Week 8
Planned: 8:20 total hours (1:30 swim, 3:20 bike, 3:30 run)
Completed: 7:01 hours (0:43 swim, 2:56 bike, 3:22 run)
I had titled this post mid-week, planning on once again skipping the Friday swim during my recovery week. As it turns out, the title more appropriately refers to my bonk in the Rock n Roll Half Marathon.
Did I train to hard during the week? Maybe - I pushed really hard on a mid-week ride and my legs may not have recovered from that by the time of the run. Did I go out too fast? Well, miles 2-4 were certainly quick, but my heartrate seemed fine. Was the heat a factor? Possibly, it was certainly warm, but I don't think that was really the issue. Was it the hills? This, I think, was the culprit. My heartrate markedly went up once we hit the hills at mile 4.5, and it never came back down (that is, until I started walking the hills at mile 10). And since my training was mostly on the W&OD - really just a bunch of flats, slight downhills and false flats, I really wasn't prepared for this course.
It's a bummer, because I've got the distance. It's a bummer, because the confidence boost would've been great. It's a bummer, because this happens to me all the time in races and I'm pretty darn sick of it.
So what's my takeaway? I still think it comes back to pacing. If I hadn't pushed the hills as hard in the middle, I would've had more at the end, hill training or not. I need to listen to my body, know when I'm pushing too hard, and back off. I definitely run better without feedback from watches and clocks, and I need to remember that. I've got 2 tri's to get it figured out before Eagleman, and I need to get it right!