3 Weeks to Go! (Three Amigos) + TrainerRoad High Volume Full Triathlon Plan Week 25/28 + 80 Day Obsession - Phase 3/Week 3
12/16/19 - M - OFF
12/17/19 - T - 80DO-AAA + Elwell (60 min; 80 TSS)
12/18/19 - W - 5.75 x 4 min @ 3k pace (Run)
12/19/19 - R - Polar Bear (120 min; 98 TSS) + 90 min Brick Run at Easy (Run)
12/20/19 - F - 80DO-Total Body Core + Townsend (90 min; 59 TSS)
12/21/19 - Sa - Bandeira (360 min; 259 TSS) + 45 min Evening Run at Easy (Run)
12/22/19 - Su - 75 min at Long Run (Run)
Total Run Miles - 31.5 miles
Total Run Time - 4:31 hours
Total Run TSS - 229 TSS
Total Biking Time - 10:30 hours
Total Biking TSS - 496 TSS
Total 80DO Time - 1:59 hours
Total 80DO TSS - 34 TSS
Total Training Time - 17:00 hours
Total TSS - 759 TSS
Monday
Off day. Groin issues have subsided, but I was having some bone pain in my left leg. Couldn't tell if it was the site of my 2016 stress reaction or something new. That bone formation bothers me from time to time when the muscle tissue around it gets to large and fills in the space.
Tuesday
AAA at 3x10 going through each series and then moving on to the next series
Series 1: Czech Press, Front Raise, Slider Windshield Wipers, Side Lunge Hold
Series 2: Bridge Pull Over, Camel Bicep Curl, Weighted Twisted Roll Down, Marching Bridge
Series 3: Bridge Bilateral Press, Tricep Kickback in Lunge, Weighted Knee Drops, Curtsy Lunge Pulse
Cycling: Elwell is an assortment of suprathreshold efforts consisting of 2x7 minutes at 105% FTP, 2x5 minutes at 108% FTP, 3 minutes at 115% FTP and 2 minutes at 121% FTP. Recoveries between intervals are all 3 minutes long. RPM of 92. The purpose of these rides as per TR:
When your fitness nears its peak, it's beneficial to combine numerous types of suprathreshold and VO2max intervals in a more race-realistic format. The aim here is to keep increasing the demand placed on your metabolic capabilities with the intent of furthering your sustainable, repeatable high-end power output.
I like these types of workouts that touch all types of different paces. I seem to handle them better.
Wednesday
Bone pain was still there and was interested to see what effect, if any, it would have on the first run of the week.
Evening Run:
Conditions -

Clear, Wind 4mph to 6mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 15°F + 0°F; FL - 8°F
End: Temp+Dew = 14°F + 1°F; FL - 8°F
5.75 x 4 min at 3k (Daniels I) pace
Everything was clicking for this run. No issues with the bone what so ever. I was flying and feeling good. GAP intervals of 6:03, 5:51, 5:48, 5:51, 5:54, and 5:47. Easily the fastest I paced run I've ever done with a GAP average of 5:52 at 4 min of run time. I've never run a sub-6 min/mile, but it sure felt like I probably could have pulled it off today. A good thing is this is the first time I've actually hit the sub-3 hr marathon 3k pace intervals.
Also, continued to throw down some fastest splits ever.
Thursday
Took the day off from work for this 3.5 hr workout.
Cycling: Polar Bear is 120 minutes of continuous riding where you'll spend 105 minutes between 80-85% FTP. RPM of 85. I could tell almost immediately I didn't have anything for this workout. Just never felt comfortable and right for the get go the pace seemed wrong. So after only about 6 min at pace, I dropped the intensity of the workout done from 220ish watts to 190ish watts. Essentially going from HIM to FIM bike leg pacing. But even the 190ish watts still felt somewhat aggressive and hard for the day. It was a bummer because I knew this was going to throw the TSS off for the last peak week. But my body told me this was necessary and I listened. Still had the brick run to complete as well.
Brick Run:
Conditions -

Clear, Wind 10mph to 15mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 24°F + 20°F; FL - 14°F
End: Temp+Dew = 30°F + 23°F; FL - 14°F
My body was not looking forward to this one.
The first 3.5 miles were an absolute drag. I ate an Egel around the 3.5 mile mark and did start to feel better. As the run wore on, I felt better. All in all it was a nice, slow, easy run. In total it was 10.2 miles in 90 min (8:51 pace) with an average HR of 122. That is the lowest HR for any double digit run ever, and only 1 bpm higher than any run I've ever done over 4 miles. So truly easy.
Friday
TBC at 3x10 going through each series and then moving on to the next series
Series 1: Surrender to Shoulder Press, Quad Ped Crawl, Burpee Sliders
Series 2: Bent Over Row Tap Back, Squat Tabletop Row, Saw on Sliders
Series 3: Modified 1/2 Turkish Push-up, Side Reach Push-up, V Crunch to Scissor Crunch
Series 4: Runner's Lunge Curl, Static Sumo Hammer Curl, Slider Crawl Out
Series 5: Tricep Push up w/ knee tuck, Squat Hold Kickbacks, Weighted Windmills
Cycling: Townsend consists of 90 minutes of aerobic Endurance riding spent between 60-70% FTP. RPM of 90. Seems the increased food and slightly lesser training load yesterday did the trick. The legs felt much better today. Glad to have an easy spin and was able to keep the RPM solid.
Saturday
So we were leaving for the airport to go to Disney World at 4:15pm. So I got the longest bike workout of the training plan started at 5am after a 4am wakeup call.
Cycling: Bandeira is 6 hours of Aerobic Endurance spent between 65-75% FTP. RPM of 89. The first 3-3.25 hours of the bike felt pretty good. I was able to keep a good RPM and my bottom was tolerating everything. But after that, things got a bit tougher. It was getting increasingly uncomfortable to continue to sit on the bike. My legs were getting increasing more tired. But I survived. Per Strava, I ended up with 93.8 miles. TR claims that riding indoors is like riding for 1.5x the time because you don't get the same relief on a ERG trainer as you do outside. No downhills to coast on. So TR claims this ride was more like 8.75 hrs of outdoor ride time, or something on the order of 135 miles. It certainly felt like. I won't mince words though. I'm glad it's done, and I could live a happy and fulfilled life never having done that again.
There wasn't much time in between these events since I needed to get ready for the flight to FL. So I shoved as much food in my face as possible and then headed out the door a few hours later.
Evening Run:
No weather data.
Took it nice and easy. Legs felt fine throughout all things considered. In total, 5.4 miles in 45 min (8:26 min/mile) with HR of 129. First time with a TSS over 300 for a single day (305).
I got cleaned up and then it was off to Disney. Left at 4:15pm. Was in the car for maybe 10 min and then suddenly had a freak out. I had originally packed my backpack to take on the trip. But that morning Heidi had paid for us to take a checked bag and so Steph emptied my backpack and put it all in a checked bag. Excpet I remember I stored some band-aids and the body glide in a pocket and not the main compartment. Steph confirmed my fears that she did not check that compartment and move the band-aids or body glide. Great... a 3 hr run with no band-aids, no body glide, and in the rain. That's going to be some major blisters and chaffing. Flight was at 8:05pm. We bought some band-aids at the airport, but no body glide. Also bought about 100oz of water in case we weren't able to find any elsewhere. Didn't land until 11:45pm. Tried as much as I could, but was never able to fall asleep on the plane.
Sunday
All week I had been tracking the FL weather for Sunday. The whole time it was predicting a sizeable rain storm for essentially the entire day. High winds, a nice steady rain, and possible tornados. So when we landed and got to the hotel at 1:30am, the decision had to be made. Do I run right now when the rain is relatively light, or do I risk it, sleep a bit, and then run early in the morning? The rain looked the lightest from 2-5am based on the radar. So I bit the bullet, put on my gear and started my run at 2am. It was now or never for a 3 hr training run.
Morning Run:
Conditions - 🌧 Light Rain, Wind 9mph to 17mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 66°F + 62°F; FL - 67°F
End: Temp+Dew = 67°F + 63°F; FL - 67°F
Downed my 80g Beta Fuel and was out the door. Stashed some water in a corner of the wall hoping it wouldn't be bothered by people or wildlife.
So I got started and felt relatively sluggish. I was going to run loops around the Cornado Springs resort. Based on google maps, it should have ended up being around 1.25 miles and that's roughly what it was. After the first mile or so, the legs were feeling better. Still exhausted from not yet having gone to sleep, but still going. After 45 min, I was ready for my first gel. Reached for the Maurten Caff gel and had another realization. If I eat a caff gel now, am I ever going to be able to fall sleep after this run is done? So I had the Egel instead. I saw some interesting characters out and about at 2-3 in the morning. One creepy guy I saw twice and I've got to believe he was an insomniac. So sad because he looked SOO tired. Also saw the local raccoon (named Meeko). Thankfully didn't see any snakes or gators.
Around mile 7 my body was really starting to drag. I saw the pace was starting to fade and had to decide, do I continue, or do I stop? Can I make it to 60 min, 75 min, 90 min, 120 min? Once I saw mile 8 fade a little more, I decided it was time to call it a night. While it wasn't the 180 min originally called for, it was an ok compromise. I wasn't worried because I've still got a 140 min LR on next Sunday (18 miles) which is a near peak run normally for me. In total, 8.5 miles in 73 min (8:36 min/mile) at HR of 132. All in all the HR was a bit lower than the last couple of LRs and the pace was obviously slower (because of the T+D and because it was 2am).
In total, it was 6 hrs of biking and about 2 hrs of running in less than 24 hrs with no sleep between.
I got back in the room, cleaned up, and then crashed into the bed at around 3:45am. Everyone starting waking up around 8am and I don't do well with noise and sleeping. So I was up too. Given this timing, it's probably for the best that I didn't manage the 180 min anyways. Because that means I probably wouldn't have made it to bed until 5:30am with an 8am wake-up. I would have been even more of a zombie than I already was on our first day at DW.
As for the weather, the tornados never came. The Disney bubble held and the severe weather went north and south of us. The rain was fairly steady throughout the day, but nothing I couldn't have run in anyways. So running at 2am or 5am would have been roughly the same. But no way to know that in the moment. And there didn't really end up being any time to run later in the day. We spent the day resort hopping, riding the skyliner, and just enjoying time in DW without the parks on Sunday.
Yea, there was no way 80DO Cardio Flow was going to happen.
Hooray for making it to the taper! Although this next week certainly doesn't feel like a taper. I made a few adjustments to the schedule because of the reduced mid-week brick activity this week and the loss of some training load from the 3 hr run being reduced. So I've got a 105 min bike on Tuesday night when we land, a 6 x 4 min at 3k pace with reduced resting intervals, a 136 min bike ride with HIM pacing and evening 40 min LT run, a 6hr brick activity (4.5 hr bike + 90 min easy run), and lastly a 140 min LR.