Ironman Training Review: Week of August 25 - 31 and September 1 - 7,2014

Without a doubt I am an East Coast guy. The year round temperate weather of Southern California sounds compelling, as does the altitude training available in the Rocky Mountains. Sometimes very compelling. you know those days where it is 90 degrees with 75% humidity? Or how about those days where it is 70 but the humidity is 100% and not raining (people in SoCal surely don't think this is even possible)? Then the winter comes with the darkness, snow, sleet and cold, making biking a near impossibility, with running on a treadmill at times a necessity.

Milford, NJ

Yet here I am in Eastern PA, likely to be here for just about forever. And not unhappy about it either. We have some great roads to ride on, a great trail system to run on, and weather. Lots and lots of weather. In the past two weeks I have trained in the rain, under the sun, in heat, with humidity, and in the dark. It has been as hot as 90 degrees and as cool as 52 degrees. Crazy. But good.

Coming off of TriRock Asbury Park the early part of the first week was a little lite on volume, even as I would be increasing the overall training volume. The goal was to get a block of higher volume training with a focus on the bike and swim. My personal reality is truly large run volume won't be happening now or ever. Is what it is.

And from a volume perspective the last two weeks have been a success. Both weeks included 17+ hours of training. In the pool I have increased my overall yardage, maintaining my "speed" and increasing the duration of my endurance swim sessions. On the bike I have continued to log 200+ mile weeks with 1 -2 interval workouts of varying intensity. My running volume has increased as well, with my first long run of 10 miles since surgery, while intensity has stayed high. With my limit on overall run volume I have been including hill repeats as well as road intervals. I have stayed away from the track because ... well I hate going to the track. I do it, but only when I feel it is necessary. Right now, not necessary.

My default is to overcook myself as opposed to not doing enough. It comes as no surprise, then, that my legs are a bit more fatigued than I would like. This week is a recovery week, but I have Rev3 Pocono 70.3 on tap this Sunday. This week is a real recovery week, hoping to shed the fatigue before Sunday morning.

Workout of the Week - The Long Ride: To be properly prepared physically for an Ironman one needs to develop a deep level of fitness, developed over the course of not weeks but months of dedicated training. Consistency (Rule #2) is important. During the build period leading into the even there are a number of "key" workouts that most everyone completes. One of the most important is the long ride. While it can be done in a variety of ways, one of the key objectives of this ride is to spend a substantial amount of time with your butt in the saddle. Some are long and some are really long. On Sunday August 31 I completed the first of the really long rides in this cycle.

Solo Long Ride = happy like Elmo

Some people like to do these longer rides with a group, be it small or large. Personally, this is a session I prefer to do alone for a number of reasons. I do not want to be a burden on anyone, nor do I want someone to become a burden to me. Pacing is something that varies so much from person to person, not just in general, but inside of a ride. When the distance is stretched, that variability can become great. If/when I'm going through a crappy period I don't want to hold someone back. In the same respect, I do not want to be held back because someone overestimated their abilities and blow themselves up. Nor do I want to have lunch at the top of Blue Mountain waiting for you to catch up.

Attached to this is the fact that when I am going this long, I rarely plan out a route beyond the direction I start riding and a type of terrain I want to ride (flattish, hilly, rolling). Sometimes I take a road I've been past but never rode, while other times I may ride big loops. It is really annoying to have someone ask me where we are going when I am not really sure.

The objective I had for this ride was to simply ride 100 miles in a reasonable amount of time, with only short stops when I needed to refuel, while working on my fueling strategy. I decided to do some climbing at the start, hit some flat sections to work on riding in the aero position for an extended period of time, then do some hillier/rolling terrain on the back end to see how the legs hold up. 

Overall I held up well for my first century ride of the year ... but there is still work to do. After a very quick stop at Genesis to fill up my water bottles, I climbed up Northampton Street in Easton. This was around mile 71. After getting through traffic and into Palmer Township my legs were a bit heavy for the first time all day. Next time I expect it to go better.

Long Ride Data File

Thanks for reading.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon