Workout Summary: Bike 48 (2:25, 31 mile race in 1:12)
Had and MRI on the Achillles today. The white lines point to my Achilles tendon, the vertical black band on the right of the image. The oval white circle is pointing out all the inflammation deep to the tendon that shouldnt be there. Normally there is the black tendon, then the grey muscle deep to this (further left on the image). I have a think band of inflammation between the Achilles and the underlying muscle, which is preventing the Achilles from moving properly within its sheath. The favorable news is that the tendon itself doesnt look bad, no intrinsic tendonitis.
I plan on racing my bike today at Portland International Raceway. Not sure of the distance, but it should be around 30 miles. I will pull out if my achilles becomes unmanagable.
Why the hell am I putting together 3 straight days of more intense cycling? Race on Sunday, Hills on Monday, Race on Tuesday?
I dont recommend this for anyone. Not being cocky, but I am very familiar with myself and I know when I am peaking. I have many, greater than 12, years marathon racing as an elite and have a pretty good sense of how I am reacting going into the race. Dont get me wrong, I have made mistakes, plenty of them, but most of these are experimenting with pre race routines to see how I will react.
So, my 8 days off of running and 6 days off biking due to my injury has induced my peak. I know this because I was able to hold Zone 5 during the bike segment of the triathlon Sunday for 45 minutes of the 58 total. I was then able to run Zone 5 for the entire final 5K of the 10K.
Typically I would feel this a bit the next morning; I cant explain it..its a sense I have on the integrity of my muscles, and my physiology. To put it simply, I completely recovered on Monday and felt like I never even raced Sunday. (aside from achilles being sore).
So, I decided to put together 2 short but intense bike workouts back to back to try prolong my peak, hopefully for another week. If I can run thursday, I will also try to put in 2 hours.
Why arent I doing the "crash taper"? Because I dont need complete rest right now. The most I have ever tapered for a full Ironman is 6-8 days, and this is no different. I dont feel tired going into my taper, but I feel power and strength. I feel like I gain fitness on each workout.
Now, I know not to push that hard. Yesterday's hill session, if you read my power readings...My top power on the final 9 min hill was 277 watts. Remember, I averaged over 300 watts for the 56 mile TT at Florida 3 weeks ago, and before that, averaged 301 for a 46 mile TT.
So, when I am doing these hill repeats, I am not going to my max. In fact, my max for 9 minutes would be around 350 watts or so. I am biking above my IM wattage goal (225) but less than my half IM wattage. This is how you "tease" your aerobic economy in the end stages prior to the race. This is just dipping into your fitness, without going over-board. This is approaching, but not over-reaching your strength and muscular endurance limits.
I see pro's out at Kona for the past 3 years on Monday, 5 days before the race, biking 60 mile rides. My 3 X 10 minute intervals on Monday prior to Kona 2005 (9:58)? I got that idea from a pro out on the course. These guys are race ready. They need to keep "teasing" their aerobic engines right up to race week. They arent over trained and so tired they feel they need a complete shut-down before race. Gambling that hopefully they will fully recover and be ready to race after 10-14 days of extreme rest.
Same thing for Ann, who isnt injured. She biked 75 miles, 5 hours of hills on Friday, 2 days prior to her PR Olympic race on Sunday. She biked hills with me yesterday. She is running long Friday.
I am holding her back from the Bike race tonight because of her 75 miler on last Friday and she indicated to me her legs are a bit fatigued. She is not all caught up in following the exact routine, and is learing how and when to call audibles. She's learning and will make a great women's coach someday. For me? My legs do not feel fatigued in the least bit. That being said, I still will NOT go to my max in the race tonight. I will spin at the back, do a few attacks, and that's it.
Got a big bucket and a 5 lb bag of ice this morning on the way to work. Did alternating ice water bath 15 minutes followed by heating pad ace bandaged, wrapped around my achilles X 15 minutes. Did this cycle 3 times in the morning for a total of 90 minutes of ice/heat therapy, finishing with ice.
Why the hell am I putting together 3 straight days of more intense cycling? Race on Sunday, Hills on Monday, Race on Tuesday?
I dont recommend this for anyone. Not being cocky, but I am very familiar with myself and I know when I am peaking. I have many, greater than 12, years marathon racing as an elite and have a pretty good sense of how I am reacting going into the race. Dont get me wrong, I have made mistakes, plenty of them, but most of these are experimenting with pre race routines to see how I will react.
So, my 8 days off of running and 6 days off biking due to my injury has induced my peak. I know this because I was able to hold Zone 5 during the bike segment of the triathlon Sunday for 45 minutes of the 58 total. I was then able to run Zone 5 for the entire final 5K of the 10K.
Typically I would feel this a bit the next morning; I cant explain it..its a sense I have on the integrity of my muscles, and my physiology. To put it simply, I completely recovered on Monday and felt like I never even raced Sunday. (aside from achilles being sore).
So, I decided to put together 2 short but intense bike workouts back to back to try prolong my peak, hopefully for another week. If I can run thursday, I will also try to put in 2 hours.
Why arent I doing the "crash taper"? Because I dont need complete rest right now. The most I have ever tapered for a full Ironman is 6-8 days, and this is no different. I dont feel tired going into my taper, but I feel power and strength. I feel like I gain fitness on each workout.
Now, I know not to push that hard. Yesterday's hill session, if you read my power readings...My top power on the final 9 min hill was 277 watts. Remember, I averaged over 300 watts for the 56 mile TT at Florida 3 weeks ago, and before that, averaged 301 for a 46 mile TT.
So, when I am doing these hill repeats, I am not going to my max. In fact, my max for 9 minutes would be around 350 watts or so. I am biking above my IM wattage goal (225) but less than my half IM wattage. This is how you "tease" your aerobic economy in the end stages prior to the race. This is just dipping into your fitness, without going over-board. This is approaching, but not over-reaching your strength and muscular endurance limits.
I see pro's out at Kona for the past 3 years on Monday, 5 days before the race, biking 60 mile rides. My 3 X 10 minute intervals on Monday prior to Kona 2005 (9:58)? I got that idea from a pro out on the course. These guys are race ready. They need to keep "teasing" their aerobic engines right up to race week. They arent over trained and so tired they feel they need a complete shut-down before race. Gambling that hopefully they will fully recover and be ready to race after 10-14 days of extreme rest.
Same thing for Ann, who isnt injured. She biked 75 miles, 5 hours of hills on Friday, 2 days prior to her PR Olympic race on Sunday. She biked hills with me yesterday. She is running long Friday.
I am holding her back from the Bike race tonight because of her 75 miler on last Friday and she indicated to me her legs are a bit fatigued. She is not all caught up in following the exact routine, and is learing how and when to call audibles. She's learning and will make a great women's coach someday. For me? My legs do not feel fatigued in the least bit. That being said, I still will NOT go to my max in the race tonight. I will spin at the back, do a few attacks, and that's it.
Got a big bucket and a 5 lb bag of ice this morning on the way to work. Did alternating ice water bath 15 minutes followed by heating pad ace bandaged, wrapped around my achilles X 15 minutes. Did this cycle 3 times in the morning for a total of 90 minutes of ice/heat therapy, finishing with ice.
Bike: 48 miles, 31 mile race.
Raced at Portland Internat. Raceway tonight, cat 3
Achilles sore but felt pretty good, attacked several times. Pushed the HR way high.
ave speed for 31 miles, 25.4 (1:12). Couple of attacks of 2 minutes duration at 27+ mph. Max speed on the track, 33.1
Zone Summary:
1-3 = 12 minutes
4 = 13 minutes
5a= 4 minutes
5b= 11 min
5c= 32 min
*Yeah, in zone 5 for 47 min, 65% of race. This is my peak phase now. Sustained zone 5 effort on Sunday for over an hour remember. This extreme duration in zone 5 can not be sustained for more than a couple of weeks. Great strength can be gained in final preparation. Many, many IM athletes go from build to taper. They think they have a peak phase with short duration intensity. This is partly true, but the greater you can attain and sustain zone 5 work in the peak phase, the greater the gains. This is short-lasted however, and should only be in about a 10 day period going into race week, my actual taper.
Got home at 9:30. Sauna trained 15 minutes at 175-185 degrees.
Diet:
Very busy when I got into work. Coffee, no time to eat.
Lunch: 6 oz grilled chicken, side of red potatoes, broccoli, water. 1 apple
Diet:
Very busy when I got into work. Coffee, no time to eat.
Lunch: 6 oz grilled chicken, side of red potatoes, broccoli, water. 1 apple
Afternoon: 2 oz bag of pepper potato chips (14 grams monounsat. fat), diet shasta. 2 X 6 oz yogurts
After race, recovery drink: 85 g carbs, 25 g protein, 10 g glutamine
Dinner: 2 KFC bbq chicken sandwiches and a rice paper spring roll (unfried). 1 beer
