6/10 - 6/16 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

Monstrous Double Chocolate Chip Pancake
It was a busy week for me this week. Between a Father's day outing, training, racing, packing, and making monstrous 1600 calorie pancakes, it feels a little like I have been running around like a chicken with its head cut off but here is a summary of my week.

This week was the last week of preparation for Ironman Coeur D'Alene and I didn't step off the accelerator until around 7pm tonight. Actually, volume-wise this was my biggest week since my Ironman Cabo build and although this super short taper is not ideal, I remain optimistic about Ironman Coeur D'Alene next week. On the plus side I decided not to drive across country and opted to fly instead and that should help recovery a bit.

A big part of my decision to race IMCDA was to gain course experience in order to come back and really make it a feature race in the coming years. Looking at the start list and expected finishing order on Trirating I know that I have my work cut out for me. Trirating has me at #8 and there are 8 Ironman winners on the list including: Ben "The Hoff" Hoffman, TJ Tollakson, Viktor Zyemstev (Previous IMCDA Winner), Jozef Major, Chris "Big Sexy" McDonald, Matthew Russell, Bryan Rhodes (Previous IMCDA Winner) and Chris Legh. Despite those guys racing, Paul Matthews is actually the clear race favorite but he has never raced a hilly Ironman. Speedster Joe Umphenour is also on the list but he has never done a hilly Ironman either. We shall see next Sunday but by the looks of it I should have a clear group of individuals that I can swim with and that should certainly help me get to the bike and be a little fresher.

As for racing this week, I made it down to the Rockford Triathlon this week. The weather map did not look good at 4:00am in the morning and I was just hoping this race wouldn't turn into a duathlon. By a stroke of luck the lightening in the area stayed away during the swim, and despite a downpour on the bike, I was able to hold off for the win by swimming steady, hammering the bike, and cruising the run. As it stands I continued my streak of never losing a race while coming off the bike in first place.

My weekly swimbike, and run totals:

Total: 280 Miles / 23 hours 21 minutes
Swim: 21,434 yards / ~12 miles / 5 hours 50 minutes
Bike: 225 miles / 12 hours 09 minutes
Run: 44 miles / 5 hours 21 minutes
Core:  0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes

5 comments:

  1. You do so many races how do you go about staying fresh and motivated?

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    1. Justin - Motivation is never an issue and I'm not entirely sure where this comes from but I have some thoughts. Part of this has to do with the fact that I never do group training so summoning motivation to go out for hard training sessions in tough conditions is way more difficult than actually going to an organized event with competition. Also, many individuals I talk to have to train with others, but IMO that creates a weakness in their character. It also results in often pushing too hard in training, and then not hard enough when they do train by themselves. This is a recipe for injury, inconsistency, and thus slow growth.

      Also, I really should put race in quotes as there are very few times I actually race at max capacity for a given duration. In general I look at racing as trying to improve fitness for that race where you lay it all on the line. We only have so many times to dig deep and by just skimming the surface I have done exactly what I need to do to raise my fitness, while staying mostly injury free, and keeping that inner fire burning.

      Although yesterday I was at the Rockford triathlon today I have no DOMS whatsoever and the reason for this is simply that it wasn't a super hard effort. The bike was the greatest effort and I would be lucky to put out 80% of my FTP when it should be closer to 92%. Many of my efforts are this way and I can objectively try to quantify this by looking at the cheer/be cheered ratio of my competitors. It is very rare that I am actually cheered by a competitor or even a participant that is racing (ie. not just to finish), even after I have cheered them on. I know there have been enough people cheered/encouraged mid-race by myself. You simply can't do this when you are scraping at the bottom. If anything you can make the argument that I don't race hard enough, but IMO this has been the key to my longevity and ability to bounce back both mentally and physically.

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  2. Congrats on the win this weekend! It was great having a real live pro come race with us! Can't believe you "hammered" that bike! I was cautious to say the least with the rain and RVs to dodge! As one of the local racers it has been great to see this race grow; nearly doubled with the addition of the college kids. Thanks for coming out!

    We have a small group training for IMWI here in Rockford and was hoping to chat with you for a bit at the race. If you're ever back in the area and looking for a group to train with, look me up.

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    1. Grant:

      Was just trying to stay upright as well but have to hammer the bike as that is what I do and where I can do well. Did roll into the ditch twice though - need to continue to work on bike handling. All my long rides are done on IMWI course - I'll see you out there.

      -TG

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  3. Thomas,
    I echo Grant in congratulating you for the Rockford Triathlon. It was dicey weather and you did a great job out there on the course despite conditions. I hope you come back in the years to come!
    Dan

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