Louisville Recon

Swim: 12,100
Bike: 268
Run: 32

Time: 20.7

FINALLY managed to get in some solid swimming volume this week.  I ended up swimming five times so my average per sesh wasn't that high but still got in a nice long OWS with Fletch in the lake so that's a nice bonus.

I obviously spent the most time on the bike this week as that has been the focus the past two weeks.  Going into the weekend I already had just under 160 miles already in the legs so I was fatigued but still ready to put out a solid effort on Sunday.  Two very hard efforts on the bike this week so consequently I'm now very tired.

Not a whole lot of running this week but that was on purpose since I knew I'd be on the bike so much this week.

The real focus this weekend was on the Louisville trip with Fletch, Behme and Woody.  We drove to Louisville on Saturday morning and got in a nice swim at a local pool (actually ended up being long course which was nice) and a brief run around the race area a little while later.  The next day we biked the race course at a very hard effort level and everyone suffered a good bit on that ride.  It was probably the hottest bike ride I've ever done; combine that with it also being one of (if not THE) hardest bike rides as well meant that it left a special mark on me once it was over.  The course itself was mostly as we remembered it but we just confirmed that you cannot go too hard if it's a hot day and expect to run the marathon.  It's definitely NOT an easy bike course.

Here's my "synopsis" of the course:
Heading out of T1 you turn left and get on River Rd for appx 8-9 miles. This road is very flat and fast and for the most part well-paved. As the name suggests, you bike along the river before encountering a short (but pretty steep) hill at mile 9ish before turning left onto 42. 42 is a mostly uphill road during the busy (4 or 6 lanes of traffic) section until you get to the 2 lane highway-ish part where it's very rolling. At about mile 17ish you take the right turn to get on the out/back section that is mostly flat at first before a sharp and decently long downhill before bottoming out and making the climb to the turnaround. These are probably the two steepest climbs on the course. At least they're out of the way early. 

After the out/back you turn right to get back on 42 for about 2ish miles before turning right on 393 and beginning what is basically a gradual climb up to 146 (and the loop section of the course). 

It's a deceptively difficult section that can really wear you out if you go too hard on your first loop. Once you make the left hand turn it's a flat and fast road to La Grange. This section is well-paved and very fast. There is one decent climb at miles 40/70 but it's not long. Once you make the left hand turn onto Ballard School Rd it is a pretty difficult set of climbs that appear as though you can 'power' over them but they're actually pretty difficult. Definitely small chaingring climbs. After several decent uphill intervals on this narrow road you come to a dead end and turn right on Old Sligo Road. This road is rolling but fairly fast and you then make a right turn on L'esprit Highway which is more of the same. Rolling but fast. No sustained climbs on this section but still some hills. Then you turn left on 153 and I honestly don't remember much about this road but that tells me that there's nothing too crazy. Once past that (1-1.5 miles) you turn left on Hwy 42 (same road as before) to get back to the beginning of the loop. Very soon on this road you see a sign that says "Louisville - 32 miles" which can be a real skullf*** if you let it on the second loop. 42 is very rolling but pretty fast. It's between 8-10 rolling miles to get back to the beginning of the loop (393). During the second loop you just continue on back the way you came (no repetition of the out/back thank god). 



Here's the data from the ride:

Time:	05:01:35
Moving Time:	04:59:44

Avg Speed:	22.2 mph
Avg Moving Speed:	22.3 mph
Max Speed:	40.4 mph

Elevation Gain:	3,622 ft
Elevation Loss:	3,621 ft
Min Elevation:	423 ft
Max Elevation:	906 ft

I'm not creative enough to come up with 52 clever titles a year

S: 4500
B: 249
R: 30

Time: 18.2 hrs (plus 2.5 really as yoga definitely counts)

Lackluster swimming performance this week.  As I did my first two yoga classes (ever) this week my body rebelled a little bit against me and told me I couldn't swim.  Many of the poses work muscles I haven't worked in years (pretty much my entire upper body actually) so while it's certainly good for me in the long run...the short run can suffer.  Especially as it relates to swimming

Lots of good saddle time this week as I managed four weekday rides (one of which was the IOS ride so a little higher intensity) plus a long ride with Scott and Behme in the NC mountains on Saturday.  That's the longest ride I've had in a long time (101 miles in 5:48:00) since most of our 100ish mile rides are done in 4:45 or less!  It felt good to climb some mountains and to know that I'm in a much better place than I was last time I was in the mountains (Georgia '09).  I felt very strong on each of the climbs and after Scott flatted for the second time and was forced to wait at mile 67 Behme and I hammered the last 30+ miles to get back to the cars.  It felt tough but great.

Running was not up to par this week...culminating in a 10 mile long run on Sunday in which the original plan was for 15-20 but my quads were really, really starting to ache and I decided it would be better to pull the plug than experience the extended recovery period my legs would require if I continued running.

Another week...

S: 6000
B: 183
R: 35

T: 14.9 hrs

Only two swims this week, but one was a very long swim in Lake Norman with Fletch.  Not a lot of quantity but some good quality.  I'll take that any day of the week.

Three good rides in this week; I really feel like I'm getting used to the hot weather, which is awesome.

Only three runs, but one was a 20 miler with Behme up in Davidson when it was crazy hot.  We didn't get started until 11am, which equals hotness.  A lot of hotness.  I bonked a couple of times and actually ended up puking up all the water I drank immediately following the run.  I felt amazing right after I puked so that was great.

Now begins the build process: 3 build weeks then a rest week.  It's going to be epic!!

Short recap

S:  8250
B: 130
R: 24

T: 12 hrs

Short recap of the week: I tried to front-load my week as much as possible in terms of volume with the thought process being that I wouldn't get much in over the weekend.  I thought I would be able to recover in time from the Saturday to Wednesday binge to race on the following Saturday but I was sadly mistaken.  The race just let me know what it was like to try and go hard on very tired legs.  I still managed to get 4th in the race but it was a distant 4th to 1st place.  It was a fun traveling weekend, however, as I got to see the side of my family that I rarely get to visit.

I did manage to run a 1 mile TT in 4:52, which is the same time I ran last year.  This time around it was only two days after a 20 mile long run and 3 days after a 22 mph 100 mile long ride.  I definitely can break 4:50 but luckily it doesn't really matter.

Ironman in t-minus 12 weeks!!!

Swim: 6450 yds
Bike: 184 mi
Run: 51.6 mi

T: 17.5 hrs

Swimming really took a backseat in terms of time this week but on a positive note I found someone new to swim with who is really going to push me to be faster; both because I flat out love to impress people and because she is just fast. I also swam open water with Fletch on Friday afternoon in Lake Norman, which we're hoping to make a regular thing.  I'd give this week a C for swimming.

Biking was again solid with a great long ride on Saturday with the usual crew (plus Watkins).  It's tough to come off the bike after a hard 102 miles and say good things but man, I feel really good right now on the bike.

This was the best (in terms of volume anyway) week of running since before the marathon in March.  Got in a little over 30 miles during the week and a difficult (heat and mental) 20 miler on Sunday.  These runs during the middle of the day (started the long run at 10am and it was 90+ degrees by the end!) in the heat had better pay off come race day in Louisville!

Bike racing

S: 10,000
B: 192
R: 17

T: 14.5 hrs

I was actually consistent in the pool this week so that was a definite plus.  I'm hoping to stay like that but it would appear as though that's actually impossible this week.  Hopefully I will find some extra motivation soon as Louisville is 15 weeks away!!! So close!

Only one ride during the week as I was intentionally taking a very, very easy Mon-Fri to make sure I was rested up a little bit before a big weekend on the bike.  Did some bike racing on Saturday night after volunteering at Watkins' open water swim and that was an absolute blast (more on that later).  Had a nice, albeit very hard, long ride with Fletch on Sunday.

Running was very limited this week as I was trying to take it very easy and didn't really have time on the weekend.  Back at it next week.

Here is the recap from my two races on Saturday evening, a Cat 4 race at 5:30pm and Cat 4/5 35- race at 8:05 pm up in High Point.

First race was cat 4...pretty nervous about this one. No idea what to expect as I haven't raced my bike in 3 years. After one lap I accidentally got a gap and pushed for the next 3-4 laps just to see what would happen. I probably had a 2-300 yard gap but it wasn't getting any bigger so I let them come back to me and then sat in the rest of the ride. Nobody wanted to work on the front so I put in some more time up there. Pace was very up and down in this race; someone would attack and it would string out then everyone would get lazy. Last couple of laps I was second wheel the whole time. I used the heck out of the guy in front of me and sprinted around on the last turn. As far as I know, this one wasn't even close...
17.25 miles
39:45
26 mph
HR avg: 178
HR max: 193
...


Second race was cat 4/5 35 and under. This race was a much more difficult one as 3 other guys and I got a gap and pushed the rest of the way together. We traded off pulls and were really hammering. We never lapped the "pack" but we did put 20 seconds on one "chase group" and another 30 on the second "group." Last 2 laps got very cat and mousy and I executed absolutely perfectly. I sat 4th wheel the last 2 laps and started my sprint about 20 yards out of the last turn and closed the gap on the guy out front and passed him and put maybe a bike length on him before finish. It was perfectly timed.

I LOVE bike racing. It's definitely something I'll do some more of this year. It's such a different kind of pain.


15.1 miles
34:30
26.3 mph
HR avg: 177
HR max: 192

Over the Mountain

S: 7000
B: 215
R: 36

T: 16.6 hrs

I have been really bad about swimming lately.  Gee darn!  In my defense... Wait, I have no defense.  Sometimes it's tough to get motivated; I've been having to swim by myself a lot lately.  Anyone want to be my new swim partner?

Two hard efforts on the bike this week (Inside-Out ride on Tuesday and the race on Saturday) in which I pounded some fools into the ground (IOS ride) and was beat by a guy more than twice my age (among other beat downs issued upon me) in the race.  A really good long, steady ride with Behme and Fletch on Sunday of 108.  If we had continued, our ironman bike split would have been roughly a 5:12.  Not too shabby.

I also got in two good run workouts with the first being on Tuesday with Kelly (2x3 miles at 6:20 avg and 6:10 avg) and the race on Saturday.  The race was only a workout because it was a brick as I was definitely not running particularly fast!  Oh well.

Over the Mountain RR
2:18:55, 5th overall

Swim - 22:50 (12th)
The swim was wetsuit legal so I got to sport my B70 Axis (the wetsuit 'designed' for cyclist/runner triathletes who have more muscle in their lower body relative to their lower body).  Despite how jacked and ripped my upper body is...most of my muscle is definitely in my lower body so it's a perfect wetsuit for me.  Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to wear the wetsuit prior to the race so OTM was it's maiden voyage. I also failed to warm up for the swim, which was definitely a big mistake as my lats/triceps were really hurting the first half of the swim.  I felt like I was going very slowly but luckily I ended up with a good swim split (although everyone was pretty fast today).  I care more about the fact that my swim was the 12th fastest as that is an important marker for some progression.

T1 - 2:08
Immediately upon swim exit you run up the most giant-est hills ever.  I was prepared for this and had been thinking about taking off my wetsuit immediately upon exiting the water but when it came to decision making time I didn't pull the trigger.  I ran (very slowly and probably could have walked at the same speed) up the hill hitting a max hr of 187 before getting into transition and to my bike.  I bent over to put on my shoes after taking off my wetsuit and pretty much passed out, wondering how the heck I was going to finish the race and why I liked racing in the first place!

Bike - 1:15:26 (10th)
The important things to note about this bike:
1) It took me 10 miles to catch Stacey Richardson and Amie Krasnozon, they are fast and Stacy absolutely CRUSHED me at Bandits last year.  Luckily for her, I was overtrained.
2) It then took me 5 miles to drop them!
3) The bike course is really hard!
4) I am not good at going up hills
5) My front tire was a little flat.  Scott and I pumped it up appropriately at the beginning but for some reason it didn't hold air very well.  I looked down at mile 20 and thought it was totally flat.

T2 - 1:06
Took my time.  Thought about how nice some pizza or a Mountain Dew would be...

Run - 37:26 (13th)
Started out running really fast and then gradually slowed down the whole time.  Just the way I like to do it!

Two things of note:
- I was mentally excited for this race but I honestly think I raced with the thought of riding the next morning in my head. I know this was only in my subconscious but at least a couple of times in the race I thought about it. One of those times was when Behme yelled at me on the run: "Save your energy dude we have to ride 100 tomorrow!!"
- Todd saved my butt on this race as like a total rookie I left my cycling shoes at home and only realized once we got to T1 to set up for the race. This was totally bad karma on my part as I made fun of Jackie, Jamie and Shenna for creating checklists before the race. Luckily for me, Todd had not left yet so he swung by our house to pick up my shoes and when I got to T1 they were there waiting for me. Thanks Todd!