Week 9 &10 of 17 Ironman Arizona Training – 26.2 miles!!!

Sorry I missed my training update last week. The week got away from me so by the time I thought about it it was kind of late. I broke my Hulk Mode streak and actually missed my open water swim all together during week 9 (ocean conditions and the desire to sleep in won). I also rode over on my long run (I really want to get some bike miles in to boost my confidence). That mistake made itself be know by a crummy swim at the beginning of the week. Then for the rest of week 10 things went pretty well.  Had to switch my Wednesday open water swim to Friday  because there was too much fog to swim. That means I ended up not taking a full rest day at all last week. I did my long ride on Saturday for a change due to children commitments and had to long run on Sunday. The ride went great (41 achievements in Strava)! 5 hours on my new normal ride. I felt really good until mile 75 which was when I was heading home (all uphill…).

 

Week 9

 

Week 10

My biggest concern right now is the run… I realized that I haven’t run a marathon since Ironman St. George in 2012 (and I wouldn’t call that running)! I am very happy with the volume of running I am doing in my training. I am just nervous because it has been so long since I have run the distance. Below are my last 5 moths worth of running.

Run Time and Distance by Month

I am not running as fast as I would like but I am handling the time/distance. I just ordered two new pairs of shoes to get me through to Arizona (I kill shoes very quickly). I just need to trust my training (which I do).

50 Days

Just 50 days until Ironman Arizona! If you had asked me 9 weeks ago if I would be excited at this point I would have said no. I was very close to being burned out and quitting when I started training specifically for Ironman Arizona.  Then after having a bike crash in the first week of training I was really doubting if I would make it. But I am happy to say I am so excited for the race! I still have a good chunk of training left to do but I know it will fly by.

I think a few of the things that have helped me be successful so far are  (in no particular order):

• Hiring a coach. It has made my job so much easier to not have to plan what I an doing. All I have to do it follow the plan. It also helps to have one more person to hold me responsible. If I do this again (and yes, I am thinking about it) I would get a coach for sure!
• Keeping it simple and planning ahead. My life is very busy so I have worked to keep things simple. I have been starting all my bike rides from my house to cut down on the time it takes. I am also planing ahead as much as possible. That means getting all my gear prepped the night before so there are excuses in the morning. It also means sitting down with Stuart to plan out the week; when we have kids, what we are having for dinner, and what his workout schedule is.
• Stuart. OMG He has helped me more than I can explain. Kicking me out of bed in the morning, taking all the kids to school, prepping the coffee maker before we go to bed, and just making me feel worth it. This race is as much his as it is mine and I can’t wait to share the day with him.
• Online friends. I have amassed a really special group of friends that have been amazing cheerleaders for me. Many of them have been through this before so they know what I am experiencing. I have also been active in a Facebook group for the race and that has really kept me motivated. It is good to hear I am not the only one that has a bad week or loses my mojo from time to time. It is fun to obsess over things like bike shorts and nutrition plans with people who understand you.

Just 50 more days til I get to hear Mike Reilly call my name!  “Rebecca Neumeier, you are an Ironman!” (and hopefully this time I won’t be last!)

Week 8 of 17 Ironman Arizona Training – #noangrykitty

Another week done and I feel great (touch wood!). I had 16 hours on my schedule this week and I was able to have another Hulk Mode week, all green!

The red you see is because I did an extra run to warm up for Tower 26 so I did the other run that night. I feel so strong! I am still not running as fast as I would like but this race won’t be about speed, it is about endurance. Most notable workout was Sunday for sure. I had 5 hours on my bike followed by a 30 minute run. We are having a heat wave here (September is always the hottest month in Southern California) so I got out as early as I could which was just before 8. I rode the same route as last week out towards Camarillo/Oxnard to get to flat quiet roads and my beloved fruit stand. Difference this week was I had to turn around and come back instead of meeting up with Stuart at the beach. Ride went well. I made sure to drink a lot of water, eat consistently, and take an S-Cap every hour. I had a Coke at the fruits stand after about 3 hours. The ride back was hard. Very hot, very still air, and uphill. I was a mess when I got home and started crying. I couldn’t bear going back outside. Stuart suggested a big glass of ice water and then the treadmill. I started running and felt great! I could have easily run another hour plus! I didn’t feel bad about taking my run inside because I don’t expect to have those conditions on race day. Had I gone back outside I would have made myself sick. Click here for the Garmin details.

I name this week #noangrykitty because I continue to be amazed at what a great kit my Coeur kit is. 5 hours in the saddle and NO issues to speak of. My sit bones were tired but whose wouldn’t be. I have ZERO chafing uncomfortable rubbing in their seam-free chamois. I will be ordering another kit soon. They had some cute stuff at Interbike so I am hoping to get one of the new patterns.

I am sticking to my plan to keep things simple and plan ahead. It is paying off for me and I am getting the training done. Of course, I couldn’t do any of this without the support of Stuart and the kids. Stuart picks up so much of the household duties so I can get in my training. The kids are fairly tolerant of the training but truly have an appreciation of what I am doing. My oldest is running cross country so I get up extra early to get my run in Saturday’s so I can meet up with his team and run with them after. It has been an very cool experience!

Here are the totals for the week:

And here are a few pictures from my ride Sunday:

Behind me are pumpkins and in my jog bra is a tube of S-Caps.

I passed this total hotty when I started my ride. We totally missed the Unicorn!

The heat brought out the bugs and I was covered in them! YUCK!

Ticking Off the Boxes

Hard to believe I have less than 9 weeks until my second Ironman Triathlon. It seems like forever ago that I decided to do it and now the date is quickly approaching. At this point I am training as best I can (which is actually going really well) and starting to make sure I have all my ducks in a row.

Last couple things I need are:

• Water bottle mounted to back of bike (in progress)
• Replacement helmet since I crashed in my virtually new one 7 weeks ago (ordered)
• Bike tune up
• One more new kit (I have my eye on a new one from Coeur Sports, #noangrykitty)
• Fresh pair of running shoes (mine won’t make it 9 more weeks, not the way I run)

This sport is crazy expensive and I am glad that I have no major triathlon plans after this race. I am sure I will do them again, but I am looking forward to drastically reducing my “kit budget” in the very near future.

Week 7 of 17 Ironman Arizona Training – Hulk Mode!

If you  use Training Peaks to manage your training plan with the help of a coach you may know what I mean by ‘Hulk Mode” (although I totally made it up). When you get your schedule from your coach and you upload your workouts into the system they turn green if you did the right time/distance per the workout. Every week I try to make my schedule as green as possible. This wee… I NAILED IT!!!!

To top it off, I finished the week with a 5 hour brick and felt great! Things are really falling into place an I couldn’t be happier about it.

Most notable workout of the week was my brick on Sunday. It was 4:30 on the bike followed by :30 run. I have been very uncomfortable on the bike every since I crashed in week one. I am literally counting down the number of times I have to ride my bike outside before the race. I set out for a different route by myself but with the goal of meeting up with Stuart at the beach where I would do my run.

Stuart and I drinking a well deserved Coke!

My new route took me out to Camarillo/Oxnard area where I had some pretty quiet flat roads to just go back and forth on to fill up the time. The best part of this ride is there is an awesome fruit stand at the far end that sells coke, water, and fruit! It is the perfect rest stop during the ride! (and makes for some silly Instagram videos)

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A post shared by Rebecca Ann Neumeier (@beccasbigsmile)

I also picked up a new bento box for my bike that is super big (see picture on the bottom) I was able to easily carry plenty of nutrition.

 

My biggest bummer at the moment is I feel like I am running really slowly. I didn’t make it to 12 miles during my two hour run on Saturday which was kind of disappointing. I am hoping that, like my swimming, my speed will be back soon…

Otherwise I am getting the last minute items I need for the big day. I got the new bento box like I mentioned before, I ordered a bracket that will fit into my seat post so I can attach one more water bottle to my bike, and I want to replace my helmet that was broken when I crashed. I can’t say enough good things about my Coeur Kit as well. I have been wearing it for every long ride and to put it bluntly, my lady bits and tush are very happy! I can’t wait to get another kit!

It is crazy to believe that we have less than 10 weeks to go!

Friday Funny

It doesn’t all have to be about triathlon…

Week 6 of 17 Ironman Arizona Training – Let the chaos begin!

 

This was my first week training AND the kids all went back to school as well.  For some people this is a wonderful thing. Not so much in my world. I have kids that are not the most enthusiastic about school. It takes a lot of work to keep them on track. Coupled with the fact that they split their time between my house and their Dad’s it makes for a very complicated life. On a better note it was Stuart’s birthday this week so I built in some time for celebrating as well.

Because of all of this my coach gave me a pretty light week. The week before I did 15 hours (go me!) but this week was planned for just under  9. Inevitably things got muddled up and I ended up mixing up the days I did the workouts and had to skip my open water swim. That wasn’t such a bad thing because hurricane Marie was sitting off the west coast making for some dangerous swim conditions.

Most notable thing this week was my swim endurance is coming back. Usually I get stronger as a swim set goes on. Since the crash, I have been getting slower the longer I swim. This week it finally switched back. I pulled a set of 6 X 100 and did the last one faster than the first one! (see Garmin data here)For my long ride this week I chose to do it inside on my trainer. I only had to ride for 2:30 so I decided just to get it done inside. Since my crash I really don’t care for riding outside. This was so short it just seemed easier logistically to do it on the trainer and I knew I could still get some worthwhile training done.