Ironman Chattanooga : Official Thread (Page 18)

And do it you will!

There are a lot of schools of thought around distance training, so YMMV and take this with a grain of salt. But I don't necessarily see anything wrong with that. What matters more is consistency than overall distance. Yea a 14 mile run might not seem much for marathon training, but what is your weekly mileage looking like? Yes, it is good to get those longer distances in to acclimate to the pounding your body goes through over the course of the day and to mentally prepare you to be on your feet that long. However one could say that a high intensity 60 mile ride is just as good as (if not better than) a 90 mile ride at a leisurely pace. For a large majority of competitors either method would work fine.

mileage right now is around the 20 mile mark - normally 1 long run (right now on Thursday), then 2 shorter transition runs after bike rides - tuesay (bike is about an hour, then a 3-4 mile run) and saturday (long bike, then a 3-4 mile run)

I'm also not doing a 70.3 prior (due to money/time off work etc) - so we are doing one long training day first weekend in August - there is an OWS up in DC that I am going to do with a 2.4 mile course, then an 80-100mile bike and a 6 mile run;

that, plus the OWS I did in June in Chattanooga and the Annapolis 10 miler are the only "races" I'm doing - and teh 10 miler is going to have another 7is miles either before or after it

Mileage for a run should continue to increase as time goes on. We have 10 weeks to go (8 if youre not counting a taper) so keep building that run mileage up.

Not doing a 70.3 beforehand is not a game killer at all. You have the right mindset getting in a mock-race to practice.

From what I have found out, getting your body used to running on tired/dead legs and being able to push through it is key. Yes, mileage should be high (its a freakin ironman!) but its also all relative for the individual athlete and their goals. Are you confident in your training for the goals you want to achieve? Is your head in the right place for motivation during a race (especially late in the day and you're wanting to quit? Can you get to the finish line on race day knowing that you left everything out there on the course? If you can say 'yes' to those I can't see how you would ever have a bad day

yep, coach has me on a 3 week building, 1 week recover plan - this is week 1 of build phase, long run is 14 miles I think...so I'm figuring 14, 15, 16 over the next three weeks and then drop back to 6-7 for recovery...then one more build phase before taper

Sounds similar... I'm beginning week 3 of a 3 week build and my long run Thursday is 16 miles. Long swim Friday is 4k and long ride Saturday is 120 miles. Sunday begins recovery week with a leisurely 6 mile run.

I have one more 3-week build to complete than on to specific Ironman pace workouts. Tick-toc-tick-toc.....

I was just shy of 4k yesterday on my swim - planned was 3800 but when I added up the workout it was 3900...lol! I think my other 2 swims this week are in that vicinity - brike ride on Saturday is 6.5 hours - depending on which course I use could be 80 miles (last time I used this course it was nearly 5000ft of gain over 74 miles) or could be 100 miles

I plan on heading up to Chattanooga this weekend for my second long training weekend. 13 mile run and a long swim Saturday. 90 mile bile with a 7 mile run Sunday. This time around will be a bit closer to race execution in terms of pacing and nutrition, and will hopefully prove that I am on point for where I need to be 9 weeks out.

If anyone has questions about the course or wants some details that I can gather while I'm there let me know, I will be happy to take pictures or notes.

have fun - I was down there in June - loved it! the swim was fast (although we are racing on the other side of the river for the IM), the bike kicked me (this flat-lander needs to find hills) and we about 4.5 miles on the run coure

Are doing you long swim in the river, where do you enter exit river for your swim. I am going to Chat in Aug for a week and would like to swim the river if possible, Thanks Jim

Got down last weekend and rode the course. Loved it. Surprisingly, the hills (minus the beautiful mountains in the background) are very similar to what we have here in Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri. Nothing special about the stretch heading out of town other the train tracks - saw one woman that unfortunately had crashed pretty hard and an ambulance was on the way. Like may others have said, the front half of the loop has some rollers that you can't entirely carry yourself up based on speed from the prior downhill, but I don't think anyone getting in some hill training will have too much difficulty. I've done IMFL, and honestly, I like this better I was pretty bored for 6 hours during the ride at Florida with the exception of some great aid station volunteers. There is some good scenery here and the variety of the terrain at least keeps you mentally engaged along the way. Remember when there are no climbs there are no descents either

Our problem ... was that on a flat stretch before the sharp left onto Hog Jowl, we had a crash ... I hit a bit of standing water (roads were wet from rain night before and on and off that morning) and it threw me into my brother in law and we both went down. I fortunately fell in a sliding feet first into home plate stance and managed just to bang up my elbow and a bit on my hip. My brother in law went on a barrel roll over his bike and landed pretty much on his elbow and hip and was worse off. We spent about 30 minutes getting our bearings and making sure nothing was broken and reassembled our bikes. Mine was fine minus some torn bar tape. But his rear wheel was not quite true anymore. We loosened the back break and with a bit of hitch in giddy-up we managed to bust out the remaining 45 miles. Saturday, while driving home I hopped on-line and bought the guy a new rear wheel considering I was culprit. We were lucky that was the worst of the damage.

We ate and drank local while there and look forward to some more beer from Big River Brewery. I think the IPA was my favorite. Extremely excited for this race and it was only magnified after getting a chance to spend some time in the fine city of Chattanooga.

that hog jowl turn is a doozy - i'm expected a few wipe-outs on race day - especially from ppl who may not have pre-ridden the course - because its a lot sharper than it looks

So I finished the weekend in one piece, but not in the best place mentally or physically.

My boyfriend and I (who is also racing Chatt) drove up Saturday morning. Stopped along the way at Red Top Mountain State Park for an OWS. Just an hour, but enough to get some time in practicing the needed. Later that afternoon (5:00pm) started a 14 mile run. Honestly the run went well, 8:30/miles so right on pace, and did a mock 'finish' just to see what it was like. Honestly this race is going to have an amazing finish line area, the entire last mile is practically a dead sprint downhill, its going to be a fun one. The thing that I am beginning to notice more is that the run is so deceptively hard. Not on the back half with the hills, but on the front section with the greenway. That trail is going to be boring for a lot of runners (myself included), and the concrete path is going to be brutal on the knees and joints. Not to mention its hard to maintain pace on a flat road like that without some ups and downs to vary up the stride and muscle groups.

The ride intention was for Sunday, 2 loops of the 45 for 90 total. After about 30 miles I was cooked and barely made it back to the car in one piece. My legs just were not there. I like to think that my head was in the right place, but as my body wore down so did my mental state. I think at this point I might be overtrained, but I am not sure. My legs just were....tired. I couldnt pull any power from them, maybe just a tad for a minute but it would quickly die back down.

I think I am going to take a few days off this week and reassess where I am. I have a goal of sub-11 for the day and I think its possible, so long as I dont let the difficulty of the day get inside my head and slow me down.

Always remember to listen to your body throughout this year coming up to the race. It will tell you what it needs.

That concrete path is brutal, but luckily I run it every other day so maybe I'm used to it by now. Hopefully the geese will quit shitting all over it soon.
Anyone hear anything concrete about any pending course changes? I keep hearing these soft rumors and wasn't sure if anyone had heard anything. There is nothing on IM site or facebook about it.

I've heard RUMINT about course changes to all 3 legs, but nothing official...the RD was on the facebook page for a while, until he left after the whole hotel debacle a few months ago (when ppl lost rooms because they didn't them separately to the passkey system, and the hotels thought they were passkey - total CF)...

Did a 16 mile run yesterday (longest to date) in 2:07 for a 8:16/mile average. Felt great throughout and actually had to pull the pace back some, then hit 14 miles and started to fade. I think it was mainly due to just 1 gel I took. Otherwise I feel pretty confident.

I love having those rare moments of clarity during a training block where you realize "wow, I have gotten stronger and faster. I have never really considered myself a runner before but running almost every day this year has pushed my fitness to new levels.

Onwards and upwards

I did a 16 mile run this week too, now I feel better about my training plan. Long ride so far was 90, but that was very flat so I need to step up the hill training.

I have a question for those who are riding the course. I apologize if this has been answered. I looked but didn't find it.

Can somebody who has ridden the loop give me an idea of the gradient % of these rollers?

Thx -

Hill training IMO is mostly important on figuring out the best gear combinations for certain conditions and less about conditioning the legs for the inclines.




Grade % is nothing over 10% if I am remembering correctly. The worst part is right at the turn from Cove to Hog Jowl, that was the only hill that really stuck out to me as the steepest. As far as the rollers, they are the typical % you would expect. You can use a lot of your momentum from the previous descent to get a good way up the next roller (and so on). The thing to remember is that the ride out is a net uphill, so sitting back and spinning easy up the hills is the smart way to go. Sure, they are hills, you have to work to get to the top, but they are all short and over quickly, and you shouldn't have to worry about struggling to get to the top of each one.

miamiamy, check out this http://www.strava.com/activities/95441034

Thanks everyone. I appreciate it. Here in Miami ... we have one hill so for hill training on the bike I'm doing my best to replicate it on a trainer. Having an idea of what % the grades are for what distance helps keep me honest in the training.

Here is my strava from when I went to Chatt in June - http://www.strava.com/activities/153784472

I know the feeling - I have to drive for hills which sucks!

Thanks very much.

what did you try from the portables book?