Ironman Kentucky Training- Month 5 of 8

[KSH]

Ironman Kentucky Training Month 5 of 8!

WOW! I only have 3 months left. One of those months is going to be tapering down… so only 2 MONTHS of solid training left.

May was a rocking month for me! I had some really nice training accomplishments.

Here are some numbers for you… I did much better this month, even with an injury (that I still have).

Rest days:
May- 4 days off out of 31.
April- 8 days off out of 30.

Cycling:
May – 540 miles. 156 miles more than April!
April- 384 miles.

Swimming:
May – 31,000 yards. 21,000 yards more than April.
April- 10,000 yards.

Running:
May- 75 miles. Not stellar, but I did get injured.
April- 67 miles.


For the month of May I really dialed in my nutrition on the bike. I figured out the key to using the Infinit (it’s a nutrition drink that you custom mix and order online).

I make a concentrated water bottle that holds 3 hours of servings. I mix orange Gatorade in with it to give it flavor. I take 3 swigs of it every 15 minutes. I only do 1 hour of Infinit, then I do 1 hour of solids. Again, everything I consume must be done in 15 minute increments. It’s so weird eating on a schedule on the bike. My alarm goes off, and I eat. No matter what. It works though, and I need to do it to ensure that I can run a marathon after 112 miles on the bike.

Overall I really did a great job in May. I was shocked at how good I was at getting up at 5:30 AM…going to train… going to work… leaving work to train some more. That is pretty how each day goes. Then I rush home to unpack, repack, to do it all again. It’s completely out of comfort zone (aka: I like to sleep in!), but I did it!


Swimming Highlights:
Eh, not much to say here.. other than I actually swam! HA! As you can see from the numbers, I tripled my time in the pool.


Cycling Highlights:
Well, I got OFF the bike trainer this month. I only logged 9 hours on it for May!

I did log a lot of miles on the road though!

5-10-08: Did an 85 mile ride.

5-17-08: Did a 100 miles ride! My second century ever! It started at the Texas Motor Speedway. Took me 6 hours, but I did it. Thanks to my friend Chris that I know from my triathlete message board, I had a buddy with me the whole way. It was nice to have company, because the last 15 miles were torture. I even walk/ran 1.75 miles afterwards. My longest brick to date!

5-24-08: Should have done around 75-85 miles or 5.5 hours on the bike. Did not happen. Only made 65 miles and I about near died from that. It was a horrible, miserable day for me. Second worst day of 2008 on the bike. It was just so hot, humid and windy. Oh so windy. I licked my wounds and limped back home (so to speak), after 4.5 hours on the bike.

5-28-08: Hit an all time record high average on the bike! Rode 28 miles at a 18.5 mph average! OH YEA! That’s speed baby. For comparison, I usually ride my 60-100 mile rides at a 16 mph average. Each time I have some speed on the bike, I feel really great afterwards.

5-31-08: Ended the month with a 85 mile ride. Slow and easy was my motto. Took me 6 hours. But I wasn’t going to have a repeat of the previous weekend long ride. I just wanted to finish all my time. Obviously, it was slow… with a 14.5 mph average. This did show me that I need to keep at least a 16 mph average on the bike if I don’t want to ride for 8 hours in Kentucky! Once I was done with that, I ran 2.50 miles! Another record for me… longest brick (brick- you ride and then run back to back) of my life!


Running Highlights:
5-3-08 and 5-4-08: Jonny (the Ironsherpa) and I traveled to Austin to stay with the Ironsherpa’s Mom and Dad. I finally got to go to my racewalking clinic!

Honorable Mention: The Ironsherpa’s Mom was so kind and generous… making sure I was well fed for my training weekend. She even sent me home with some very yummy fresh ground peanut butter that I told her I love! How sweet is that? Not to mention how sweet they are to let me stay there. Staying with them is way nicer than a hotel would be!

The racewalking clinic was great. I learned a lot. I also learned that there is no way I can do that form for 26.2 miles in August. Which is fine. My run is pretty much where it’s going to be. I think at the Ironman I’ll be lucky to pull off a 13-14 minute mile waking/running.

I also took along Flat Kate with me to the racewalking clinic. Jonny’s niece had sent the Ironsherpa’s Mom a Flat Kate- a cute little cut out of herself. The task was for Flat Kate to go places, and have her picture taken with a story to accompany it. I made sure to take her to my clinic and for her to get pictures walking with me! That was fun to do!

Not so much a highlight, but I did get injured this past month. I did my 100 mile ride and run on 5-17-08… then on 5-18-08 I headed out to do a 14 mile walk/run. By the end of it my left knee was feeling it. That night my knee swelled up and by Monday morning I couldn’t bend it. In true Ironman form, I got up, and went to swim for 3,3000 yards. I couldn’t really kick or bend that leg… so I put a pull buoy between my legs and only pushed off the wall with one leg.

By Monday night (5-18-08) I figured out that cycling that night was probably a really bad idea. So for the next week I took it easy and cut out a couple of training sessions.

So, my knee is better but not 100%. I’m still babying it when I run… although I think my walking form is what did it in. So on my shorter sessions (anything up to 1-hour), I’m running and not walking.

Not sure if it will fix itself or what. Guess I’ll wait and see. Yes, I should go to the Dr. All the Dr. ever does though is x-ray it, say nothing is wrong… and gives me some pills. Since it’s so far from my office, I haven’t made an appointment yet.


As for the Ironsherpa, he is holding strong. Hasn’t collapsed under the annoyance of me always having to go to bed early to train the next day. Our weekends are pretty dang dull! We are lucky if we get to go out and do anything.

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Finally, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

1) My apartment has been messy at times due to all the training I’ve been doing. I might add that this was taken after I had cleaned out a training bag from that day and strewn the stuff all about.
2) Here is a picture of my apartment clean. Just so you know I’m not a complete slob. I really do like a clean place.
3) An Ironman always has a full fridge!
4) Chris and I after the 100 mile ride! Notice I’m holding up a 1, he the two zeros.
5) Me at the racewalking clinic taking a picture with the coach! Currently he’s in Russia helping to train the American Olympic team.