IM Canada: Week 20 – Chen’s version (i.e., a glimpse of real life)

Posted by Chen

Sorry for the delayed post – week 20 was a cutback week, and I evidently cut back on all things IM-related, including blogging. Cutback week gave me a glimpse into what life will be like once these IM shenanigans are over, and it was downright delightful. I did real person things during the week (like doing the dishes, taking out the trash – basically, I was like a real live adult) and spent the entire weekend with Brandon, which hasn’t happened in MONTHS.

I’ll be honest – this whole IM training process is starting to wear me down and take its toll on me mentally, but luckily, the finish line is just around the corner. We’re currently in the middle of our last hard week, and then we just have 3 weeks of taper to take us home. Plus the race itself. That little thing.

This upcoming long weekend will consist of a 100+ mile ride on Friday, a long swim on Saturday, and a 20-mile run on Sunday – basically, all three parts of the IM, but spread out over 72 hours. Wish us luck!

Paige and I at the top of San Bruno Mountain on Sunday

View looking northeast

View looking southeast

IM Canada Week 20 Recap:

Monday: 

• PM: Swimming 3000 yards: 1000 swim (18:12), 1000 pull (18:27), 10x100 on 2:00: 1:44, 1:45, 1:44, 1:43, 1:43, 1:43, 1:43, 1:42, 1:42, 1:41 (average pace of 1:48/100yd). Given the previous day’s triple brick madness, this swim went much better than expected.

Tuesday: 

• PM: Running Bay Trail easy: 10 miles in 1:26:00 (8:36 pace). I set out on this run with no Garmin and no plan. A few miles in, I realized I was feeling pretty good, so I went with it and just enjoyed my favorite sport. 10 miles was a bit aggressive for a cutback week, but don’t worry – I fully made up for it with two rest days this week.
• Immediately followed by swimming 2200 yards (average pace of 1:51/100yd)

Wednesday: 

• Rest. Replaced workouts with household chores. On a related note: Brandon, I’m sorry for being the worst housemate ever over the past 180+ days.

Thursday: 

• PM: Running Bay Trail easy: 6 miles in 49:39 (~8:17 pace)
• Immediately followed by stationary biking moderate/hard: 18.55 miles in 59:55 (18.6mph)

Friday: 

• Rest. I was super tired after work and passed out somewhere around 8 or 9pm.

Saturday: 

• AM: Swimming 2500 yards, including part of my usual swim/pull ladder (average pace of 1:47/100yd). I was trying to get a longer swim in, but when Brandon and I arrived at the pool, we learned that there had been an “incident” (read: poop) in the pool, so we had to wait 45 minutes for them to clean things out. By the time we got in, we only had 45 minutes left to complete our workouts. Ah well, $h!t happens.
• PM: Trainer ride – short but harder effort: 12 miles in 42:12 (17.1mph)

Sunday:

• PM: Biking with Brandon through Golden Gate Park, down the Great Highway, east to San Bruno Mountain, up to the summit, and back home: 31.35 miles in 2:38:17 (11.9mph), 2800ft gain. Overall, this ride had way too much city traffic for my liking, but I liked the climb up to San Bruno Mountain itself, so I want to try this again with a different route sometime.