July 22-25 I spent down in Lake Placid.. It was a combination of a training weekend, little vacation, and to watch and support some friends who were doing the Ironman on Sunday.
Arrived in LP Friday midday and immediately got ready to head out on the bike... Ok- the first part of that ride was DEADLY... I honestly questioned what the hell I was doing and then began wondering if I'd somehow lost some bike fitness overnight??? Reality was no I didn't lose any fitness I hadn't eaten properly and the "A" team decided to kill us all with a zone 4 start in the mountains.... After we made it into Keene and regrouped I had some gel and gatorade and felt better for the rest of the ride, back to normal... A bit unsettling though... And the jump into the pool followed by a cold beer was an awesome recovery!!!!
Saturday was an early swim then breakfast then another ride... 90k turned into 70 and a run after turned into lounging by the pool.... Here's the vaca part....
Then Sunday - the day of the race... First I did get some training in. After the swim portion was over I got one loop of the swim course in followed by a 14K run... But - the Ironman... WOW. I keep telling people that I have lost count of the number of times I was completely overwhelmed and wanted to cry... From that incredible swim start to watching the pros and age groupers out on the bike.. To the difference between the people on the run course 10 hours in vs. the people out there at 11PM at night with only 1 hour to make it to the oval and cross that line.. When we arrived in Placid the energy in the air was palpable. By Sunday it was like a fog.. While everyone we knew finished the race there were others who did not. Seeing that pain in their faces as a medic walked them outside of the oval, that look of desparation. It really brought it home. You can train. You can mentally prepare. You can be at the peak of your fitness. But there are still factors you cannot control that can end your day early. And then there's your head.. There were those who dug deep and pulled out everything they had to make it across that finish line.. I wonder if the woman on the bike I talked to made it to the end and is an Ironman now.....
So. I have 46 days to Muskoka 70.3 and I have 388 days until Mont Tremblant.... And I have a LOT of work to do! But I will do it because I CAN!!!
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Mission Accomplished!!!
Sunday July 10, 2011... 8AM standing on the beach at Little Lake in Peterborough, ON the gun goes off and into the water I run along with 401 other people... It's the start of the Peterborough 1/2 Ironman triathlon.
At the beginning of the season I had planned on doing the Sprint distance. Then my coach and fellow athletes who can't suffer alone convinced me to do the 1/2 distance in Peterborough as training for Muskoka in September... So I did. 2K swim, 90K bike, 21.2K run - total time was 6:47.... So....
Swim: I opted to go with the farmer john and my new speed sleeves.. in the pool it's not as tight around my neck and I wasn't getting the choking feeling.. I went out to warm up - swam out to the first buoy, cut across and then back in. Felt good.. But in my head I was still nervous - not doubting myself or panicking but nervous.. So I did the swim and took it easy.. A little too easy according to the clock but - my goal for Muskoka is to do the swim in 45 mins. I did P'bo in 51:59 but that included a 2+ minute walk/run back onto transition... Still - way too slow a pace and when I came out of the water it didn't even feel like I'd been swimming... Far too easy... Plan for the 2 months is to focus on speed in the pool drills and get more open water in at Wilcox for the 2k distance....
Bike- Felt great. I was happy with the pace - kept to the 3 hour mark I wanted and averaged 29.4kph... basically I'll get north as many times as possible and ride the Muskoka course- first outing will in fact be this Saturday!!
Run - total 1/2 marathon time was 2:43:45 with an average pace of 7:48.. ok - that's closer to my first 1/2 marathon race in September of last year vs. my usual 7:20 pace I've been racing at but - this was the first time I was coming off a 90k bike session... So - i'll keep working on my steady run pace and building the distance on those during the week with the RR marathon group... Continuous hill sessions will help too midweek... Then the LSD on Sundays will keep building more and more distance/endurance and I'll add in longer runs off the bike on Saturdays... Keep it around 10K on those and incorporate some mid session speed intervals to really push things...
Not sure what the heck took up 5 minutes of my time in transition on T2 but.... I did have a little discussion with one of the officials- mindlessly I unclipped my helmet before racking my bike... But thankfully just a gentle reminder from the nice older man and no penalty.... So at the end of the day I did what I set out to do - I FINISHED a 1/2 Ironman and pinpointed my training strategy for the next 2 months.... And shared those thoughts with my coach of course!! Ok - on to Muskoka!!!!
At the beginning of the season I had planned on doing the Sprint distance. Then my coach and fellow athletes who can't suffer alone convinced me to do the 1/2 distance in Peterborough as training for Muskoka in September... So I did. 2K swim, 90K bike, 21.2K run - total time was 6:47.... So....
Swim: I opted to go with the farmer john and my new speed sleeves.. in the pool it's not as tight around my neck and I wasn't getting the choking feeling.. I went out to warm up - swam out to the first buoy, cut across and then back in. Felt good.. But in my head I was still nervous - not doubting myself or panicking but nervous.. So I did the swim and took it easy.. A little too easy according to the clock but - my goal for Muskoka is to do the swim in 45 mins. I did P'bo in 51:59 but that included a 2+ minute walk/run back onto transition... Still - way too slow a pace and when I came out of the water it didn't even feel like I'd been swimming... Far too easy... Plan for the 2 months is to focus on speed in the pool drills and get more open water in at Wilcox for the 2k distance....
Bike- Felt great. I was happy with the pace - kept to the 3 hour mark I wanted and averaged 29.4kph... basically I'll get north as many times as possible and ride the Muskoka course- first outing will in fact be this Saturday!!
Run - total 1/2 marathon time was 2:43:45 with an average pace of 7:48.. ok - that's closer to my first 1/2 marathon race in September of last year vs. my usual 7:20 pace I've been racing at but - this was the first time I was coming off a 90k bike session... So - i'll keep working on my steady run pace and building the distance on those during the week with the RR marathon group... Continuous hill sessions will help too midweek... Then the LSD on Sundays will keep building more and more distance/endurance and I'll add in longer runs off the bike on Saturdays... Keep it around 10K on those and incorporate some mid session speed intervals to really push things...
Not sure what the heck took up 5 minutes of my time in transition on T2 but.... I did have a little discussion with one of the officials- mindlessly I unclipped my helmet before racking my bike... But thankfully just a gentle reminder from the nice older man and no penalty.... So at the end of the day I did what I set out to do - I FINISHED a 1/2 Ironman and pinpointed my training strategy for the next 2 months.... And shared those thoughts with my coach of course!! Ok - on to Muskoka!!!!
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