SOCIALLY PROFILED
IRONMAN TRAINING 2021
Week beginning Sunday, May 9, 2021
20 weeks until IRONMAN Canada.
WEEKLY GOAL
Control what I can and if I have to get training done before work, then get it done.
SUMMARY
I feel I like was MANAGING THE EDGE
On Tuesday, I missed an 80 minute quality session on the bike but apart from that, I was able to get almost 12 hours of training this week.
The highlight of the week was that I received my first shot of the Moderna vaccine on Thursday and the training highlight came with a 96 km ride to Shawnigan Lake on my road bike. I followed that up with a solid mile run immediately after.
Summer weather is finally here!
The bathroom renovation is coming along too.
SUNDAY MAY 9 🌤
Sleep 3 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 4 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Run 90 minutes. Easy effort. Stay well fueled. Rolling terrain. Panama Flats, Layritz, Elk Lake, Thetis all work.
NOTES
Total Time: 80 minutes Distance: 13 km
Evening lap of Elk Lake.
Couple of brief moments of feeling good but mostly a slog.
Left the park to extend the length of the run knowing that when I get back to my vehicle, the temptation to pack it in would be too great. Long hill up Elk Lake Drive.
Piriformis tired by the ninth kilometre and started to get more irritated by the time I reached the rowing club.
MONDAY MAY 10 ☀️
Sleep 3 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 4 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
5:30am: Swim 2300: 3 rounds (100 easy free, 100 moderate effort w/ buoy r :20 after each) 6x 200 as 20 meters strong/30 meters relaxed-smooth. r :45. Odds: Swim, Evens: w/ buoy. 4 rounds (50 as 25 backstroke/25 free-easy, 50 as 25 FAST/25 EASY r :20) 100 easy to cool down.
10 minute easy bike commute to the pool.
30 minute easy bike commute home. Not too much longer. Big day on Tuesday.
NOTES
Total Time: 95 minutes Swim: 2300m
It was cooler this morning or at least it feel cooler riding after a heavy dew last night.
A couple of things in the pool this morning.
First, the water felt heavy, or more specifically, my arms felt heavy, or even more specifically...
my biceps felt heavy.
This was a good workout because, just like the run yesterday, I had to work through some fatigue.
Second, backstroke? That was new. My watch could not figure out that pattern and creditted me for more than I swam on those lengths.
Before I left the pool for the 30 minute ride, I spent 38 minutes on a conference call from work.
With the call over, I pedalled through Cook Street Village to loop the last bit of Dallas Road before getting on a bike path to home. Easy effort is really the only effort available to me this morning.
This morning's bike of choice was my road bike. This morning's 1970's song looping in my head:
No Sugar Tonight/New Mother Nature
by The Guess Who
TUESDAY MAY 11 ☀️
Sleep 3 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 6 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Ride 80 minutes. Spin 25-30 minutes easy (Maybe a bit extra on the way out vs back home). (Towards Mill hill) 5x 3:00 #1: Steady climbing to warm up. #2-5 @ a touch easier than 20k effort, 2-3 minutes easy after each. 20-25 minutes easy riding to cool down.
Run 30 minutes easy. This can be off the bike, but it can also be to start/end the day.
NOTES
Total Time: 31 minutes
What a glorious morning for a short run; birds chirping, 14°C and no wind. I jogged to the centre of the Selkirk Trestle and pretty much just made this activity "diaphramic breathing practice". I wore my old Nike Zoomfly3 shoes just for fun; the same pair that I PR'd the 10K, marathon and used in an impromtu sprint triathlon last August. They still feel great!
Selkirk Out and Back
RIDE NOTES
The ride did not happen, life did.
What started as a good day boiled over with over; commitments from work, the bathroom renovation and not just with me but my sweetheart is going through this too.
Could I have ridden? Yes.
Should I have ridden? I think this was an afternoon and evening that needed engery directed towards us. There will be plenty of oppertunities to ride in the next coming months.
WEDNESDAY MAY 12
Sleep 2 | Fatigue 2 | Stress 6 | Soreness 2
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Day 1 routine AND 20 minute mobility.
Run 60 minutes. A few hills, but nothing too steep. Similar terrain to Sunday's run
NOTES
Total Time: 65 minutes Distance: 10.25 km
I was out running errands and made that a reason to commute to the Cedar Hill Rec Centre for a chance to run on the cedar chip trail and get some hills in too. I looked up my lap times from a previous time I ran here (2019?) and I was getting around the golf course in a little over 23 minutes.
I walked the first hill before hitting the start button on my watch and then settled in for the next hour or so, just enjoying the perfect weather.
Emotionally, this run was very much needed.
Cedar Hill Golf Course Trail
2.75 Loops at roughly 22 and a half minutes per loop
THURSDAY MAY 13
Sleep 3 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 3 | Soreness 2
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
Vaccine Appointment scheduled for 1030 @Archie Browning Arena
PLANNED WORKOUT
5:30am: Swim 2100: 3 rounds (50 easy free, 50 as 25 fist/25 free, 50 fist drill, 50 build to strong. r :15 after each) 8 rounds (100 @ a pace you could hold for about 15 minutes r :30, 50 Easy/relaxed r :30) 200 @ a pace you could hold for about 15 minutes. 2x 50 EASY to cool down.
Ride 10 minutes easy to the pool.
Long commute home. 60 minutes easy spinning.
NOTES
Total Time: 120 minutes Swim: 2100m
Despite hitting 2 brief red lights, I was sub 9-minutes on the commute to the pool this morning. I was on my road bike
Once in the water, I had a good workout. The warmup was in my familiar "continous lane" but the Thursday crowd isn't the Wednesday crowd; to avoid the lane congestion, I moved to the "fast lane" for the main set.
Beautiful morning for an hour's bike ride after the pool. I rode the waterfront from Beacon Hill Park through The Uplands before turning for home at Camoson College.
Left shoulder is very sore. 💉
FRIDAY MAY 14 ☀️
Sleep 3 | Fatigue 2 | Stress 3 | Soreness 5
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Day 2 TAC Routine.
Run 40 minutes. Flat route. EASY effort.
NOTES
Total Time: 42 minutes Distance: 7 km
I didn't sleep that well last night because of some congestion from sawdust (renovation) and a really sore shoulder from the inoculation. Apart from that, I feel pretty good to start the day. Despite that however, a long running, customer support ticket from hell made for another long, stressful day at work.
Once work was over, I headed to the garage to play "bike mechanic" and see if I could ready my TT bike for a hill or two tomorrow. Lots of futzing moving gears around on my bikes was to no avail. I'll need to rethink how I'll get a 30 tooth cassette to work with a derailleur designed to only to reach a 28 tooth gear.
I started the run after dinner and right as the sun dipped below the mountains. My left shoulder was sore, my ankles were a bit tight but when the bike path reached Quadra Street, I turned the flat route into a rolling route.
It could have just been a feeling to make it home before the end of twilight, but the longer I was running, the stronger I felt.
SATURDAY MAY 15 ☀️
Sleep 2 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 2 | Soreness 3
Rate on an scale 1-7 1=best 7=worst +5 is a warning
PLANNED WORKOUT
Day 1 TAC Routine.
Ride 3:30-4:00 on road or TT bike. Longer climbing. aka: Malahat. Stay hydrated. Stay well fueled. Eat early and often. You have an all clear to stop to pee, stop to fill bottles, grab extra food, take photos. Steady effort. Covering the distance efficiently. But hopefully you'll still have some energy left in the tank at the end.
Off the bike. Put on your shoes.... run around the block. (Yes, I'm serious) 2 minute jog. How nervous does that make you? How is the stomach? Anything cramping?
NOTES
Total Time: 264 minutes Ride: 96.66 km
Really good sleep last night and my left shoulder is noticeably less sore.
Second swim secured for the 29th. Time to get some saddle time...
I must have been excited to get out the door because before I got too far down the road, I realized that I forgot my mini-pump.
Long ride, take two...
I felt good, really good rolling up to Langford. I stopped for a bio-break at 38 minutes, just before reaching Goldstream Park. With that out of the way, it was time to get to work.
The traffic was heavy going up Tunnel Hill but it wasn't that big of a deal; the stones and debris on the shoulder definitely were. My effort up the first climb was steady and I could gauge the grade by my heart-rate. It got as steep as 149 BPM.
At the foot of the highway's second climb, I noticed that I was reeling in another roadie. Just before I caught him, he turned left, off the highway onto Shawnigan Lake Road.
My original plan was to take that same route but I was feeling strong and decided to continue up and over the Malahat. I had a short stop at the top take a picture before the long descent.
Beautiful warm and sunny day for a ride over "the hat".
At the Bamberton exit, I left the highway and rode the shoreline into Mill Bay.
I knew that the road from Mill Bay up to Shawnigan Lake was going to be a series of short punchy climbs so I set about getting the work in. Once in the village, I saw that roadie again; this time on his way south.
A little over two hours in, I had two bottles downed. I stopped at Masons Store to buy a bottle of Gatorade and a can of Monster Energy Drink. I still had half my of the Maynards Peach Fuzz that I had packed with me.
I took Renfrew Road to West Shawnigan Road and drank from the Monster bottle. The roads here are rough and there is next to no shoulder but the traffic was friendly and the scenery amazing. Turning on to Shawingan Road however, was a different experience.
I really underestimated the climb out of the south end of Shawnigan. Come to think of it, I don't think I ever pedalled it before; it is certainly different than driving in a car. Despite drinking a highly caffeinated beverage and still eating candy, this section was the hardest of the day.
The shoulder of the highway going south seemed to be cleaner than the northbound side. At the top of Tunnel Hill, the cops had a speed trap set up and 3 cars pulled over, all with Alberta licence plates. I couldn't help but smile and say "thank you" to an officer as I pedalled through.
The same bush that I visited on the way out of town, received another pit stop. I had zero urge to go but I felt "relieved" that I did.
To cap off a fun ride, there was some soft pedalling on downhill sections of The Galloping Goose and some harder efforts just because (the hospital hill, switch bridge).
Case in point:
Strava Segment: Hospital Hills South
Distance: 0.87 km Today: 1:55
Personal Record: 1:54 — 2020-03-29
Flying dismount and into my Nikes, I didn't waste any time getting on to the run. The jelly in my legs lasted maybe 4 minutes and by the fifth minute, I was heading up the short rise of Culduthel Road heading for home. I averaged 5:05/km for a mile off the bike and am feeling incredibly happy with that.
Malahat - West Shawnigan Ride
Caloric Intake on the Bike
| Maynards Peach Fuzz (145g) | 507 |
| Country Time Lemonade Mix (1.5 litres) | 420 |
| Gatorade (210ml) | 53 |
| Monster Energy (473ml) | 200 |
| Total Calories: | 1,180 |
Questions the run answered
Was I nervous? Not at all.
How is the stomach? Good to go, zero GI.
Anything cramping? No
Better question could be, how long could I have comfortably held 8:30/mile pace?
5km? Yes, for sure.
10km? Is there money or ego on the line?
Beyond 10km? Let's not get crazy.
This was a really solid day.