I’ve made a lot of bad training decisions and said a lot of stupid things on this blog, but as some rich guy once said on his death bed, “If I had a chance to live another life I would make more mistakes and learn from them.”
So, in the aftermath of my Muncie 70.3 race, I thought I would take a look at what I learned and how I can make adjustments needed to not only finish and Ironman, finish it with a solid time. Each race along the way has been eye-opening in its own way, but Muncie gave me major clues about what it will take to “conquer” Wisconsin.
I’ll discuss specifics below, but the biggest thing I learned at Muncie is that I could likely complete a full Ironman right now. I didn’t necessarily think that at the finish line, but I now realize these races are mostly about managing effort. The fitness will be there, but understanding and racing within my limits is the key factor.
We have approximately 5 weeks of heavy training before we start to taper and my focus will be geared toward workouts that make a difference. One thing is certain, I will likely focus on intensity and speed than distance. I’m pretty sure I could complete an Ironman, so now the question becomes, how fast?
Pre-Race
There really isn’t too much I would change. I ate pretty well, spent time with good friends to stay relaxed, and concentrated on hydrating all week leading up to the race. The night before, I had a pretty good meal at around 5 pm, finished packing my transition bag, then fell asleep at 8. The problem was only slept for two hours, then was in and out until 4:30. It would be nice to have a full night’s sleep before Wisconsin, but I’m not banking on it. I do plan to make a concerted effort to start waking up earlier and meditating consistently before bed.
The Swim
This is typically my wild card event, but I’m gaining more and more confidence in the water. I was mentally prepared to go without a wetsuit and expected around 40 minutes for 1.2 miles. Crazily, it was wetsuit legal and I swam comfortably in 37 minutes. Of all the events, on Saturday, I think I could have legitimately kept my swim pace for another mile and not been exhausted.
Five Week Swim Focus – Build speed with sprint work. Use pull buoy extensively and build upper body strength. Spend two days a week in the open water with group swims. The one thing I screwed up at Muncie was sighting, so I’ll need to put in some more time with my head up.
Transition One –
This is one of those things that obviously matters, but changes depending on the length of a race. For my money, the most important thing in T1 is to make sure you put on the right gear for the bike. For Muncie it was easy. Shoes, helmet, gloves, sunglasses. For Wisconsin I’ll need to be ready for a wide range of weather conditions. If it’s a day like we had for Muncie, I’ll be out of there quickly. If it’s cold, who knows what I’ll pack.
The Bike –
Honestly, the Muncie bike didn’t take that much out of me. My neck and saddle were literally a pain in the ass, but my legs were fine. I did, however, drift to the thought of Wisconsin often because Muncie had no hills. At the end of the ride I was completely ready to get off that bike. I was chaffed and my neck was pretty tired. Wisconsin is twice as long and will serve brutal hills (in the context of an Ironman).
Five Week Focus – Spend more hours on the bike to build calluses where I need them. Yoga to loosen/strengthen spine and neck. Also for balance. The course is technical and I want to own control on my bike. Seek out hills and repeat them often. Ride every long ride on Natchez Trace. Do multiple bricks, including one after a 90 plus mile ride. Try to get to Wisconsin and ride the course before the race.
Transition Two –
About the only thing I need to decide is whether or not I will be wearing socks. I wore them at Muncie and in retrospect wonder if that wasn’t the reason my feet were burning. Otherwise T2 should be fairly brisk. But I need to be careful coming out on the run because State Street will jack me up and I need to be slow for the first few miles.
The Run –
I felt pretty good about my run in Muncie, but was a little disappointed I couldn’t hold a negative split. That was my goal and it will be the same at Wisconsin. The problem is, I have still not run more than 14 miles . . . ever! I’m pretty sure I had some more mileage in me on Saturday, but the soles of my feet were killing me. It was either too thin of a shoe or something to do with my socks creating a burning feeling on the mid-foot. I hope to solve this problem soon with the running gurus at Nashville Running Company.
Five Week Focus – Basically put a lot of faith in my coach. I have no idea what my furthest training run will be, but I’m not terribly concerned (even though I am by no means taking this lightly). Running a marathon on its own is no joke and I had better have my legs right by September 8th because I do plan to run the whole way. The good news is, I felt like my pace (8:24) at Muncie was pretty comfortable for my body, just not for my feet. I’ll continue to follow the plan and focus on speed work along with hills. I’m not saying I will come off the bike and run a 8:24 marathon pace, but I refuse to rule it out either. My leaps in fitness have been amazing on many levels and while two months doesn’t seem like a lot, I see it as a lot of opportunity for breakthroughs. Speed, hills, and more speed. Mixed in with tempo runs and long easy distance stuff. I have to admit I wouldn’t mind pushing 16 or 18 miles one day just to get that feeling, but I’m not going to dwell on it.