Typically after a big race - say a half ironman - I take a good two or three weeks off and do NOTHING. I mean NOTHING. But when you are training for a full ironman, you don't really have that luxury. So last week after the Door County Half Ironman I had a week of fairly easy recovery work outs, but come Saturday it was time to get back at it again (p.s. the upside to not really running the run at Door County was a much quicker recovery!). So after a run and swim on Saturday, we headed up to Madison for a ride on the Ironman Wisconsin course with the Well Fit group....
Bike = 5:38:08, 84 miles
IM WI course for the first time! I was SO worried about this...especially when we drove part of the course on the way to Mt Horeb for dinner the night before - there were hills, hills and more hills - but it was GREAT! I absolutely loved it. Just the right amount of climbing, descending, rolling and flats. I actually love that you aren't doing the same thing for very long....I know a lot of people think that's a downfall of the course, but I love it. I hate flat....boring, boring, boring. I was NEVER bored on this course. Took it super easy - coach's orders - as the legs are still trying to recover from last weekend. Plus, it was raining like crazy when we started so the roads were really wet, making the descents slow. Nutrition was just about spot on, and I was in a good mood the whole time. Came off the bike ready to run. Well done and a huge confidence builder!
Run = 30:01, 2.84 miles
This was a transition run immediately following the bike. Actually ran longer than this, because after a good few minutes I looked down and my watch wasn't on. Ugh. Ran 30 minutes by my watch anyway and this went really well. Makes a huge difference when it's cloudy out! Still warm, but bearable.
Huge shout out to my Iron Spouse for being a trooper this weekend. He drove me both ways, led me on the first loop of the course and then when I went on to do a second loop by myself he actually drove out on the course to find me on one of the big hills at the end...my own private team vehicle, just like in the Tour! :)
The next two weeks are peak ironman training weeks. I can't even really think about it because it's so overwhelming. I'm definitely at the point where the race seems way too close, yet way too far away. I'm nursing a lot of little injuries and my ART doc has moved up to number two (after my Iron Spouse of course!) on the speed dial. Everyone says this is the hardest part...time to hunker down and GET IT DONE!
- Her
Bike = 5:38:08, 84 miles
IM WI course for the first time! I was SO worried about this...especially when we drove part of the course on the way to Mt Horeb for dinner the night before - there were hills, hills and more hills - but it was GREAT! I absolutely loved it. Just the right amount of climbing, descending, rolling and flats. I actually love that you aren't doing the same thing for very long....I know a lot of people think that's a downfall of the course, but I love it. I hate flat....boring, boring, boring. I was NEVER bored on this course. Took it super easy - coach's orders - as the legs are still trying to recover from last weekend. Plus, it was raining like crazy when we started so the roads were really wet, making the descents slow. Nutrition was just about spot on, and I was in a good mood the whole time. Came off the bike ready to run. Well done and a huge confidence builder!
Run = 30:01, 2.84 miles
This was a transition run immediately following the bike. Actually ran longer than this, because after a good few minutes I looked down and my watch wasn't on. Ugh. Ran 30 minutes by my watch anyway and this went really well. Makes a huge difference when it's cloudy out! Still warm, but bearable.
Huge shout out to my Iron Spouse for being a trooper this weekend. He drove me both ways, led me on the first loop of the course and then when I went on to do a second loop by myself he actually drove out on the course to find me on one of the big hills at the end...my own private team vehicle, just like in the Tour! :)
The next two weeks are peak ironman training weeks. I can't even really think about it because it's so overwhelming. I'm definitely at the point where the race seems way too close, yet way too far away. I'm nursing a lot of little injuries and my ART doc has moved up to number two (after my Iron Spouse of course!) on the speed dial. Everyone says this is the hardest part...time to hunker down and GET IT DONE!
- Her
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