Coach’s Email - Week 33
Hello Ironteam,
Awesome Saturday everyone. It was great to see so many of you out there at China Camp State Park for the trail run. Don’t feel bad if your mile pace was a bit lower than normal, that was a tough run! Huge props go out to Coach Doug and Captain Brian for the run support on the “Helen Highway” AKA Shoreline trail. Thanks Helen for being a trooper and replenishing everyone’s water bottles and the gels too, it was just what the doctor ordered! Also, big thanks to Mike Kyle for the mile 2 bottle top off before the trek into no-man’s land up the hill and to Captain Tom for his help in marking the bike course. Finally, Everyone was very happy to Sedonia’s smiling face at the end of the run as she laid out the sandwich bar for some yummy eats. Along with the ice cold Coke and Hansen’s sodas from coach Dave, everyone was pretty happy and full by the time we parted ways.
Because of Father’s Day, this message is coming out before a little early. That means it’s up to the team to report on Sunday’s activities. We have a few staff (Kristie, Caesar & Yi) and an honoree (Christophe) racing at Ironman Coeur d’Alene (in the rain??) while several of your team mates will be out in San Jose for the Silicon Valley Olympic Distance Triathlon. Rumor has it at least one member also did the tri-for-fun at Shadowcliff Regional Park in Pleasanton on Saturday. We hope everyone had a good weekend and travels safely back home afterwards.
RACE PHASE : Welcome to the official start of summer (summer solstice). We will be ratcheting up the training once again for race phase starting this week. At the end of the week we will have one of the more grueling tests of your training, the triple brick day (vineman folks only). That’s not to say your fellow teammates are going to be relaxing and drinking margaritas while you are out there, the Louisville folks will be doing a double brick. If it’s any consolation, the next day after you vineman folks finish your swim you can relax while the Louisville athletes get to throttle up a ten mile run. All is fair in love, war and the training of Ironman athletes!
In today’s email:
1) The week ahead (Calendar details)
2) Ironman race week nutrition details - Coach Dave
3) Calendar update
4) Fundraising deadline July 1st.
1- The Week Ahead
Monday 6/22 – OFF
Tuesday 6/23 – Swim & Bike
SWIM –
Warm Up
300 (G2=400, G3=500) L3
4×50 (CU,s,) L4 10” RI
4×50 (choice drill,s) L4 10” RI
2×50 (scull,s) L4 10” RI
Main Sets
5×100 L5 on an interval that gives you 10” R (G2 & G3=6×100)
This is Ironman pace – try not to go faster because this event is all about control!
5×200 L5 on double your 100 interval (should get 20” rest)
Focus on
1) Exhaling completely
2) L6
3) Keeping power throughout stroke (never let your elbow lead)
4) 1/2 catchup and extension
5) L7
1×500 L5 (G3=2×500)
Pay attention to your time and see if you maintained the 100 pace you were swimming earlier (5x your 100 pace)
4×50 alternate by 50 L8, L5 on an interval that gives you 15” R on the L5
Check your times – just so you keep yourself accountable. There should be at least a 5 second difference between these effort levels at this distance.
5×100 L5 on an interval that gives you 10” R (G2 & G3=6×100)
The goal is to be at the same pace as earlier in the workout
Warm down
200
Totals: G1=3700 G2=4000 G3=4600
BIKE – 90’ Long Hills. Either use trainer workout (TR5-90) or find a nice long climb outside for this workout. Keep the HR in control. (lvl5-6)
Optional 6:30 PM hill climb up Mt Diablo from Sports Basement in Walnut Creek.
Wednesday 6/24 – Run & Stretch (Captain’s WO)
Napa - Sedonia will meet you at Yountville Park @ 6:00 PM.
SF – Captain Tom will start from the parking lot at Sunset Blvd & Lake Merced Blvd. @ 6:00 PM.
East Bay – Captain Brian - Heather Farm Park (Rear Parking Lot) @ 6:00 PM
North Bay - Beau Will lead this run on THURSDAY (NOT WEDNESDAY) at Howarth Park in Santa Rosa @ 6:00 PM
RUN - 80’ run @ lvl 5.
STRETCH –
· Pigeon Pose - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVlX5HNKamw
· Hip openers - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rost91LKcQ
· Lower back - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giWLeXbBBtY&feature=fvw
· Hamstrings (Downward Dog) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJaj0Aqw5k&feature=channel
· Reclining twist - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2Ief_QdEao&feature=channel
· Neck release - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mbdyf_H7KI&feature=channel
· Soft twist - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5bJolhNkUU&feature=channel
Thursday 6/25 – BRICK
BIKE – 40’ (more long hills – TR5 or outside)
RUN – 20’ @ lvl 6 immediately after bike ride.
* North Bay folks who are running tonight should do this brick on Wednesday night instead.
Friday 6/26 – Swim & Strength
SWIM –
Warm Up
300 (G2=400, G3=500)
5×100 (CU,s,CU,s) 10” RI
Main Sets
600 L5 with tempo trainer at Ironman target pace (G3=+1×500)
Mentally go through the things you need to concentrate on (balance, rotation, extension, exhaling, front quadrant, stroke count, etc)
2×300 L5
1) sight once each 50 (note your total time)
2) focus on long strong relaxed swimming, (note your time)
This exercise is to let you know how much sighting slows you down. It can be significant and therefore you don’t want to sight more than necessary. Keep focusing on technique to swim straight and you will need to sight less in open water.
3×200 descend on an interval that gives you 20” rest on the L4
L4 L6 L8 (each 200 should be faster by about 5 seconds)
6×100 descend #1-3 and #4-6 (L4 L6 L8) interval that gives you 15” rest on the L4
descend by 2-3 seconds
6×50 15” RI
Alternate 50s with (choice drill,s) and (25 no breath, 25 s)
(G2 & G3 8×25 alternate L8 L4 on an interval that gives you 10”rest on the L4
Warm down
200
Totals: G1=3700 G2=4000 G3=4600
STRENGTH -
A) 2 Position Pushups (Beginner - Intermediate) OR Scorpion Pushups (Intermediate - Advanced)
B) Squat to Row
C) Ice Skater
D) Plank (VIDEO)
1. Your option to add modifications like single leg, etc.
E) Side Plank (VIDEO)
1. Apply time as per side, eg 30 seconds on the right followed by 30 seconds on the left for Level 1
2. Your option to add modifications
F) Bridging (VIDEO)
Saturday 6/27 - VINEMAN TRIPLE BRICK / IM LOU DOUBLE BRICK (Coached WO)
When: 7:30 AM Rolling Time (get there earlier to stage your gear)
Where: San Ramon Valley High School (Danville). From Hwy 680 South Exit @ El Cero. Turn Right at the bottom of the ramp. El Cero ends at Danville Blvd. Turn LEFT onto Danville Blvd. At first signal turn RIGHT onto Railroad Ave. Take an IMMEDIATE Right onto Love Lane and after 50 feet turn into the parking lot of the high school.
What: Bike 30 miles (Highland and Manning loop – maps provided & Water stops at mile 10 & 20)
Run 5 miles on Iron horse trail (Water stop at mile 2.5)
*Vineman will do three loops (90 miles on the bike & 15 miles of running)
*IM LOU will do two loops (60 miles on the bike & 10 miles of running)
Sunday 6/28 - Swim (Everyone) & Run (IM LOU ONLY)
SWIM – OYO Open Water 60′
RUN (IM LOU ONLY) – 10 miles @ lvl 5
2 – Ironman Week nutrition planning. This week – Coach Dave
About 4 weeks out - Cold turkey quit drinking/eating anything with caffeine. I do this because in order for caffeine to have an ergogenic effect on race day it must not be in your system already and it takes a few weeks to get out of your tissues. I have found I can do this without much of a problem. If you are addicted to caffeine, you should start weaning yourself off of it a few weeks earlier if you plan to want the caffeine boost on race day. I also stop drinking any alcohol. I find alcohol disrupts my sleep pattern and sleep is critical during the heavy weeks of peak training and of course during the taper weeks right before race week.
About 8 days out - I start my race week by waking up 20 minutes earlier every day. This means I’m also going to bed a little earlier too. For you folks doing IM Louisville, you may want to start a few days earlier because you are going to be on EST before you know it. I do this to get my body a little better prepared for the need to get up so darn early on race day. Think about it, you will be getting up on race day in Louisville at something like 1:00 AM PST.
I will typically eat in the following manner on race week:
Hydration plan – Always have an electrolyte drink handy to sip on throughout the day, every day. Could even be lemonade with thermolytes cracked into it. Make sure I’m peeing every 4 hour hours at a minimum. Ease up about two hours before bedtime to avoid having to get up to pee at night.
Days 6-3 before race:
- Breakfast – Herb tea, fresh fruit (apples, oranges, berries & bananas), two eggs and a piece of whole grain toast with fruit preserves. I will alternate the eggs with some hot rice cereal with protein powder mixed into it and turkey bacon now and then.
- Snack (3 hours after breakfast) – Meal replacement bar and some more fruit with yogurt. (Not sweetened fruity yogurt. Plain or vanilla with a real piece of fruit.)
- Lunch – Sensible meal high in protein and carbohydrates. Chicken or beef on a bed of greens with lots of fresh veggies.
- Dinner – Nothing new, limited spices, bump up fiber by about 20%. Make sure all meats are cooked well.
Two Days before race:
- Breakfast – Simulated race morning breakfast of one egg, a bagel with nut butter, a banana and a recovery drink.
- Snack – Higher sodium snacks. Higher fiber snacks
- Lunch – Same as before
- Snack – Fruit & cheese with grapes
- Dinner – Higher carbohydrate meal. Pasta with Chicken is my favorite
- Sleep – The night before the night before is the critical night to get a good night’s sleep. Send family away tonight so you can rest.
Day before the race:
- Breakfast - Simulated race morning breakfast of one egg, a bagel with nut butter, a banana and a recovery drink. (1200 calories total)
- Snack – Lower the fiber intake. Another bagel with some cream cheese and lox
- Lunch – Turkey Sandwich and a recovery drink.
- Early Dinner (before 5:00PM) – Last solid meal before race morning. Light portion size. A can of tuna made into tuna salad heavy on the sodium with a side of tater tots and some apple sauce.
- Snack – Meal replacement shake (400 calories) at about 8:00PM
- Midnight snack – Meal replacement drink (400 calories) at about 12:00AM
Race morning:
- Immediately upon waking @ 4:00AM– Meal replacement shake (400 calories)
- Within 30 minutes - one egg, a bagel with nut butter, a banana and an electrolyte drink. (1200 total calories) Drink one cup of STRONG coffee.
- Sip hydration drink all morning while you are headed to transition and stuff. (200 more calories)
- 30’ before race start take in one gel (100 calories) with caffeine and two thermolyte pills with 12 oz water/electrolyte drink (I cramp on the swim so I take extra electrolytes to combat this)
· T1
· 8 oz Water with 2 thermolytes mixed in is inside my T1 bag. I drink the whole thing.
· Bike is set up with a diluted (50%) solution of electolyte drink in the aero drink bottle between the bars. (100 calories) I want to settle my stomach and get my HR under control before I start tossing fuel at my gut.
· I drink down the diluted mixture for the first 20 minutes of the bike, then I start my calorie fueling plan.
· Downtube has a 3 hour bottle in it (700 calories of electrolyte drink/carbo pro mixture with a teaspoon of branch chain amino acids and 12 thermolytes cracked open into it).
· Bento box has 3 hammer nutrition bars, cut into 1/3’s in case I want some solid food and a plastic container of thermolytes in case it gets really hot.
· Bike has a watch strapped to it with a timer that is set to go off every 15 minutes to remind me to fuel. I start the timer before I leave transition and it will keep going off the entire time I’m swimming but who cares, at least I don’t have to remember to start it when I’m racing.
· Special Needs - bike (nutrition portion in separate quart ziplock)
· Has some Pringles in case I feel like eating them.
· Another 3 hour bottle (700 calories) of secret sauce. (Different flavor than the first three hour bottle so I don’t get to hating the taste by hour 5)
· A small plastic water-tight container full of thermolytes in case I need additional salts.
· A plastic baggie with more cut up energy bars, again a different flavor.
· Misc. Bike
· If my pace is over 6 hours I will take some gel at the last aid station to ensure I’m keeping my calories up.
· I will eat a banana piece (1/3 of a banana usually) every other aid station
· If I do not pee in the first 30 miles I will up my fluid intake with supplemental water at aid stations until I pee.
· When I arrive at an aid station I should have drank down my aero drink so I can add some concentrate and dilute it to normal strength with water from the aid station. I mark my bottles with hash marks that correspond to one hour’s worth so I know a pretty good estimate of how much to dump out at each recharge.
· My “secret sauce” has NO PROTEIN. I have found I race better without it. I use branch chain amino acids instead of Protein. That way my body does not have to do the work of breaking down the proteins into amino acids, it’s already done for me. I don’t get bloated and it does not cause the solution to get rank in the heat.
· T2
· My hydration belt is built into my shorts. I can run with two 6 oz gel-style bottles of electrolyte drink, regular strength.
· Into my race singlet pocket goes a tube with 30 thermolytes in it along with a one shot use of Chamois Butter.
· Into the other pocket of my run singlet goes two (2) snack-size zip lock baggies with 13 (6 in one, 7 in the other) of my favorite flavors of cliff blocks mixed together (Margarita, Black Cherry, Mountain berry and Cran-razz) I like to be surprised when the flavor hits my mouth.
· RUN
· I rely on the aid station for a majority of my liquids, only carrying the small gel bottles with liquids for an occasional sip between miles. Refilling them with Gatorade endurance formula when they go dry.
· Each aid station (every mile) I pop a clif shot block and a thermolyte about 50 feet before the station so it’s just going down when I get there. Cliff Shot Bloks are 33 calories each, so if I’m running about 9:00 miles, I’m getting pretty close to 220 calories an hour from them.
· Each Aid station I take ice and fill my arm coolers to stay wet and drench my head with cold water. On hot days I will take two sponges soaked with water and tuck them under my shoulders (just remember to take them out for the finish line photo)
· If I get to the point where my fueling plan ain’t working and my gut is revolting against me I will hit the flat coke HARD and often. I’ll even mix it with the Chicken broth for some extra salt.
· Every few miles I take stock of the heat and if I need to I will get a volunteer to re-apply sunscreen to my head and neck.
· Special Needs - run (nutrition portion in separate quart ziplock)
· Has some Pringles in case I feel like eating them.
· A couple of jolly ranchers to suck on to keep dry mouth at bay.
· A small plastic water-tight container full of thermolytes in case I need additional salts or mine dropped or got wet.
· A plastic baggie with the same variety pack of shot bloks for the second 13 miles.
· Post race.
· 500 calorie recovery drink within 20 minutes. I just can’t choke down pizza after 12+ hours of racing.
· Try to get a solid meal in me within 45 minutes.
· Next Day
· Eat everything in sight. If it looks good, eat two of them!
3 - Calendar Update:
· We have moved the East Bay Century from 7/11 (Saturday) to 7/12 (Sunday). We simply flip flopped the workouts on Saturday and Sunday. It will start and finish at Heather Farm Park in Walnut Creek. We did this so that our friends on the Ironteam from the South Bay could join us. We will have quite a crew of Ironteamers out in force on the roads that day so it should be a good time. Plenty of aid stations will be on the course and we will have turn by turn instructions for each person on the morning of the ride. The South bay folks have some racers doing other races later in the season so there will be several groups heading out for different distances that day. We are going for approximately 80 miles (Louisville) and 95 Miles (Vineman) unless you have a valid reason for going shorter that has been OK’d by the coaches. Please plan on a full day outing, even if you are fast. Bring some clothes to change into and perhaps even some picnic games if you anticipate being done sooner than later. We are a team and part of that means we stick together on the really hard days. Please keep this in mind when making plans for the late afternoon.
· Since the East Bay Century moved, we moved the get together at the home of Honoree, Christophe Job, to Saturday July 11th. Look for the evite to the event from Mike Kyle in the near future. Vineman folks are running 13 miles that day and Louisville folks are going 17 miles. Remember to plan your day to be sure you get your workout in early, it’s going to be hot!!! Perhaps someone would like to lead a “my favorite run route” that day before the get together???
4 - Fundraising Deadline is July 1st.
· Don’t forget to get all those last minute emails out to friends and family this week. Schedule that last fundraiser and let out all the stops, it’s time to bring this train home!
Have a super week!
Your Coaches Doug, Nancy & Dave
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