Last Long Ride

The alarm was about to go off yesterday morning, but I nabbed it with 2 minutes to spare so Meyer wouldn't wake up. It was, after all, 4:00am.

I was out the door and on the road (driving) to Newark in the dark. With my last long ride, I needed to get a few hills in, so I'd mapped out a 34-mile loop that included some rolling hills, long steady inclines, and some flats.

I was on the bike by 6:40. What an awesome ride! While it rained lightly during the first part of the first time I did the loop, it was cool and calm. I was lucky in that the park where I'd parked the car has a porta-john, so after 34 miles I was able to have a pit stop. I reloaded my bars, gels, and bottles and headed out again. And when I finished the second loop, I did it all again.

Upon finishing the third loop - and 102 miles - I loaded up my bike...and put on my running shoes and took off for a 30-minute run. The legs were a little wobbly at first but I soon hit my stride...and the the University of Delaware campus. I had no idea it was move-in day. Cars, families, and freshman students were everywhere. What a zoo! Luckily my run was pretty short and I was able to get out of there quickly.

I'm feeling really good about this last big one. I kept a pretty constant pace - averaged 17.2 mph on all three loops and also averaged an intake of about 270 calories per hour on the bike. I still feel like I'm starting a bit too fast on the run, but that's something I'll just have to watch at the race.

And now I can say I am officially tapering!

Rockin' It

I'm in the final push week of training, and this one's a doozy!

But the past couple days I'm feeling like I'm really rockin'. Yesterday, I didn't have time for an open-water swim, but I snuck 40 minutes in the pool mid-day. And it felt good! Then last night after work I pounded out a good 50 miles. My average speed was 17.8 mph but it would've been higher (at least 18) if I hadn't been riding the last hour in the dark! My headlight seems to function more for others to see me rather than for me to see what's in front of me. So I relied on the headlights from cars on Route 9 and Plantations Road and finished fine.

Tonight after work I hit the trail for my last long run before the race. (Wow, what an eye opener to know this is the last big one.) I nailed 15 miles in just over 2 hours. I was supposed to go for 130 minutes, but I had to cut it short by 7 minutes because once again the sun went down and I couldn't see where I was going.

Note to self: Do your workouts earlier!

Towards the beginning of tonight's run, I passed by my coach and a friend who were doing the regular Wednesday night speed workout. I told him that I was feeling great and that everything is really starting to come together. He seemed pleased.

I am too!

What's Best for the Body

The alarm went off at 4:20 this morning. Oh my, is that early!

I made the quick decision, however, that since my head cold was still lingering a bit, my body would benefit more from a couple extra hours of sleep than from two hours on the bike and 30 minutes running. At this point, being healthy is my number-one concern.

And those two extra hours were glorious!

I also had my weekly massage today. Yay! Konrad knows exactly what to work on, and today it was my quads. I pounded out 13.5 miles on the trail Tuesday night and today's massage took care of the soreness that I was still feeling.

I've got a swim session this afternoon, a day off tomorrow, and then a pretty tough weekend.

And I'm honestly looking forward to it!

Back in the Saddle Again

literally!

Saturday I found that the best way to beat a cold is to get on your bike and ride. Which I did...for just over five hours. I loaded up the bike with my Power Bars and Clif Bars, my Gu's, and three water bottles and set out to Route 9, where I headed south to Laurel, DE. I went a little further and decided it would be a good time to turn around and head back home. I made it home just in time for a quick bathroom break, a reload of Power Bars and water bottles, and headed out again down Route 1 to the Indian River Marina and back. A total of 88 miles and 1,200 calories ingested brought me back home.

And then I put on my running shoes and went out for a 20-minute run. My legs actually felt pretty good on the run. I only got a couple miles done, but that's really all I needed to do.

I'm back!

And today I rode a 60-minute recovery ride - quick and easy. I'm looking forward to tonight's long swim and the rest of the week.

Just 27 more days!

Oh, Crap!

A lot of my focus lately has been getting in my training while keeping my body healthy for quick recovery. Well, this week I got slammed with a pretty bad head cold, which is now moving to my chest. I've already missed 6 training sessions this week - at a time when I really can't afford to be missing any!

Ironman is only 30 days away. The next 48 hours for me is going to be nothing but making sure my body is better and able to handle the stress of the next couple weeks.

It's so close, I can taste it!

Awesome Weekend

My coach has been working with me on visualization - most importantly, picturing a fantastic workout in my mind when conditions get bad. Keeping things positive when it would be easy to let them get negative. I've had a few workouts to keep in mind, but this weekend took the cake!

Friday evening I cranked out a good 60 miles on the bike. I rode to Ocean City and back, and then to the Indian River bridge and back. Headwinds were at a minimum and my cadence was good. I hit my nutrition (about 900 calories in 3.5 hours) and I got off the bike feeling great.

Saturday morning, I decided to alter the morning workout(which was to be a 55-minute aerobic run) and did the Dam Mill 5k race instead. Of course, I added mileage before and after the race to get in my time. The good thing is I won my age group in 19:47 (5 seconds off my PR) and held my place in the top 5 for the Seashore Strider summer series. Some friends also did very well - Doris won her age group, Mary Beth and Mary Ann took 2nd and 3rd respectively in their age group, and Erik hit sub-20 for the first time this year.

Saturday afternoon was an ocean swim session with my coach and another guy he is training. It was one of my better ocean swims, although I know I still have a way to go before I'm ready.

Sunday morning, I got up early to beat the heat. I had a good 50-mile ride, with some hard headwinds on the first 25, which made for a great 21-22 mph pace on the second 25. I nailed my nutrition again with about 825 calories in 3 hours. Immediately after getting off the bike, I did a 4-mile trail run and paced sub 7:30s.

By mid-afternoon I was napping, and missed my Sunday afternoon ocean swim, but I obviously needed the rest, so all is good.

Even after all of that, I'm still feeling really good today. After work I'm getting out for a 100-min. run, which will probably be about 12 or 13 miles. This week really begins the hard push - 2 sessions each day until my next day off, which is Sunday.

Only 34 days left!

Yagaddawannit

If you don't get the title, you need to say it out loud, really fast.

I'm in the beginnings of the final push. And I'm starting to realize just how much I want this. I also realized that I simply had a bad July. The physical issues, the mental issues....that's all behind me. I've got just over 5 weeks left, and I'm ready to give it my all.

My run this morning was good. It was a short one - just a 4-mile recovery run - but I still had no trouble getting up before the sun to do it. While I was running and thinking about the drive one needs to complete an Ironman, I though of this video. It's a little disturbing, but every time I watch it, it reminds me of what people will put themselves through to reach a goal. This is certainly NOT how I want to finish (especially for my mother's sake) but I'm going to finish this Ironman, even if I have to crawl across the finish line.

One of Those Days

While I was hoping to hit 19:30 at the Run for JJ 5k yesterday, I couldn't shake the sluggishness I felt throughout my body. I finished in 20:12 - my worst time of the summer, but still faster than anything I'd done prior to this year. Everyone else must have been feeling sluggish too, since 20:12 was still good enough for 2nd place in my age group.

Guess it was just one of those days.

My coach surprised me with a day off today, followed by two more recovery days (although some people wouldn't call 3 workouts in 2 days no matter how easy they were "recovery.") I think he understood that my body just needs a little extra rest before we really ramp it up over the next few weeks.

And, somewhat surprising to me, I'm looking forward to the next few weeks!

Mental Blecchhies

This week I had a case of the mental blecchhies (see a few posts ago for the physical blecchhies). My body is working fine, but getting myself motivated, especially on the days with two training sessions, was a bitch. Knowing that I've only got about 6 weeks left and can't derail myself now, I asked a three friends who have about 8 Ironman finishes between them if they ever felt this way and what they did.

Thank goodness for friends! All three of them experienced the same thing, and all three got through it by telling themselves that it is ok to miss a workout every now and then. It is ok to substitute a chicken breast and Endurox with chocolate chip cookies and a mojito for a recovery meal.

So one night this week, after a pretty decent swim I walked to the nearest convenience store and went home with a pint of Ben & Jerry's. I don't even remember the flavor, but it was sooooo good. I, of course, ate the entire thing that night - all 1,000 calories of it.

Now it's the weekend and I'm feeling pretty good. The only thing on my training schedule was a recovery run, which I did with Meyer this morning. Tomorrow is another 5k race, and I'll be shooting for 19:30. Back in May my coach said he thought I'd be at 19:30 by the end of the summer. I laughed. Now that possibility isn't that far off. We'll see tomorrow.