Life=Risk

Rode the Ironman Augusta 70.3 bike course

Headed to "dis-gusta" early this morning to ride the bike course for the upcoming Ironman Augusta 70.3 on 9/27. There were at least 100 other people who had the same idea and some even swam the swim leg which is what I probably should've done.

The bike is mostly flat with a few gradual climbs and one short, steep grade just before turning right and heading back to Beech Island. Some pretty good down hills but a few have a slight head wind. Never had the need to stand during the climbs but did switch to my small chain ring a few times just because I was following a plan or race rehearsal and wanted to make sure I stayed under a certain wattage. Normally I would've stayed in the big ring and pushed the watts. Watch out for the cracks in the road on Pine Log Road as this is pretty much the only bad surface and it lasts for about 7 miles.

With the bike being mostly flat, it will cause people to go too hard and they will shell themselves for the run. Hence the reason for me sticking to a plan and throttling back the watts. Save it for the run as that is always where the race starts. Prove you could've gone harder on the bike by killing the run. However, for all of you reading this who are in the 40-44 AG, please ride like the wind, hammer the hills and plan your nutrition around a 70F day with 10% humidity. ;-)

Plan was to stay at 205W to 208W for the 56 miles and I believe I finished with 206W. Haven't downloaded the file yet but I think my time was around 2:33. I ended up running around 4.5 miles (3 @ 7:44 and 1.5 @ race pace of around 7:20) and not the 6 as the plan called for as it was just too hot and I didn't pack my Fuel Belt.

I'm bagging the Hartsville race next week and opting for another long bike ride and spending some time with my family at the beach house.

Hmmmmm......

PowerTap Joule - here

6 x 3' @ 120% of FTP

Plan called for 6 x 3' @ 120% of FTP aka Vo2 max intervals with the goal of not going over the 120% of FTP. About 2 months ago, I dropped my FTP on my tri bike down to 265W as I still can't generate the same power in my new, aero position as I was before the change. Ironically, I did an hour ride on my road bike 2 weeks ago and had no problem holding my old FTP. Not really concerned as I won't be riding anywhere near my FTP for the HIM and I'd rather be aero and fast versus being a sail and riding at a higher FTP.

Target was 318W and ended up with intervals of:

314W
310W
303W
313W
306W
306W

Finished with a 30' brick run with 10' @ 8:24, 10' @ 7:14, and 10' @ 8:03.

Tomorrow calls for a 2:15 run with 75' @ 8:48 to 7:40 and 2 x 20' (10') @ 7:32. I don't think I'll make the entire 2:15 as I'm supposed to stop when I hit 15 miles.

5 1/2 weeks to go

Scheduled for 14.5 hours with 3 hours swimming, 6.5 hours biking, and 5 hours running. This is week 7 of 12 and is my biggest week of the plan. From here I'll start to slowly cut back the hours and do two race rehearsals with the second the Saturday before I start my 2 week taper.

My running has been going extremely well. I've started doing the 10':1' run /walk during my long runs on Thursday and it has made quite a difference in terms of how I feel that afternoon and the next day. For those interested, I'm following the Bobby McGee run / walk protocol. You can listen to an interview with Bobby here, where he explains the concept. Says that people running 2:30 marathons still see improvement in their times by using the run/walk system.


I've skipped my last 2 vdot tests just because I hate them and I don't want to injure myself. Instead, I've started increasing my mile pace during my 4 x 1 mile intervals and have taken off about 10" per mile. See, no need to do a 5K TT.

Headed to the beach this weekend for some flat land and major head winds and then off to Augusta next Saturday to ride the bike course of the upcoming 70.3

With all of the running I've been doing, my weight has dropped another 2lbs (down to 150lbs or 68.2kg) and my body fat is hovering around 7.5 to 8%. I just can't lay off the ice cream at night. I call it carbo loading for my early morning swims.

Performance

I think there is a little of this guy in all of us.

Run - 1:42:00

Thursday's are long run days and today called for a 1:45 run as follows:

WU: 60' at 8:48

MS: 1 x 10' @ 7:32

5' @ 8:48

2 x 10' @ 7:14 with 5' @ 8:48 in between

Ended up doing 12.1 miles @ 8:26 with an average HR of 134BPM.

I'm back!!

My mojo has returned and just in time for a 14 hour week. Looking back, I think my family may have been passing around a virus that sapped my motivation, strength, will, etc.

My Wednesday bike workout has changed from FTP intervals to V02 max which I've been looking forward to for quite some time. I love to suffer for 1 to 5 minutes and prefer it to suffering at an effort 20 to 25% lower for 6 to 20 minutes. V02 work has always given me a boost to my training, especially when I feel as though I'm detraining or reached a plateau.

Ended up doing an hour ride this morning with 4 x 3' on 3' off @ 320W and then finished up with a 30' minute run with 10' @ 8:48, 10' @ 7:32, and then 10' @ 7:55.

Took my tri bike in and am having the crankset replaced with a compact - 50/36 as I really love the compact on my road bike and this will make running an 11-23 on the rear a little easier on those 5 to 8% grades that are sprinkled thoughout my training routes.

Temperature at 5:20 PM

Got to love the warm summer evenings in the midlands of SC!!!!