Race Report: My own half iron.

Well the day started like crap. Standing on the shoreline in my wetsuit watching a huge storm cell with lightning coming in. First time all year that has happened in the morning. Of course it was clear on my side of the hill when I left. Sulked until 9am and then decided to head out. Made it 16 miles and then the gusts of 30-35 mph came in. Immediately turned around for home. Luckily I was only about 4 miles from bc of the course I took. Threw the bike on the trainer in the backyard and started the sweatfest from hell. I mean really sweating and I normally like the heat. The trainer is actually a tad slow down here compared to the road but the lack of shifting and steering prolly made it equal. I took in almost 150 ounces of water on the bike. Thats 9.3 friggin pounds and I weighed the same as this morning after the bike.

The run started really well with a hilly 6:46 then a 6:26 and then I evened out to abotu a 6:46 for the first 10 miles. Then the wheels came off and only made it 12.55 miles. Lost 6.3 pounds on the run after drinking a little after getting back. The WHOLE workout felt like hell except for about 10 miles in the middle of the bike and the first 3 miles running. I ran a 7:01 pace for what I did run though.

I dont know really what to take from this. I had my biggest week in about 3 years so I think it is good. Problem is I feel like hell and spending 36 miles on the trainer and running mile laps for water has taken its mental toll and the dehydration has taken its physical toll. Have a three horu drive ahead of me so I better get some stuff ready for that.

My own Half Ironman

This weekend I will attempt my own half ironman. This week still has one day left in it and I am at 12 hours already which is 2 hours past my biggest week in about two years and gonna hit 56 hours working. I am using this as a mental toughness workout and a nutrition practice. I also dont race enough so I need that mental edge. I wont be able to do this swim perfect so might just end up swimming for 35 minutes and calling that good unless I get my GPS in my swim cap ok.

The bike I want to hit a 2:40 or 21 mph which could be a little tough without race gear wheels or tires and not a closed or controlled course.

The run I want to break 1:30 with a minimum of 1:40. I would really like to run in the 6:40-:45 range just to see how that feels with nutrition so I may just go out that hard. Should be interesting either way.

Been crazy tired this week. The long days at work and the solid training are tough. Mentally starting to slip. Gonna take 3 easy days after Sat to try and get back in the game mentally. Just so little time for everything. September 1 is when work gets easier and I will find time to swim which is really what is bothering me. 2:17 in the saddle doing hill repeats and my mind call sme lazy when I look at that swim column but just too tired at night to go to the resivoir. Oh well

July Totals

Swim 1:15:00 3600

Bike 20:19:00 339.3

Run 16:09:00 123

Total: 37:43:00

Days off: 8

Workouts: 29

Key Workouts: 15M w/ 6x2/3M (3:59, 4:03, 4:02, 4:04, 4:03, 4:08)

40M w/ 3x8M TT (20:32@146cad73, 19:28@150cad75, 19:28@153cad76)

10M@7:30pace, 8x400 up/down (93, 91, 94, 89, 93, 88, 94, 82)

Lund 10M TT Z2 (25:16, HR 144 cad 74)

Goals set last month.

10,000 swim (FAIL)

300 bike (WIN)

140 run. (FAIL, w/o sickness would have been close)

Two runs over 15 miles (WIN, 14 and 15 but with sick intervals)

166 pounds (WIN)

Biggest month so far and there was a good amount of efforts thrown in there. I am finally getting close to race weight

This months goals.

Swim 20,000 Getting close to race time and now is time to learn to swim.

Bike 350. Stick with about what I got and get just a few more efforts in.

Run 140 Last big month to hit that total. Want more track efforts really as well.

Weight: 164. That would put me at a race weight I can be happy with.

In honor of the TDF I got the flu

Lost three days of training due to a temp of 102 and feeling overheated the whole time. Day 2 back also sucked but I usually come back to hard and was worrying about my weight. I had been sitting around 166 and feeling like a breakthrough was about to happen. I was hitting workouts left and right. I plan to pick back up where I left off. I need to kick the swim into gear as well. My volume and even intensity are looking good and I just need some single long efforts in there. This weekend begins my hell week as the wife and kid are out. Gonna do a half iron duathlon at the end so I can work on my mental side and recovering from lows. Also gonna ride the course at some point.

Bigger week and race effort TT

Finally had a week over 10 hours without a big day. Did a half iron race pace 10 mile TT effort today with an avg HR of 144 and maxing out at 148 at the turnaround. Tried to stay zone 2 for the effort. Time was 25:13 for 23.7 miles per hour. Finally the cycling has come back to being easy at such an effort. This bodes well.

June Totals

Swim 2:52:00 3900

Bike 10:32:00 189.5

Run 12:36:00 100.2

Total 26:00:00

Last months statements;

I want to get in more sleep mostly. ( DONE)

I am also going to fuel better during work. ( DONE)

I want 3 quality track workouts and two 4 hour rides and 1 TT. (1x three hour ride, 1 TT)

Totals I want to hit 12000 in the pool (FAIL)

400 on the bike (FAIL)

and 130 on the run (FAIL)

This month I want to hit 10,000 swim, 300 bike and 140 run. I am cutting back the first two goals and upping the last. The main problem is that bc of work I will only be able to workout during work when I have down time. This could be a super crazy good thing or mean hardley nothing at all so there we go. I do want 3HR+ rides and two runs over 15 miles. We will see. The other main goal is to get to 166 pounds.

Half Ironman Training Begins and Golfing.

Golfed for the first time in 8 years. Played without any woods and was 2 over after the first 5 holes which had the two par fives. Shot a 48 so not too bad. Just got a set of Mizuno blades and have a driver on the way. Golf is oddly relaxing and challenging at the same time and it gets me loose and outside. We shall see how it progresses.

I started my Half Ironman training for Sept 26 with a 12.4 mile run on good tough terrain. Need to eat more the night before these. Don't have a set training plan in place with work constantly changing but I want a lot of 16-18 mile runs in there and to ride at least 4 hours 4 times by then. I will also be able to ride and run the course twice the first week of August. The second time around I will try and simulate race pace for the run after pacing the bike.