Shut It Down
Less then two weeks out and my stomach is acting up...not a good sign. Yesterday, Steven, Linnea, and I met at Hagg for a S/B/R workout (1hr open water swim / 4.5hr bike / 30 min run). My stomach was acting up pretty much from the start of the bike. Strange because I didn't change my nutrition protocol and the swim was pretty ez on the effort scale. I did swallow a bit of water during the start of the swim and ate a clif bar before the start of the bike but didn't think the timing (immediately following the swim) was an issue since I didn't go hard in the water and I also drank plenty of water to help digest the bar. By the time I hit the run the fluid in me belly was sloshin' around...major stressor for me. If it was race day and I was going 26.2, it wouldn't have been pretty. Hmmmm...not sure what the issue is but I think I will scale back the caloric mix of my hourly bottles...currently 350 calories with 75g carbohydrate which my body tolerated very well during all of my training in the last couple of months. At my race weight of 142-145lbs, probably a bit too high. I'm definitely scaling it back to ~250 cal / hour with approx 50g carbs in one bottle and will supplement with additional H20. This episode gave me flashbacks of my dehydrated death march on the run last year at IMC...i do NOT want to repeat that.
Today, had the exact opposite experience. Met a couple people from Nike and one guy from Intel doing IMC at Hagg Lake for another open water swim. Today went a bit longer on the swim (one hour exactly...probably around 2 miles +) followed by a solid run. Since I did a solid swim yesterday, I spent alot of time following feet today during the swim with several race pace bursts- felt good. Starting to feel "comfortable" in the wetsuit which is a plus going into the race this year. I followed up the swim with a 10.6 mile run around HILLY Hagg Lake in 1:19 for a 7:27 pace. That will be my last longish run before IMC...the feet didn't protest too much either. I needed a solid workout after the confidence-crushing workout yesterday!
That is pretty much it for the longer stuff...I will definitely scale back the duration of all workouts in the next two weeks...shut it down as they say. The key workouts this coming week will be 2.5hr brick on Tues / 3hr bike Sat / I will also try to get in 2 open water swims next weekend. The rest of the workouts will be light.
Summary of last two weeks
IMC Training Week 4
This was a recovery week and an opportunity to get rid of all fatigue prior to the 3 week peak / taper. I had two days completely off but I also did a 20 mile run and a solid 3.75 bike during this "recovery" week so it all probably balances out.
11.0 TOTAL Hours
Swim 3.0 Hrs
(9,250 Yrds - 3 swims. Finally got in a solid 1hr open water swim at Hagg Lake)
Bike 3.75 Hrs
(49.5 Miles - 1 whopping ride. Do the math on the ave speed...this ride was all about going up.)
Run 4.25 Hrs
(31 Miles - 2 runs: 20 & 11 miles. The 20 miler was a bit brutal on the tail end. I was definitely feeling the lack of mileage in my legs from 16 on. The 11 miler was a solid hilly run around Hagg Lake in 1:25 (7:44/mile pace), post-swim.)
IMC Training Week 3
(Peak Week 1)
13.75 TOTAL Hours
Swim 2.0 Hrs
(2 swims. Both open water swims at Hagg Lake- approx 1 hr each swim. Nice to get in a couple extended wetsuit swims prior to the race. Hagg Lake even has a buoy line cutting the lake in half which served as a perfect race buoy sighting exercise)
Bike 7.75 Hrs
(120 Outdoor Miles / 2 CT rides - 4 rides: CT Intervals / 37.5 / EZ spin / 82.5 Scaled back my mileage big time this week. I did get in a solid interval workout on the computrainer with some intervals hitting 280watts for several minutes - didn't kill myself but good to get that push. 37.5m ride was 2hr ride portion of a brick workout on Tuesday, 82.5 was the stomach shutdown bike from yesterday.
Run 4.0 Hrs
(31.2 Miles - 4 runs including a 2 hr "long" run of 15.1 miles & hilly 10.6 miler around Hagg Lake today (7:27/mile pace).)
Rest....Recovery...SLEEP...healthy eats...No stress...positive...focus...
*time to breath deep*
*Peace*
Today, had the exact opposite experience. Met a couple people from Nike and one guy from Intel doing IMC at Hagg Lake for another open water swim. Today went a bit longer on the swim (one hour exactly...probably around 2 miles +) followed by a solid run. Since I did a solid swim yesterday, I spent alot of time following feet today during the swim with several race pace bursts- felt good. Starting to feel "comfortable" in the wetsuit which is a plus going into the race this year. I followed up the swim with a 10.6 mile run around HILLY Hagg Lake in 1:19 for a 7:27 pace. That will be my last longish run before IMC...the feet didn't protest too much either. I needed a solid workout after the confidence-crushing workout yesterday!
That is pretty much it for the longer stuff...I will definitely scale back the duration of all workouts in the next two weeks...shut it down as they say. The key workouts this coming week will be 2.5hr brick on Tues / 3hr bike Sat / I will also try to get in 2 open water swims next weekend. The rest of the workouts will be light.
Summary of last two weeks
IMC Training Week 4
This was a recovery week and an opportunity to get rid of all fatigue prior to the 3 week peak / taper. I had two days completely off but I also did a 20 mile run and a solid 3.75 bike during this "recovery" week so it all probably balances out.
11.0 TOTAL Hours
Swim 3.0 Hrs
(9,250 Yrds - 3 swims. Finally got in a solid 1hr open water swim at Hagg Lake)
Bike 3.75 Hrs
(49.5 Miles - 1 whopping ride. Do the math on the ave speed...this ride was all about going up.)
Run 4.25 Hrs
(31 Miles - 2 runs: 20 & 11 miles. The 20 miler was a bit brutal on the tail end. I was definitely feeling the lack of mileage in my legs from 16 on. The 11 miler was a solid hilly run around Hagg Lake in 1:25 (7:44/mile pace), post-swim.)
IMC Training Week 3
(Peak Week 1)
13.75 TOTAL Hours
Swim 2.0 Hrs
(2 swims. Both open water swims at Hagg Lake- approx 1 hr each swim. Nice to get in a couple extended wetsuit swims prior to the race. Hagg Lake even has a buoy line cutting the lake in half which served as a perfect race buoy sighting exercise)
Bike 7.75 Hrs
(120 Outdoor Miles / 2 CT rides - 4 rides: CT Intervals / 37.5 / EZ spin / 82.5 Scaled back my mileage big time this week. I did get in a solid interval workout on the computrainer with some intervals hitting 280watts for several minutes - didn't kill myself but good to get that push. 37.5m ride was 2hr ride portion of a brick workout on Tuesday, 82.5 was the stomach shutdown bike from yesterday.
Run 4.0 Hrs
(31.2 Miles - 4 runs including a 2 hr "long" run of 15.1 miles & hilly 10.6 miler around Hagg Lake today (7:27/mile pace).)
Rest....Recovery...SLEEP...healthy eats...No stress...positive...focus...
*time to breath deep*
*Peace*
posted by Mike at 3:46 PM
4 Comments:
I am glad to see that you got those nutrition issues out of your system. You know the rules - sucky training equals excellent racing. I trust that will hold true for you.
Nutrition issues always make me nervous! Sounds like you've dialed it in though. 12 days and counting! Can't wait to hear how the race goes.
Man, it's getting close! You've definitely put the work in. Enjoy your taper, and keep taking deep breaths!
You've done well with your training. Enjoy the shut down/ taper and I look forward to the big day.
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