Week #3:
Ironman Wisconsin happened this past weekend and it reminded me of why I want to do this race over any other one. We had athletes racing and two of my athletes finished 4th in their Age Group, 1 missed Kona by a single place. I was also able to watch a friend have the race of his life and earn his Kona Spot hes been wanting for so long. It was motivating to watch so many athletes I know and coach accomplish what they’ve trained for. I find so much encouragement and belief that if others are able to, I can accomplish my goals of faster than 9:40 at Ironman Wisconsin.
When I first started thinking of doing an Ironman in 2019, IMWI wasn’t my top choice even though it is in the same city I live in. All eyes were focused on Ironman Arizona. Why? I am not very strong on hills. Cycling or running I get toasted by pretty much everyone. When I look at my results from previous races, I am much more competitive in the flatter races than hilly ones. The percentages of how close I am to the front shows I am much better at flat races.
This makes me self analysis why this is the case and how do I improve as an athlete. When I look at the power profile chart, my 1’ power is much lower than my FTP power. I think that if they are not even in the same category, this will lead to more muscular fatigue on race day that you should encounter.
Why did I decide on IMWI? It’s the crowds. The support is unparalleled to any other course I’ve seen. IMWI has over 6,000 feet of elevation gain on the bike and 1,000 feet on the run. The run course also had over 20 turns which makes it a pretty close course. To re illustrate why, I want to have an incredible experience over chasing a fast time.
How am I fixing my weakness?
Kevin and I talk about this alot and what the primary focus will be and its nothing fancy. All of the sessions we do is to getting me as fit as I possibly can be. This may seem basic, but over the past 5-6 years this basic concept is what I lacked. Its why I continued to fall apart late into races. Its why i experience GI stress in ever marathon.
Develop the Bow before the Arrow
We are currently in the grind of muscular strength. We are in a phase of training where it consists of alot of 90-95% efforts in a big gear (65-70rpms). On the run it is also pretty similar, Tempo running and striders. We are building the biggest platform possible. While I am only training 8-10hrs a week, the intensity is high and I am loving it. Knowing Kevin, we will probably sit in this phase for 3-4 months. More and more Sweet Spot in a bigger gear. The intensity isnt so hard it fries me the next day, it allows me to put in alot of good work.
The over gear work is for my weakness. Strength Strength Strength.
It’s Happening, Already.
I am getting better. I like improvement.
Swim: Last week I was able to swim 15x100 on 1:30 base. My avg 100s were 1:18-22 and I was cruising with minimal effort. Today I was 3x600 avg 1:20-25, 5x100 avg 1:16, 8x50 avg 34. Totally 3600y and it was the best i’ve felt swimming this distance in over 6 years. I have never swum 1500-1800 yards on a 1:30 base. EVER.
Bike: No improvements yet. It’s only been 3 weeks. Yet, I am feeling very strong. I love over gear work. If you want to get better, put that puppy in the big ring!
Run: The volume of running has been quite low. We do 1x Tempo Run a week where i’m targeting 6:15-25 pace (Half Marathon Pace) for 30-40’ of total work broken up in 10-12’ segments. The purpose of this is building a strong base. I have the Madison Half Marathon in early November where I would like to Run in the 1:20-1:23 range.
Thanks all for reading!