Tuesday, June 14, 2011

In case you wanted to know what training for an Ironman looks like

Put up some big #'s this past weekend making this the biggest weekend yet. Physically I got it all done, but I had many mental checkouts and almost-giveups along the way.

I have developed a mantra to keep me in the game.

"YOU ARE TRAINING FOR A FUCKING IRONMAN!!!!"

Round #1 was Friday at the pool. On tap was a 4K swim. 3K in have to use the bathroom. Got out of the pool and went, "Eh, you are 3K in, what's another 1K? I'll just stop now."

"SNAP OUT OF IT, JON! YOU ARE TRAINING FOR A FUCKING IRONMAN!"

Bathroom. Pool. 1K more yards. DONE.

Saturday was 5 hours on the bike followed by a 1 hour run. It was gonna be a loooooooong day. This is kinda funny. I drove 20 mins to my ride start, opened up the trunk and my bike wasn't there. DOH! 40 mins later I was back at the same spot, but WITH the bike in hand! Mad at myself for that one, but laughed it off.

I went with 2, 2.5 hour loops so that I could practice my special needs. I am a BIG fan of mimicking race conditions in training. Lake Placid is a 2 loop course, so why not practice it with a 2 loop training ride. This also helps with refueling. I can carry 2.5 hours of liquid and fuel on me without packing the weight of a house! LOL!

First loop I felt strong and prolly burned a match. Oops! I paid for it on the 2nd loop, as usual.

After loop #1, I practiced my special needs:
Refill liquids
Refill Gu and EFS
Down a generic brand chocolate Ensure.

Side note. Not sure if you have ever seen these in most grocery stores and convenience stores, but they all sell "Nutrional PLUS" drinks. They are generic brand Ensure drinks. I like them better than the actual Ensure brand because the chocolate flavor isn't as harsh, but it still packs a punch. 350 easy calories! I am for sure putting one in my special needs bag on the bike. It gets lots of calories into me quickly, tastes great, and makes me feel human again, especially since I will have another 3 hours of riding to do.

Off for loop #2.....

With 30-ish minutes left, I could NOT stay in the aero position any longer. My butt couldn't take it any more! I felt like utter poo getting off the bike and my inner quads were just spent. I said to myself, "I hate my life!" Gonna be an interesting run....

Wound up with 97.75 miles in 5 hours. 19.5 mph average. WILL TAKE THAT!!!

Sure enough I start running and I am flying! This was the most SOLID 1 hour run of my life. Trust me, I was hurting by the end, but I felt utterly CONSISTENT. There were no slow downs or speed ups, just constant. I felt like the Juggernaut ;) 1 hour later and 7.63 miles @ a 7:52 pace, I was spent but felt VERY confident in my current state.

Since I was only 2.25 miles away from riding 100 for the day, I hopped back onto the bike and slowly churning out the 2.25 miles. Mission accomplished! Couldn't let that slip by ;)

Sunday was a MUCH different story. I went from a fast Saturday to an uber UBER slow Sunday. Worked HARD for a 9:12 pace over a 60 min run, then I hopped back onto the bike for another 2.5 hours for an easy easy spin that just hurt hurt HURT! Had lots of "just quit now" moments. But I constantly reminded myself with:

"YOU ARE TRAINING FOR A FUCKING IRONMAN!!!!"

The good news is that my butt isn't chafed, its just sore from sitting on it for 7.5 hours over two days. I don't know HOW those pros do it!

The final round was this morning's 2.5 hour run. The big Q was I recovered from Saturday and Sunday's efforts? Turns out the easy but lots of volume on Sunday flushed the crap out of my legs, and then resting them on Monday got the legs to about 90% good to go.

Wound up with a new distance PR of 17.31 miles AND I negative split the run. 8:52 out (going net downhill) to 8:28 back (going net uphill) all while holding the same heart rate. BLAMMO!!!

Stay tuned for a BIG announcement in my next post. Some of you already know what it is, but its gonna be FUN!

Hint: "Parlez Vous Du Fromage?

24 comments:

  1. Parlez Vous formation pour un fucking ironman?

    Not sure about the cheese reference? Except that quebec has the best cheese. Seriously.

    Also. That bike thing is classic Mandy. You need to stop hanging out with me or you might go crazy.

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  2. Love this post man. I agree, sometimes there is that "common sense" guy that says ehhh you almost got it, why push for more?

    I WANT THAT CHECK MARK!

    Keep going man, you are SO CLOSE! You totally have this, keep logging the hours and get through this.

    Thank you for getting that 100 miles... I would have been upset had you not gone out and sealed the deal!

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  3. New to your blog but I will definitely bookmark it! Training for an IronMan is so badass and it is something I hope to do...one day. Or, at least a half IronMan. :) Keep up the great work!

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  4. ha, I love that you got back on the bike for 2.5 miles just to make it to 100. That's very training-for-an-ironman-y. Also, you won't have to ride your bike the day after the IM so you should be good to go :)

    I'm excited for your news!!! And bummed that I'm too much of a wimp to share in the news.

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  5. BAHAHAHAHAH! "opened the trunk and my bike wasn't there" - this made my day. Sorry. I'm sure it sucked, but I would have loved to see your face.

    Solid bike ride. You were flying.

    I should start calling YOU Ass of Steel. My ass hurts just thinking about it.

    Answer: Chedder or Mozzarella please.

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  6. Way to git er dun Jon! The training sucks a million times more than the race.

    Cannot wait for LP, it is going to be so cool to see you guys reap the rewards of all the difficult training!

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  7. I have forgotten my shorts, my helmet and my shoes but I don't think I have forgotten my bike. Yet! That sounds very Freudian to me!

    Great job on the miles! You are a beast!

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  8. You are doing sooo awesome!! And, I love your new motto...I'm going to have to remember that when I'm out there on my long training rides/runs and want to give up!
    I think I would have ridden the extra 2+ miles too to get to 100! :)

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  9. can I please hire you to ride your car along side me while I bike 100 miles just screaming at me that I am training for a fucking Ironman? I can pay you in cheeseburgers and beer.

    kick ass training weekend.

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  10. For the people who aren't completely familiar with the Juggernaut reference.
    http://www.mltimelines.net/juggernaut.html

    So Bree Wee (pro) used to have a hula girl doll attached to her bike. Perhaps you should order up a juggernaut action figure to put on your bike.

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  11. Hoping I get the same surprise to comment on tomorrow! (although I'm no where near as prepared as you)

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  12. this post pretty much sums up my life this weekend -- and probably a lot of weekends going forward. it took everything i had not to quit after 1000m of my 4000m swim workout yesterday. i'm stealing your mantra.

    and way to go on sticking it out -- true IM behavior right there :)

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  13. ROCKSTAR my friend ROCKSTAR!!!!!

    That is just awesome. I love the motto and I might have to add it to my repertoire of mottos to keep me moving.

    And I wish I could share in the news. It is killing me but I am there in spirit for sure.

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  14. That is SOLID!! Keep it up man - YOU'RE TRAINING FOR A FUCKIN& IRONMAN! ;)

    I laughed out loud a couple times during this... (1) I used to drink Ensure when I was like a sophomore in HS and major struggling to put on weight. The football players all gave me a hard time / were kind of jealous that I could drink it and it didn't do a damn thing to put a pound on me. :) (2) Forgetting the bike!! Haha good you could laugh it off though. I forgot my running shoes for my first marathon... for an out-of-town race!

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  15. Awesome post, awesome weekend, keep it up!! You are doing great.

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  16. Wow, you destroyed the past weekends workouts!

    Though this is exactly what I could never train for an ironman, the training just never ends I would guess!

    Sounds like everything is going great right now - swim, bike and run.

    And your motto is hilarious, haha

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  17. Unbelievable! You're my hero! What a crazy weekend of intense training. That's just incredible. Way to go, Jon! You're the man. Keep up the good work.

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  18. you don't pee in the pool? what kind of triathlete ARE you?!

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  19. I have forgotten a ton of training items before but never my BIKE. LOL That's great.

    Kevin
    HalfTRIing.blogspot.com

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  20. Awesome closure on the bike. Sounds about as epic a weekend as they could come!

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  21. Kick-ass training day, Jon! Keep it up. After all, you are training for a fucking Ironman!

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  22. Oh my gosh... that's hysterical about the bike. Probably not so funny then, but funny now! :)

    You know, during the Ironman, when it's getting hard, all you have to say is "I'm DOING a fucking Ironman". It'll get you through1

    You are doing awesome and will be so ready for this race!

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  23. I need someone like you to get me motivated!I want to try doing a marathon.. I just keep talking about it.

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