9/30 - 10/6 - Professional Triathlete Training Log - Weekly Swim, Bike, and Run Miles

DIY Bike Rack
DIY bike rack my roomate made for my return
It was the first week back in the Dirty-T and it certainly did not disappoint. It was a busy week of unpacking, settling in, and also cramming in a little bit of training. On paper it may seem like I got a little carried with the volume, but much of that has to do with my decision to get a membership at the University of Arizona Rec Center to swim.

Normally I get a pool membership somewhere closer to my home, but this year I decided to bite the bullet and commit to the Rec Center. The Rec Center has always been on my mind and has always looked like a superior facility, but the distance from my home in Northwest Tucson scared me off. I refuse to drive a car and all distance for me has to be covered by bike. Depending on the route I take, it is anywhere from 30-35 city miles round-trip. Assuming I swim at least 6x a week that is a 180-210 miles right there. After one week of doing the commute I think it will end up being a nice of change of pace and I'm committed to this lifestyle thru the end of the year. If for some reason it doesn't seem to be working out I'll revert back to finding a facility closer to my home.

As for the Rec Center itself, well it certainly did not disappoint. The highlight had to be doing my long run for the week on a treadmill. Normally I am used to restarting the treadmill after one hour because every single treadmill I have ever run on shuts off at that point. The Rec Center has some Woodway treadmills and as the time approached 59:59 my anticipation grew until it hit 60:00 and continued on like a treadmill should. It is a little thing, but it was nice to have a treadmill that actually expects someone to run longer 60 minutes.

As for specifics on training, I did my last long run on Thursday, 9 days out from Kona. I did it as a variability run where I work from 8-10mph with an increase of .1mph every minute. I did this 4 times thru continuously and it is a nice way to get some work at, above, and below target race pace. I did my last long bike on Friday, 8 days out from Kona. It ended up being a little over 4 hours with 2x30 minute intervals, one below and one above race pace. Ideally I would have liked to do these sessions a littler earlier with the bike coming 10 days out and the run coming 14 days out, but the travel schedule did not allow this.

Overall I'm feeling pretty good despite the less than ideal transitional period. However, my expectations for the race are still pretty low for Kona - it is simply an honor to even toe the line. When I saw Faris Al-Sultan (2005 IM World Champion) at the Rec Center this week it was a reminder of how far I have come. I didn't even know how to swim when Faris won the race that year.

Many of my peers would love nothing more than to earn a spot on the start line of triathlon's biggest day. With the new KPR point system implemented a few years back and the increasing competition that occurs every year, many pros who found themselves on the start line year-after-year are now on the outside looking in as they try to figure out how they will make it back.

I know that on Saturday the only way I'm going to exceed my own fitness level is to have the swim of my life. On paper there is no way I can have that swim. As a result I'm in for a pretty lonely day on the bike. If I'm conservative enough on the bike I should be able to make up a few spaces on the run.

Thorsten Raddle over at Trirating.com was kind of enough to send me my own personalized graphic of how things might play out. Trirating and the stats that it is based on predicts that even finishing inside the Top 40 is a stretch so my goal is to be in the Top 40.

Projected time back at finish of 2013 IM World Championship - Kona
from leaders, top 10, 20, 30 and 40

Given the fact that I'm carrying more fatigue thru racing into this race than anyone else, I would be totally happy with a Top 40 finish. Adding to the fact that my BMI is likely higher than anyone else on the start list and that makes Hawaii a tough place to race with the sun, heat, and humidity. Those who truly know me, know this talk is just myself being rational. It isn't by coincidence that I find myself on the start list at triathlon's biggest day. It is a testament to my relentless pursuit towards excellence in very small steps and I'm happy with the progress as I come to the close, almost to the day, of 2 years as a pro. Next week my update comes from Hawaii. Until then, aloha.

My weekly swimbike, and run totals:

Total: 258 Miles / 24 hours 11 minutes
Swim: 21,800 yards / ~12 miles / 6 hours 17 minutes
Bike: 204 miles / 12 hours 56 minutes
Run: 41 miles / 4 hours 56 minutes
Core:  0 sessions / 0 hours 0 minutes

2 comments:

  1. For most treadmills if you enter the time you want, rather than just starting it and running, they'll go longer than an hour.

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    Replies
    1. Russ, I'll have to give that a shot next time I step on a non-Woodway treadmill. Thanks for the tip.

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