Good weekend

Well, it looks like I'm back on track. Friday I was able to get in a 4000 yard swim and it felt pretty good. After a 7 mile run Saturday morning, which was one of my better runs in the last couple months, I was did an 80 mile ride on Sunday and followed that up with a 2000 yard swim and 5 mile run yesterday. I'll do a 30 mile ride today and try to get in an 18 mile run tomorrow morning.

I'll report back on how everything goes with the run before my 100 mile ride this weekend.

Bump in the road

So I went out for my 18 mile run last Thursday, which was going to a be 2 loops of an out and back. The first 4.5 miles were a little rough but that has been the trend lately with my long runs and I figured I'd start feeling better soon. It didn't happen. In fact, the last 1/2 mile of the first loop I ended up walking. I was just completely dead. I was a little worried it was the 112 mile ride on Sunday or the heat/humidity or just a lack of fitness. But even still, I should have been able to push through more than 9 miles. But my question was answered later that evening when I started getting a sore throat and woke up Friday morning with a full blown cold/upper respiratory infection. Beth had been sick the week before and I was hoping to get by without catching it but lowering my resistance with the long ride on Sunday was probably my downfall.

My first plan was to take the weekend off and get back to it Monday. I ended up taking Friday and Saturday off and felt a little better Sunday so I went out and did a 32 mile ride which felt pretty good. Woke up Monday feeling a little groggy and went for a 5 mile run. Most possibly the worst 5 mile run of my life. Was just wiped out. Took Tuesday off still not feeling good and coughing a lot. Wednesday I woke up and felt a little better so I went for a swim, just to clear my head. Swam 2000 yards and felt very good. Decided to push things and did a 30 mile ride at lunch and felt great. So Thursday I did a 7 mile run in the morning and 2000 yards at lunch.

Hopefully it was just a bump in the road in my training. It's just over 5 weeks before race day and 2+ weeks until I begin my taper. I still want to get in 2 4000 yard swims, an 80 and 100 mile ride and 2 18 mile runs. We had a cool front move in this week which hopefully will make recovery a little quicker from the long workouts. On a positive note, with the most time off I've had in 5 months, I felt very fresh on my workouts this week.

We have a full weekend this weekend with baseball, baby showers, etc, but I'm hoping to get in an 80 mile ride Sunday and maybe a 4000 yard swim Saturday and then trying to get in an 18 miler next Wednesday or Thursday. It's crunch time and I expect to be exhausted by the end of the next 2 weeks. But that's what the taper is for!!

Another roller coaster

Did the 112 mile ride in Clermont this Sunday. It was another roller coaster for me. I was ready to call it a day at the 30 mile mark, just felt wiped out for some reason. By the 60 mile mark, I was feeling good and actually getting stronger. It was a hilly ride with 8000 feet of climbing. See the picture of Sugarloaf 'mountain'. It was also very hot, starting out about 82 and hitting 97 by the time we finished.

I felt like I could have run afterwards but because of the heat, and the 1.5 hour drive home, I didn't do it. But, considering the race will be almost completely flat, should be cooler and I should be more rested, I have confidence I can do this thing. The 18 mile run tomorrow will go further to answer that question. I will update how it goes.

51 days to go!!!

We're just about at the 50 day mark. This past week has been a mixture of things. After the long workouts last weekend, I needed a day off last Thursday. Actually, I didn't schedule a day off, it just happened. The refrigerator stopped working and I had to get it fixed so I missed the lunch workout. When I went to get a swim in Thursday night, there was a high school swim meet going on. But, after 21 straight days, I probably needed a day off. It didn't seem to help much as my 7 mile run Friday morning was tough, mostly because of the heat and humidity. Then my 70 mile ride Saturday started off great by the last 15 miles or so were a struggle. Got in another 7 mile run Sunday morning before baseball games and followed that up with a 4000 yard swim Monday. That is my longest swim ever!! It went pretty good. Hit a rough patch about 2500 yards but finished very strong.

Did a 30 mile ride in terrible 30 mph winds yesterday and this evening, I'm going to run 12. Besides the 4000 yard swim Monday, the key workout this week is the 112 mile bike on Sunday in Clermont covering the Great Floridian iron course. It will be fully supported and I'll actually ride wtih others for the first time in months. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. I'll try to update Sunday or Monday with how the ride went.

August goes and September arrives

August is in the books!! Totals for the month: 22800 yards swimming, 696 miles biking and 92 miles running. Running and swimming sessions a little low but made up for it with some longer quality workouts. Only took 2 days off during the month and 1 of those was August 1st. Haven't had a day off since August 13th.

Highlights for the month include 4 3000+ yard swims, a 75, 2 80 and a 90 mile bike and a 15 mile run. Total time for the month was 63:30+

The last 4 days have seen my longest workouts for each of the 3 disciplines since I started ironman training. Saturday I did a 90 mile bike ride followed by an easy 2000 yard swim on Sunday. Monday(Labor Day) I did a 16 mile run and then a 3500 yard swim yesterday.

Lately, I have been recovering well from the workouts and acclimating a bit to the heat. Cloud cover has helped with some of the long runs and rides It seems the heat is my biggest limiter right now, which hopefully means with cooler weather in late October and race day, it will feel a little easier.

We're under 60 days until race now and 'black September' looks to be quite daunting. With baseball games just about every Saturday and Sunday this month and days getting shorter, it's going to be a challenge pushing the distances even further. But, I intend on getting in several 4000+ yard swims, a 100 and 112 ride ride and 2 18 mile runs.

As we get closer, I'm starting to focus more on details such as nutrition, which so far I've managed pretty well, and timing of the segment. I have some good ideas of what I'm looking at time wise for each segment and hopefully I'll get a better idea as I get through September. Part of this is difficult as I said earlier the heat is my biggest limiter right now and that's something I don't anticipate(knock on wood) for the actual event.