August, done!

Woah that was quick, August is done, the kids are back in school, the nights are getting cooler and it’s getting darker earlier…before we know it the clocks will be changing!

After Vineman last month I seem to have finally exited the “twingery tunnel”, systems still need some babying but they are kinda firing on all four cylinders…now I need to get them into V6 mode! Having looked back at the month the mileage has crept up on me, I think a lot of that has to do with the training plan which is duration/RPE based, my workouts do not specify mileage but are something like

And so I follow the plan and the miles take care of themselves…which makes a big change from other plans I have followed which are very prescriptive on mileage. So with that in mind, here are the digits:

• Swim 18.21 miles (32,000 yards) in 15:20
• Bike 341 miles in 21:14
• Run 96 miles in 14:13
• Total 455 miles in 51:33 (including a couple of hours spent foam rolling, stretching and using my Compex)

One of this years goals was consistency in my training and now hopefully I can pick up where I left off back in April:

This weekend I am heading to Tempe for another chance to check out the IMAZ course, I am meeting up with Thomas and riding the bike course and spending some time on the run course. The long weekend is a great opportunity to do that…hopefully it won’t be too hot!

Bite size victories!

I am not a great swimmer, it’s my short leg of the three legged stool that is Triathlon, the problem is you have to finish the swim to get to the rest of it!

This week my Kids go back to school and a new school for one means meeting new teachers and orientation etc. Today’s double was always going to be tight to try and fit in the 2500 yards on the plan, so I decided to break it up and fitted half in at lunchtime hoping I could fit the other half in later on…I didn’t and right now I should be working rather than blogging! The idea was to the midday swim simple, this was it.

WU 250 w/PB
MS 2x500 at Tpace (my TPace is around 2:25 )

I just got changed, got in and got on with it and would you believe it, I finally managed to break the 40 minute mile mark, but better than that check out the consistency of the 2x500s, today I was a happy panda!

That being said I thought I was doing pretty well till another guy got in next to me...there is always a bigger fish!

IMAZ training Week 5

Another week in the bank. There is definitely a noticeable increase in volume, the durations are getting longer as is the prescribed intensity.

As you can see, there is a big ramp up on the cycling this week, much of the first four weeks has been prep for this increase with “easy-ish” rides being the order of the day. That’s not to say that the plan is asking for all out efforts but it is asking for solid efforts and as mentioned longer durations 90 mins, 2 hours and 2:40 hours. The longest ride was Saturday and I managed to get out onto the open road and had a really good 50 mile ride in 2:46, a little slower than I hoped but my Average HR for the ride was around 133 which bodes well. Two things I am noticing on the bike:

I can’t get comfortably aero on the trainer, this is an issue as IMAZ lends itself to being a very aero friendly ride, I am much more comfortable on the road for some reason?

My right shoulder gets really tired. This is an odd one that I first noticed at Vineman but for some reason my right deltoid seems to get very tense and this is what is leading to the discomfort, it only kicks in around mile 40, not so bad when then is only 16 miles to go but really bad when there are 82 miles left…I am thinking some strengthening might help and possible switching out the aero cradles to slightly larger ones? It’s all trial and error but it would be nice to dial it in sooner rather than later.

On the run front the mileage has been consistent. It’s a little short but that is a reflection that two of the runs where on trails which are always a little slower and I think the benefits from the trails outweighs the extra 2-3 miles I would have covered on the blacktop. I had an excellent mid week trail run, blitzing through my local loop with 10 minutes of the 90 minute run to spare and had to run laps around the parking lot!

Swim wise, it’s all about form and endurance, only three swims but over 8300 yards covered. The longest was 3250 yards and taking over 1:35, I am not swimming the entire time I should add as there are built rest intervals but going to the pool is becoming a case of first in last out for sure.

No new gadgets or swag to report I don’t think?

The only other real change is that I am trying a vegan diet for 30 days, I am only 6 days and today was a bit of a slip, finding some non-advertised cheese in a Panini and folding and having half and half in a coffee but I am noticing some real benefits which I will share in another post.

Next weekend (Labor Day weekend) I am heading back to Tempe for another ride on the bike course and getting a chance to take a run out onto the run course, its great to be able to get to do this in advance but the 6ish hour drive each way is a bit punishing as is the 5:00am start. But that’s the only way to avoid the heat…and I can snooze by the pool in the afternoon or find a nice air conditioned movie theatre to take a nap in catch the summer blockbusters!

The kids go back to school next week so I am having to shuffle things around to accommodate that and the trip to Arizona, here’s the back of my napkin, you can see that there is another step up…

So other than this fancy graph, that’s it. 13 weeks to go…time is flying!