Wow I cannot believe it. I am less than 2 weeks away from my half ironman prep race and just over 5 weeks from my A-goal Ironman race.
These last weeks of training are critical. I am hitting all the big mileage on the long rides and trying to keep up in the other sports.
It is quite a challenge. I have been making sure to hit my bike mileage / time per the training plan. However, I have not been great at meeting the volume of running and swimming at the same time.
Last week-end, I did my 90 mile ride and wanted to follow with a 20 mile run but the weather was so hot (~95F) that I stopped at just 8 miles. I figured that at this stage, I cannot afford to completely heat exhaust myself which, at the very least, would compromise the next couple of weeks of training. The most critical weeks in fact.
This week end for the first time ever, I came out of my long ride not feeling completely exhausted. The secret to that I learned is intransigent pacing.
I stayed between zones 1.5 and 2.5 (cardio) the whole 5+ hours.
Yeah, pretty low intensity, but now I know that the only way I can run after a long ride is through good pacing. I will experiment the next few week ends to see how far I can push this pace. I suspect that as long as I stay around mid zone 2 cardio zone, I will be ok.
During the ChesapeakeMan race, I should be able to control my heart rate very well because the course is very flat (unless there are very strong winds...). This might be more challenging to do on hillier courses.
I am getting a bit worried that I have not done a long run in 3 weeks, so this week, one of my absolute must do is an 18 to 20 miler. I have about 3- 4 weeks of high volume training and I need to have a long run each and every week.
As to the swim, in the last few weeks I have done good keeping up with a nearly daily swim routine. I have managed to swim 5 to 6 times a week.
I am still slow (my speed does not improve that fast) but I feel more comfortable in the water. One of my big concerns is that I have never gone over about 1.2 miles. I really need to find the time to squeeze in a few 1.5 to 2 hour sessions.
Last week end, I had the opportunity to do another tune up race. A short (sprint) triathlon at Herriman Black Ridge.
I had practiced the swim in the pond with my club a couple of days before the race and had not managed to stay in the water more than 10 minutes (without wetsuit). Sooo cold!!! I took me a good 30 minutes to recover from that. Despite my hypothermic adventure, I opted not to wear a wetsuit on race day.
In a sprint triathlon, the race is so short that spending a couple of minutes stripping out of my wetsuit would be a waste of time.
It turned out okay though. I did not feel cold and while I finished at the back of my wave (as expected) I am fairly satisfied with my swim. As the map below suggests, my sighting, while not great yet, is getting better
These last weeks of training are critical. I am hitting all the big mileage on the long rides and trying to keep up in the other sports.
It is quite a challenge. I have been making sure to hit my bike mileage / time per the training plan. However, I have not been great at meeting the volume of running and swimming at the same time.
Last week-end, I did my 90 mile ride and wanted to follow with a 20 mile run but the weather was so hot (~95F) that I stopped at just 8 miles. I figured that at this stage, I cannot afford to completely heat exhaust myself which, at the very least, would compromise the next couple of weeks of training. The most critical weeks in fact.
This week end for the first time ever, I came out of my long ride not feeling completely exhausted. The secret to that I learned is intransigent pacing.
I stayed between zones 1.5 and 2.5 (cardio) the whole 5+ hours.
Yeah, pretty low intensity, but now I know that the only way I can run after a long ride is through good pacing. I will experiment the next few week ends to see how far I can push this pace. I suspect that as long as I stay around mid zone 2 cardio zone, I will be ok.
During the ChesapeakeMan race, I should be able to control my heart rate very well because the course is very flat (unless there are very strong winds...). This might be more challenging to do on hillier courses.
I am getting a bit worried that I have not done a long run in 3 weeks, so this week, one of my absolute must do is an 18 to 20 miler. I have about 3- 4 weeks of high volume training and I need to have a long run each and every week.
As to the swim, in the last few weeks I have done good keeping up with a nearly daily swim routine. I have managed to swim 5 to 6 times a week.
I am still slow (my speed does not improve that fast) but I feel more comfortable in the water. One of my big concerns is that I have never gone over about 1.2 miles. I really need to find the time to squeeze in a few 1.5 to 2 hour sessions.
Last week end, I had the opportunity to do another tune up race. A short (sprint) triathlon at Herriman Black Ridge.
I had practiced the swim in the pond with my club a couple of days before the race and had not managed to stay in the water more than 10 minutes (without wetsuit). Sooo cold!!! I took me a good 30 minutes to recover from that. Despite my hypothermic adventure, I opted not to wear a wetsuit on race day.
In a sprint triathlon, the race is so short that spending a couple of minutes stripping out of my wetsuit would be a waste of time.
It turned out okay though. I did not feel cold and while I finished at the back of my wave (as expected) I am fairly satisfied with my swim. As the map below suggests, my sighting, while not great yet, is getting better
I got out of the water, grabbed my pre-transition shoes and tried to slide them in. I was still dizzy from the swim and could not keep my blanace. I almost fell over twice trying to put the shoes on.
I definitely lost 30 seconds there...I still think pre-transition shoes are a good idea. For one, I have a very fragile and blister prone skin and the 0.2 mile run out of the water to my bike may actually do some damage to my feet. Further, I realized that with a good pair of shoes, I can actually run much faster out of the water than all the other guys surrounding me.
I just have to execute it a bit better.
I ran to the bike rack and jumped on my bike while running. Wow, just like a pro. I had done a quick session a week before to learn that skill and I think it is worth doing on a sprint tri, especially since it is not as hard as it looks.
After the swim. I had a lot of catching up to do but I was eager and confident. I had rehearsed the bike course twice a couple of days before and I knew exactly what to do.
The beginning portion of the race is a fast (40mph) downhill section.
While most competitors around me where just letting the bike drift downhill, I attacked hard, pushing on the pedals, determine to pass as many people I could.
At the end of the first mile, while riding downhill at maximum speed my rear tire exploded. I felt the rear wheel shaking and nearly coming off the bike. I controlled my bike trying to slow down without losing my balance.
Soon I came to a stop. I examined the tire and it was completely torn with a 3 inch opening. Race was over...
Some generous people took my bike on their truck and I went to T2 to watch the race.
As I arrived there, the guy leading the race was entering the transition area.
It was Rory, a member of my triathlon club. He was part of the elite wave and seem so have now a comfortable lead on the second man.
As I watched him put on his running shoes, I decided to do the run with him. I ran to the transition area put on my shoes and started the chase.
He was about 200 yards in fron of me coming out of T2 and it took me about a mile to catch up with him. He probably ran this first mile at about 6:00 pace.
Eventually I caught up with him and paced his run for the remainder of the race.
I was a disappointing race for me of course but I think I made of the most of it. I was happy to see my club win and vowed to represent at the next race (Utah Half).
I definitely lost 30 seconds there...I still think pre-transition shoes are a good idea. For one, I have a very fragile and blister prone skin and the 0.2 mile run out of the water to my bike may actually do some damage to my feet. Further, I realized that with a good pair of shoes, I can actually run much faster out of the water than all the other guys surrounding me.
I just have to execute it a bit better.
I ran to the bike rack and jumped on my bike while running. Wow, just like a pro. I had done a quick session a week before to learn that skill and I think it is worth doing on a sprint tri, especially since it is not as hard as it looks.
After the swim. I had a lot of catching up to do but I was eager and confident. I had rehearsed the bike course twice a couple of days before and I knew exactly what to do.
The beginning portion of the race is a fast (40mph) downhill section.
While most competitors around me where just letting the bike drift downhill, I attacked hard, pushing on the pedals, determine to pass as many people I could.
At the end of the first mile, while riding downhill at maximum speed my rear tire exploded. I felt the rear wheel shaking and nearly coming off the bike. I controlled my bike trying to slow down without losing my balance.
Soon I came to a stop. I examined the tire and it was completely torn with a 3 inch opening. Race was over...
Some generous people took my bike on their truck and I went to T2 to watch the race.
As I arrived there, the guy leading the race was entering the transition area.
It was Rory, a member of my triathlon club. He was part of the elite wave and seem so have now a comfortable lead on the second man.
As I watched him put on his running shoes, I decided to do the run with him. I ran to the transition area put on my shoes and started the chase.
He was about 200 yards in fron of me coming out of T2 and it took me about a mile to catch up with him. He probably ran this first mile at about 6:00 pace.
Eventually I caught up with him and paced his run for the remainder of the race.
I was a disappointing race for me of course but I think I made of the most of it. I was happy to see my club win and vowed to represent at the next race (Utah Half).
