Hard to believe I'm sitting here a month out from Ironman Muskoka. Having to sign up a year in advance for these races it always feels like an eternity until you get to toe the line. I find myself in a good position 4.5 weeks out from the race. Every race I've done this summer I have set personal bests. Why? That's exactly what I'm going to talk about after a brief race recap from Mark Mellon this past weekend.
The Mark Mellon is very special for my family and I. My dad grew up with Mark (Mark died in a motorcycle accident in high school), we helped out at the race most years during our upbringing at a run aid station, and now my family has put the race on the last 5 years. Leading into this race each year is a bit tricky with having to take care of all of the prerace planning/setup with my dad. I never know how my body will feel until the race starts. Normally, things go just fine and I do well on this course. It helps to be my hometown event from a motivation standpoint and I know the course like the back of my hand.
This year I felt great pretty much the entire race. I convinced my friend, Ben McMurray, to come over and race again. Ben is one of the best triathletes in the state and always is tough to beat. For the swim this year we did two 500 meter loops. I led the first loop and Ben led the second. Transition went smooth and I was first onto the bike. Ben hung back a bit, probably only 15-20 sec., until about halfway. At the second turnaround I noticed the gap had grown. I knew the power was coming nicely and I was in control. I decided to push things a bit for the next 10k. Once we made the right onto Lake Manuka Rd. I just held steady watts and tried to relax. I figured even if I had a decent gap off the bike I'd have to be prepared to run very well as that is Ben's ace...running well off the bike.
T2 went well and I was off. My mindset the entire way to the turnaround was simple...push! I was pleasantly surprised my gap of about a minute had held at the turnaround. At that point I knew I had to just keep turning things over. For Ben to take a minute out of me in 3 miles was going to take a huge effort so I just relaxed and ran solid. I still am a bit shocked at my run split. Sub 35 min. after a tough bike and I was never at my absolute limit. I thought maybe the run was a bit short, but it's the same course that we've used multiple years and it gets remeasured every year. I guess the training I've been doing this summer is working. Now I just have to keep it rolling until Muskoka...really just 3 more weeks or so before the taper.
I haven't done anything real special, other than consistently train and train hard. I have cut out almost any easy training. That doesn't mean it's all super high end work, but 90% of it is done at steady state or above. 4 hour bike ride, 18 mile run, 4k swim set...whatever it may be I am doing above Ironman pace. Part of the reasoning behind this is I simply don't have the time to screw around. I have a family and busy job (athletic director role no longer leaves summer as a time where I don't have to think about school). I wouldn't have it any other way though.
Triathlon and endurance sports as a whole are such an individual thing when it comes to getting in one's best shape. You can arrive at a certain fitness level in many different ways. For me, something I have really dialed in this year is picking sessions that I think I will do well at and have fun while doing them. That doesn't mean it's not hard because a lot of it is, but I've been more flexible than ever and have adjusted the plan several times since I initially wrote out my long term training plan for this Ironman. For example, after the Bayshore Marathon, I knew my fitness was good but I needed more "strength" running. I had done some faster intervals on the track once a week leading up to the marathon in May, but I felt something was a bit off. I then started incorporating a weekly 3 mile tempo run followed by some faster stuff on the track. The tempo work has certainly given me a boost and then when I start the track work I am already quite tired...name of the game in triathlon- running well off the bike on tired legs. The cycling sessions I've done are pretty much one easy to moderate mtn. bike session, a 2-2.5 hour ride with intervals either at steady state or threshold...also some very short intervals way above threshold- way to get in some higher power work to prepare for very hilly Muskoka course. I usually run a little off the bike after this session. Nothing fancy but not easy either. My other ride is longer, but mostly in the 3-4 hour range. I am not one to go soft pedal for 5-6 hours like many people training for Ironman. I'd rather do 4 hours with all of it above race pace. I guess we will see if it works out, but I have a pretty good sense that it will with how good I have felt this summer. These next 2-3 weeks will be about lengthening out some runs in the 16-20 range and keeping everything else rolling. I haven't done a ton of long running, but with the marathon build this Spring I know that fitness is still in the bank.
One of the most fun things about this sport is that you can continue to improve almost forever until probably the age of 40 or so if you train hard and smart. Heck, some guys are improving all the way until 45+. I had been pretty much at a similar level the last 3 years or so. I raced pretty well, but I was starting to think any further progress was next to impossible. I guess I was wrong and I'm as motivated as ever to kick some butt at this sport.
Will post again after Muskoka and hopefully will be sharing the news of a Kona slot. Thanks for all of the support!
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