that I just assume swim outside anyway.

Steelhead 70.3 Race Report

Finally had a chance to sit down and write up my race report.

I entered this race as "race ready package" with IMWI.  Seemed like a good idea back in Sept. 2013.  MY parents live in Michigan, so I'd put it together with a visit and maybe they'd even come see me race.  After I put together my annual training plan, it quickly became a "B" race.  Too close to IMWI for a full taper and rebuild.  I think you need at least 12 weeks between "A" races.  16 is even better.

I came off a 2 week build with 21 hours per week for both.  I had some solid rides, long runs and the highest swim volume since March.  I did however push my limits and get some PF in my right foot.  I shut it down early and it's been fine since.  I just went a little too aggressive in my run load with the long runs and some faster paced tempo work.

Race Morning:
Typical breakfast of oatmeal, greek yogurt, orange juice, banana, and coffee around 4:30AM.   Hit the road at 4:45 to stay ahead of traffic...less stress that way.  I had my bike checked, so 1 less thing to fuss with.  Rode the shuttle with tons of beach gear.  I got my wife set-up on the beach.  Our XL Umbrealla tent is awesome.  I forget the brand.  There were 3 or 4 others on the beach that afternoon. I kept sipping perform to top off hydration and calories.  I set-up transition including pumping tires, computer set, powdered shoes, and attached rubber bands on shoes.  Back to the tent and one with the wetsuit.  THe wetsuit is a Profile Marlin I just bought off Daniel Bretscher that week.  I tried it out in a pool at my parents house and it seemed to fit well and I swam well in it.  The only "catch" is that Daniel is a little shorter than me with larger calves and cut off 2" from the legs to make it fit better and speed transitions.  The good news is that it comes off easy, but I have small calves anyway, and a few ore inches would be nice.  Oh well, can't complain at $50 for a $350 wetsuit.

Swim:  32:02
I carried 8oz of perform in a plastic bottle and another gel.  It was about a 1 mile walk down the beach.  I found a few flat stones along the way and couldn't resist reliving my youth and skipping them.  I went camping 1-2 times summer with my parents at probably a dozen different state parks in Michigan, always along one of the great lakes.  This race was sort of a homecoming and I was looking forward to the wavy swim... I wouldn't be disappointed.

They let us warm-up near the pier side of the start.  Water temp fell great, nice fresh clear water.  Waves were nice rollers, no white caps.  Seemed like it would be a fun swim, though challenging.  I swam maybe 200 yards or so.  Nothing major.  I probably should have swam a little more and closer to the start.

I managed to get a spot up front towards the outside.  Gun goes off and I'm suprised to find that I have a step or two on the group.  I do a few dolphin dives and I'm side by side with the lead group.  About 100y in, disaster.  I suck in a wave.  Hard.  I chock really bad and struggle ot catch my breath.  The chase group swallows me up.  I get my breath back and find a easy pace.  My legs feel a little fatigued from the little struggle.  I just keep moving forward.  I move past the group and pretty soon, as usually, I'm all alone.  No idea where the leaders are.  It's hard to sight over the 1-2' swells.  Fortunately i pull to the left and the waves are pushing us towards shore to the right.  They are also coming towards us, so we're fighting the current.  It will be 2-4 minute a long swim.  I find a steady pace.   I'm kind of in damage control and just want to get to T1 at this point and get my time back on the transition and bike.  I'm pretty fast in T1 historically.  I end up swimming the exact same split as my rival, Scott Iott.  I never saw him running right next to me on the beach.   He;s improved his swim this year, so comming out next to him means i had a descent swim.

Transition: 2:24.   Grab my helmet, step out of my wetsuit and put on my sunglasses, toss it into my spot, grab my bike and I'm off.  I hit full stride and roll towards the exist.  Flying mount at the line, both feet slide in before my rubber bands break....wohoo first time ever and I'm off.

Bike: 2:09:05
My calibration message pops up... crap, forgot to zero the Stages PM.  NBD I just hit NO... uhohhhooohhhshittttt... i hit yes.  It calibrates while I'm pedaling.  My wattage will be crap.   Thinking quickly I power down and back up, unclip my left foot, hold the crank at 6 o clock and calibrate it.  I think I see a 887...but it could be 892... close enough.  886 or 887 is my typical value.   I pedal off and get to work, enough with this BS.

As usual, I resist the urge to go for the bottle.  I'm better off settling down, getting any air out of my stomach and waiting 15 minutes.  Legs feel pretty good.  I get through the corners and into a longer climb.  I hold around 280-300W and still feel good.  Crest the top and settle into about 240-280 through the rollers working through traffic.  Lots of yelling left, but not too bad overall.

Around mile 15 or so, I see a red Shiv roll past...I was waiting for that.  It's Dan Stubleski from the 2nd 35-39 wave.  I yell "go get em Dan".  He looks back, probably no idea who I am.  I push the pace up ot follow and as expected it's taking 270-290W to match his pace.  I ease off to let him go , but suddenly, there's Iott rolling past.  I say to myself "oh hell no".  I jump on the Stubleski Express...woowooo!  It's actually the first time I've ever really had to try and legally "draft" maintaining a 7M gap but still getting just a slight benefit, though most of it is mental.

So here we are, most likely 1-2-3 in 35-39 though Dan has a 4' lead.  I know i probably can;t rely on outrunning him, not without a taper. ... so this is it.  Hell, it's a B race who cares if I overbike a little.  A good opportunity to test my limits.  Daa pulls ahead a few times and the pace surges a couple times.  A couple stretches I'm at 90-95% steady for a few minutes.  Coming out of turns power goes up to 350-400 for a a bit.  On one climb just after dan fell back to take a hand-up, we bunch up and I take the lead for a bit.

Finally around mile 40, dan hits his stride and it's either ride at 280W or fall back.  Part of me now wishes I would have tried. I knew my run was likley to be uninspired, so I really had nothing to lose.  Although just riding 240-250 was getting pretty hard as is typical after 90+ minutes at 85%.

SO now Scott and I are on our own.  I take a few pulls and show him I'm not going away.  Finally around mile 50 I push up one of the last small climbs and without realizing it, I dropped him.  If I had noticed I might have pushed hard to pull a big gap and make him respond.  My legs still feel fairly good at this point.  I hang out a few of the last turns and hit the dismount line hot...really hot.  I stumble and just barely keep from face planting. I suspect the wind picked up and turned a little in a favourable way.  Bestbikesplit says I would have needed to ride at 90% to ride that time.  My Garmin says 245W AP, 252NP, almost identical to Kansas.  1.03VI. 0.83IF.  Hell I'll take it!  Smoking fast.  7th fastest split on the day, 3rd fastest amateur split.  I'll take it.  Especially since I feel like I could have rode harder.

T2: 2:37
 I fly into transition, keep flying and going and going and then realize of shit!  I'm turned around and my spot is WAYYY behind me.  I spin around and try and stay calm.  I see Scott running the other way.  Reminding myself that it's just a "B" race and nothing I can do about it now.  I get me socks on, visor, grab my belt and I'm off.  Put on my watch while running then try ot find my stride.

Run: 1:28:04
I try and find my stride, but I clearly don't have the legs I need for a 1:21... or a 1:23.  I'm thinking 1:25 at this point.  I can see Scottin thne distance and hope he falls apart but he seems to pull away slowly.  I Just try and hold a 6:15-6:30 pace and hope they come around.  Long story short, they never come around.  But the good news is that no cramps and I never fall apart completely.  But I'm mentally checked out and just trying to run 6:45-7 for the remainder to salvage a descent time.   The humidity is picking up and the sun is shining.  I'm pouring water over my head at every station, and feeling pretty thirsty.  Drinking a cup of coke and perform at every station. I'm tolerating it well.  So that's good.

 The miles roll past fairly quick. At mile 6 I pass the 3rd place female pro and shout some encouragement.  Her name is Jeannie Seymour and I start a streak now of running with pros with british or similar accents in 70.3 events (she's south african).  She thanked me after the race.  I think she was in a dark place and sometimes the little things push you on.

Overall it's a nice run course, but hard to get into a groove. There's just no snap in my legs.  I finally kick it up a little as I make the final split towards the finish line 2 miles out.  Feels very long as usual.  I'm happy to cross that line.  Validating a solid swim, killer bike and steady run.  I learn that even if I'm off on the run, I can still pull off a solid time.  Very pleased with where my fitness is and how my bike has progressed.

Finish Time 4:14:12, 4th 35-39, 5th amateur, 19th overall.   I was actually up to 12th off the bike.

I'm really looking forward now to IMWI.  It will be round 3, winner take all between Scott and I.  I think this swim gave me a little more open water confidence and I still swam a good time going at a steady pace close to what I think I can hold for 2.4 miles.  I may revise my target wattage after this.  In part because I think the worst I will run is around 3:30.  So it's worth the gamble to ride maybe a 4:55 and still run a 3:10-3:15.

Recover this week, moderate load next week then tapering off. Just 26 days!

Weekly Wrap-up 08-03-14

Final Build Complete!!!   I am fully "constructed" for my first Ironman race.  Now there's just recovery week, a race, recovery again and 3 taper weeks.  Piece of cake!  Name of the game now is injury prevention, and don;t lose too much fitness.  I'm finding that with my deep base, even dropping a run here and there and cutting back has little impact.

By the Numbers:
Swim: 3h52m, 16,500
Bike: 12h21m, 266mi
Run: 5h03m, 40.9mi
TOTAL: 21h16m
CTL: 167.3 (peaked on 8/02 @ 169.1)
Bike CTL: 77.2 (peaked on 07/06 @ 77.9)
Run CTL: 48.1 (peaked on 7/31@ 50.7)
Swim CTL: 40.6 (peaked on 08/01 @ 42.6)

The Good:
Bike is feeling very strong.  My 102 mi ride Saturday didn't feel nearly as hard as previous long rides.  It was cooler and the wind was lighter, so that helped a lot.  I paced it a little more evenly too.  What even better was that I still felt pretty strong on Sunday.  In the past I would have been crushed.  Some of that may be less or more importantly, my overall TSB for run/bike combined was lower.  So I think I raised the bar a little on my bike this last build since June.  It was more about specificity and focusing on long rides rather than harder medium distance rides.  I think that's more important going into my first IM.   Build the confidence and get used to the saddle time.  My run form feels really good.  My 15 miler seemed almost too easy.  I think running a 7:15 pace or better seems very doable at IMWI.

I also got in some much needed bike maintenance including a new 52T chainring, switching to the 11-28 rear cassette, a new chain and new der. pulleys. so I'm looking good now through the big day.  I also figured out a way to  get a very small bag with a 2nd tube, 2 CO2's and my multitool on my big without impacting aerodynamics.
 

The Bad:
I pushed the run a little too hard.  I picked up a touch of Platar Faciitis on my right arch.   I've had that feeling during some higher run volume weeks in the past.  I dismissed it as minor, but it really became acute on my short run Friday and was still lingering Sat. even just walking around. As a result I bagged my Sunday run and decided to sit it out and dropped my run volume a little on the upcoming week leading to Steelhead.


Reflecting back at all the work....
My PMC really shows how deep my base is.  I can drop the mileage on some of my runs and not impact my fitness much at all come Spet. 7th.  It's something I'll keep in mind.  The hard work is over, there's little to be gained my doing any more than necessary.  I managed to get in a LOT of solid workouts and really build my engine the last 10 months... and really, the last 3 years and I could even say the last 9 years... or even 21 years since I started competing in sports in high school beginning with track & field my freshman year of 1993... and I could add one more layer with riding bicycles as a kid 10 years before that.  Time to make that pay off.  So every time I did anything athletic the last 30 years has brought me to this point.


Looking to Steelhead:
The positive of shutting my run down a day early and backing of, means that I'll be more rested than planned for Sunday.   Not an "A" race, but maybe a "B+" race.  Whereas Geode was more like a"B-".  What kind of time do I predict.

Swim: Hard to call this one.  It's usually challenging.  Looks like a slight headwind pushing us out a little, so I'll say 29:30.
Transitions: I hear it's pretty long so 4:30 looks pretty typical....damn that's long!
Bike: BBS says 2:12 with the same 160TSS I rode at Kansas.  It's flatter, so that's a 0.85IF, as opposed to 0.84.  I think that's realistic.
Run: 1:20.  It about as flat as Kansas and will likely be just a little less humid and marginally cooler.  Figure I spent 10 seconds adjusting a shoe and probably paced a little uneven going out a bit hard.  I'm only looking to run 4-5 second per mile faster.  More than anything, just not slow down as much.

Where does that put me?  Still 10+ minutes behind Stubleski...haha, that ship will sail right past me around mile 25-30 on the bike and never look back.  He'll run 1:13-1:15 and crush all the amateurs.  But with Iott's improved swim, that puts me right where he'll be.  Possibly matching his splits the whole way.  He rode 2:12 & ran 1:20 last year off a 33:xx swim in choppy water.  He didn't have a good day at Racine, but he's always dangerous and I expect he'll show up ready for war.  I'm looking forward to a good battle.  So it's Round #2 then.  We're both more fit, but I'm not as rested.  Should be a really good one.

UPDATE: My total time would be 4:08-4:10.  I'd love to break 4:10...just because.  Also I forgot that Stubleski is in the next wave, so I should stay ahead of him until the run.  Then he'll pass me doing a 5:40 pace like I'm standing still.

I'll be doing the race in the middle of a summer family vacation.  Visit family in Michigan, then relax for a day couple days in West Michigan after the race.   Maybe a beach day or a day trip north.  Then our daughter starts kindergarten that Thursday.


Next post should be a race report.