Posts tagged triathlon

I have officially decided to extend my rest from 11 days, to the full two weeks.  My knee is achy today, although, that may be the result of the intense deep tissue massage I had yesterday.  My legs, and especially my IT band are pretty bruised.  There were times during the massage that the pain was so intense I became nauseated!  I just kept reminding myself that I am willing to do whatever it takes to get my knee healed, even if it means puking!

Since I can’t do any real cardiovascular training, I have been hitting the weights.  On Monday I benched 225lbs six times, and today I put up 135lbs six times on the seated barbell shoulder press.  This certainly isn’t what it used to be during my pre-triathlon days, but it is acceptable for now.  Maybe once medical school starts I will get into CrossFit or something.

Still, I have 7 days left of rest and recovery.  I am still stretching/icing/foam rolling every day, and will continue to do so until the Ironman.  Fighting off the depression that is constantly seeking to pull my down into its depths is becoming a daily battle.  I am used to training 16-20hrs a week, now I am down to less than 5.  It’s killing me, but I know in the long run this is what I have to do to be successful.

Happy Training :(

Well, my IT band injury is worse than I thought.  After that 60 mile Computrainer ride, my knee was pretty achy, but not terrible.  I thought I would try a couple of 5 mile runs and see how it went.  I ran 5 miles last Monday, and felt a slight ache, but nothing major.  Tried running again on Wednesday, and the pain and inflammation was definitely back.  So I’ve had to make a pretty major decision.  I am officially taking at least 11 days off of training. :(  I started my “no training” diet on Thursday, March 1, and will not begin my training again until AT LEAST Monday, March 12.  I am even considering continuing my rest through Wednesday, March 14, which would give me a complete 14 days of rest.

I’m not going to lie, this loss of training is incredibly frustrating and depressing.  I should be making serious gains right now!  This was supposed to be the PEAK of my training.  Not only am I not making gains, but I am LOSING ground!!  My time goals are going out the window.  Originally, I was hoping to complete the race in under 13 hours, now, I’m just hoping to cross the finish line with my knee intact.  

I am icing my knee every day, stretching three times a day, and foam rolling in the morning and evening.  I am also scheduled for two deep tissue massages this week, one on Tuesday and the other on Friday.  I am very scared right now.  This is absolutely my worst nightmare.

Put in a 5k in the pool!  Took me about 1hr 45mins.  Followed up with a light 5 mile jog.  No substantial knee pain!  Hopefully this is a good sign.

Depressingly low mileage this week, and no running whatsoever.  Trying to get my knee back into running shape.

Swim - 7500 meters

Bike - 60 miles

Run - 0 miles!!!

Hope your training is going better than mine!

I had my first experience with Computrainer yesterday, and let me tell you, it was much harder than I thought!  Me and my friend Ben, a two-time Ironman finisher, road the first 60 miles of the Ironman Texas bike course.  I averaged 18.6 mph, which is faster than I plan to ride during the actual race, however, I was at 85-90% of my RPE (rate of perceived exertion) the whole time.  Usually, at 90% RPE, I would be averaging between 20-23mph!!

That is SCARY!!!  It means that I would have to ride the course at about 17mph to keep my RPE at about 75%.  Ben tried to calm me down, telling me that I need to add at least 1mph, and maybe 2mph to what I was seeing on the screen.  I pray he is right!  Regardless, it gave me a chance to “ride” the course, and get a feel for the inclines and hills.

I plan to ride the last 60 miles next week, and fortunately, it looks like it will be much easier than the first 60!  Anyone out there have experience with computrainer and can confirm that it is more difficult than the actual road?

This past week had several positive aspects about it, and one, giant negative aspect.  Let’s start with the PROS:

1.  I put in three, long workouts in the same week.  4600 meter swim on Monday, 22 mile run on Wednesday, and a 108 mile ride on Saturday.  All the workouts were successful, and completed at the speed I had intended.

2.  I used my 6hr trainer ride on Saturday as a “trial run” for the Ironman bike portion.  I ate and drank only what I plan on using during the actual event.  At 30 minute intervals, I would alternate eating Honey Stinger Waffles and GU Chomps.  Every 30 minutes I would also eat 1 Endurolyte electrolyte pill.  As far as fluids went, I drank Ironman Perform (Lemon Lime flavor) with the Honey Stinger Waffles, and H2O with the GU Chomps.  After the bike I hopped on the treadmill for a 20 minute jog to see how my legs felt, and more importantly, to see how successful my nutrition plan was.  All in all, I would say it was a success.  I had a surprising amount of energy, and I didn’t feel bloated or sick to my stomach.  So hopefully that means I got enough calories and fluids!

3.  I got some new nutrition and a new aero helmet!  Check them out!  The Honey Stinger Waffles are incredible, by the way, and I would HIGHLY recommend them to anyone doing endurance training.  They are light, easy to eat and digest, and best of all, they are delicious!  Plus, they pack 165 calories, which is awesome considering how small they are.

The major CON of the week:

-My knee injury is worse then I thought.  I took two days off trying to get it to heal, but after that 6hr ride on Saturday, my knee was aching pretty bad.  It is my IT band again, and that scares me.  I’m taking a pretty drastic approach to ensure recovery.  This coming week I am forgoing all running and all biking, with the exception of the long ride on Saturday.  I am also only going to do three 2500 meter swim sessions, and pray that my knee recovers fully.  To further increase the healing process, I am icing it on a daily basis, using a foam roller, and of course stretching frequently.  I hope and pray this isn’t the injury that knocks me out of the race.

Block 6 - Week 1 Totals:

Swim - 7100 meters

Bike - 144 miles

Run - 27 miles

Depressing totals.  They should have been much higher.  I hope my endurance doesn’t suffer because of the loss of training miles!  Hope everyone else’s training is going better than mine!

Put in 22 miles on the DREADmill today with a 1% incline.  Took me 3 hours and 7 minutes, or about an 8:30 minute per mile average.  Still not as fast as I would like…but it is acceptable.  Finished up with a 1000 meter swim.  It was supposed to be 1500, but I wasn’t getting enough oxygen and started blacking out!  Since I didn’t exactly feel like entrusting my life to the observational skills of the local lifeguard, I decided it was in my best interest to get out of the pool.

The down side of the long run today was that my right knee started hurting again.  It has been almost a year since I’ve had any pain in that knee, but in the last 4 miles of the run, a palpable ache set in.  Hopefully this doesn’t mean I’m going to have tendinitis again!

I’ve been really stressed about my pacing for Ironman Texas.  I’ve done three Ironman70.3’s, but I have no experience with longer tri’s, or even marathons.  So I did what I usually do when I have a question…I went to the Internet!!  The place with all the answers! :)  I found this article that tells me how to calculate my Ironman pacing based on my half-Ironman times.  So here is the breakdown:

Swim - double your HIM time, then subtract 5 mins

Bike - double your HIM time, then add 15 mins

Run - double your HIM time, then add 30 mins

Total Time = double your HIM time, plus 40 mins

If I use the last two HIM triathlons, these are the numbers I’m getting

Muncie 2011:

Swim = 45:51 x2 = 1:31:42 - 5mins = 1:26:42

Bike = 2:43:14 x2 = 5:26:28 + 15mins = 5:41:28 (19.67mph avg.)

Run = 2:04:49 x2 = 4:09:38 + 30mins = 4:39:38 (10:40 per mile avg.)

Total Time = 11:47:48

Steelhead 2010:

Swim = 39:02 x2 = 1:18:04 - 5mins = 1:13:04

Bike = 2:44:57 x2 = 5:29:54 + 15mins = 5:44:54 (19.48mph avg.)

Run = 2:01:47 x2 = 4:03:34 + 30mins = 4:33:34 (10:26 per mile avg.)

Total Time = 11:31:32

Let me conclude by saying, if I got either of those two times shown above, I would curl up in the fetal position, and cry like a baby…FOR JOY!!  I have to believe there is something wrong with those times.  I am hoping for somewhere around 13 hours…there is NO WAY I could do sub-12 in the shape that I am in…right?  Any other experienced Ironman Triathletes want to “weigh in” on this topic?