The BIG Day Workout!

I have told you about the "KILLER Brick" workout (http://imronman.blogspot.com/2014/09/surviving-killer-brick.html) and the "CRAZY Brick" workout (http://imronman.blogspot.com/2014/03/oh-no-lets-go-crazy-brick.html). Now, let us talk about the mack daddy workout of my 2014 IRONMAN Florida training... "The BIG Day" workout!





This is a workout that my coach, Sandy Holt, Head Coach at TriAttic (http://www.TriAttic.com), gives her IRONMAN athletes right before they start their taper. This workout is NOT designed to make you go the full 140.6 miles. It will, however, do a great deal to give you the confidence that you will be able to do that distance on race day and do it comfortably!




The Big Day workout is really a shorter, less-intense, dry-run of your IRONMAN race. This is where you confirm your nutrition, hydration, clothing/equipment, and your planned pacing. One of the biggest benefits is that it has you starting your day and each, successive activity at roughly the same time of day that you will be during your race.

I even took this dry-run a step further and ate the same things I plan to eat on race day, the day and night before the event! That is right, I plan to power my IRONMAN attempt with a 5 Guys Burgers and Fries hamburger and cajun fries! Why the hell not, right?!

Here is how The Big Day looked for me.

4:30 am: Wake up and eat same breakfast as planned for race day. Do some light stretching and mental prep.
7 - 8 am: 60-minute Race Simulation Swim. Swim One Hour at IM race pace. If unable to swim in wetsuit, use pull buoy to simulate wetsuit.
8 - 8:30 am: Head to Bike Workout.
8:30 am - 1:30 pm: 5-hour Bike Workout. WU: 1 Hour Easy. MS: 3.5 Hours at IM Race Pace. CD: 30 Minutes Easy.
1:30 pm - 3 pm: Eat and Rest. Get off legs and eat a light meal, mostly liquid.
3 - 5 pm: 2-hour Race Simulation Run. WU: 2 Miles Easy. MS: 9 Miles at IM Race Pace. CD: Run Easy until hit 2 Hours.
5:01 pm: Celebrate like a BOSS because taper starts the next day!!!

It was a very interesting day and, as with most big training days, I learned a lot. While I may not have covered the mileage I wanted and at the pace I wanted, I am very pleased with how I managed the day! The most important thing about the whole day was that I dealt with the conditions I was handed and feel confident I could have accomplished 140.6 miles!

!!!WARNING: Boring post-workout recap follows!!!

SWIM: Even with the water temperature being near the mid-80's in the pool (HOT!), my swim was one of the best, sustained swims I have ever had! I swam the fastest, 1-hour-straight set ever! YES! There is not a lot to say when everything goes right!

BIKE: During the first, easy hour of the bike, the biggest thing I noticed was that my "easy pace" heart rate was very near my "race pace" heart rate. I knew something was wrong. I was trying so hard to figure out what could be causing the heightened heart rate that I almost completely disregarded the fact that my stomach was feeling bloated and little achy. The other thing that was going on was an unseasonably warm day, with temperatures in the lower 90's. I have trained in plenty of hot weather this summer, so I did not think that was the cause of the heightened heart rate, but I am sure it did not help.

My rate of perceived effort would allow me to easily reach speeds I was accustomed to on this route, but not without a substantial spike in my heart rate, putting me outside of the ranges I needed to stay within to ensure a strong run. Having learned long ago that I am always better off sticking to the plan, I went ahead and slowed my pace to keep my heart rate under control.


My nutrition and hydration were right on target. I stopped to take a couple of photos and to refill my bottles at halfway. I was much more leisurely on this training ride than I usually am. To make it "OK" in my mind, I told myself that this was a "victory lap" to celebrate a lot of other training rides where I pushed the edges of my goal ranges and enjoyed terrific results!

I ended the ride with a smile and, looking at the data later, managed to keep my heart rate within goals, but with a pace that really suffered for the effort. Definitely a win in the "sticking to the plan" column! (Gotta find positives where you can, right?!)

RUN: I had high hopes that whatever was going on during the bike would disappear and I would be able to have a great run. I changed clothes and had about 30 minutes to hydrate and enjoy some air conditioning in the local Subway before heading out for the run.


Even though the run took place from 3 - 5 pm, it truly felt like the sun was directly overhead for the entire run. There were big, fluffy, beautiful white clouds in the sky, but they were deathly afraid of the sun and would not dare intercede to give me a hint of shade!






I started off with the plan for two "easy" miles. I quickly noticed that my pace was just barely at where I usually am for an "easy" run and my heart rate was more than happy to approach my race pace. The writing was on the wall for how this run was going to be...



While I still did not know exactly what was happening with my body, I was resigned to the fact that something was up and I would just have to use the opportunity to learn as much as I could about how I would have to perform if this happened on race day. I turned my 2-hour run into a giant laboratory.

After running the first two miles at my "easy" pace, I tried to pick things up to get to race pace, but while sticking to the plan for heart rate. This ended up leading to quite a few normal-paced bursts, followed by short periods of walking to get my heart rate down to within goal range. I ended these 2-miles of "experimentation" with a pace lower than my "easy" pace and a heart rate just outside of my goal.


For the next round of experimentation, I decided that unregimented, short bursts and short walk breaks to control heart rate were ineffective so I wanted to try a more-structured, Galloway method of run/walk. I started with 3/1 (run three minutes, walk one minute) and ended with 3/2 run three minutes, walk two minutes). By analyzing the data later, I surprisingly found my overall pace to be significantly faster with a 3/2 than a 3/1. I never would have guessed that. All I can imagine is that the increased recovery on the 2 minutes of walking allowed for a faster pace on my 3-minute run segments.

With the plan being to meet family and friends for a celebration dinner after, I spent the last ~10 minutes walking, to cool down and reflect on the lessons of the day. The one thing that was foremost in my mind was that, even though my heart rate was telling me that my body was not having a good time, my legs felt great, my lungs felt great, and most importantly, my mind was clear!

DIAGNOSIS/PROGNOSIS: In talking with my wife the night after this workout, she began telling me about how sick she had been from the food we ate. In hindsight and based on how I have felt the two days after this workout, I definitely had a touch of food poisoning. My stomach is still not back to normal (Sparing you the gory details here... LOL!). Fortunately, I was not as affected as my wife, but it still did a number on me.

I do not know if I am ready to cast 5 Guys Burgers and Fries aside, as my pre-race meal, though. After all, I have had three other grueling workouts that were fueled by them and turned out great! Even though the "taper" has started, it truly is a taper. Workouts do not STOP! I have a 3:15-hour bike with a ~30-minute run this Saturday. I am thinking that Friday night will be "burger night" again and we will see how it goes on Saturday!

The most important fact was what I mentioned earlier... that I was pleased with how I managed the day! I had a plan that would have gotten me across the finish. For my first IRONMAN, that will not be my goal, but ultimately what will matter most!

To all of my 2014 IRONMAN Florida friends... WELCOME TO THE TAPER!!!