This morning I got to do my second long run for the week. Since I've been working with my coach for a few years and he knows I can tolerate it, during my Ironman build we schedule what are known as "bike weeks," "run weeks," and "race rehearsal weeks." A bike week is a week where the focus is on biking volume, and running takes a back seat, although there will still be a long run during the week. A typical bike week for me will include 10-12 hours of biking and 4-5 hours of running.
A run week is a week where the focus is on running volume, and biking takes a back seat. A run week will typically include 2 long runs of 1:40-2:00 in duration, but only 2 rides (1 quality/intervals, 1 quality/long).
A race rehearsal week (I've got one in 3 weeks) is where on Friday I do a full IM swim TT and a short run on Friday; on Saturday I ride 112 miles at race pacing (power, in my case) and run about :45 off the bike. Everything is as per race day as much as possible--nutrition, clothing, gear, etc. Sunday is a day off. So I'll probably bust out the disk wheel and look like a dork (but a very fit dork) riding west of home pounding out the miles.
Due to my state of hyperfitness (there, I said it. I believe I'm extremely fit right now) and sheer desire, last week turned out to be sort of bike and run focused. I'm happy with that--almost 12 hours of biking and slightly over 6 hours of running. That's a lot, I don't care who you are. But the running only included 1 long run. I guess last Saturday was sort of a second one as I ended up around 9 miles for the day, although it was split across 2 runs. I planned ahead with my coach for this week to be a run week, since I was able to fit one in on Monday.
Also as part of my scheduling for the week, coach left it to me to insert other runs depending on my recovery from last week. So yesterday I did a 1 hour tempo run, because I don't like going into a long run without running the day before for about 1/2 the time. Tomorrow I may do a 50' run with strides in there, and on Sunday I will probably run 30' off the bike. Adding in today's 1:45 run, that will give me 5.83 hours of running for the week. Not bad for back-to-back weeks of running volume! I already did a quality/interval ride this week, and Sunday is my second ride of the week. I hope to get outdoors on the road bike (the Griffen is in the shop and the SRM will be repaired and back on by next Friday) and pound out 3-4 hours of quality riding.
Back to today's long run. It was dribbling this morning, so I opted for the treadmill. I headed to the gym with my last cup of coffee (why waste good Kona coffee, I always say), 32 oz. of Voodoo Mix (1/2 Ultra Violence and 1/2 Gatorade), and a spare 12-oz. bottle of Gatorade in case I needed it. I went heavy on the caffeine because it's tough to put in a full work day after a long run first thing in the morning. I'll still want to lay down later (and I will) for about 30 min., but I need to be semi-alert for most of the day!
The plan for today's run was 25' Easy, 30' Steady, 15' Upper-Steady, 20' Mod-Hard (tempo) and 15' Steady, for a total of 1:45. Actually I had the option to split the Mod-Hard effort into 2x10' with 3' rest, but typically I just say fuck it and do a straight 20' continuously. I wasn't really sure if I could manage the increasing intensity, as my legs felt a little tired and sore from yesterday's tempo run on the heels of Wednesday's crazy bike workout (OK, it wasn't really crazy, but that effort level after what I did last week through Monday made it a little crazy). But I figured that accompanied by my friends Kona coffee and Voodoo mix, I should be able to knock most of it out. It helped that I stretched for 20' before I went to the gym.
During the 25' of Easy, I finished my Kona coffee. YUM!!! The only down side was that it being still hot, it made me kick off even more sweat, but hey, that's a price I'm willing to pay. The Easy stuff felt way easy, and my heart rate reflected it, although I had the HR display covered up on the treadmill. But I looked after I finished that section of the run.
The Steady effort felt better. I am at the point where when I run Easy, it is almost hard to do. I just don't feel right. But that's good, because when you are at that pace in an Ironman, it doesn't feel so easy, and so I do it just because a warmup is important, and also holding my effort back for certain sections of my runs so I don't become injured or overtrained.
At the end of the Steady section, I was sweating real good, and it was flying off me. A pilot I know came up to me and said he'd get me some more sweat towels. Thank God he did! I was getting soaked to the bone, and whenever I'd stop to drink, of course the sweat would just be rolling off of me. But I'm a girl, so I guess I was "glistening." Ha ha. I think I look pretty hardcore most of the time. I was only wearing my usual skimpy bra top and fairly skimpy shorts. I get so hot running, and I always say that when I don't look good in that kind of outfit anymore I will stop dressing that way.
Upper-Steady felt even better, and it made me sweat even more. A brave man mounted the treadmill next to me and I could tell he was curious as to my effort level (he got on just before I finished the first hour and had to reset the machine to keep going), especially with the amount I was sweating. I could tell as others walked by me that they were observing my copious sweat output. A few times I was convinced a few guys watched some drops run right down the center of my abs--hmmm....I wonder why they'd be looking???
Since I was feeling good, I knew I had the rest of the advertised workout in the bag, so I started the tempo interval. Everything went just great, and I was sweating even more, but at this point it really didn't matter, I was feeling good and smiling thinking about last week and the fact that this was my second long run of the week and it's Friday and I'm looking forward to a relatively easy training weekend (although I'm doing my income taxes tomorrow, yuk).
It was nice to go back to Steady level for the last 15' of the workout, and I could tell my legs needed a break. When I headed to the locker room, I could feel how wet my clothes were. When I took off my top, it weighed a ton and was gross, so I went to the sink to wring it out. I kid you not, like 8 oz. of sweat came out of it--maybe more! One of the women who works there commented on what I was doing, and she admonished me to drink a lot (duh). Luckily, on the way out of the gym, they had bagel pieces for some promotion thing, and I took one, although part of me wanted to eat the entire tray!
It's this sort of training that gives me a sense of accomplishment and reconfirms my enjoyment of the process of training. That is very important to me, since if the only focus is racing, it's easy to be disappointed.
I am going to sleep well tonight!
9 comments:
Do you find that your gait and patterns change on a treadmill vs. outdoor running. Do your knees or ankles react differently? I have my own thoughts but would like yours.
Also, you talk a lot about your watts and power output on the bike, I am still using a non-cadence cyclocomputer and no powertap on the bike so I just use speed and effort as my basis. The question Sheila is at what speed/watt/power output do you find a disk to be of benefit?
How inspiring! I can't wait until I get a run that long that feels just fabulous! Awesome!
I don't notice anything different between treadmill vs. outdoor running as far as my gait or aches & pains. Obviously, if I run a very hilly course outdoors, my quads will be sore from the downhill running. My legs were a little sore from yesterday's run, which was on the treadmill, but only because it included tempo work the day after a really hard bike ride and my legs were not 100% recovered from last week.
I did all my Goofy training on the treadmill and had no issues with running on asphalt.
As far as bike training, speed is a ridiculous thing to use as far as IM pacing goes. It is NOT a measure of your effort purely--more just the conditions. So if you are lucky enough to do an IM race where there is 0-5MPH of wind, it's in the 60's and flat, then by all means use speed as your pacing tool!
If you don't pick either HR or power for a pacing tool, you are playing with fire IMHO as far as IM pacing goes. You say "effort," I hope you mean HR. If you can dial in effort that corresponds to HR levels, then I guess that's good enough. And then I assume you know what HR zone to ride an IM bike in?
As far as when to use a disk, it's when you have one! As long as a course isn't overly windy or hilly, you will always get an aerodynamic advantage from using a disk wheel. It may not be much, but you will get something from it for sure. When to use it has nothing to do with what power output is or speed. A disk wheel is just more aerodynamic. Period. If a bike would handle in a stable fashion outdoors and there was absolutely no wind, we'd all ride disk wheels on the front as well.
I can feel how easily my bike moves when it's on. It sounds cool and looks cool. Now someone who needs to drop any weight should not invest in a disk wheel, IMHO. That person will get more speed by getting lighter. Athletes typically don't purchase disk wheels unless they have cash laying around (which I did) and/or they are trying to shave seconds to a few minutes off a bike split. It makes me laugh that someone would buy a carbon seat post or carbon cranks to shave grams off the bike weight when in fact, a disk wheel will give you much more speed savings. Plus, unless you are already at your optimal body fat percentage, lose the weight, don't worry about how much the bike weighs :)
The last sentence of your comment to Comm is what I have been saying under my breath to lots of folks I see. Unless you have pretty much optimal body fat, I don't see the point in squabbling over how much your bottle cages weigh ...
Just for the record, the only carbon on my Griffen is: aerobars (needed for the SRM Power Meter mount), seatpost (it was the only one short enough and adjustable enough for my small body) and fork (most decent bikes now come equipped with a carbon fork to minimize road vibration). I have Cane Creek Chrono wheels that have deep-dish carbon rims and titanium spokes, my Hed 3D disk wheel is all carbon, and I have titanium skewers for my race wheels.
I was fairly small when I bought the bike, smaller when I bought the race wheels, even smaller when I got the disk wheel, even smaller when I got the aerobars. So I have always ensured that I was "worthy" of the fancy gear based on my leanness. Now that I am about as lean as I can possibly be, me thinks there is something carbon in my future. However, I think it will be a new road bike, not different components for the Griffen. At this point, I still have a ways to go in terms of my bike fitness, so cutting a few grams from my bike weight is not going to have an impact. I did see a Cat Cheetah at the bike shop last night, and of course they told me it should be mine. After all, I AM a Natasha wannabe. Maybe she'll sell me hers. I bet we are the same size!
I tell you what--in terms of bike improvements here's what I recommend to folks:
#1 bike fit. If it don't fit you, you will ride like crap.
#2 rider body composition. Repeat the #1 and #2 cycles as necessary, since when your body changes, your bike fit might, too.
#3 Rider flexibility. The more flexible you are, the more of an aerodynamic position you can maintain on the bike (i.e., free speed).
#4 Power device. Now that you have the right body, fit and aero position, learn how to get the most out of it with the power meter.
#5 Fancy crap like race wheels and such.
I did things a little ass-backwards in that I got some fancy crap before the Power Meter, but my body and fit were there, so I cut myself a little slack. Besides, I didn't know about Power Meters until I already had the fancy crap!
Reality is, though, that the triathlon market is driven by people who think a particular bike or components will make them faster, and cash is an easier thing for many people to deal with than the cold, hard reality of their body composition, nutrition and flexibility. Me--I love it when someone tells me I *look* fast. And it ain't because of the bike :)
Awesome post...I am sweating just reading it. I love it when a workout just feels "on". Like lightening in a bottle.
I appreciate the response. I don't use speed as a basis' for effort I do use HR. I was simply commenting that with my bike computer and most other peoples, speed is primarily all it does unlike the powertaps. I would love a powertap but dont see the justification of spending $1200 to $3000 on it when there is still so much more to work on with cycling.
The discs I am not sold on. From all the empiracal data I have read, a disc really won't benefit anyone unless they met most of the requirements you aptly listed and can maintain a speed over 20 mph when wind shear and aerodynamics play a greater part in movement.
Also I have followed the debate on rear vs. front disc or both and to my memory the front has always been consdiered the best first inverstment since it busts the most wind and creates a favorable aero bubble for the rear to travel.
You fail to grasp the main benefit of the power meter which is that it gives you a REAL measure of your effort which you can then consciously monitor and use to verify improvements to your cycling. Whereas HR and speed are too variable and how do you correlate them anyway? If you don't want to spend the money, fine. I'm just saying that someone who thinks a "better" bike is a better purchase than a power meter on a "good" bike is an idiot. Put the meter on a bike you are already fitted to and watch how you can improve. A LOT. Of course, you need to know how to use the darn thing and have some semblance of a training program to take advantage of it. And you have to get pretty geeked out to make it worth your investment. Like me. There are lots of men out there with power meters that just go "OOOHHHH LOOK AT THE NUMBERS" and they have wasted their money. Same thing with someone who needs to drop weight going and spending $4K on a bike. Stupid, stupid, stupid. But then again, I support the equipment industry so go and spend your money on that other stuff and I will see you at the races.
You may be right on the rear disk, but most bikes would be just plain unstable with a front disk outdoors, especially a tri bike. Which is why you only see them on track bikes, eh? I wasn't at all suggesting that anyone doing triathlon would use a front disk. Hell, you won't see them at TDF for that matter. Having averaged >20MPH in a HIM myself with the disk on, I believe it played a role.
YMMV
I also don't like to go into a long run without running the day before.
I haven't done much treadmill work but am thinking of getting one for next winter to do some controlled and specific workouts.
I'd still like to get a powertap, I think it will be in next season's budget.
Sounds like a great training week, keep up the good work.
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