Taper in sight

Day 75 - August 7, 2009 - Week 10
Today marked the last day of riding the Interactive Real Course videos in there entirety. I began to crack today w/ about 15 miles to go and wanted to call it a day, but finished er' off.

From a numbers perspective this ride marked the eleventh time on the CT (CompuTrainer) where I went for longer then 2 hrs. The average time spent on the CT broke down to 2 hours and 48 minutes. I find myself part nervous and excited given how this can appear to be very little volume for an Ironman.

As I process this reality I stand on the premise that CT training is simply high quality; no rest/coasting for 2-3 hrs. For those who have never used a CT it is important to emphasize that on the 'downhills' you can't stop pedaling. One must continue to engage the pedals if you desire a 'forward progression'. You will literally come to a stop in seconds if you do not keep working those cranks. This is just one aspect of CT training that makes 1 hr feel like much more.

Thought I would share what the mindset was for this last week leading into IML. For the two rides on the CT my goal was to execute a wattage output that was at least 40 to 80 watts higher then my goal output on race day. The premise here was to do "2 to 3 hrs of dynamic/bike specific strength training". Case in point, I would not for a minute consider averaging 258 watts at IML (ave watts for 51 miles today). This week really stressed the legs well and I believe will set me up for an outstanding taper/sharpening for Aug 30.

In the weeks to come I plan to really stress high quality efforts on the CT via Functional Threshold work coupled w/ threshold speed on the run. The sessions will be no longer then 1 to 2 hrs (initially) and drop to about 45 min max.

I will also be shifting slightly to more water time to bring the 'feel' of the water to an appropriate level. Hitting the water two times and pushing out 1000 to 2000 yds max. Short and sweet.

Strength training will deviate from the intensity seen in the Metabolic Effect (ME) for sure. I intend to keep 'one legged strength' the focus w/ minimal loading. Oh, if you want to see Sonni and I representing on YouTube....check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z047sdofTQg&feature=channel_page

Have an outstanding day troops! Coach L