So, in the most drawn out fashion ever (which is really saying a lot), we have finally finished block one of Ironman Texas 2023 training! Aside from my usual bullshit of way overdoing things, this really was a six week block instead of the customary four - two weeks of fucking around and finding out (not the most fun, but necessary in some instances!) and then a four week block with our newest character to this shitshow I call life - "Mean Dude". I just finished recovery week of my first four weeks with this new coach, and I'm gonna do a full review of Mean Dude (spoiler alert - he's not mean) , but first, we have plenty to talk about. This has, without a doubt, been the most different month of training I have had in years...or...ever...., which will either be really good or really bad, but hey, I'm pretty much known for jumping off cliffs, and even though it doesn't always work out, I have a gut feeling about this one. With 12 weeks to go until IMTX, this is the path I've chosen - so lets talk about it!
When Mean Dude and I connected a month ago, he offered to write me a block of training, and then we
Whew. Honestly - between us, I embrace change, but the last few months....years...have really brought it to a new level. I keep moving with it, but I swear, every time I get comfortable anywhere, something significant changes. The last few months have knocked me on my ass, and here we were, with yet another change - but this time, I approached it with an "It is what it is" mantra - I knew that I had enough sense of myself to step back if this wasn't right. And even though it's bitten me in the butt in the past, I decided to trust Mean Dude right off the bat and not put up any barriers. In the last month, I have learned so much - some from Mean Dude, and some from the people I have been training with or alongside. And it's been freaking fantastic.
The Swim - I switched up the swim this block in a few ways. Mean Dude is a big fan of 20x100 sets with ridiculous short send off and playing with flippers. The latter still look like clown shoes to me, and if anyone wants a damn laugh, watch me try to open turn with said flippers. (I still hate flip turns) My friend Bear lent me her shorter flippers, so I now look like a penguin executing my 100s. On the plus side, they zoom, so at least I'm a fast moron!
Speaking of toys...this one has nothing to do with Mean Dude, but it's as good of a time as any to discuss. One of the switches I made this year was to start swimming four times a week, so I go to the Y Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Hey, work your weakness, right?? Wednesdays are my early swims - purely due to peer pressure, but it gets me home to put the kids on the bus and it works schedule wise, so yay for 4am wake ups!
Wednesdays are fun for many reasons - I have friends to swim with, my buddy is on duty as the lifeguard, and I can chase the super fast boys in speedos (hey, I'll admit that's a fun perk. And no, I can't catch them. Even with clown shoes flippers). I've noticed that it seems to be a Wednesday thing that all TOYS - such as paddles, buoys, etc. and send offs for each interval - are in the deep end. Now, usually I set up my crap in the shallow end, but when in Rome - ya know. I have yet to figure out why these super fasties set up shop at the deep end, but I have a few theories - namely, its badass to pull yourself out of the pool in the deep end, (the gun show is real) there's a drain by the end of the lane that I'm pretty positive my super speedy speedo guy friend disappears into post swim when he swims solo (maybe its a portal to somewhere? Where does it go? I dunno, I'm not fast enough to catch him) and...well, that's it, but I'm sure I'll come up with some more theories during the 1000 yard pull sets Mean Dude assigns. I haven't asked yet, because I like my theories, but hey, if I can fool anyone to thinking I can hang with the real swimmers (and oh man, do I try - said fast boys, if you're reading, throw me a bone, okay??) I'm gonna do it.
The Bike - This one is hella different than I am used to. Right now I'm using Zwift instead of Trainer Road, which started out because of a free trial, and since Mean Dude uses Zwift, we kept it. Mean Dude is a big fan of HR training, so we have worked out zones, and my rides stay in those zones. He likes his data, so I usually have tons to do on the bike, which means I watch zero crap on most of my rides. I know. I reached 4 hours this block for my long ride, sans anything but music. It's wild. I've read a few articles during the downtime, but since I'm switching something up every 20 minutes or so, I never get bored.
I'm also fueling different - with a better focus on the best sources of hydration and electrolytes (God, I
sound like a douchebag). It's helped quite a bit for my run off the bike - which is also different. I used to do one brick a week, now I am doing 3. One off the long ride, which is 4-7 miles, one off of an easier ride, and one segueing into my long run. Yep - I ride.... then run 12-14 miles. I have never heard of this, but it works out really well. Since the bike has always been my biggest limiter, I've been laser focused on it this time around - now that I'm mostly comfortable on it, its time to wisely zoom (within my HR zones, of course!) My last ride this week was probably the most epic - I rode the Watopia Ride to the Sky course, which is an 11.2 mile effort, with 3398ft of elevation gain in 7.5 miles. It was incredibly ridiculous, and despite the love I sent to Mean Dude (then compiled, because why not - check it out for a laugh at my expense! ) I really enjoyed it. I ran strong off the bike, which is the whole goal and pretty encouraging when you're tackling 14% climb after climb!
The Run - Again, I think the biggest switch here is HR training, which I haven't done in years. I'm pretty bad at taking the easy stuff easy, but you can't fake HR and Mean Dude is all over my zones. He assigns odd mileage runs (ugh) and timed runs (ugh) and when I bitched, he threw asinine runs my way like 3.083 miles (This happened). This is about running right now, but I won't lie, the humor and communication style here is top notch, along with the subtle reminders that I need to trust the process and execute it well. And...I am. There have been a few biffs, but I honestly have to say, the recovery runs are getting easier to adhere to and my zone 1 runs are getting faster. It's exciting stuff! With the addition of the bricks, I'm also noticing that the bike warm up or bike prior to my run is only making my run stronger - and my last long run (around the bay, huzzah!) felt great and I was able to mix friendship with training, which is really the best of both worlds.
I have no idea how this will shake out race day, but right now I couldn't be happier with this first block. It's working, the pieces are falling into place, and I'm having a blast with it. Mean Dude (we really need to rename him) is an EXCELLENT coach, and he mixes the workouts with a great communication style (I never have to guess, and his follow up is excellent) and his sense of humor is spot on. Which is important - because this go around, I'm all about the hard work but also the FUN.
If you follow me at all on social media, you see the ridiculous stories and posts I share about Ironman training - which is kind of the point! I'm part of a podcast that's being organized on Slowtwitch (stay tuned for that) and even though my goals are huge this year, enjoying the process and laughing is always going to be part of it. I'm loving all of it - the coaching, the dancing, the fun people that I get to spend time with along the way - and each day I get so excited to be one step closer to race day!
Which, on that note - Musselman just released their new run course for 2023. It's not my A race, but they must have listened to my massive bitching helpful input, and they did away with the train track run course! HUZZAH! Maybe that's the motto of 2023- ditching one train track at a time. Let's DANCE!
💪 keep up the great work.
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