Ironman Texas Training Update: Week 3 of 12

Published on 06. Mar, 2012 by admin in Body Composition, Ironman, Training Update

Comments

Endurance Nation vs Ironman Texas

Here at the start of Week Three of my IM training (like 9 to go) and I was collecting my thoughts on where I am at. As CGP (Chief Guinuea Pig) you all know I do some modified EN training for my plan, but right now I am still doing the EN bikes, one Tempo run, and I do the swims only I am extending two of them to 5,000yds due to the sudden switch to swimming / desire to maximize/reduce trips to the pool.

My thoughts:

Initial fatigue load over the first weekend was CRAZY high…almost crashed on Day 4 of IM training and had to stand down 36 hours…adjusted schedule.
First long ride was time only at .68…to hard to do anything else. Second long ride was time + 3 x 30′ as 10′ @ 10w under IM effort, 10′ @ IM effort, 10′ @ 10w over IM effort. Looking for third session this week to be FTP intervals for first hour, then an hour of JRA, then IM effort-ish watts….we’ll see. My broader point is that it takes a bit of mental / physical ramping up.
I quickly lost my bike interval mojo in favor of “long steady” training….have had to work hard to recapture that.
Return to swimming hasn’t been as smooth as I’d've liked…would have preferred 4 weeks of light swimming to reintegrate first…am just now finding my stroke after 4 months off post Kona.
Recovery is key — from 2 OS days off to just 1 light swim day means precious little rest and I _have to_ get a minimum of 7 if not 8 hours of sleep a night to bounce back. Mandatory.
Body composition focus fluctuates across the volume of the week but lands at pretty close to 180…mentally very hard to be “good” on the weekends when the volume goes up, but I think (?) I am getting better at it….stay tuned!

For those of you reading along for the first time, here are some quick charts for you as well.

My RestWise Chart since the start of IM Training...note the crash day!

Coach Patrick's Weight - The Last 30-Days

Thanks for reading!

Martin Cappiello

Hi Patrick, I'm thinking about your IM training and your diet and wondering how many calories will you aim for during longer training rides and will that number be less then what you would normally take to continue the weight loss

Patrick McCrann

Martin, great question. Actually I don't try to cut calories DURING any workout..as it is, we burn more than we can consume. I burn about 800 cals per hour at IM effort but take in 250...so it's more trying to keep the post workout refueling in a good space (and not eating ice cream at 3am!). I find that I need to eat a lot, right after the long ride even if not hungry...otherwise it gets me later!