The hard part is over and I am now into taper phase. I will continue to bike and run, but distance and intensity will be lower. I will also add some rest days to make sure I am doing the right thing. This picture is a section of the bike course in the Alps. It is good to see that a couple of the guys are actually riding tri-bikes, as most just ride on road bikes with clip-ons. Anyway, the pre-race excitement has begun and I am starting to prepare for travel as we will be flying to Nice in a lttle over two weeks time - wow that came fast! - need to get ready!
I am very pleased with my training. Things have gone really well and I feel good. This week's long ride was out to the Quabbin area in Central Mass. with lots of hills and flats! When I say flats, I'm not talking about flat road, I'm talking about tires! We had three flats within 52 miles of riding! (luckily I had none) - it made for a long day. We covered 100mi in 7 hours! and we never really stopped except to refill bottles and fix flats. I think the storms the day before washed a lot of junk onto the road. Big thanks to team-mates Dave for the route planning, Steve for pushing me and Gary for hanging in there. It really was a scenic ride with lot's of climbing. I really appreciated having the company. I solo'd a 3 mi ran-out-of-time transition run, followed by a 23mi LSD the next day in which I continuously had to hold back. I modestly have to say the 100mi ride felt like nothing and it felt good to do some 22-23 mph surges with Steve to put pressure on the legs. The running is just coming easy for me. The 23 miles went by fast and I finished without really being tired. I am probably running better now than in April, so maybe it was just meant to be and is promising for Nice. The numbers this week are good. I could've used another long bike, but with the thunderstorms this week and all, I will just get in a medium bike this week. Showing up to the pool just as it was being evacuated because of lightning was also a bummer, but I managed to get the swim in later anyway (in between storms).
The numbers:
- M: Well deserved and planned rest day
- Tu: S-3K, B-8 (4x Flagg Hill), R-10 (4x1mi)
- W: B-100, R-3 (trans)
- Th: R-23mi (7:45 pace LSD)
- F: S-1K (open no WS), B-26, R-7mi
- Sa: B-18, R-3
- Su: S-3K (fast Walden loop), B-12, R-4
Totals:
- Swim-7K
- Bike-164mi
- Run-50mi
It (again) seems like a lot of running, but I really needed to do the long-bike/transition run then long-run the next day thing. I think this ranks in importance over the mileage and is key for a good ironman. All of the distance covered over multiple consecutive days.
The body feels excellent. No real issues and I will continue to take good care.
I am also trying to change my body clock, which is going to be a test. I am gradually getting earlier and earlier, and will try to split the time difference before flying out. I think it is best because I want to avoid being jet lagged the day of the race. Anyone have any suggestions?
The race is less than 20 days!
-Kyle
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