IRONMAN TRAINING 2021

Week beginning Sunday, August 15, 2021

6 weeks until IRONMAN Canada.

WEEKLY GOAL

Important Bike Week.

SUMMARY

I feel I was ON THE EDGE

Smashed out my biggest Sunday to Saturday week with over 19 hours of training. For that, I am estatic, grateful, stoked.

I woke on Saturday to learn that the unvacinated have put Ironman Canada 2021 in real jeopardy. Infuriated, incensed and apoplectic is how I ended the week.

SUNDAY AUG 15 ☀️

Sleep 3 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 4 | Soreness 3
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PLANNED WORKOUT

Ride 4:30++ I'd rather you ride 4:45 than 4:15. Over 5 hours is probably a bit too much.

GOALS

• Steady effort all ride.
• Start your fueling early. Stay consistent.
• Stop to refill bottles earlier rather than later.
• Get in a few steady/longer climbs

NOTES

Moving Time: 290 minutes   Distance: 125 km

Left home about 45 minutes after a big blueberry pancake breakfast.

The weather was near perfect with a building easterly that gave me a push out to Langford. There was a stop for a quick bio-break at before Goldstream Park and the ride up the Malahat. Pace and effort were on point as it was my usual hour to the site of the old Dutch Latch.

This morning I continued past the summit and took the highway right into Mill Bay. From there, I followed Telegraph Road to Cherry Point. That easterly was really starting to blow as there were whitecaps on the ocean. I was a past the 2 hour mark and started making my way up to Shawnigan Lake and the push back south.

I was feeling good through the third hour, winching myself up the south end of Shawnigan. I stopped at the entrance to the Goldstream Heights subdivision for another quick pit stop. I contemplated heading up the subdivision but the way the wind was blowing, I decided to head back to VIctoria and put the extra mileage on once back in town.

CALORIC CONSUMPTION

3 bottles with 100g of lemonade mix, 2 Maurten gels (one caffeinated, one regular), a packet of Reboost Maple Syrup (100 calories) and ~200 calories of Maynards (14 pieces). I had a packet of Maurten 320 crystals with me but while stopped for water at Masons Beach, I spilled an unknown quantity on the ground.

So ~1700 calories accounted for. Interestingly, my Garmin bike computer called this ride a 1700 calorie ride.

MORE NOTES

I wore my Castelli tri-suit. It worked even though it still feels long in the body. Undercarriage felt like it should after a 5 hour ride but nothing chafed.

I wore my Rudy Project Wingspan. Who knows if it worked (tail sits 3.5 inches above my back) but I had no neck issues on the bike. Air moving between the ear covers and my head is noisy.

I ran with my tri-spoke race wheels because it has the 12-28 cassette on the rear wheel. It was interesting to feel the difference in how it catches the wind. I feel the pressure of a passing vehicle just before being passed. I could almost tell the difference of the shape of the car/truck before it comes into my peripheral view.

Getting home, I felt pretty good. Good enough that if I had to go for a jog, could I? Absolutely.

MONDAY AUG 16 ☁️

Sleep 4 | Fatigue 5 | Stress 4 | Soreness 4
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PLANNED WORKOUT

Easy spin to/from pool. (Short)

5:30am: Swim 2900: 3x (100 easy free. Rest as needed, 2x 50 w/ 6x sighting. Rest as needed) 5 rounds (100 w/ buoy/easy r :20, 100 swim relaxed w/ final 25 Strong r :20, 100 steady kick as 25 steady/25 strong r :30) 700 continuous/steady w/ your best form. This is NOT a race. But you should be pretty darn focused on your form. This is the only part of the swim that should be even a little challenging. 2x 50 easy to cool down.

NOTES

Total Time: 80 minutes   Swim: 2600m

Spin to and from the pool proved to be hard conversation with my quads.

Even in the dark, it was warm effort to be in summer kit for the ride; 15°C with a warm westerly blowing.

Once at the pool, I lost a bit of time with the chit-chat that I am going to have to eliminate if I am going to get ~3000m in during the time available.

Once in the water, I felt pretty good however, I cut the last of the 5 rounds (300m) short knowing that I needed to get the 700m effort in. That was completed in 13:48, average pace of 1:57/100m. I thought I was moving better that that through the water but if I look back through my history in Garmin, I was on track to beat my 750m PR so...

Who knows?

TUESDAY AUG 17 🌤

Sleep 2 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 4 | Soreness 3
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PLANNED WORKOUT

Spin 60 minutes. Any bike. EASY. Avoid climbs

Run 30 minutes. Flat route. EASY. Easy is in ALL CAPS for a reason. You normally do this just fine. But now is the time to reiterate this point. As Sunday is a big day. And so is Wednesday.

NOTES

Total Time: 62 minutes   Distance: 25 km

I woke feeling more rested this morning. Some light stretching revealed some tight hip flexors.

For the ride, I stuck mostly to the bike paths for a standard loop of Colwood, Esquimalt and DT.

After returning home and getting into some run kit, my phone blew up with messages from work. I ended up back on the keyboard through 2130 on an emergency issue. After that, I took my split shorts off, had a shower and went to bed.

WEDNESDAY AUG 18 ⛅️

Sleep 3 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 4 | Soreness 4
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PLANNED WORKOUT

Ride 2:30 on TT bike. I'd like you to get in OVER 2500 feet of total vertical.

I think riding to Willis Point is your best bet. And the climb is the most similar to your races. 4-5x Willis. No need to go to the back side! No need to do the final steep pitch either! Steady riding. Riding like you need to get somewhere, but NOT like your hard efforts. This is about amassing a large amount of climbing in one ride.

Fuel like a race. Hydrate like a race. Because......

Run 60 minutes. Flat route. Best breathing/form you have. Easy to "steady". Aka: Let the run come to you. And don't hold back if you find a flow. Conversely, if you do NOT find a flow. Stay calm, and find out what works on the day.

Again, fuel like a race, hydrate like a race

NOTES

Total Time: 210 minutes   Vertical: 3,070 feet

Worked didn't end at noon, I was pushed through 1430 and if I didn't put my foot down, I'd still be on the keyboard.

Despite work's intrusion, I got the scheduled work done and judging by how the run went, I am thinking today's training was nailed.

I set off and mostly followed a ride I did on August 2, 2020. The route took me to the back side of Willis Point, over Ross Durrance then up and over the Bear Mountain subdivision.

So I hit my elevation goal but I did not do it on the TT bike. I noticed some play in its headset before heading out. Instead of losing time that I didn't have adjusting a proprietary headset, I jumped on my road bike and went to work.

Calories consumed included ~280 calories of Maynards, a bottle of caffeinated Maurten 320 and I got through half a bottle of my lemonade mix (~150 calories); estimating 300 calories per hour during the ride.

There was a time climbing up the back side of Willis Point Road that required some "esophageal dexterity" (heart rate was north of 155 at the time) but other than that, I put down calories when I could throughout the ride.

I felt pretty good in general on the bike this afternoon. I was feeling it on the last push up and out of the Bear Mountain Village though.

Once home, I changed into my run kit, grabbed my unfinished bottle of lemonade and a Maurten gel and headed out for the run. I stayed focused for the entire run and found a real happy spot on the back half of run. That might have been the gel that I started at the 20 minute mark.

I was effectively running my pre-covid marathon pace without much effort for the entire hour.

I bit of a twinge in my left hamstring but it was brief.

THURSDAY AUG 19 ⛅️

Sleep 4 | Fatigue 3 | Stress 5 | Soreness 2
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PLANNED WORKOUT

5:30am: Swim 2800
4 rounds (50 easy free, 50 Fist drill, 50 steady kick. Rest as needed) 10x 100 aerobic/steady/form focused. Trying to keep a steady turnover. R :15 between each. 2x 50 EASY. Rest as needed. 4x 250 w/ buoy w/ consistent turnover and high focus. A bit more pep in the stroke than the 100's. R 1:00 after each. 2x 50 easy to cool down

NOTES

Total Time: 80 minutes   Swim: 2800

Slow to get out the door this morning and although I had a few traffic lights turn in my favour, it was ~8 minute ride to the pool.

Once in the pool, I started slow(er) for the warm up set and then settled into a groove for the 10x100 and 4x250 sets. Some of the rest periods were shortened to fit in the full workout.

FRIDAY AUG 20 ⛅️

Sleep 3 | Fatigue 5 | Stress 4 | Soreness 4
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PLANNED WORKOUT

Run 60 minutes. Hilly route. Easy effort. Great day to stretch well.

NOTES

Total Time: 60 minutes   Distance: 9.6 km

Feeling the work put in on Wednesday today, mostly in the legs.

I got a project completed at work (a bit of work stress relief) and headed out for the run before dinner. It was a trip up and over Craigflower Hill and when I got to the bottom near Admirals Road, I turned around and went back up. Rinse, repeats to make 4 "bumps" in the run's elevation profile in Strava before heading for home.

With a measured 145m of elevation gain, this wasn't my "hilliest" route but I think it was the right amount of stimulus given the stiffness in my legs today.

SATURDAY AUG 21 ☁️

Sleep 3 | Fatigue 4 | Stress 5 | Soreness 3
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PLANNED WORKOUT

Ride 5:00-5:15 on TT bike. Some solid climbing. Generally speaking, goal is to cover ground efficiently. Eating early, eating often. Stopping to refuel/fill bottles as often as needed.

Off the bike: Run 20 minutes. Gut check. Leg check.

NOTES

Total Time: 320 minutes OTB Pace: 5:17/km

I could scream! Fucking people.

Both the entitled and the stupid, non-vaccinated population have now shut down the entire Interior Heath Region.

Too early for an official word from the City of Penticton or IRONMAN but I am not naive. This is likely the end for IRONMAN Canada 2021.

Just like on Sunday, I headed back up the Malahat to ride the South Cowichan Valley. Nearly the same route except I included Bamberton and replaced Cherry Point Road with Kingbourne Road. New PR for Total Accent on the bike at 1609m too; cool.

3 Bottles of lemonade (90g each), 300 calories of Maynards and 2 caffinated Maurten gels for just ~1100 calories.

I had energy to run well off the bike. I ran in the trisuit too, it was fine.