Phew! Almost There! Somewhere between stressed with everything going on, excited, and nervous. That 2.4mi non wet suit open water ocean swim with 1500 other elite males in my wave, has me a bit intimidated. But like any race, you just get out there and put one arm in front of the other.
Last recovery week, and now headed into a solid week of training to start "TAPER". Remember, the term, taper refers to a reduction in something. So this week will be slightly less than the average of my last build. I'll also try and front load the week slightly as well... if I have the time. I started off well with a solid swim. Felt good, pace was only OK, but I enjoyed having energy and motivation. My target for the week is around 17:30-18:00 hours having average 18h40m the previous block. Average TSS was 1100. So targeting 1050, is about right. I'm playing just a little catch-up, or rather tapering a little "late" was my base wasn't quite and big as ideal back in April-June. No real excuse. Just hard to fit it all in with everything going on. Harder to get motivated this year.
This week have a little bit of a swim focus. Increasing frequency. I'm going to meet a swim coach on Wed. to look at my stroke and help me dial in a few elements. Not looking for a major change, but I know that when I'm "ON" I'm swimming 3-4s/100scm faster! That's a lot! That's may 2:00 at Kona... like going maybe 58-59:00 and having a great swim vs. 1:01-1:02. Should be interesting. It's the 1st time I've done this. Leave no stone unturned...right? Wish my weight management had that same philosophy.... it's been more like "leave no fridge full of food". I'll be racing around 167-169. About 3lbs heavier than IMWI last year and 7lbs heavier than Kansas last June where I had my best run ever. But I'm having my fastest bike splits ever and overall hitting the tape faster. So maybe it's not so bad.
I ran 5.5 miles on the treadmill and cruises at 6:00 pace @ 160bpm. Slower than in the past, but no fans. I'm definitely not running like last year, but I get the impression my endurance is better. Yesterday I went for a harder ride, and ended up averaging 24.6mph @ 256w NP in training set-up. Felt pretty good. HR was hovering around 150bpm. So solid high tempo. Not sure I recovered quite enough this week, but I'll make up for that in Kona. Really easing off the last few days.
Other items on the checklist:
I have a bike case - thanks to Jeff Yeager. I think he said "this is the closest I'll ever get to Kona". Have hope... there's Legacy slots! Or you can just keep aging up. Great guy and a MSU grad, so all the better.
New Chain and another new tires ordered. I lost track of the miles on each chain I have, so I decided to just order another one. I'll bring the take-off tire to Kona just in case. But best ot have new rubber. Front tire is almost new
Wow... 12 days and I'll be on a plane headed there! The countdown begins!
By the numbers:
Swim: 2h43m, 10,280y
Bike: 6h18, 120mi
Run: 3h37m, 29.5mi
TOTAL: 12h18m
TSS: 739
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