Now that we are one month out from IMLou I was wondering if there are any suggestions on some final workouts or testing that could be done to help determine (mostly mentally) that your ready. Not that there is much you can do about it at this point. Is it too late for a “big day” of training? Will I be doing more harm than good? My training paln has already started to reduce the weekly hours and I would like to do one more big weekend. Any thoughts? This is my first full IM.
Thanks
Go out in the middle of a big field on a hot day and hit yourself in the head with a 2x4 a few thousand times. If you can take that your ready.
Biggest thing now is don’t get hurt! Make it to the starting line in one piece.
Nutritional plan has to be ironclad and you have to stick to it. Everything else is gravy. Enjoy.
IM Louisville will be my first IM as well. I plan to do a big run today, but I am already reducing my training hours. Frankly, I am a bit worn out (I’ve lost a lot of weight also) so I am looking forward to the taper. For me the key thing is to go into the race well rested. It is getting a bit late to build much more fitness.
One month is a long time in terms of potential fitness gains or losses, but so much of it depends on your CURRENT fitness. If a long weekend of training would appease your mind then perhaps it’s worth it in that sense (after all, fitness isn’t just physical), but to capitalize on it later in the month in a physical sense, well, there are simply too many factors involve (e.g., would you recover from it, or would other obligations delay your recovery?, etc)
One thing I’ll add: heat acclimation. Be ready for whatever the gods may toss your way. Run some searches on the subject here or via Google. It takes about 10-12 days for most folks to acclimate and there are plenty of tricks you can do to help your cause. This may have a bigger impact on your race than piling in another long training weekend.
Maybe I taper wrong but 4-5 weeks out seems a little early to be cutting a lot of volume. If I were doing IM Lou, this weekend would probably be my last big weekend and then I would taper…the bulk of it being about two to two and half weeks out. Sure, I reduce but not drastically.
My advice is to eat healthy but really watch portion size: you won’t be training quite as much, therefore make sure you don’t go apeshit or you end up putting on several pounds before IM. I have seen this happen to a lot of people: your antsy, bored because you find yourself with more itme on your hands, your tired, and so you start eating like its your new job.
I’m wrestling with what to do with the final 4 weeks too. This is my 2nd IM and although I’m in better general condition than last year, and faster at the same shorter races, i sure don’t feel ready to PR an IM.
IT band sidelined me for much of June/July running, and i only have a handful of runs over 13 miles, with none approaching 20 miles like i had planned. I just feel generally shitty, no power on the bike, and having trouble making my planned hours. Wanted to train for 8 weeks or so close to, or at 20 hours, and have been about 5 hours a week short of those goals because I’m JFT from starting a laboring job to make ends meet while my wife is laid off (shes typically the bread winner while i work on my degree).
Blarg! What to do? Was kicking around the idea of pushing through for 2 more hard weeks, and doing a 2 week taper since my volume hasn’t been that high. Although this laboring gig is kicking the crap out of me before i even get home and train for the day. Did a long run (14 miles, longest yet) Friday evening after a hard week and it literally buried me for this weekend.
Do i call whatever fitness i have “good” and slide into maintainence mode, and try to recover as much as my job will allow for the next 4 weeks? Or do i push on, and taper for 2? I’d like to get at least one more century, and one run around 16 miles…but i question if it will benefit me at this point.
Sounds like we were on the same training plan. I had an IT band problem and some home issues to deal with that made my last 1.5 months less than what I had wanted. I was thinking the same thing for this week. Stick to normal weekday training, and then do a 5-6 hour ride and a long run this weekend. I’m not sure if it will help out my fitness but mentally I think it would be good. You definitely have to take care of home business first, so whatever you can fit in for the next month is all you can do. If your killing yourself at work your probably not getting much out of the workouts anyway.