The big day is coming soon and I feel very strong and ready for this day. This will be the end of my 2-year "Next Stop: Kona 2012" project and trust me I will be in the shape of my life when I set off in Kailua Bay on October 13!
This past weekend was the final test to see where I am at. The last "big" weekend. In fact, it was the biggest weekend of my training plan. I did a 40 km run on Saturday in the Edmonton River Valley in 3:02:47 averaging 4:34 min/km with an average heat rate of 142. I ran the first 28 km relatively conservative and did not feel tired at all. Since I felt so good, I decided to go for it and pick up the speed. It worked out and I ran the the last third the fastest.
On Sunday, I went out for a 180 km bike ride from Edmonton via New Sarepta, Camrose and Bittern Lake and turned around after 90 km straight into a headwind for the rest of the ride. If you live and bike in Alberta you know what I am talking about. Nonetheless, I finished this ride in 4:50:56, with an average of 37.2 km/h, 261 watts and a heart rate of 122 bpm.
These results allow me to enter the 4-week tapering period with confidence and excitement. I did everything the best I could given the time I had available. I worked very hard on the bike this year, kept my running and swimming form from last year and may have even increased it a bit. Although the big work is done, the intensity still remains high, however, the duration of my workouts will slightly decrease. I will now also focus more on brick- and race specific workouts, including practising fast transitions - I don't want to lose a single second due to a slow transition etc. Relaxing will happen post race on a chair on our patio watching the pacific while sipping an ice cold beer with my family and friends who are also coming with me.
I still cannot believe that the big day is coming, but I am looking forward to it!!
Cheers,
Stefan
Thursday 20 September 2012
Monday 10 September 2012
A quick update on my progress: II
The past weeks have been extremely busy and some major events happened in my life. The first one was that Sanja and I became parents of a baby boy named Sean :) This little guy is absolutely amazing and the best that could ever happen to us.
Secondly, I successfully defended my PhD degree! Given these circumstances I wasn't able to train as focused as I did before, nonetheless I am very happy how my training progresses. I have to say though that I am mentally quite tired now and cannot push hard intervals on the track and in the pool anymore. On the bike however, I am still working as hard as I can, and to my surprise, I am still progressing significantly. As for running and swimming I increased distance since it's easier to deal with mentally. Although I increased the distance, these runs/swims are not slow. I am able to run and swim comfortably and steady 4:40min/km for 30+ km runs, and swim 1:35min/100m for 4km, respectively. I guess this is good enough and with the right motivation on race day, I am sure I will do well!
Cheers,
Stefan
Secondly, I successfully defended my PhD degree! Given these circumstances I wasn't able to train as focused as I did before, nonetheless I am very happy how my training progresses. I have to say though that I am mentally quite tired now and cannot push hard intervals on the track and in the pool anymore. On the bike however, I am still working as hard as I can, and to my surprise, I am still progressing significantly. As for running and swimming I increased distance since it's easier to deal with mentally. Although I increased the distance, these runs/swims are not slow. I am able to run and swim comfortably and steady 4:40min/km for 30+ km runs, and swim 1:35min/100m for 4km, respectively. I guess this is good enough and with the right motivation on race day, I am sure I will do well!
Cheers,
Stefan
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