Traincation with a training partner

 

I've known Jen for several years. She lives in Jacksonville, FL and we used to live in Jacksonville. During Gulf Coast 70.3 in May, she ran passed me during with a phenomenal performance, winning our age group. After the race, I messaged Jen and asked her if she wanted to come to Greenville to train with me for a "traincation." 

Jen and Stephen are training for Challenge Roth on July 7th. Karel is preparing for his first XTRI event, Stonebrixiaman in Italy on June 29th and I am preparing for XTRI Norseman on August 3rd.

She talked to her partner Stephen and was able to plan a week away from her three boys to spend in Greenville, SC. 

Although Jen and I are both in our early 40's, we are both still experiencing improvements with our performance. It's really cool to get older and to still feel like you have more fitness to unlock. 

From Wednesday until Sunday we accomplished: 

• 4 run workouts (35.8 miles)
• 3 swims (2 pool, 1 open water, 9782 yards)
• 3 bike workouts (179 miles)
  

Over five days, we pushed each other. It wasn't a competition, it was teamwork. We motivated, supported and encouraged each other. We pushed each other to surpass limits that we never thought were possible. Neither one of us wanting to be the weak link in our workout sessions helped us find strengths that we could not have discovered on our own. 

I love swimming and biking with others but I always run alone. This was the first time in a very long time that I had a run partner. Jen showed me that I have more in me that I thought was possible with my run fitness. 

Sharing workouts with someone like-minded next to me, going through the same fatigue, purpose and soreness, had such a positive impact on my training over the past few days and I am so excited and motivated to continue with my training. We each have strengths and weaknesses and these differences brought out the best in both of us. 


WEDNESDAY

AM RUN
1:13, 8.70 miles
4 mile warm-up. 
Main set: 8 x 2 min (1-4 steady, 5-9 descend to very strong)

PM BIKE
1:45hr, 27.7 mile road bike bike
Overachievers group ride (over and down Paris Mountain)

THURSDAY 
AM Bike and Run (tri bike)

BIKE:
3:25hr Interval bike (route), 69.2 miles 
Main set #1: 5 x 8 min strong efforts w/ 2 min EZ
Main set #2: 17.5 mile Half Ironman effort 

RUN: 
29:12, 3.63 mile hilly run

PM SWIM
43:28, 3000 yards
MS: 

15 x 100 as (4 steady, 1 EZ, 3 steady, 1 EZ, 2 steady, 1 EZ, 1 steady, 1 EZ) 

FRIDAY 
AM SWIM
Masters swim group 
1:06, 4757 yards (converted from long course meters) 

SATURDAY
AM BIKE AND RUN (road bike)

BIKE
4:52hr bike, 82.8 miles
Started as a group and then Jen, Stephen and I split from the group and did our own ride. 
Karel rode 130 miles! And followed up his 7.5 hour ride with a 1 hour run (averaging 7:07 mile pace). 

RUN
1:01hr, 7.46 miles
1.5 mile warm-up

MS: 3 x 1 mile Ironman effort (turned into half IM effort) w/ 90 sec rest between

Waiting outside for Karel to get home from his all day adventure.

SUNDAY
OPEN WATER SWIM 
Lake Summitt 
33:45, 2000 yards

LONG RUN 
16.1 miles, 2:11 (packed gravel road) 

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2023 XTRI ICON - Behind the scenes

  
It's been almost two months since I competed in XTRI ICON in Livigno, Italy.

Here's a video that I made, capturing the highlights of the day. 

It feels so long ago but the memories are still sharp in my mind. I really enjoyed writing my race recap and sharing my thoughts from the race. I thought it would be fun to share some of the behind the scenes details from my training, my gear and equipment, how I paced the event and Karel's role throughout my 16 hour race. Here's a video that we put together. Enjoy! 

2023 XTRI Canadaman - my 'extreme' training plan

 

Although most XTRI events have a similar distance to that of an Ironman distance triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run), the demands are much more extreme. Extreme triathlons are almost always hilly. and the terrain and weather conditions can be..... extreme. For example, the 112 mile bike course at Canadaman has almost 8,000 feet elevation gain and the run (which includes a lot of trail running and hiking) has almost 4,000 feet elevation gain. The water is predicted to be cold (in the 50s) when we start the swim at 4:30am and it may be very windy and a bit rainy throughout the day. 

My approach to preparing for Canadaman was not too different than what I would do for a standard Ironman. It takes a very strong, powerful, efficient and resilient athlete to complete an Ironman distance triathlon but for an extreme triathlon, I believe that you must be physically fit but also mentally strong and emotionally resilient. Since my training playground (Greenville, SC) is very hilly, all of my outdoor training requires strength. I feel this has helped me stay injury-free over the past 4 years and has contributed to success in the Ironman distance. I don't train to be fast, I train to be great at not slowing down (aka fatigue resistance). 

I started my season focusing on strength. One key weekly workout that I feel really helped was a 3-4 mile run to the Furman gym. An ECFIT heavy lifting session (~30-40 minutes) and then a 3-4 mile run home. I also did a lot of mountain biking and road biking this winter, which requires a lot of power and strength. I also incorporate group riding (road bike) into my weekly routine. Group rides force me to push at higher intensities than what I would do alone. 

The truth is that I didn't do any epic/extreme training sessions throughout the year. Instead, my focus was on consistency.  Although I coach myself and write my own workouts each week, I was able to stay extremely consistent with my vision/plan for training. I also know what my strengths and weaknesses are and I'm not afraid to prescribe myself workouts that I don't like (but know I need).

Since February, I've participated in 8 endurance events. 

• 2/25: Pleasant Ridge MTB - 5:52, 57.2 miles, 5942 feet elevation gain 
• 3/25: Whole Enchilada MTB - 5:24, 51.5 miles, 2398 elevation gain
• 4/1: Saluda Redbank Gravel - 6:07, 95.8 miles, 4928 feet elevation gain
• 4/30: 6 Gap Gravel - 7:24.01, 91 miles, 10,755 feet elevation gain 
• 5/6: Whitewater Off Road Triathlon - 2:44.56, ~4400 feet elevation gain 
  
• 5/20: Xterra Oak Mountain Triathlon - 3:31.17, ~2100 feet elevation gain 
• 6/4: IM 70.3 Blue Ridge - 5:02.17, ~3588 feet elevation gain
• 6/10: Belgium Waffle Ride NC - 10:30.59, 132 miles, 14692 feet elevation gain

Each of these events has provided me with training stress and racing experience. Since XTRI events are often held in extreme weather conditions, I've had a lot of experience racing in "bad weather." I can't tell you how many times this year I've raced in the cold and in the rain. Not only have I been able to work on my mental skills, but I've learned how to dress strategically for specific conditions. 

The other benefit of racing so much this year is being able to practice and fine-tune fueling strategies that I can use during XTRI. Knowing what, when and how much to fuel and hydration is critical in an extreme race, especially since these events are 100% self-supported. I must plan my nutrition and my crew (Karel) must provide it to me at designated spots. Racing for 5, 6, 7, 10+ hours has given me valuable insight on how to best fuel the day before, the morning of and during a long distance event. This just can't be replicated in training. 

Going back to consistency, despite racing 8 times, I was able to stay very consistent with training. I also focus a lot on frequency so that I am not a weekend warrior (my weekly swim, bike, run miles are spread over 3-4 workouts over 7 days, not just from megaworkouts). 

Monday is always an easy day (likely a swim or spin) and Friday is also an easier day after a hard morning masters swim. I usually run 4x a week, swim 4x week and bike 3-5x week.

Here's a snapshot at my training. Of note, this doesn't include time spent strength training and mobility. Also, my biking miles are a mix of road, gravel, mountain bike and 1 weekly trainer ride (usually around 60-90 minutes). I rode my tri bike 2 times before IM 70.3 Blue Ridge and once before Canadaman. This is because I've learned that my hips/back/glutes/neck is happier when I don't do long tri bike rides. Lastly, my "biggest" workouts were events (except my final prep weekend, which I'll get to below). I never ran more than 2 hours (except for my final prep weekend) and most of my "long" runs were ~1:40-1:50 but included specific intervals throughout the run. I run off the bike at least twice per week (sometimes 3 times). 

2/20: 18:27 weekly hours, 18025 yards (swim), 133 miles (bike), 9.51 miles (run)
2/27: 14:53 hours, 15400 yards, 114 miles (bike), 32.2 miles (run)
3/6: 18:52 hours, 15725 yards, 169 miles (bike), 26.7 miles (run)
3/13 (travel): 19:50 hours, 7700 yards, 208 miles (bike). 34.5 miles (run)
3/20: 18:23 hours, 19050 yards, 96.3 miles (bike), 29.8 miles (run)
3/27: 20:02 hours, 14300 yards, 196 miles (bike), 31.4 miles (run)
4/3: 18:16 hours, 14475 yards, 193 miles (bike), 29.4 miles (run)
4/10 (Trimarni camp): 16:54 hours, 16408 yards, 157 miles (bike), 25.3 miles (run)
4/17: 18:01 hours, 14936 yards, 165 miles (bike), 31 miles (run)
4/24: 20:52 hours, 15667 yards, 188 miles (bike), 22.2 miles (run)
5/1: 17:17 hours, 15154 yards, 99.7 miles (bike), 28.6 miles (run)
5/8: 18:24 hours, 16275 yards, 178 miles (bike), 31 miles (run)
5/15 (taper for Xterra Oak Mountain): 12:58 hours, 12770 yards, 16.5 miles (bike), 16.5 miles run)
5/22: 19:44 hours, 17958 yards, 200 miles (bike), 30.3 miles (run)
5/29 (taper for 70.3 VBR): 14:45 hours, 7795 yards, 158 miles (bike), 28.6 miles (run)
6/5: 21:59, 10750 yards, 168 miles (bike), 19.8 miles (run)
6/12 (final prep): 22:27 hours, 17074 yards, 196 miles (bike), 38.4 miles (run)
6/19: (start taper): 15:31 hours, 14950 yards, 140 miles (bike), 24.8 miles (run)

For my final prep, I did a dress rehearsal to practice in gear similar to race day and to test my nutrition on similar terrain The weekend workouts were: 
6/17: 5:19 bike, 85.8 miles, 7100 feet elevation gain
         + run off the bike, 59 minutes, 7.04 miles 
6/18: 3:25 trail run/hike (testing hydration packs and using hiking poles), 18.6 miles, ~2000 feet elevation gain

I'm feeling very healthy, strong and resilient and I am very proud of and thankful to my body for what it has allowed me to accomplish over the past 6 months.