This week I finished up my 6 week Ironman training block that I had set up for myself back in early September. I couldn't be more excited about how the entire block went. Throughout the 6 weeks I felt stronger each week, stayed injury free, put in every workout exactly how I planned, and gained a ton of confidence as I approach my taper for Beach 2 Battleship on October 26th. The final week of the training block included 58 run miles, 210 bike miles, and 14,000 swim yards all of which took place in the local lake. I also attended class at Barre563 twice and did core work, lunges, jump rope, push-ups, pull-ups and plyometrics. My total training time for the week was 24 hours. Over the past 6 weeks I swam 51,600 yards which was intentionally less volume swimming than I used to do. I used the extra time on the bike and run. For the 6 weeks I averaged running 62 miles each week and biked 240 miles/week. I had 3 rides over 100 miles and two others at 90. I did long runs each week of 16, 18, 17, 23, 20, and 15 miles. I attended Barre563 twice every week through this block. Now it is time to rest and allow my body the chance to adapt to all this training. Without the rest and adaptation all that I have done means nothing. I'm not ready to race yet. I need this adaptation period and then I'll be more ready than I've ever been for a race. I had my body fat % checked today and it was 10%. This is down from the last time I had it checked in April when I was 16%. Returning from Jamaica in July I weighed 8 lbs. more than when I was checked in April and I'm guessing my body fat % was closer to 18. It was a lot of work and I didn't eat perfectly but I did a much better job and I was really helped with the workouts at Barre563 to strengthen my core, glutes, hips, quads, and shoulders.
For this 12 day taper I have laid out the workouts each day. I have carefully put a schedule in place that will total about 110 bike miles, 30 run miles, and 15,000 swim yards over the final 10 days. For the most part from here on out I won't run or bike 2 days in a row. I have learned a lot from tracking my tapers over the years and believe I have figured out what works well for me. It is nearly an identical taper that had me feeling tremendous in August for Pigman 1/2 IM distance. The biggest difference is that I have extended the taper 2 extra days and I also have MUCH more volume that I am tapering off of. 2 of my big goals for the taper period are to get more sleep and also to watch my caloric intake carefully. I have had a tendency in the past when I taper to relax on what I'm eating and I can gain 5-10 lbs. very quickly. I worked hard to get leaner knowing it will make the marathon much easier and I don't plan to give that away. I took an extreme risk building my volume up so quickly through this 6 week block and I'm thankful that God kept me healthy so I can race and try to earn some money for the iHope Foundation in 12 days. Today I was absolutely humbled and honored to receive an anonymous $1,000.00 contribution to the iHope Foundation. That contribution alone will provide 2 low-income children displaying positive work habits and character traits with iPads. My goal is to be able to return from Beach 2 Battleship ready to award an iPad. We have a list of a few students who have been nominated. I still believe we will have the funds to endow this foundation and we also have plans in the works to add a scholarship component for 1 recipient each year that would be tied to high school graduation and enrollment in a 2 or 4 year academic institution. Providing hope to a better future and opening doors is really what iHope is all about. If you would like to make a tax deductible contribution you can click here. You can pay through a Paypal account or with a credit card. Thanks for ANY help you can provide. 12 days...I'm nearly there and feeling better than I ever have. I can't wait! DREAM BIG!!
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