Ironman Lake Tahoe Training - Week 1

Monday:
- Strength 1:15
AA:
40-60% of max, 20-30 reps per set, 3-5 sets per session, 1-1.5 minutes between sets

1. hip extension (squat / leg press / step-up)
2. standing bent-arm lat pull down
3. hip extension (different than #1)
4. chest press or pull ups
5. seated row
6. hamstring curl / knee extension / heel raise
7. abdominal exercise
8. optional--back extension

Tuesday:
- Swim 1:00
E2 - endurance zones 1-2
- Run :30
S2:
mostly zone 1-2, several 20-30 second pick ups with 2 minutes between intervals

Wednesday:
- Strength 1:15 AA

Thursday:
- Swim 1:00
T1b:
3x300 with 30s rest between sets, take average of 300s, then divide by 3 to get 100 T1 pace
- Run :30
E1 (*cross training optional)

Friday:
- Bike 1:00
S1:
spin step-ups - low resistance on trainer:
20 min warm up 90 rpm, 100 rpm for 3 minutes, 110 rpm for 2, 120 rpm for 1

Saturday:
- Swim 1:00
E(form)
- Run 1:00
T1 (3):
aerobic time trial, warm up, then 3 mile TT

Sunday:
- Bike 1:00
T1 (5):
aerobic time trial: warm up, then 5 miles at 9-11 beats below lactate threshold, single gear
        

Whiskey Row Half Marathon

It was finally the weekend for the half marathon I've been training for, the Whiskey Row half in Prescott.  My training I feel was pretty good for the first 8-9 weeks, but then started falling off quite a bit toward the end (which is the opposite of what I'd shoot for).  But I finished the race, and put forth a good effort.  I wasn't too happy with the time, and I know I could have easily improved it with a better nutrition plan for the race (or a nutrition plan for the race really)... but overall I'm ok with how it turned out. 

Since I knew the race was out and back up a big hill, I decided I would try to push myself on the way up the hill, and then just see what I had left on the way back down.  I feel like this would have worked okay, but I needed to bring some gels/cubes/something to eat along the way.  I think I managed less than 12 minutes/mile average on the way up, which I'm happy with considering the 1400+ feet of elevation gain.  However, on the way back down I couldn't go as fast as I was hoping during the hills (just letting gravity take me caused too much jarring to continue for long stretches).  And then I basically bonked around mile 10.  At that point I knew I couldn't PR (which was probably a pipe dream to begin with on this course), so I just focused on chewing up the miles walking as fast as I could manage. 

Ended up at 2:48:34, which is still my 3rd best time (better than everything outside the Rock and Roll Arizona 1/2s I've done), so that is not too shabby.  Nutrition I think was the real downfall.  According to my Garmin, I burned 2400 calories, and all I had was a bit of Gatorade and one orange wedge.  I think including a few gels throughout the race would have made a big difference on the way back down the hill. 

Scottsdale Giant Race

Well, it has now been quite a long time since this race, and I have a new one to write about, but I guess I'll give this one a quick summary first.  We went down to Scottsdale for a Giant's themed weekend, running the 9K Giant Race, and then watching the spring training game later that day.

The race went very well, my goal was an hour or less.  I think I was able to run the whole thing without stopping (I've been practicing steady pace rather than run/walk)... that is a first for me for really any distance run.  Finished in 52:21, which is a 9:22 pace, which is much better than my best 10K pace (12:00 pace during an Olympic triathlon).

Oh yeah, the other funny thing about this race was that there was a mixup of bibs... I ended up with the bib of someone named 'Phil Duda' from Scottsdale or something, and he ran with mine.  So, when I checked the official results for my name, I was something like 5 minutes faster than I really ran!