Training Days, Fueling During Training and Much More

My training for Ironman St. George is in full motion! A few weekends ago I went back to Utah to train on the course. A few friends/clients from Florida and Georgia came to train with me. They will be doing the race on May 1st too. Jimmy got in first and Christians flight was delayed. He missed out on Saturday's training with me and Jimmy. We drove up to St. George and rode one loop of the Gunlock portion of the course. Then we ran one loop of the run course (about 90 minutes so not the whole thing). I felt really great during the ride and run. The only way to survive this course is to not kill yourself on the bike course. I took it pretty easy and focused on taking it slow on the hills. During the run my legs felt great even on the hilly run course. The next day we planned on riding two loops of the bike course which was 90 miles of hills! Christian got in late so we got a late start. It killed me to wait around but we did! I am a get up and go kind of girl and was ready to go by 7am! We didn't get started till around 10! They were both in vacation/training mode and I was (like always) in lets go mode! It always amazes me people who seem so organized and together are always forgetting stuff! I have a friend Bill in New Jersey and he is so organized. Type A triathlete personality. When he packs his suitcase it is ridiculous how organized everything is. I have traveled to several races with him and he always, always, ALWAYS, seems to lose or forgets things! This was the case with Jimmy and Christian. Jimmy forgot his heart rate strap so I let him use my Garmin. I thought it was more important for him to train with it than me.

When he was leaving he left my Garmin on my counter with the strap. When I went to charge it......guess what? He forgot to leave me the charger! Just an example of the craziness. Now you can understand why we didn't get started till 10! They had to go back to the room several times getting stuff they forgot for the ride. They had to pussyfoot around and I was anxious and just want to go ride! We finished one loop and stopped back at the car for more water bottles. After what seemed like forever we started up again for our second loop. We were about 4 minutes into the second loop when Jimmy had to go back to the car because he forgot his salt sticks! Christian may not be as forgetful as Jimmy but he makes up for it by the amount of complaining he does. I have never heard someone complain about training more than him. He is hilarious! If its not his seat, its his helmet, or sunglasses, something always is wrong! OMG let's just go already quit complaining and train! We finished around 4:30 and I had to get back to Vegas. I actually had a great time training with both Jimmy and Christian, I just have to give them grief. They are great friends and alot of fun. It is so great that this Ironman course is so close to home. It is the first time I can actually train on the course for an Ironman event. Hopefully it will pay off come race day.

In a few weeks I am going to go get re-fit on my bike. I feel pretty good on my new P3 but know how important a proper bike fit is. There is a local guy that people come to use from all over the country. He uses the RE-TUL system and he is pro cyclist. I have had several clients go to him and the feedback is amazing. His website is http://www.endurocoach.com/. Nancy Dickenson went to him and he said she was only engaging 10% of the muscles she could be using on her bike. She got re-fit and is now crushing her previous times and feeling better. I would suggest everyone get a proper bike fit.

One of the reasons Jimmy and Christian came to train on the course was to be familiar with the course. Another reason was to practice their nutrition on the race course. It is so important to test your nutrition during training. I use Hammer Nutrition products and find they work great for me. Everyone is different and you need to test out what works for you. For the 90 mile ride we did on Sunday I had three water bottles on my bike. One had just plain water. Another had Heed. The third had Hammer's Sustained Energy Drink. The Sustained Energy Drink is a higher calorie drink that I use for longer rides. When doing a half or full Ironman you should try and take in most of your calories on the bike. I drink the Sustained Energy Drink during the full Ironman. It does not have simple sugars is uses maltodextrin for its carbs. For me this works great. It tastes horrible so I add crystal light to flavor it a little. The Heed is a lower calorie drink that has some electrolytes. If you are a heavy sweater you may need to use the Endurolytes as well as the Heed. The Heed is a good drink to use for shorter training days too. There are so many different gels to choose from. I prefer the Hammer Gel or Gu. Both have fewer simple sugars then some other gels. The power gel offers one version with double sodium for those of you that sweat a lot. I personally like the old style power bars. Yes I know almost everybody hates them and I think I am the only person that buys them but they work for me. Most people I know like Cliff bars. I suggest you try a few different ones. I suggest you eat only half of any bar at one time. Most people consume way too much during training. I tell people less is better. You don't need to overload your gut with a bunch of sugary gels, bars and drinks. That is what training is about.....to see what will work for you. On my very long rides and half way through an Ironman bike course I find for me a muscle milk protein shake is a good way to get some calories. This is not what any book or professional coach or nutritionist would ever say is a good idea but guess what......it works for me. It is something my stomach can tolerate and a great way for me to get some calories on the bike. I did it when we were in Utah training. When we finished the 45 mile bike I drank a muscle milk light and did my 90 minute run without problems. I also drank one during the 90 mile ride. Find out what works for you and talk to a coach to see if what you are doing makes sense.

I have had two hard weeks of training and today is finally a day off. I really worked hard the last two weeks and feel great about this upcoming Ironman in May. There is still a lot more training in front of me but I am (as usual:) up for the challenge!

Here is a picture Christian sent me in a text message when he got back. His message was
my new aero helmet. I just set a PR going from the couch to the fridge! I replied that he was a real dork!

I rode yesterday with a client Brett. I taught spin at 8am and then we were gonna ride 50 miles after. It was kind of windy but it didn't seem too bad. That is until we got to the loop at Red Rock. When we got to about mile 5 on the loop the cross wind gusts were the worst I have experienced. I have been in some situations when training that scared me but I think this tops the list. I swam Alcatraz (can you say sharks), rode the gaps in Dalonoga Georgia (major decents), rode through thunder and lightening in Atlanta with Mike and Scott (saw a bolt hit right by my friend Scott's bike), rode through the winds in Hawi, but yesterday was the worst. I got blown so hard I had to lean into the wind. The problem is when you get a gust that hits you the only thing you can do is hold on tighter. I slowed down on the decents with the thought if I crashed from a gust it would hurt less going 20mph than it would going 35mph. It was pretty scary. We finshed the loop and went to spring mountain ranch then finished our 50 in Summerlin where it wasn't so windy. Those gusts are so scary to ride in because they are so sudden and unpredictable. Be very careful when riding in the wind!

Have a great week of training and be healthy and most important HAVE FUN!