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2005-01-07 11:43 AM

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Subject: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go

OK, the clock on my computer is showing 91 days and some change until IMAZ.  What that tells me is that it's time to get really serious about preparation and such.  I thought I would give you guys an update on how my training has been going, where I am and where I hope I am going.  Tom, and anyone else doing IMAZ, please add your personal updates as well!

From an overall perspective, I am in the first week of the third-to-last four week training cycle.  The previous weeks have maintained a steady pace, but beginning this week, the volume begins to pick up.  I have been doing 90-minute long runs and ~2 hour long rides for the past 12 weeks.  I have been able to execute the plan relatively well, especially considering the time lost to the holidays and such.  I do not have any niggling injuries.  I had some fatigue early in the plan, but for the last several weeks its been nothing out of the ordinary.  All in all, I would say that I am in great shape right now with respect to the preparation.  The trick is that it is my first time down these tracks, so it's gonna be really hard to know exactly how ready I am and to know what to expect on race day.

Swim:  This morning I did a 2700 meter swim as 9X(100, 200).  I fought a little bit of self-doubt early on, but that is nothing out of the ordinary for my long swim sets.  Including warm up and cool down, I tallied 3300 meters, and that is the longest single swim session of my life.  My plan is to add 300 meters one week, then the next do the distance continuously.  That means next week I'll do 3000, probably as 15X200, then the following week I'll do a 3000 meter swim.  That means that in the final hard week of the plan, I'll do a 4200 meter long swim.  I am focusing on ease and flow, not speed at this time.  When I am fresh and focused, I can do the entire set in 17 strokes per length, and I hope I can roughly translate that to Tempe Town Lake.  Also in the future is a open water swim practice in my yet-to-be-obtained wetsuit.  I'm not worried about the swim.  I am only worried about going to hard in the swim.

Bike:  Cycling has played a smaller role in the plan to date.  Previous weeks featured two rides and two weights sessions, but this week it becomes three rides (plus the occassional brick) and one weights session.  When I do ride, I have felt great.  This weekend, I am going to do a 2:30 ride, which should take me across about 47 miles on the countryside.  I have three chief concerns with regard to the bike.  1)  Pacing.  I know I can complete my long rides at about 19 MPH or so.  But I have no idea what pace to try to achieve in Arizona.  We don't have any hills close to where I live, so riding in the hills is a relatively new thing for me.  My thinking is that I should try to do my long rides at a pace slightly faster than my IM Goal Pace.  Any thoughts on this from IM Vets out there?  2)  Fueling.  I am a pretty big dude.  6-5, 201#, which makes me a Clydesdale, but just barely.  Consequently, I have to take in a lot of fuel because I burn a lot of fuel, to paraphrase Patrick Ewing.  How much is enough, and how much is too much.  Hopefully, I can experiment and find out over the next three months.  3)  Hills, related to the first concern.  I need to be able to get enough practice rides in on the hills to make myself familiar with my capabilities as a climber.  That's gonna take time out of my weekends.  Finally, the plan will take me to a 6 hour ride in the last hard week. 

Run:  I am a runnner.  I love to run.  I am not sure I am going to love the marathon in Arizona, though.  I have done several 90 minute runs, and the fastest paced of these totalled nearly 12 miles.  I have no doubt that my pace in the Ironman will be slower than my pace on my long runs.  This week, I am either going to do a 1:45 run, or a 1:00/1:00 brick.  The Houston Marathon is next weekend, and if I sign up to do the half, I'll do that run next weekend.  If not, I'll stick to the plan and run 1:45 this week.  The plan calls for a 3:00 run.  That'll take me a long ways, so I might cap my run at 2:30 or so.

There you have it.  91 days, 19 hours, 20 minutes, tick, tick, tick...



2005-01-07 12:00 PM
in reply to: #100460

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go
Wow. I'm excited for you!

Keep on truckin'

2005-01-07 12:57 PM
in reply to: #100460

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go
Hey Phil,
Good to see you still around. Your training looks awesome. The race is coming too soon. I am feeling stronger and stronger as time goes on and minus any injuries and I am confident I can finish. I am in the last week of my double build plan. I think next week I start from zero or near zero but add distance.

Swim: Early on I swam 4200 yards straight (I think) so I know I can finish the distance. I have been swimming around 2500-3700 every swim, I haven't decided if I will get my swims too much over 3500 yards for the rest of my training. I do have a few concerns.
1) swimming with a wetsuit. The problem is chafing (sp?), I have had a few pretty good burns from my wetsuit when it wasn't velcroed correctly and I can't imagine swimming for 1+ hours while my suit is burning my neck.
2) Daydreaming. For me the best part of swimming is I get a chance to clear my head and relax, which doesn't help my swim times too much. Hopefully the 1 hour in-water fight will help with my focus

Bike: I feel good on the bike. I know that the course has less hills than where I ride, but I still need to think about pacing and nutrition. I am worried because I haven't had any century rides yet. I thought I was going to get close but every time it ends up being short, my longest ride is 70 miles. I wouldn't mind having 4 or 5 centuries done in the next 13 weeks. I have had a 4 hour/8 mile brick and it felt good, so I think my nutrition is working out for me. I might try and experiment with another food source because of the taste of my current drink. (I don't think I could take it for more than a few hours)

Run: I have had a 16 mile run and a few 14 milers. Even though I am slow I feel good about the run, being a non-runner. I am not worried about my pacing in that I feel I will blow up on the bike or the run. I have no problem moving slow and going long, but what worries me is that my body can't handle moving for 15+ hours. I often wonder which is harder, going fast and not being able to keep the pace or going slow and not being able to handle the pounding. For me since I am not fast and I won't become a sub 4 hour marathoner in the next 13 weeks, I guess I have no choice but deal with the slow pounding runs.

For me the big test will be the weekend of the 21st when I head out to Tempe. I am doing 2 loops of the bike course plus a 1 hour run on Saturday and 13 miles of the run course on Sunday. That will really tell me where I am.

I am glad you started this thread I wanted to know where you and others are in their training and I love reading about others training experiences. I am bummed that more IM people aren't posting about their training, so anybody else please chime in...I think the IM moo people should be starting soon if they haven't already started.
Take care
Tom
2005-01-07 2:14 PM
in reply to: #100504

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go
I'm Sorry, IM Moo is in Sept. No wonder Steve and his buddies aren't training yet. How about Dragoman and Charles???
2005-01-07 4:38 PM
in reply to: #100504

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go

madcow - 2005-01-07 10:57 AM

For me the big test will be the weekend of the 21st when I head out to Tempe. I am doing 2 loops of the bike course plus a 1 hour run on Saturday and 13 miles of the run course on Sunday. That will really tell me where I am.

Take care Tom

The bike course is only two loops in total.  You're doing 112 miles?

2005-01-07 4:43 PM
in reply to: #100652

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go
Yeah, We are riding hard for the first loop then taking it easy for the second.


2005-01-07 4:52 PM
in reply to: #100654

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go

Zowie.  I'm doing less than 50 tomorrow...  In two weeks, I'll do about a 65-70 mile ride. 

Way to go, Tom.  Maybe I'll see you on the run in Tempe, because I won't catch anyone in the swim and you're gonna be way ahead of me on the bike.  Especially with that fast new bike of yours.

2005-01-07 6:23 PM
in reply to: #100658

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go
Yeah right,
I have seen your race times. I figure you will be in the hotel taking a shower by the time I hit the 13 mile mark on the run
2005-01-07 8:40 PM
in reply to: #100460

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go

Nice Post Phil.

I'm just wondering how many 90 mins runs and how many 2hr rides have you done so far in your buildup?

It seems to be that going from 2hr to 6 hrs on the bike in 13 weeks seems to be ALITTLE rush in my opinion. Is there a reason for this?

Your run pace is very good and I'm pretty sure the run leg will be no problem for you.

Great post, looking to hearing your weekly progress!

2005-01-07 9:00 PM
in reply to: #100746

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go
Hey Charles were are looking forward to your posts!!!
2005-01-07 9:02 PM
in reply to: #100750

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go

Hahahaa......Tom...you're quite a slave driver. 

I'll do it soon....promise....problem is I don't know how to start! ahahhaa...



2005-01-08 10:58 PM
in reply to: #100460

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go
Great job Phil!

It looks like you'll have a magnificent race.

I've been slacking off these last two weeks (vacationing), though I managed to put in a few long mountain bike rides. "Serious" IM training resumes tomorrow. Also, my ITBS had started to act up again; fortunately, it has healed and recovered during these recent weeks of very little running.

I will resume my training at week 8 (mostly recovery and aerobic time-trials workouts) of Bernhardt's 26-week plan (which I believe is the same you are following) and see how the knee reacts. That is really my greatest concern.

Please continue to keep us posted.

Félix
2005-01-08 11:07 PM
in reply to: #101004

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go
Felix,
Even though you were on vacation, it looks like you got some pretty serious workouts in.
Keep us posted on your workouts and recovery
Take care
Tom
2005-01-10 10:33 AM
in reply to: #100460

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go

Good weekend.  I rode 45.7 miles in 2:30 on Saturday morning.  It was a little cold to start, so I was wearing windbreaker, skullcap, booties, and gloves to keep me kinda warm.  i am convinced that the windbreaker deducts about 1 MPH.  Immediately afterwards, I ran two miles.  First mile out was in 6:56!  GASP!  That is way too fast!  I slowed down and ran the mile back in about 8:00, which is more in line with expectations.  Bottom line is that I have to work on pace perception, especially at the beginning of the run.  While it might be totally sweet, I am not going to run the marathon in 3:03 (7:00 pace).  At least not on 9-Apr.  My plan is more along the lines of "start out at 9:00 pace, and see how you feel after 10 miles or so..."

Sunday afternoon long run was 13 miles in 1:45.  Not much adventure here, except that I started out with a 7:30 mile.  AGAIN?  Eased off the gas a little bit, and my average pace hit about 8:20, until I closed with a 7:15.  Felt great the whole time.  Did I mention that I did this run with only my running shorts and no shirt?  South Texas weather is pretty silly in January, but I could use more days like that.

Charles - That's my plan and I am sticking to it.  I have done probably 10 or more 2 hour + rides in the last several months, as well as a similar amount of 90 minute runs.  Also, I did a four hour ride and a 2:15 run back in August, so it's not like I am going somewhere I have never been before.

Tom - Yeah, but I don't have a shiny new fast bike. 

2005-01-10 11:29 PM
in reply to: #101371

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go

Charles - That's my plan and I am sticking to it.  I have done probably 10 or more 2 hour + rides in the last several months, as well as a similar amount of 90 minute runs.  Also, I did a four hour ride and a 2:15 run back in August, so it's not like I am going somewhere I have never been before.

Very nice.  You definately have a strong base to build off.  And 45.7 miles in 2:30?? With a windbreaker!??! AND THEN RUNNING 7 min miles?!?! You're a machine.  I'm really looking forward to your weekly buildup. 

2005-01-11 10:28 AM
in reply to: #101783

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go
charles81 - 2005-01-10 9:29 PM

Very nice.  You definately have a strong base to build off.  And 45.7 miles in 2:30?? With a windbreaker!??! AND THEN RUNNING 7 min miles?!?! You're a machine.  I'm really looking forward to your weekly buildup. 

That's *ONE* 7-minute mile.



2005-01-11 12:31 PM
in reply to: #101889

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go
Tiger Phil - 2005-01-11 10:28 AM
charles81 - 2005-01-10 9:29 PM

Very nice.  You definately have a strong base to build off.  And 45.7 miles in 2:30?? With a windbreaker!??! AND THEN RUNNING 7 min miles?!?! You're a machine.  I'm really looking forward to your weekly buildup. 

That's *ONE* 7-minute mile.

Hahaha.....ONE,  TWO,  THREE,  FIVE......what difference does it make!??!?

The main point is you managed to run off the bike FAST! and thats good.  BEsides,  you decided to slow down because you THINK YOU SHOULD....not because you NEEDED to...

2005-01-20 9:45 AM
in reply to: #100460

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go
This will not throw off your training, but did you see that the swim course has changed. It is now a one loop swim.
---Dan
2005-01-20 10:01 AM
in reply to: #106118

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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go
Now I know I won't get lapped on the swim!
2005-01-20 10:21 AM
in reply to: #106124

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Elite
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Subject: RE: IMAZ 13+ Weeks to go
I thought I heard it was one loop, but I wasn't sure they were talking about AZ.
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