Ironman Week 24

6/11-6/17

Greetings from Coeur d'Alene! I have so much to say, from my race plan and goals to reflecting on everything that got me to this point. But that will have to wait for a later post. I'm going to keep this brief because it's overdue, and it's race week - I've got bigger things on my mind than a training recap! This was basically my final week of real training. The taper was in full effect, leaving me surprisingly tired, but more than anything, anxious that the race was so close. A fellow blogger and multiple IM finisher wisely told me that so many people try to fight the taper, but it's so important for both your body and mind. In hindsight, I see that she was absolutely right. I managed to complete the majority of the workouts, and once again I was able to fit in a few fun things with my extra time. Even with a big cutback on volume, I still had over 7 hours of training. I guess it's all about perspective, right?

Monday
rest

Tuesday
pm: swim / 2,820 yds / 1:00
The pump at the pool I usually swim at broke over the weekend, so I had to find another way to get my swim workout in. Fortunately one of the city pools offers lap swim over the summer, and their hours fit with my schedule. I headed over there in the late afternoon and had no problem snagging a lane. I started my workout, but as I got to the timed sets, I realized I was going much faster than prescribed. I figured maybe I was just having a good day and continued on. But after 10 minutes I got to thinking, and I decided to ask the lifeguard how long the pool was. Turns out it's short - 23.5 yards to be exact! I couldn't help but laugh at myself : ) I still estimated that I was hitting my paces, but I had to adjust the distance, so what should have been a 3,000 yard workout was a mere 2,820!

• warm-up:
• 4x [200 easy, RI = 20"; 4x25 drill, RI = 5"]
• main:
• 4x200 pull @1:40 on 3:40
• 6x100 @1:40 on 1:50
• 4x25 sprint on 1:00
• cool-down:
• 300

 home of the 23.5 yard pool!

 

pm: run / 4.2 mi / 0:31 / avg 7:28
I went straight to track from the pool where we had a killer workout waiting for us. I thought it might be an easier workout with our race coming up, but it was pretty tough: 2x800 (3:38, 3:40), 1x1600 (7:21), and 5x400 (1:52, 1:49, 1:49, 1:47, 1:47) at 5k pace. I don't really know what that pace is for me, as I'm not in 5k-PR shape, but I aimed for about 7:30. I was under on all of them, and was really pleased with how I did, especially on another warm day!

Wednesday
pm: bike / 26.5 mi / 1:30 / avg 17.6 mph
For some reason I didn't start this workout til late afternoon when it was way too warm. I was supposed to do a 10 minute transition run after, but I was meeting a friend for a swim and just didn't have time.

pm: swim / 2,500 yds / 0:45
Since the pump at the pool was still not fixed our usual Thursday evening MTC swim was canceled, so I made plans with a friend to meet for an open water swim instead. Since it was so hot the water actually felt amazing, and overall we had a really good swim. We hung out for a while after and just talked about the upcoming race (it will be the first Ironman for both of us), and it was refreshing to know that someone else was just as nervous/excited/anxious/terrified as I was.

gorgeous day at the lake!

 

Thursday
rest
I actually had an hour ride on deck, but just couldn't get myself to do it. It had been a long and stressful week, and I just felt like I needed an extra rest day. When I got to work that morning I discovered that my coworker had made a little something in honor of my upcoming race:

hahaha, made my day!

Friday
rest

Saturday
am: run / 6.4 mi / 1:00 / avg 9:22
It was so weird for my "long" run to be just an hour, but I appreciated the extra sleep it gave me : ) Nothing too exciting, except that when I started at 8am it was already in the 70s. The day went on to reach a humid 106 degrees, the hottest day in Sacramento so far this year. Since I had the evening free we hit up Pops in the Park again, although the heat was absolutely sweltering so we escaped to the movie theaters to catch the new Wes Anderson movie, Moonrise Kingdom. Totally quirky, but a really great film.

Sunday
am: bike / 36 mi / 2:00 / avg 18 mph
My last long ride of training called for 2.5 hours, but I decided to cut it back to 2. The plan said to ride at a reasonable race pace effort, but since I was riding on a flat bike trail and CdA is a pretty hilly course, this was a little difficult to execute. I tried to go more on effort, and since I ended up feeling pretty good I let myself push a little more and ended up with an average speed that was much faster than usual.

pm: swim / 1,600 yds / 0:30
After work I headed back to Lake Natoma for my second open water swim of the week. This one was kept nice and short since I had dinner plans to celebrate Father's Day. I probably don't say it enough, but I'm extremely lucky to have a dad who not only loves me, but also has always been supportive of these crazy things I get myself into. I know he's my biggest fan, and I'm forever grateful.

Totals

swim: 5,320 yards

bike: 62.5 miles

run: 10.6 miles

other: 0 hours

total time: 7.2 hours