The Final Count Down

The last week of real training for my Ironman Boulder build was accomplished without getting sick or injured, which was the main goal. I toned things down quite a bit from my original plan, cutting the hours back significantly due to time constraints and deciding to be smart.

Monday was Bolder Boulder. I already discussed this since I included it in the previous week’s training block. For those who haven’t had the privilege of seeing the race photos, behold the degradation in run form and general poise:

 

Tuesday was a recovery today. I did a short bike commute to Spruce pool, where I swam approximately 22 minutes, getting out early because it was super cold.

Wednesday was also easy—a 2 hour endurance ride and a 15 minute easy run. I was still recovering from the previous week, the race, and the post race outings on Monday afternoon. At mid-morning, Adelaide and I drove to Denver for the Vulnerable Road User bill signing, for which she had testified before congress twice in the past few months.

More info about the new law here. And a video of Adelaide by Channel 7 News here—click the right arrow button on the image on that page to make the video play.

Thursday: A little over 2 hours on the bike again, this time with 2×10 minute upper threshold intervals. I had planned to do 2×20 minutes but mid-way through I buckled and convinced myself that higher power would be better than going easier for longer. Later I did 4K at masters. I also had the pleasure of doing an interview with Kenny Withrow from 303 Triathlon, who also took a bunch of great photos. I also started sauna training today, and did it for the next four days as well, ensuring I’d be well prepared for the forecasted, sweltering race temps of 45-65 degrees.

 

Friday: Easy three mile dog jog in the morning, 4K masters, and another 2.5 mile run in the evening. I had planned to do a hard run in the morning but got sidetracked working on my bike, then didn’t have time in the afternoon. Another easy day was probably for the best.

Saturday: Adelaide and I did a track workout at Centennial middle school, which is a mile and a half from our house. I completed 4×800 and 4×400, all roughly at 5:00 pace—less for the 400s. My legs didn’t feel good, but I didn’t push that hard either, which meant that I must have at least been on an okay day given the relative ease of the speed. Early that morning we both did a hard 4K+ masters.

Sunday: Chris and I rode 5 hours fairly hard up in the mountains. The descents are the most challenging part of the ride when I go with Chris since he’s always in the mood to hammer down hill (as am I), and he corners like a demon in the aerobars. Many times when he came around to take his pull I found myself pushing all out to get back on the wheel. After the ride I did a short hike with my mom and an easy 2K swim.

I might as well delve into this current week since I don’t plan on writing another blog post between now and the race.

Monday: Easy bike commute and a 4K masters—just shy of 4K actually. My mom and I also did a short mountain bike ride that evening.

Tuesday: 2K open water swim at the Res, one hour easy on the bike, and a 25 minute run with Adelaide and Maybellene. The highlight of the day was getting my first ever pedicure along with my mom and Adelaide.

My feet felt amazing for that afternoon run. I’m not sure if it was placebo but it felt like I was wearing shoes made of clouds lathered in Vaseline and fed a steady diet of pillowy mounds of mashed potatoes.

Wednesday: Bike commute, a fairly hard 3.5K masters, and another track session, which was comprised of a mile of corners/straightaways, 2×800, and 4×400. I felt pretty shitty at the track; my lungs were super tight for some reason and I wasn’t able to get enough oxygen into my legs. Better today than on Sunday.

Thursday: 75 minute ride with 5×2 min VO2 intervals. 2K easy swim.

The race will be shown live on Facebook. Got to ‘Ironman Now’ to watch, or just use the normal Ironman race tracker if you don’t want to watch the video coverage.