Weekly Update, Sept 2-8: 6 weeks to go.
Summary: I had a solid week, with good intensity workouts on both bike and run, and good long swim, bike and run. I fell a little short on my run volume goal. PMC #’s: CTL max @ 133, end week @ 131 with a ramp of 2.7. 1,025 total TSS. Details:
Monday: Max Effort 3 on bike; 3.3 mi progressive brick @ 9:43/8:38/8:09/8:01 on the track
Tuesday: Weight session, 4 mile run, evening “social” ride of an hour @ 0.87 IF
Wednesday: Long Ride in the mountains. 71.5 mi, 6300′ gain, 0.72 IF, 288 TSS. I felt tired that evening
Thursday: 24 hour rest, then 3 x 1 km (3′) on the track @ 7:55/44/37 pace
Friday: OWS x 1:11, 2 miles. Another weight session. No run, to “save” a bit for the next day –
Saturday: Half Marathon race (86/320 OA, 1/3 in AG). This was through a tunnel x 2.5 miles, then down a pretty steady 1.5% grade on packed gravel. My time was 1:54, just what I wanted. I did feel strong towards the end, and maybe went a bit to hard the last mile or so. I ended up in the evening sore in my right quad, but my knee(s) felt no worse than after any of my Oly tris or track workouts this summer, and certainly better than after either of my long races in May and June.
Sunday: Risk of thunder in the AM, so I did a pool swim of 3800 meters (7 x 400 meters on 9′, then 2 x 500 m). My right quad still felt a bit sore, so I skipped a potential run on the track and watched football and the Vuelta instead.
I’m a touch concerned that I’m on the shy side of my planned run volume, but I’m feeling OK about juggling the need to recover after hard/long efforts with the desire to hit a specific number. Next three weeks in Colorado hopefully will allow even more time for recovery than here at home, where I do nap 25-30 minutes a day, and use the Normatec nearly daily.
Plan for the upcoming week:
Monday: Max Effort 4: same IF targets for the intervals. Brick of 3-4 miles. Pick up our NEW mini-can pop-up camper conversion in the afternoon.
Tuesday: Early morning track 3 x 1 km session, then leave for two-day drive to CO.
Wed: Day off; travel.
Thursday: I should really swim, bike and run.
Friday: I should swim again, then ride 100 mi to Vail
Saturday: I’m planning a 4 hour walk/hike with Vail friends and wife in lieu of this week’s long run
Sunday: Return home to Snowmass on bike, another 100 miles, follow with a run.
I’m suspecting this week will show me just where I’m at vis-a-vis my biking capacity. The following week will be my longest run, with three swims. And the week after that will feature three more swims and a full-bore race rehearsal on Fri or Sat, and drive home Sat/Sun or Sun/Mon. Leaving for Kona Tuesday PM the 2nd of Oct.