IM Canada: Week 5 – Chen’s version (i.e., even if you think you’ve eaten enough, EAT MORE)

Posted by Chen

After my detour into Lazyville last weekend, I decided to make up for it by doing my own mini gym-based triathlon after work on Monday. I swam 2500 yards, biked 19.9 miles (according to the stationary bike I was on, anyway), and ran 4 miles on the treadmill. After all of my extra rest, this workout ended up feeling really good, and in retrospect, I probably pushed it a little too hard, which led to some lackluster workouts in the middle of the week. Given that my first tri is coming up on 4/11/15, though, I’m happy to have finally gotten a brick workout in.

My biggest lesson this week (and the subject of this post) came during the 85-mile ride that Rachel, Sandi, and I did through the East Bay yesterday. Rachel planned a great route for us that included over 6000 feet of climbing and concluded with a couple decent climbs, which helped mimic the final climb that we’ll face at the end of the ride in Whistler.

The ride started with our usual 1500ft climb that we always start with, followed by a few smaller climbs, and then transitioned to rollers and a flat section in the middle. I felt fine throughout these sections, which in retrospect, probably led me to underestimate how much fuel I should have been taking in. I still haven’t succeeded at consuming 200-250 calories per hour, which is what I’ve been told I should be eating. In contrast, I probably took in about 120 calories/hour this time. It was also a hot day (somewhere in the 80s for much of the ride), and I probably didn’t drink enough either.

So, when it finally came time to do our last big climbs, my body was just done (as was my butt – damn you, tri shorts). I never quit, but I did slow to a snail’s pace for miles ~70-78 and let myself coast downhill for the remainder of the ride. After getting back, I also realized that the left side of my body had been facing the sun all afternoon, resulting in a lovely burn and ridiculously weird tan lines.

While those last 15 miles weren’t fun, I’m actually really glad this happened, because it will be a good reminder for me in Whistler to keep the effort stupid easy for the first half and to make sure I eat ALL OF THE FOOD. And to wear sunscreen – will I ever learn this lesson??

This was taken during the early miles of the ride, when I could still enjoy the scenery around us instead of focusing on how my butt was on FIRE

Next week will conclude with the Oakland Running Festival full marathon, which is always my favorite race all year when it comes to crowd support and general good fun. I’m intrigued to see how a marathon feels after a full week of IM training – should be, um, interesting!

IM Canada Week 5 Recap:

Monday: 

• PM: Swimming 2500 yards, including a 500 in 8:55 and 5x100 in 1:37, 1:37, 1:37, 1:37, 1:37 (if only my run splits could be that consistent!) (average pace of 1:46/100yd)
• Immediately followed by a steady state stationary bike ride: 65 minutes, 19.9 miles (18.4mph)
• Immediately followed by a brick treadmill run: 4 miles (~8:46 pace)

Tuesday: 

• AM: Swimming 3700 yards, including swim/pull ladder (felt pretty dead; average pace of 1:53/100yd)
• PM: Running weaksauce hilly tempo run in Golden Gate Park (GGP): 8.1 miles in 1:03:50 (~7:52.8); Splits: 8:35, 7:49, 7:40, 7:40, 7:29, 7:18, 7:53, 8:44, 7:00 (0.1) (continued to feel dead)

Wednesday: 

• AM: Swimming 2200 yards, including 8x250 (average pace of 1:49/100yd)
• Immediately followed by stationary biking with resistance intervals: 65 minutes, 18.77 miles (17.3mph)

Thursday: 

• PM: Running GGP steady state: 8.7 miles (~8:16 pace)

Friday: 

• AM: Swimming 3200 yards, including 1000 in 18:02 and 4x250 in 4:24, 4:21, 4:19, 4:18

Saturday: 

• Biking 85 miles through the East Bay with Rachel and Sandi – 6000+ft of climbing (the actual amount of climbing is still up for debate, as none of our Garmins could agree, nor did any of them match up to map data), 13.7mph

Sunday: 

• Running Embarcadero (first 6 miles solo, rest with former coworkers): 13.15 miles in 1:57:48 (~8:57.5); Splits: 8:39, 8:30, 8:19, 8:08, 8:16, 8:20, 9:12, 9:30, 9:51, 9:38, 9:21, 9:25, 9:17, 9:07 (0.15)