I just completed a ridiculously intense 2 weeks of training, with a spotlight on running — crunch time to get me ready for that Ultraman Day 3 52 mile run. Almost 25 hours this week, including 60+ miles of running — by far the most running I have ever done in a week. The good news: my running is progressing very well. My endurance is huge and I am gaining confidence in my ability to handle the double marathon.
The bad news: by Sunday I was totally spent. Had nothing left in the tank and had to cut my 6 hour ride short; I was borderline hallucinatory and couldn’t push my HR above 100; indicia of extreme fatigue and overtraining. Despite my obsessive / compulsive urge to get the 6 hours in anyway, I know myself well enough to know when my training becomes counterproductive, so I called it a day. I suppose this is somewhat good in that it indicates that I gave this 2 week cycle everything I had — took it all the way to the line. Today is my first rest day in 2 weeks and this week will be a rest week (16 hours of training is considered a rest week!). Then this weekend I will attempt that 40 mile run. I am actually getting excited about it. And after this past 2 weeks, I have greater confidence in my ability to get it done.
It was a very hot week in the West Valley with temps in the 96 – 98 degree range, so it was a great opportunity to acclimatize to what it will be like in Hawaii. In particular, I tried to time my runs for the hottest part of the day to work on hydration and nutrition. Here’s how last week went down:
Monday: 3800 yd swim workout followed immediately by 2 hour Z2 (32 mile) ride
Tuesday: 1 hour 45 minute (13 mile) run
Wednesday: 3 hour 45 minute (60 mile) ride
Thursday: 4000 yd swim workout followed immediately by a 2 hr 15 minute (17 mile) run
Friday: 4300 yd swim workout followed immediately by a 3 hour Z2 (50 mile) ride
Saturday: 2 hr 45 minute run in the morning (20+ miles); and 90 minute (11 mile) evening run — 31 miles of running in one day!
Sunday: was meant to ride 6 hours, but as I said, I was toast. Put in less than 3 hours of weak effort and had to call it a day.
