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Posts Tagged ‘rev3 cedar point’

Feeling of The Finish Line

Sunday, July 25th, 2010

You know that feeling when you running along and you can hear the buzz of the finish line in the distance? You know that it just out of sight and you can feel the anticipation building in your body.

I imagine that the feeling is a little different for everyone, but for me the pain in my legs goes away, I get a huge smile, a burst of adrenaline and my entire body gets that “pins and needles” tingling. It doesn’t happen at every race, but when it does, I know it has been a great day.

At Timberman last year, the run course was a two loop out and back. At the half way point as I passed by the buzz of the finishing chute, I started to get “that feeling” and had to mentally calm myself down because I still had 6.6 miles to go and didn’t want to drain my adrenaline reserves with so much left in the race.

Yesterday, I did my longest training run so far for my first Ironman. 19 miles of running with only stops/walk breaks at “aid stations” that I set up to top off my fuel belt water reserves. At about mile 13, I started to get that “finish line feeling.”

It was the realization that all the pieces were coming in to place. My training is going smoothly. I am able to run farther than I ever have before with less effort. It was the ultimate “holy crap, I’m actually doing it! I’m going to be an Ironman!”-type of moment. But then I had to swallow it, calm down and knock out another 6 miles on my feet. There is still plenty of work to do between now and September before I can get that feeling again for real.

I’ve been dreaming of this day for at least 10 years and it is finally becoming reality.

I’ll be living the dream on September 12, 2010. Meet me in Sandusky, Ohio.

Tags: finish line, Ironman, rev3 cedar point, Triathlon | Posted in Running, Training Log, Triathlon | 1 Comment »

Rev3 Cedar Point Training Plan Evaluation

Saturday, June 12th, 2010

This week marked a major turning point in my adventure towards my big ironman (FullRev) race in September. As Jill so clearly put it, we are both now in uncharted waters. I’m floating around in some strange place where the finish line of a half ironman is not the end, but just another stepping stone towards a much greater goal.

Over the last three years I’ve managed to learn enough about racing and training to know what it takes to get myself to the finish line of a half ironman and that is what I did last week at Rev3 Quassy. Moving past that and keeping my momentum going towards a full 140.6 mile race is an entirely new animal. That is why I had this week marked in my calendar as my “re-evaluation” week. A time to sit back, look at the training plan I’ve been using, how well I’ve followed it, how my individual swim/bike/run strength is progressing and retooling my plan as needed so that I can nail the next three months and get myself to that finish line at Cedar Point.

Here is where it all stands:

The “out of the box” training plan has been effective at getting me to a new course PR at Quassy, but is very bike heavy. My bike is definitely stronger than my run right now, so that focus needs to change.
I’ve been doing regular track workouts and hill repeats, but am hugely lacking in long run workouts that go past that 13.1 mile mark at any pace.
I have 100% NO CLUE (other than blindly following the generic plan that I’ve been using) how to address my running issues other than gently increasing my run volume and frequency up until the few weeks before race day.

I’m AMAZINGLY fortunate enough to have more super speedy athlete/coach friends than I’m able to count To help give some direction, I went to two of the speediest ladies that I raced with last weekend to get some tips on adjusting my training plan: Sonja and Meg. They have both been within reach of Kona spots at one point or another and have some sick run splits so I trust their advice. Plus, I know they read my training updates here more often than not so I trust that they won’t just be regurgitating what works for them, but will help to figure out what works best for slow ‘ol me.

Based on the non-existent ironman training experience that I’ve got, my original plan was to weed out one run and one swim workout on alternating weeks and add in another LSD or long-ish tempo run, with a good portion of them on trails to build strength and help keep a quick turnover. I wanted to avoid empty mileage at all costs and give each workout a specific focus since I think that was a major fault of the training plan that I followed last year.

At least that was my plan until Sonja smacked me around and set me straight. Hearing how few tempo/hill workouts she did was a big shocker.

While tempo and hill workouts are really common in high school cross country (the last time I could actually call myself a fast runner), Ironman is a different beast and I should take more of a “time on the feet” approach. Ultimately my goal is to do as little walking as possible on the marathon. In order to get to that point, I need MILEAGE. Instead of 10 hill repeats at the end of a 5 mile run around my ‘hood, I’d be much better served by a 5-6 hour hike with major hills. Even walking uphill for hours is apparently great IM training.

While focusing on long slow runs too much will just make me into a long slow runner, that won’t be bad. I’ve never actually ran 26.2 before, so running that distance at any speed after 112 on the bike would be a MAJOR accomplishment.

So here is the NEW plan based on a mix of Sonja and Meg’s tips:

Focus on long SLOW (9-10 min/mile pace) at proper HR to build overall Ironman fitness
Focus on outlasting, not speed
Plan for some EPIC run adventures and start working towards them
Adjust the runs of my training plan to look more like I was training just for a marathon
Bump up run frequency to at 4-5 times per week with some two-a-days
Keep track workouts really minimal – use speed work at the end of longer run workouts just to help break things up and keep it interesting
Active recovery after big runs or hikes – short swim/bike/run

Now it is time to go plan for some epic run adventures. I’ve already got some exciting stuff in the works.

Can. Not. WAIT!

Tags: ironman training, rev3 cedar point | Posted in Life, Running, Training Log, Triathlon | 6 Comments »

Live Interview: Julie Dibens Confirms Racing Rev3

Monday, March 1st, 2010

If you haven’t been paying attention lately, Rev3 has become a steamroller lately! The news just keep coming and these guys don’t mess around. The busy beavers over at Rev3 HQ clearly have their sights set pretty high and are aiming to completely dominate the triathlon world.

After just one year, the series has generated so much attention that Triathlete Magazine named Rev3 Knoxville and Cedar Point some of the most anticipated races of 2010 and Quassy as the most family friendly event of 2010. No joke.

Just the number of world champions that are signed up to do a race series only in its second year is unprecedented. First Mirinda Carfrae and Matty “Boom Boom” Reed announce their return. Then Craig “Crowie” Alexander and Natascha Badmann signed up. Having my heros battle it out just miles from where I grew up in Connecticut is just so freaking cool. Winter isn’t even over yet and I’m itching to start racing again.

But the news keeps coming. Today Rev3 announced that 70.3 and XTERRA world champion Julie Dibens is joining in on the fun. She is hardcore, jacked, and definitely going to do her best to give Mirinda a run for her money in my opinion (if she leave T2 with a big enough lead).

This Wednesday Stu and Heather Gollnick are going to do a live Web interview with Julie about her prep for Rev3. I’ve been listening to Stu for a really long time now, but I’m not sure if he has ever done a live interview before. I’m looking forward to listening in and sending some questions her way.

Live Interview with 70.3 and XTERRA World Champ: Julie Dibens

Date: Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Time: 8:00 pm ET

Link: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/rev3tri/2010/03/04/rev3-interview-with-julie-dibens

Me? Besides knowing how she is able to rock both the XTERRA and 70.3 worlds, I want to know what is up with this crazy reflective tri suit that she wore at 70.3 Worlds a while back. I’m not sure if it was supposed to ward off attacking birds, keep her cool, distract guys trying to suck on her wheel, or to try to stop guys from checking out her booty. Not quite sure, but I’m pretty intrigued. Will crazy silver tri suits be the next big trend in triathlon gear? Compression socks ARE getting pretty old. It is time we moved on to something else.

Oh, and if you aren’t sold yet on total Rev3 domination, just look at their cancellation and withdraw policy. If you get injured up to two weeks before the race, they will credit you for the entry fee. If you have ever tried to transfer or withdraw from a race before, you know how much of a PITA most race directors can be. The guys at Rev3 aren’t just trying to dominate the triathlon world to get greedy and suck as much money as they can out of athletes. They are athletes themselves and totally “get it.”

And remember, if you want to join me at any Rev3 race this year, you can get $10 off of any/all races if you use the code “Trakkers108” at registration. Note: I don’t see a single dime if you use my registration code, just a pat on the back for helping to promote the race series.

Tags: julie dibens, rev3 cedar point, rev3 knoxville, rev3 quassy | Posted in Triathlon | 3 Comments »

Commitment

Monday, November 30th, 2009

You may have noticed my regularly scheduled blogging has taken a few weeks off, but I felt like blogging about anything else would be just beating around the bush until I eventually answered the question in the last post. After plenty of soul searching, and finally getting approval and promise of support from Sam, I’ve decided to make Rev3 Cedar Point my first full Ironman! After three halfs in the books, I’m finally making the jump.

Rev3 Cedar Point here I come! 140.6 miles of speed, pain and roller coasters!

Since I already had the Half Rev at Quassy locked on my calendar, I’m really temped to make the trip down to Knoxville in May to do the entire series. Wow, the 2010 planning is going full-steam ahead and it isn’t even December!

In other news, I’m slowly getting back to training and I’m sadly realizing how much fitness a person can lose in 6 weeks of being completely sedentary. I’m taking a tip from fellow Trakkers teammate, Elaine, and focusing on consistency, especially with running. The goal for the next few weeks is to run 6 days a week, even if it is just for two or three miles to slowly trick my legs into being athletic again.

If any of you kids are planning to join me next year at any of the Rev3 races, hold up until next week. I’ll be getting a discount code for you to use to save some extra scratch on registration.