Tag: 70.3 triathlon training

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An "Easy" Half Ironman 70.3 Simulation

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This weekend, I fell off “the rest wagon” with a goal to do a simulated Half Ironman 70.3 over the course of the weekend.  I hadn’t had more than a couple very short workouts since Rev3 on May 18th.  Here’s how it all went down.

FRIDAY SWIM

Nashville was abuzz.  Thousands of women poured onto the downtown streets wearing Daisy Dukes and cowboy boots for CMA Music Festival while I navigated the masses en route the YMCA.  It was my first day on after 10 Days of Rest and anticipation was off the charts.*

After contemplating several swim workouts I settled on a basic 2,000 meters to ease back into the routine.  Since starting Ironman training that kind of sentence always amazes and amuses me, “I think I’ll ease in with 2,000 meters in the pool.”  There was a time not too long ago when I could barely swim down and back, now I confidently jumped in for forty.**

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SATURDAY BIKE

It was a bitter sweet reunion with my lovely friend, Natchez Trace.  It was our first rendezvous since last August, and only my third outside ride of the year.  The previous two were races (New Orleans and Rev3 Knoxville).

Last year the Trace wore me down and I nearly hung my bike in the garage rafters for the rest of eternity.  But I can honestly say I was excited to be out there.  The Trace is a modern miracle for bikers.  A beautifully smooth road cut into magnificent landscape and goes forever.  There are so few cars on this highway that it almost feels like they are out of place.  Natchez Trace is cycling paradise, but in a world where money is everything, it may all soon be over.

I was certainly rested, but the Trace is a physical and mental challenge.  For some reason 6 am was too early for me, so I started at 6:30 and met the rest of the guys as they doubled back.

I eased back into my cycling with a 56 mile ride.  It wasn’t easy, but compared to my early rides from last year, this was almost refreshing and I sucked it up with a post-ride lawn-mowing-brick.***

Here’s a little snippet from one of our Trace rides last summer that got the best of Racer K, including extremely rare footage of Wasky showing why he is a flat tire expert.

SUNDAY RUN-DAY

Sunday was meant to be two separate 50 minute runs (at least 6 hours apart) that would roughly complete my goal of a half Ironman distance in 3 days.  It was hot and muggy as I set out on my run around 9:30.  The first session was all about recovery from the ride and I kept the pace easy around 9 minute miles.  By the end, I was struggling and I really don’t think I could have ran an entire 13.1 without a lot of Pop Tarts.

The afternoon flew by and I did my best to concoct an excuse not to run again.  My heal hurt, I was a little fatigued, and my heart was in my bed.  I nearly blew it off a dog-like distraction to the Home Depot.

That’s when I remembered something that changed my entire attitude.  Rollerblading.

I grew up playing hockey, so I’ve always enjoyed skating.  The thing is rollerblading gets a bad rap and I still feel like people are talking about me under their breath when I slide by on blades of glory.

It’s kind of one of those things like mountain biking where I just feel great while I’m moving.  It’s more full body workout that engages your core and works far more muscles than running.  And depending on how you roll, you can get the same level workout.

I put in about 10 miles on the wheels and included 4×800 yard “sprints” that crushed my glutes.  I cruised back in after about an hour and had a renewed vigor for training.

LOUISVILLE UPDATE

We are all clamoring for a decision and I’m getting beat up on text messaging from my buddies for “embracing the lifestyle.”

“Just pull the trigger!”

“All this foreplay is useless!”

Ha… Well, the good news is, I’m feeling pretty damn good after this weekend.  I was actually up this morning at 6am and ready for a leisurely mountain bike ride on flat trails, but it was pouring buckets.  I opted for writing this piece, but may go for the ride later.  Other than my heal I feel pretty strong and encouraged.  Frankly, I’m not sure what I’m waiting for, but I have to make this decision on my terms, and may talk with a priest first, if I can find one.

*  Well, my anticipation, and possibly that of my buddy Jeff Stokes who just swam Sharkfest.

**  After some serious consideration, I’ve decided to start posting my workouts and feedback.  You can find under the “workout” tab on top.

***  I have estimated mowing my back yard to be about 5,000 yards of walking with 80 feet of total gain.

 

 

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Racing a Half Ironman – 3 Examples

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I was talking with a buddy about preparing for his Half Ironman and he mentioned how he’s working on getting everything to “slow down.”  The first thought that came to mind was my Muncie 70.3 race when I felt in complete control of each event.  Then I started thinking about the two that followed, Goosepond, and New Orleans.  All three had quite a different story and each one has been progressively worse.  I wondered if I looked at them next to each other if it would help me understand and learn from what went right and/or wrong.

PRE-RACE MOOD

Muncie – This was my first half.  I was nervous and unsure of my capabilities.  But I was very focused, as always, afraid to fail, and it helped to have good friends around to calm my nerves.  I didn’t sleep great, but was in bed by 8 the night before.

Goosepond – This race was about 6 weeks after IM Wisconsin and my level of training was somewhere just above zero.  I was WAY over confident and frankly a little cocky after just finishing a full.  It is the strangest feeling, but I can honestly say that I was treating a half triathlon almost like a 10k or something and that is just asinine behavior no matter who you may be.

New Orleans – I pulled into New Orleans on Jazzfest weekend and stayed in a massive downtown condo by myself.  It was the perfect example of being alone in a crowd.  I was the visiting team and frankly the crowd was a bit intimidating.  I was also a bit under trained and indifferent.  The juices eventually started flowing, but it was more like survival than a build and conquer.  I hadn’t ridden outside since Goosepond and was not prepared for what I was about to face.

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THE SWIMS

Muncie – I was very sh*tting bricks about this this swim, but caught a major break when somehow it was wetsuit legal in JULY.  We’d put in a lot of time at the lake, but the turn buoy looked impossibly far away as I surveyed the course the day before.  Oddly, as my feet hit the water in the morning complete calm coursed my veins.  I imagined that is how I would react when faced with ultimate death.  You sink into your zone and accept fate.   I had no intention of hammering this swim and took a very long time to ease into my pace.  By the time we made the final turn, I felt great and churned my way to a pretty nice 37 minute swim.

Goosepond – Did I mention I was over confident and not ready?  I goofed around before the race and did zero warm up other than getting in the water 5 minutes early and taking a few lazy strokes.  I’d just done Wisconsin, this would be a breeze!  About 400 yards into the swim, I was gassed and breathing so hard I had to tread water.  It was not good and these situations are very difficult to recover from.  I’d swim a couple hundred and stop.  It was just a brutal swim.  Two laps and I finally climbed out of the lake gasping for breath with a 43 minute swim.

New Orleans – I was kind of nervous for this race because I hadn’t really swam that much, plus the whole being by myself thing was kind of weird.  Luckily I met a couple guys from Nashville in the line and they helped loosen the mood.  My game plan was to take this swim uber slowly and try to keep it under 40.  Frankly, I swam this race perfectly for the shape I was in and climbed out in 39 minutes.

THE BIKES

Muncie – I felt strong as I ran out of the lake and carried that energy to the bike.  I cruised easily for the first 10 miles but kept a solid pace.  It was smooth sailing for most of the way, but there was a 10 mile patch in the middle that was terribly bumpy and narrow with bikers going each way.  It would have been very easy to settle into the madness and play it safe, but I remember consciously deciding this is where I had to push harder.  I could tell this rough stretch was getting into people’s heads and I did exactly the opposite by embracing the conditions.  By the time we got back to the smoother roads, I was a little battered, but it was pretty easy to keep the pace.  I stepped into T2 with a 20.5 mph average.

Goosepond –  I came out of the water a beaten man.  I was both pissed and embarrassed.  Even though I wasn’t really into this race, I was still determined to beat my Muncie time and the minute I got on my bike, I was a raging madman. I decided if nothing else good came out of this day, I would crush the bike.  It was almost like I purposely punished my legs.  At Muncie I never pushed them to the point where it felt like I was working too hard.  At Goosepond, the entire bike burned.  I was ravaged and kept trying to find another gear.  I did lay down a nice time of 20.9 mph, but that extra .4 mph difference from Muncie absolutely cooked my legs for the run.

New Orleans – This bike ride will forever be a mystery.  I mean, I probably wasn’t “ready” for this ride considering I’d only goofed around on the trainer for a couple months, and rarely rode more than an hour and a half, but by mile 40 I was ready to throw my bike in the swamp.  I was right on the mark for the first 15, but then my brake pad started rubbing and didn’t stop the rest of the ride.  The problem with this was, I KNEW I was having problems BEFORE the race and didn’t address it.  I made a couple adjustments the day before and thought it was fine.  It was a true sign that my head wasn’t ready for this race.  Why would I not get that fixed?  Who rides a Half Ironman knowing their brake is f-d up?  Avg. Speed was 17.4 mph, by far my slowest bike ever.

THE RUNS

Muncie – I felt good and was eager to get off the bike.  My first mile was sub 8:30 including a bathroom break and that may have been what saved my run.  I was using my chrono watch this day (well, every day of my triathlon career) and hitting re-start at every mile marker worked on staying within time “ranges.”  I wanted to be around 8:15 – 8:30 the whole day.  Not much science was involved, but I stayed within myself, kept steady, and breathed.  Nothing distracted me until mile 7 when my feet suddenly felt like I was running on hot coals.  Talk about Zen!  You can’t think of anything else when every step you take feels like broken glass.  I really don’t know how I did it, but it was a true testament to running as a meditation.  1:50 run.

Goosepond – I normally don’t “feel like” running off the bike, but this day I REALLY didn’t want to.  To be honest, I didn’t even think I could.  But, my inside information said it was a nice flat course, so I sucked it up and set my sights on sub 2 hours for the 1/2 marathon.  Well, it took about two miles before I was climbing the first of many hills.  This run course was pretty rough and my body was not happy.  I was completely distracted the entire run.  I had zero focus and all I wanted to do was be out of town.  There were no mile markers so my chrono watch was useless.  I had no clue on my pacing and at mile 10 got a knee pain I thought might be serious.  Somehow I finished at around 2:10.

New Orleans – This was my first absolute blow up on a run.  It took about 1.5 miles before I started walking.  I have never walked more than 50 yards or so in any race ever.  Hell, even in training runs.  Walking was the one thing I would never let myself do.  But I probably walked a third of this course.  Walk, run, walk, run.  It was brutal.  It was hot.  My legs were fried.  No spectators, no nothing.  Walking it in was not an option, or I might have quit.  At mile 9 I saw a guy with a similar look on his face and said, “Okay, man, you ready to run this in?”  He said yep, and that’s what we did.  It was my worst 1/2 time, including my first ever.  I staggered in at 2:20.

POST RACE THOUGHTS

Muncie – This was the boost of confidence I needed.  In retrospect, my race at Wisconsin was almost a carbon copy.  Steady swim, solid bike, consistent run.  I had a million doubts about doing a full, but Muncie put me in the game.  My feet were burning, but my legs felt strong.  I had almost two months to get ready for Wisconsin and Muncie went a long ways toward getting my mind right.  As my buddy says, I “hurried slowly.”  TRT – 5:16

Goosepond – Honestly, after I finished, the first thought I had was, “It’s pretty damn cool to be able to do a 70.3 without training.”  But it hurt like a bitch.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t do a thing for a month.  I’m still not sure why I did a half that close to my first full and in retrospect it was a bad idea.  But in every “failure” there are lessons, and at Goosepond, my lackluster, unfocused swim set the table for a painful outcome.  If I would have stayed true to my plan of easing into my stroke, this may have been a good race.  It still wasn’t bad.  TRT 5:35 (with a 4:00 drafting penalty… yes, I’m still bitter).

New Orleans –  Part of me wants this race again just to find out.  I felt good about the swim, but other than that, it was just a mess.  My bike is my strength and it imploded.  I was a beaten man and thankfully my mom and her friends were there to lift me up.  My lesson from New Orleans is take races seriously or they will eat you alive.  TRT 6:20.