Half IM in two weeks

I'm not an expert at training regiments, lately mine are kind of
whatever I can squeeze in between my work, kids, dogs, etc. Important
for me on a long distance race is to get some rest for four or five days
prior. Make sure you stay hydrated, I sometimes don't drink until it's
too late and I'm near dehydrated, then my stomach knots, I don't want to
take in anything: I start cramping and knotting up and it's all
downhill. I avoid the sports drinks, I can only tolerate Heed and they
aren't serving that around here.
Me, I'd work on the long runs and get comfortable with the 13.1 mile
distance. If it's a 13.1 mile run in the race, I try to train for 15 or
so several times a week.

I'm sure you'll get better, more experienced advice from faster guys...
when I'm overly busy with work like this summer, my race training is
more based on survival than fast performance (who am I kidding, I'm a
53-year-old penguin racer).
Eric

Bob Haase said:

Good day, eh,

I went ahead and signed myself up to do the Parry Sound half IM distance
race in two weeks. I did a brick yesterday consisting of a 28 mile ride
followed by a 12 mile run. The bike was great. I maintained about a 20
mph pace with a slight tailwind for the 28 miles. that's about as fast
as I go, but I felt comfortable the whole way. I did notice that my
heart rate during the first mile was at about 130, but was above 150 by
the last mile. I maintained the same speed throughout, so I guess my
heart rate was showing the cumulative effect of exercise.

I took about five minutes to transition to the run, then started out at
about a nine-minute per mile pace. I felt the effort immediately, but
managed to keep up the pace for about five miles. then over the course
of the next seven miles, my pace slowed, my stride, which was not very
long to begin with, shortened. I walked the steeper uphills at first
and then all of the uphills by the end. As my stride shortened my leg
muscles felt pretty darn tight. I finished the run with an 11 1/2
minute mile for mile twelve.

I drank about twenty ounces of Accelerade on the bike and another
fifteen on the run. I sucked down a Hamergel in my transition and had
two more on the run. I ate toast, bananas and a powerbar before I got
on the bile.

What should I do in the next two weeks to prepare for my race? I'm
planning on doing some moderate paced twenty mile bike rides (probably
three or four). I'm also planning on swimming twice in open water for a
mile or so each time. I'm not sure what to do about running. It is
definitely my weak link, but I imagine it's too late to make any
improvement now.

Anyway, I sure would appreciate any advice anybody can give me.

thanks,
Bob

Bob Haase said:

Good day, eh,

I went ahead and signed myself up to do the Parry Sound half IM distance
race in two weeks. I did a brick yesterday consisting of a 28 mile ride
followed by a 12 mile run. The bike was great. I maintained about a 20
mph pace with a slight tailwind for the 28 miles. that's about as fast
as I go, but I felt comfortable the whole way. I did notice that my
heart rate during the first mile was at about 130, but was above 150 by
the last mile. I maintained the same speed throughout, so I guess my
heart rate was showing the cumulative effect of exercise.

I took about five minutes to transition to the run, then started out at
about a nine-minute per mile pace. I felt the effort immediately, but
managed to keep up the pace for about five miles. then over the course
of the next seven miles, my pace slowed, my stride, which was not very
long to begin with, shortened. I walked the steeper uphills at first
and then all of the uphills by the end. As my stride shortened my leg
muscles felt pretty darn tight. I finished the run with an 11 1/2
minute mile for mile twelve.

I drank about twenty ounces of Accelerade on the bike and another
fifteen on the run. I sucked down a Hamergel in my transition and had
two more on the run. I ate toast, bananas and a powerbar before I got
on the bile.

What should I do in the next two weeks to prepare for my race? I'm
planning on doing some moderate paced twenty mile bike rides (probably
three or four). I'm also planning on swimming twice in open water for a
mile or so each time. I'm not sure what to do about running. It is
definitely my weak link, but I imagine it's too late to make any
improvement now.

Anyway, I sure would appreciate any advice anybody can give me.

thanks,
Bob

Best thing you can do for the run is ease off on the bike a bit.
Without knowing your age or HR zones it's hard to judge, but over 150
sounds like you're working qute hard on the bike, and a 20mph bike
average is a lot stronger than a 6mph run average. Suggest you use
your monitor to make sure you don't overdo it on the bike on the day,
whether that means keeping pulse <150, <145 or whatever is right for
you.

Training-wise you're not going to make much difference now. Maybe
worth doing a longish brick towards the end of this week or next
weekend at the latest, would be good to try taking the bike easier and
see how the run feels, may give you more race day confidence. Week of
the race do lots of stretching, drink lots of water and keep the
training volume fairly low and light with a few bursts.

Tough to really say without knowing a lot about what your past training
and racing might have been, but I'll take a guess and say this sounds
like your first HIM?

What kind of cycling mileage have you put int? On the surface, your
28/12 brick sounds pretty good...but remember, you'll be doubling the
mileage on the bike and adding only 1 more mile on the run for your
race so this workout is not really indicative of what race day will be
like for you.

As has been posted, not a whole lot you can do right now to change your
physiology---too close to race time---but I might this weekend do
something along the lines of a 40 mile ride (presuming that's not an
epic workout for you)and then follow that almost immediately with a 4-5
mile run at the pace you expect to run the race at. Start the run
slow, just as you would on race day, and let yourself build up to your
expected pace for the first 15-20 minutes; do about another 10-15
minutes at your HIM pace and then the balance easy. This will at least
help you with the mental aspects of what to expect your legs to feel
like the following week.

Good luck!
Mike C

Bob Haase said:

Good day, eh,

I went ahead and signed myself up to do the Parry Sound half IM distance
race in two weeks. I did a brick yesterday consisting of a 28 mile ride
followed by a 12 mile run. The bike was great. I maintained about a 20
mph pace with a slight tailwind for the 28 miles. that's about as fast
as I go, but I felt comfortable the whole way. I did notice that my
heart rate during the first mile was at about 130, but was above 150 by
the last mile. I maintained the same speed throughout, so I guess my
heart rate was showing the cumulative effect of exercise.

I took about five minutes to transition to the run, then started out at
about a nine-minute per mile pace. I felt the effort immediately, but
managed to keep up the pace for about five miles. then over the course
of the next seven miles, my pace slowed, my stride, which was not very
long to begin with, shortened. I walked the steeper uphills at first
and then all of the uphills by the end. As my stride shortened my leg
muscles felt pretty darn tight. I finished the run with an 11 1/2
minute mile for mile twelve.

I drank about twenty ounces of Accelerade on the bike and another
fifteen on the run. I sucked down a Hamergel in my transition and had
two more on the run. I ate toast, bananas and a powerbar before I got
on the bile.

What should I do in the next two weeks to prepare for my race? I'm
planning on doing some moderate paced twenty mile bike rides (probably
three or four). I'm also planning on swimming twice in open water for a
mile or so each time. I'm not sure what to do about running. It is
definitely my weak link, but I imagine it's too late to make any
improvement now.

Anyway, I sure would appreciate any advice anybody can give me.

thanks,
Bob

Have a great race Bob!! Let us know how it goes.
Mark

"Bob Haase" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Good day, eh,

I went ahead and signed myself up to do the Parry Sound half IM distance
race in two weeks. I did a brick yesterday consisting of a 28 mile ride
followed by a 12 mile run. The bike was great. I maintained about a 20
mph pace with a slight tailwind for the 28 miles. that's about as fast as
I go, but I felt comfortable the whole way. I did notice that my heart
rate during the first mile was at about 130, but was above 150 by the last
mile. I maintained the same speed throughout, so I guess my heart rate
was showing the cumulative effect of exercise.

I took about five minutes to transition to the run, then started out at
about a nine-minute per mile pace. I felt the effort immediately, but
managed to keep up the pace for about five miles. then over the course of
the next seven miles, my pace slowed, my stride, which was not very long
to begin with, shortened. I walked the steeper uphills at first and then
all of the uphills by the end. As my stride shortened my leg muscles felt
pretty darn tight. I finished the run with an 11 1/2 minute mile for mile
twelve.

I drank about twenty ounces of Accelerade on the bike and another fifteen
on the run. I sucked down a Hamergel in my transition and had two more on
the run. I ate toast, bananas and a powerbar before I got on the bile.

What should I do in the next two weeks to prepare for my race? I'm
planning on doing some moderate paced twenty mile bike rides (probably
three or four). I'm also planning on swimming twice in open water for a
mile or so each time. I'm not sure what to do about running. It is
definitely my weak link, but I imagine it's too late to make any
improvement now.

Anyway, I sure would appreciate any advice anybody can give me.

thanks,
Bob