Week 5 IMAZ Training Summary

Week 5 started out looking like another big week of volume but on Thursday I started to come down with a sickness and I was not feeling like I had much energy so I backed off Thursday through Saturday so I could be well rested for my last really long run leading up to Ironman Arizona.  I was able to get in 20 miles running on Sunday morning and it felt really great except for tightness lingering in my left hamstring.  I had a massage from Mike Eskridge and ART from Dr. Lake at Kaminski Pain and Performance Care to help relieve the tightness in my hamstring.  I averaged 6:51/mile for the 20 miles which was a good sign.  I rarely wear the GPS for my long runs but have done so on my last 3 of them.  I went from a 7:10 average for 17 miles a month ago to a 6:55 average for 18 miles two weeks ago to 6:51 for 20 miles this past weekend.  I was most happy that my average pace was still dropping in the last 1/2 of my run where a month ago I was gaining time on the ladder half of the long run.  With this hamstring lingering and my right arch still swollen and a bit sore I am making a decision to cut my running mileage down now so I can focus on being a bit fresher for my hard bike workouts.  I know my running is pretty good right now and I'll still keep my average run/day high in the coming weeks but I will probably start running 5 days a week instead of all 7.  This past week I hit 54 miles running on just 5 days.  I biked 175 miles on 5 days of riding and I swam 13,000 yards after planning to swim 16,000 yards.  I want to make sure I get to this race healthy and that means cutting back the running mileage.  I'm far ahead of where I was in terms of my running compared to Rev 3 when I was only running 30-35 miles/week and managed to run 3 hrs. 12 minutes for the marathon.  I'd like to run 3:05 or faster in Arizona with a big goal of running sub-3.  I have learned that I need to take in more nutrition on the run.  In my past Ironman races I've taken in coke and water at the aid stations on the run but mostly skipped other calories until I started to fall apart which is too late.  I plan to make sure I'm taking in a GU at every aid station on the run.  To make sure I can do this without having a stomach that is sick of GU by the run I will stick with GU chomps on the bike ride and save the GU gel until the run.  In addition to Chomps I also have my special GU Ironman brew that has about 850 calories in the bottle.  I start the bike ride with one of those bottles and if special needs is in order I will take on another bottle of this mix at that point.  I will also have 20 ounces of coke at special needs on the bike that I will take in.  For my long run this weekend I looped past my car a few times and took in more nutrition than I have in my past long runs and I think that is why I still felt as strong when I finished the run as when I began it.  I did have to stop and stretch my tight left hamstring twice during the run.  I'm hoping to not have to do that in the race but if I must it is a quick fix.  Just 1 minute of stretching and I could feel a big change in my stride rhythm.  My hope is that by backing off my running mileage now and working in some regular ART and ice baths I can have it good enough that it won't be an issue come 4 weeks when it's time to race.  My focus the next couple weeks is to get some good quality bike interval workouts so I know my power numbers are high like they were going into Rev 3.  Over half of the race is spent on the bike and I need that to be a strength of mine.  I saw the first start list published last week and there were about 50 pro guys listed which is considerably less than were on the list a year ago.  They could still add in some guys who raced in Kona but I'm guessing the field will be smaller.  Last year there were 90 guys on the start list and 54 actually started.  If the number hangs around 50 I would guess 30-35 will actually be there.  I was super excited to see my bib # is 1 different than my good friend Adam Bohach so we will be set up right next to each other in transition.  That will give me some additional comfort come race morning knowing I'm right next to the guy I've spent more time training with than anyone else over the past year and a half.  4 weeks to go...Thanks for reading!!  DREAM BIG!!