Ironman Wisconsin : Official Thread (Page 13)

I'm sure it depends on what model of trainer you have.  For me I find my KK trainer to be much harder than the road.  I hold around 22-23mph on the road and the same effort only nets me about 17mph on my KK trainer.  Plus on the road I get breaks from stopping, or going down hill whereas on the trainer it's the equivalent of riding up hill the entire time.  My legs were burning by the end of my 3 hour ride.

I would never have dreamed that I would enjoy the trainer more than the road but I have found that it has become more convenient.  Plus I figure that if I can make it through 3-4 hours on the trainer in my basement, getting out on the road for a 5-6 will be easier mentally.  Although I am ready to jump through my screen and kill Coach Troy after 3 hours on the IMWI Spinerval course ride...

I find the trainer harder.  I've definitely seen mixed reviews.  I think there are a lot of variables that come into play for each person.  Type of trainer, do they break from spinning, air pressure, tire, pressure on the tire from the trainer, etc.

I don't plan on doing any long rides on my trainer if I can avoid it.  Michigan has been plenty warm.  I'll do trainer rides on Friday mornings because it is easier than getting ready early morning to ride. 

April's Monthly totals:
S: 19500.00 Yd  - 9h 05m
B: 120.00 Mi  - 12h 45m
R: 70.52 Mi  - 12h 07m 06s
Str: 7h 20m

Everyone's talking about 3-4 hour bikes already, it's making me a little nervous, considering I'm down 4 hours from last month on the bike. I know I was a little lazy the week of Easter but 4 hours?? Geez.

So yesterday I went for my long run, I was planning on increasing my speed every 20 minutes, but after 40 minutes of running I had to stop, couldn't catch my breath then from there it went to I couldn't get IN a breath, I was literally struggling. I had to make myself concentrate on breathing out....mostly to calm down. I walked a little ways then tried running again, proceeded to pick up my pace and same thing happened.

I think the stress of the race is getting to me. For the first time I'm asking myself, 'what if I can't do this"?? I'm starting to have doubts. How does everyone else deal with these thoughts?

Wcocco,

You can do it!  Do the training and come race day, it will all fall together.  I'm on a shorter plan.  26 week plan by Gale Bernhardt.  I'm horrible on the bike.  Right now I'm only at 2 hours on the bike.  I worry here and there, but I just try to use that as fuel for my training. 

Just remember, the only thing you can control is your workouts.  Fear can be very healthy, use it!

Don't know if that helps but we're all rooting for you.

You'll be fine and there's plenty of time to get yourself ready.  If you're trying to win the race you can be worried, but I suspect that's not your goal.  

I like to picture myself running down the finish line chute when I'm out running.  It gives me chills and i've only seen it on youtube.

April was kind of Meh for me.  After some beautiful weather in March and getting out for a few early season rides, all of April was stuck inside with the exception of one mountain bike ride with hubby.

Hit most of my workouts as planned up till last thursday when I got a horrible cold (still have it).  I find I recover quicker if I don't try to workout through the cold.  Hopefully I will stop coughing up soon.  April was all about the run.  I have a half marathon this coming sunday (please body be better by then!!!) so my bike totals dropped big time and swim totals were down a bit.  My longest run in april was 26 km, so I feel I have a great base for IM training.  Half mary on sunday is my other "A" race for 2012.  I suspect that May will bring a big ramp up in bike mileage.  I expect that my coach will likely have me at around 4 hour saturday long rides by the end of the month and have me starting back with long weekend bricks.  I guess it will start feeling like I am IM training in May!

I also finished my second time through the IMWI course on the computrainer!  next week I will start time No. 3.

Need to get in the pool more!

Also, plan on riding two loops not this weekend but the next w/ a friend, if anyone is interested.

I expended too much energy early on in training worrying about not being able to do my first IM and it was a total waste of time.  All you need to do is follow your plan (you have one, right?),  really think about those key workouts before you do them, do some sort of log or write up after you finish them so you repeat the good stuff and eliminate the stupid moves, and recover (eat well, sleep well, et al).   Doing all of that made my first (and second) IM awesome.  You can do this.

life got in the way last week so I didn't add much to the first 3 weeks of the month.  Ok I also got a little lazy last week.  

Suzy,

Yes I have a plan, and a Coach...and I do trust him completely. Sometimes I stop believing in myself. I have a half marathon coming up in a few weeks that I really want to PR on, it's just lately he has me doing all these speed intervals and I hate running fast! ha ha. I will feel better when it starts to warm up a bit.

I signed up for the Racine 70.3 today. Anyone else doing this race??

Walinda

I am finally going to take the plunge and buy some aero deep dish race wheels and am on the fence about my final decision.  I am planning on going with a SRAM wheelset but cannot decide between the S60 or S80.  Not only am I looking for a good wheel setup for IronmanWisconsinbut also something that will be most appropriate for all of my other races.  I live inIndianaso I typically deal with flat courses or rollers at best so Wisconsinwill be the hilliest course I will probably ever ride.  I feel like the S80 setup would be great for most of my other races but think it might be too much forWisconsinhills.  I’ve heard these wheels take a little extra effort to spin up but roll very well once up to speed.  I typically average 20-22mph depending on the course and distance.  I’m afraid I will use a lot of unnecessary energy battling the consistent hills of the course and would be better equipped with the S60.  There is also the possibility of going with a S60/S80 front/rear setup that might be more appropriate.  Any advice or feedback on what others are using is appreciated.

Don't let the IMWI hills influence your decision on wheel depth.  You will absolutely not regret getting a deeper wheel on the back.  And depth on the front comes down to handling in wind, not hill climbing.  (Lots of old threads discussing this if you're interested in the details, both here and on ST.)

I'm in the same boat.  I'm going to order some FLO wheels on the 2nd round of orders.  I've done a lot of research and it seems to be a lot of people even recommend a disc for IMWI.  I'm still not sold on it, but I've got plenty of time to figure it out.  

wcocco -I looked at your logs and you are doing fine.  Get those negative thoughts out of your head - its way too early to even be thinking about that.  Just focus on week to week and getting quality workouts in and you will be fine.  It is very hard to compare your workouts to someone else since everyone has different goals and abilities.  If I compared my progress to someone who is gonna be trying to qualify for Kona in my AG I too would be really nervous about my progress.

I noticed you are doing Racine 70.3 - I would maybe suggest to mentally get prepared for that race and distance - have a good race and use it as a confidence builder for IMWI - and not even worry about IMWI until after that.  

Keep up the good work!

Had a decent April until last Saturday when I did an unplanned strength workout from Runner World called "The Iron Strength" workout.  It made me completely useless especially after I did my long run that evening.  I couldn't move my legs without cursing haha.  If anyone wants to give it a try here it is - http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-263-266-14177-0,00.html

Add me to that list.  IMWIx2 w/ disc and would def recommend it.  (ETA: Recommended only if you can afford it.  Aero wheels will only buy you a handful of minutes at best and, for many, might not be worth the $$.)

Anyone ever try these Aero Disc Covers from Wheelbuilder.com?  

http://www.wheelbuilder.com/store/aero-disc-covers.html

WIKY -  Heard you had ONE HE77 of a warmup race!!  Congrats on your BIG WIN at REV3!!!!  Looks like we have some good competition out there IMWI-ers!!  Be on the lookout for this guy!!

Way to go!!

Great job Rob!