Ironman Arizona : Official Thread (Page 15)

You mean, like worried about the water temp in AZ?   Nope...not at all.   I found CdA (55ish) to be quite comfortable, so AZ should feel just fine.

I have been thinking about the water temps as I get cold pretty easily. It definately is something I am a bit concerned about.

My Sept Totals:

S: 33,200 yds

B: 420 mi

R: 114 mi

The 1st couple weeks of this month were recovery/transition after IMKY on 8-28. October is going to be huge! Logged 77 mi on the bike Sat and a 20 mi run on Sun. Time to Go Big or Go Home!

Feeling better about the nutrition and running off the bike.  Have a few nice days of indian summer this week so I am going to take a vacation day later this week and do one of my bigger training days (6.5hr bike + 2hr run) while the weather is nice. 

September Totals

Swim - 14.5 Hrs - 24.7 Miles

Bike - 23 Hrs - 414 Miles

Run - 14.75 Hrs - 100 Miles

Got the PDX marathon this weekend for my long run - looking for something right around 4:00.  Feeling pretty good right now. Really  concentrating right now on getting in BIG bike miles - I don't want to bonk again on the run like IM France - not a proud way to finish.

Looks like we are all in the same range for time and miles - only 40 days to go! Woo Hoo!

I've been dealing with some hamstring and piriformis pain on my long runs but I think I might have got it licked.  I've been seeing my chiro once a week for Graston and ART.  I've also been getting deep tissue massages weekly.  I had my first 20 mile run this morning almost pain free.  And that's after 170 miles and 7500 feet of riding over the weekend.  Now if I can just stay injury free through the remainder of this big volume week, I'll have a recovery week to heal up.

I think its a plus one deal, but I could be wrong.  I'm not sure when they go on sale, I got mine at IMSG just prior by showing my race bracelet.

Did my first 100+ mile ride last weekend.  Felt really good the whole way and with 4 miles to go I decided to pour the remaining water on my head to cool off and burn that candle to the finish!  Well, about a mile later I flatted...  It was about 95 degrees and that change was not fun. 

Since I can't run like I should be I will probably do at least 4 more centuries.  The plan is to just be conservative with my running (protect the achilles) and hammer the bike.  I probably will not do more than a 12 mile run, but I'm confident I'll get off the bike in great shape, which is probably the most important thing about the race. 

I've done a couple of centuries or 90+ mile rides now and it's amazing how the distance begins to feel easy (boring, but easy). I haven't had to do it in 95 degree weather though. That could be a little tougher.

I have a buddy at work who's doing Cozumel and can't run at all right now. He's planning on walking the entire marathon and just going all out on the bike. I have to admit, if would be kind of fun to post a really fast bike time (then just ignore the run time).  Out of curiosity (since I know you've been doing this a while), how fast do you think you'll be running off the bike to protect the achilles, etc?

Depends on how tight it is but probably no faster than a 10:00 pace.  If it starts tightening up I will probably walk it.  The problem with achilles (which I tore 2 years ago) injuries is they never feel 'right' and you always have to guess what is enough and what is too much. 

I still don't know if I'm going to go all out on the bike or take it easy.  Part of me says this is a competition and treat it as such, the other part says play it safe / slow and do nothing to jeopardize my finish. 

September totals:

Bike          47:45 h:m         781 miles

Run          11:59 h:m          81 miles

Swim        9:36 h:m           31,944 yards

* half iron on 9/11 went well.  Hit all targets.  

* fell on bike 9/27.  front wheel slipped out in wet parking lot.  chest still hurting when taking deep breaths or coughing, but can still bike/run pretty normally.  Can still swim, but have to take it easy.

* completed 1hr swim, 5 hr bike, 2 hr run at planned race (before crash).  Was able to hit all pacing targets.  big confidence booster going into October.

* lots of OW swimming in La Jolla cove.  Feeling comfortable with my bat ray, stingray,  and 7 gill shark friends.

Now that we are into our last full month of training, with the peak mileage starting to stack up, what is everyone's plan for tapering?  

I have been going back and forth with this.  Initially, I planned to stick with my training schedule and start tapering 2 weeks out. Lately I have been strongly considering tapering 3 weeks out.  I feel that the "bed has been made" and another big weekend will not add much to my fitness, but potentially bring on an unwanted minor injury. 

It is pretty exciting to talk about tapering only 2-3 weeks away!!

There are a few good shops to check out here in AZ to rent a bike.  Look up Landis Cyclery, Tri-Sports (in Tucson, but one of the more well-known retailers), and Tribal sports.

The course is relatively simple - a bit uphill on the front half, downhill on the back half of each loop.

A couple of us will be out there Sat, Oct 15 for a race simulation.  There is an OWS event up at Lake Pleasant (1 hr from Tempe Town Lake), so we can get our 4000m swim in, drive to TTL, put in 2 loops on the bike (80% effort), then a couple of loops around the lake (16mi, 80% effort).  Weather has been cooler here in AZ this last week, so it should be a good day.  Long, but good.