Thursday, June 13, 2019

Journey to Kona Day 129: Training Plans for Santa Rosa 70.3 and Beyond

Since this week is a pure recovery week, I can start thinking about my training plans going forward.  Next week I can get going with both swimming and biking. I can run for the purposes of recovery only.  I know that is important, as my legs are still feeling the effects of Boulder.  Fortunately, they're only a little stiff now, most of the soreness is gone.  And, I'm definitely still fatigued from the race.  I need to monitor that, as that's always the most dangerous lingering thing to deal with.  I'm already envisioning starting to get some volume back on my bike this Sunday, and certainly next week.  I have a 11.4 mile loop in my neighborhood that has about 850 feet of climbing, almost all of which I can do in my aero position.  I am planning to work my way up to doing this loop 10 times.  When I get to that volume, I'll definitely be ready for Kona!

I'm going to use the same loop for running, and doing the loop twice will definitely provide me some serious training benefits for my long runs.  My swim volume has already been solid, and I want to continue with what I've been doing.  I've already reached out to my new swim coach, and I'll continue to work on my form, but more important, it's time to work on strength.  Long swim sets with paddles and bands around my ankles are on my horizon!

I've got six weeks until the Santa Rosa 70.3.  I signed up for this race for a few reasons.  Initially, it was going to be my Kona validator, but that's no longer necessary after finishing Boulder.  It's seven weeks after Boulder, which gives me a huge training boost going into it.  I want to use this in addition to some 70.3 specific training to really try to achieve my best results.  My plan is to swim hard enough to have a a very solid swim time, hopefully in the low 30 minute range.  The bike is a net downhill course, and I've historically ridden the first half of the full ironman quite well.  It's still my PR for the full ironman distance.  I'd love to do 70.3 bike course in under 2:40.  And, that would leave me with the run.  Can I still do a half marathon in under 2 hours?

As soon as I'm fully recovered from Boulder, I can do some training efforts that will coincide with these goals.  It's going to be fun!

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