"I like you. I'll gladly sit down and have dinner with you after the race. But when the gun goes off, I pretty much hate you, and I want to stomp your guts out. That's racing." -J Rapp



"the best night of my life.....
...in the most beautiful place on earth"



"It's just one, long, tedious conversation with yourself" -Paula Newby Fraser






"Have faith- trust in the plan - the breakthrough will come. I promise. " Woo




"You can keep going and your legs might hurt for a week or you can quit and your mind will hurt for a lifetime.” -Mark Allen




“The only time you can be brave is when you’re afraid.”


Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Sticking to my guns....fitness update!

16 weeks and 3 days to Ironman AZ...I know I will be ready, but the $20 million dollar question is...will the lake be ready?  $20 million because that is Tempe's projected loss if the race doesn't happen, and I'm sure a bunch of people are not excited about doing an Ironman Duathlon.   Because of the potential financial gain/loss, I am sure Tempe will get the lake done!  

So for me, I am in the zone...the 16-18 weeks leading up to the race are the where I determine how well/comfortable/competitive I will be on November 21.  Since I started back "on the program" about a month ago (2.5 months post-surgery) from Chris, I've regained my fitness by leaps and bounds!  

Here's where I am at:  SWIM:  I swam a total of 11,400 yds over 3 workouts from last thursday to sunday (3600, 3800, 4000)...I was sooo happy that I completed these three workouts, you have no idea.  I looked at the log last week and thought "yeah right, I think he forgot I injured myself."  It seems like all of the sudden my shoulder (outside of soreness) is a non-issue.  My stroke is back to 90% of extension with my right arm, and I honestly think I will come out of this a better swimmer, because now my shoulder tells me when I am not pulling through correctly (using shoulder muscles versus the lat and trap)...perfect!  With 16 weeks to go, I imagine we can get my swim to where it used to be years ago...I'm shooting for a 60-65 minute IM swim (a tall order, but that's what goals are for...attainable with hard work!).        BIKE: Riding has taken a bit longer to get back to where I was, but over the past week I have felt some good improvement.   For the bike section of an Ironman, the goal is to balance speed with cost---by cost I mean HR.  My HR on recent rides has come down at least 5-7 BPM for the same exertion (speed), which tells me my fitness is steadily improving.  Most rides are at 130 BPM with very short periods over 130 (hills...).  My goal is to ride IM just over 130 BPM---if that means a pace 20 mph or 22+ mph, it is all in the work I do between now and race day.  I'm not going to ride at 140+ BPM and expect to enjoy the race, and especially the run.  Chris has a philosophy that "the bike sets up the run,"  I couldn't agree more as running separates the great race experiences from the horrible "I never what to do this again" ones...I've had many experiences on both sides of this fence, but in an Ironman, pushing too hard on the bike = DNF for me (I won't walk a marathon and call myself a finisher)      RUN:  I've always been able to rely on my running (except maybe for Wildflower...too tough!), but I think this is where I have the most to improve.  Everything I've read about clavicle fractures is that running is always the toughest to get back into.  I agree 100%!  I've been riding (on the trainer, on the road) for at least a month and a half, but haven't really been able to run without thinking I am doing damage until very recently (maybe 2 weeks).  The good news is my legs feel fresh, the bad news is that as the mileage adds up through the week, my running stability muscles are worn out (core!).  Before the crash I was running comfortably at around 7 min/mile with a HR below 140, but this past sunday I was in the 140-145 range at 7:30 min/mile on a "test" run.  It is 20+ degrees hotter and it was humid on sunday, but no excuses...i was hydrated and energy loaded.  So this means Chris is pushing the running (note to self: tell Chris something is not going well, and that's where he hammers you...).  Yesterday, for example, I had 2 runs---one in the a.m. (meaning: up at 4:30!), and one in the p.m. (meaning: 7pm trying to avoid the heat)...I totalled a little over 13 miles over 1 hour 40 minutes, but it was a struggle.  I run again on friday, and I'm sure I'll notice an immediate gain in running fitness.  Then saturday I ride 5 hours, and sunday is a "tri" workout---all three disciplines...let's see how beat I am on sunday afternoon---a nap will be in order for sure!

So that's where I'm at---I going to keep pushing on and not let the dam issues distract me (remember it's the journey not the destination!)...Ironman Cozumel is the next weekend....it is a thought in the back of my mind!

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