Iron News Man - November 10, 2009
Iron News Man
With my taper fully underway, I wanted to share some portions from an E-mail sent to all Ironman Arizona participants:
Congratulations on making it this far! Many times the most challenging aspect of Ironman racing is merely making it through the training and arriving on the starting line in one piece. If you've made it this far, the battle is more than half over. As we watch athletes go through the usual waves of confidence and terror that precede an Ironman, we want to remind you of a few things which may or may not help you:
· Nothing you do in the last week is going to make you fitter. Before each "workout" you have planned you should ask yourself, "Is this workout going to make me more fatigued or will it allow me to stay loose, mentally sane, and continue to recover?" If there's any doubt, shorten the session, make it easier, or skip it altogether! ...Yes, even if it's on your program schedule.
· Don't change anything! There is a lot of energy and are a lot of ideas floating around Ironman races in the final week and too many athletes blow all of their preparation by changing some aspect of their training, nutrition, equipment, or clothing. You know what has worked for you over the past 4-5 months - stick with it. This doesn't mean you should be inflexible but rather that you should be confident in YOUR plan.
· Have a plan! The 24-hours before the start at 7a.m. on Sunday, November 22nd should be planned out. That means knowing when you're going to eat the day before, what time you're going to wake up, put on sunscreen, eat, have time for the bathroom, get to the start, get numbered, turn in special needs bags, put bottles & food on your bike, pump your tires, have time to chill out, put your wetsuit on, get to the swim start area by 6:40am, etc. It is approx 200yds from where you are required to enter the water to get to the swim start.
· Pacing, Nutrition, and Hydration! While it's important to have some goals in your head, it's even more important that you NOT have any expectations with regard to finishing time, place, or worrying about getting one of those coveted Hawaii Ironman qualifying spots! That doesn't mean you don't want to do well but rather that your focus should be on having your best possible race in the given conditions. If you do that, those tangible results will take care of themselves. Focus on simply finishing - everything else (time, place, qualifying, etc.) is gravy.
This advice only bolsters what I’ve already been taught and what I’ve already learned from my previous triathlons. In fact, I’ll be meeting later today with Triathlon Coach Jason Healey for my pre-race meeting. We plan to go over EVERY detail of my experience in Arizona and especially how to attack/handle the race itself. Just think, less than two weeks from today, I will be an Ironman!
Here’s my very light TrainingPeaks.com schedule for today from Jason Healey:
Recovery Run (Zone 1 and Lower Zone 2)
Type: Run
Run 3 miles EASY on a mostly flat course in Zone 1 and lower Zone 2. Check cadence several times during the run. (Try to count 15 right leg strikes plus in a ten second-time period. This will give you a 90-step cadence per minute and will help prevent over striding and foster better form. Focus on form. Remember to run with a proud posture with eyes focused on what is ahead).
Light is right. I’ll be itching to run more, but once again, trusting the taper is key. After I run I’ll weight train again with Jordan Yuam. Today I’ll work back and core. Since my brain doesn’t enjoy the taper process too much, I’m already looking forward to tomorrow’s double-brick which will be more taxing!
Love stair workouts? Then you'll love the last in a three part series in today's Wakeup Workout video! Click on the video to see how to best increase instensity on the stairs with trainer Jeff Bomberger!
Days until Ironman Arizona: 12!
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