Week 14, Day 1 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 10:45 P. Woke at 6:45 AM.

Jenn out of town so I got girls to bed and to school solo.

Recovery swim
3,500
1:12
WU - 5 x 200 on 20" rest
MS - 12 x 100 on 15" rest
        12 x 75 on 15" rest
CD - 400
Good swim. Feel good in the water.
Sat in cold tub before this so the pool felt like a hot tub.


CF
5 x
12 wall ball shots with 20# ball
12 toes to bar
7:20


Menu:
Veggie//Bean soup: 2 c carrot/celery juice
                           2 c water
                           2 c chopped kale
                           3 chopped tomatoes
                           2 chopped onions
                           4 chopped carrots
                           1/2 c each of split peas and bean soup mix (lots of different beans)
                           2.5 tbsp Vegebase
                           1/2 tbsp Mrs. Dash table blend
                           Put in a pot and cook for 90 minutes...yum yum.
Had salad, veggie//bean soup for dinner
Cooked broccoli, too
juice at lunchtime
Snack - cashews, end piece of Ezekial (no salt added) bread, celery/almond butter
3 dates, bowl of frozen fruit

VOLUME UPDATE

Through 13 weeks:

SWIM - 88,444 // 50.25 miles
BIKE - 80 HOURS, 40 MINUTES (1,450 MILES ROUGHLY)
RUN - 280.2 MILES

TOTAL TIME
170 HOURS, 41 MINUTES
More than a week of training...7+ days.

This is why I have ordered Jenn a "I let my husband train for an Ironman" present...

"cookies"

4 dates soaked in almond milk for 8 hours

2 bananas

1/2 c pecans

1/2 c walnuts

1/2 c grated coconut

cinnamon

cooked at 250 for 30 minutes. I ate some last night...then girls ate the rest this morning! 

Week 13, Day 7 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 11 PM. Woke at 5:30 AM.

Key run
10.3 miles
1:30
HR averaged 136

Took it easy. Wore cotton t-shirt and long sleeve cotton shirt over that. Feel good. I can still feel my left foot but it's nothing that slowed me down.

Open water swim
1 hour
pretty choppy but that's good. Practicing in terrible conditions is ideal.

Menu:
post-run - few pinches of raw cacao nibs, about 7 strawberries

juice around lunchtime
Dinner - pinto beans, salad, cooked veggies
Snack - dried banana, 2 LARA bars, 3 pieces cheese pizza, cajun sesame sticks
"cookies" see above for details...

TOTAL WEEK 13 VOLUME:
SWIM - 3:40
BIKE - 8:00
RUN - 4:30
CF - 30'
TOTAL - 16:40

3 SWIMS
5 RUNS
4 BIKES
1 CF WOD
13 TOTAL WORKOUTS (COUNTING BRICKS AS TWO)

Week 13, Day 6 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 12:45 AM...woke at 6:15 AM.

Rode for an hour, ran for 30.
1:30 total. HR averaged 113...took it really easy.

Got my new Breville juicer!!

Menu:
juice around lunchtime
Dinner - 3 trips through Jason's Deli, 4 organic wheat/seed crackers
Snack - frozen fruit, popped amaranth, blue corn chips, organic refried black beans, Ezekial burrito with 1/2 avocado spread on it, raisins

Week 13, Day 5 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 10:30 PM. "Slept in" until 7:30...been a while since I've done that.

Took the day off so I could get my long ride in and be with the girls tomorrow.

Long bike//run
5:23 total
85.3 miles
averaged 19.4 mph
Ran from 4:45 to 5:23...about 4.5 miles
Temp on my PowerTap said 100 degrees was the average temp, and I believe it.
178 average watts
138 average HR on the bike

Great workout. It was really good to ride in some heat. An applicable day to say the least.
We went south and ended up around Tuscola at 30 miles. Stopped, emptied bladders, got fluids. I drank the water I had with me by that point and drank 32 oz from the stop until the next stop at mile 65.

We did a route that had some major hills. CR 279 and Hwy 277. Wind wasn't too bad...out of the WSW. And by "not too bad" I mean it was a shade under 20 mph...so it was blowing.
I drank an entire 32oz water in Buffalo Gap (mile 65) and drank half of another one before emptying the rest in my bike bladder.

Took two bottles of Accelerade with 2.5 scoops each in them. The first one lasted for about 3 hours. I drank half of the second one by the time we were done. So that was good to see that those two bottles should last the entire portion of the bike on race day, but I'm going to have an extra bottle waiting in my special needs bag at mile 56 of the bike just in case...don't want to run out of calories.

Took gels at 2hour, 3hour, and 4hour mark. Had four with me. Just ordered some more gels and I need to order more Accelerade mix, too.

I drank water all at once when we stopped but on race day, I'll fill up my bike bladder about every 30-40 minutes so I'll keep a more steady stream of water going into my system.

Also been reading some sodium research...was worried that I needed to get salt tablets or something for the humidity in Houston. But I discovered that the gels and Accelerade have plenty of sodium in them, so I don't need to do anything there...proved it today.

We shot out of the gate and my average watts was near 200 about 1.5 hours in...I told John we needed to take it down a hair...we did, and I think it's another reason why I felt so good at the end. Ended up averaged 178...thanks to the tail wind on the back end of the race.

We did some loops so we could get used to head winds late in the ride...also did some hills past the halfway point. The bike route on race day will have tail winds to start and head winds coming back...yuck.

Felt like I got stronger as the ride went on. The last 25 or so miles I felt really good. White, salt stains were covering my tri suit. We didn't have any run-ins with dogs or any other weird stuff on this ride.

Figured up that I drank about 1 gallon of fluids throughout the entire workout. I finished off my accelerade when we got back to John's, then took my hand bottle with water in it with me on the run. Finished it with about .5 mile to go.

Drank a half gallon at John's...another liter when I got home, and I'm working on another one now. That will be more than 2 gallons of fluid today.

Had a blended salad 1 hour before we started.
Recovery pudding about 30 minutes after I finished.

Menu:
pre-ride - blended salad (spinach, romaine, 1/2 avocado, banana, 2 dates)
post-ride - recovery pudding (spinach, blueberries, banana, 1/4 c almonds, 1/4 c each of carob powder, hemp protein, flaxseed, 1 strawberry)
Dinner - cooked broccoli (frozen bag with 1/2 can of no salt added tomatoes, seasoned with Mrs. Dash and oregano - Hope at 1/2 of this concoction)
             lentils, wild rice, pico, 1/2 avocado (cooked 1/4 c wild rice, little less than 1/2c lentils separately, pico was 1/4 onion, 1/2 tomato, 1/2 bell pepper, cilantro, jalapenos)...put all this together...and Hope and Haelyn ate half of this, too...guess I found a new meal for them! They cried when it was all gone! ha!
Snack - celery/almond butter, walnuts, frozen fruit, Nikki's (no sugar with strawberries), 5 small flour tortillas (3 with black beans, 2 with avocado spread on them)

Have an easy day tomorrow (easy 1 hour bike followed by 1/2 hour easy run)
Then a 90 minute run and 1 hour open water swim on Sunday...
then it's week 14 of 16...wow.

Really feel like my emphasis on nutrition is the reason why I felt stronger during the end of a super hot ride today...and why I'm recovering so fast...and why I haven't broken down physically yet.

Had a nightmare last night that I was on the bike leg of the race and the route wasn't marked and I didn't know which way to go and was riding around in circles wasting time...ha!

Week 13, Day 4 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 10 PM...woke at 4:40 AM.

Feel great after ice soak and chiropractic visit. Foot feels fine.

Key bike//run
2 hours total
bike
WU - 15' (including 4 minutes of 15" fast spin, 45" easy)
MS - 15/12/10 minutes of hard effort (HR in the 130s low 140s) with 4' easy between each set
         5 x 30" fast spin, 1:30 easy
CD - 15'

- 3' transition -

3.3 mile run on treadmill at 7.2 mph (8:20 pace)

Watched Jackass 3. Those guys are insane...yet I can't stop laughing.
Been a while since I sweat that much...went through 4 shirts and wore a black. long sleeve, cotton shirt to run.

Key run
1:20 total
9 miles
WU - 15' (including 6 100 yard accelerations)
MS  - 3x 2 miles with 3' recovery jog
CD - 17' easy

Made all three intervals in 14 minutes (7 min/mile pace). I've run a half marathon at that pace but the heat and the fact that I've been training at a much slower pace made this run much more difficult than I had anticipated. As I crossed the line on the third 2mile interval I dry heaved a few times. That means it was a good workout.



Menu:
JD for lunch - one trip salad bar: spinach, tomatoes, onion, mushroom, red wine vinegar, carrots, broccoli, bell pepper
Dinner - JD salad, cooked veggies, red lentils with avocado and pico, carrots//almond butter
Leftovers from girls' dinner (so just small amounts of...): oven baked potato strips, mangos, broccoli, grapes
Snack - oatmeal, frozen bananas/mangos, almonds, walnuts

THE HORNET RIDE

OK...so when you ride outside, bugs and flying things are always hitting you. Gnats, butterflies, dragonflies...you name it.

About 10 minutes into my ride this afternoon, in fact, a horsefly bounced off my cheek. It feels like someone popping you with a thick rubber band at point blank range...not a good feeling.

But it's a much better feeling that what is throbbing through my scalp as I type this.

18 miles in to a 20 miles ride, a hornet, wasp, bumblebee, SOMETHING, collided with me head on, somehow got inside my helmet, stung me on top of the head, then managed to get around back and sting me on the back of the head, too.

It felt like someone doused my head in gasoline and set it on fire. I didn't know if there was a swarm, how many of them had stung me, or if there were any still in my helmet. I must have screamed some sort of obscenity and slammed on my brakes hard enough to nearly throw me off the bike. I unbuckled my chin strap and threw that helmet on the ground like it was infected with Black Plague.

Then I start slapping myself all over the head because it feels like 50 stingers are stuck on it continuing to pulse their venom into my blood stream. What I would pay to have had that on video...

My goodness...that was awful. I made it home just in time to see my head shape deformed by two huge swollen stings...wonderful.

I may be dead before the sun goes down.
If I die, my final wish is for Blake Lewis, Cliff Compton, Dillon Cobb, and Will Alexander to do an Ironman in my honor.

Week 13, Day 3 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 10:30 PM. Woke at 5 AM.

Key swim
4,250 yards
1:26
WU - 800
MS - 2 x 400 on 15" rest
        8 x 100 on 5" rest
        3 x 400 on 30" rest
CD - 600

Just a little more than 2.4 miles. If I can pull a 1:30 on race day I'll be happy.

Recovery Bike
1:02
20 miles
19.3 average mph
HOT - 102 degrees
watts averaged 160
Hornet ride...see above.

Sat in cold whirlpool this morning again. 52 degrees for about 20 minutes. Such a great feeling when you get out of there. Going to see Nick Anthony in a few minutes...he always fixes me, too.

Menu -
green tea at lunch
1/2 cup blueberries after ride
Dinner - salad, cooked veggies, mung beans and pico, LARA bar
Snack - cashews, celery/almond butter, brown rice/sesame crackers, bowl of frozen fruit (banana, few mango chunks) and almonds, piece of Ezekial bread and almond butter

Week 13, Day 2 16 week full IM training

Bed at 12:30. Woke at 7 AM.

Feel much better today. Rest and ice helped tremendously.

Recovery swim
3,500 yards
WU - 3x500 on 1' rest
MS - 5x100
        5x50 kick/50 freestyle
        6x100
        all on 15" rest
CD - 400
Took me 1:14
All 100's were in the 1:38-1:45 range. The ones with kicking were all < 2:30.
Pretty sore for the first 2 500s but eventually loosened up and had a good swim.


CF
"Nate"
20" AMRAP
2 muscle ups
4 hand stand pushup
8 1.5 pood KBS
11 rounds plus 5 MUs. Did all MU's unbroken. HSPU slowed me down. 

The IMTX Athlete Guide came out today. Lots of rules and guidelines to follow. Reading it gives you that "I think I forgot something" feeling...times ten.

T - 25 days.


Menu:
Nothing all day until a juice at 6 PM (carrots, apples, celery, lemon, cinnamon)
Dinner - salad, cooked veggies, mung beans homemade pico (bell pepper, tomato, onion, cilantro)
Snack - frozen banana, handful of frozen cherries, cashews, couple of dates, handful of raisins, some brown rice-sesame crackers, celery/almond butter
Good eating day...

Week 13, Day 1 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 10:30 PM. Woke at 4:30 AM.
Planned on doing a 2 hour bike/run inside this morning but when I stood up out of bed I quickly realized that I would not be training today.

Week 12 (especially the end of week 12) really did a number on me. In quite a bit of pain. Only thing other than extreme muscle soreness is that sharp pain on the top/inside of my left foot...

So that's why you see the picture below of the whirlpool. Went over there to soak...need to do it a few times this week.

First complete rest day since Easter Sunday. But I'm not going to miss any workouts...got to get them all in somehow. I'll find a way.

Menu:
juice at lunchtime - carrots, apples, celery, lemon, cinnamon
Dinner - salad from Whole Foods, cashews, spirulina carob cubes, 2 LARA bars
Snack - cashews, spirulina carob cubes, carob almonds, 2 LARA bars

Cold whirlpool

52 degrees. Up to my waist for 15 minutes. It'll fix ya.

Volume Update

Week 12 summary:

18:45 of total volume...

Swam 7,725 yards (2 hours, 40 minutes)
On the bike for 10 hours (my saddle area is a bit sore)...equivalent of about 200 miles
Ran more than 5 hours - about 31 miles
1 HOUR OF CF

TOTAL VOLUME UPDATE
Swim - 44.43 miles
Run - 250 miles
Bike - 72.7 hours (or about 1,300 miles if you calculate 18 mph average which is conservative)

Week 12, Day 7 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 10:30 PM. Woke at 6 AM.

CF WOD
"Cindy"
20' As many rounds as possible
5 pullups
10 pushups
15 air squats
12 rounds plus 5 pulls

Took it fairly easy...my PR on this one is in the 20s so I was focused on technique and being very deliberate through my range of motions.

Key Long run
2 hours
14 miles and a few dozen meters

The last thing on earth I wanted to do at 3 PM today was run for 2 hours. But I got a quick hour nap in and hit the road. Took me a few miles to get going. Right hip started hurting about mile 9 but it wasn't terrible. Haven't had that pain since a 12 miler I did in week 1 or 2.

A tendon in my left foot began hurting right when I stopped running...it's on the top of my foot. Hope it's nothing. Going to ice this week but have to get some miles in.

Really felt drained this morning...volume caught up with me.

Menu:
see below for my post CF meal
celery/almond butter, cashews, almond butter sandwich, beans, 2 zucchini with hot sauce (at Los Arcos)...all before or at lunch.
post-run - recovery pudding with spinach included
dinner - 2 cheese-less bean burritos, 1 bean burrito with sour cream, olives, "sauce", tomatoes
dessert - almond "fudge"
1/2 frozen banana

Probably the fewest amount of calories I've had on a Sunday in a long time.

Pre game Meal experiment

I can make it 5-7 hours on a blended salad one prior to start of workout and a banana a 1/2 hour before...but throw in a 2.4 mile swim and an additional 5-7 hours...and I'm thinking I may need to start consuming calories on May 19 a little earlier than 1 hour prior.

I don't want something heavy.
I don't want something too liquidy...like a smoothie or something.
I don't want too much.
I don't want too little.

So I'm experimenting with things I'm going to eat at 4 AM on race day.

My first experiment may be pretty close to the final product.
How about eating this for a healthy breakfast:

1/2 c blueberries
1/2 banana
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp walnuts
2 tbsp hemp protein
1/2 c oatmeal
2 tbsp carob powder
juice of 1 lemon
Bowl of spinach
3 strawberries

All put into a food processor and mixed together. It was pretty good. Just a variation of my recovery pudding with additional fruit, oatmeal, spinach...

So the plan is to eat this at 4 AM...then have a blended salad at 6 AM...a banana at 6:30 AM. Race starts at 7 AM.

Sent from my iPhone

Middle of Nowhere

Week 12, Day 6 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 10:30 PM. Woke at 6 AM.

6 hour bike//45 minute run (about five miles)
7 hours total (15 ghost minutes are for 2 short stops and transitioning off the bike)

120.15 miles
20 mph average
195 watt average
light north winds

Last night the forecast was showing ENE winds changing to WSW halfway through my ride. So my plan last night was to ride to Winters and beyond to 56 miles, then turnaround.

When I checked my phone this morning, winds were showing NW and not changing. So I decided to ride to Stamford and beyond to 56 then turnaround. 112 total...at least. Really wanting to get 6 hours in the saddle (not counting stops).

It was 47 degrees when I left.
Wore my black pearl Izumi thermal long sleeve, green jersey, bike shorts, Long black zoot compression socks, gloves. It was freezing for the first 90 minutes or so.

I took 4 accel gels and my pepper spray with me. Also had a bottle of water, my frame bladder filled up, and 2 scoops of accelerade/water.

Went up Eastlake to 1082. West to Westlake (FM 600) and north to 180. Headed west towards Anson but turned right on 1226(??) due north to Stamford. It was right at this turn that I had to get my pepper spray out. 2 menacing, fur ruffled dogs came running out at me. I pointed the bottle at one of them and was prepared to spray, but I think seeing something pointed his direction made him back off. Adrenaline was going. John B. hit a stupid dog last week which sent him flying over his handlebars. I love dogs...but I will kill a dog.

I was heading into a light head wind but averaged 20 mph the first 20 miles, then the second. I hit Stamford at 42 miles and decided to continue on Hwy 6 towards Rule until I got to 56.

I ALMOST decided to go all the way to Rule (and it turns out I could have easily), which would have put me at around 61 miles out (122 miles total), but decided not to tempt fate and turned around at 56.

At mile 60 I stopped and took this video...just to show how incredibly flat and sparse this part of the country is. Most people, I assume, would get discouraged at seeing nothing but road and grass with no end in sight...it actually excites me and makes me very happy. I'm weird. Especially when wind is not too bad.

Made it back to Stamford and stopped to get a bottle of water (a tip I learned from JB) at the 70 mile mark. Had my pepper spray out at 84 miles when I passed the danger dogs, but there was no sign of them.

I decided to stay on 1082 all the way to 351 instead of turning on east lake. Came down 351 and hit 112 miles while still averaging 20 mph. Time was 5:34:51. Had 25+ minutes to go so I rode around close to Heritage Parks for another half hour. Hit 120 miles...good feeling.

Took about 5 minutes to transition.
Kept my thermal on and put a black, cotton, long sleeve on over it. Trying to simulate hot conditions of Houston. Started my run at 6:15 hour mark and ran to 7...out to my 2 mile mark and back, then about another mile around the neighborhood. So the two stops on the bike took about 10 minutes, and I took another five to transition.

Feel great.

Let's talk nutrition...

I didn't need water first 90 minutes because it was too dang cold. But I forced myself to start sipping Accelerade at 90 minutes...alternating water and accelerade every ten minutes until the end of the ride.

1 bottle with 2 scoops usually lasts me about 4 hours. I'm going to make 1 bottle with 2.5 scoops disappear during the first half of the ride on race day...so planning on taking in just a few more liquid calories at that time. Total of 2 bottles, 600 calories, 6 gels, 600 calories for the bike on May 19. If I hit my goal of six hours that means about 200 calories per hour on race day.

I take a gel every hour on the hour, starting at 2 hours...so four total today.
Time REALLY starts to go by fast after that 2 hour mark...it's really weird. Like you can actually see the seconds ticking by faster.

At six hours (120 miles), I was out of accelerade and still had about 1/4 bottle of water left...had some extra after picking some up in  Stamford.

I had my hand bottle filled with water and 1 scoop of accelerade...took a few swigs of that, ate a banana bread LARA bar (those are very easy on my stomach) and put the hand bottle in my mail box. When I got back from doing four miles, I grabbed the bottle and finished it off the last mile.

I've decided to start wearing my winter workout gear as much as I can for the last month of training...hopefully that will get me maybe a little taste of the heat? It may not do much, but it's the best I can do...especially when it's 47 degrees at the start of my peak ride.

I have a 2 hour run tomorrow, and I'll probably wear my winter tights and a long sleeve shirt (for at least the first hour anyway).

Menu:
pre-ride - blended salad (romaine lettuce, tahini, dates, banana)
ride - see above
post-ride - recovery pudding (1/2 c frozen blueberries, 1 banana, 1/4 c soaked almonds, 2 tbsp of carob powder, hemp protein and flaxseed, juice of 1 lemon)...LOVE that stuff.
Dinner - 2 trips through JD salad bar (4th day of JD in a row...), 3 organic wheat/seed crackers, cranberry/walnut mix
Dessert - 3 LARA bars
Snack - 2 Ezekial tortillas with organic black beans from NG and salsa, Nikki's (no sugar vanilla with strawberries and cherries), small  bowl of salsa with blue corn chips

Not a great eating day...but I trained a long time.
Planning on "Cindy" early in the morning...then a 13 mile run during girls' nap time in the afternoon while wearing winter gear.

Week 12, Day 5 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 11 PM...up at 3 AM...yeah...3 AM.
Mind was racing. Have lots of MBA stuff to get caught up on. Started regression stats assignment at 4...next thing I knew it was 7. Needless to say...I was tired today.

Recovery Day
Bike//run

1 hour on the trainer (HR in the mid to high 120s)
easy run for 30 minutes
1:30 total

Watched Surviving the Cut, Army Divers...crazy stuff.
So tired today.

Menu:
snacked throughout the day - celery/almond butter, celery/salsa, hole and oats cereal and raisins (Hope was eating so I grabbed a few handfuls), strawberries, part of Haelyn's Ezekial tortilla with almond butter. Last few crumbs of the Blue corn chips.
Dinner - 2 trips through JD salad bar, wheat crackers from JD, JD soft serve with almonds, end piece of Ezekial bread with organic jam
Snack - 2 LARA bars, cashews

Week 12, Day 4 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 11. Woke at 8 AM.

Key run
1:20 total
probably around 8.5 miles.
WU - 20 minutes (including 6 accelerations)
MS - 8x 3:2
CD - 20 minutes

Menu
leftover celery and almond butter from last night right when I woke up.
Dinner - 3 trips through JD salad bar
snack - cashews, carob cubes, 2 LARA bars celery//almond butter

Have a big weekend ahead. Lots of training left to do.
Start to taper after this week.

ONE MONTH UNTIL RACE DAY!!

Week 12, Day 3 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at midnight, up at 8 AM.

Key Swim
4,225 yard (2.4 miles)
longest swim ever
WU - 800
MS - 8x50 on 30" rest
         6x300 on 30" rest
        8x50 on 30" rest
CD - 800
Took me 1:28. Feel great. First time to swim the actual swim distance. Fitting since I'm going 112 on the bike this weekend.

Swam at YWCA in Lubbock.

Bike
30.9 miles on BSLT 70.3 course. HUGE HILLS. Five major climbs in this ride.
Took it easy.
172 watts
17.8 mph average (slow because of wind and crazy hills)
136 HR
On the bike 1:40

CF
"Nancy"
5 rounds of
400m run
15 x 95# Overhead Squat
13:28

Menu:
celery (only thing I had all day for the three workouts)
dinner - 3 trips through JD salad bar
snack - 2 LARA bars, celery/almond butter, cashews, carob cubes, 2 coconut dates

Starting to see a difference after cutting down on calories and cutting out fruit during the week. I think I'll be at a good race weight.
Good training day today.

Week 12, Day 2 - 16 week full IM training

bed at 10 PM. Woke at 4:40 AM.

On trainer at 5 AM.

Key ride//transition run
WU - 15' including 3x 30" fast, 30" easy
MS - 4/8/12/8/4 minute intervals with 2' easy in between
        2 x 30" fast spin, 90" easy
CD - 15' easy

- 2 minute transition -

3.3 miles on treadmill.
Total workout was 1:50. Off bike at 1:20.
I do these workouts with nothing on my stomach by the way. Trying to train my body to use fat as fuel. Always have a huge mound of sweaty shirts and towels after this brick.
Watched 2 episodes of Surviving the Cut, listened to some MJ while I was running.



Menu:
green tea in morning

Dinner - salad, cooked veggies, can of refried black beans with salsa (from NG)
Snack - cashews, celery/almond butter, carob cubes, 2 LARA bars

Week 12, Day 1 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 11. Woke at 6:45 AM.

Recovery swim
WU - 16 x 50 on 10" rest
MS - 21 x 100 on 15" rest
CD - 200, 200 kick, 200
3,500 total
Took me 1:12. Good swim.

Menu:
post-swim: recovery pudding (in food processor - blueberries, 1/2 banana, lemon juice, carob powder, hemp protein, sunflower seeds, flax seeds)
Dinner - salad, cooked veggies, mung beans with pico, dried bananas (small amount leftover from yesterday)
Snack - cashews, celery/almond butter//tahini, end piece of Ezekial bread with almond butter, popped amaranth
Great eating day...

Total volume update

Through 11 weeks

Swim - 70,469 yards // 40.04 miles
Run - 219.6 miles
Bike - 60 hours, 42 minutes

Week 11, Day 7 - 16 week full IM training

That's John on the left...me playing catchup on the right.

Bed at 11 PM. Woke at 4:30 AM to run , but it was raining so I went back to sleep until 8.

Key long run

17 miles in 2:30

slow pace but feet/legs feel good in the Zoot Ovwa's. Minimal cushion/support on those shoes but feel strong.

Ran out to 6 mile mark and back, then back out to 2 mile mark and back, then out to .5 mile mark and back. Was actually a little more than 17 miles.

Open water swim

We ended up spending about 55 minutes in the water. 

New TYR Hurricane wetsuit feels fantastic. Much better than my old, no name brand one I've worn the last 4 years.

Menu:

Blended salad pre-run

recovery pudding post-run

Night - carob cubes (raw, vegan), dried banana, 4 LARA bars, 3 cheese-less bean burritos, 1 tortilla with honey, 1 with melted cheese, brown recovery drink

TOTAL VOLUME FOR WEEK 11 - 18 HOURS, 30 MINUTES
3:22 SWIM
9:03 ON THE BIKE
5:05 RUNNING
1 HOUR CROSSFITTING

Week 11, Day 6 - 16 week full IM training

kj

Bed at 12:30 AM. Woke at 5:30 AM.

SUPER WINDY. Phone was saying 25mph when I woke and it was only supposed to get worse. Doors sounding like they were coming off their hinges.

I got all my stuff together last night. Made a blended salad, grabbed my bag, loaded up my bike and drove to John's at 6:30AM.

Our plan was to spend 5.5 hours in the saddle, not counting time at a gas station to pee and load up on fluids.

I had ridden my Shiv 3.5 hours (1:15 of that outside) so was a little worried it was going to not be dialed in right and be very uncomfortable.

Let's just say it was one of the best experiences I've ever had on a bike. Headwinds didn't seem as bad as they normally do. Cross winds didn't effect me hardly at all. Tail winds intensified my speed. I hit 40.7 mph on a flat with a tail wind. The only time I've ever hit 40 was on a super huge hill. 

We made it to Winters in 2:45. Stopped at a gas station for about 15 minutes, then headed back. The ride back was awesome. Five weeks ago we rode to Winters and I was about ready to call it quits at the halfway point. Today, at mile 100, I felt like I could've ridden another 100.

We got back to John's 5:30 after we left but still had 10 minutes to make up 5.5 hours in the saddle. I rode around the neighborhood a few times to get up to 5.5, hopped off bike, and we set off on a 50' run which had to have been close to 6 miles. Felt great on the run after. Feeling very strong. All this training is paying off. 

I starting alternating Accelerade and water at 1:30, every ten minutes, the "odd" 10' sets (10, 30, 50) are Accelerade sips, "even" sets are water that way when I take a gel at the hour marks, I'm chasing it with water not Accelerade. 

Took gels at 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours, and 5 hours. Had one for the run but didn't need it. Just took a big swig of accelerade and left my hand bottle at John's. 

I think calorie-wise that's a pretty good plan. On race day it will most likely be hotter and more humid so I'll just drink more water. Easy to do since I have a bladder in my bike frame....Shiv.

The best part about the bike is how it maintains its speed. When I check up to get fluid or come to a flat after a descent, the thing doesn't slow down...it just keeps rocketing forward. My wattage averaged less than 190 which is very good considering how hard we were working going towards Winters. 

That ride makes me wanna ride 100 miles every day of my life. That bike is incredible.

So...

105.3 mile ride//6 mile run

6:40:20 total

Third century ride in last four weeks.

Planning on going 112 next week.

Have a 2.5 hour run in the morning, then John and I are planning to swim in Fort Phantom with wet suits tomorrow evening.

Menu:

blended salad pre-ride: arugula, spinach, 1/2 avocado, 2 dates, 1 banana

recovery pudding post-ride: blueberries, banana, almonds, hemp protein, flax seed, carob powder, lemon juice

Dinner - small salad, cooked veggies, mung beans, celery/almond butter

Snack - dates, watermelon, brown rice, corn tortillas (3), dry oatmeal, frozen fruit

non VFBNS were corn tortillas, brown rice and oatmeal

Week 11, Day 5 - 16 week full IM training

8 hours sleep.

FIRST RIDE OUTSIDE ON THE SHIV
Very windy. Rode up and around lake. Hit 40 mph with tail wind in a place I've never hit 40mph before (even with strong tailwind).
Not my fastest lake ride (25 miles) but it was very windy. Averaged 19.9 and wasn't trying to push it. Bike feels great but until I have something to compare it with, I won't know how great or un-great it really is.
Took me 1:15

Menu:
handful of cashews in the morning
celery/cashew butter pre-ride
Dinner - salad, pinto beans, cashews
snack - corn tortillas, brown rice, 2 cookies leftover from wedding shower we hosted, dates

Been a great eating week except for the 2 cookies I had tonight. Long ride in the morning. Supposed to be windy.

Week 11, Day 4 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 10:30P. Woke at 5:30A.

Key run
WU - 20 minutes (including 6 accelerations - 60 steps/20 seconds)
MS - 40' tempo (HR in the low 150s throughout)
CD - 15' including 2x40 butt kicks, high knees, skipping
HR averaged 139

CF Boom
Arlington
3x max reps (each arm) of shoulder press with 1.5 pood KB
struggled out 15 reps each arm...brutal.
then...
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 of
1.5 pood KB swing
wall climbs
19:28, cap was 20'
Shoulders are absolutely fried.

Menu:
celery at 2 PM
Dinner - 3 trips through JD salad bar
spirulina/carob cubes, cashews, 2 LARA bars, canned beans with homemade pico

Week 11, Day 3 - 16 week full IM training

This is where I spend lots of time swimming...ACU Rec Center.

Bed at 10:30P. Woke at 5:30A.

60' bike

Power test

warmed up for 30 minutes

20 minutes as hard as humanly possible

averaged 260 on watts...don't know if that's good, average, or terrible, but I just about puked at the end.

Rode 10' easy to cool down.

Anaerobic swim

3,500 total

WU: 4x 200 on 15"

       16x 25 (1 drill, 1 free)

MS: 12x50 on 10" rest

       6x100 on 15"

       3x200 on 20"

CD: 5 x 50 kick, 50 free

REALLY sore at the beginning of this one. Took me the entire 1,200 yards to get loose. Abs, shoulders, chest, calves...from yesterday's CF WOD.

Did the MS in 35', happy about that.

Whole thing took 1:19

Menu:

post-ride: juice of 3 carrots, 2 peeled zucchini, 1 apple, cinnamon

post-swim: processed - blueberries, sunflower seeds, flax seed, hemp protein, lemon juice, carob powder, almonds

Dinner - 3 trips through JD salad bar

snack - celery and almond butter/humus, cashews, carob cubes (spirulina), 2 LARA bars

3rd great eating day in a row...

Week 11, Day 2 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 10:30P. Woke at 4:40A.

Key bike//transition run
1:50 total
WU - 15 (including 3 x 1' SLD, 1' easy)
MS - 7' intense effort, 1' climb, 1' fast spin, 1 ' recovery
        6' intense effort, 1' climb, 1' fast spin, 1' recovery
        45" SLD, 1:15 recovery
        5' intense effort, 1' climb, 1' fast spin, 1' recovery
        4' intense effort, 1' climb, 1' fast spin, 1' recovery
        10' moderate intensity
CD - 15' easy

- 2' transition -

started run at 1:20, ran to 1:50 at 7.2 mph (8:20 pace). HR in the 137-141 range throughout.
Lots of sweat during this one.
Finished WWII in HD then watched an episode of 30 Rock. Need to find a new 1 hour series to watch.

CF
20' AMRAP
18 box jumps, 24"
15 toes to bar
12 pulls
6 rounds...tough. T2B slowed me down.

Menu:
2 glasses of green tea during morning
post-CF - in food processor: juice of 2 small lemons, frozen blueberries, carob powder, flaxseed, hemp protein, spoonful of tahini...similar to recovery pudding with no banana. Really good. Hope at half of it with me.
Dinner - salad, cooked veggies, lentils/pico
(salad: 1/2 avocado, handful of spinach, 1/2 tomato, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, red wine vinegar; pico: bell pepper, onion, tomato, lemon juice, cilantro)
Snack - cashews, oatmeal (w/ cinnamon and walnuts, carrots//almond butter

IT'S HERE!!!!!!!

AGHGHGGHGHGHHGH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Week 11, Day 1 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at around midnight. Woke at 6:45 AM.

Feeling crummy that I missed the run yesterday.
The next six weeks are the climactic weeks of the training. I've got about three more long, intense weeks before I start tapering off.

It's crunch time.

Recovery swim
3,500 yards
1:10
WU - 2 x (4x 100, 100 kick) on 15" rest (took me 21 minutes)
MS - 10 x 200 on 20" rest
CD - 500
All 200s were in the 3:20-3:30 range. Probably the best swim of my life. Felt fast. Stroke count was low (13-15 per 25 yards). Never really got tired. Something has clicked in the water. I feel great swimming.

Again, not to say that I'm going to post a fast swim time, just that I'm confident and will come out of the drink refreshed and ready to go another 10 hours.

John and I are planning to swim at Fort Phantom on Sunday and two weeks from Sunday in our wet suits for about an hour.

Menu
post-swim - water with chlorella (1 tsp)
dinner - salad, cooked veggies, lentils/pico de gallo (cutting back on my servings of legumes - been eating more than 1 cup, cutting that back to about half) - ended up being 3/4 c dry
snack - oatmeal, LARA bars, cashews

VFBNS day...first one in a while...feel good.

Last six weeks...time to get serious. No sugar, no oil, no processed anything from no until after the race. I need to lose about 10 pounds, which shouldn't be hard with the volume I'm about to undertake.

Total volume update

Through Week 10

61,469 yards (or 34.93 miles) in the water
185.1 miles run
53.62 hours on the bike

...i need to calculate total volume(time) of training...

Week 10 summary

about 10+hours
Recovery week
12 miles total run
4:45 hours on bike
2:40 in the water
about an hour of Crossfit

Week 10, Day 7 - 16 week full IM training

Blah day...
Woke at 6:45 and got all my running stuff on to run a 1:10 workout.
Decided to wait until nap time and run when it was hotter so I didn't go out.

It ended up raining super hard all through lunch and the rest of the afternoon so I decided to not get out in that and take a rest day...which would make my second of the week. NOT good.

Took a nap instead. I know missing one run isn't going to mess with me at all, it's just annoying. I wanted to be able to say I never missed a key bike or run. Still got 10+hours of volume in.

I also toyed with the idea of running when I got home, but by the time we unloaded car and got girls to bed it was 10:30 PM. Oh well...it happens.

Menu:
Ezekial toast with almond butter in morning
afternoon - celery with hummus and almond butter, cashew clusters (have sugar in them), trail mix, slice of angel food cake
Dinner - cooked veggies with diced tomatoes, oatmeal with cinnamon and walnuts, small bowl of fruit (half a banana, about 8 cherries)

Week 10, Day 6 - 16 week full IM training

Fell asleep early. Woke at 7

Key run
1:05
WU - 20 minutes (including 6 accelerations)
MS - 10 x 2:1 (fartlek)
CD - 2x 40 of butt kicks, high knees, skipping, then easy run to 1:05
HR averaged 145

Good run. Found a park near parents' new house. Feet/legs feeling fine so far with the shoe change. Hopefully it won't be an issue.

Recovery bike
60'
HR averaged 123
rode inside

Menu:
green tea
handful of cashews in between workouts
Dinner - salad, cooked veggies, lentils and wild rice
Snack - carob almonds, slice of angel food cake, carrots/celery and hummus/almond butter

Week 10, Day 5 - 16 week full IM training

Woke at 6 AM.

Key Bike/run
50 mile ride - 2.5 mile transition run
Rode to Baird then south on 283 about 3 miles.
Averaged 18.5. Flew on the way back.
Wind wasn't terrible but it was definitely there.
52 degrees so I was freezing my rear off...annoying.
Felt fine on the run.
HR averaged 139. Watts was 187.

Menu:
pre-ride - blended salad
post-ride - recovery pudding
Dinner - salad place in Arlington, had three big salads with chickpeas
Snack - carob almonds, cashews, hummus/celery, chips/salsa

Week 10, Day 4 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 9:45 PM. Woke at 7 AM.
Had alarm set for 4:30 and got up, but decided I needed sleep more at that moment.

Key bike//run
1:40 total
WU - 15' (including 2 x 20 fast spin, 40 easy)
MS - 1/2/3/4/5/4/3/2/1 - minutes of work followed by 2' recovery
        2 x 30 SLD, 30 both legs
CD - 15'

3' transition

ran on treadmill for 20 minutes (little less than 2.5 miles)
Had to wear old red/white brooks because I left my orange ones in Vegas...housekeeping has seen no sign of them, called rental car place, too...booooo....

HR averaged 119 (recovery ride mainly)

CF
after warmup
10 muscle ups
100 push press at 75#
1000m row
10:24


Menu
post ride/run - blueberries, hemp protein, flax seed, 1/2 banana, 2 dates, juice from one lemon
Dinner - large salad, organic/canned refried beans with homemade pico de gallo (onion, tomato, lemon, cilantro)
Snack - cashews, chips/salsa

Week 10, Day 3 - 16 week full IM training

Swapping this week and next week, which is a recovery week, since travel threw me off.
Took a complete rest day (which was really scheduled for NEXT Friday).

Menu:
Naked green juice in morning
pumpkin seeds on plane
Dinner - large salad, beans, carob almonds, chips/salsa, cashews

Week 10, Day 2 - 16 week full IM training

Key swim
WU - 800
MS - 5 x 500 as: 500 straight
                         5 x 100 on 10" rest
CD - 300
all meters so about 3,900 yards
Took me 1:14...great swim.

Menu:
Mesa Grill Salmon for dinner

Week 10, Day 1 - 16 week full IM training

Recovery swim

WU - 6 x 250 (1,3,5 regular; 2, 4, 6 were 200 then 50 kick)

MS - 4 x 200 on 20" rest

         5 x 100 on 15" rest

CD - 4 x 200 on 20" rest

3,600 total (meters) so about 3,900 yards.

Took me 1:25...extra time for kicking and talking to Jeff who was with me...

CF

4 rounds of 

30 DBUs

15 WBS

30 DBSs

full recovery

1:23/1:20/1:13/1:12

Menu:

LARA bars after swim

cashews before CF

Dinner at Trevi in Las Vegas (vegetable pizza)

Snack - scavenging (long story...)

Week 9, Day 7 - 16 week full IM training

Bed at 1 AM...woke at 5 AM.

Ugh...

Long run

2 hours - 13 miles

HR averaged 139

Ran up the strip in Vegas north of everything to Washington and I-15

Felt like I was running through the backstage of a circus.

Feel great...

Menu - 

brown recovery drink from Whole Foods

Dinner - sushi, edamame

Snack - pizza

Recovery Pudding

Week 9, Day 6 - 16 week full IM training

Key ride//transition run
Rode 105 miles in 5:11 (about 5:28 total counting three stops: one in Merkel for me to pee, one at 52.5 mark to pee, last stop in Merkel for fluids/calories)

HR averaged ____
New power meter (pictured above) is AWESOME. Loved seeing my watts.
We rode from John's over to Merkel than due north about 6 miles south of Hamlin. Winds were EXTRAORDINARILY favorable.
New wheels feel fast, too.
Wore my new shoes as well...love THOSE. Lots of new stuff.

We took about a five minute transition then ran to the 6:15 mark...ended up being about a 43 minute run. 5+ miles...last mile was sub 7:30. Feel great!!!

Wind (or lack thereof) really helped, but I'm feeling stronger on these longer days.

Menu:
blended salad and banana pre-ride
recovery pudding post-ride (see above)
Dinner - large salad, lentils, 2 bean burritos, chips and salsa at my folks' house in Arlington.

Headed out of town...