Last week was actually the biggest volume week of the year. Build 2, Week 3 did not disappoint! I knew this was going to be my highest volume week, planned the workouts based on the work I did in Build 1 Week 3, and nailed almost everything.
The technical concept for the last couple of weeks of the build period is called Critical Volume. Jesse Kropelnicki explained it best in a XTri article, but I'll give you the highlights. In one week, you try and hit the rule of thirds in each sport. So you want to do 9/3 of the swim distance, 8/3 of the bike, and 7/3 of the run distance all in one week at race intensity. Remember the focus at the end of the build phase is to get closer to race like conditions, and it will leave you most prepared for race day. For Ironman training, that means keeping the heart rate low and knocking down mile after mile. How many miles for Critical Volume? Swimming 11,576 meters, bike 300 miles, and run 60 miles.
Now, it is very difficult for most age groupers to hit critical volume. Practically impossible really. At professional ironman athlete speeds, that takes about 27 hours. So if you still have a job or a family, forget about it. Since I have both, my CV plan was set for 9000 meters of swimming, 240 miles of biking, and 55 miles of running. Here's how it played out:
Monday: AM 90 minute (30 mile) ride, PM 2500 m swim - After the half ironman last Saturday, this was really an easy recovery day
Tuesday: AM 11 mile run, PM 3000 m swim
Wednesday: AM 90 minute bike (30 miles), PM 3500 m swim
Thursday: AM 11 mile run, PM 90 minute (30 mile) bike
Friday: AM 11 mile run, hey it was a rest day
Saturday: 120 mile bike (6 hours)
Sunday: AM 11 mile run, afternoon brick 45 minute ride, 9 mile run
I nailed everything until the very last workout. The Sunday Brick was supposed to be a 90 minute ride and an 11 mile run, I cut it down to 45 minutes on the bike and ran as far as I could make it. 9 miles on the afternoon gave me 20 for the day, that's really all it took. And I still got 9000 m of swimming, 225 miles on the bike, and 53 miles of running adding up to about 22 hours. That is still a high volume by any standard. Plus I still worked 40 hours and our niece Kaileigh was in town for a few nights! Sunday night also saw the first dad's meeting with Evil Genius's Indian Princess tribe, we started setting up the year. I celebrated the end of Big Week with extra hot wings and 2 beers. It was fantastic.
So what did you do last week?
5K Training for my Boys
17 hours ago
2 comments:
Yes, it would be so hard to balance this with a job and a family. Seems like Iron Man Training could be a full time job on its own.
Wow, I got tired just reading all that you did last week. I admire your ability to train, work and spend time with your family. I don't know when you find time to sleep and relax! But I know that all the hard work will pay off on race day.
Last week was a blur for me. This week is turning into a blur. I'm spending a fraction of the time you spend working out but I still feel spread thin... I think I will feel less spread thin when I feel more comfortable at work because the stress of the adjustment seeps into so many other areas of my life!
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