IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant Training Recap: June 19 - June 25

Training Recap June 19-25 (the week following Patriot 70.3 on June 17th)

Monday: day off

Tuesday: 45 min run

Wednesday: 45 min masters swim

Thursday: 7 mile run

Friday: 2000 meter swim

Saturday: 2:45 ride / 42 miles

Sunday: 1 hour ride (16.5 miles) and 35 min run

The day after Patriot 70.3 - lounging in the stroller with my boys!

I wasn't as sore as I thought I would be after my 6 hour and 26 minute 70.3 on Saturday but I was definitely depleted. This week was more about getting my body moving again than hitting any distance goals. Even if my body was ready my mind definitely wasn't. 

Bonus ride / run on Sunday thanks to an impromptu babysitter

This coming weekend crests into July which means that it's go time (holy scary!). What that means is that the next 5 weekends are going to be really tough (75+ mile rides on Saturday followed by a 30 min run and a ride / run brick the next day). These long rides take a lot of time (5+ hours) and a LOT of mental fortitude. I don't really enjoy riding my bike for that long (I admit!) and nor does my tushy.

Summer showers made for a muddy 42 mile ride

I read something that said if you say going into it "this is going to be crazy hard, my ass is going to burn, my muscles are going to be on fire!".. then what really happens might be slightly easier :-) Ha! I'll let you know how that tactic goes!

Here's that ride to Plum Island and back

The other thing it said is to count which is interesting because that's a tactic I discovered this past weekend when I did 20 second intervals (hard) and 10 seconds off, then 20 seconds on... and so on just to get home.

My pit crew making sure all the gears are working

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Patriot 70.3 Race Report

Saturday June 17, 2017 was my first Half IRONMAN since 2010! That 7 year gap accounts for meeting my husband, getting pregnant within a year of knowing each other, getting married, getting pregnant again on our honeymoon, having two kids 14 months apart, buying our first home, gaining over 50 pounds with each kid and losing that weight... then starting triathlon all over again.

Last year I got in such great shape from doing 21 Day Fix that I got that thought, "what else can I do?"

In my mind, IRONMAN represents the ultimate test of fitness. Yes, there are other ultra events waaayyyy more crazy than IRONMAN but for me this is the pinnacle of what I'm willing to do. After having kids back to back, c-sections with both, gaining and losing over 100 pounds, seeing myself in a body that I didn't recognize and going through that process of losing weight and re-strengthening my body.... being an IRONMOM is the ultimate revenge. The ultimate come back. The ultimate f-you to the way I felt when I wasn't fit.

Abby Coyle crossing the finish line at Patriot 70.3

After doing IM Arizona in Nov 2010 I had zero desire to do another IRONMAN. Zero. It took every ounce of my being to train that year. I trained like a maniac too. I don't think I did fewer than 3 Cambridge Masters Swim classes per week for an entire year. I biked at least twice during the week at 5:45am, lifted and ran every afternoon, and was out the door by 6am to ride on Saturday. Then on Sunday I religiously did my ride / run brick to complete the week. I also never took a day off. I might have taken a few days off that entire year. It was crazy but it was what I wanted and needed at the time.

Last year I got a "whiff of crazy" and started to consider what it would take to do another IRONMAN. I talked with other moms who had done it, talked with my old coach Jesse Kropelnicki from QT2, and signed up for IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant, Aug 20, 2017.

This time, with a 3 and 4 year old, I really wanted to approach training with more balance. Frankly, training for an IRONMAN requires you to be a little off-center (shall we say?). Or is it that you have to be so "centered" to allow your body and mind to do things that other people don't consider normal? Regardless, the task in itself makes it so that it's not easy to be "balanced" and ask your body (and more importantly your mind) to do so much work. Basically, if you want to be great then "f" balance! But, I've kept myself from passing that line.

If you've been following my progress, you know that I stressed out all winter. It was too cold most of the time to ride outside and then we had a very rainy spring. Only recently have we been able to get outside to ride. I do feel that I'm racing against time to get my fitness to the level I want it to be. Regardless, a couple of weeks ago we did a 90 mile ride (which was tough) and I did a half marathon the next day (which went surprisingly well) and last weekend I did a 1 mile open water swim. Going into Patriot 70.3 I felt prepared.

What I didn't expect was the wave of emotion that crossed over me at mile 12 of the run (that's 69.3 miles into the race). At that point I was really in the zone and sweet talking myself to the finish line. Then, the realization hit me that only two years ago I couldn't run a mile. I had that moment, like - holy shit look how far you've come! With a quick glance over my should to make sure no one was watching I let those happy tears flow! I was crying and crying and just so damn happy. "I'm here. This is where I wanted to be. This is a big deal and I made it."

Abby Coyle Patriot 70.3 2017 Results

Overall my results were pretty good! I was about 22 minutes slower than my last 70.3, which is pretty good considering Pumpkinman is in September vs Patriot in June which means I had a whole summer to get myself to that level of fitness. I have a ton of work to do to get me to IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant but that's ok! It's a lot of handle mentally but I'm proudly chugging forward!

Abby Coyle Results: Pumpkinman 70.3 2010 vs Patriot 70.3 2017

IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant Training Recap: June 5 - June 18

Training Recap June 5-11

Monday: day off

Tuesday: 1 hour lift and stretch

Wednesday: 50 min masters swim, 30 min lift, 25 min run 

Thursday: 1:17 running of 7 miles with 8 x 400 m intervals on the track

Friday: 1 hour lift 

Saturday: 1 mile OWS 38 min, 25 mile cycle 

 Sunday: 9 mile run

June 12 - June 18: week of Patriot 70.3

 

Monday: day off

Tuesday: day off

Wednesday: 35 min run

Thursday: 35 min run 

Friday: day off

Saturday: race day Patriot 70.3

Sunday: day off

IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant Training Recap: May 29 - June 4

12 Weeks to IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant Training Recap

Very windy 90 miles from Haverhill to Portsmouth and back.

Monday: day off 

Tuesday: 30 min swim

Wednesday: 45 min spin class, 45 min lift

Thursday: 1 hour interval run (30 minute warm up, 8 x 2 minute all out intervals with 1:30 min break in between), 20 min swim

Friday: 47 minutes masters swim

Saturday: 90 miles cycling at 5:30 hours

Sunday: half marathon 2:17

Total Moving Hours:12 hours

The headwind up 1A was brutal.

The highlight of this week was a 90 mile bike ride on Saturday followed by a half marathon on Sunday. My legs were tired going into Saturday's long ride and we found a headwind all the way up the coast on 1A to Portsmouth. The effort absolutely fried my brains. The adventure definitely taught me that I am only at the very beginning of preparing my body for the task at hand, which is IRONMAN Mont-Tremblant Aug 20, 2017.

Best pit crew around!

I am happy with Sunday's half marathon because I was able to hold a zone 1 effort through mile 8 and it felt pretty good. The part that hurt most might have been the blisters!

13.1 completed the day after riding 90 miles!

Patriot 70.3 on June 17th is in my sights. I learned that I need to be careful to not cook my legs going into my long events. I feel ready enough to do it but not ready enough to crush it (there's a big difference there).

Patton Park: interval workout

Now that I've checked a 90 mile ride off my list, my goal is to remove some fear and just focus on getting the work done. I'm also going to attempt to lower my coffee intake (I'm drinking a ton throughout the day) to see if I can make some improvements with my heart rate. Plus, I really want that caffeine to work when I need it most!

This upcoming week is a pretty normal week of training and I'm going to be careful the following which is prior to Patriot. Things are starting to get exciting!

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Ideal IRONMAN training plan

I'm obsessed with creating the perfect week of IRONMAN training.

When I say "perfect" ... I mean perfect for me. I'm a full time working mom of two boys (3 and 4 years old), a wife, and middle of the pack age grouper with aspirations to be the fastest and fittest that I can be. I finished IM Arizona 2010 in 14 hours and I'm currently training for IM Mont-Tremblant Aug 2017.

"mama, are you exercising?" yes, my loves :-)

Training is completely different to what it was in 2010 when I was single and carefree. As a mama, I have to reserve enough patience to be able to take care of life at home! My hubby has been super helpful and I'm sure he'll be glad when this is over... but then again I'll probably just pick some other crazy goal when this race is over :-)

Below are some ideas for the ideal schedule. My thoughts on this constantly change and many workouts need to be moved around depending on work, kids, and weather. And frankly - sometimes I just get really sore or tired and need to make changes!

love those intervals!

12.5 hours

Monday: 30 min swim
Tuesday: 45 min spin & 45 min lift
Wed: 1 hour masters swim, 45 min run
Thurs: 1 hour interval run, 10 min abs
Friday: 1 hour masters swim
Saturday: 4 hour ride, 30 min run
Sunday: 1.5 hour ride, 1.5 hour run

2.5 hours swimming (30 min / 1 hour / 1 hour)
3 hours running (30 min / 1 hour intervals / 1.5 hours)
6 hours biking (45 min spin /  1.5 hours / 4 hours)
1 hour lifting (45 min, 10 min)

14 hours

Monday: 30 min swim
Tuesday: 45 min spin & 45 min lift
Wed: 1 hour masters swim, 45 min run
Thurs: 1 hour interval run, 10 min abs
Friday: 1 hour masters swim, 1.5 hour ride
Saturday: 4 hour ride, 30 min run
Sunday: 1.5 hour ride, 1.5 hour run

2.5 hours swimming (30 min / 1 hour / 1 hour)
3 hours running (30 min / 1 hour intervals / 1.5 hours)
7.75 hours biking (45 min spin /  1.5 hours / 4 hours / 1.5 hours)
1 hour lifting (45 min / 10 min)

16.5 hours

Monday: 30 min swim
Tuesday: 45 min spin & 45 min lift
Wed: 1 hour masters swim, 1 hour run
Thurs: 1 hour interval run, 10 min abs
Friday: 1 hour masters swim, 1.5 hour ride
Saturday: 4 hour ride, 30 min run
Sunday: 1.5 hour ride, 2.5 hour run

2.5 hours swimming (30 min / 1 hour / 1 hour)
5 hours running (1 hour / 1 hour intervals / 30 min / 2.5 hours)
7.75 hours biking (45 min spin /  1.5 hours / 4 hours / 1.5 hours)
1 hour lifting (45 min / 10 min)

Another way to get 16.5 hours

Monday: 30 min swim
Tuesday: 45 min spin & 45 min lift
Wed: 1 hour masters swim, 1 hour run
Thurs: 1 hour interval run, 10 min abs
Friday: 1 hour masters swim
Saturday: 6 hour ride, 30 min run
Sunday: 1.5 hour ride, 2.5 hour run

2.5 hours swimming (30 min / 1 hour / 1 hour)
5 hours running (1 hour / 1 hour intervals / 30 min / 2.5 hours)
8 hours biking (45 min spin / 6 hours / 1.5 hours)
1 hour lifting (45 min / 10 min)

Follow my journey @roadtoironmom