hi all, i’m in NY, as you probaby saw from other post.
anyway, here is the deal.
all of May was punctuated with “epic’ish” training days. i feel these were good to stretch me, and push limits. however, it was, at times, to recover and pick up straight away and train the following days. also i had my ass handed to me several times (so i def know what my limiters are right now). after Smokies, for example, i was only able to do 3 workouts because of infected blisters that caused painful feet and couldn’t even get shoes on for several days after (luckily i work from home).
so, i came up here to do a big training week. then i saw epicman going on, right away i “sign” myself up, because i’m a knee jerk kind of person and tend to just jump right in (not always a bad thing though). now that i’ve had some time to think about it i do wonder if doing that much distance at this point, and going through the “after effect” of that distance, is what i need to do right now. i will happily trash myself, but it’s not always the smartest thing considering some downtime afterwards.
i will have to limit my training this week to not tire myself out before the event; and i will need a few days of recovery probably if i do the entire epicman distance. so i’m trying to figure out the best way to do more is more.
my ironman is WI. so at this point a full 3 months of training is head of me.
regarding epicman, right now i see 2 options:
-train more volume all week and do a part of epicman (50 minute swim; 56 bike; 6 or 13 mile run), and continue to train business as usual after this reduced version of epicman
-go easy this week and do the full distance of epicman and do 2 days of recovery “work” after that to help get soreness out.
FWIW, I’m not doing the full run (probably only 30-45 minutes). I think you said you’d be in the 6:30/7:00 group (so will I), so if you want an excuse to drop out after a short run, you can blame me.
This is just my 2 cents and I am not trying to give you a lecture. First of all, take it easy. I have done quick decisions too. The older I get…I am finding out distance (while fun) may not be the best for my body. Go get the latest Triathlete magazine where Scott Tinley talks about how he regrets doing all those ironmans. I mean…I am not trying to get religious b/c I am not…but…do you think God made our bodies to do marathons and DeSoto Triple T races. I mean lets face it…the DeSoto TT is nothing more than a race to degenerate muscle tissue and cause joint problems. I personally, will probably stick with sprints to 70.3’s (which are bad enough) But, the more I think about it…I may settle in to the Olympic Distance. Again, just some thoughts!!! Plus, look at your weight. I don’t know about your frame. But, small women that do IMs look gawdy and terrible. Do what is best for your body. I am a man and a skinny, bony woman is disgusting. (Not saying that you are)
Depends on how important this race is in respect to ImMoo. I would focus on the IM if I were you, and if you do the full distance, so it aerobically, staying low in your zones, so as to limit the muscle damage. The training of your aerobic engine should be your focus at this point. Good luck.
honey, at 160 i’m hardly skinny, let’s just get that out of the way right now. lol! i don’t think i’m a fattie (anymore), but i’m def not one of the twigs on the race course.
my concern is the 13 mile run after riding 100.
also, this isn’t about sucking it up–i can do that, what i’m trying to do is develop the best strategy.
Swim and Bike. That’s gives you a big swim/bike brick. Resume training (including your normal long runs) as usual the following week. My vote is this will give you the best continuity and consistency in your build to IM WI.
For me, I find that swimming & biking are generally pretty low-impact with not alot of recovery time needed - even at fairly high intensity levels or distances. Running, on the other hand…
So, if it were me, I’d go into Epicman with the intention of doing the full swim & bike and then just seeing how I felt on the run.
Smokies is a tough half and takes a lot out of you. Do what you can this week in NY then Option three… Do the 50 min swim and 180 bike and see how it goes on the run (be it 2,3 6 or 13). You’ll be in a group on the bike (at least for most of the ride) so you don’t have to take too much air during the ride.
Kittycat, like Trevor said. Do the full swim and bike and do what you can for the run that leaves you in a position where you can be reasonably recovered that you can actually do another longish ride on Sunday after a day off (or light swim on Sunday). While finishing the full distance is cool, the goal is to train yourself to the point where you can absorb the training and recover quickly…not end up in the hurt locker for a month. Also take Thu as an off day or very light…train on your regular schedule up to Wed.
See you there. By the way, if you have not seen the JR Inn had a fire and we are staying at Northwoods, so you will need to reserve there. Ask for the $59 price that they are offering us.
I had the pleasure of doing EpicMan last year, and am pretty bummed it’s not working out for me this year. You are going to have a blast!
Reading this post and others you have made, it sounds like we have some things in common. Pushing our limits in a group environment is fun in and of itself, but we pay the price in terms of consistency.
My advice is to jump in and go for it. Is that optimal for your IMW performance compared to laying down consistent volume this week and next? Probably not, but who cares? The memories you will get from Epicman are way better than “optimal IM preparation”. Plus you are bound to build some confidence and self-belief by finishing that run, especially if you wind up doing it alone like I did last year. As Dev said, finishing takes commitment, which is why I would disagree about taking the “start things out and see” approach - most that do wind up bagging it when they realize how “stupid” a training event like this is :).
The condition on my advice is that you are not nursing an injury that is likely to flare up and knock you off running for weeks. I also assume that your fitness level is such that you are not totally out of your depth at Epicman, but from your other posts I think that is a safe assumption.
So yeah, you will probably be shelled afterwards and need a week or more of easy stuff to help you absorb the workout, but it will be worth it. The bigger risk in my opinion is that you surprise yourself, nail Epicman, and then decide to keep hitting it hard and long rather than letting yourself absorb the work you have done.
Long term consistency is best achieved by keeping things fun enough that you want to keep doing it. Events like Epicman are fun, which is why I did it and wish I could be there this week.
Enjoy! I can’t wait to read the reports.
Mike
PS - Hide coke in the bush on River Road. Also, don’t let Dev wear those pace bunny ears of his on the run - that’s just embarrassing :).
It is even worse…this year the rabbit ears that they gave the pace rabbits at the ING Ottawa Half and Full marathon were pink (Trevor will have a field day with the posting of a pic, but I figured that you guys needed an advance viewing of the rabbit ears before Epicman…). I just have to make sure that there are no wrong left turns at Albuquerque :
Funny how two people can read the same article and walk away with two totally different conclusions.
From my read, Tinely wasn’t criticizing pushing the envelope at all. He rationalized and embraced his choices. In his usual style, he was being tongue in cheek. Despite the permanent joint pain and cartilage damage from years of training & racing, he answers the “if I had it all to do over again” question with zero doubt or reservation.
Tinley writes “… * displacing caution with devil-may-care drive will create artful legacies that stand the test of time, even when they begin to lean. Mike Plant has cartilage left. I have my memories and my aspirin. I wouldn’t change a thing.”*
Tinley was reflecting on his career as a professional athlete. He raced for money, fame, and for a place in triathlon history. Most AGers race for a finishers’ medal and a t-shirt. The stakes are entirely different for us.
Train as normal thru today, then maybe take an easier day or 2 Thurs (and/or Wed) to freshen up a bit.
(I’d still do something, swimming and biking are pretty low-cost in terms of recovery. If you run, keep it short and easy)
Do the full swim and the full bike, at least. That’s really nothing crazy.
I can’t tell you whether you should do all, some, or none of the run. I’d suggest doing at least some.
How much will be up to you.
The swim is the swim, it’s at whatever pace you like. It’s pretty much just a warmup.
Long bike is a long bike, and a T-run is what ya do after a long bike.
I was looking at my logbook from last season, and I didn’t realize that I actually hammered myself pretty good for an entire week before EpicMan last year, and still had a great day anyway.
(for the wattage geeks, my TSS scores for the rides during the 12 days prior to E.dot were:
242, 169, 264, 200, 165 - then EpicMan was a 301)
You’ll be tired and a bit rundown for a few days after EpicMan. That’s fine.
When you bounce back after that, you will have a mental and physical edge that you just can’t get any other way.
The “been there, done that” feeling of completing something like that does a lot for you.
In so many ways.
