Week 2 IMAZ Training Summary

Week 2 of 9 training for Ironman Arizona was my highest week of volume in nearly 2.5 months.  For the week my total training time was 24.5 hours.  I ran 52 miles (highest in many weeks), biked 210 miles, and swam 12,100 yards (highest in many weeks).  I also lifted weights, did speed drills, strides, push-ups, pull-ups, lunges, and jump rope all three times, and core work seven times.  I plan to really increase the swim yardage (up to 18,000 yds/week) when I get 5 weeks out from the race.  I've found in the past I can get to about my best swim shape in just a few weeks of higher volume and increased swimming intensity in my main sets.  Right now in the water I'm really focusing on technique and lots of kicking.  I can tell my swim feels much smoother when my legs are kicking well.  The training was modest until the weekend.  On Saturday morning I swam 3,400 yards with a main set of 30x50's on 1 minute holding them in 37-38 seconds fairly comfortably.  After the swim Jen and I took the kids to Clinton to watch a high school cross country meet where I ran 5 miles easy before embarking on a tough 95 mile bike ride with Adam Bohach who was in town to watch his old team at the meet.  The ride featured some tough climbs and the wind was moderately blowing about 15 mph.  I didn't feel especially strong on the ride.  On Sunday morning I ran 15 miles for my weekly long run.  It was a tough run.  My hamstrings have been more tight than usual since I resumed training.  At the 1/2 way point I was averaging 7:03/mile and already felt tired.  I stretched my hamstrings and took a GU at that point.  I was planning to cut the run to 13 miles which would take me back to the house but on the way back I felt better and decided to stick with my original plan of 15.  I finished it with an average pace of 6:59 which meant I got a little faster in the latter part of the run.  I'm hoping to run nearly that exact pace at IM Arizona where I would like to break 3 hours for the run (although I'm hoping not to need a sub-3 hour run to break 9 hours).  I'd like to be off the bike with a little cushion so I can run about 3:08 and still break 9 hours.  I know I'm riding better now and I would like to think I can cut some time off my 4 hr. 46 minute bike split from a year ago.  I also realize my swimming is not where it was yet at this point.  As of now I'm guessing I'd swim 2-3 minutes slower than I did a year ago so I'm going to have to make that up on the bike or get my swimming up to par.  I was happy to hit all my weekly goals and this week should be a slight increase in run mileage and swim yards with perhaps a small drop in bike miles since the day I am planning my long ride is supposed to be terrible and I'll probably be indoors on the trainer instead.  If I'm on the trainer 3 hours at a time is about as much as I will go.  If my legs are recovering well I may be able to add some more time later in the evening but I won't ride 5 hours on the trainer in one day like I had outside this week.  Don't forget about the Walk for Wishes 5k run or 1 mile family walk coming up in Davenport on October 13th.  I signed our family up for the walk this week.  We are proud to support the make a wish foundation and help children with life threatening illnesses be granted a wish.  The website for the walk can be found by clicking here.  The walk has raised nearly $3,500.00 so far.  If you can't participate but want to donate to the Make A Wish foundation you can do that by clicking the link as well.  I'm looking forward to another good week of training as I build my body up for a sub-9 hour effort.  Thanks for reading!  DREAM BIG!