The Longhorn half Ironman race starts in just 13 days. I’ve just completed my last tough training weekend and am now in taper mode. Today’s entry is about the weekend and where I think I am. I’m writing this down so that I have something to look back on after the race and compare to my results.
My training weekends usually start on Friday with a swim, a brick (bike and run combo) Saturday, and a run Sunday. I dread the swim because the water is always cold (they keep the water at 82). It is only worse if it is cold outside, like it has been here this past week. I postpone going for my swim, subconsciously hoping that something will come up and save me from the cold.
Friday
Friday was no different, except that I forced myself to get up and go swim. Yes, the water was cold, and no, it didn’t really get any warmer as I swam. The trick this time was remembering that my race is two weeks away and I just don’t have the luxury of skipping the swims. Having swum the day before my shoulders were sore and tired at the start, and I wondered how I was going to make it for another hour if I was suffering right at the start. It was a hard workout, and it took me forever to complete, but finish it I did. In hindsight it was my worst workout of the weekend. Not because it was a bad one, but because the others would be so outstanding.
Saturday
Saturday morning came and I just didn’t want to get out of bed. My wife got up and went to the gym, and I followed shortly afterwards. It was cold in the house so as an afterthought I donned an undershirt. That was brilliant on my part because it was 56 outside when I started the ride. That isn’t super cold, just cold enough to be uncomfortable for the first 20 minutes until I warmed up. As I rode, shivering, through the shadows, I remembered last year needing warmer clothes and cancelling several rides because it was too cold. I thought briefly about cancelling this one, wondering when I would make that decision. Before it got that far I warmed up and completely forgot about cancelling.
Two and a half hours into a planned four hour ride, the battery on my bike computer died. I’d checked it the night before and thought I had enough juice to make it, WRONG. I’ve decided it just isn’t worth the consequences and plan to charge the battery the night before each long ride (including Longhorn). As a side note, my battery has died on each of my half Ironman races.
The plan was to ride 58 miles, check the elapsed time, and then ride up to 7 more miles to get to 3:45 – 4:00 hours. I knew approximately when my battery had died, but not how much time had elapsed. Also, I would have no way to measure the 7 miles. So, at 58 miles I called it quits.
I racked my bike, changed clothes, consumed a GU, and took off on a run. It was still cool, and VERY nice running weather. With my bike successfully locked up, I was to stray further from my car and actually hit some decent hills on the run. I couldn’t believe how great I felt on the run! I found myself having to hold back to keep the pace down to 8:30 or slower. The short, 20 minute run passed quickly. I know I could have run much further, a comforting thought since I’ll be running 13 miles for my next big brick!
I can’t believe how good I felt after this workout. Usually I would end up at home collapsed on the couch for hours, too tired to even eat. Today I came home, cleaned up, ate lunch, and felt great. I could have gone for another run!
Sunday
I woke up Sunday morning and my legs were pretty sore. I stalled getting up, thinking if I stayed in bed a bit longer my legs would recover. That never happened. I ate some breakfast, goofed off for 30 minutes to let that settle, gathered my running gear, and took off.
I’ve been struggling with my long runs lately. Coach told me it was ok, that it was due to the heat and that my conditioning was fine. That’s hard to accept when you know that you have a really hard race coming and will have to do that distance when you are really tired. Anyway, I would find myself counting down the miles, checking the time, and often shortening the distance, then berating myself for doing it.
Sunday was different. I checked my watch, but just to make sure I was holding back on the pace. I had a three loop route planned of 5, 4 and 3+ miles. While on the 4 mile loop, I decided my run was going to be shorter than I’d like so I added a loop. I never checked the elapsed time, and didn’t check the distance until I hit what should have been 9 miles. I was short and knew that my run was going to end up closer to 12 miles instead of 13.
My legs were tired, and my back was starting to ache, but mentally I was still going strong. For the first time ever I decided to add some distance to my last lap. I also kept in mind an optional add-on right before the finish. I knew it was unlikely that I’d tack on that last bit. Normally that close to the finish line I’m exhausted and cannot summon the strength to do anything but run straight home. I got to the intersection where I could go home or run further and didn’t hesitate, taking the longer route home!
What a strong run! I never considered stopping. I lengthened the run instead of shortening it. I even had to hold back the last mile as I caught my pace dropping to 8:15. I took a quick assessment at the end, and decided I could run further if I wanted to (or it had been scheduled).
Summary
This is no doubt the best training weekend I can remember and it couldn’t come at a better time. With no more super hard workouts left to challenge me, I head into Longhorn with the huge mental boost of having my best workouts ever.
I don’t know how the race will turn out, but I’m headed into these last few weeks on a super high!
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