Three Weeks to Kona - WEEK ONE

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Definitely glad this weekend is out of the way as 145 miles of cycling and 27 miles of running in two days is a fair amount.

Ironman Kona happens on October 16th, 2004. Brian Shea of www.personalbestnutrition.com  and a member of BT.com will be one of the 2,000 competitors world-wide competing for the $5,000-$100,000 cash prize. He will be doing a 2.4mile ocean swim, a 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run (marathon length). Brian will have 17 hours to finish with a maximum time of 2:20 on the swim, and 10:30 combined swim and bike times. More Ironman news at www.ironmanlive.com.

Brian is allowing us to post his final three weeks of training leading up to Kona. This is a great peek into those final weeks on the tolls of training and virtues of nutrition. On behalf of all members of BT.com - good luck Brian!
 

Saturday 9/25/04 - 21 Days to Kona

 

Pre-workout Nutrition

 


Breakfast: Consisted of (1) Vanilla Ultramet blended w/ 16oz Pineapple Juice and a frozen banana for breakfast. Also with breakfast I consumed (2) Multivitamins, (2) Antioxidants, (3) Optygen, (2) Endurox Capsules and (6) Muscle Nitro. Also of note, approx 4 hours before workout (about 3AM), I took (4) Cortistat PS (these are intended to take 2-4 hours before your workout - I leave them next to my bed and take them w/ 16oz of water when I wake in the night).  
 

Scheduled Workout:

 

 

Bike: 8 hours (140 - 150 miles)
Run: 4 miles (transition run right off the bike)

 

Notes:
Bike: Target for bike workout is to stay primarily in zone 1-2 heart rates (1/2 to IMPace) and increase intensity as ride progresses. Goal is to really push final 2-3 hours staying at or slightly above IMPace.

Run: Target for run is to stay at/near IMPace (for 1st 1/2 marathon - 6:50-7 min/mile) without exceeding top of zone 2 heart rate (157 BPM).

 

Workout Log

 

 

Bike:
Time: 7:50
Distance: 142 miles
Avg Speed: 18mph
Avg HR: 129

Ride went very well. Weather was near perfect with moderate winds and temps capping out about 75F. I consciously kept effort conservative for 1st 5 hours and then began to make a concerted effort on uphills and maintained IMPace/HR on flats. For the final 90 minutes I pushed climbs to 1/2 IMPace/HR and focused on holding steady effort/pace.

Bike Nutrition:
Started ride with (2) bottles of 'Iron-Cocktail' with each bottle containing (2) scoops Tangy Orange Cytomax, (2) scoops Orange Smoothie Metabolol Endurance and (2) scoops Carbo-Pro. I took sips off each bottle every 15 - 20 minutes and chased each sip with 8oz (+/-) of water. I also consumed roughly (1) serving of Carb-BOOM! every 90 minutes. At the 4 hour mark I circled back to my home and picked up another (2) bottles of 'Iron-Cocktail' and finished off the final (2) bottles through the balance of the ride.

Run:
Time: 28:20
Distance: 4 miles
Avg Pace: 7:05
Avg HR: 155

The run off the bike, was 'fair', not great. My heart rate was relatively high for my pace, but I believe I may have been slightly dehydrated due to the 8 hours in the saddle. Splits were as follows (avg HR/MAX HR)

Mile 1 - 6:47 (146/155)
Mile 2 - 6:54 (155/159)
Mile 3 - 7:11 (157/159)
Mile 4 - 7:26 (159/162)

After 2 miles I opted to back off on the pace despite it being much slower than my target. My heart rate was starting to elevate above zone 2, which I did not want to do, so I slowed for the final 1.5 miles.

 

Post-workout

 

 

Immediately after walking through the door I consumed (2) servings of Endurox R4 (560 calories) with 5 grams of Power Glutamine and (2) Antioxidants before stretching. After my stretch and shower I had a solid meal of about 1000 calories.
 

Misc Recap

 

 

This week (Mon - Sun) was scheduled to be my highest volume week leading into Kona, but I was forced to make some adjustments due to a moderate chest/head cold which I came down with on Monday. After discussion with some other coaches/athletes, I made the decision to cut my Mon - Fri volume by 50% and keep all workouts in zone 1. The goal was to be 100% for this weekend's 11.5 hours of training. Despite feeling like I was taking it 'too easy', looking back I know I made the right decision as I felt 10x better today than I did on Monday. I still had some slight congestion, but my strength was back to 100%.

 


 

Sunday 9/26/04 - 20 Days to Kona

 

 

Pre-workout Nutrition

 

 

Breakfast: Consisted of (1) English Muffin with butter and Jelly, (1)  Complete Whey Protein Shake blended w/ 16oz of skim milk. Also with breakfast I consumed (2) Multivitamins, (2) Antioxidants, (3) Optygen, (2) Endurox Capsules and (6) Muscle Nitro. Also of note, approx 4 hours before workout (about 4AM), I took (4) Cortistat PS (these are intended to take 2-4 hours before your workout - I leave them next to my bed and take them w/ 16oz of water when I wake in the night).  
 

Scheduled Workout:

 

 

Run: 23 miles over hills w/ 3 miles at IMPace towards the end (primarily zone 1 effort with 3 miles on the track from miles 19-22)

Notes:


Run: Target for run is to stay below the top of zone 1 (145 BPM) over a very hilly course. Regardless of uphills or downhills, HR never breaks 145. At this HR, I should be near IMPace (+/- 15sec).
 

Workout Log

 

 

Run:
Time: 2:52
Distance: 23 miles
Avg Pace: 7:28 min/mile
Avg/MAX HR: 142/158

Run went extremely well, temperature was in the low 70's, but humid. The workout started at 7:15AM (roughly 16 hours after yesterday's 8.5 hour brick) and although there was some fatigue in my legs, my HR settled into the low 140's and 7:30 miles felt very easy. I maintained my HR between 140 - 145 over a looped 5.5 mile course (so I could get some calories every 40 minutes) and did not have any drop-off in pace or HR drift through 2:20 (19 miles). At the 19 mile mark I ran to a nearby track to complete 3 miles at IMPace so I could closely monitor my pace every 400m to be sure I was exactly on pace. The 3 miles proceeded as follows (avg HR/MAX HR):

Mile 20 - 7:08 (149/152)
Mile 21 - 7:09 (153/155)
Mile 22 - 7:04 (156/158)

I was very pleased with these splits and correlating HR as the pace felt comfortable and I was able to complete them staying below the top of zone 2 HR's.

The final mile was a very easy cool down at around an 8:30 pace.

Run Nutrition:
Every 30 - 40 minutes I circled back into the park to take (1) packet of Carb-BOOM! followed w/ 8-12oz of water. For the entire run I consumed (4) packets (about 450 calories).  
 

Post-workout

 

 

Immediately after finishing the run I had a bottle of Endurox R4 with about (2) servings mixed with an additional 5 grams of Power Glutamine. I mixed the powder w/ water from a fountain (I prefer not to pre-mix the R4) and consumed this with (2) Antioxidants before stretching.  

 

Misc Recap

 

 

Definitely glad this weekend is out of the way as 145 miles of cycling and 27 miles of running in (2) days is a fair amount. From here this following week will be moderate with the longest workout being a 5.5 hour brick next weekend (which will seem like a vacation after yesterday). The goal from here is to maintain the level of fitness, not get injured or sick and stay smart (probably the toughest part of all!).

 

 

Monday 9/27/04 - 19 Days to Kona

 

Pre-workout Nutrition

 

 

Breakfast: Consisted of (1) English Muffin with butter and Jelly, (1)  Complete Whey Protein Shake blended w/ 16oz of skim milk. Also with breakfast I consumed (2) Multivitamins, (2) Antioxidants, (3) Optygen, (2) Endurox Capsules and (6) Muscle Nitro.  
 

Scheduled Workout:

 

 

Swim (4300 meters):
500 warm-up
300 drill
2 x 500 (at IMPace - 1:28 /100m) w/ 30" recovery
1 x 100 pull (easy)
2 x 400 (at IMPace - 1:28 /100m) w/ 30" recovery
1 x 100 pull (easy)
2 x 300 (at IMPace - 1:28 /100m) w/ 30" recovery
1 x 100 pull (easy)
2 x 200 (at IMPace - 1:28 /100m) w/ 30" recovery
1 x 100 pull (easy)
2 x 200 (at IMPace - 1:28 /100m) w/ 15" recovery
1 x 100 cool down

Weights (2 sets each):
Upper Body after swim consisting of stretch cords (swim stroke), arm curls, abdominal crunches and low back extension

Bike: 20 miles easy recovery (all zone 1, cadence over 90RPM's)

Notes:
Target for run is to stay below the top of zone 1 (145 BPM) over a very hilly course. Regardless of uphills or downhills, HR never breaks 145. At this HR, I should be near IMPace (+/- 15sec).

 

Workout Log

 

 

Swim: 
Time: 1:20
Distance: 4300 meters

Swim went very well and hitting 1:28/:29 pace per 100m felt good. I will continue to wear drag suit until race day as I find my stroke count will drop about 1-1.5 strokes per length without the suit on.

Bike:
Time: 1:10
Distance: 20 miles
Avg Speed: 17.1mph
Avg/MAX HR: 114/134

Bike:  Ride went well, considering how big the weekend was the fatigue in my legs was minimal. I kept spinning as a focus and maintained 90+ RPM's for duration of ride. Consumed 200 calories of Accelerade and another 16oz of water during ride.
 

Post-workout

 

 

Swim:  Immediately after finishing the morning swim I had a 1/2 bottle of Endurox R4 with 280 calories mixed with an additional 5 grams of Power Glutamine. I mixed the powder w/ water from a fountain (I prefer not to pre-mix the R4) and consumed this with (1) Antioxidants. I consumed the other 1/2 as soon as I was done lifting.
 
Bike:  Immediately after finishing the ride  consumed (1) serving of Endurox R4 with an additional 5 grams of Power Glutamine before stretching. I then stretched, showered and had a 750 (+/-) calorie dinner.  

 

Misc Recap

 

 

Good easy recovery day, felt fairly sharp after this weekend's high volume. My swimming still needs a little work over the next few weeks, but that is what I usually work in during the final month as the cycling and running volume decreases. The fatigue from swimming is generally less than that of cycling or running, so the required amount of taper leading into the event is a couple days vs a couple weeks.

 


 

Tuesday 9/28/04 - 18 Days to Kona

 

 

Pre-workout Nutrition

 

 

Breakfast: Consisted of (1) English Muffin with butter and Jelly, (1)  Complete Whey Protein Shake blended w/ 16oz of skim milk. Also with breakfast I consumed (2) Multivitamins, (2) Antioxidants, (3) Optygen, (2) Endurox Capsules and (6) Muscle Nitro. Approx 4 hours before workout (about 4AM), I took (4) Cortistat PS (these are intended to take 2-4 hours before your workout - I leave them next to my bed and take them w/ 16oz of water when I wake in the night).  
 

Scheduled Workout:

 

 

Bike (AM): 2+ hours (40 Miles +/-) over a hilly course, HR not to exceed top of zone 2. Goal is the final 40 minutes at IMPace/HR.

Run (PM): 55 minutes over hilly course, HR not to exceed top of zone 1

Notes:
Run: Due to work constraints, was unable to complete run. Workout will be rescheduled for Wednesday as this will not have a negative impact on the balance of the week.

 

Workout Log

 

 

Bike:
Time: 2:14
Distance: 40 miles
Avg Pace: 17.9mph
Avg/MAX HR: 124/149

Weather was a factor today as the remnants of Hurricane Jeanne came through NJ. As I couldn't bring myself to spend 2+ hours on the Computrainer, I opted to ride outside in the rain/wind. Legs felt fairly good (not 100%), but solid as there were a significant # of climbs through the 1st 90 minutes. After the final big climb, it was primarily flat for the return and I aimed to stay aero as much as possible and maintained my HR at 140 (+/- 5BPM).

Bike Nutrition:
300 calories of ) Accelerade in bottle (1) which I sipped every 10-15 minutes. Bottle (2) contained plain water.
 

Post-workout

 

 

Immediately after finishing the ride I consumed (1) serving of Endurox R4 mixed with an additional 5 grams of Power Glutamine. With the R4 I took (2) Antioxidants before stretching.  
 

Misc Recap

 

 

Based on the large amount of volume from Saturday/Sunday, I was pleased with how my legs felt as today's ride had a significant amount of climbing. This week still has (2) 4+ hour workouts scheduled, before the 'real' taper begins next week.
 


 

Wednesday 9/29/04 - 17 Days to Kona

 

Pre-workout Nutrition

 

 

Ran in the afternoon after flight to Rochester, NY and meetings. Consumed 200 calories of Cytomax prior to run.

 

Scheduled Workout:

 

 

Run: 55 minutes over hilly course, HR not to exceed top of zone 1

 

Workout Log

 

 

Run:
Time: :34
Distance: 4.5 miles
Avg Pace: 7:35 /mile
Avg/MAX HR: 135/142

 

Misc Recap

 

 

Due to time/travel constraints, was unable to complete run at specified distance. I did what I could and ended up with about 4.5 miles in 34 minutes. Legs were stiff and spark not really there, which was not unusual for a travel day (usually have low quality workouts on these days - especially when accompanied w/ extended sitting). Looking forward to the AM swim tomorrow with the group in Rochester.

 

 

Thursday 9/30/04 - 16 Days to Kona

 

Pre-workout Nutrition

 

 

Consumed 200 calories of Accelerade at 5AM prior to swim. With the Accelerade I had (2) Multivitamins, (2) Antioxidants, (3) Optygen, (2) Endurox Capsules and (6) Muscle Nitro.

 

Scheduled Workout:

 

 

Swim (AM): 75 minute Master's Swim
Run (PM): 1:20 over hilly course, HR not to exceed top of zone 1
 

Workout Log

 

 

Swim:
Time: 75 minutes
Distance: 3300 yards

Run:
Time: 1:01
Distance: 8 miles
Pace: 7:40
Avg/MAX HR: 134/146

 

Misc Recap

 

 

Had a solid swim this morning with the Master's group at the MCC in Rochester, NY. I kept everything primarily aerobic and felt comfortable w/ the main set (8x100), coming in on 1:10-:12. Endurance felt good as I was still fresh after 3K+.

The afternoon run felt better as run progressed, but for whatever reason, still didn't feel great. There was no soreness, just felt a little out of synch. The run did start to feel better after about 5 miles and HR was on the normal side. Looking fwd to getting home on Friday and getting a solid 8hrs of sleep tonight as I think the 5-6hrs /night I've been getting is not doing anything for 'freshness'. Gordo Byrn (who I respect highly) once told me if you're not getting enough sleep, throw everything else you're doing out the window. Between now and 10/16 I'm really going to try and follow that advice and adjust my schedule to get 8hrs /night.
 

 

Friday 10/1/04 - 15 Days to Kona

 

Scheduled Workout:

 

 

Bike: 3hrs steady over hilly course, progressive intervals finishing w/ 40min effort at 1/2 - IMPace
Run (off bike): 40 minutes HR not to exceed top of zone 1 over hills

 

Workout Log

 

 

Bike:
Time: 2:56
Distance: 54 miles
Pace: 18.4mph
Avg/MAX HR: 122/151

Run (off the bike):
Time: 37:10
Distance: 5 miles
Pace: 7:26 /mile
Avg/MAX HR: 142/148

Splits (Avg HR/MAX HR)
Mile 1: 7:14 (142/146)
Mile 2: 7:29 (144/148)
Mile 3: 7:11 (144/146)
Mile 4: 7:27 (142/145)
Mile 5: 7:48 (144/147)
 




 

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date: October 3, 2004