Another 3-mile Swim (1/2 Ultraman)

Holy crap! This morning I realized that the total distance I swam last Friday, including the 2.4 mile time trial, was 3 miles. That's a hefty swim!

I got to do it again today. I beat last week's time for the 2.4 miles by a minute and change, and my time per 100 yds. went down by 2 seconds, so I'll take it. I figured something out--I get my deep-tissue massages on Thursday nights, and it makes me a little sore the next day, so next week I'll get it on Wednesday so I can see how my last 3-mile swim goes before Ironman Brazil.

I actually thought I was swimming SLOWER today than last week. I could feel some tiredness in my arms and core. I am supposed to be rested!!!! I'm TAPERING!!! Ha ha. I will still hit almost 17 hours this week. So I guess I really am not that rested yet. Next week, though, the volume will really drop, so I will really get to see how well I can swim the distance next Friday.

Although, when you think about it, swimming 3 miles in 1:35 isn't too shabby (that's my total time for the 3 miles). I wonder if this means I could do the Ultraman swim (6.2 miles) in 3:30 or less? Checking the Ultraman website, that looks to be a competitive time. Silly me, always thinking about the next challenge!

At any rate, I am good with what I did today, and think I can beat my time by at least 2 minutes next week (actually I'm positive I can). If nothing else, doing (3) 3-mile swims will make the 2.4 on race day seem not too bad at all. I feel like my endurance is pretty good at this point. I'd be happier if I could 1:10 in the pool, but it is what it is. I am swimming strongly the entire time, and I feel fine (OK, a little dizzy) afterwards.

This weekend I only have to do a 3:30/:30 brick tomorrow and a 2:30/:30 brick Sunday. If I have time, I will add :20 recovery swims each day, which I find get some of the kinks out after these workouts. The forecast calls for shitty tomorrow and a little less shitty on Sunday. One or both of those days I'll be riding on the trainer. Oh well, too fucking bad. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!

Today's Workout Goes up to ELEVEN

Oh, boys and girls, did I ever have fun today! Here's the bike workout:

WU: 15' warmup, 3 x SpinUps. Then 3 x 2' (1') Zone 3 MS: FT repeats: 3 x 10' (6') @ FT, then 4 x 90" (3') @ best effort. CD: 5' Easy

This to be followed by a :30 brick run, with instructions to "put my head into the first 3-4 miles of Ironman."

OK, I was psyched for this one. Why? Because I felt so good yesterday after putting in a solid training week last week, and "all" I did yesterday was swim 2,950 yards (and pretty well, I might add) and lift for :50. No running! And today when I woke up, once again, I felt great. Sure I had wanted to sleep a little more (only 8.5 hours last night), but once I got moving around and had some coffee, I figured today was going to be a good day to workout.

I washed and relubed my bike yesterday, so my Bitch was all ready to rock and roll. The temps were high 60's, so very pleasant for a hard ride and run. I got out the door at about 12:15.

The usual warmup section of the workout is well, just boring, admin stuff. I was really looking forward to the FT work today because Sunday's ride was well, not really too exciting. Such is the nature of an Ironman ride--thankfully, on a race day it "feels" more exciting because you know what is going to happen next (a marathon), and you have all these other competitors around you and volunteers helping you--it's much more festive than heading out on your own to ride 112 miles in the aerobars with your head down. FYI, while I was riding on Sunday I kept thinking, "this is what the IMFL course is like." And the thought did not make me happy. I am still undecided about doing that race, even though I'm registered. I really am not thrilled by flat courses, except for a HIM or less. Too boring. I guess I'd rather suffer with hills and wind. I'm sure I'll get my wish on the wind in Brazil, though.

Since coach gave me so much rest between the FT intervals, I took this as an "excuse" for me to work harder that my current FT of 177. What the hell, it's only 10 minutes. Today was one of those rare and joyous days where I felt 150% ON, and figured my power could go up over FT. I certainly made good use of my ELEVEN cog. It was so happy to be used, and I just love the sound of the index shift into that cog. KER-CHUNK. It is the sound of big effort. I hit watts of 185, 187 and 181 (normalized power) for each of the 3 FT intervals. A solid effort, especially since there was wind, there was terrain, there was humidity, there were obstacles (glass on the road and the usual detritus). ELEVEN. I hated shifting out of that cog when I needed to climb a bit.

Those FT intervals were so much fun, but I was REALLY looking forward to the last 4 "best effort" intervals. I like to call them "balls out." Let it all hang out, just ride hard and see what you can do. Wheeeeeee!!!!! ELEVEN. I know that I was smiling for each of the 90" efforts. My Bitch was being ridden hard and enjoying every second. I hit watts of 236, 237, 206 and 215 for each of the 4 intervals. On the 3rd one I do recall cutting myself slack for about 5" (STUPID), but on that last one, I think the wind just picked up a little more. Whatever. TONS O' FUN!

I even looked forward to running. I was curious what that would feel like after all the fun I had just had on the bike. 5' after I pulled into my driveway and I had my running shoes and hat on, a small bottle of Gatorade in one hand and the radio in the other, and I was off and running. I get to run uphill for about 1/4 mile right out my door, not too steep, but enough to make you know you are working and would rather be on flats. My legs felt a little gangly, and I always play "guess my pace" so that when I get to Mile 1 I can see how accurate my "feel" for pace is. I was also laughing inside remembering that I had just done a brick workout (um...SUPER SIZE THAT BRICK) on Sunday, and here it's 2 days later and I'm at it again (FYI I get to do back-to-back bricks this weekend, those are a lot of fun as well). My legs really didn't feel any worse for the wear.

Mile 1: 8:40. That's fine. I should have held back a little more, but hey, I didn't ride very long, I should be able to go that fast. I decided to run up to this small intersection, knowing that I always negative split these short runs, so I'd give myself some extra time on the way out. 6:46, and I figured same pace as for first mile (I certainly wasn't running any slower). Turn around, same distance in 6:30, and last mile in 8:29. Giddy up! Not too shabby, and I wasn't running hard, really. In terms of my run zones, I would call this "upper steady."

It was so nice today to feel the total joy and fun of my workouts once again. It's been a few weeks, and I did think about my mom during today's workout, but it made me grin from ear to ear as I was about to start another FT interval. That's what it's about. Knowing you can push yourself hard again and again, enjoy it, and use that as a platform to show others how good you can feel doing this crazy shit.

ELEVEN, BABY!!!

Weekly Workout Totals: 05/01/2006-05/07/2006

It was another big training week for me. A Race Rehearsal week, to be specific. I also got to retest my bike FTP (Functional Threshold Power). There were good things and not so good things that happened during the week:

Good

• My FTP improved from 171 watts to 177 watts. You may look at that and think that’s just statistical variation, but not from where I sit. I did the test on Wednesday outside, and trust me, it was a trick to keep my watts where I wanted them (and more!) while managing shifting winds and terrain.
• I reestablished that I have plenty of swim endurance after Friday’s big swim of 5,150 yards, which included the 3800 meter time trial swim. When I was done, I felt like I could have kept swimming at the same pace for at least another 1,000 yards.
• I got plenty of TOA (time on ass) on the bike. I added a short (1:42), easy (SHOCK!!!) ride on Saturday just because I felt like it. It was odd to intentionally ride easy, but I figured this would be good practice for Sunday’s 112-mile ride at Ironman wattage guidance
• I ran 9:00mpm off the bike after Sunday’s 112-mile ride. For 5 miles. I have NEVER done that before!
• Based on measurements taken from my hips, butt and thighs, I am one lean machine. My hips and butt both lost 1/2", my thighs did not lose any size (killer bike workouts will do that), and my weight remained unchanged. I am fairly certain I have not lost any muscle; therefore I must have lost a little more fat. Unbelievable. My swimsuits are getting loose in my butt. Never in my wildest thoughts did I think this would happen. I just need to hold this body composition going into the race. Hell, I could even go up a notch in body fat, but I'm going to milk this phenomenon for what it's worth.
• Psychologically, I felt some of the stress and sadness of my mom’s death lifting.
• I slept a ton.
• I feel GREAT today, considering what I did last week. The past 3 Mondays I have felt like someone has been pummeling me with a meat tenderizer all over my body.
  
  

Not So Good

• My FTP improved from 171 watts to 177 watts. This makes both lists, because as I get stronger, it means I get to work harder each time I ride the bike! But it’s OK, because indicators from my rides were pointing to the number going up
• My swim time trial took 1:16. I honestly felt like I was swimming faster than that. On the other hand, I felt really strong, relaxed and held great form the entire time. I get another chance this Friday to see if, with a little less volume, I can go a little faster.
• My 112-mile ride took 6:15. I thought I could go faster, but it is what it is. I rode how I was supposed to ride, and believe me, it was hard to focus for so long on riding SO EASY. I did the ride with an organized ride, so the conditions weren’t ideal (lots of starting and stopping, even a period of lostness, which turned out to be a good thing, as I got in all the miles), and I had plenty of offers to hang with groups (STRONG groups) of riders. But I had to gingerly say, “Nope, I’m riding my Ironman pace today, so sorry, maybe some other time.” That’s self-control.

All in all, I will call last week a success. I feel ready for the damn race now; as usual, I feel like my coach has me peaking right on schedule, upcoming rest will do me a world of good, and I can start my travel preparations. Holy fuck, I’m going to Brazil!

I’m not generally a superstitious person, but a few things happened this week that seem to be omens:

• My black toenail from the Goofy Challenge finally came off today. The top part, that is. There is a perfectly good toenail left that is just waiting to be abused in another marathon in 3 weeks.
• The ruby stud earring I’ve been wearing as my “keep yourself together” amulet since last fall lost its back (the little thing that keeps a pierced stud in place). Thank goodness I didn’t lose the earring. But this tells me that I have been successful in keeping myself together, and that I can go forth and do what I need to do without wearing this anymore.
• I am (deep breath here) not going into Ironman Brazil looking for a Kona slot. I am going to do the best that I can do on the day. It will be what it will be, and as long as I am on my nutrition and pacing plan (which is nearly drawn up), I am really looking forward to having a good run, my favorite part of the race. Why is it my favorite part? Because if the stuff before it went well, odds are I will get to practice the fine art of being in the moment, being in a state of flow, and I will remember the answer to the question I asked myself yesterday while I was running: “Why the FUCK do I do this?”
  
  

On that note, here are the happy totals for the week that was:

Weekly Totals 05/01/2006-05/07/2006
Swim: 7800 yards in 2.55 hours; 14% of weekly workout time; approx. 949 calories burned
Bike: Approx. 168.2 miles in 9.6 hours; 55% of weekly workout time; approx. 4671 calories burned
Run: Approx. 26.03 miles in 3.93 hours; 22% of weekly workout time; approx. 2067 calories burned
Strength: 1.53 hours; 9% of weekly workout time; approx. 383 calories burned
All Sports: 17.61 hours; approx. 8070 calories burned
Sleep: 9 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.02 hours

Season Totals 09/12/2005-05/07/2006
Swim: 286350 yards in 101.13 hours
Bike: Approx. 2918.12 miles in 168.02 hours
Run: Approx. 989.51 miles in 155.32 hours
Strength: 51.64 hours
All Sports: 476.11 hours; approx. 212160 calories burned
Stretching: 51.81 hours

Season Weekly Averages 09/12/2005-05/07/2006
Swim: 8422 yards in 2.97 hours
Bike: Approx. 85.83 miles in 4.94 hours
Run: Approx. 29.1 miles in 4.57 hours
Strength: 1.52 hours
All Sports: 14 hours LOOK AT THIS, KIDS.
Sleep: 8.49 hours avg./night
Stretching: 2.16 hours avg./week

Goals from Last Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night. DONE (and I LOVED IT!)
• Stretch over 2 hours for the week. DONE. Came in under the buzzer.
• Begin race visualization. Race Rehearsal weekend this weekend! DONE.
• Watch nutrition, as my training hours begin to decrease. DONE.
  

Accomplishments This Week:
See above for the good.

Goals for Next Week:

• Average 8+ hours of sleep per night.
• Stretch over 2 hours for the week.
• Continue race visualization, and assemble race plan.
• Stay on top of nutrition.
• Be careful to hold back during workouts when I am supposed to.