Ironman North American Championship Mont-Tremblant : Official Thread (Page 6)

We are getting to the dog days of summer now only 12 weeks to go. My training is going very well, I've been using the Endurance Nation training plans and I've made good gains in speed on the run and strength and power on the bike. Swimming well........a little improvement there as well but I'll admit I'm not a great swimmer but I'm making some progress. I hope everyone else is doing well and making good progress with there training and I'm really looking forward to doing IMMT. I think I'm right on schedule and I think I can definitely improve on my finishing time from my last IM last year.

Edited by strikyr 2014-05-25 3:52 PM

Boy you know you are training for an ironman when a 25 mile bike ride is a recovery day... crazy to think that we still have 9 weeks of solid training to go before the taper.

I'm wondering what people are thinking about in terms of their plan for nutrition. I have ordered the gus and the bars they will have on the course so I can get used to them during my training - but I'm curious what other people planning on doing come race day. For example, every couple of hours I plan on having a bar to give my stomach something to chew on so that the gu's I plan on having every 30 minutes don't upset my stomach.

I'd love to hear other people' approaches because nutrition is a new facet of my training.

Thanks!

I think training is going well but its hard to tell. I feel faster and stronger then ever before but I am still my own worst enemy when it comes to my emotions and thinking "Am I doing enough" or "Should I be doing more". Following my plan pretty close and trusting it is all I can do for now. I guess this is just nervous energy but I am excited.

I think I need to bike a bit more as that is what scared me the most. Other then that, training is good and less then 90 days!!

Hey all - I'm feeling pretty decent about my training. Been fairly consistent over the past few months, averaging 6-8 hours per week. I plan to increase my avg weekly training to 8-12ish over the next couple of weeks and will keep plugging away to race day. Will continue to spend alot of time in the saddle - those hills at IMMT mock me, but I plan to taunt them right back after I kick their a$$!!!

Ok, but seriously, the hills at MT are on my radar screen and am trying to make sure I train for them. I rode 50 miles on Monday and tried to spend time either climbing or in aero position, and plan to do similar (if not longer) weekly rides right upto taper time.

MATT - you're doing the right thing....trust your plan! They key aspect to all your training is to arrive at the starting line in as best shape as you can be, and your training plan will get you there. Race day is simply executing your plan - not everything on race day will follow the plan so you'll have to make changes/decision on the fly, but that's all part of becoming an Ironman.

Nervous energy...I'm feeling it too!!

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Fred - Thanks for the insight. Good point about sitting up and 'stretching' - when I did IMFL a couple of years ago it was all head down and pedal. IMMT sounds very different than that race.

See ya'll soon.

If you have the "Am I doing enough" or "Should I be doing more" thoughts then your head is in the right place and you're probably doing everything that you should be doing. I agree trust the plan, do the work and get to the start healthy.

Anyone else wondering how they are going to make it through the next 8 weeks or so?

I'm mid week and just wiped out. I set my schedule as efficiently as I can to try to fit all my workouts in, but its challenging.

Monday I did a 20 mile run with about 5 miles of challenging terrain, and overall a good deal of elevation change. Felt fine. Yesterday, I did 2500 yd in the pool, with a 2000 yd main set, and a 1 hour ride with 5 x 5 min intervals at FTP, I wanted to do a 1 min RI, but my HR wasn't coming down so I extended it to 90 sec, and I was still coming up short on my targets. I was pretty beat up last night and was cramping a bit just after the bike session. Today I did a 4.5 hour ride, my goal was 220 watt average over 4 hours outside warm up and cool down doing roughly 200 watts for 20 min, 220 for 20 min, 240 for 15 min, and 260 for 5 min each hour.

I finished the bike workout a bit under goal at 215 watt average, and didn't manage to get my 30 minute planned brick run in after the ride. I just had to lie down on the carpet for awhile. (I will run a bit later)

But I am feeling pretty trashed. I have another swim, and 10 mile progression run planned for tomorrow. I just feel like I'm at that hopeless point in training where I don't see an end.

My running is pretty much going to stay where it is, somewhere in the 45-55 mpw range. The cycling is going from 7.5 hours to 10 hours per week, and I will be extending my long rides out to 6 hours by next month. Swimming I will be going from about 10k to 14-15k. (This seems reasonable right?)

I did my first 140.6 at IMLP last year using Finks competitive plan, and this year, I put together my own plan which is a bit more challenging, and now I am wondering if I bit off more than I can chew. I don't have any very lofty goals (I'm a pretty crappy swimmer), but I want to see what I'm capable of.

I wanted to post to say hello to all fellow BTers doing IMMT this year. I also needed a mental boost from others at the same point in training.

We are almost there, right??????

ImSore - wow, you're certainly putting in some serious training time, and it's easy to see how you're feeling a bit tired/trashed. (You're running 50ish miles per week?? ouch!) With 8ish weeks to go until IMMT race day, be mindful that you don't want to peak too early or run yourself into the ground for no good reason. And you also want to arrive in MT with no injuries, and pushing yourself so hard over a number of weeks could cause an injury. Since you're feeling "trashed", it sounds as if you might be going too hard. I would ease up some...but that's just me. Remember, this is supposed to be fun. BTW, what's your expected finish time?

I would also second that maybe you are going a little too much in your training. 40-50mpw running during IM training is a lot. Seems like you are putting in some serious volume weekly which could be why you are so thrashed.

It looks like you already are an IM finisher and did Finks plan last year and it worked so why not dial it back a bit to what you did last year?? I am doing his same plan now and I could not image having the time to do more.

Just out of curiosity- does anyone know if they will keep the swim waves the same every year or do they tend to change them up? Not like it matters when I go off but I am just curious because last year, my swim wave was 3rd but at the 70.3 event it was 3rd from last.

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I just had a rough day yesterday. I think it was a nutrition issue on the bike, I really didn't track my calories. I ate 2 Nutragrain bars, and got some calories from Gatorade. I'm not usually so wiped out after a ride. I've very consistently gotten in 3.5 to 4 hour rides over the last 2 months every week. I also ran 4 miles comfortably later in the day, so I'll call it a fluke and keep on truckin'.

I did cut my run short today, mainly from time constraints, but got in 8 miles and felt good, and also got another good swim session in this morning.

I have a pretty good run base. I got up to 75 mpw last fall, and actually haven't missed a day of running since Oct. 2012. I've been at 40-50 mpw all year, and have dropped the intensity a bit with the increased swim/bike volume. For example, my weekly tempo run is now a progression run and only end up running 2-3 miles at tempo pace, where I would usually get in about 8 miles at tempo pace. Also, I've dropped interval training from my running. Its the increasing bike training that I've been doing that is challenging.

I'm training with power this year, and I've become acquainted with how hard I can actually go on the bike and finish a workout. I wouldn't call it "fun" but I've gotten a lot faster. I raced a HIM in May of this year and last year and went from 20 mph to 23 mph average on the same course.

I don't want to jinx myself, but I probably feel better health wise then I did at the same time last year. I'm a bit worn out, but nothing *hurts*. Not counting this week I have 3 hard weeks, one week slightly less hard, then 3 hard weeks, then taper. The last 3 weeks I plan on 3 x 90 - 100 mile rides at similar elevation gain to the IMMT course. That should really help me assess my bike fitness. Hopefully I'll get through it, have a good taper, and it will set me up with a nice peak.

My first goal is sub-11, but I am hoping for around 10:30. I swam 1:13 at Lake Placid last year, and am hoping for at least a similar split, somewhere in the 1:10 to 1:15 range. The bike is a bit of a question mark, but I have my fingers crossed that I can be in shape to do about a 5:30 comfortably and still run. T1 and T2 hopefully I can swing 10 minutes??? I ran the marathon in 4:05 at Placid last year, at that time, my "all day" pace was somewhere around 8:30s, now I am running most of my miles for my long runs in the 7:40s to 7:50s range comfortably, so I am hoping that translates to a better marathon.

Other than that, I am getting close to race weight. I was at 167 this morning, and that's about 8 pounds less than about 5 weeks ago. My magic number is 163, I'd be happy with that, 4 pounds more should be very doable. I was thinking of adjusting my bike fit a bit, but I might just leave well enough alone for now. I can comfortably stay in position for my long rides.

I feel like I need the heavy volume to have a shot of hitting my goals. I want to "walk the line," and train as hard as I can, but be able to keep training hard, if that makes sense. Right now I think it's more a mental game right now I think of just getting through these next weeks.

I'll try and heed good advice and common sense. If I really start to run down I'll back off (but just a bit!).

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For IM vets and people who have done IMMT before I have a quick question for you all.

What do you typically do the days before the race??

I will be arriving on Tuesday and leaving Monday so I was curious what you all suggest I do scouting and training wise. I know I plan to get 1-2 practice swims in but how far should I go?

I plan on driving the bike course but I would like to get a small (easy pace) bike ride in before race day. Where should I do this? Montee Ryan or the hard stretch up to the top of the Chemin Duplessis? I would like to test myself on the big hills before hand so I know what to expect come race day.

Any advice?

I still consider myself an IM beginner with only one under my belt, but I can give you my 2 cents based on that one.

Training wise, I didn't do much. I ran daily, but just a few miles, 2 days before I did a 2 or 3 mile run with some strides and a 30 minute or so ride just as a gear check, and a nice easy 2 miles on the day before. I also swam one loop of the swim course 2 or 3 days before, I don't remember exactly.

I did drive the bike course, but I didn't want to really exert myself with an actual ride. If I recall, I got there on Thursday for Sundays race, the last few days I really wanted to rest up as much as possible. In training, I use map my ride to come up with a training course near home with similar climbs (as close as possible length/grade), so I don't feel like I need to "test myself."

Other than that I just hung out in town trying really hard not to eat everything I wanted. I did go to the brewery before the race, but I was very responsible. I only had 1 beer. I did get back after the race though . My wife loved having crepes with strawberries, Nutella and whipped cream for breakfast, and what was I supposed to do, just sit there and watch her eat??

The day before the race I really tried to take it easy though, and I did mostly. I think I played a game of mini golf with my wife, and that was about it. I also have a "day before race" diet that I've been working on for awhile, and had to be at the hotel for all meals since I brought the food from home.

My advice would be just to enjoy the atmosphere and know that you have all your training done and be ready to reap the rewards come race day. Don't do anything too strenuous, don't stress out about anything, just have fun!

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