rain, rain, go away

Last weeks training went very well. Still focusing on the run, my big workout for the week was a 21 mile run. I planned out a course between here and Suwanee and asked Naomi to come pick me up at the far end of the Suwanee greenway - where my 21 mile jaunt would end. I started early Sunday morning and set off with a fuel belt full of water and shot blocks. This run went very well considering what I had done in the two days prior to it. On Friday I had the day off and the weather was just perfect for a ride. I headed out the door with the intention of doing 25 or 30, but ended up going 45 just because I didn't want the ride to end. I followed this up on Friday with 10 miles at marathon race pace, which is supposed to be around 7:50 a mile. I wasn't feeling so hot during this run so I felt like I had to work for that pace - but I ended up working to hard and averaged 7:30's. I've had a hard time nailing down 7:50 on my pace runs, I'm always 10 to 20 seconds to fast! I guess this is an ok problem to have, but I need to learn my pace so I don't go out to hard in Huntsville. So back to the long run, I started out slow - 8:40's or something for the first few miles. Gradually I felt better and by the half way point when I crested the big hill up Old Suwanee to make my left onto North Price, I started feeling down right fantastic. As I looped around Moor road and Suwanee, I was picking it up ever so slightly each mile. I hit the Suwanee Greenway 18 miles in at L'ville-Suwanee Rd. 3.25 miles to go and much to my surprise Naomi and Scout had run 3 miles out to meet me for my last 3. This made for a really easy finish to a very long run. I finished the 21 miles in 2h 59 minutes. Averaging 8:24 per mile when it was said and done.

This was my 4th run of 20 miles or greater since the beginning of October and I am certainly feeling comfortable with the distance. Nutritionally the thing that seems to work the best for me during the run are Cliff ShotBloks in Cola and Margarita flavor. They sit on my stomach just right and don't cause any gastrointestinal distress like gels or a mixed high calorie liquid fuel. They also come in neat tube like packaging so they are easy to manipulate while running. The cola has 1 shot of espresso in it and it seems to really perk me up mentally and helps me focus in the later stages of my long efforts. The Margarita flavor provides some much needed sodium and electrolytes. I eat 3 to 4 packs of these over a 3 hour run - about 600 to 800 calories, so about 250 calories an hour. As far as hydration I've just been sticking with plain water - about 40 ounces per 20 mile run in the fall weather we have been having.
I have the day off work today so I had planned a 5 mile run and also to get on the bike, but just so happens there's a tropical storm moving through the state. If the rain would just slow down a little bit I could get the run in, and then sit on the trainer for an hour later this evening.

fighting something

The past week or so I feel like I've been fighting something off. I've been on the verge of getting sick but have somehow just avoided it. I feel achy and dehydrated even though I've been pounding the H20.

During my 10 mile run this morning my legs felt fine, but I was feeling hungry and dehydrated the entire time. I ate my usual pre-run breakfast of a bagel with creme cheese and a banana but I may have waited to long after breakfast to start running. It certainly wasn't the worst run I've had but it wasn't the best.

I've got a couple of days off from work so I'm hoping the extra time will help me get to feeling good again.

I've got a concrete plan now on what to do between now and January 11th as well, so that is comforting. I'll be getting back in the pool next week and hopefully getting on the bike more consistently. I'm beginning to become restless with just running. This is why I don't think I could ever been just a swimmer, cyclist, or a runner again. I get bored quickly! The constant mixing it up while you train for tri's suits me just fine.

My ATP (Annual Training Plan) through the Ironman looks something like this right now:

November and December:
- Off season base building/maintenance
- 2-3 workouts per week in each discipline
- 6-8 hours a week total training time
- Low intensity on all workouts

January 11th
- Begin 8 weeks base phase
- 3 workouts per week in each discipline
-7-10 hours a week total training time
- Mostly low intensity with some controlled interval work mixed in.

March 8th
- Begin 8 weeks build phase
- 3 workouts per week in each discipline
- 9 to 14 hours a week total training time
- Mix of low intensity key long workouts and high intensity short interval work.

May 3rd
- Begin 8 weeks peak phase
- 3 workouts per week in each discipline
12 to 17 hours a week total training time
- Longest workouts and middle distance workouts at threshold intensity

strategizing

Tonight I laid out the first 8 weeks of my official Ironman training program. After going over a number of sources and thinking about how my training has gone in the past, I settled on a plan out of Matt Fitzgeralds book Triathlete Magazines Essential Week-by-Week Training Guide. All of the research I read pretty much pointed me in the same direction, being that the key workouts are your long efforts.

The plans out of this guide are very specific and written out day by day. It follows a building progression through several distinct phases of training and incorporates races as workouts -which I love. The plan I'm working off of uses 9 workouts per week. It works in three phases of 8 weeks each: Base, Build, and Peak - which are then broken down into four week blocks with which there are three "on" weeks and then one recovery week. To me it's a very logical progression. It's a structure that I am very familiar with through coaching rowing. When applied correctly I believe that this type of structured training is the only way to effectively peak for one sole event and be at ones best.

Other than the above state reasons, I'm choosing this particular plan because I think it is very manageable and gives me the best chance to be successful on my long workouts. When I was training for Gulf Coast this past year, I chose a more aggressive plan that incorporated 10 workouts per week. I struggled to stay on course with it and was often exhausted for my key long workouts. Most of my recent reading gave me a new perspective on what the most important workouts are when training for an Ironman and how to approach and manage them so that I gain as much as possible from them. I guess the theme here would be quality, not quantity. Any numb skull can go out and destroy themselves with a bunch of mileage - been there done that! I'm going for the right workouts at the right times done at the right intensity. Above all I need to develop a keen sense of recovery to gain the most out of the long efforts.

The 24 weeks to glory kicks off on January 11th! I can't wait! Until then I'm using the marathon to maintain general fitness and hopefully improve my long run pacing and training tactics. Bike and swim workouts are building to develop base fitness in all three disciplines until I go full on in January.