I'm starting to ramp up the training again in preparation for Kona and things have been a little rocky. Work and fun summer stuff have been getting in the way, or distracting me and the weather has turned on us. I think all those SoCal transplants are pretty worried that summer was exactly 3 weeks long this year in Seattle.
I will say I have had some really good swim workouts of late which has been great for my confidence in the water. My bike rides have been strong but nothing really long yet, those will come. I'm headed out on vacation the week after next to Oregon and I expect to put in some big miles on the bike.
My run has been the toughest part of late. My hip and lower back have been acting up again, it's not a hip or lower back problem that's just where the problem manifests itself. I'm doing all of my stretches and exercises and I'm hoping it all gets better over the next couple of weeks. Running consistently will help as well, I frankly haven't been runnin much. The worst part is that I'm just not feeling all that fast. I did weekly negative split tempo last night (in the pouring rain) and it was good but not steller. 10 minute warm-up, 25 minutes out (7:05/mile pace), then back over the same distance I had just done the 25 minutes in. I came back in 23:50 (6:45/mile pace). Not steller when you consider I raced a half marathon in May with lots of hills and averaged 6:32/mile and have done this workout with negative tempo sub 6:20.
My coach though it would be a good idea to jump in a shorter running race so Saturday I'm going to be racing in the Snoqualmie Railroad Days 10K. Oh my god.....I haven't raced in a 10K in years. This might just be the thing I need to shake the legs out and get my run back on the right track....or.....blow up at mile 1 after posting a 5:30 mile.
Anyhow I'm off to ride out the foothills this evening with a buddy from the office. I think I'll be doing all the pulling today.
Here's a little video for any of you who are thinking about doing an Ironman and are worried about the swim There apparently is a training program to get you ready for the Ironman swim -
http://youtube.com/watch?v=U_6tOzt-nfM
Enjoy and train hard.
Well I'm back into the mix and starting to think about Kona. Hard to believe that there is really only about 10 weeks of hard training time until it's time to begin the taper.
I had two great swims this past week. I've picked up where I left off before CdA and have been turning out very consistent and fast (for me) splits. I sent Shawn my post IM assessment and my thinking on areas of focus for getting ready for Kona and I may regret it in the next few weeks in the pool as I know I'm going to be in for some tough workouts. It'll all be worth it come October.
Running has been the toughest part of getting back into the swing but I managed a couple of good workouts this past week including some speedwork and a longer run on Saturday while camping at altitude and a little hung over no less.
The legs are back on the bike and I had a solid 70 mile ride yesterday afternoon/evening. My climbing while it isn't steller it's getting better and better all the time
I'm going to be busy mixing summer activities and spending time with friends and family with training but I'm sure I'll fit it all in. It helps when the weather is as steller as it's been with highs in the 70's and 80's and sunshine everyday. This weekend I ws camping just east of Snoqualmie Pass at Lake Kachess. It's an annual trip with a bunch of families I grew up with and I think we're going on 30 years. This year we had nearly 40 attendees and it's always quite the sight when we roll into the campground. They created a group campsite a few years back and I think they did that just because of our group.
As I mentioned I managed a run while up camping early on Saturday morning which ended up being pretty good despite being up late Friday drinking beer and playing cards and teh fact that we were at 3000 feet altitude. Later on Saturday I took my stand up paddle board out for a paddle and I think this will become part of my regular training. It's a 10'6" long board with a little more volume which you paddle with a long canoe paddle. It was windy and choppy on the lake and it takes some real work to keep from falling off the board while paddling (the water was in the low 50's....so I didn't want to fall in) which I find really works your entire core. It's a fun way to get a good core workout in.
Here's some pics from the camp.
Post run chilling in the tent before gorging myself on campfire biscuits.
Camp biking. Not so serious on my electra cruiser. It's always fun to cruise around and see the sights and characters around the camp ground.
Taking "camping" to a whole new level. Yes that is a custom Freightliner camper. It's nicer inside than most houses including hardwood floors, leather couches, pillow top sleeper and more electronics than a Best Buy.
Aidan Leffler. Aidan is my little buddy with DMD and keeps me focused on my training. Check out http://www.aidanleffer.com
It's been a good two weeks since IMCdA and I'm really starting to feel recovered.
I spent last weekend in Hood River, Oregon celebrating the holiday. I managed a couple of rides (probably a little more effort than I should have put in), a good solid recovery run with a little intensity and a couple of windsurfing and standup paddleboard sessions.
It was a good weekend but I was a little sore Monday and Tuesday. Not sure if it was from the riding or the windsurfing, I'm thinking it was the windsurfing as you use some muscles that I haven't been using.
I've been in the pool twice this week and I'm feeling great in the water. One of my best swim workouts ever (consistent and fast splits). I'm continuing to really get better with my form and it's amazing how little tweaks can really make me more efficient and thus faster through the water. It also makes me in awe of the Olympic swimmers never in my wildest dreams could I swim near 1 minute for 100 yards and yet I imagine many of these guys and gals train at that pace.
While it's going to be tough training this summer schedule wise I'm looking forward to getting back to some proper training and really building on an already great base of fitness.
The fact that I'm already feeling recovered really has me believeing that there is time on the table for the taking in Kona. I know the second half of the marathon in CdA wasn't that fast so I think my legs have recovered faster than expected.
Getting ready to start ramping it up again.
I'm still recovering my motivation to workout is pretty low but I'm coming around. I've been trying to decide what the experience would be in Kona. Cruise through this summer and enjoy the race and not worry about time or performance and just savor it all or ramp up and go for it, race the race and see just how good I can do. Following any Ironman well actually starting in the early miles of the marathon there is this doubt about ones own sanity.
As I've been recovering well and am generally feeling good I've decided a couple more weeks of recovery activity and enjoying some time with family and friends I'm getting after it and going for it in Kona.
I recently finished my post race assessment breaking down each part of the race and figuring out what went well and where there were opportunities. I won't go into specifics but lets just say there is time on the table for the taking in every event in Kona.
I got some questions about my nutrition and how it worked in Coeur d'Alene. The Carbo Pro 1200 worked great when it wasn't flying out of my bottle cage (doesn't work very well lying miles behind you on the road). It provides a good even energy level but is better when watered down a little for the consistency. The GU Roctane worked well also but frankly the Blueberry Pomegranate flavor was not tolerable to my taste buds the second half of the run but I'm not sure that anything would have been tasty at that point. So thumbs up for both.
Now if my stomach can just handle the cost of going back to Kona in October.....oh my!!!!
RSS Feed