Week 12 of Ironman Prep Training Phase - 09/06/2010 (RACE WEEK!!)

On January 4, 2010, I began training exclusively for Ironman Wisconsin to be held September 12, 2010 - that's 36 weeks of building my physical and mental fitness. About halfway through that timeframe I announced that my goal for the race was to qualify for the Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. This week marked the end of my training journey for this one race. It was also the end of my 3 week taper. My body felt ready to tackle the goal I set out to achieve.

The workouts this week were very light and short. The focus was on following my checklists, traveling to Madison and arriving to the start line ready to race. Here's the day-by-day view of the week followed by a summary of the week's data as well as a look at the total amount of training done over the past 36 weeks:

Monday: 30' open-water swim with 6 x 100 meter efforts at goal race effort. Tested out a new wetsuit to ensure everything is feeling okay. Water temperature really dropped over the past week! Packed Special Needs and transition bags for the race and did a little last minute grocery shopping.

Tuesday: Slept in, then did a little light yoga to stay loose. Did an easy 65' spin on the bike followed by a 30' brick run. Packed all my gear and clothes for race weekend.

Wednesday: 1800 yard swim in a busy pool. Then an easy 30' run with a few 3' efforts at marathon pace. Packed all gear in bags and set them out for departure to Madison tomorrow.

Thursday: An easy 15 mile spin to ensure everything on the bike is dialed in and ready to race. Left home after lunch for the 2 hour drive to Madison. Upon arrival, immediately went to packet pickup then checked in to the hotel. Wrapped it up with a dinner with over 50 Endurance Nation athletes.

Friday: Slept in, then went for an easy swim on the Ironman swim course in Lake Monona. Very windy, choppy conditions so I cut the swim short to about 20' - not worth the extra effort at this point. After a light breakfast I ran an easy 30' along Lake Monona. Then in the afternoon did a very easy spin on the bike along parts of the Ironman run course. Everything is feeling ready to go!

Saturday: Was going to get out in the morning for a very easy 20' run but the rain and cool weather changed my plans. Decided instead to keep the feet up and chill for the morning. Andrea, Drew and my parents arrived in the afternoon. Great to have them around to keep my mind off the race.

Sunday: RACE DAY! This is it. Started at 7:00am. Finished at 5:54pm. 10:54:45 (swim: 1:03:04 / Bike: 5:33:30 / Run: 4:11:30). Not the time or race I was looking for. My race report can be found here.

Totals for the week:

Training/racing duration: 16:06

Time spent at or above FTP on the bike: 5'
Time spent at or below lactate threshold pace on the run: 15'
Avg bike intensity factor (% of FTP): .647
Mileage: 201 miles (Swim: 13.4K, Bike: 156 miles, Run: 38 miles)
Training Stress Score (TSS): ~806
Chronic Training Load (CTL): 124.2 (CTL on race morning) - 25 point drop from it's peak on 08/21
Training Stress Balance (TSB): 55.5 (TSB on race morning)
Weight: 167.0
Functional Threshold Power (FTP): 295
Vdot: 56

Performance Management Chart through week 12 of Ironman Prep Training:

Totals for the 2010 Season (01/04/2010 - 09/12/2010):

Training/racing duration: 406 hours (Swim: 60 hours / Bike: 228 hours / Run: 118 hours)

Mileage: 5,428 miles (Swim: 125 miles, Bike: 4,393 miles, Run: 907 miles)

Time spent at or above FTP on the bike: 27 hours

Avg bike intensity factor (% of FTP): .765

Time spent at or below lactate threshold pace on the run: 16 hours

Total TSS:

26,633