3/24/2017-3/25/2017

Race Day(s): Ragnar Relay Tennessee

Relay Legs (29.16 Miles)

• 4.88 Miles (09:03 Pace)
• 5.2 Miles, 1158 ft vertical climb (10:59 Pace)
• 4.09 Miles (09:37 Pace)
• 6.14 Miles (09:43 Pace)
• 5.23 Miles (11:50 Pace)
• 3.62 Miles (10:24 Pace)

Participated as a member of an Ultra team, competing in the Tennessee Ragnar Relay. We started out at 10am in Chattanooga on the 24th, and ended in Nashville at 4pm on the 25th. Our team took 4th place in the ultra division. (Ultra division is teams consisting of 6 runners vs the traditional 12 runners) My training centered around prep for the 1000 ft climb leg and I'm pretty happy with my results. I have to say that running as part of an ultra team was more a challenge than I expected. I was unable to hold down solid foods after my 4th run. I didn't plan nutrition very well. I had the food, just didn't eat it when I should have. The good news is that I have now officially run a marathon distance in a day. Now I just need to do in all at once, and after a 2.4 miles swim and 112 miles on a bike. Baby steps...

Next milestone is Raleigh 70.3 in June!

3/21/2017

Training Log

• 30 minutes 9.25 miles on bike trainer

The session was Carson 30 on Trainer road. I felt a little sluggish but I was able to get my momentum about halfway through. Not feeling comfortable down in the aero position though. Could just be that I'm indoors, and its hard to get comfortable.

Link to TrainerRoad Carson 30.

3/19/2017

Training Log

• 45 miles on bike trainer 2:31:58

That is the longest I have ever ridden on the trainer. 2 and a half hours of constant peddling was rough. I miss the hills or at least the downhills. Stress rating was only 90, so a little more than half of what I did riding outside for 36. Should be good for improving cadence and speed on the flats but clearly not as good as a workout as the real thing. :)

3/18/2017

Training Log

• 12.3 mile run 2:18:10

Pretty happy with the run. Finished the run with a climb of the steep incline near the water treatment plan. This will be my last long run before Ragnar TN next weekend. I was more tired than I thought I would be, but not too bad.

3/16/2017

Training Log

• 2500 yard swim 57:47 (2:17 pace) @ 5am
• 30 minutes jumping rope 1:30 on :30 off @ 6pm
• 3 mile run 34:04

Long training day. Donelson Y pool was full, so I had to share a lane with a complete stranger, which was a first for me. I kept pausing at the end of each segment to gauge where he was to try to keep us both always at different ends of the pool. This slowed me down a bit (2:17) but overall the slowing down might have been good for me. It kept my breaks to 15 seconds or less.

3/15/2017

Training Log

• 46 minutes 14.6 miles on bike trainer

Felt sluggish after the first five miles.

3/14/2017

Days until Ironman: 235

Training Log

• 5.5 miles @ 3-4% incline ( 964 vertical ft) 1 hour even
• 20 minutes (7 miles) on spin bike

That sucked! I wanted to do 30 minutes on the bike but didn't have any gas left in the tank. Overall the run felt pretty strong. I finished the last half mile at 6 miles per hour vs the 5 I did for most of the rest of the run. This was my training run for the Ragnar Relay next week, and I'm pretty happy with it.

3/12/2017

Training Log

• 5am - 20 miles (1:05) on bike trainer at house

Tried to get up at 4am to get 2 hours on the trainer before heading out to Gavin's state championship in Knoxville but I couldn't do it with the time change. My body refused to get up at what it felt was 3am. Its ok, maybe I needed the rest. Next week will need to be a big training week to make up for these lost hours.

3/11/2017

Training Log

• 7am 9 mile (1:30) run [In the snow]

So a cold run turned into a wet run quickly. What started out as a few flurries ended up a heavy snow for 40 minutes. That said, the run felt really good. We started off the first 5 miles doing a run 4 minutes walk 1 minute. After that, we picked up the pace. My last 4 miles were 9:45/9:22/9:15/8:34. The last mile was over 2 minutes per mile faster than my first 5. Felt Good!

3/9/2017

Training Log

• 5:30pm 48 minute /14.5 mile ride on spin bike at YMCA
• 1 mile (11:37) run to cool down

It was way too cold out for a pre 5am run today. Ankles and achilles too stiff for sub 30 degree run. Need warmer weather. Not sure I will find time to make up that hour later this week...

3/7/2017

Days until Ironman: 242

Training Log

• 4:30am - 5.3 mile run with 8 hill repeats
• 6:00pm - 30 minute on spin bike at YMCA (Peloton 30 minute HIIT)

Second week in a row for predawn runs. I'll admit, they are getting easier. Rained today so no one else showed up. Its good though, I used this as an excuse to do hill repeats. The run up Mont Eagle for the Ragnar Relay is in 18 days.

Also, I downloaded the peloton app, to try out virtually attending a spin class. I'm actually pretty impressed. Might be worth $12 a month after the trial to make these ad hoc spin sessions hard.