IMTX Training - Week 12

This past week was Week 12 of Ironman Texas Training. This end of this week was a start to cutting back for recovery/taper before the Kemah International Triathlon the following weekend.

Here is how this past week of training breaks down:

Swim - 5,100 yards, 2:02:32
Bike - 73.55 miles on trainer and roads, 4:36:05
Run - 24.82 miles, 5:11:26
Other - stretching specific or other training workout, 0:15:00

Overall training time 12:05:03

I started this week feeling strong but was also tiring as the week went on. This week would have normally been a recovery week. However with a taper scheduled for the following week, Week 12 stayed a regular training week at the front and started a recovery/taper period with the end of the week.

As last week ended I was feeling some discomfort in my left calf and I made a point to enter my first run of the week on Tuesday very carefully. In the end I felt no continuation of that discomfort and had an easy, but very good, training run. By the time Friday rolled around I could really feel the fatigue setting in. I woke up early Friday morning to swim and could not get myself to get up and out to the gym. I went to the gym later on after work to get in my swim. While I was scanning through my email before going in I dozed off in a light sleep and woke up when my cell phone rang. Finally, when I did get going on that swim, I felt so tired after warming up that I canceled the workout due to the tiredness I was feeling--to which my coach replied that I was ready for my taper week. Apparently the simple act of resting instead of swimming, added to a decent night's sleep, allowed me to put together a solid run the next morning where I stayed in my heart rate zone target and kept up a faster pace than I had in a few weeks for a run of over 6 miles. My bike ride on Sunday was similarly successful as my Saturday run. Just two days into the taper period and I am already starting to feel much better!

Next weekend brings with it the Kemah Olympic Distance Triathlon which follows what should be an unusually easy week at work for me. I am coming off of an extended period of long hours and deadlines, most of which reach their end point this coming week and follow a very difficult, though very successful last week.

While I am looking very much forward to doing the Kemah race next weekend, both as a distraction from Ironman Texas on the horizon and to see how much improvement I show. However, I also know that I do not expect this to be at true race level effort as I am still training with a higher priority in mind, and that higher priority race does not go off until May 21st.

65 days until Ironman Texas.....