Winding This Blog Down

The happy time has arrived where I won't be updating this blog anymore. Rather than keep two blogs, I'll just keep one and thus put future entries on my regular blog. I'll put in training info now and then, but no daily updates - probably weekly is more than enough!

Another One?

As for doing another one... I'm really on the fence. I did have fun and it was a great time, however I'm 100% positive that grinding out another 16 hour IM won't be as enjoyable. But, I can't imagine training hard enough to shave a reasonable amount of time off that - say an hour.

The bike is tough - stopping 5 minutes every hour basically knocks down your average speed by 8.3%, changing a 16 mph ride average to 14.7 mph clock average. Or for me, changing a 14.9 mph ride average to 13.4 mph clock average. I'm not hung up on speed, but it is important to make the bike cutoff, and I cut it close. So I'd only even think about another one if I could take an hour off my bike time, which means averaging 14.9 mph clock average, or 16.3 mph ride average taking breaks into account. This represents a nearly 10% boost in bike power - not unheard of, but that would take some work on my part.

Basically, I was worried about the bike. After a while it became clear that I would be able to make the cutoff... barring a mechanical problem. Something like a flat tire might have put a serious dent into my timing.

I think with more work I could also shave 30 minutes off the run. And, perhaps 15 minutes off the swim. So I think my upside potential would be 1:45 faster, or a roughly 14:30 finish. But again, this would take some training and physical ability I'm not sure I have.

The half-iron distance is looking better and better as a "long" course challenge. I finished the first loop of the bike feeling good. Unfortunately, I forgot to look at my time. Maybe I can figure it out from looking at my HRM elevation data. Also, the first run loop felt pretty good - I think it was about a 2:45 half marathon, which would drop a little by cutting out 56 miles of biking. ;)

I think my best plan as for a future Ironman is to sign up for another if and when I can get my half-ironman time down to the 6 to 7 hour range. This would break down into a swim/bike/run of 0:45/3:30/2:30 and eventually becoming a 0:45/3:00/2:00. I think that is reasonable as a goal.

The only thing I know is I'm looking forward to slacking for many weeks. After that, I might indulge in speedwork, to see if I can get faster at sprint and olympic distances. This will be a welcome change from the long training ride and runs that IM requires.

IM Coeur D'Alene

Read all about it.

Here is my heart rate data - you can see it is quite jagged from various rest breaks I took. Overall I think I kept it near the aerobic zone.




It looks like my loop splits were approximately:

• Swim - 43 mins/45 mins
  
• Bike - 4 hours/4 hours 20 mins
  
• Run - 2 hours 45 mins/3 hour 15 mins
  

Not exactly the ideal even or negative split! I'll dig around and look for the real data, but I'm not sure it exists for the bike or run - I don't remember crossing a timing mat at the midpoint. There were mats on the run at the turnarounds, in order to catch people who cut the course.

My heart rate during the swim was solidly an aerobic effort. It is interesting that my heart rate dips during the second loop. Coming out of the water my HR spikes up until I get into transition and change into bike clothes.

My HR during the bike was higher than I wanted through the hilly section. After climbing the steepest section the first time, I worked on keeping my heart rate lower for the remainder of the ride.

The run was so jagged because I took so many walking breaks. I felt OK (i.e. not dizzy) other than sore feet, stiff legs, and tired knees. I'm clearly walking more towards the end of the marathon.

I am amazed at how accurate (or consistent) the altitude sensor on the HRM is.

Minor Jitters

It is a good thing I've read all about getting jittery the day before the big event, because I find my mind playing tricks on me. It is all subtle - mostly it is looking at other athletes and thinking "wow, they look more fit than me" or seeing somebody working out and thinking "I better do one more [swim/bike/run] workout just to make sure!!". Of course, rest is most important at this point; all the work was done over the previous weeks.

My whole goal is to finish, and have fun during the event! To that end, I will pace myself quite conservatively.

After so long, it is hard to believe the day is finally here.

Lake Coeur D'Alene

I swam for 15 or 20 minutes in Lake Coeur D'Alene, just a quick dip to check out the water temperature.

Dozens of other athletes were there on a grassy hill, checking bags in or out of the Gatorade tent, changing in or out of wetsuits. I saw that two buoys were out in the water, along with several kayakers on patrol.

The water was cool but not bad at all, I would guess low 60's. The lake was clear - I could see the bottom in 15 or 20 feet of water. Nice!

Checking out the bike course

I scoped out part of the course, along some of the rolling hills towards Post Falls. I rode out-and-back for 44 minutes. I'm not sure of the distance because my bike computer stopped reading at 6.1 miles and 27:03. Aftger getting back to my hotel, I jiggled the magnet around a little and now it seems to be working fine.

I'd like the computer to read throughout the event, mostly because I'd like to know my speed. Time is important as well, and that will definitely work. Distance would be nice but I have a feeling the course will be pretty well marked.

I'm glad I did this - when I started out and mounted my bike, my leg got caught on the water bottles which stick up behind my saddle. I have a new X Lab Flatwing hydration system (space for 2 water bottles, 2 CO2 cartridges, 1 mini CO2 pump, and 2 velcro straps meant for holding inner tubes) I had installed on Monday's tune-up, and my leg clipped it and I fell. Minor issue, but I'll be sure to mount carefully after the swim - I'd hate to stumble with tons of spectators around. ;)

Arrival

I drove out to Coeur D'Alene this afternoon. I packed a huge amount of gear, making no effort to conserve space. I was planning to take a picture of all of it, like I did for a previous event, but I decided against it since I would likely be ridiculed for the amount of stuff I took. ;)

I still had some time after unloading all my stuff into the hotel room, so I did some quick scouting. I found City Park, and saw fences for the transition zone and porta-potties already up. I also visited the merchandise seller and bought some socks, a jersey, and a T-shirt. Yeah, it was inevitable, might as well get the stuff now rather than later.

Lake Coeur D'Alene


The swim venue, right next to City Park, where the transition zone will be.

Training Stats

This is the training I did for IMCdA, not including base training.

Cumulative Training

	Time
Swim	28:26
Bike	137:23
Run	39:22
Total	205:11

Total Training: 205 hours 11 minutes:

• Swim: 13.8%
  
• Bike: 67.0%
  
• Run: 19.2%
  

Average Training per week:

• Hours/week: 8 hours 32 minutes 34 seconds
  
• Swim/week: 1 hour 11 minutes 3 seconds
  
• Bike/week: 5 hours 43 minutes 16 seconds
  
• Run/week: 1 hour 38 minutes 15 seconds
  

I did twice as much bike time as the swim and run combined, which makes sense as biking is my weakest sport. Well, I'm weak all around ;) this is all about getting the endurance to finish one part with enough energy to move to the next. I hope I have done that; I trained about as much as I could without going insane!

Decode Key

Now that this is just about done and the secrecy I started with is no longer needed, time to provide a key to the various initials sprinkled throughout this blog. Basically, if people are mentioned, I trained with them somehow. So thanks everybody, even if you don't realize this blog exists. ;)

• CB or sometimes C - Christina Baribault
  
• KC - Krisanne Combs
  
• CD - Carrie Dunn
  
• G - Gail Edwin
  
• EE or sometimes just E - Eve Enslow
  
• ESR - EastSide Runners
  
• BF - Brian Fenn
  
• RG - Rod Garabarino
  
• BG - Burke-Gilman (trail)
  
• JHS - Jennifer Huffman-Swift
  
• JHS - Juanita High School (should be obvious from context)
  
• T1 - Alexandra Leonetti
  
• T2 - Francesca Leonetti
  
• SM - Shaula Massena
  
• MM - Michael McGoldrick
  
• LM or sometimes just L - Leslie Miller
  
• AM or sometimes just A - Alyssa Moy
  
• EN - Eric Niebler
  
• KO - Kathy Olsen
  
• SO - Sandy Owings
  
• CP - Chris Parker (from Illinois)
  
• CP - Cindy Peters (employee at SVC)
  
• SRT - Sammamish River Trail
  
• SVC - Sammamish Valley Cycles
  
• JU - Joe Umphenhour
  
• RW - Ronan Walsh
  

Swim 6/20

At last, JHS and I got in a long swim. We did about 2 miles in Martha Lake, in 1:22. This is still taper for me - my heart rate hovered around 65% the entire time. Nice and easy...

Week 24

June 13 - June 20

	Time
Swim	2:10
Bike	0:45
Run	0:39
Strength	0:00
Weight	139.0 lb
Body Fat	14.7 %

I'm going to include this evening's swim into the stats.

Cumulative Training

	Time
Swim	28:26
Bike	137:23
Run	39:22
Total	205:11