Two weeks from tomorrow I have my first race of the year. This will be the earliest in the season (only by a week) that I have ever raced a triathlon. It is also the longest that I have ever gone to start the season seeing as it's a half ironman. I'm not going to rest/taper for this race as I have bigger plans for this season so I need to continue to to train. I have been having some great days of training, and feel pretty good about my fitness, especially my run fitness. Run training has been consistent and I've been smarter about my running in the past few weeks...i.e. going out slower than usual. Yesterday I had an awesome 11 mile run. It was one of those days where the legs felt great, my breathing wasn't labored at all, and I could have kept going if I had the time. Don't you love those days? I started out with a 6:53, 6:38, 6:30 and then cracked off the next 8 miles with the slowest one being 6:19 (fastest 6:04). No these aren't extremely fast, but for me to run at that pace with the effort (or lack there of) that I had to put in I was excited. I am excited to start to race and excited to start to take some calculated risks on the run!! The past few seasons I've taken risks on the bike, and I felt as if I could...well I will still plan on attacking the bike, but for the first time in ever I feel I can take some risks on the run now too. I'm not sure where those will be yet, but I do plan on putting myself into the hurt locker more than I have in the past knowing that I've been there in training!
Alright for the weekend preview. The sun is finally out, crazy, and I don't think it's a dream, I think it's actually here for a day. With that in mind I'm planning on having a big weekend. Today's training load is going to be rather light which has already included some time on my bike, and will include an easy 6 mile run in a bit here. Tomorrow will be big. I'm going to use Endure It Willowbrook as my homebase for training for the day (mainly because if I come home from a ride and try to get a run in right away my dogs will give me way too much guilt). So the plan is to drop off a back pack of running gear at Endure It on my way out for my 100 mile ride, come back and run 10 off of the bike where I can end up at home for an ice bath. I may ride with a few people for some of my 100...or I may go solo...not sure yet. My 10 mile run will be solo and at slightly faster than Ironman pace hopefully. I'm going to follow this up with a "Marathon Dress Rehearsal" on Sunday where I run 23 miles at planned Ironman Marathon pace. The key here is going to be to keep things in check at the beginning and to push come mile 17ish to hold on to the pace. That's usually where the wheels start to fall off and it's just going to take some focus. My mom doesn't know it yet but she might be riding some bottles for me. So mom when you read this that might be part of your Sunday morning plan. Thanks, you're the best!
But before all of this begins I'll have to load up on Mexican food and tear up the bowling alley tonight. Some people think they can out bowl me...I'm just going to have to prove otherwise.
Alright for the weekend preview. The sun is finally out, crazy, and I don't think it's a dream, I think it's actually here for a day. With that in mind I'm planning on having a big weekend. Today's training load is going to be rather light which has already included some time on my bike, and will include an easy 6 mile run in a bit here. Tomorrow will be big. I'm going to use Endure It Willowbrook as my homebase for training for the day (mainly because if I come home from a ride and try to get a run in right away my dogs will give me way too much guilt). So the plan is to drop off a back pack of running gear at Endure It on my way out for my 100 mile ride, come back and run 10 off of the bike where I can end up at home for an ice bath. I may ride with a few people for some of my 100...or I may go solo...not sure yet. My 10 mile run will be solo and at slightly faster than Ironman pace hopefully. I'm going to follow this up with a "Marathon Dress Rehearsal" on Sunday where I run 23 miles at planned Ironman Marathon pace. The key here is going to be to keep things in check at the beginning and to push come mile 17ish to hold on to the pace. That's usually where the wheels start to fall off and it's just going to take some focus. My mom doesn't know it yet but she might be riding some bottles for me. So mom when you read this that might be part of your Sunday morning plan. Thanks, you're the best!
But before all of this begins I'll have to load up on Mexican food and tear up the bowling alley tonight. Some people think they can out bowl me...I'm just going to have to prove otherwise.
No comments:
Post a Comment