Monday, December 17, 2007

Iron Week 27

Ahhhhhh. Deep Breath. Big Sigh. This was an easy week. Recovery. And it felt great. I cut my volume in half, only working out a total of 5 hrs. In the beginning of the week, the workouts felt heavy...I was in serious need of some rest. On Sunday, I did a "base Brick" - an easy 37 mile bike (18.3 mph average) and a really easy 4 mile run (10:45 pace), and it felt great! All the heaviness was gone, and I had to hold back a few times as bikers on "o" bikes zoomed passed me for some ungodly reason.

Isn't it funny, kind of off- topic, how someone will pass you, and then about 15 seconds later, when they are a few hundred yards up the road, they settle in to just about the same pace you're doing? Must be something about a big, fat guy on a bike that makes folks want to pass me. Not that I was going that fast. But it was a silent, secret victory to hear these dudes breathing heavy as they passed, while I was in my "barely breathing, hardly sweating keeping it conversational" zone.

So here we go headlong into a bike-focus week. My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to maintain the run volume achieved in the previous training block (at least 30 miles per week) and add 3 bike sessions to it, steadily increasing the volume during the 3 week training block. The first week will be a "feeler" - I'll do two 40's and my long bike on Saturday will be 80. We can re-assess from there, seeing how I feel next Monday!

I've re-vamped my training outline for CdA - I've decided to keep in my 16m runs, since I feel like I can actually recover from them in my off weeks; that will be my longest run, but if there are any signs of injury, of course, I'll back off of that distance, and only run that far before a recovery week.

I've added a couple of things. There's a 10k in January that a local run club sponsors. I'm feeling the need for speed, and possibly a 10k PR....

I also put the 12hrs of Sebring on the calendar. Excel Man is going down to hit that race, and I think that Moonpie had hinted of it at some time as well. I'm concerned that it's a week after the marathon...so we'll see, but since IM is all about the Bike, I may just have to HTFU.

You also may notice a difference in my weeks leading up to CdA - the newest issue of Triathlete Mag has training phase advise, and stresses a 4 week taper, done in 15% increments. I'm an absolutely horrible taperer, so any taper plan will look good to me. I tend to not start tapering early enough, so this will force me into a taper in what looks to be the "right" sort of way, with a gradual recovery to the big show. I like it.

11 comments:

Brent Buckner said...

Good plan re: run and taper!

S. Baboo said...

I love the recovery week! 4-week taper at 15% each week huh? I could try that though I hate the taper. Even on a three week taper by week two I feel like I have never worked out before in my life.

Anonymous said...

I think you need a road bike for the 12 and 24 hours of Sebring races because they are draft legal / mass start races. They do run a 24-hour RAAM qualifier that is non-drafting that you could probably use a tri-bike in.

Supalinds said...

I hate to taper as well. The first week is always nice, and then it all crumbles. Barf. But I do enjoy me a recovery week every now and then!!

Oly said...

My middle name is taper.

Don't forget your anniversary big guy.

Mike said...

I've only just started to 'trust the taper' ... it's so counter intuitive BUT it works! :)

Good luck with this plan ... I'll be following the journey

Tea said...

well if I didn't feel like a lazy a$$ before reading this...I certainly do now. How is it possible that you do more than me when you're tapering? That's just wrong.

Iron Girl Nyhus said...

You rock.. way to go for being ramped up for IM CDA during the cookie eating month.

Laura

Iron Girl Nyhus said...

How far is Brandon from Naples? Greg and I will be in Naples in March...

Fe-lady said...

Thanks for sharing your training plan...I like the taper four weeks out and will work that into my schedule!
(Except I really don't have one yet...)
Your chart makes the race seem so CLOSE! yikes!

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