I haven't posted in a while for a few reasons. First, between training, work, and wanting to spend time with my wife and daughter I really don't have much time, so this blog has been neglected. Secondly, I haven't really had anything interesting to say as training has just been consistent. In past years, I had tons of ups and downs. When I had the ups or the epic training camps/experiences I would blog or be more active online.
This year has been different though. My workouts are structured a little differently and I now focus on not going to hard and just hitting the targets. I use to look at every workout as an opportunity to test myself and go faster than the one before. Now I just get the right amount of work done and then shut it down to get ready for the next workout. The result is that since February 1st I have only cut 2 workouts short and every single other workout I have done and hit the target intensity. The huge difference is that I don't have to dig nearly as deep in training and I'm never shelled after a long ride or long run. In a way it is almost boring as I get up every day and I know I will hit my watts or pace targets exactly and then be done. I still have my occasional slip and go a little too hard, but I'm significantly better at catching myself and backing off before I do any damage.
As far as my training for Wisconsin, well it's been going great. I have nailed all my long rides, hit my target watts in every single one and been able to run very well off the bike. I've been on the course enough that I'm pretty sure I know where every crack in the pavement is and I've had some great rides up there. On the run, I haven't done any epic 2.5 hour 23 mile runs like last year, however I just hit my target paces day in and day out without any trouble. The swim is a little different for me. Some days I can feel the water and my stroke feels great and other days I just feel like I'm fighting the water. The good news is bad days are few and far between and I'm learned how to back off and relax instead of fighting and wearing myself out.
Only two weeks left now and these are by far the hardest weeks of the year for me. My ego wants to continue to train hard, but my brain needs to over power that urge and keep me in check. Just 14 days of holding back now and letting my body get to ready to race.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
2011 Ironman 70.3 Muncie
Swim – 35:54
I must have got lost out there. I was expecting to go about 33-34 minutes based results over the last year and hoping for a little bit faster as I’m setting PRs in the pool right now. In past races I always seemed to go out a little too fast and end up at a pace I know I can’t hold the entire swim only to have to slow down. I figured this time I would just go out at a comfortable pace and try to hold that for the entire swim to see what happened.
Well it was the most comfortable swim I ever had, but based on my time it was a bit too comfortable though. I just focused on swimming with good form and found a set of feet that seemed to be going straight. When we hit about half way I looked at my watch and it was already 19 minutes, opps. On the way back I went around feet I was drafting behind and swam a bit harder but thanks to the sun directly in front of us I was having trouble sighting and swimming straight into people from earlier waves. The good news was I came out of the water well rested and ready for the bike…. but I was 26th in my age group after the swim.
Bike – 2:09:57 – 25.86 mph
Within about a mile of transition I could tell it was going to be a good day on the bike. My legs felt great, I was holding back and still above my target watts. It was tough, but I managed to hold back and stay right at my target watts the entire race. The best part was once we hit about mile 35 we had a tailwind and most people seemed to slow down, I stayed exactly at my watts and averaged 28.9 mph for 31 minutes, making up a ton of ground. This was by far my best ride ever in a race. I took in all of my nutrition exactly as planned, and my average power was exactly what I had in my race plan, thanks to a VI of 1.01!
The hardest part of the ride was getting passed. Local fast guys, Adam Zucco and Scott Iott both blew by me early in the ride. Since my legs felt so good I really wanted to try and hang with them. I’m glad I stuck with my plan as they both had an awesome day and I may have been in for a very tough run if I would have tried to go with them.
The great ride was able to move me up to 4th in AG by T2.
Run – 1:25:16 – 6:30 min/mile
All that I read and heard about this race was fast bike but hot and hilly run. That combined with a forecast of 88, high humidity and an 8:50 AM start time got in my head and I was worried about the run. For those reasons I forced myself to really hold back in the first few miles and focus on getting nutrition in. My plan was to hold 6:30 pace for the first half and then pick it up if I could. Well, even though it didn’t feel all that hot or humid, my legs didn’t have any kick and I couldn’t speed up. I did manage to run almost an exactly even split though and hold a 6:30 average pace. I’m a little disappointed as I went a full 5 minutes faster in Oceanside. I ended up passing 2 people in my AG and came in second.
Summary – 4:13:48 – 2nd Ag – 5th Amateur – 26th Overall
Overall, I had a good day and am pleased with my race. I do think I could have done a little better on the run but it was good for me to prove I can stick to my plan exactly as I will need to do that at Ironman Wisconsin. I also now feel I really have my 70.3 distance nutrition dialed in and have a pretty good idea on how I can and should pace myself.
Thank you to everyone that is following me and of course, Theresa, Abigail, Jake from Zoot and Dr. Phil from PhysFarm.
Sorry no pictures this time as I was at the race on my own.
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