Jackie D - Week 36

Week 36 - starting Monday 21 May 2007

Scheduled hours: 17hrs 00mins
Actual hours: 18hrs 31mins

Where do I start? I have been pondering how much detail to write about this. But, at the end of the day I decided that this is my journal (which I was persuaded to put online) and it is the thing I am going to look back at in future years so I am going to go mad with the detail. So, apologies in advance for anyone reading this - you are likely to get bored silly.

The Lake Placid weekend dominated training this week but the first part of the week was also training (no complete day off this week) with a masters swim and a zone 3 bike workout amongst other things. Also my first very hot run of the year. It was an hour recovery run but it felt really hard at well over 80 degrees. I took the dog and stopped twice so she could jump in the canal to cool off and I was as grateful for the stops as she was….but on to the weekend…

Friday - I set off after I had put the boys on the school bus and made it to the hotel in around 5 hours. I was first of our group by a few seconds but shortly afterwards people started to arrive. Mary (coach) decided she was going out for a short run and all who had so far arrived got caught up in the enthusiasm and went with her. We ran from our hotel into Lake Placid village and around Mirror Lake, a total of just over 50 minutes. It was really great to see all the various landmarks that we will come to know so well at the Ironman race. We also ran up the hill into the village that is part of the run course and the hill we would be walking (on purpose) on the Sunday. So, even though I have no intention running it on the big day at least I can tell myself I have done it!

Mirror Lake was smaller than I expected. I suppose I am used to seeing the bigger Finger Lakes. You can jog around it on a handy red brick path in about 25minutes. The path goes right through the village center. Very pleasant. Lake Placid village itself reminded me of the European ski resorts and was very pretty, especially with the background of Whiteface mountain. Restaurants and café’s and lots of people around made it bustling and alive, completely unlike most towns I have so far experienced in America.

Anyway, after running back to the hotel we changed and headed out to the meeting point in town for the bike ride. I was so excited to be experiencing the course. There were roadworks and closed roads in the center of the village which meant that we couldn’t do the bike course bit through the town but near enough. So, we all headed out. The first part was scary as it was a short downhill through town, across several intersections at a reasonable speed and there was lots of traffic about. Then off to experience the big downhill into Keene that I had heard so much about. But what a surprise. After pedalling for 10 minutes, Mary pulls up and tells Sarah and I who are riding together that in about 20 minutes we will get to do the downhill. I guess I expected it a lot sooner into the ride and those 20minutes were a trend of up hill and so hard. At one point it felt like I was pedalling and getting nowhere - turns out although it looked flat it was actually uphill. Anyway I thought that hill was a killer and really wondered what else the course had in store if this hadn’t even been mentioned.
The downhill was fantastic. It is in 3 sections with some flat bits in between so not completely downhill all the time. It was fast enough at over 40 mph that I felt uncomfortable (control wise) on my aero bars so used the drops. I love the speed though and even going over 40mph round the bend that advises max 35mph was fine. The only thing against it was that some of the earlier section had a bad road surface.
The next section was a slightly rolling then mostly flat ride to Jay. This bit was a nice place to just relax and pedal and enjoy the fantastic scenery. We then turned left to head up a mile hill towards Wilmington. Now that hurt and seemed endless. We stopped at the gas station by the turn off to the out and back to regroup and then off to the last 11 miles - the notorious ones with names of Big Cherry, Little Cherry, Mama Bear, Baby Bear and Papa Bear. By this time coach and the speedy boys were long gone and every hill we climbed we wondered if it was a named hill - of course we had no idea. Eventually we go round a corner and Peelee (Sarah, Peelee and I riding together) shouts “That’s Papa Bear - we turn at the top”. So a last burst of energy and Mary is at the top urging us on and directing us into the turn. Short bit back into town where Peelee manages to tangle with Mary at about 0.1mph and takes himself down doing a very impressive roll and a high kick holding his bike upside down in the air. All OK thank goodness. We had earned our pasta dinner.

Saturday - time to ride the whole course. My plan was to ride steady on the first loop and then try and push a bit harder on the second loop. Today I rode most of the time alone and I am happy with that - I wanted to dictate my own pace. There were quite a few people out riding the course though so you rarely felt alone which was nice and everyone was so friendly with nods and waves. The hill out of town felt easy both times that day because I was psychologically prepared for it. The downhill was great although there were a few hairy minutes as we started the descent because a police car came blasting by which meant that cars pulled into the side - right in front of us. Luckily they were aware of us, although I had to go around the outside of one because if I had jammed my brakes on I was sure I would have crashed. Luckily he saw me and all was OK. I pedalled rather than cruised the flat bit to Jay (I had cruised the evening before). The hill towards Wilmington was just as bad as the previous day unfortunately (despite expectations) - but part of that is because it is so frustrating when stronger riders whiz past you.
The out and back on the first loop was a lot hillier than I expected - we had been told that it was a good recovery bit before the last 11 hilly miles but I can tell you it has a few hills of its own, especially just before the end of the back. Of course second time round it didn’t seem so bad because I knew what to expect.
The last 11 miles were OK, just kept pedalling. At one point I spotted a faded CH and B and my warped brain decided that meant it was Child Bear, so I kept expecting Papa Bear just round the next corner - until I saw more writing saying Mama Bear - duh it must have been Cherry Big! Anyway first loop in 3hr 18mins (excluding water stop at gas station), average of over 16mph, felt fine, nutrition fine so very pleased. I refuelled at the car and set off on the second loop. I would have said I pushed a bit harder in some places on the second loop, certainly kept as steady a pace as first loop so I was surprised to find that the time for it was 3hr 34minutes. However the last 11 miles felt a lot harder because the wind had picked up against us and I actually had to stand up a couple of times because I ran out of gears rather than by choice to stretch - that hadn’t happened on the previous loop.
Eventually got back into town, changed into running shoes and shuffled around the lake for a short half hour run. The first 10minutes felt hard, then I settled into a rhythm. It felt slow but I knew I could have kept going (how long for - who knows but I know how long it will be in 8 weeks time!)
All in all a very satisfactory day and tales exchanged across the dinner table at another pasta dinner.

Sunday - I got up far too early to eat before our 3 hour run. I actually had muesli about an hour and a quarter before the start and didn’t feel any bad effects during the run which is useful to know. I ran with Sarah and Mary. They were running an easy pace (for them) and I knew I would have to work a bit harder to keep up but that was good for me. I usually run alone and it much easier to run faster with other people. We did 10min running, 1 min walking which was simulating aid stations. This was the first time I had done it and worked really well as I just had to focus on keeping going for 10minutes at a time. This was especially helpful for the 2 x10min tempo sections that we did! I was definitely not in a lower heart rate zone at the end of those. Anyway I managed to keep up although I struggled with the bigger hills so hopefully will work on this. We ran one complete loop of the Ironman course, walking up the hill into town on purpose. Mary told us that walking is just as fast as some people trying to run up it. We then headed back out to make it up to a total of 3 hours, ending in the famous oval. The only part I couldn’t keep up with them for was the last tempo section at the finish but I still got to finish in the oval. Next time I see it it going to look a lot different.

It was absolutely pouring down with rain for the last bit of our run so I got chilled very quickly and headed back to the hotel for a hot shower then breakfast before the long drive home.

Some notes for me to think about:

***I want to work on hills for both run and bike. I seem to recover quite quickly once up them but I would like them to feel easier/ be able to push harder during them.

***My nutrition plan worked well - gels, Gatorade and Jaffa cakes. I did have an extra half Power Bar at half way point on the bike and that seemed fine so may add that in. However as of right now, if you put them all in front of me, the only thing I could face eating/ drinking would be the Jaffa cakes. I have had a weekend overload of the rest!

*** I used a salt stick, attached to the underside of my top tube on the bike. However when pulling my water bottle out of its cage I sometimes knocked this - and the first time it actually fell off and I had to stop. Even after that when I was aware of the problem I still knocked it a few times. Not sure what to do about that yet.

*** Gels make everything a bit sticky. I guess during the actual race that won’t matter so much because there will be an abundant supply of water to rinse off with.

*** Peeing on the bike (stop reading here if this grosses you out). I had never done this before but several people said it is OK after you get over doing it the first time. I tried on the first loop but nothing happened. I was half way through the second loop thinking that I must have so much stored up before I managed to actually relax enough to do this….and oh boy there was so much I thought it would never stop - I kept looking behind me in case anyone was catching up and seeing. It was OK to do but when I got back to the hotel I found I had a rash which I was reliably informed was chafing. I (being lucky person clearly) had never chafed from bike shorts before so I wonder if the pee had anything to do with it. Have to think about this as I am competitive enough (with myself) to not want to take extra time to stop on race day.

*** the psychological effect of seeing (and experiencing) the course is beyond words. I am prepared and I can’t wait! I know I can do this and the next few weeks before taper are going to be icing on the cake for me - to grow stronger and get faster.

8 WEEKS TO GO