The 10 Day Forecast on weather.com officially includes race day now, although I've been watching it on Accuweather's 15 day forecast for a while. The conditions are going to be great- it will start out in the low 50s and reach highs in the low 70's, or something like that. Sounds delightful! Especially because it's been very cold and rainy here the last couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to some sunshine.
The race is actually just 9 days away and I'm so excited. I've got a few minor things to take care of this weekend and I'll be dropping my bike off for transport tomorrow. Then I'm going to start packing my stuff based on a collection of established and solid lists. We leave Thursday afternoon.
I'm really loving this taper period and I'm feeling really relaxed. I'm enjoying having time to hang out with Zach and watch hockey and sit in the hot tub and visit with friends. I'm keeping my diet pretty healthy, mostly avoiding alcohol, and getting tons of sleep. All systems go!
Along with looking forward to the big day I wanted to take a look back too. I put together a little training summary to recap all that went into my Ironman preparation. I am going to keep it pretty brief and then later I'll do a longer reflection on the training and what I really thought of it and whether I'd do something like this again. So here are a few facts and figures on my Ironman training journey. The totals are up through the end of last week, so the final two weeks (taper) aren't included.
I signed up for Ironman Arizona on November 24th 2008.
I officially began training May 11th. That was 28 weeks, or about 6 1/2 months, before IMAZ 09.
My training volume over 26 weeks (6 months) averaged 12 hours per week.
My training volume in the 10 week peak period averaged 14.5 hours per week.
My highest volume week was 18.5 hours in week 25.
My longest bike ride was 107 miles (Harvest Century Ride). I did 9 rides over 60 miles.
My longest run was 20 miles. I did 7 runs of 14 miles or longer.
My longest swim was 4200 yards. I did 7 swims of 3000 yards or longer.
I participated in 4 triathlons during my training: Blue Lake Sprint, Hagg Lake Olympic, Lake Stevens 70.3, and the Aluminum Man Olympic.
Besides the triathlons, I did 9 Open Water Swims.
I ran one running race, the Timberline Trail Half Marathon, where I won my age group!
That's it for my quickie update. I'll be back to recap this second taper week and then again next week to post my goals (spoiler alert: FINISH) and final thoughts and stuff. I'll also post the tracking info and all that. My race number was posted a few days ago and it is #2252. Yay! This is really happening!!!!
Thanks for reading. :) Have a great weekend!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Sunday, November 08, 2009
Supertaper
I was going to go with Super Slacker but that seemed harsh. I truly believe in the "less is more" mantra of tapering so I guess I've done nothing wrong. This week was supposed to be a reduction in training volume and I came in pretty far under that goal. Whatevs!
I was actually doing fine through the week but this weekend a big cold rainstorm smacked the Northwest and ruined my long run and long ride. I could have been more prepared for the weather but it's been really unpredictable lately and I honestly thought I was going to be ok. Turns out I had to call Zach and have him come pick me up half way through my long run (meaning I was as far as possible from home) because the temperature dropped a good 5 degrees and the rain was coming down in buckets and horizontally. Zach actually had to avoid some flooded out sections of road to reach me. Yikes. I've NEVER called it quits during a long run in 5 years of running, and believe me I've had some awful runs. So this says something about the weather! I was going to finish the run up on the treadmill but I was shivering so bad and figured, F it, I'm tapering anyway. I took a long hot shower and Zach made pumpkin pancakes and we snuggled on the couch and watched the Godfather. Then we went to a friend's for dinner and then to Sarah's fabulous karaoke birthday fest where I took some ownership of a little Stevie Wonder, Bryan Adams, and Janis Joplin. What fun!
Today (Sunday) it was weirdly cloudy and I took the "Heavy rain at times" prediction seriously and just avoided riding outside altogether. It was supposed to be a 3 hour ride and I managed 1 1/2 hours on the trainer (watching Godfather II). Zach and I had a wonderful lazy Sunday for the most part and it was awesome.
So this weekend was cut WAY short, but I really don't think it matters. The important thing is that I feel good. I'm relaxed and positive and ready. I've got all my lists in order and all the details ironed out and there's very little left to do before we leave for Arizona.
Also the 15 day weather forecast on Accuweather.com officially reaches my race day of November 22 and it looks perfect (starting out at a low of 49 and reaching a high of 74). It will certainly change a lot in the next couple of weeks but so far, so good.
Have I mentioned that the day I participate in Ironman Arizona will also mark the 12th anniversary of my first date with Zach? That's right. On November 22, 1997 we went to see Starship Troopers together in Helena, MT. He held my hand in the movie and we had our first kiss in the car after). The rest is history! Awwwwww.
So here is my pathetic/awesome taper week:
Monday: rest
Tuesday: also rest
Wednesday: Swim
4100 yards/1:30
I swam 4000 yards (actually 4050 because I miscounted, but figured it out later by my watch splits) straight. Meaning I didn't stop swimming for nearly an hour and a half. I adjusted my goggles while treading water and I didn't do any other strokes besides freestyle. This was to get a good prediction time for my IM swim and I'm really glad I did it. I think I'll be able to do the swim in about 1:35:00 which is a little slower than I would have guessed, but that's fine. A couple minutes on a day like that is nothing.
Wednesday: Bike
23.8 miles/1:28:50/16.0 MPH
Springwater out and back x 3 on a windy day
Wednesday: Run
5.0 miles/41:15/8:15 average pace
Where did that come from? It felt very easy and I was a little confused. My last mile was 7:48. Awesome but weird.
Thursday: Bike
1:35/trainer
Friday: Run
6.5 miles/58:23/8:59 average pace
Zach rode along with me on his mountain bike
Friday: Swim
2000 yards/45:00
Easy swim at the gym
Saturday: Run
9.68 miles/1:30:42/9:22 average pace
Long run cut short by freezing cold rainstorm.
Sunday: Bike
1:30/trainer
Less is more. Less is more. Less is more.
totals for taper week 1
swim: 2:15 (6100 yards)
bike: 4:35 (24 miles and 3 hours on the trainer)
run: 3:10 (21.18 miles)
total training volume: 10:00
2 weeks to Ironman Arizona!!!!
I was actually doing fine through the week but this weekend a big cold rainstorm smacked the Northwest and ruined my long run and long ride. I could have been more prepared for the weather but it's been really unpredictable lately and I honestly thought I was going to be ok. Turns out I had to call Zach and have him come pick me up half way through my long run (meaning I was as far as possible from home) because the temperature dropped a good 5 degrees and the rain was coming down in buckets and horizontally. Zach actually had to avoid some flooded out sections of road to reach me. Yikes. I've NEVER called it quits during a long run in 5 years of running, and believe me I've had some awful runs. So this says something about the weather! I was going to finish the run up on the treadmill but I was shivering so bad and figured, F it, I'm tapering anyway. I took a long hot shower and Zach made pumpkin pancakes and we snuggled on the couch and watched the Godfather. Then we went to a friend's for dinner and then to Sarah's fabulous karaoke birthday fest where I took some ownership of a little Stevie Wonder, Bryan Adams, and Janis Joplin. What fun!
Today (Sunday) it was weirdly cloudy and I took the "Heavy rain at times" prediction seriously and just avoided riding outside altogether. It was supposed to be a 3 hour ride and I managed 1 1/2 hours on the trainer (watching Godfather II). Zach and I had a wonderful lazy Sunday for the most part and it was awesome.
So this weekend was cut WAY short, but I really don't think it matters. The important thing is that I feel good. I'm relaxed and positive and ready. I've got all my lists in order and all the details ironed out and there's very little left to do before we leave for Arizona.
Also the 15 day weather forecast on Accuweather.com officially reaches my race day of November 22 and it looks perfect (starting out at a low of 49 and reaching a high of 74). It will certainly change a lot in the next couple of weeks but so far, so good.
Have I mentioned that the day I participate in Ironman Arizona will also mark the 12th anniversary of my first date with Zach? That's right. On November 22, 1997 we went to see Starship Troopers together in Helena, MT. He held my hand in the movie and we had our first kiss in the car after). The rest is history! Awwwwww.
So here is my pathetic/awesome taper week:
Monday: rest
Tuesday: also rest
Wednesday: Swim
4100 yards/1:30
I swam 4000 yards (actually 4050 because I miscounted, but figured it out later by my watch splits) straight. Meaning I didn't stop swimming for nearly an hour and a half. I adjusted my goggles while treading water and I didn't do any other strokes besides freestyle. This was to get a good prediction time for my IM swim and I'm really glad I did it. I think I'll be able to do the swim in about 1:35:00 which is a little slower than I would have guessed, but that's fine. A couple minutes on a day like that is nothing.
Wednesday: Bike
23.8 miles/1:28:50/16.0 MPH
Springwater out and back x 3 on a windy day
Wednesday: Run
5.0 miles/41:15/8:15 average pace
Where did that come from? It felt very easy and I was a little confused. My last mile was 7:48. Awesome but weird.
Thursday: Bike
1:35/trainer
Friday: Run
6.5 miles/58:23/8:59 average pace
Zach rode along with me on his mountain bike
Friday: Swim
2000 yards/45:00
Easy swim at the gym
Saturday: Run
9.68 miles/1:30:42/9:22 average pace
Long run cut short by freezing cold rainstorm.
Sunday: Bike
1:30/trainer
Less is more. Less is more. Less is more.
totals for taper week 1
swim: 2:15 (6100 yards)
bike: 4:35 (24 miles and 3 hours on the trainer)
run: 3:10 (21.18 miles)
total training volume: 10:00
2 weeks to Ironman Arizona!!!!
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