Training Week In Review: Week 17

Making Strides In Mental Training

In this week's review I'd like to focus mainly on 2 training sessions: My long run and my second ride on the IM Chattanooga bike course. First up, the run.

Perfect weather for a long run!

Just Keep Putting One Foot In Front Of The Other...

I was presented the rare opportunity to run outdoors, in july, in nice cool temperatures on Saturday morning. My usual running compadres were both out of town so I decided it was time to toughen up and get some mental training in by doing a long solo run. It's been a very long time since I've run more than 3-4 miles unaccompanied, but I knew that I would feel (and most likely be) alone for at least some parts of the run on race day. I also wanted to employ my tactic of running a mile at a time and walking for 45 seconds to a minute at each mile. This strategy is what I feel will make for a more pleasant run after the 2.4 swim and 112 mi bike. Up until now I've been stopping for a brief walk every 3 miles, but as the distances increase I know that practicing my race day strategy as much as I can will pay off big time in the end. I also needed to see how I would handle additional nutrition on the run as I was drinking every mile as opposed to every 3. The results? It couldn't have gone better for the entire 2 hours and 15 minutes. With each passing mile I felt no difference from when I started. The nutrition sustained me through each step and my pace was right on target at 9:31 per mile. The route I ran consisted of a 12 mi loop with a smaller 2 mi loop tacked on at the end. The 2 mi loop is worth mentioning as it contained the longest/steepest hill of the entire route. I must admit I was proud for pushing myself to climb it at the end of the run as it would have been just as easy to have turned a different direction and finish on much flatter terrain. My elevation on the Garmin is still experiencing issues so I recorded the elevation on my iPhone. Here's the Garmin track for my run(with elevation manually added in):
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/534879163

Chattanooga Bike Course Recon Ride, Take 2...

Photo courtesy of Ed Rusk.

On Sunday I made the short drive North to meet up with a group of North GA Tri Club folks and get my second taste of the bike course. I expected this rider to feel harder since I had completed my long run less than 24 hours prior. I also wanted to use this opportunity to experiment with gears/pace and see what my limits were so I could settle in on my target pace for race day. The ride went great! I was surprised at how much of the course I remembered from my first ride. Though I will say that I forgot how rough the roads were until you hit the loop section of the course. I predict that there will be lots of bottles scattered on the side of the roads during that first 11 mile stretch out of transition. Luckily I had mine secured with rubber bands to ensure that they stayed put throughout the ride. We took a little faster pace at the start than my last trip out, but I was prepared to push things a little bit and see what happened. The group started out with about 20 riders and quickly broke into 3-4 groups. The speed demons (not my group), the slightly slower speed demons (not my group either), the average pacers (definitely my group), and the 2 loopers who were doing the loop twice. I was happy to stay in the group I knew I could hang with and keeping a steady pace really made the ride enjoyable. Since it was my second experience on the course I took the time to look around a little more at the landscape this time. What I found was that this route is loaded with natural beauty. I noticed a field packed with tall sunflowers and several instances of mountains in the background that I somehow missed the first time around. I hope to be able to enjoy the same sights on race day and not be so focused on the task at hand that I forget to enjoy where I am and what I see.

My legs felt the course a little earlier than last time, but I expected that due to the run on Saturday. It wasn't bad and I never encountered a moment where I felt the need to stop for a break (for my legs anyway). We stopped at a little gas station on the south side of Downtown Chickamauga to refill water and take advantage of their restroom. After a short break we got back to pedaling and were nearing the end of the day's ride. The last few miles went faster than I remember and before I knew it we were making the final turn back into the Bi-Lo parking lot. When I looked at my Garmin to see what the day's effort resulted in I was surprised to see an average speed of 17.2 mph. That's a good difference from my 16.7 mph average my first time out. I don't think I'll be pushing that pace on race day in order to save my legs for the run, but it was nice to know that maintain that speed for 60 miles didn't drain my legs like I thought it would. I came out of this second ride with more confidence and optimism for the bike portion of the race and can't wait to return and ride it again. Here's the Garmin track for the bike course (again with elevation manually added in):
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/535916753

Weekly Totals: Swim - 3500m • Bike - 98.26mi • Run - 20.91