Ironman Arizona : Official Thread (Page 40)

I'll take a crosswind over a headwind all day....haha

Could be a lot of things---sleep, nutrition, weather, or just an off day. I did 100 on saturday and ran 14 on sunday and my legs were definitely tired by the end. Those 30 miles in your legs the day before could definitely make a difference.

Also it is most likely just accumulated fatigue. Not sure what the weeks leading up to each work out have been like, but being in the peak of training our bodies are getting pretty worn down.

Here are my past 9 weeks of running, starting with this past week...

4:38:26   32.69 miles
4:41:50   32.38
4:13:46   29.89
4:14:41   29.64
2:10:28   15.40  (HIM recovery week)
5:03:27   26.53
3:54:20   27.23
2:41:04   19.12
3:03:04   21.53

Woo, I'm entering a recovery week!  I'll be racing Soma on Sunday and keeping my plan for total domination. 

Weekend went well.  Saturday was about 119 miles on the bike during the day and a 5 mile recovery run in the evening.  Sunday was a 2 mile swim in the morning and a 22 mile mid-day run.  That's my 3rd 20+ mile run (plus one 19 miler).  I'll do one more run over 20 then another around 18. 

Just checking in - Designated cone-picker-upper here. It has been a lousy few weeks, training wise...

Labor Day weekend, I was supposed to be the bike portion of the Austin Triathlon relay with Bar92 on Monday. Saturday, we go out for a training ride and not 15 minutes into the ride, I manage to find a pocket of gravel. Almost had it recovered when the rear wheel slipped back down the steep edge of the recently re-paved road, and I couldn't manage to get the front straightened up. This was a crash to the left side (so I balanced out the right-side crash from Galveston 2011) but I banged the right knee against the bike pretty hard, just below where they pulled the veins for my triple bypass. doc said I bruised the bone, which takes longer to heal apparently than a break or a fracture. Fortunately the only damage to the bike was that I destroyed both aero shifters. (Bar92 and my replacement team DID take 1st place, by the way!)

Thought I had the training back on track after that, but a week ago today, I woke up with a knife in my back...rhetorically. What I thought (hoped) was a muscle strain turned into a 6mm kidney stone, which was surgically removed Tuesday. So up until today, my ride has been the couch and the lounger.

So at this point, I am spray painting a wagon in IronHeart Racing colors so I can pick up the cones along the run course. I will get the swim and bike done, but DFL is within my grasp.

Bib 2723

Sorry to hear all that.  Complaining about losing my two water bottles this morning just won't fly now.  I hope you can continue to heal up.

I think I'm the mirror of that.  Feel like bike and run will get there, swim . . . hmmm.  Will be interesting.

Nice job on that swim.  That should set you up for a good day.

I'm actually afraid to see what you'll say about my running numbers...

I've been plagued by running injuries for the last 8 months and have already accepted the fact that I will not be IM run ready. I've adapted a run/walk strategy (5:1) and will get myself across that finish line one way or another. (my long run pace is between 9:30 & 9:50/mi) My longest runs so far have been 2:45:00 and I'm doing about 17 miles. I'm following a plan by Matt Fitzgerald pretty close when able and the run volumes are much lower than what's mentioned above. I have a recovery week and HIM this weekend and then one more long week capped by a 2:50:00 run which will end up being about 18 miles...Here are my last 8 weeks of running. Could I bother you for your recommendation?

3:11- 19.87 mi

1:26- 9.09 mi (rested foot)

3:38- 22.49 mi

3:03- 20.36 mi

3:50- 25.03 mi

1:39- 11.48 mi (rested foot)

3:25- 21.87 mi

2:22- 16.41 (raced)

My plan never has me going close to 30 miles in a week...

100% agree with that post.

While I do agree that frequency probably trumps volume - it's just not in the cards for many of us.  I'd love to run 5x per week but just can't devote that kind of time.  I have three runs per week.  I basically do a medium run, medium run and long run each week.  This week is an 8, 8, 16 so my long run is 50% of my weekly volume.  Is what it is.

Yea I appreciate the advice and I think my 18 mile, 2:36 run will probably be my longest.  But I too did the math right away and came up with the same thought:  I have to be putting in 60 miles/week to be able to do an 18 mile long run?  I mean, I'm kind of proud of my run volume!  Especially in light of my knee issues. 

So I'll probably be capping my long run at 2:30, add the rest into bricks and hopefully have a successful day.

I do agree however that repetition is a huge key to staying injury free.  Even if it's just a few miles.  My offseason will be dedicated to getting to that point.

BTW-  who is Barry P?

I know this has been discussed already, but I am at the point where I am wondering about doing a 70.3 last week of October.  I did it last year before doing AZ as my first IM ever.  This will be my second IM. 

Last year I did the 70.3 to be sure I had everything in good order before taking on the big day and found it was really necessary, and helpful.  The thing is, there is that recover week, week .5.  that week is meant to be the big volume training week.  ...for this reason I have contemplated not doing it. 

On the other hand, it would be a great brick under race conditions -- and well, I did spend the money.  My training has been a bit different this year and I expect to knock two hours off last year's time.  Being more consistent and closely dedicated to a training program makes it hard to deviate, but I also feel I have gotten much faster this year because I have done more races as part of my training - and so this is why I contemplate doing it.

thoughts?

For those of you that live near tempe... Are these temps normal for this time of year?

I've been checking the water temp ever few days and its still in the mid to upper 70's for tempe town lake... Just wondering if you guys think itll actually drop to low 60's in the next 5 weeks

http://www.tempe.gov/wx/townlake.aspx

last year it was in the 70s five weeks out and dropped FAST to put us at a lovely low 60s race day

as a former transition area volunteer, I am going to have to defend the no-clip rule as a very smart one.  when you go to transition, they help you out handing you your transition bag and grabbing your bike for you.  --unlike all other distances, the volunteers help you with the transition itself.  can you imagine how upset you will be if a preclipped shoe is bumped by another athlete in the morning, or a rubber band breaks, or even bumped by a volunteer.  regardless of what happened, a volunteer will end up catching the heat (and they do catch plenty of heat from some athletes).  god forbid the shoe falls off a preclipped pedal.  also, it is a safety issue that they have decided is not worth the risk v. the benefit.

the reality is, nobody can pre-clip so you don't lose time compared to anyone else, and you actually get help in transition so the no pre-clip is a small price to pay that will not affect your overall transition time.