IRONMAN CHATTANOOGA 2019 TRAINING

WEEK 27 – Monday 9/2/2019 – Sunday 9/8/2019

The Dreaded Week 27 is over!  And two days ahead of schedule.  I have followed this training plan four times, and I should know by now that yes it is hard, but I always get it done, and it’s usually no big deal.  It’s just that after the previous 26 weeks of training, I get to the point that I have had enough.  But it’s done, and it’s time now to start pulling back and coasting into the race on September 29th.

I’m not sure how I keep track of anything going on in my non-triathlon training life right now, but I’m writing this wrap-up on Sunday evening as usual and I don’t even remember much about this week.  Life here in our household is insanely crazy, and it’s not going to get any easier until late October!

The Dreaded Week 27 is dreaded because it is the longest and most difficult of the 30 weeks of training in my Ironman training plan.  The weekend workout calls for a six-hour ride with an hour-long run right afterward on Saturday, and then it’s followed by a three-hour-long run on Sunday.  But guess what?  I had to move them to Thursday and Friday because I needed to go to my lake home and get my boat out of the water and do some winterizing of the boat and house.  There are literally no free weekends to take care of that responsibility until after Halloween, so it had to be done.  It was kind of a blessing actually because I didn’t have two extra days to fret about doing that long ride and long run.

The weather turned cool and the 20-mile run went pretty well.  The plan just wants you to get in three hours of running, but I decided that I would shoot for 20 miles regardless of the time it takes me.  Fortunately, I felt pretty good and got out and back on my route in 2:53.

I took the day off from work on Friday and hit the road by 7 am.  It was another cloudy day but not as cool as Thursday was.  I was a little worried that my legs would be a little tired trying to ride 100 miles after running 20 miles the day before, but they felt fine.  It was my butt that didn’t like it.

 

 

My butt hates me.  I’m not sure if I am capable of making it happy.  I have been training as much as I can in the tri suit that I bought for this event, and even though it is comfortable enough, I’m not sure the chamois pad is working for me.  I’ve tried creams, lotions, band-aids, silicon type spray, etc. and nothing seems to make the miles less strenuous on my sit bones.  That’s the real issue.  You can’t really distribute the weight around on a tiny tri bike seat.  Most of the contact is made in a small spot and the constant pressure and movement of my legs end up causing the discomfort.  It’s not that I can’t ride 100 miles or the 116 miles of Ironman Chattanooga this way, it’s just not going to be enjoyable.

Anyway, the bike ended just at 100 miles and just a couple minutes below 6 hours.  I had to really give myself a strong pep talk to change shoes and go for an hour-long run, but once I started out the door it was over after 6 miles.  Nice and easy run at a pace I described as “I don’t want to do this run” pace.

 

 

I tried to relax after that and wait until Kari came home.  She’s been swamped at work and our planned trip north to Minocqua didn’t get started until 7 pm.  We decided to drive up to Madison and stay the night.  That was a good move.  We got there Saturday morning and got so busy that training and my butt didn’t even come into my mind.  I think being up there also improved Kari’s mood too.  That’s what lake life can do for you.

 

The Dreaded Week 27 is over.  The boat is out of the water and winterized.  Nothing more to dread until race day.

 

WEEK 27 TRAINING TOTALS:

Swims: 1 total, 2800 total yards

Rides: 2 total, 119 total miles

Runs: 4 total, 37 total miles

The totals are a little less than last week but I lost two days of training when I moved Saturday/Sunday to Thursday/Friday.