Sunday, June 28, 2009

Weekly Musings

With July around the corner and no rain in sight, Houston is hotter than ever. The good news is that I am able to do most of my training in the morning (when it is just the humidity that gets me!) and at lunch at the gym, so I am not out in the 100+ degree temps, except for my long ride each week.

I never thought I would be thankful for wind on a bike ride (other than a tail wind that is), but the wind yesterday sure helped keep me cool enough. It wasn't until my 3 mile run that I really felt the stifling heat! I was prepared with a water bottle and salt, but despite the heat I felt pretty strong on my run. These bricks really help me evaluate my bike nutrition to determine if I am taking in enough calories and to make sure that I don't get any stomach distress on the run.

This week also found me running alone. I am VERY lucky in that my normal weekly schedule includes two longish runs with my training partner, Mark. Mark has work and vacation conflicts until mid-August, so I will be doing my morning runs alone. Boring! Well, I figured that my music alone was not going to cut it for me and decided to listen to the Twilight books on my iPod instead and I am happy to report that it worked like a charm. I did two 1 hour runs and one 1.5 hour run alone this week and Edward and Bella were great company (go ahead and laugh at me, my husband does!).

In other big news this week, I am almost finished finalizing my race schedule for the rest of the year leading up to IM FL. I registered for the Redman AquaBike Full in September instead of doing a late season HIM based on the recommendations of many seasoned triathletes on BT. I will also be doing a local Olympic distance race in August, so now I just need to pick a Sprint for fun in July. There is also a local century ride in July that I will be doing to practice pacing and nutrition so that I can make adjustments as needed in my plan.

Emotionally, I am struggling with knowing which plan I should be following. Right now I am following Don Fink's Competitive Plan and I was planning on following this as long as I can, but as the hours increase I am worried about over training and injury. If I am smart and listen to my body and adjust as needed, I am hopeful that I will be ok through the hours.

Here is a summary of the plan:
During the build phase (the current phase I am in, weeks 11 of 11-20), the plan begins with 12 hours and concludes with 16 hours, averaging 13 hours per week.

The peak phase (week 21-30) starts at 16 hours and peaks at 20 hours, averaging 15 hours per week.

I feel confident that I could be ready for IM FL on fewer hours, but I would like to be my best -- it is a fine line, I think!

Overall, a great week! Happy training!

Mileage for Week Ending 6/28/09
Swim: 5800 yards in 2:30
Bike: 93 miles in 5:35
Run: 28.75 miles in 4:13
Total Time: 12:18

2 comments:

ONEHOURIRONMAN said...

You'll do great.
My plan consists of maxing out at around 12 hours/wk in late Sept.
It's called the ONE HOUR IRONMAN plan (with the total training being 350 hours for the year, less weekly hours earlier, more later). I think Arnie and I are the only ones on it, since it is my plan.
But I can almost guarantee a starting line (no injuries) and a finish line and more importantly it is a plan I can live with indefinitely and do one of these things a year.
Book should be out right after IMFL (have to test it out one more time)

Trishie said...

I listened to all but one of the Twilight books on my iPod during long runs for the National Marathon. people laughed, but I enjoyed my runs with my sexy vampires ;) great job with your training !