WEEK 15 – April 5, 2016 – April 10, 2016
Halfway done with 30 weeks of training!
There are a lot of halfway points in what I do. Any swim, bike or run there is that point when the halfway mark hits and I realize that I am at the top of the hill heading down. It is that point when you say there is no more going out, I am now going back.
During my previous Ironman, the two-loop bike is a definite halfway there moment. And when I reached the halfway mark in the marathon of that Ironman, the turnaround being located right where the faster finishers on their second loop are finishing, there is that moment when you think about being halfway there. You can either dwell on being ONLY halfway done, or you can say ONLY a half left to go! I choose to think of what’s left in a positive way. With every stroke or stride, you just keep getting closer.
SWIM: Back to the local high school swimming hole this week. I wondered how I would fare after missing a week, but I was a little surprised that I swam pretty solid. I forgot to write down the workout for the Thursday swim, so I ended up doing a straight 3000 yard swim at a moderate to strong pace – pushing, but not killing myself. Did it in 1 hour, 3 minutes, which is about a 2:03 pace per 100 yards. That’s right in the 1 hour 30 minute Ironman swim range, which is what I did in Wisconsin in 2013, so no surprises there. I had to skip the Friday swim due to some errands I needed to do. Not a big deal.
Sunday I enrolled in a swim technique analysis class hosted by a coach of a local triathlon team. I was hoping to gain some insight into what I did right and what I could improve upon. What I found was that as a self taught triathlete swimmer, I did a pretty good job. The drills I kind of crafted for myself were essentially the same that she presented to us. The biggest tip I got was when we were doing kick drills and how she presented the kick to us. I saw myself moving through the water a little more efficiently, and I will try to employ that technique going forward. In reality, swimming is so technical that it is almost overwhelming trying to concentrate on it all. All of the swimmers were video taped from one end of the pool coming at the camera, and then from the side, showing both the torso and the legs. The video should be available in a couple weeks with the coach’s comments. So maybe I will gain some more insight then.
BIKE: The weather was horrible this week, which forced me to do all of my rides on the trainer. I might have been able to do my long 4 hour ride outside on Saturday, but it was in the 20’s outside in the morning and I was unable to ride later when it had warmed up a little. It was my daughter’s birthday, so I didn’t want to be away in the afternoon. One difference this week was I brought my old Trek 7700FX hybrid down to the pain cave and threw it on the trainer instead of my road or tri bike. The seat and riding position is a little more comfortable, and it allowed me to get through that long ride without too much complaining from my butt.
RUN: I can tolerate the cold a little better running than cycling, so I did run outside some this week, but the treadmill was also utilized. I do most of my runs by perceived effort, but I did strap on the heart rate monitor this week and was pleased to see that I managed to stay well within the zone I needed.
So, I am halfway done with the training! The race will be here before I know it.
WEEK 15 TOTALS:
Swims: 3 total, 2.5 hours, 7500 yards
Bikes: 4 total, 6.5 hours, 91 miles
Runs: 7 total, 4.75 hours, 33 miles
an amazing run 
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