July Training Update with Final Monthly and Weekly totals

Now that the race has passed, I wanted to share the training volume that I had utilized to prepare for the Lake Placid Ironman. 

The final month of training consisted of my last hard week of training followed by three taper weeks. Each taper week was designed to reduce my volume by 25%. My training program was supposed to be a 24 week program but I built in an extra week in case of injury or a vacation got planned while I was training. Since I didn't need it, the extra week just ended up adding a little more volume to my total training. Here are my final monthly totals for my entire Ironman training and a week by week training volume:

Monthly Volume

	January	February	March	April	May	June	July
Running (Miles)
2013	115.25	103.89	100.01	99.41	89.81	112.71	122.14
2014	112.52	117.22	138.07	102.58	135.44	100.88	131.04
Biking (Miles)
2013	201.40	190.26	104.19	217.89	216.29	298.91	162.91
2014	309.80	281.37	355.29	410.49	524.37	601.93	369.52
Swimming (Km)
2013	13.20	14.20	10.00	14.90	16.10	15.50	6.00
2014	22.20	19.70	25.30	27.00	30.40	34.42	29.44

Weekly Training schedule

Triathlon Week	Time	Swim Yards	Bike Miles	Run Miles	Weights	Comment
1	10:45:11	8,421	90.3	21.9	2 x 30 min
2	9:16:19	2,734	70.4	31.3	2 x 30 min
3	10:57:28	3,500	80.7	37.1	2 x 30 min
4	12:36:52	10,389	80.0	27.9	2 x 60 min
5	11:39:41	3,500	100.0	34.9	1 x 60 min
6	11:59:08	3,500	99.7	27.0	2 x 60 min
7	10:24:09	7,000	72.8	23.2	2 x 60 min
8	9:31:41	7,437	42.8	29.8	2 x 60 min
9	13:06:06	6,890	95.1	29.3	1.5 x 60 min
10	10:25:23	7,000	67.3	19.0	2 x 60 min
11	11:50:17	7,437	97.7	11.7	2 x 60 min
12	15:28:24	7,437	128.0	36.6	-	Injured Wrist
13	12:45:08	7,000	99.2	31.1	1 x 60 min
14	16:17:43	11,389	157.0	23.9	1 x 60 min
15	13:39:53	7,437	88.5	31.4	2 x 60 min
16	11:44:47	4,374	55.7	38.9	2 x 60 min
17	18:23:29	8,564	171.0	35.8	1 x 60 min
18	10:20:04	7,000	50.2	32.1	1 x 60 min
19	17:48:58	12,686	152.0	23.6	2 x 60 min
20	14:17:22	7,983	167.0	9.1	1 x 60 min	Injured Achilles
21	16:44:56	7,874	173.0	19.2	2 x 60 min
22	18:03:47	12,686	107.0	41.0	2 x 60 min
23	10:20:38	7,000	64.9	35.0	-	Taper (75%)
24	7:02:43	6,124	28.2	28.8	-	Taper (50%)
25	16:37:07	6,411	170.0	33.3	-	Taper (25%)
Average		7,271	100	29

Week 22 (Last hard week)

I wanted to make sure that I got as much volume in this week since it would be the last hard week of training. I squeezed in three swim workouts (2 pool, 1 open-water) and completed the final week of strength training workouts. I did my normal speed workout on Monday and Wednesday WPR run.I got really lucky with the weather on the Fourth of July as there was no humidity and it was cloudy most of the day. I was going to do a 16 mile run and work on the 8 minute run/1 minute walk intervals. As I was going along, I felt really good and decided to go a little further because the weather was awesome. Eventually when I started running low on Gatorade at mile 11, I turned around and started heading back home and picked up more Gatorade at a store along the way. I felt good for the entire run and the intervals worked really well.

My final century ride didn't go as planned as I had an issue on a hill in Valley Forge where my crank just stopped and I proceeded to fall into a ditch on the side of the road. After I got back up, the derailleur wasn't quite shifting right on the way home. I was hoping to get the bike tuned up a week later after one more long ride, but felt that it needed immediate attention from the bike shop in case anything needed to be replaced. 

Taper Week 1 (75% volume)

The taper week was probably one of the greatest feelings that I had during the course of my training. I really felt that my body responded very well to the lower volume. Rather than trying to figure out how much volume I could cram in for a week, I was trying to reduce my weekly volume within an approximate ten hour time frame. With my Achilles injury a few weeks prior, I felt it was necessary to get a good long run this week while maintaining my swimming endurance. I only did one bike ride as I felt my conditioning was great and had my tri bike in the shop for a tune up after the accident from the previous week. I made sure to get a 16 mile run in during this week and a 65 mile bike/7.5 mile run brick workout at the end of the week.

Taper Week 2 (50%)

My time goal for this week was 7 hours of training. I did one last long swim in the pool, a ten mile run and  finished the week off with a mini triathlon brick workout in Medford Lakes since it was my last open water swim before I left. The brick consisted of a 1.5 mile swim, 28 mile bike ride and a 7.25 mile run. I knew that I was taking Sunday off to start my trip and wasn't concerned about doing this last brick.

Taper Week 3 (25% before Race)

I started making my way up to Lake Placid on Sunday morning and stopped in the Catskills at my friend’s campground for the first few days of my final taper week. I wanted to keep my training volume between 4-5 hours before the race. I was able to do two 25 mile ride rides which had elevation similar to the hill in Lake Placid. The out and back course had an elevation gain of 1,900 feet during my 25 mile ride. It was a great ride to get the legs ready for the climbs in Lake Placid.

I also did two short 3-4 mile runs to keep my running legs fresh while in the Catskills. My second run was probably not advisable as we were doing a preview of the Warrior Dash NY course at the campground and it was mostly on trails. Luckily, I took it very easy and had no issues so close to the Ironman. Once I got up to Lake Placid, I did a swim loop in Mirror Lake on Friday morning and a ride down the Keane Descent on Saturday to get a feel for the new paved areas of the road surface before the race. 

With all of my training in the books, I was ready to go for the Lake Placid Ironman. The one thing I couldn't train for was the monsoon during the swim and bike portion of the Ironman. The volume and intensity during my 25 weeks of training was enough to achieve my goal time to complete the Ironman in 12 hours despite the monsoon, flat tire, and a trip to the penalty tent for a drafting penalty.