Miami Man Training Blog
Once again in an effort to help keep me accountable to my buildup to the November 14h MiamiMan Half Ironman I will again share my training buildup on my blog. Since all my training buddies are calling it a season I'm counting on HFP's finest to keep me motivated and focused on the goal.
With just 4-weeks left in my buildup I'm a bit behind on training specific workouts (and on updating my blog) compared to last year at this time BUT I feel I'm significantly fitter than 2009 due to multiple factors including my new gluten free diet (15 lbs lighter). I also got to test my fitness on Labor Day weekend at our Team HFP Racing annual ride which included a hard 3k open water swim followed by a 100k ride in pretty warm conditions. Myself and Ross Hartley pushed the pace up front for most of the ride and I felt really good after. That gave me an indication that I had a much larger base to build off of than in 2009. Shortly after the Deer Creek Fall Challenge I went on several business trips (one in another country) and this gave me some inconsistent training the first part of October. However, I'm back on track and have been having some great workouts with the help of some great Ohio weather. Feel free to
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with your comments or questions.
Friday, October 15 - Great 40k bike, 60min brick workout. today Still need some more work on the run. Feeling a little weak after about 50 minutes.
Saturday, October 16 - Started off this morning with a 60min P90x workout before driving before to our event in Chillicothe. After doing a quick set-up day at the park I checked into my hotel around 3:00pm in downtown Chillicothe and had an amazing 60k ride to Scioto Trail State Forest and back. The ride rolled along the Scioto River on Three Locks Road and provided spectacular scenery of the countryside with the fall colors starting to peak. After the ride I cranked out a pretty snappy 10k run on the bike path along the Scioto River in downtown. Just a beautiful ride.
Sunday, October 17 - OFF Today due to producing the Tecumseh's Revenge.
Monday, October 18 - I enjoyed a mid-afternoon 60k bike ride that was very nice. It was a hilly course with a good tempo kept throughout. Felt strong the entire way. Planned to run 60 minutes following ride but left the house without my nutrition and 15 minutes later was bonking big time. I cut through the field behind my house and got back home at the 25 minute mark. 2 Cliff Ropes, 2 bags of Sport Beans and a can of FRS later I was back on the road. Within 10 minutes I was feeling real good from the massive amount of caffeine ingested - feeling so good in fact, I decided to run longer than planned and finished feeling fresh and strong at 80 minutes. My bike feels super strong and my run is coming along nicely. A few more long bricks and my run should be right where I want it. It's amazing how much easier it is to train long in the cooler weather. Bummer, I'll be racing at 25-30 degrees warmer weather. Oh well - that's training in Ohio in October. Hope I can get some sleep tonight. Might have to hit the Benedryl to get to sleep after all that afternoon caffeine. The 4:30am wake up call for my masters swim workout Tuesday is going to be tough.
Tuesday, October 19 - I managed to get up for my 5:30am masters swim workout at 4:30am after a fitful night sleep. I anticipated that with the late afternoon caffeine injection from Monday. This was my first master workout since late May. We move to the quarry from May to as late as we can stand it, which ended up being last Thursday. After the first 1k lap at the quarry last week I was getting disoriented from the cold water and that was the end of the outdoor swimming for me for 2010. Back in the pool this morning was tough. Getting used to the 25 yard lanes again after swimming 1k laps outdoors is going to take some time. My flip turns were poor and I felt like my stroke was difficult as I breath totally different in open water as compared to indoors. Good workout regardless - main set was 15 x 100. Best fin aided 100 was a 1:07. All 15 were on 1:30. It was nice catching up with the team and you just can't beat the camaraderie of a masters group. Good to be back! Today I will finish off the day with an afternoon 60min P90x workout (chest and back). I love this workout. Over 300 push-ups and 200 pull-ups are featured in this workout. This is first P90x workout I ever did in February and it was the workout that made me realize I was not really in shape. I was forced to do girl push-ups and could barely do 2 complete pull-ups. Not anymore. Bring it!
Wednesday, October 20 - My Wednesday has traditionally been my hardest workout of the week during the season and during the build-up it remains a very tough day on the schedule. I created this workout as a combo speed/strength workout to really put my fitness to the test. It consists of a 40k bike followed by 3 x 1 mile repeats, followed by another 40k bike and finishing with a 7 mile run. I felt really good on the opening 40k bike (my favorite course), then clicked off a 6:05, 5:55 and a final 5:45 mile. I quickly transitioned to my bike for another 40k and could feel it in the legs a bit early on but settled in for a good strong effort. With the furnace really burning from the opening bike and run I misjudged my nutrition a bit and was feeling close to a bonk after the ride. I quickly crushed down some nutrition and grabbed some for the rode and headed out on the 7 mile run. The first 1/2 mile felt really bad. My legs were very tight but soon showed signs of life by the time I reached the 2 mile mark. I cruised the rest of the run and was filled with confidence with this breakthrough workout. Looking forward to an easy day on Thursday.
Thursday, October 21 - Amazed to wake up after 6 hours of sleep feeling pretty fresh. Off to another masters swim workout to get my butt kicked. Main set was 5 x 300 pull with 6 x 50 IM order in between each 300. The pull sets were tough as I had not used my paddles for several months. My lane was too slow and we ran out of time for the last 300 - not too sad about that, my shoulders were wasted. P90x this afternoon and a big ride on Friday. Ordered some new shoes last night to hopefully help with a sore big toe. I think my current shoes are great for 10k or less but after that they are just too snug.
Friday, October 22 - A beautiful Fall Ohio afternoon greeted me at the start of my 100k ride. Not a cloud in the sky and light winds to make it near perfect riding weather. Along with my HFP bib shorts and jersey I needed only arm warmers to feel just right for my days adventure. The 100k ride takes on about every major climb in Licking County and includes a 15k out & back section on Reynolds Road which takes you to the highest point in the county. This section is right at 50k in the ride so you find out real fast how your legs are doing. Going into this section my legs felt great and coming out I could feel the hills in my legs. Good thing the next section is just a 10k gradual uphill which I actually used to get my legs feeling strong again. I pushed hard all afternoon and stayed in the aero position as much as the hills allowed and made it back to the house right around 3 hours. Not bad for a real hilly route - about 33.5kph average. That's all I planned for today but when I got home, there in my garage were my new shoes. I was excited and thought I give them a test run. I opened the box and noticed right away the shoes looked really small - 9.5 WOMENS! Oh well - hit the showers and enjoy a good meal with the family. Another big brick planned for Saturday and re-order my shoes.
Saturday, October 23 - Just a few miles into today's brick workout and I wondered if I should turn around and take the day off. I decided to keep going and see if my legs felt any better. I rolled into Granville, Ohio at 10k and headed up a 200 meter stand-up climb to the top of Dennison University and I soon found out my legs were going to be OK. A climb like this will always let you know if your legs are good or not and my legs did not have any build-up of fatigue and I was encouraged to continue on my 70k loop. Most of this loop consisted of the same roads as the previous days 100k ride minus the really tough section on Reynolds Road. Before I left today I hooked up my Never Reach Hydration System to my bike to start getting used to taking in more fluids. It's amazing how much more I drank just because it was there and convenient. I also attached my little nutritional basket to my aero bars which was also a constant reminder to eat. I felt the best to date of the build-up coming off the bike and I believe it was because I actually nailed the hydration for one. I quickly slipped on my running shoes and decided to also put on my calve guards to help me along with this run since my legs had two hard days in them. I originally planned on a 60 minute run but felt so good I went for 90 minutes. A very big confidence building day for me today. Looking forward to laying low on Sunday. Just planning P90x before church then hanging out with the family the rest of the day.
Sunday, October 24 - P90x before church (Core Synergistic)
Monday, October 25 - Perfect training conditions for the Miami Man today - windy and warm. Not Miami warm but I'll take low 70's in late October any day. I decided to keep doing the over distance bike rides to keep from what happened in the last 20k last year - which was total mental fatigue. I was tired of the wind and I was tired of the flat road. For me that's the toughest part of this race - the super flat bike course. I'd much rather have undulating hills throughout the entire 56 miles. I just love working hard up the hills and then flying down the other side - it's a great distraction. It's also nice not to see miles in front of you - but that's what you get when you go to Miami. So....today along with over distance training on the bike I headed west to the flats of New Albany and Croton, Ohio for the first 50k before heading back to the rolling hills of Licking County for the last 52k. Nailed my nutrition again and felt strong all day. Quick transition to the run and clipped off a nice 60 minute run following my 102k bike. Awesome day! Really felt dialed in to my bike today.
Tuesday, October 26 - Early morning masters swim workout. Felt surprisingly recovered from Monday's big workout with just 6.5 hours of sleep. Main set today was 2 x 500 pulls with 6 x 75 (25 stroke - 25 swim - 25 stroke) in between. That's a lot of pulling with paddles (I thought last week was tough) but it really forces you to swim in good form. If not your shoulders let you know right away. P90x (Chest and Back) later this afternoon.
Wednesday, October 27 - Just as last Wednesday was the hardest workout of the week, this Wednesday also turned out to be a similar test. Though a beautiful looking day with mild temperatures the wind was crazy strong. This made my choice for a bike course to be much hillier than originally planned in an effort to get out of the wind. I started off with a 40k bike that felt really strong, then followed by a 10k run at half iron pace, then back on to the bike for another hilly 40k and finishing with another 10k run. At the end of my second 40k bike I was starting to feel the long day and I ran out of nutrition. I can't believe I ran out of fuel - amateur mistake! I was pleased with my second 10k as it was just 38 seconds slower than my first 10k. I also tested my new K-Swiss Ironman shoes today. Even with NO socks and did both runs with no problems at all. These are a pretty amazing shoe. However, most folks would probably hate them. It's basically a running shoe sole with a slipper top with just a single velco strap. I've always like that slipper feel.
Thursday, October 28 - Happy Halloween! (at least in Alexandria it is). Waaay too much caffeine ingested during yesterdays workout and it kept me up to almost Midnight. So....no way was I getting up for my masters swim workout. I did a lunch time swim at the YMCA - an easy 2500. P90x this afternoon and a huge day to get rested up for on Friday.
Friday, October 29 - Sunny, breezy and COLD! This was my first workout with gloves on and multiple layers. At least it was sunny or this workout would of been miserable. I chose the flat lands of Franklin County, specifically the Westerville area as my ride route and it provided 75k of flat riding and then the final 25k of riding in the hills of Licking County. Since this was a new route for me I enjoyed the new scenery but not the traffic. Wow - middle of a Friday afternoon and the traffic in this part of Central Ohio was crazy. However, I'm happy to report no close calls or obscene gestures during my time in the flat lands. I was never so happy to see the hilly, twisting turning roads of Licking County (not to mention the traffic free roads). I'm blessed to live here - no doubt. After my 100k ride I jumped off the bike and put on the new K-Swiss running shoes and finished with a strong 60min run. Good day. Fitness level is very high. Finished up the run and felt no worse for the wear. Saturday will be a more run focused workout.
Saturday, October 30 - Another sunny and breezy day but a touch warmer than yesterday. Started the day off with a hilly 40k bike ride to get the legs nice and warmed up then headed out on the bike trail for a 2 hour LSD run. I wanted to negative split the run but the wheels started to come off with just 12 minutes to go and my paced slowed down big time and ended the workout at 2:02:30. My feet and legs were screaming - good to be done with this workout. Looking forward to starting to taper on down starting next week. I'll be around 65% on training time but I'll be bringing back some speed. Then by race week I'll be totally fresh and ready to go.
Sunday, October 31 - Finally a complete day off! I enjoyed it very much. You know your day off is timed right when you can literally feel your body getting stronger on the day you take off. Looking forward to some hard and short efforts this coming week to bring back some sharpness.
Monday, November 1 - What a glorius first day of November. Light winds and nothing but sunshine (and about 48 degrees). Totally hammered a hilly 40k bike ride (big ring the entire ride) and then a very swift 10k run. I was so pleased to have fresh legs after just one day of rest. Really smashed the big gears on the bike going well above 1/2 iron pace and then enjoyed having fresh legs for the 10k run. This was a very snappy workout - I've really missed this type of training over the last 4 weeks. I'm already enjoying the taper!
Tuesday, November 2 - They say happiness is tapering - I'm starting to agree. It was nice to get out of the pool this morning before I was wasted tired. My lanemates looked at me with surprise when I started to get out of the pool early - I just looked at them, smiled and said "I'm tapering". I enjoyed the first two sets of 4 x 150 and 6 x 50 IM order before exiting the pool this morning. P90x later this afternoon.
Wednesday, November 3 - Amazingly beautiful, perfect training conditions today. Mid-40's, BUT zero wind and bright sunshine. I only needed bib shorts and a light shirt for todays workout - 4 x (10k bike - 1 mile run). Killed this workout. This is my normal in season Wednesday workout which I think is my key to keeping strong and fast during the season. Shhhh...don't tell anyone. Feeling the taper and have never felt stronger during this workout. I felt like it was easy to close each mile at 5:38, 5:36, 5:34, then destroyed #4 with a 5:23. Bring it on!
Thursday, November 4 - Early morning masters workout. Bonus* Under water stroke video provided by my buddy Ron in lane 3. I kind of look like an actual swimmer - the Sheila T high elbow looking good on film. Main set (500, 400, 300, 200, 100 then 2 x (5 x100 on 1:30). P90x this afternoon (Core Synergistic).
Friday, November 5 - Cold and windy today. Was not looking forward to heading out on my bike. However, I seemed to dress just perfect and I actually was enjoying my ride with the exception of the huge lobster gloves that make is difficult to stand and climb. Other than that, a nice snappy hilly 40k bike, followed quickly by a snappy 10k run. Easy to bike and run snappy when your legs are well tapered.
Saturday, November 6 - Nice early morning 60 minute LSD run followed by a P90x workout (Core Synergistic). Ended up feeling a little more tired than planned. Total day off on Sunday, then just 6 more days to taper.
Sunday, November 7 - OFF
Monday, November 8 - Another amazing day of weather for November. Rode today with just arm warmers, tri top and bibs - did not even wear socks! Legs are feeling incredible. Killed a 40k bike and 5k run. Legs felt almost the same when finished as at the start. It literally feels like I had a different cog set on my bike today. I was crushing up hills with no effort. I actually have a great taper going on. I've not felt this good before an A race in the last 10 years. Let's hope it holds up.
Tuesday, November 9 - Easy 2000 yards in the pool this morning. 500 swim, 500 kick, 500 pull, then 5 x 50, 250 cool down. I'll do a portion of my normal P90x this afternoon - got to get my weekly pull-ups and push-ups in.
Wednesday, November 10 - I just can't believe the Ohio weather this month and in late October. Only once have I been forced to ride in what I considered cold weather. Today for my final bike/run workout before I fly to Miami on Friday the weather was sunny and 70 degrees. I was blessed to have an operational meeting in Athens for our OU AIA Triathlon next May and after the meetings jumped on my bike and got to be the first person to ride the official course. A wonderful 25k bike that within the first 2k takes you up to the highest point on the campus and all on the infamous brick streets. After that you bomb out of Athens and it's all flat and fast along the Hocking River as you make your way to the little town of Chauncey before picking up the Hocking/Adena Bikeway for the final 12k all the way back to the main staging area via the west side of Peden Stadium which sits across the road for what will be the transition area in front of the Aquatics Center. After a nice little 25k hammer on the bike I jumped off for the 5k course which passes by Peden Stadium on the east side before heading east on to the Hocking/Adena Bikeway and passing by the OU Golf Course and giving me spectaculars views of the Hocking River on my left and the OU campus on my right. I negative split the 5k by 23 seconds - feel strong and ready to go! Easy swim on Thursday and the next time I get my heart rate up will be on Sunday for the start of the race.
Sunday, November 14 - RACE DAY REPORT
Bring it!
Shannon Kurek aka HFP Man
