Training Week 12: 3/3/08 - 3/9/08

Planned Training
Monday - 3/3/08:
REST DAY
Tuesday - 3/4/08:
AM - Swim = 1 hr (at noon) done
PM - Bike = 1 hr done
Wednesday - 3/5/08:
AM - none
PM - Swim = 1 hr Master's swim, Bike = 1 hr 30 min trainer ride done
Thursday - 3/6/08:
AM - none
PM - Run = 30 min done
Friday - 3/7/08:
AM - Swim = 1 hr done
PM - Run = 20 min done
Saturday - 3/8/08:
AM - Bike = 1 hr 20 min (MTB Gardner canyon with Liane) done
PM - Race = 10K Sabino Sunset Run by SAR done
Sunday - 3/9/08:
AM - Bike = 6 hr ride w/ Johnny (goal is 100 miles) done

Weekly S/B/R Compliance (based on BT training plan):
Swim = 185 min / 170 min = 109%
Bike = 651 min / 560 min = 116%
Run = 124 min / 95 min = 130%

Total SBR training time for Week #12 = 16 hrs

Monday, 3/3/08 Update:
I haven't updated in awhile, so the following is just going to be a stream of consciousness. I will try to use paragraphs.

Man, am I tired. It probably has to do with last week being a 16 hr training week and going 2 weeks without a rest day. I'm taking today completely off. Training is now like holding down a part-time job on top of everything else. Those 16 hrs are just actual swim, bike, and run times. Not included are driving to the pool, getting everything ready, packing, etc. I have a pretty good system down. I use a bunch of those free cloth bags that come in race goodie bags as my gear bags so most of my swim, bike, run stuff is ready to go in bags. Except the swim stuff that is thrown over the shower door to dry from the previous day's swim. And when you get tired and just ran 2 hrs 30 min on the first hot day of the year (yes, 82°F is currently "hot") and know you've got to get your ass to the pool to do a 40 min swim, sometimes you forget that your towel is still hanging on the shower. Yep, that was my last swim of the week. I thought about going back for my towel, but I already had arrived at the pool. T-shirts make decent towels. Note to self: pack an "emergency" triathlon kit to keep in the car and include an old towel.

Friday was my worst run ever so far. It was long and hot and I really didn't want to be out there. And because it was warmer out, I went through my 20 oz water bottle pretty quick. I ran to a school and noticed the gates were open and there was a drinking fountain. I quietly slipped in between the middle school kids outside doing an art project and filled my bottle at the fountain. I booked out before I was noticed and the cops were called about a sweaty runner trespassing on school grounds. I made it to Tanque Verde, and was once again out of water. I ran into the Circle K and filled my bottle at the water tap in the Coke machine and ran out. Not until I dumped fizzy water on my face did I realize they had the CO2 line hooked up to that water and it was carbonated. Carbonated water combined with salty sweat really stings. Not to mention I couldn't drink it (it tasted horrible). So I continued running, except the bouncing from my run shook the bottle of carbonated water, creating a little bomb in my hip pack. I had to constantly purge the gas from the bottle, which caused the bottle to leak fizzy water everywhere. Did I mention this was the worst run ever?

I went to the TRIFEST conference this weekend, and it was a blast. There were world champions there giving talks to help us all out with our triathlons. I'm really glad that I went because I picked up a ton of awesome tips for Ironman, none of which will be posted here. You'll have to go to TRIFEST next year to get them. ;-) But to be sitting 5 feet away from Mark Allen, Andy Potts, and other national and world champions was awesome. And I only had to pay $99 to do it. I attended several lectures from a sports psychologist about the mental side of racing. Yep, I'm a mental case and needed all the help I could get. I picked up some good tips on tapering for Ironman and what to expect.

Speaking of taper, I only have 3 more hard weeks to go before my 3 week taper starts. Thank goodness. I'm climbing the walls just trying to get through this training and not completely chuck it all by not training in March. It has been a long 12 weeks. The taper will be good and I am SO looking forward to it.

I hopped on the scale out of curiosity on Friday. I've been stuck at 132 lbs for months now, but my body type had changed during that time. Even though the number was the same, all of my clothes were fitting loose. Except Friday I got on the scale and saw 128 lbs. I haven't seen that number in years (possibly since high school). But one thing has tipped me off that I'm converting fat into lean muscle mass. Let's just say one part of the female body is mostly composed of fat, and when you do this type of training, the fat starts to disappear. There's a reason pro triathletes look the way they do, which is the exact opposite of the Victoria Secrets models. I'm swimming in the smallest 2 piece suit that I own now. That suit used to be too small, to the point that I didn't want to be obscene when I wore it. Now the bottom fits great but the top is loose. Oh well.

In January I did a comparison between last year's training totals for the month and this year's totals. Here's the comparison between Feb 2007 and Feb 2008:

February 2007 Training Totals:
Swim = 4hr 01 min 27 sec; 10,500 yds
Bike = 15 hr 55 min 46 sec; 164.42 mi
Run = 5hr 52 min 26 sec; 26.36 mi

February 2008 Training Totals:
Swim = 15 hr 01 min; 39,150 yds
Bike = 30 hr 02 min 27 sec; 372.31 mi
Run = 20 hr 36 min 24 sec; 98.35 mi

Yeah, I don't recommend buying a house, selling a house, and moving while training for an Ironman. Thankfully none of that happened this year. And this year I've become the poster child for "follow the training plan." Pretty amazing how prepared you can feel when you do that.

Thursday, 3/6/08 Update:
Last night I went to Master's swim and barely survived the workout. I'm getting so burned out on training. Swimming is always the first to get burned out on, because I don't particularly like swimming. I'm just trying to take it one day at a time and not bail on the workouts. After last night's swim I needed to do laundry, and wanted to stay up to watch the Project Runway finale. Since I was going to be up late anyways, I figured I might as well get my 1 hr 30 min ride in, and rode the trainer while watching PR. Better than sitting on the couch (I guess).

This weekend I have a lot of workouts planned, and thankfully it is with friends that will keep me motivated. If I make plans to meet up with people to do workouts I'm more likely to do the workout and not bail. I had a "do what you want" ride for 1 hr 20 min on the schedule, which includes mountain biking. Since I'm getting tired of the trainer, I e-mailed my buddy Liane to see if she wanted to hit some trials. She'll be doing the Gardner Canyon MBAA race, so we're going to ride down there this Saturday morning to pre-ride the course and see what it's like. I haven't ridden down there in years so it will be interesting. Here's the course we'll be riding: http://www.mbaa.net/images/stories/08%20gardner%20canyon%20course%20map%20for%20on%20web.jpg Afterwards, we'll do lunch at her place then I'll head home to clean up, feed my doggies, and get ready for the SAR Sunset run at Sabino. It's a 6.4 mile run on an out & back course where the first half is all uphill and the second half is all downhill. I've never done this run before, and the last time I was at Sabino was many, many years ago, so we'll see how it goes.

Sunday I have my long bike for the week. This is the second to last long bike ride before the race. I'm going to start at Cortaro and ride the frontage road from Tucson to Casa Grande and back. It's long and boring, just like the IMAZ course. I'll be riding with Johnny from work, so at least I won't be alone. That's one ride I don't like to do by myself.